Laya

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`Laya' - is born from the root `Li'

 

`Li' - means - cling, stick to, adhere; recline on, settle on, lie;

disappear, dissolve.

 

`Laya' will mean - sticking, adherance

 

- Fusion, solution

 

- Disappearance, dissolution, destruction

 

- Absorption, deep concentration, exclusive devotion (to any

object)

 

- Rest, repose

 

- A place of rest, abode

 

- making the mind inactive, indifferent

 

- Mental inactivity

 

- a swoon

 

- the quick downward movement of an arrow.

 

- Time in music / pause in music

 

- Union of song, dance and instrumental music.

 

It is obvious that as with all Sanskrit words the term `Laya'

acquires different meanings in various contexts. Some of these

meanings may not be relevant at all to our context. Others may

indicate a positive connotation. Hence the word has to be

understood in the proper context. (The word `aham' in Tamil, for

instance means `ego', `home' and `heart' and is used by

Bhagavan in all these contexts in his `Marital Garland of Letters')

The root `li' is used in the positive context of sticking, adherance,

exclusive devotion by Viswanatha Swami in his `Astottaram' on

Bhagavan when he hails him as `Sonacalamaholina

manasaha'. This makes it clear that to understand the place of

`laya' in spiritual practice we have to look at its meaning from the

manner in which Bhagavan has explained it. There is a lucid

chapter in `Crumbs from His Table' on the very subject.

Ramanananda Swarnagiri states : "I arrive at a stage of stillness

of mind. I have no thought of any kind and there is an

emptiness... A mild light pervades and I feel that it is myself

bodiless. I have neither cognition nor vision of body and form...''

Bhagavan answers : "Such a condition is termed manolaya or

temporary stillness of thought. Manolaya means concentration,

temporarily arresting the movement of thoughts; as soon as this

concentration ceases, thoughts, old and new, rush in as usual

and even though this temporary lulling of mind should last a

thousand years it will never lead to total destruction of thought...."

Let us also look at Bhagavan's explanation of `laya' in Upadesa

Saram in Verses 11 and 13 "The mind becomes quiescent by

regulation of breath, like a bird caught in a net. This is a means

of mind control". "Control of the mind is of two kinds, its lulling

and its destruction. A lulled mind will rise again but not the one

which is destroyed".

 

In `Ramana Gita' Bhagavan gives a similar example for a mind

controlled by restraint of breath.

 

 

 

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"Then it would, like a tethered animal, cease to stray".

 

Again in the chapter `The Science of the Heart" Bhagavan says :

 

"When there is forcible arrest of thoughts by swooning, sleep,

excessive joy or sorrow, fear and so on, the mind goes back to

its source, the Heart."

 

"Such merger is unconscious and the person is unaware of it.

However, when one consciously enters the Heart it is termed

`Samadhi'.

>From these we can arrive at a clear understanding of the state

that is termed `laya'.

 

i) `Laya' is a state of mental quietude. The dictionary definitions

of `disappearance', `dissolution', `rest', `repose', `mental

inactivity' - apply. However, the meanings `destruction' and

`exclusive devotion' are not applicable to this state.

 

ii) The experience is pleasant and can be sought about by `deep

concentration' and/or breath regulation.

 

iii) The experience is similar to what happens in sleep, `swoon'

(one of the definitions) and in any state of excessive emotion.

However, these `mergers' `dissolutions' of the mind take place

unconsciously, without one's knowledge or volition. `Laya' on the

other hand is a state that occurs in the course of spiritual

practice. It happens, therefore, with one's volition. It can be

repeated by the practitioner and it can also equally be dropped if

it is considerd unnecessary or obstructive to further progress.

 

iv) The question follows that if it is not an involuntary stillness like

that in excessive emotion or swoon, why is it considered to be

different from the natural silence. Or, how is one to recognise it

as such? The important factor here, which it shares with the

other states of quiescence is that it is a `forcible arrest of

thoughts'. Laya is a stillness brought about by the application of

an external force. This `force' may be the sudden upsurge of

emotion of which one is unaware or the planned breath

regulation of which one is aware. In either case there is an

external agency causing the thought vaccum. When the

application of this force is withdrawn, the mind returns to its

original state. The factors distinguishing `laya' from merger in

the Self are :

 

(a) There is no change after laya. This is the most important sign

to signify whether an experience is `laya', lulling or destruction.

Bhagavan says that even after thousands of years of such `laya

samadhi' or `yoganidra' one would wake up with the last thought

that happened prior to laya. If even the last, superficial thought

does not vanish, what of the deep rooted latent tendencies?

 

(b) The presence of identity, of ego, of individuality is undisturbed

by laya. The individual is happy with the experience. Whose

experience? `His' or `hers'. And the individual wishes to

 

 

 

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repeat it. `I experienced this and can experience it again at will'.

In the natural `destruction' of the mind, the way and the seeker

both disappear totally, in the silence, the fullness that is the Self.

No tendency survives. Identity itself is lost.

 

v) The experience of `laya' is temporary. The arrest of thoughts is

temporary as they return the moment the pressure is released.

The stillness comes and goes. Again it must be stressed that

`comes and goes' does not mean even for a few minutes or

hours. It could be for years too. Then how is one to recognise

that the experience is `laya'? By the presence of the experience

of course, by the continuation of duality. `I am experiencing this

pleasant stillness'. There is `I' the subject and the object `the

experience'. This is also the means to distinguish it from natural

intermittent dips into the Self which Bhagavan terms `abhyasa'.

Because these mergers are also not continuous one should not

dismiss them as `laya'. Nor can one argue that `laya' too is a

natural merger into the source that is intermittent. In the latter,

though for a brief while, the sense of identity would be totally

dissolved, like a bucket of water in a well. Secondly, when such

merger occurs, the peace, the bliss and the upsurge of love

would continue even after one comes out of the experience. The

thought force itself would be very minimal even when one is back

to functioning with identity.

 

2) Having understood the nature of `laya' one must strive to leave

it behind, to cross over it. Bhagavan clearly warns : "One must

not allow oneself to be overtaken by such spells of stillness of

thought : the moment one experiences this, one must revive

consciousness and enquire within as to who it is who

experiences this stillness... By such enquiry, you will drive the

thought force deeper till it reaches its source and merges

therein..." It is crystal clear that self-enquiry must be used to

pursue the mind beyond laya and into the source.

 

3) `Laya' is not a negative state. As Bhagavan indicates ".. it is a

clear sign of one's progress but the danger of it lies in mistaking

it for the final goal of spiritual practice and being thus deceived."

While everyone may not experience laya as a specific milestone

in spiritual practice one may experience similar states in the

course of one's lives. Hence, laya, wherever, however it occurs

could well be utilised as a stepping stone to merger in the

source. Whether unconsciously in a moment of deep joy or

sorrow, or consciously in a fusion of the mind in the wonder of

nature, music, dance, creativity, or through breath-regulation or

concentration on an object, `laya' may occur. Even the experience

of light, of pleasant sounds, of vastness and so on during one's

spiritual practice would only be `laya'. The criterion, one must not

fail to remember, is the presence of the experiencer `I am

experiencing this'. The subtler the experience the more one is in

danger of mistaking it for the real. The important thing is to

recognise this and use `laya' as an asset. `Ah! The mind is now

still, calm, unperturbed, free of thoughts. For whom is this

experience? For me, I. My experience. Most wonderful. But what

is this I ?' Whether or not one actually uses these words, one

must pay keen attention to the experiencer of the stillness, the

peace, the pleasantness, the vastness. It is a moment, it is a

time when the mind has left all else behind. It can easily be

made to take the dive. Yes it is time to plunge deeper, into the

source, leaving laya behind.

 

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