Last night I said that in our psycho-spiritual process, our starting point is within the realm of time, space and person. And our goal, for which I use the term “Supreme Noumenal entity”, is beyond the reach of time, space and person.

Now in the course of occult practice, the bondages of the mutative principle, static principle and sentient principle become loose. When the bondage of the static principle disappears, the aspirant enjoys a particular nature of bliss. There, that is, in that stage, there remains no static bondage, but the bondages of the mutative and sentient principle are there. Then the bondage of the mutative principle disappears. And finally, when the bondage of the sentient principle disappears, man becomes one with his object of ideation.

Now when, in the primordial phase, after starting in the physical sphere, the aspirant is just about to cross the cordon of the static principle, he enjoys a special nature of pleasure. We may say “pleasure”, because it is not the supreme beatitude, but is a modified form of beatitude. Not purely pleasure, something higher, something subtler, something more charming, more beautiful – more than pleasure. That enjoyment, that psycho-spiritual enjoyment, is known as dashá in Sanskrit.

In the dashá phase, the aspirant enjoys a sort of inner pleasure, but his sensory and motor organs fail to express it. Even language is too weak to convey the experience. That stage of the human mind is called dashá. The mind tries to express something but the vocal cord cannot produce the appropriate sound. In that stage the aspirant may create a sound like oṋ . . . oṋ . . . oṋ, like this, but no definite language is produced.

Just when the aspirant crosses the cordon of the supreme static point, just on the other side, he feels another type of pleasure, and in that case (it is a subtler phase) he feels that he is with his Goal, he is with the Supreme Entity. The Universe is also there, but he feels that he has become a strong person – physically, mentally, spiritually – and under such circumstances, he does not care a fig for what the world says. This phase is called bháva. When a man is in bháva, it will be very easy for you to know it, because there will be a certain expression, not in the vocal cord, but from here [taps the anáhata cakra]. Perhaps you have seen someone saying “Bábá! Bábá!” – saying like this. Have you seen it? Because the expression comes from this point [indicates anáhata cakra again].

Then when the aspirant crosses the cordon of the mutative principle, that stage is known as bháva samádhi. At that stage the aspirant feels that he is with his Cosmic Goal. There is no Universe. At that stage, he ignores the entitative existence of the Universe. But he feels that he is with his Lord. He enjoys divine bliss, but it becomes very difficult for him to express, that is, he cannot express it.

In the final phase, when he crosses the jurisdiction of the sentient principle, he feels that there is no duality, that is, the duality of him and his Lord, this duality, disappears. He feels there is only one existence – he feels “he is” or he feels “the Lord is.” “I am with my Lord” – “I” and “Lord” – this duality disappears. This is called mahábháva.

Now all higher samádhis are different experiences of this mahábháva. It depends on the style of ideation. But when one attains the stance of mahábháva it is not at all difficult or impossible for the aspirant to enjoy other kinds of samádhi. Not bháva samádhi, but actual samádhi, that is, the highest form of samádhi.

But all those samádhis which are within the boundaries of the sentient principle are qualified samádhis, attributional samádhis. And the mind remains – either in the form of the microcosm or in the form of the Macrocosm, the ectoplasmic stuff is there. But when the aspirant brings his mind to a pointed form, to a pinnacled form, to an apexed form, the mind, the ectoplasmic stuff, disappears due to extreme concentration, and under such circumstances the Supreme Cognitive Faculty remains. This is called “non-qualified, non-attributional samádhi” – nirvikalpa samádhi in Sanskrit.

By dint of japa kriyá, japa, one attains the attributional stage of samádhi, and by dint of one’s dhyána one attains the non-attributional stance of samádhi, which is the goal of each and every individual of this Universe. You should know it and you should do accordingly.