by Rolf Sovik
When the mind is dark and insensitive to its underlying nature, there can be little Self-knowledge. At such times, the mind is filled with tamas (the principle of obscuration). Then we will need preparatory practice, drawing from the complete range of yoga disciplines, to prepare the way for svadhyaya.
Contemplative Recitations
Over three millennia ago, poets of the Vedic age spoke of the Self as the One dwelling in the many, calling it the Purusha (the Cosmic Person) and describing it as a being with “countless heads, countless eyes, and countless feet.” Among the Vedic hymns is the Purusha Sukta (the hymn devoted to the Cosmic Person), one of the foremost sacred texts in the svadhyaya tradition. The first three verses, which follow, can be used for contemplation.
OM With countless heads, countless eyes, countless feet,
Moving, yet the ground of all,
The Cosmic Person is beyond the reach of the senses.
He is all this, all that has been, and all that is to be.
He is the Lord of Immortality, who expands Himself as food.
Such is His glory, and yet the Cosmic Person is more.
One part of Him is creation,
And three parts swell beyond as His boundless light.
This hymn speaks of the Self as the one among many who sees through the uncounted eyes of created beings; who is unlimited by time or space; who is the essence of the process of life-maintenance (food for all); and yet whose nature is only partially taken up by all this. Contemplating on such a presence—thinking and behaving as if it exists, and seeking to know it, though it is not seen or heard through the senses, is the first stage in svadhyaya.
Mantra Meditation
It is in mantra meditation that svadhyaya—silent, inner recitation—bears its fullest fruit. Repeating a mantra anchors the mind to one thought—a sound pregnant with the presence of the Self. Vyasa, the great commentator on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, confirms this in his commentary on sutra 2:2. There he says that svadhyaya means the repetition of purifying mantras. And in his commentary on sutra 1:25 he notes that there is a science of such mantras, “a particular knowledge of His name.” This knowledge lies at the heart of svadhyaya.
According to this tradition, mantras are given to students for protection and guidance. They are recited in the mind. But paradoxically, they are the source of inner silence, for when a mantra permeates the mind, all else becomes silent. Real silence in meditation is not the mind emptied of thought. It is the mysterious experience of the mind filled by the pulsing of the mantra.
Use the mantra soham to get started. This will help you quiet your mind and awaken the inner witness, for soham means “That . . . I am; the Self . . . I am.” Repeating soham is the first step in acquiring direct, intuitive knowledge of the Self—the means of bringing the practice of svadhyaya to fulfillment.
A Final Thought
In his own intimate way, Walt Whitman places a few final elements of svadhyaya before us for contemplation. Again, in “Song of Myself,” he avows that the Self is not running away, not struggling to keep the truth from us, not unresponsive to our efforts at Self-knowledge. Instead, he tells us that knowing the Self is the consummation of a search requiring patient and repeated effort. And most touchingly, as is the case with so many other revelations of Being, he reports that the Self is nearby, and filled with grace. In Whitman’s words:Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.
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About the Author
Rolf Sovik, Psy.D., is spiritual director of the Himalayan Institute and co-director of the Himalayan Institute of Buffalo, New York. He is also a clinical psychologist in private practice, with a special interest in applying yoga in the treatment and prevention of mental health problems. He has been practicing, teaching, and training teachers in the Himalayan tradition since 1972.
He holds a doctorate in psychology from the Minnesota School of Professional Psychology, a master’s degree in Eastern studies from the University of Scranton, and an undergraduate degree (magna cum laude) with majors in philosophy (honors) and history from St. Olaf College. He has studied yoga in the United States and in India and Nepal and was initiated as a pandit in the Himalayan tradition in 1987. Prior to beginning his studies in yoga, he trained as a cellist, performing widely throughout the Midwest. He is a board member of the Himalayan Institute Teachers Association and a regular contributor to Yoga International magazine.
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