# The Power to Save the World **1) We’ve talked already about how impossible it is for us to read the word word, beginning with the “first” piece of it and working our way from left to right.  We see that it’s impossible for us to be “reading” it, and so we get a glimpse into how—in reality—we must be “dropping” the word down on the page ourselves.  Explain how this applies then to time itself.** If we think about it carefully, we can see that it’s just as impossible for us to experience a moment in time as it is for us to read the word word from left to right.  That is, in order for us to experience a single moment in time, we must approach the very beginning of that moment, experience it, and then move on to the middle and to the end of the moment, in sequence. But by logic then too we must first experience the first part of the beginning of the moment, and then the middle of the beginning of the moment, and so on into infinity.  And by definition we must reach a piece of time which is the shortest we can perceive, but which to perceive we must have perceived some shorter piece of. Which is all to say that we can’t be experiencing time the way that we think we are.  We must actually be projecting time from our own minds.  Which means that we could be perceiving time in “different” chunks, if we had the seeds to.  Which further means that we have the ability to perceive, directly, the past and the future: including our past and future lives. **2) We’ve seen how we impose tiny pictures on both pieces of objects and moments of time to create the impression of things and time.  Now relate this idea to words and languages.** These little pictures are what “words” actually are; and the sounds of words we paste together with the pictures as well.  We learn language only because we mentally create or impose words which we have heard over and over again for time with no beginning.  Once we become aware of how we are creating words, by using word-pictures, then we quickly reach a point of good karma where we understand all the languages of the world, and can teach others in them. **3) Give the Sanskrit words that Master Patanjali uses here for terms and objects.  Then speak a bit about the “mix-up” or confusion here: speak about whether terms or the objects to which they refer come first.** The Sanskrit word for term or word here is shabda zBd.  This is related to the root √vad vdœ, which means to speak.  The noun vak, or voice, comes from this root, and from it come the English words voice, invoke, and epic. The word for object here is artha AwR.  This comes from the root √ir \, meaning to go or to send, in the sense of the object for which we go somewhere.  Words derived from this root have the meaning of to go beyond, or to surpass.  An example in Sanskrit would be the word arya which in modern times has taken on an inappropriate sense of racial superiority, but originally in spiritual terms referred to a person who had gone beyond  normal people because they had seen emptiness directly.  The English word aristocrat is related, with a similar sense. The mix-up or confusion here is that we mistake words for actual objects.  In this sense, a “word” is not the sound or name that we use to represent an object, but rather the tiny mental picture or projection in our minds that we mistake for the actual object. We normally think that outside objects exist first, out there, and then later we give them a name.  But in reality the name comes first (“In the beginning was the word”), the tiny mental image born of our karmic seeds.  We then mistake this for an actual outside object. **4) At some point in our spiritual evolution—and especially in the hours following our first direct perception of emptiness—we gain the ability to read the minds of other people.  Are we then sharing their mental seeds?  Give a proof for your answer.** It is not the case that we can share the karma or mental seeds of others.  When we read other people’s minds, it is a result of the seeds that are already within our own mind.  If it were possible to share karma—if it were possible for one person to give away their karmic seeds to another person—then we simply wouldn’t be here in the broken desire realm, experiencing the pain of this life.  Beings of the path who had perfected their compassion before us would have gladly given us all their good karmic seeds, and we wouldn’t remain in suffering. **5) As we go through the miraculous powers that we can gain through the combined effort of stillness and the vision of emptiness, we will see a common theme: these powers can be used for lower, worldly purposes; or they can be used for higher, ultimate purposes of helping others.  Discuss the higher uses of learning the true nature of time, language, and reading other people’s minds.** If we can see other people’s past and future lives, then we can more effectively address their particular needs and mental seeds.  If we unlock the secrets of language, we can learn to speak to all people in their own language, using it in exactly the way that they can best understand.  If we can read other people’s minds, then we can see directly what they do and do not understand, and explain the path to enlightenment to them easily. **6) Master Patanjali, here in the third chapter, describes the power of invisibility.  Do we need to understand a power like this in order to get it?** Some people, due to the power of the karmic seeds that they have planted in their previous lives, can experience miraculous powers for a relatively brief period of time, without understanding where these powers actually come from.  Also, people who meditate for long periods of time, even if the meditation is faulty and focused on no meaningful object, sometimes obtain temporary powers of this kind.  The reason for this is that—simply by being in meditation—they are avoiding the constant, low-level negative thoughts and deeds that block most people from these powers. These kinds of person though cannot maintain the power, since they fail to grasp its source, and therefore do not understand the good deeds that must be done to keep up the perception of the power.  A person who gains a power due to the combined effort of meditative stillness and the extraordinary vision of emptiness will be able to maintain and increase the power indefinitely, up to enlightenment. **7)  What is it that allows a karmic seed to remain viable and potent as it sits within our mind?** The very act of misunderstanding karmic seeds, of misunderstanding how they cause our world, is what allows these seeds to remain viable and potent.  When we turn the combined effort of stillness and the vision of emptiness upon them, then their power is destroyed. **8) Master Patanjali says that, by using the combined effort, we can reach a point where we gain the ability to see the final outcome of the deeds or karmas that we perform.  Speak about the single most important element that we need to watch in order for the results of our actions to be predictable.  Mention how the idea of “illusion” comes in here.  And then finally give the Sanskrit word for the “final outcome” of a karma, along with related English words.** The intention with which we commit a karma or deed is the single most important element in deciding how it will come out in the end.  A deed done with a good intention will always bring good results, and a deed done with a negative intention will always bring negative results. There is an illusion that things are otherwise.  Perhaps we have a mother-in-law who doesn’t like us so much, and so we buy her a new shower mat to show our hope for friendship.  That night she slips on the mat and hurts herself, and she becomes angry with us.  Having someone be angry with us today though has nothing to do with the act of showing friendship to someone.  This act can only bring us good results in the future.  The anger came from some kind of anger that we showed to a person in the past. The Sanskrit word for the final outcome of a karma is aparanta ApraNAta.  This word has three parts, a and para and anta.  A is the Sanskrit negative and is found in the English words apathetic and apolitical. Para means other or something beyond.  We see a form of it in the famous Sanskrit word paramita, which means gone to the other side, or perfection, as in the six perfections.  In English it’s found in words perfect and paramount.  The combination of a and para here can be read as having nothing beyond it, or final; although apara can also simply mean something that comes later on. Anta means the end, or here the end result of a karma or action.  It is found in the English words end and antique.