# Class Seven - Jivanmukti **1) In the first verse of the fourth chapter of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the yogi Swatmarama—as appropriate—first bows down “to Shiva, the One Who Brings the End, the One Who Brings Peace,” and none other than his own Teacher.  Describe the end and the peace that are mentioned here, and how a being like our own Teacher/Shiva could bring these to us.** The “end” and the “peace” here are first of all the ending of the “impurities,” the mental afflictions of ignorance, ignorant liking, and ignorant disliking: peace from all forms of mental suffering.  Then secondly we go beyond this to the ultimate peace of being able to serve all living beings in a body of light.  And it is the two-step process of hatha and raja yoga, first spoken by a divine being, our own Teacher, which enables us to reach this peace. **2) Master Swatmarama says that Shiva embodies “the sacred sound, the dot, and the play.”  Give the Sanskrit words for these three, and explain them briefly.** The Sanskrit word for sacred sound here is nada nad , meaning the sound of the inner winds flowing free through the channels, and of the root syllables or bijas that help make up the channels.  The word for the dot is bindu ibNÊ, referring to drops of consciousness as they flow through the channels, connected to the inner winds.  The Sanskrit for the play is kala kla, and here refers to a concentrated dot or one-pointed state of consciousness which is well-practiced in using the inner sound and winds to perceive emptiness: the subject of the fourth chapter. **3) Master Swatmarama says that, in the fourth chapter, he will describe to us the higher stages of deep meditation, as “a way that we can slay death itself, a path of pleasure.”  Describe how it is that meditation can help us slay death; how hatha yoga plays a role here; and the various senses in which this is a “path of pleasure.”  Also give the Sanskrit for “slaying death,” along with roots and related English words.** We use hatha yoga, physical yoga, to prepare the channels for the direct perception of emptiness during a deep state of meditation.  If we do perceive emptiness, then the power of this experience means that within a specific period of time we will achieve the goal of turning our body into light, and being able to serve all beings on all planets.  We not only go beyond death, we help lead all other beings there. The path is pleasurable first in that we experience physical pleasure as the winds enter the central channel; as they do during the sexual experience.  Secondly, the path is a great pleasure compared to countless lifetimes of suffering without hope.  And thirdly the goal itself is pleasure: the ability to enjoy all objects with limitless emotions of bliss and emptiness. The Sanskrit for slaying death here is mirtyughna m&Tyu¹.  Mirtyu means death; it comes from a root √mir m&, meaning to die, and is related to the English mortuary and immortal.  Ghna here means to slay; it derives from the root √han, meaning to smite, and is related to the English gun, as well as the Sanskrit ahinsa. **4) What are the three primary meanings of the Sanskrit word samadhi, which Master Swatmarama gives as a synonym for raja yoga?  Explain the two parts of the word samadhi, and its sense as a balance.** One meaning of samadhi is simply a state of very deep, single-pointed meditation.  The second meaning of samadhi relates to the object of that meditation—that point when we are immersed in the direct perception of emptiness itself.  Another meaning which is often found in the yoga literature is of the final state of meditation: enlightenment itself, wherein the mind sees all things at the same time as seeing the true nature of all things, which gives us an ultimate ability to serve all living beings. The two parts of the Sanskrit word samadhi  are sama sma and dhi ix.  Sama here means equal, or balanced.  Dhi comes from the root √dha xa , which means set down, or put down.  The point is that, in a really good meditation, we are settled down equally in the sense of staying balanced between the two extremes of being distracted and feeling dull or sleepy. **5) Master Swatmarama gives “withdrawing the world” as a synonym for raja yoga.  Give the Sanskrit word here, and explain it in terms of the inner channels and their relation to the outside world.** The Sanskrit word here is laya ly.  As we succeed in bringing the prana or inner winds into the central channel, the winds are sucked out of the two side channels, where they have been contributing to our mental suffering in the form of ignorant liking and disliking.  These two side channels then eventually shrivel up, which is the first and primary meaning of laya, or withdrawing. Our outer world is intimately related to our channels; in fact, it forms around the channels just as the body forms around them, like ice layers that reflect the contours of a twig.  When we achieve laya on the inside, then our outside world undergoes a similar transformation, withdrawing into our being and then transforming into a deathless paradise. **6) Master Swatmarama says that “suchness” and “ultimate reality” are different names for raja yoga.  Explain why they cannot be; explain how they are; and explain how they relate to being “empty.”** “Suchness” and “ultimate reality” are the object which we focus upon with samadhi, or deep meditation, otherwise known as raja yoga; they are unchanging reality which is quite different from the constantly changing mind which perceives them.  Sometimes though we refer to them with the name of the state of mind that sees them, since the two are so intimately related—indistinguishably so as we do perceive ultimate reality directly prior to enlightenment. Both “suchness” and “ultimate reality” are synonyms for emptiness: the general fact that the world is devoid or empty of anything which is not coming from our own mind, from seeds which we planted there when we were kind or unkind to others in the past. **7) Master Swatmarama further says that “seeing nothing” is a synonym for “raja yoga.”  Give the Sanskrit for this expression; illustrate its meaning with a yoga pose; explain what it means and what it doesn’t mean.** The Sanskrit word here for “seeing nothing” is niralamba inralMb.  This literally means “no support,” or “hanging on nothing,” meaning that we are in a state of mind which is not dependent upon any normal object of the world. The word niralamba is used for example in the name of the yoga pose niralamba sarvangasana, meaning a shoulder stand where there is no support of the arms on the ground.    “Seeing nothing” doesn’t mean that we empty the mind and try not to think about anything, or that when we see ultimate reality we are seeing nothing at all.  Rather, it refers to seeing nothing of the normal reality where we think that things are coming from their own side. **8) Explain the two parts of the word jivanmukti, another word that the yogi Swatmarama uses to describe raja yoga** The Sanskrit term jivanmukti ijvNmui´ is made up of two parts, jivan and mukti.  The word jivan means living, while mukti  means liberated.  The point is that we can enter heaven in this life, without having to die.  As Jesus once said, “There are people among you here who will not taste of death before they enter the kingdom of heaven.” **9) Explain the meaning of the phrase “simultaneous,” which Master Swatmarama again uses to describe raja yoga.  Also give the Sanskrit here.** The phrase “simultaneous” here is sahaja in Sanskrit.  It refers to the combination of bliss and the direct perception of ultimate reality, which occur simultaneously when we succeed in directing the inner winds into our central channel through the processes of hatha and raja yoga. **10) Master Swatmarama says that “for one who fully grasps the culmination of royal yoga, wisdom, freedom, stillness, and attainments are all within reach”—but only under one condition.  Give that condition.** These are all within reach, on the condition that we rely on the advices of our spiritual guide.