It is necessary to understand something about that consciousness which
is your Self, and about the matter which is the envelope of
consciousness, but which the Self so often identifies with himself. The
great characteristic of consciousness is change, with a foundation of
certainty that it is. The consciousness of existence never changes, but
beyond this all is change, and only by the changes does consciousness
become Self-consciousness. Consciousness is an everchanging thing,
circling round one idea that never changes—Self-existence. The
consciousness itself is not changed by any change of position or place.
It only changes its states within itself.
In matter, every change of state is brought about by change of place. A
change of consciousness is a change of a state; a change of matter is a
change of place. Moreover, every change of state in consciousness is
related to vibrations of matter in its vehicle. When matter is
examined, we find three fundamental qualities—rhythm, mobility,
stability—sattva, rajas, tamas. Sattva is rhythm, vibration. It is more
than; rajas, or mobility. It is a regulated movement, a swinging from
one side to the other over a definite distance, a length of wave, a
vibration.
The question is often put: “How can things in such different
categories, as matter and Spirit, affect each other? Can we bridge that
great gulf which some say can never be crossed?” Yes, the Indian has
crossed it, or rather, has shown that there is no gulf. To the Indian,
matter and Spirit are not only the two phases of the One, but, by a
subtle analysis of the relation between consciousness and matter, he
sees that in every universe the LOGOS imposes upon matter a certain
definite relation of rhythms, every vibration of matter corresponding
to a change in consciousness. There is no change in consciousness,
however subtle, that has not appropriated to it a vibration in matter;
there is no vibration in matter, however swift or delicate, which has
not correlated to it a certain change in consciousness. That is the
first great work of the LOGOS, which the Hindu scriptures trace out in
the building of the atom, the Tanmatra, “the measure of That,” the
measure of consciousness. He who is consciousness imposes on his
material the answer to every change in consciousness, and that is an
infinite number of vibrations. So that between the Self and his sheaths
there is this invariable relation: the change in consciousness and the
vibration of matter, and vice versa. That makes it possible for the
Self to know the Not-Self.
These correspondences are utilised in Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga, the
Kingly Yoga and the Yoga of Resolve. The Raja Yoga seeks to control the
changes in consciousness, and by this control to rule the material
vehicles. The Hatha Yoga seeks to control the vibrations of matter, and
by this control to evoke the desired changes in consciousness. The weak
point in Hatha Yoga is that action on this line cannot reach beyond the
astral plane, and the great strain imposed on the comparatively
intractable matter of the physical plane sometimes leads to atrophy of
the very organs, the activity of which is necessary for effecting the
changes in consciousness that would be useful. The Hatha Yogi gains
control over the bodily organs with which the waking consciousness no
longer concerns itself, having relinquished them to its lower part, the
“subconsciousness.” This is often useful as regards the prevention of
disease, but serves no higher purpose. When he begins to work on the
brain centres connected with ordinary consciousness, and still more
when he touches those connected with the super-consciousness, he enters
a dangerous region, and is more likely to paralyse than to evolve.
That relation alone it is which makes matter cognizable; the change in
the thinker is answered by a change outside, and his answer to it and
the change in it that he makes by his. answer re-arrange again the
matter of the body which is his envelope. Hence the rhythmic changes in
matter are rightly called its cognizability. Matter may be known by
consciousness, because of this unchanging relation between the two
sides of the manifest LOGOS who is one, and the Self becomes aware of
changes within himself, and thus of those of the external words to
which those changes are related.