EKENDRIYA -- 1

official source: Ma'nasa'dhya'tmika Sa'dhana'r Staravinya's [Stages of Psycho-
	Spiritual Sa'dhana']

cross-references: also published in Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell Part 6

this version: is the printed Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell Part 6, 1st 
	edition, version (spelling mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., 
	this is the most up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition.

      Iiks'e shrn'omi jighra'mi sva'dayami sprsh'a myaham'

      Human beings wish to express themselves in so many ways through the different inferences of sound, touch, taste, form, and smell. And they wish to derive joy from the many inferences they receive from the external world. They exclaim in joy, "How tasty this dish is ? How delightful its smell! How delicious the vegetables."

	It is a fact that human beings are connected with the material world through the inferences ( tanmatras). But the human capacity of assimilating these tanmatras is rather very limited. For example a very loud or very soft sound cannot be perceived by the ear. Human beings can only perceive the medium range of tanmatric vibrations. Lord Buddha called it " majjhima' ma'gya", the middle of the road. It is a fact. The poet Giirish Ghosh said in this context,

      "A'lga' ta're bol ot'hena' ta'nle chenr'e komal ta'r

	If you don't tune the string tightly enough you won't get the required note, and if you tune it too tightly it will break.

      Those of you who play string instruments are well aware that if the strings are tuned too high they will break, and if they are too loose they can't produce the proper notes. Although the human mind can be compared to the strings of an instrument, it would be more precise to compare it with a cloud which fills up the sky, bringing all objects within its domain. How does the human mind expand ? It can best be explained with the analogy of the cloud. Imagine there is a tiny patch of cloud in a corner of the sky. Gradually it expands its size until it covers the whole sky. This is ectoplasmic expansion. As the mind expands in all directions, it brings all objects within its periphery. It is essential for the mind to maintain a perfect adjustment between itself and its objects. The other day I told you that the mind always seeks an object and jumps from object to object depending on the degree of attraction. Take the case of this bolster beside me. If I pick it up and move it from left to the right will the mind remain associated with it for the entire duration of its movement. Remember, before I said that the mind remains attached to the object for which its attraction is greater. In the case of the bolster the mind is more attached to having it on the right side then the left because that will be more comfortable, and thus its preoccupation is with putting the bolster on the right.

	In the ekendriya stage, which is the third stage in pratyahara one expands one's ectoplasmic sphere just like a cloud filling the sky - whenever the cloud passes over an object it brings it within its sphere of influence. But this is not so in the case of Parama Purus'a. Whenever His mental sphere increases, numerous entities emerge within His mind, remain in a state of flow for some time and subsequently dissolved back into Him. The microcosms which are created, maintained and dissolved within the Cosmic Mind are qualitatively almost the same manner as Parama Purus'a, but of course they differ quantitatively. The Cosmic Mind is extremely vast; the unit mind is tiny. The unit mind only expands in the ectoplasmic sphere, like the cloud filling the sky, and in the process of expansion brings other unit minds within its sphere of control. When it expands tremendously it can also assert some influence on the Cosmic Mind.

	Suppose two people, Mr. A and Mr. B, have small minds. After the practice of deep meditation Mr. A succeeds in expanding the periphery of his unit mind and can influence the mind of Mr. B. Not only that, he can also influence the vast mind of Parama Purus'a. This endeavor for mental expansion is called Vidya' Tantra.

	The scientific process of expansion of mind is called Tantra. Tantra is derived as tan + trae (root verb) + da, and literally means to attain liberation through expansion. Suppose you are sitting immobile in one place having have been bound by ropes. Now you can either free yourself by cutting the rope with a knife, or by taking such a deep breath to expand the chest that the rope snaps. On the path of Tantra one expands the mind to snap the bondages of vrttis, ripus, pashu's etc. This is the goal of Vidya' Tantra.

	Suppose a person is trying to expand the mind, not to attain Parama Purus'a, but a crude goal such as name, fame or wealth. In that process the science is the same but the actual path is different. One who follows this path becomes mentally degenerated. This state is called Prakrtiliina avastha' in scripture. For such people become as crude as matter. A person whose mind is engrossed in money becomes money itself. Yes, a conscious human being gets converted into crude money. Human beings are aware that they are human, but a rupee doesn't know it's a rupee. There are other categories like this such as yaks'a, gandharva', kinnara, vidya'dhara, vidhehaliina and siddha which have been categorized according to the degree of ectoplasmic crudity or subtlety. You are the master of your ectoplasm - you can expand it across the vast sky, or you can confine it to the horizon of a solitary cloud. It depends on your will.

	The seven categories mentioned above have sometimes been described in scripture as devayoni. They are not exactly gods, but are somewhat similar to them, so devayoni is the precise term. Similarly, the ghost-fearing people never use the word " bhuta" ( ghost) at night lest they anger the ghost. Instead they refer to them as " upadevatta" (demi-god), to appease them. Likewise, on a dark night people never use the word "sap" (snake but "lata" ( rope) instead! And in case of certain diseases they say that "such and such goddess has shown mercy."! It can hardly be described as mercy; more precisely the goddess is inflicting pain. But people still call it,"the mercy of the goddess." I won't mention the names of the diseases, but you all know what they are.

	Let us resume our original discussion. Suppose a person who does spiritual practice constantly ideating on money ( i.e., is following both shreya and preya) even while he is meditating. If he were to die while ideating on rupees, the solid and liquid factors of the body would perish but the mind would continue to operate through the remaining three fundamental factors - luminous, aerial and ethereal. This body of three factors is not clearly visible to the eye, yet the mind born out of one's inherent sam'ska'ras still functions through it. The "disembodied mind" expresses its mental longings through vibrations. If one could establish vibrational contact with those entities one would be able to communicate with them. Not having a solid body or a vocal chord ( like a so-called ghost) they cannot speak audibly. So to give expression to their longings they have to use vibrations. The person whose goal in life is not Parama Purus'a but a pot of riches, will, after death, live near a source of money in its invisible body of three factors. You may call such phenomena "ghosts" as they are not visible to the eyes , but the proper term is `yaksa'. In colloquial Bengali people sometimes say "yaks'er dhan or the wealth of a yaks'a. A yaks'a often guards treasure lying hidden under the earth.

This notion of yaks'a has been in vogue since the pre-Jaena period. At most sites of Jaena temples there are invariably effigies of yaks'a and yaks'inii. In the Jaena temple which has been excavated near A'nanda Nagar ( the headquarters of A'nanda Ma'rga) effigies of yaks'a and yaks'inii have been found. In olden days a class of people use to worship yaks'a. Even now in Mithila there is a designated place either a banyan or peepul tree either inside or outside the village which is called Brahmasta'n Here Brahmasta'n means the place of worship of a yaks'a.

The second type of devayoni is gandharva. Suppose a person is sincerely cultivating the science of music (a branch of aesthetics - nandana vijinana) Nandana means to give and derive pleasure. While one cultivates the science of music one derives pleasure and simultaneously gives pleasure to Parama Purus'a. But if one believes nandan vijinana is everything in life and neglects the Supreme One from whom it originates, one will remain absorbed in it even after death. Such entities are called gandharva. The science of music is called gandharva vidya. In many places in northern India the music schools are called gandharva biddyala'ya.

The third category of devayoni is called kinnara. People who have an extraordinary fascination for beauty become kinnaras after death. They have an immense weakness for fashionable clothes, expensive ornaments and so on for they believe that if they are well dressed they will be treated as gods. Some people used to ask , "Kim Purus'a?"- Is he a man? In those days people believed that there was a group of people living in the northern part of the Himalayas who were always well dressed. Out of superstition they were treated as one of the devayoniis. That area was known as Kinnara Desha. The name of one of the districts in Himachel Pradesh is also Kinnara. To the north of Kinnara district is Kim'purus'a, the Samskrta name for Tibet. Kim'purus'a means "Are they humans?" In ancient India the general belief was that they were superior to humans, that they were devayoni. So Tibet was named Kimpurus'a Vars'a. Some people have a different interpretation. They say that the clothes worn by men and women were the same so it was difficult to clearly identify the sex of a person. Thus the country was called Kimpurus'a (is he a man?). I will give you a better interpretation for the sake of history at a later date.

      The fourth type of devayoni is vidya'dhara. Suppose some people acquire vast knowledge through intense study. Such bookish knowledge is theoretical, not practical. Such scholars may be compared to the pages of an almanac. Its pages may predict heavy rainfall this year, but if you wring them out not a single raindrop will fall. These scholars maybe highly pedantic, but remain far away from Parama Purus'a.

	Without even knowing the procedure for worshipping the goddess S'ashtii (goddess of children's welfare) some priests would memorize the entire Sidda'nta kaomudii (the most authentic grammar book written by Panini). It was not unknown for some priests to recite vyakara'na kaomudii ( the grammar book written by Iishvar chandra Vidyasagar while worshipping the deity Satyanarayan! They knew that the simple followers were not conversant with Samskrta, and would believe that since they were reciting Samskrta so beautifully, they must be well versed in the scriptures! The people who remain absorbed in such bookish knowledge throughout their lives and never use to attain Parama Purus'a are called vidyadhara after death.

	The fifth type of devayoni is Prakrtiliina. If a person continually gloats over crude material things, his entire existence will be converted into crude matter. In mythology the story goes that Ahalya' was converted into a stone due to his constant crude ideation. So people who accept matter as their goal, totally denying the existence of Parama Purus'a, treads the path of degeneration and become prakrtiliina devayonis after death.

The sixth type of devayoni is videhaliina. Some people have such an insatiable thirst for material gain that their minds run continuously from object to object, leading them far far away from Parama Purus'a. Their minds are in perpetual motion, but they don't get anywhere, rather like bullocks trudging endlessly around the oilman's mill. After death such people become videhaliina. 

      The last type of devayoni is the siddha Suppose a person practices spiritual science with deep sincerity - his only goal being to serve humanity and attain Brahma. But if he threads the spiritual path with a sense of vanity, feeling superior to common people, he too will become a devayoni after death. Had he controlled his vanity, Parama Purus'a would have helped him to exhaust his remaining sam'skaras. But if he indulges in vanity Hari ( when Parama Purus'a steals others sam'skaras he is called Hari) will not steal it. His sins may be pardoned, but not his vanity. One of the names of Narayana is Darpaha'ri or destroyer of vanity (and that destruction may be laborious and painful). Narayana takes away an individual's unburned sam'skaras , but if one basks in the glory of being a spiritual practitioner one will have to become a Siddha devayoni after death. According to the scriptures the siddhas play a rather strange role. Either by entering the mind or by some external means their duty is to help sadhakas realise their mistakes. Thus, they assist sadhakas in the process of sa'dhana. Suppose a sadhaka develops a strong feeling of ego-the siddha will create a strong feeling in his mind to realise his mistake. Or suppose a sadhaka is about to step onto the path of sin. The siddha will create an awareness in the sadhakas mind to inspire him to desist from following the negative path.

Let me tell you a story. Once two A'nanda Ma'rga tantra sadhakas from Muzaffarpur were going by bus to a place on the other side of the river Buriigan'd'ak, which flows by Muzaffarpur town, to do their sa'dhana. Suddenly there was a flash flood so the bus was unable to cross the river. However they had to find some way across because that particular spot was the appointed place for their meditation. Then they saw a light flickering near the river bank and thought that if there's light there must be some people, and perhaps those people will be able to tell them how to get to the spot for meditation in such adverse conditions - being the new moon night it was pitch-dark. As they approached the light they noticed to their consternation that it was moving ahead of them. They decided to follow it. The light then started to float across the river, the sadhakas who were following close behind were surprised to discover that at that point in the river the water was only knee deep. The Bu'riigan'dak is a deep river but not very wide. The light guided them safely to a tree on the other side of the river and then disappeared. Those two Acharyas sat at some distance from the tree and performed their sa'dhana. There was an understanding between them that afterwards they met under the tree, as planned, and were surprised by the reappearance of the light, which lead them back across the river. Once they reached the other bank the light again disappeared. This was not the work of a ghost for ghosts do not exists- it was the work of a siddha devayoni.

19 April 1981, Calcutta
Ma'nasa'dhya'tmika Sa'dhana'r Staravinya's [Stages of Psycho-Spiritual 
Sa'dhana']