# They Organize Parts in a Certain Way **1) In an immediate sense, we see an object when the mind is exposed to this object. What though is the deeper cause for all this happening?** As the Master says in the verses for this reading, “Countless seeds wishing our minds make us see the great variety of things around us.” **2) How is this deeper cause for events reflected in the order of the eight limbs of the yogic path?** Since objects are created by countless seeds within our minds, it makes sense that the first two of the eight limbs of the yogic path are involved with collecting good seeds—and that the yoga exercises come only later on in the eight. The exercises themselves are empty, and can only work on us if we have taken care of others first. Nothing works on anything else, in the world. **3) Master Patanjali says that “the way it works is that they organize other parts in a certain way.” What does “they” refer to, and how does this work, for example, with seeing a pot on a stove?** “They” here refers to our own seeds, from how we have treated others in the past. When we look at a pot on the stove, all that is actually appearing to us is some spots of silverish color and a black cylinder.  Our mind takes these parts and, under the influence of our past actions, organizes them into a tiny picture of a pot with a handle within our mind, which we then take as a pot on the stove. **4) Suppose it’s true that our mind is taking “other parts” or indications of an object and organizing them into the object. Where then do the original parts come from?** The parts themselves are also a product of our mind taking indications of an object and organizing them into the object. The silver spots are parts of a spot to the left and parts of a spot to the right that our mind detects, and organizes into one spot. The black cylinder is one side of the cylinder and then the opposite side of the cylinder, organized together into one cylinder. **5) Master Patanjali says that “those who have experienced the extraordinary vision never stop meditating upon the way the self really is.” Explain.** The “extraordinary vision” here refers to seeing emptiness directly upon the third of the five paths: upon the path of seeing. It’s not the case that after this experience people remain in a state of meditation upon the real nature of the self; but rather that they constantly remain an awareness of all the insights they have gained during their direct perception. **6) Give the Sanskrit words for “meditation” and “the way something really is,” with related English words, and a comment on the connection between the two.** The Sanskrit word for “meditation” is bhavana Éavn . This comes from the root √bhu ÉU, meaning to be, which is found in the English words build, be, physics, and future. The Sanskrit word for “the way something really is” is bhava Éav, which has the same root and cognates as bhavana. The ending –na added to bhava to create the word for meditation is a suffix which expresses “doing” or “doer.” And so the Sanskrit word for meditation literally means to turn something into real: literally creating our reality by meditating.  **7) The Master says that, after the experience of the extraordinary vision, the mind is “engrossed in discrimination, and carried on towards total purity.” Explain.** “Discrimination” in this context refers to the ability to distinguish between apparent reality and actual reality. It is the understanding, maintained throughout the fourth of the five paths—the path of habituation—that things are not as they seem. They seem to be coming from their own side, but in truth are coming from ours. By continuing this train of thought, our mind is “carried on” to the fifth path: total purity, or perfection. Even after we experience ultimate reality directly, our mind still possesses a great many negative seeds, to see things the wrong way, and to undergo painful experiences. The process of eliminating our final negative seeds can itself result in the sudden ripening of some of these seeds, though in a much less powerful way than they would have otherwise: sort of like clearing old mines from a minefield—there is still some explosion, even as we stand aside in relative safety. But because we have already had a direct perception of our eventual perfection, we are never really discouraged by these minor, intervening disasters. **9) The Master says that the last of the negative seeds in our mind are destroyed in the same way as our negative emotions are destroyed. Explain in a practical sense how our understanding of the way things really work would gradually destroy, for example, the last vestiges of the emotion of anger within our hearts.** Say you meet an angry person. How much longer can you get upset, knowing first that you have created them; and secondly that your old, natural reaction is precisely the one which will keep them in your world?