Concentration & Meditation - Vedanta

32 Swami Bhajananandaall to the dagdha-bija state. There is no other way to destroysamskaras completely.Stages in PurificationBreaking the connection between images and impulses representsonly the first stage in the purification of mind. In the secondstage, the samskaras of impulses and drives are reduced to theattenuated (tanu) state. In the third stage, the samskaras are reducedto the burnt or deactivated (dagdha-bija) state.In a fully illumined soul, all the samskaras of impulses and desireshave been irreversibly deactivated, and so he is free fromdesires and impulses. But the ideas and concepts produced bysamskaras will remain. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that just as aburnt rope may retain the shape of a rope but cannot bind anyone,so a fully illumined soul has only a semblance of desires.Dissociation and the Three States of ConsciousnessWe began with a discussion on the phenomenon of dissociationof awareness and how it is caused by samskaras. There isyet another type of dissociation of consciousness which is moreradical and at the same time a natural one. It is the division ofconsciousness into the three states: jagrat (waking), svapna(dreaming) and susupti (deep sleep). This dissociation is notcaused by samskaras. It is a spontaneous process connected tothe rhythms of life, the exact cause of which is one of the greatmysteries of life.Waking, dreaming and deep sleep represent three entirely differentstates, each with its own notions of time, space and theself. The dream state is not a continuation of the waking state anymore than the deep-sleep state is a continuation of the dreamstate. Between the two states a rupture in the continuity of consciousnesstakes place. Consciousness seems to undergo cyclesof projection and withdrawal. What is common to all threestates is the awareness of “I.” This shows that the self has differentdimensions and, corresponding to these, there are differentlevels or layers in the human personality structure.In ancient India the three states provoked deep interest andwere the subject of much study and investigation. Spiritual aspirantsmust have a deep understanding of the three states, forthese have a direct bearing on meditative life. True spiritual expe-