The Thinking.

Thinking, Thought and Thinker.

--

निर्विषय चेतना  / The consciousness devoid of object is ever so in the same way is also devoid of the विषयी / subject as well.

Wherever / यत्र through the sense-organs / ज्ञानेन्द्रिय, there is contact / सङ्गः between this pure consciousness associated with a living being (person - विषयी / पुरुष / पुंसः) with an object / विषय, the person as the Thinker / विषयी and the object / विषय as the World appear together at the same time.

Memory creates the illusion आभास / प्रत्यय that the निर्विषय चेतना / pure consciousness where this division takes place is the Thinker, and still the memory persists in the background as a Thought.

I-sense, as the Timeless Reality remains unaffected throughout.

A Practicing Yogi tries to exclude vRitti / Thought either by removing all the 5 kinds of vRitti, or attention fixed on one specific - a mantra or any such object of meditation.

The practice of removing all vRitti  वृत्ति  is called वृत्तिनिरोधः / vRitti-nirodhaH.

The practice of fixing the attention on a specific vRitti वृत्ति is called the एकाग्रता / ekAGratA.

Abidance in a specific vRitti for a long time is called समाधि / samAdhi.

The perfection संयम / samyama of Yoga is the state of the mind when the above,

विवेकवैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः।।  

निरोध-परिणामः / the nirodha-pariNama,

एकाग्रता परिणामः / the ekAgratA-pariNama

and

the समाधि-परिणाम / samAdhi-pariNama are combined in one whole.

Maharshi Patanjali has described how this संयम / samyama is further applied in different ways so as to attain any occult or mystic power : सिद्धि / a siddhi.

This is the Yoga of कर्म / Karma.

However, the Way of  साँख्य / sAmkhya is the one where through inquiry into the Core Reality is attempted.

Where one through this enquiry, that begins with the question :

What is that abides for ever and what is that not so?

नित्य क्या है और अनित्य क्या है?

A sincere and earnest seeker soon or later on discovers and comes onto the realization that the दृक् / consciousness alone might be the origin, foundation and the very first, the prime source of and from where arises the appearance - the दृश्य प्रपञ्च Phenomenal Existence.

Accordingly the two spiritual paths are available for all and every sincere and earnest seeker / aspirant.

But in effect both the above two kind of seekers attain the same Realization at the end of their practice.

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विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य योगिनः।।

रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते।।५९।।

(अध्याय 2, Chapter 2, verse 59)