Question:

In Patanjali Yogasutras, a reference is made to ‘being a crystal’. Is ‘being a crystal’ different from Sampragnyata samadhi?

Answer:

‘Being a crystal’ means living as if you don’t exist. Just letting Karma flow. Just like a leaf would flow with the river. Not resisting the strength of the current. It flows joyfully and effortlessly without acceptance or rejection, it is with ‘what is’!

Being like a crystal means being so clear that you reflect everything. From a distance, it appears as if the crystal does not exist. Just like that, being like a crystal means you have no color of your own. You reflect everything around you but despite reflecting the blue or red, you just like the crystal remain untouched, remain untainted. Just like the crystal you remain pure and clear!

In order to get to the state of being as pure as the crystal, intense self-effort is required. Self-effort is required to shed off negativity. If one cannot shed off negativity and loves to wallow in the dirt of negativity, he/she can never attain the purity of a crystal. To attain that, intense effort is required, we call it Purushartha!

What kind of self-effort is required?

The effort is only in letting go of the mud/dirt of thoughts that one is holding onto. One’s self-commitment only will get him/her to that point. If you value your peace of mind above all, if you can work fiercely towards it, you will definitely get there.

What are the ways to get there?

• • Drowning yourself in spiritual knowledge, and applying that knowledge sincerely is the first step.
  • Silencing your mind with meditation repetitively.
  • Doing some seva for others benefit, selflessly!
  • Attending satsang and dissolving your mind in music and joy!

All these will help you experience the stillness of the mind when you are 100% there in the present moment. That is Sampragnyata Samadhi. When this ‘silence and stillness of the mind’ increases beyond these moments and becomes a part of your daily life even when you are engaged in mundane tasks, then you have reached the level of a crystal!

Sampragnyata is nursery/elementary school, becoming like a crystal is PhD!