EKENDRIYA -- 6

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.

      In the previous discourse I discussed indriyas. In the scriptures it is said,

      Indriya'na'm' manona'thah manona'thastu ma'rutah.

      "The mind is the Lord of the indriyas. The vital energy is the Lord of the mind."

      I said that the mind is also an indriya, the eleventh indriya but one without a gateway. Thus we cannot say it internalizes a certain external vibration or externalizes any internal thought through a particular gateway. That job is done by the other ten organs. The eyes take the image of an external object to the mind. The ahamtattva portion of the mind "sees" the imagine and relays its reaction to the indriyas through the citta (mahattattva, ahamtattva and the citta are the three functional chambers of the mind). Thus the mind is surely the lord of the indriyas.

      Who is the lord of the mind? The vital energy (pra'na'). The mind - a very peculiar entity - moves within the domain of the abstract and material worlds. It's location is within the brain, which is something material and it's controller is the vital energy. When the human mind is calm, the respiration slows down. But conversely, when the mind is agitated, the breathing becomes rapid. When one runs the whole body is active and so the breathing is rapid, and when breathing is rapid, the mind is restless. While running quickly you cannot think deeply about anything due to the mind being in state of motion. During pra'n'a'ya'ma the vital energy controls the mind.

      Pra'n'a'n yamayatyes'ah pra'na' ya'mah

      [That which controls the ten vayus (the flows of vital energy) is called pra'n'a'ya'ma]

      "Tasmin sati shva's- prashva'sayorgatibicchedah pra'n'a'ya'mah

      [ The process to reduce the gap between inhalation and exhalation is pra'n'a'ya'mah]

      The flow of breath continues according to the shortening or lengthening of the period of one's thought. By channelizing the natural system of respiration into a particular rhythm one controls one's mind through pra'n'a'ya'ma.

      The indriyas are the controller of the body, the mind the controller of the indriyas, and the vital energy the controller of the mind. That's why on the path of spiritual practice, and particularly in the practice of asta'unga yoga (the eight fold path consisting of yama, niyama, a'sana, pra'n'a'ya'ma, pratya'ha'ra, dha'ran'a', dhya'na, and sama'dhi) pra'n'a'ya'ma plays a very significant role.

      So when the respiratory system becomes restless, due to one's individual reactive momenta, the mind also becomes restless. When the mind becomes restless a particular propensity or sense organ also becomes very restless, and another particular propensity or indriya also remains inactive.. This is the general rule. But, if one's respiratory system becomes rhythmic and calm through the process of pra'n'a'ya'ma then a particular propensity or sense organ becomes tranquil.. This is something which is very important to remember. Through prolonged practice of pra'n'a'yama one learns which propensity or indriya becomes more active due to the restlessness of the respiratory system and which propensity or sense organ becomes more tranquil due to the pause of the respiratory system. This regular practice is known as yoga.

      If a person becomes agitated, causing his respiration to speed up, and his fists to close tightly the propensity (vrtti) of anger can easily get expressed. If this situation continues for long anger will easily dominate the other propensities. (lust, anger, grief, attachment, jealousy) and the hand indriya (in Sam'skrta the palm is called pa'ni' and it's action is called shilpana and on will become active resulting in him angrily slapping or punching another person . It often happens that a person will be able to control all the ripu's ( psychic enemies) except one, say the ripu of anger. This is also the same in the case of the indriyas - all the indriyas may be under one's control except one, say the hand. Or conversely, a particular ripu or indriya may be perfectly controlled while the others are not. There are some people whose only weakness is greed. They have an uncontrollable desire for food, for pickles or rasagolla. They don't even care what other people think about them. That is they have totally lost his control over the instinct of greed. Some people have trouble controlling the movement of their legs, and even move them while sitting down To have control or lose control over a particular vrtti may be both temporary and permanent. Some people are totally free from greed,neither greed for money, nor greed for food, but cannot control their other vrttis. A person may have no problem observing a vow of silence for two years, but is unable to control his legs and often kicks people indiscriminately, or if he controls his legs, cannot control his hands.

      That particular psychology, when a particular vrtti or indriya is under control is called `ekendriya.' That is in the process of psychic development sa'dhakas reach a stage where a particular sense organ or propensity either hinders their spiritual progress, or leads them towards extreme subtlety. This stage is called ekendriya.

	Before arriving at the stage of perfect ekendriya one may attain it temporarily. For example, one may be able to observe a vow of silence for a few days will break it after a few days due to boredom. Often after a quarrel two people decide never to utter a word to each other again. However, after some time they find some excuse to make amends. Again, someone may angrily refuse to eat anything. The other family members try at length to persuade him to forget everything and eat his food, but to no avail. When they stop pleading with him , however, he feels neglected and writes on the wall, " If you ask me one more time I'll eat my food. Obviously he is not fully in control of his whole being and before his control finally collapses wants to be requested publicly to eat one more time. He will then say that he had no other choice but to break his vow to fast because he was persistently requested to do so.

      So one particular propensity or indriya may be under control, but not the others. This is termed negative ekendriya. One of my cousins was an avid supporter of Mohan Bagan football team. Whenever he went to the match and saw them score a goal he would shout "gooaaal" with the other spectators in a frenzy of excitement. One night he shouted "gooaaal" while dreaming and kicked my uncle who was sleeping beside him. This incident shows that although my cousin had control over the other parts of his body, he had no control over his legs. When a player wants to score a goal his leg mechanically kicks the ball. During sleep when his subconscious mind was functioning and not the conscious mind, the memory of the football match came alive on his mental plate. As the conscious mind was inactive, the subconscious mind could activate the nerve cells directly, so as soon as his vocal chord shouted "goal" his legs, in adjustment with rhythm of the nerve cells and fibre, kicked the ball into the goal. In life such things happen quite often. These are the expressions of ekendriya tattva during the dream stage. I am sure you have experienced such things yourself. Try to compare these experiences with the actual reality.

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