Eternity and time in Yoga conceptions

Yoga Philisophy. Part 5

While considering the categories of eternity and time in Yoga, we will first touch upon the ancient Indian understanding the historic time what is best expressed in the following: ”There was earlier, there is now – what difference does it make?”. It is connected with two mutually conditional circumstances. Firstly, there existed a cyclic model of time and the theory of kalpas – the space cycles of beginnings, destructions and following reconstructions of space. Secondly, the Indian culture thought in terms of astronomic numbers in space scale which devalued the historic time transforming the time intervals between historic events into almost unobserved ones. Actually, whereas the length of one space cycle is estimated in milliards of years, the intervals meaningful for humankind become insignificant and lose there value.

Yuga (from Sanskrit ‘yuga’ meaning ‘a couple’, ‘yoke’) is the world age in Hinduism cosmology. Hinduism calls four yugas changing each other cyclically in the following sequence:

1. Satya-yuga or Krita-yuga;
2. Treta-yuga;
3. Dvapara-yuga;
4. Kali-yuga.

In each subsequent yuga within the cycle, the truth understanding and morality are decreasing and ignorance is increasing. The end of Kali-yuga must be marked with the appearance of Kalka, the 10^th avatara of Vishnu, cleaning the world and starting the new mahayuga.

Each yuga is preceded by the period called sandhya (‘twilight’) in Puranas, it is the transitional period which is followed by another one of the same duration called sandhyansa (‘a part of twilight’). Each of them equals to one-tenth of yuga. The duration of yugas is estimated at years of devas: according to “Bhavata-purana”, each year equals to 360 years of mortal people.

All in all, 4 yugas last for 12,000 years of devas or 4,320,000 years of mortal people. The given period of 4 yugas is named “chaturyuga (or “mahayuga”) and accounts to one- thousandth of kalpa, or one two-thousandth part of a day of Brahma, which is 8.64 billion years. During on day of Brahma the world is ruled by 14 Manu (14 ‘manvantaras’). So,one manvantara lasts for 71 chaturyuga.

In Hinduism, kalpa is “the day of Brahma” which lasts for 4.32 billion years and consists of 1,000 mahayugas (periods of 4 yugas). After this period, the night of Brahma begins which is equal to a day in duration. The night marks the destruction of the world and the death of devas. So, the divine day lasts for 8.64 billion years. The month of Brahma consists of 30 such days (and nights) which accounts to 259.2 billion years, and a year of Brahma (3.1104 x 1012 usual years) consists of 12 months. Brahma lives for 100 years (3.1104×1014, or 311 trillion 40 billion years) after which he dies, and the whole material world is destructed.

At the time of that great destruction called mahapralaya, the cosmos ceases its existence and devas perish. According to ‘Bhagavata-purana’, after the end of Brahma’s life the wlole cosmos enters Maha-Vishnu’s body and, with it, puts an end to its existence. After the period of time which equals to Brahma’s life, cosmos appears again: numerous universes (Brahma being born in each of them) get out of Maha-Vishnu’s body, and a new cycle of kalpas begins. Each kalpa is divided into 14 periods of manvantaras lasting for 306,720,000 years with the intervals of 1,851,429 years between them (as the exact meaning of kalpa is 308,571,429 years).

It is believed that the present Brahma is 51 years old, and the world is in kalpa called ‘Shveta-varaha’.

Satya-yuga, or Krita-yuga (Sanskrit, ‘the age of purity’, ‘sainly age’) is the first of the four yugas (epochs) in the Hindu time cycle, the golden age of verity and purity. According to Hinduism conceptions, its duration accounts to 1,728,000 years, and the duration of human life during Satya-yuga is 100,000 years.

During this epoch, nature is notable for generosity and abundance; mankind is happy without experiencing cares and everyday hard labour. There is neither social difference nor state power, and the human society is based on the full equality of all its members.

People possess the features which are the base of religiousness: asceticism, purity, clemency and truthfulness. At Satya-yuga, the predefined spiritual practice is meditation. The canonic texts say that in this epoch people were rich spiritually and could meditate for tens of thousands of years.

The duration of the period following Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, accounts to 1,296,000 years. Then follow Dvapara-yuga (864,000 years) and Kali-yuga(432,000) which represents the modern epoch. It is considered that, as less than 5,000 years have passed since the beginning of Kali-epoch, about 427,000 years are left until the beginning of the next Satya-yuga.

Treta-yuga is the second of the four yugas, or epochs, in Hindu time cycle. It follows Satya-yuga, the epoch of perfect morality, and precedes Dvapara-yuga. The most important events of this yuga were the appearance of the 5^th, 6^th and 7^th avataras (embodiments) of Vishnu – Vamana, Parashurama and Rama. Treta-yuga lasts for 1,296,000 years, and clemency is decreasing one-fourth, although people are still very lofty.

Out of the four Brahma features (asceticism, purity, clemency, truthfulness), only the last three are fully manifested in Treta-yuga. Just in this yuga, a person starts to be interested in sensual enjoyments. At this time the human sins appear. That is why the duration of people’s life shortens and accounts to 10,000 years. The main spiritual practice and the method of self-consciousness during Treta-yuga are Vedic sacrifices to God and virgins. The sacrifices are ghee, grain and some kinds of plants.

Dvapara-yuga is the third of the four yugas, or epochs, in Hindu time cycle; it follows Treta-yuga and precedes Kali-yuga. According to Bhavata-purana, Dvapara-yuga was over on the day of Krishna’s “leaving”.

Dvapara-yuga lasts for 864,000 years and clemency decreases one-fourth. In this epoch there appear illnesses as well as natural calamities. Out of the four Brahma features (asceticism, purity, clemency, truthfulness), only the last two are fully manifested in Dvahara-pura. The duration of people’s life becomes ten times less than in the previous yuga and accounts to about 1,000 years.

The main spiritual practice and method of self-consciousness in Dvahara-yuga is adoration to gods in the temple. In this yuga, Vyasa, the literature embodiment of God, divided the single Veda into four parts: ‘Rig-Veda’, ‘Sama-Veda’, Yadgur-Veda’ and ‘Atharva-Veda’.

Kali-yuga is the fourth out of thr four yugas, or epochs, in Hindu time cycle. It is characterized by the fall of morality as the good in the world is decreasing up to one-fourth compared with the original state in Satya-yuga. The name can have various meanings: ‘the age of Kali demon’, ‘the iron age’, ‘the age of discord’. In Indian literature there are different dates of Kali-yuga. According to puranas, Kali-yuga started at night of 23 January, 3102 B.C. (Gregorian calendar) what marked Krishna’s “leaving”. The duration of Kali-yuga is 432,000 years.

“Mahabharata” (the legends about Markandeya’s conversations, Aranyakaparva, Chapters 186-189) tells that it is the worst age when there remains only one-fourth of the original morality, and just that is completely destructed by the end of Kali-yuga. The duration of people’s life decreases – they live up to the age of 100 years old. Generaleconomic and spiritual degradation begins; people manifest the most disgusting features. Their bravery, mind and strength become weaker. People’s behavior is ruled by spite, envy and ambition. People become mendacious; their sacrifices, gifts and vows are only for show. Brahmans cease to make prayers, to give sacrifices and read Vadas; they forget about funeral sacrifices and eat everything they like.

However, the loss of moral values and disregard of their debt turn out for the worse for the bearers of evil and sins in the end. The rulers, who became tyrants in this epoch, were unable to keep people in obedience, to protect their people from the attacks of other nations which became barbarians and forgot about virtue and sacrifices to gods. Kali-yuga ceases when evil and violence fill the whole world which is then destructed – pralaya. In this way Maha-yuga (Manvantara) is completed, and the circle of epochs is renewed.

Any person, who is interested in the chronology problem of Indian history or the life dates of certain personalities, knows quite well that the difference of 100 or 200 years between the origins defining chronology is practically normal for the Indian chronicles. In fact, we have the exact chronology of Indian history due to the chronicles of Muslim rulers of India in the middle-age epoch or the timing of Indian chronology to the precisely dated historical events which are known from the other origins (for instance, for reconstructing the chronology of ancient Indian history at the ancient time, such a basic event is Alexander Macedonian’s campaign).

Now, from the historic time let’s proceed to the philosophic categories of eternity and time in Yoga. Yogis-philosophers considered two kinds of eternity:

Absolute unchangeable eternity – eternity of constancy (this is Spirit – Purusha);

Eternity of changes (this is the feature of material Nature and its Hun).

Something can be eternal “because the inner essence of that ‘something’ is not subjected to destructions”, as Vyasa believed. In Yoga, this definition can be only referred to Purusha’s constancy and the constancy of Hun’s changes. In other words, it can be said that Yoga states the eternity of Supreme spiritual Reality and the eternity of moving material Nature which supplement each other in Parabramana (“outside Brama”, the synonym of the term ‘Absolute’).

In terms of Yoga, time is the sequent flow of moments. In its turn, according to Yogis-theoreticians, a moment is the minimal possible limit of time. In modern quantum physics, this corresponds to ‘a time slice’; ‘time slicing’ is the limiting of the minimal possible period of time. Philosophic intuition of Indian people of wisdom anticipated the scientific rationalism of Newest time at least for over two thousand years.

So, time is the sequence of moments: in this case, the sequence is the constant, unified flow of such moments. But really the unified flow or linking does not exist as objective reality. The Present is just one moment in which there is neither Past nor Future. What we call ‘Past’ or ‘Future’ is only the change of moments. These reflections cause the conclusion that time, as it is, as some phenomenon doesn’t exist. There exist only changes of material reality where time is no more than universal illusion or convention. Only eternity is absolute which a yogi’s spirit is turned to.

Many ages before the appearance of Albert Einstein’s relativity theory, yogis-philosophers came to understanding the relativist nature of time. Time isn’t an absolute essence or unchangeable world arena where various events of the universe reality occur. Time, as the ancient Oriental doctrine proves, is only the feature of material world which depends on material processes. And these processes can change the course of time to one (slowing) or another (speeding) side.

In this point, we can see that the mystical Yoga philosophy (supposing the possibility of human spirit to have an influence on time) surprisingly corresponds to the modern relativistic physics substantiates the influence on the course of time, for example, the speed of a body movement or gravitation field.

The existing in Yoga methods of making the human organism younger (for instance, the upside-down position of body in Hatha Yoga are substantiated in terms of cosmogonical Yoga conception (the doctrine about the origin or creation of the Universe). Traditionally, Yoga methods are practiced to achieve enlightenment and acquirement absolute knowledge; however, according to Yoga doctrine the superior development of human consciousness is based on the harmonic perfection of all lower aspects of human beings and the compensation of their age degradation.

It is impossible to form the correct cure system without knowing the principles of organism constitution. In order to comprehend the latter, one has to know the structure of the world as a whole.

The cosmogonical conceptions accepted in Yoga are stated in the main Yoga treatises, namely in Patandjali’s “Yoga-Darshana”, in ‘Gheranda-Samhita” and “Shiva-Samhita”, as well as in numerous papers of the commentators of those treatises.

The original pre-matter is named Prakriti – it is that the non-manifested Single creates Being within itself out of. The original nature of the Single being absolute awareness is Emptiness in which there is even no space as everything is mutually balanced, integral and full-fledged. The inducement to the embodiment of self-consciousness in the manifested creatures is the first impulse which makes the Single create the Original Strength within itself and break its own inner balance of Emptiness by dividing It into absolutely moveable and absolutely inert – two primary streams of Being. Due to this, the space of the world appears – Prakriti – the vortex-like non-uniformities of which become the matter woven by vibration fields.

So, the inducement of the Single to self-consciousness forms two state principles of Original Strength – two Huns: absolute activity named Radjo-Hun or Radjas and absolute inertness named Tamo-Hun or Tamas. Being merged in the non-manifested Single, they are mutually destroyed by primary integrity and fullness. When they are manifested, their balance in the created Being is something new, higher feature of orderliness (different from primary Chaos) named Sattvo-Hun or just Sattva. So, three Huns create the world out of Prakriti while ordering absolute Chaos of primary Emptiness into the structure of Being according to the Will of the Single.

Sattvo-Hun in the manifested is self-sufficient as it is the principle of balancing which doesn’t destroy but harmonically organizes the inducing strength of Radjo-Hun and immoveable inertness of Tamo-Hun. Tamo-Hun, or Tamas, is the principle or feature of inertness providing the possibility of creating and saving the form – the resulting state of the inducing strength in action. Tamas is also the aspect of Original Strength which stipulates the creation of five elements, five qualitative substantial manifestations: soil, water, fire, air and ether.

Unlike the Hun – the potential tendency of dynamic realization of Being, the great element –maha-bhuta or tattva (‘essence’) is the primary feature of the substance of the world corresponding to the certain primary state of space as the primary pre-matter of Universe.

There are five aha-bhutas or tattvas: the roughest essence of matter as solid material – Prithvi – the soil element; the essence of liquid state – Apas – the water element; the essence of the state transitional from the state limited by volume to the gas-like phase – Tajas or Agni – the fire element; the essence of gas state – Vayu or Vata – the air element; the essence of thin non-material state of matter – Akasha – the ether element corresponding to both the state-temporal continuum proper and various fields existing in it in the form stipulated by the presence of Prana – the feature of energy and ether breath – Akasha-vayu – the primary vortex-like non-uniformities the compaction and dividing of which is the origin of transforming the qualitative matter states into each other creating the primary; these transformations create the primary elements.

The most important among the five elements is the ether of the Universe – the state-time – Akasha. The ether breath – Akasha-vayu – creates the air element from ether. The elements of ether, air and fire in combination create the water element. And, whereas the air element is the fundamental principle of the life breath, water contains all objects of the world of manifested creatures in embryo state. The combination of elements of ether, air, fire and water forms the soil (earth) element which is the fundamental principle of substance of material objects. So, the subjective world in its incomprehensible variety is the result of natural interaction of five elements – Pancha-tanmatra.

At some step of their interaction, the five fundamental elements form the material world of physical elements – Pancha-bhuta – which all the myriads of nebulae consist of, and each nebula comprises the uncountable number of stars and star systems.

The elements or thin components of fundamental elements are the principles organizing them – the conformable to them, qualitative aspects of Prana-energy. The rough components of fundamental elements – physical elements – are the realization of the organizing principles in the space formed by them in an appropriate way. The power of the interaction of five elements controlled by three Huns manifests itself both in forming the smallest vortexes of super-weak vibration fields and in creating the gigantic conglomerates of rough matter.

The very first object which Prakriti created was Maha-tattva, Great Essence or Great Verity, the single fundamental principle embodied in the pre-matter of initial potential energy. The dynamic manifestations of energy are called Prana – Initial Strength.

Vedas call the initial manifested God of creating the world as “Golden Uterine” – Hiranya-garpha. Hiranya is gold, the golden stream of divine consciousness, the divine sparkle in embodied creatures. In manifestations of any creature, that is aware of this sparkle present in oneself, the motives predominate stipulated by the self-enough tendency of harmony – Sattva-hun. That is why everyone who reached such a level of self-consciousness will be called Hiranya-garpha because his essence is inseparable from the single essence of the world.

Hiranya-garpha is the creative Spirit, Creator, the Guard and Lord of the Universe. It is his inspiration that created all the world levels of manifested reality. Being the great origin of everything created, Hiranya-garbha is also the fundamental principle of consciousness and self-consciousness of the Universe.

Pracriti’s second derivative is Ahamkara-Ego or the universal willpower. Accordingly, by transforming into numerous worlds of the Universe of material objects, thin fundamental elements transfer their features to rough structures. So, in its limit, the object Universe is the transformation of Akashi (space-time) stipulated by the action of Ahamkara (willpower of the World).

Prana as the feature of energy, which the world space possesses in various forms, is the applying object of the world willpower and the key factor of self-manifestation realization and, consequently, the world self-consciousness. Being the stipulating start of manifested reality, the world willpower controls Prana’s dynamics by means of intention. The latter is the bridge between the will as it is and the energy realizing the manifested reality.

The fixation of the creative power in the form of a structure composed of manifested forms is stipulated by Tamo-Hun, the inertia tendency of state conservation. A great number of worlds as the structured manifestation or expression of five elements is formed at the expence of Tamas power.

According to “Yoga-shastra”, the ruling God of the sphere of manifested reality is Indra. It is he who, by his intention, initiates five rough elements giving them activity. In the world space there are innumerous myriads of eyes belonging to Indra’s body. They are to watch all the diversity of world phenomena; that lets Indra keep the strict order in the creating transformations and the discipline of manifestations. That is why Indra is depicted as a one-thousand-eyed God.

The otherworldly inner watcher (the point around which the awareness of every embodied creature is formed) is Indra’s eye, the active aspect of the Single who vacantly watches himself in the process of creating evolution, the process of His self-awareness. That is why in this central point there is the absoluteness of vacancy quietness, and just in this point, there is the understanding of great identity, awareness of Unity, Yoga state.

According to Yoga conception, the elements found in the macrocosm (vast Universe of Adho-triloka) cannot but be present in a human body, because this is the microcosm depicting the structure of the Universe in miniature. The main of the five elements is Akasha-bhuta, the space-time continuum. The existence of the Universe is stipulated by the interaction of Akasha-bhuta and Sattva-Hun. In the same way, Akasha-bhuta provides the existence of the miniature universe of our body. Akasha’s specific feature is sound. That is why it is considered that a person perceives Akasha’s manifestations through hearing organs. All the hollows and holes in the body, e.g. the skin pores, inner voids of vessels, bones and organs, are Akasha-tattva’s formations.

The interaction of Sattva-Hun and Radjo-Hun with Akasha-bhuta gives birth to Vayu-tatva and Vayu-bhuta, the air element. The direct perception of Vayu-tatva occurs by means of touching; the indirect one – by means of hearing. Being manifested in a human body, Vayu-bhuta generates the desire for pleasant feelings in the touching organs. The same element is the life power, the creating principle of body, which is responsible for controlling the process of constant renewing the organs and systems on the cell level, as well as for keeping their functional activity state in order.

The power of Radjas himself is embodied in Tedjo-bhuta or Agni-tattva which is the main fire. Its special feature is colour. The direct perception of Tedjo-bhuta occurs by means of vision — the ability to define visually the special forms; the indirect perception – with the help of hearing and touching. Agni-tatva (fire element) is responsible for the presence of functional energy in a human body. Agni carries out the processing of nutrients by the digestive fire providing thereby the organism with the energy of rougher level which is necessary for realization of all the systems and organs.

Djala-bhuta or Apo-tattva – the water element – is the result of interaction between Akasha and the combination of Radjo and Tamo-Hun. The main feature of the water element is taste. Its indirect perception is carried out by the organs of hearing, touch and vision. The main zone of functional manifestating the water element in a human body is the mouth as taste receptors are located here. All the liquid substances of the body – blood, lymph, secretions of endocrine glands and others – are based on the water element – Djala-bhuta.

Prithvi-bhuta – the soil element or Prithvi-tattva – is created by the interaction of Akasha and Tamo-Hun. The specific feature of the soil element is smell. Its indirect perception is carried out through the organs of hearing, touch, vision and taste. The main zone of functional manifestation manifesting Pritthvi-tattva in the human physical body is the organ of smell. The soil element forms the basis of building all the solid tissues of the body – bones, muscles, brain, the flesh of inner organs, glands, etc.

If one accumulates the quantity of free energy enough to broaden the perception beyond the three-dimensional physical world and, being able to see the thin substance, looks at the Earth from cosmos, one will see that it is located on the crossing of uncountable numbers of energy rays. The whole planet will look like a sphere-like brush formed by light rays. Some of them, very powerful and stable, cross with the planet surface in fixed points and always enter it perpendicularly.

These are so-called stationary rays which are the framework components of the energy structure of the planet itself. There are not few, but not so many of them. The rest of them, and they are predominate, are not so powerful and represent a flowing mass of multi-colorful strings; the existence of living beings and plants is possible due to them. The stationary rays are primary; due to them the planet can exist as an integral organism. At the same time, these rays themselves exist owing to the energy concentration in the given part of space; on its basis the planet’s life develops and its body is formed.

Individual rays are secondary; they exist due to the planet’s existence, and each of them is the core of the energy structure of an individual living being. Each living being forms its own ray while pulling the space energy into it and appears to be threaded upon it. If there is an individual ray, there should be a corresponding living being; if there is a living being, it has its own ray for sure. Where there are no living beings, there is only the Universal creative medium – the space Power stream HA-THA formed by the interaction of Universal streams of Initial Power: the rising THA and the falling HA. Individual rays cross with the planet surface at different angles; sometimes they only touch it and constantly rush about accompanying all the movements of living beings which they do during their lives. Correspondingly, the Universe space is filled with mad dancing of energy rays the ends of which are lost in infinity.

However, if we manage to follow where these rays go, we find that they are not direct at all, but multi-dimensional rings with the infinite diameter; in the tendency of the Universe infinity they appear to be closed to themselves. Along each of the rings, energy flows in two directions. Near the Earth surface it looks like two counter-directed energy streams of counter quality: the concentrated stream of male Initial Power HA falling from Cosmos through the Earth surface to its centre, and the ray of female Initial Power THA rising from the Earth centre through its surface to Cosmos.

Both streams in the ring are vortex-like wound clockwise relative to their longitudinal axis (watching in the direction of their movement). So, the circulation directions of the rising and falling streams are contrary. And, what is the most important, through the local concentration of the energy forming the planet body (in case of the stationary ring) and the creature body (in case of the individual ring), these streams are a little shifted in the phase of spiral rotation. The two gigantic energy rings put into each other are as if shifted within each other relative to their common centre. If it wasn’t so, they would annihilate having compensated each other. And through the shift they exist with equilibrium.

The energy of their mutual tendency to compensation forms HA-THA stream of the Space Power of the Universal creating medium which starts forming the energy structure frameworks of the objects of the world of manifested creation. The universal creating medium exists in the whole space surrounding the planet as well as the streams of Initial Power. But in the stationary rings, the energy of these streams achieves the gigantic concentration, that is why the points of their entry-outlet are the powerful places of the Power. The energy framework of the planet resembles a sort of crystal lattice. The stationary rings are crossed with it in its knot points.

Viparita-karani-mudra is one of the key mystical Yoga practices. While doing it in full variant, this exercise changes the rotation direction of the main vortex into the contrary one thereby influencing the direction of the inner time stream. This exercise looks like a shoulder-stand, though the body isn’t stretched upright but, through the strong backward arch of the backbone, it forms a step in the stomach area its lower part and the pelvis being situated horizontally. All the streams start flowing backwards like in the shoulder-stands, headstands and handstands. To be more exact, they don’t change their direction, but the body just turns over in the field of their movement.

At the expense of the step in the pelvis area, the rising stream of the inner fire, flowing now upright from the head, is retarded in the lower part of the stomach. It lacks energy for entering the legs. In the same way, the falling HA Power stream, while descending to the legs, meets the horizontally located pelvis, and its energy is accumulated in the lowest part of the body – in the centre of sexual power, the upper part localization of which coincides with the centre localization of the water element power. The falling HA-stream creates the additional obstacle for the rising inner-fire stream going to legs. The falling stream of water power inside the body also flows backwards – from the pelvis to the head. However, at the expense of the step near the throat, it is retarded in the area of middle-light field and in the lower point of the upper-light field. So, the fire concentrated at the level of the lower part of body appears now in the body below the water power accumulated at the level of middle and upper parts of chest. The excess of fire power accumulated in the head goes to ground through the skull base; the Earth body freely absorbs the excess of any Power. In viparita-karani, it is sufficient to just relax one’s neck for it.

After standing in viparita-karani for rather a long time and then lying on one’s back (being relaxed in order to take the stress away), a person stands up in a usual position; the movement directions of the inner energy streams are changed into the normal ones again, the fire rushes upwards, the water rushes downwards, and they meet in the middle while forming vapour. It is what is necessary: furthermore, the distributed vapour changes the density of energy filling of physical body flesh, thereby saving it from injuries during the further training.

In order to distinguish the mixed power of fire and water elements in the energy structure, there are specially developed sequences of the body movements and poses. Sometimes body starts moving itself – under the influence of the mixed Power streams. This is one of the mode variants of the Power contemplation. In this case, it is optimal as the sequences of movements and poses passing into one another appear to be individually optimized and, as a rule, absolutely error-free. But for that to happen, a person should be highly sensitive to processes in one’s thin body, and one’s dense physical component of his energy structure should have the great experience of special physical activity. Otherwise, there should be nearby a master who passes a part of his abilities on his pupil.

But let’s return to the philosophical items of time, now of the time (duration) of being. Vyasa doesn’t give an exact and unambiguous answer implying that the sequence of being is relative. There are things whose being sequence comes to their completion. It is expressed in the finite limit of changes. This means the end of being of these things. According to Yoga, such are all natural objects except Huns. The sequence of their changes doesn’t come to an end. That is why their movement, or the transformation of material Nature, is eternal. So, the eternal being in the World has only what it is created out of – Material Substance with its features-forces (i.e. Prakriti and Huns). Here material Substance is identical to Nature.

Let’s pay attention to Vyasa’s answer about the limit of personal being in sansara: “Does this circulation have an end for a certain creature or not? – For a wise person, the sequence end of being circulation does exist, for another one doesn’t.” Vyasa says that the life paths of a wise yogi (i.e. who achieved liberation) and of an ordinary person are different in sansara. The wise yogi comes out of the circulation of material being: he dissolves in Spirit-Purusha. All the others will circulate in the sansara rings until they achieve liberation.

Here, we again encounter the eternity dialectics (dialectics is a theory of eternal formation and changeability of being) – the eternal constancy of Spirit and eternal changes of Matter. In this aspect, the philosophy of classical Yoga is highly coordinated. Reality is always endless and regularly changes from one aspect of eternity (constancy of Spiritual Reality – Purusha) to the other (constancy of changes of Material Reality – Prakriti). And an individual spirit of living beings, while taking part in the endless performance of material life as an actor, acquiring the life experience in joys and sufferings, simultaneously watches this performance dispassionately as an eternal spiritual Spectator – World Spirit or Universal Consciousness.

Spiritual consciousness (Purusha) is reflected in psychics-consciousness (in Vyasa’s commentaries, buddhi is consciousness or psychics which gives birth to the development of images-consciousness contents) and fills its original unconscious psychic sphere with the ability of perception and self-consciousness. In this way buddhi becomes conscious and falls into the illusion that it is the subject of experience. It is just ahamkara (namely ‘ego-division’), i.e. illusion of psychic isolation or own Ego.

In fact, buddhi is only the psychic mirror — the reflector of experience – which contemplates the real subject – Spirit (Purusha). Purusha is a spectator, buddhi is being watched. Purusha is a spiritual Subject, buddhi is a spiritual-material object (for Purusha). He is subjected to Purusha’s purposes and exists for his sake. When the illusion of ahamkara is destructed and spirit is separated from the mental-psychic sphere of buddhi, Superior Yoga is carried out, i.e. the individual spirit-consciousness (Atman) is united with the World Spirit-Consciousness (Brahman).