What follows is a short commentary upon certain ideas found in Muktananda's book The Play of Consciousness (Cit-Shakti Vilas). For the most part I will focus on Muktananda's description of various "meditative experiences," but I will also look at how he interprets them in light of traditional sources. We begin with a brief look at his sources.
Muktananda's Sources
Muktananda's sources can roughly be divided into four groups: 1. generally authoritative classical sources, such as the Upanishads and Gita; 2. tantric philosophical works, especially those of Kashmiri Shaivism; 3. tantric yogic works, especially those of the Naths; and 4. general religious works by the West Indian Sants. In The Play of Consciousness there are a number of implicit but unstated references to the major Upanishads as well as several quotes from the Bhagavad Gita. Muktananda makes a few references to the so called Yoga Upanishads, which as far as Upanishads go are actually quite late. He also refers to the Yogavasistha, which is a work of a general "advaitic" orientation that was probably written under the influence of Kashmiri Shaivism. He quotes several Kashmiri Shaiva texts: the Shiva Sutras; the Vijnanabhairava; the Spanda Karikas; and the Pratyabhijna Hrdaya. He also refers to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, which is a Nath work on the practice of their specific form of yoga. On the subject of guru yoga, he refers to the Guru Gita, which is regarded as an addendum to the Skanda Purana. Paralleling references to the Nath and Kashmiri Shaiva traditions, are several references to Jnaneshwar, Ecknath, and Tukaram, who are all from the West Indian Sant tradition. (Scholars refer to two Sant traditions; the other Sant tradition is the North Indian tradition -- i.e., Kabir, Nanak, the Radhasoamis, and other shabda yogins.) The Sants and the Naths make much of the importance of the "sat-guru," and Muktananda devotes some space to reviewing the necessity of this principle. He refers to the West Indian Sants as "Siddhas," which signifies that he sees a continuity running between the Nath yogins and the West Indian Sants. This is something that has historical basis, as Jnaneshvar was initiated into the Adi-Nath sampradaya (the precursor to the Nav-Nath sampradaya) and his writings shows substantial Nath influence.
Preliminary Considerations: Muktananda's General Orientation
Muktananda "frames" the central portion of his book, which concerns his own personal spiritual and meditative experiences, with an opening section that deals with his basic orientation, and an analogous closing part that deals with the teachings of the "siddhas." I will be dealing primarily with the central portion of his book in this review, but before we get to Muktananda's descriptions of his "experiences," I would like to make a few of comments on some statements from the opening section.
First, Muktananda says, "Liberation (moksha) and enjoyment (bhoga) go together." This idea is an aspect of tantric tradition generally and it shows that his basic orientation is tantric. As a principle, it figures in all the various "Hindu" Tantra traditions that are associated with the "Siddhas," such as those of the Naths, Kanphatas, etc. The earliest expression of this principle is found among the Buddhist Sahajiyas, who constituted a kind of early reaction to the institutionalization of Vajrayana monasticism. This kind of practice is considered an aspect of what is known as "kaya-sadhana" in the Buddhist Sahajiya tradition. In kaya-sadhana, the body (kaya) itself becomes the means to religious practice. Mukatananda himself states this on p. 112. Quoting an unnamed yogic source he writes, "the body (sharira) is the means (sadhana) to truth (dharma)." For the early Buddhist Sahajiyas, the idea that the body itself is a means to "realization" is related to the meaning of their name, which is derived from "sahaja," meaning "natural" or "innate." The idea is that the very processes that come naturally to us can, and should, be used in sadhana. Naturally, then, we should not be surprised that the Buddhist Siddhas, in contrast with the monastic tantrikas, took up with consorts and practices ritualized maithuna. For them, the supreme state of enlightenment (bodhi) was coterminous with the greatest pleasure (maha-sukha). A work from this period known as the Samputika says that the yogic process makes use of the very same source that drives sexuality. The Hevajra Tantra, too, says that "sahaja" --- here considered as a kind of metaphysical principle permeating the universe --- is the very basis of life and vitality. Such conceptions lead directly to the later ecstatic Vaishnava Sahajiya cults, which make use of the metaphor of Krishna and Radha in erotic embrace. In kaya-sadhana the body itself is said to undergo a kind of "purification" (vishuddha). The Nath Siddhas take over this notion and idealize it by positing a state called the attainment of the divine body (divya-deha) or perfected body (siddha-deha), a body that is said to attained a kind of "transmaterialized" state (kaya-siddhi). We are reminded here of such things as the so called "rainbow body" or "body of light" of the Tibetan Nyingmapas; indeed, the Dzokchen teachings find some of their closest approximations in the writings of Buddhist Sahajiya adepts like Saraha. In any case, the above general statement tells us much about where Muktananda is coming from and what he means by "siddha yoga." (Though older, the best study of the roots of this general trend in Indian religion is Shashibhusan Dasgupta's Obscure Religious Cults, which is a valuable source of information on tantrism.)
Muktananda also says, "Mind is the contraction of consciousness." This quote is from the Pratyabhijna Hrdaya, a Kashmiri Shaiva text, and I take it to mean that mind (chitta) is pure consciousness (chit) that is "contracted." Another sense of "contracting" (Sanskrit: sankochin) is "delimiting." Here, we are not far from the metaphysics of classical Advaita Vedanta, in which the "internal organ" (antahkarana, ie., manas, buddhi, citta, and ahamkara) is seen as a kind of "limiting adjunct" (upadhi) set upon the true self, whose nature is pure consciousness (shuddha chit). But following the "non-dualism" of the Yogachara, Kashmiri Shaivism wants to do away with any strict "dualism" between consciousness and its "limiting adjunct." Kashmiri Shaivism also returns to earlier emanationist cosmogonic metaphors; it wants to say that "materiality" is in some sense the same "stuff" as consciousness. In this case, "contraction" means a kind of "condensation," "coagulation," or "solidification," just as CO2, as a kind of "spirit" or "vapor," becomes "dry ice." We should be aware, however, of one feature of this metaphor. Though in this metaphysic the universe is seen as "contracted" consciousness, the creation of the universe comes about through the expansion (vikasha) of Shiva, a process that is represented by Shiva opening his eyes (unmila). For Shiva, then, expansion is the delimiting process. From our perspective, however, our own limited intelligence is a contraction of the universal consciousness. In this model, the point of yogic practice becomes the expansion of our limited consciousness to the point of Shiva's own ubiquity, at which point we become "one" with Shiva's universal consciousness. Another image often related to the term "sankochana" is that of the closing of a flower. The expansion of consciousness would then be related to the blossoming of a flower. In any case, I refer here only to the semantics of the Sanskrit term for "contraction" as something interesting and worthy of note, and to the suggestion that the metaphysical idea of contraction as "condensation" can be related to the idea that the body itself can be a means to religious practice. (The best work in English on Kashmiri Shaivism in all its aspects is Mark Dyczkowski's The Doctrine of Vibration.)
Hermeneutic Procedure
Following his opening orientation sketch, Muktananda then goes on to describe his "experiences" in a narrative that forms the central portion of his book. It is the content of this description and the references that he either implicitly or explicitly makes that I would like to focus upon in more detail. In tracing the references implied by Muktananda's text, I will refer back to their earliest known instances and not to their later adaptations by the various yogic and tantric works. This is standard Indian hermeneutic procedure. Most Hindu traditions recognize texts like the Upanishads and Gita as authoritative and most often, their own content draws upon the content of such works. For example, the entire passage quoted from "Ecknath" on page 159 of Muktananda's text is not actually Ecknath but in fact Ecknath's interpolation of the Gita, 12.18-19, transposed into Marathi verse and then translated into English. Traditionally, in India, it would have been expected that a reader would be acquainted with such references and would not require footnotes.
As his primary authority Muktananda refers to a series of verses from Jnaneshvar. He quotes the same passage from Jnaneshvar twice in The Play of Concsiousness, saying that this particular passage inspired him to write his book. Muktananda claims that texts such as those by Jnanesvar and Tukaram are written in a "secret" or coded language. What he means by this is that such texts need to be interpreted "esoterically" as documents recording the yogic "experiences" of their authors. This idea, that certain texts are written in a "secret language," goes back, again, to the Sahajiyas and their contemporary tantric movements. The term used to designate this secret language is "sandhya-bhasha," which literally means "twilight language." What exactly this term means is a matter of debate. (The are some good internet articles available on the subject.) There is no question that tantric works are encrypted in some way and that they need "decoding" by a competent guide. Whether or not such works refer exclusively to yogic "experiences" is certainly open to question. More often than not, I would suggest, such texts are simply referring to symbolic representations of ritual formulae, and it is these rituals that the texts are referring to and not some "experience." However, among various modern yogins of the "mystical empiricist" type (such as Yogananda), this approach to reading texts means reading spiritual documents as records of religious experience and practice. For example, Yogananda interprets Matthew 6:22, "The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light," as a reference to the "third" or "spiritual eye" (divya chakshu; shiva netra; tisra til, etc.). Similarly, he thinks that Paul's statement, "I die daily" is a reference to some a kind of religious practice similar to kriya yoga in which the practitioner "dies," perhaps by leaving the body. An implication of this approach to interpretation documents is that states of consciousness described in such works can be experienced by the reader, if he or she is a "yogi."
Be that as it may, I think it is also important to note that what Muktananda is doing here is not merely explicating Jnaneshvar's idea that such texts refer to religious experiences that can be "experienced" by other yogis and practitioners of meditation. Muktananda is also clearly using the writings of Jnaneshvar, and other traditional sources, to give authoritative basis to his own experience. In other words, what he is doing is saying implicitly that his own religious experiences have veracity since they can be shown to have a basis in tradition. This is a common enough normative gesture in the Indian tradition. Quoting the Vedas, Upanishads, Gita, etc. in support of one's philosophical position or religious practice is practically a national past-time among the religious and intellectual elite of India. For now, I will go along with the supposition that "experience" is, in some way at least, possibly related to certain kinds of religious documents, though I would be loath to admit that "experience" is the basis of all such writings. For such texts also function as normative authorities on what kind of religious experience is possible, and legitimate, and on how that experience is to be structured and understood. In that case, even if such works do refer to various yogic "experiences," experience, in general, is then conforming to the normative rule of scripture, and not the other way around (where experience dictates content). In other words, experience itself cannot function as a normative rule. Indeed, The Play of Consciousness itself functions within the institution of "Siddha Yoga" as a normative guide to practitioners of siddha yoga, telling them what kinds of experiences can, will, and should make up their sadhana. In other words, Muktananda's own description of his experience functions as a kind of norm for the practice of "siddha yoga".
Commentary
The "Spectrum" of Consciousness: The Metaphor of Light
To begin the commentary, it might be best to review the meaning of the various colors mentioned by Muktananda. Following Jnaneshvar --- and we will have to assume for the time being that he is accurately representing Jnaneshvar --- Muktananda refers to four basic colors. These colors will form the structure of his account. They are in order of importance: red (rakta); white (shveta); black (Marathi, shama; Sanskrit, shyama); and blue (nila). In the text on page 85, yellow (pita) is also mentioned in the Indian vernacular, but not in Muktananda's English translation. In any case, at a subsequent point in the book, on page 109, Muktananda quotes a parallel passage from Tukaram that refers to red (rakta), white (shveta), black (krishna) and yellow (pita). In that case, however, there would appear to be no necessity to their order, since yellow is mentioned last.
Muktananda claims that the four colors (varna) he finds in Jnaneshvar correspond to the four states of the self referred to in the Vedanta, most notably in the Mandukya Upanishad; that is, they refer to the gross, subtle, causal, and "supra-causal" states of the self. He adds that he himself has experienced these states as such.
Muktananda begins his own account with a description of a red light that occurs in "meditation" or what he calls "tandra," which is a kind of sleep-like state in which one remains lucid. At one point he describes the vision of the red light as a kind of "flame." This idea, that the inner self can be depicted as a flame is very old, and flame-like descriptions can be found in yogic texts throughout the Indo-Tibetan tradition. The actual image itself can be traced back to the Brahmanas and oldest Upanishads. Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 6.2.15 and Chandogya Up 5.10.1-2, for example, speak of the "deity of the flame." The idea of a "deity in the flame" itself goes back to conceptions of the Vedic god of the sacrificial fire, Agni. In the early Upanishads, the "deity of the flame" is identified with the "deva-yana," the "way of the gods," which leads to Hiranyagarbha and Brahma loka. By the time of the middle Upanishads and Mahabharata, the image of the "deity of the flame" reappears as the teaching that the inner self appears to the inner vision as a flame. Katha Up 2.1.12-13 says, "The self (purusha), who is the size of a thumb (angustha), resides in the body... The self who is the size of a thumb is a light (jyoti) without smoke." The image of the flame is also used to describe meditation. In chapter 6 of the Gita, the dhyana-yoga chapter, verse 19 uses the image of a "flame in a windless place" to describe the yogi's state of steady concentration. In the Moksha-Dharma book of the Mahabharata, in section 294, wherein Janaka and Vasistha have a conversation about the method of yoga, Vasistha also describes the yogi who has become still as likened to "a flame in a windless place." He then says in verse 20 that when the yogi's mind becomes withdrawn and focussed, he beholds the self in the heart "like a smokeless light (jyoti)." The Yoga Sutras also mention a "light in the head" (murdha-jyoti).
The "Dimensions" and "Location" of the Self
Muktananda also relates the four colors mentioned above to various dimensions of the self: full size, the size of a thumb, the tip of a finger, and the size of a sesame seed.
Brahma Sutras 2.3.19-29 deal with the problem of the "size" of the soul or self. Is it infinite and all-pervasive (vibhu) or is it atomic and like an atomic point (anu) in space? The Shevtashvatara Up, for example, says at one point that the inner self is the size of the tip of an awl, and at another place that it is 1/100th of 1/100th of the width of a strand of hair. Other passages, however, say that the self is all pervasive, etc. How are these to be reconciled? Just such a reconciliation is the task of the Brahma Sutra itself.
We have already come across Upanishadic references to the idea that the inner self is the size of a thumb. The idea that the self is the size of a seed can be traced back to Brhadaranyaka Up 5.6.1 and Chandogya Up 3.14.3, and ultimately to the more ancient Shatapata Brahmana, 10.6.3, where Sandilya says, "This, my self, in the interior of my heart, is as tiny like a rice or barley or millet seed and golden like a smokeless light (or flame)." Similarly, Brhad Up 5.6.1 says that the self consisting of mind (manas) which is shining and in the heart is the size of a grain of rice or barley. Interestingly, Shankara --- perhaps referring to the later interpretation of the Katha Upanishad --- comments here that it "consists of mind" because it is "seen in the mind" and that it is "shining" because it is "seen by yogis" as such. At Chandogya 3.14.5, the text says, "this self within the heart is smaller than a grain of rice or barley, or a mustard seed, or the black millet seed (shyamaka-tandula)." This latter description may be important metaphorically, since the black of this type of millet corresponds to the color black (shyama) referred to above in Jnaneshvari's text. As for the image of the sesame seed, we might note that in the surat shabda yoga of the northern sants, the point between the eyebrows, where the self as "surat" ("focused aural attention") begins, is referred to as "tisra til," where til means "sesame seed".
The three "sizes" of the self in Muktananda's scheme of correspondences are also related to various "locations" in the body: the gross self to the eye, the subtle self to the throat, and the causal body to the heart. The references to two of these locations can be traced to the Gaudapada Karika, which in turn is drawing upon the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad. In his comments on Gaudapada Karika 1.2, and Aitareya Up 1.3.12, Shankara states that the seat of the first "self" is in right eye since physical vision is predominant in the waking state. (Another reason, not mentioned by Shankara but given elsewhere, is that if you look closely into someone's eye, you can see your entire body reflected in their cornea. This is the "little man" or "homunculus" in the eye.) With respect to the locus of the eye, Shankara is interpreting what is said at Brhadaranyaka Up 2.3.4. In the Gaudapada Karika, the seat of the second self, the "subtle" self, is simply described as "within, in the mind (manas)." This may be a reference to Brhad 5.6.1, noted above --- at least, given Shankara's comments there, that is how he takes it. There is no mention of the "throat" in the Gaudapada Karika though. The idea that the subtle self is in the "throat" is possibly a later tantric teaching, and I have not traced its source. The seat of the third self is said to be the space (akasha) of the "heart" (hrdaya), and here Gaudapada's Karika follows Brhad Up 2.1.17 which states that during deep sleep, the third state, the "pranas" (which Shankara takes to refer to all "subtle" processes) resolve in the "heart." Ultimately, however, for Shankara, all talk of the self having "dimensions" or a "location" is but metaphoric language, and, as he puts it, is meant for those of "lesser intelligence" (i.e., those not on the path of jnana yoga).
Other Color-Coded Applications
The older Upanishads mention various colors at numerous places. When the Brhadaranyaka Up discusses the two forms of brahman, the brahman with form (murta) and the brahman without form (amurta), several colors are mentioned. Shankara comments that "brahman" here means brahman in both its universal and individual aspects. He interprets "without form" here to mean without physical form; thus he equates this second "formless" brahman, or self, with the the term "linga," which in the Indian tradition is synonymous with the subtle body (sukshma-sharira).So, we should not confuse his terminology here with applications of the term "formless" as it applies to the "causal. "Formless" in the present case merely means without physical form.The Brhad Up associates this linga-body with various colors: tumeric, sheep's wool, a fire-fly, a flame, a white lotus, and lightning. At Brhad 4.3.20, the sense of this reference is given more substance. The text says that there are 1000 nadi (here called hita) and these are said to be filled with "humors" of various colors: white, blue, brown, green, red. More colors are mentioned at 4.4.9 and Shankara associates them with the humors of the various nadi. Interestingly, an interlocutor asks him in the commentary, "Does not the color pure white here refer to the non-dual path (advaita-marga)?" Shankara responds, "No; though the yogins claim that this is the way to jivan-mukti, it is not. It only leads to Brahma loka." The same colors are mentioned at Chandogya Up 8.6.1 and here the term "nadi" is actually used. Chandogya 8.6.6 says, "The nadis of the heart are 101. Of these, one goes up toward the crown of the head. By going up through that nadi, one attains immortality." This is the so-called amrta nadi, which is the equivalent of the avadhuti nadi of the Buddhist Sahajiyas and, as Shankara tells us, is called the sushumna or central nadi by the (Hindu) yogins. Taittiriya 1.6.2 calls it "Indra-yoni," the path of Indra. Brhad Up 4.4.2 and Taittiriya 1.6.2 also mention leaving the body through the "top of the head," through the fissure between the skull bones. This point at the top of the head is known in the later tradition as the brahma-randhra, "the aperture of Brahma," and as "dashama dwar," the "10th door" (the other nine apertures being the anus, urethra, mouth, two nostrils, two eye sockets and two ear canals). In the pho-wa or "out of body" yoga of Tibet, the aperture at the top of the head is said to be the width of a stalk of straw. In yoga and Vedanta, one of the "arguments" for the self being minute is that the soul would not be able to leave the body through this aperture if it were any larger than the width of a piece of straw. We might suggest that the "white path" referred to earlier in Shankara's Brhad commentary is the way through the crown of the head via the amrita nadi: the so called "royal road."
Some other, more mundane, references to colors in the Upanishads include Chandogya 6.4.2 which refers to red, white, and black, which are the first three colors referred to by Muktananda. These colors are associated with various structures in the Upanishads. Here black is associated with food (anna), white with water (apas) and red with heat/light (tejas). In the Samkhya these three colors are associated with the three gunas: black with tamas (heaviness), red with rajas (excitability), and white with sattva (purity and harmony). When we add yellow into the mix we get the four "varnas": black is associated with the shudras, the farmers and labourers; yellow with the vaishyas, the artisans and merchants; red with the kshatriyas, the warriors and nobility; and white with the brahmins, the religious ritualists and priests. Note the close proximity here to the various medieval humors: red - blood; white - phlegm; yellow - bile; black - melanin (cf. melancholia), though these European humors are different from the humors of Ayur Veda: pitta-bile/heat; kapha-phlegm/water; vayu-gas/air.
One point that follows from all of these descriptions is that in and of themselves, the colors are not inherently meaningful; it is how they are used, how they are interpreted, that determines their meaning.
From Magical to Analogical Thinking: The System of Corrospondences
Though Shankara's path of jnana yoga ultimately rejects the idea that the self has dimensions or a location, it does recognize the propaedeutic and metaphoric role such conceptions play within the Vedanta system of meditation-devotion (upasana). In other words, for those who require a form for meditation, such conceptions help provide a "place," an "object" upon which the mind may be focussed. The idea of relating various objects of meditation within a system of correspondences is also a central aspect of tantric theory and practice. Consider any chart of the cakras, in which each cakra has a color, a mantric vibration, a yantric design, a day of the week, an action-figure, etc. associated with it. In fact, this practice of constructing systems of correspondences goes back to the Upanishads and their reconstitution of the older Brahmanic ritual cult. Indeed, much of the more incomprehensible portions of the older Upanishads have to do with these systems of "correspondences." What they refer to are the older ritual identifications and equivalences that have been transposed into the domain of thought and imagination. Consider the opening passage from the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad concerning the ancient horse sacrifice:
"Om. The head of the sacrificial horse is the dawn, its eye, the sun, its pranas, the air, its mouth, the fire, its body, the year. Its back is heaven, its belly the sky, its hoofs, the earth, its sides the four directions, its ribs the intermediary spaces, its member the seasons, its joints the months, its feet the days, its bones, the stars, and its flesh the clouds. Its belly-contents are sand particles, its blood vessels, the rivers, its liver the mountains, its hair, the trees. It forequarters is the rising sun, its hind end the setting sun, its yawning is lightning, its shaking is thunder, its peeing is the rain, and its neighing is vak, speech itself..." etc.
These kind of ritual identifications occur throughout the older Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads. In many ways, the tantric tradition is the inheritor of this older form of ritualized Vedanta, even though the Tantras are considered heterodox. At the very least we can see the "as above, so below" or microcosm/macrocosm conception in both. In tantric theory, the human individual is considered to be an exact replica, in miniature, of the cosmos. Eliade, for example, phenomenologically relates the central channel or nadi of the human individual to the axis mundi of the cosmos (Atlas holding the heavens in his shoulders in Greek myth, the "navel of the ocean" in Homer, Mount Meru in Indian myth, etc.). This Hermetic maxim, "as above, so below", is also a dictum of the West Indian sants like Jnaneshvar, who expresses it thus: "pindi te brahmandi," which means, what happens in the individual body (pinda) occurs in the cosmos (Brahmanda, literally, the "egg of Brahma"). Accordingly, in many traditions, the process of yoga is considered to be the individual enactment of the process of cosmic dissolution (pralaya) that occurs at the end of every cosmic age. Both kundalini yoga and shabda yoga can be seen as instances of this type, and in a general sense can be called versions of "laya-yoga," the yoga of dissolution. Here, the idea is that grosser and "lower" structures are to be "dissolved" in "higher," more subtle structures of being in a process known as "laya-krama" (krama means gradual or incremental). Among the Naths, the instrument of this "dissolution" (laya) is the cosmic Shakti or Kundalini; among the north Indian Sants, it is the celestial sound current or Shabda. In the metaphysics underpinning the conception and rationale of such practices, each higher level of being is said to "transcend yet include" each of the preceding lower levels, a principle stated succinctly in Shankara's Upadeshashashri at 1.9.1, which reads, "It should be known that with the series beginning with earth and ending with the inner atman (pratyag-atman), each succeeding component is more subtle and more pervasive than the preceding one that has been abandoned."
Ascending series of ontic structures are described in various places in the Upanishads --- the koshas of the Taittiriya Up being a paradigmatic example. The process of "dissolution" or laya-krama is explicitly described at Katha Upanishad 1.3.13: "The discriminating one should merge (or resolve) the organ of speech (vac) into the mind (manas); he should merge the mind into the intellect (jnana atman); he should merge the intellect into the world soul (mahat atman); and he should merge the world soul into the supreme and peaceful Self (shanti atman)." Compare the Gita 6.25: "Little by little (shanaih shanaih, literally, "by degrees") the yogi should withdraw (uparamet); having established the mind in the Self, let him not think about anything." In the tantrism of the Sahajiyas, this process is known as "ulta," which means the simultaneous process of interiorization and ascent. In Kashmiri Shaivism it is known as "aroha-krama" or "avaroha-krama," which means "gradual ascent." Yogic theory describes the rationale thus: ordinary pranic currents flow "downward" and "outward," epitomized by the function of ejaculation in the male. The yogic process works to reverse this flow. In Patanjali's yoga the mundane mind is described as "outward going" (vyutthana-citta), that is, as inclined towards the objects of sense. The process of interiorization that counters this outgoing mind is called pranayama and pratyahara in Ashtanga Yoga. Katha Upanishad 2.1.1 describes (possibly for the first time in the Indian tradition) this metaphor of outgoing energies and their inversion, and at the same time relates it to process of creation: "The Lord descended through the outgoing (paranchi) currents of the doors (i.e., the senses and orifices). The discriminating one reverts his eyes (avrtta-cakshu) and sees the inner self."
To understand the basic features and mechanics underlying this analogical way of thinking we need to go back to the Vedic sacrificial cult itself. The sacrifices of the Vedic Aryans were primarily concerned with the propitiation of the gods: you place something in the sacrificial fire, the fire takes the sacrifice up to the heavens by way of smoke, and the gods return the favour in the form of rain. Eventually, however, the sacrifice was replaced, in the later Brahmanism, with pure ritual, at which time propitiation was replaced with the idea of cosmic "maintenance" through ritual means (which is the original sense of "dharma" as "duty"). At the same time the idea circulated among brahmins that it was not only possible to maintain the cosmos by ritual, but that it could also be controlled.
The root-conception of "correspondence" is central here. It underlies all notions of "action at a distance," and is the root concept that is also common to most forms of magic (see e.g., the "spells" of the Atharva Veda). Consider the rationale behind the "voodoo" doll: you stick a needle in the doll (the microcosm) and it affects the person with whom the doll has been ritually identified (the macrocosm). Ritual action of this type also implies that there is something coursing through the cosmos that "connects" the microcosm with the macrocosm, just as the smoke linked the sacrifice with the gods in the older Vedic cult. At some point, this binding force or "bandhu" that permeates the cosmos comes to be called "brahman." And he who has knowledge of this "brahman," and its unseen, inner workings is the brahmin. Given that he understands the nature of this force, the brahmin has power over it. Power also creates knowledge (in the sense of institutions ala Foucault), and so by the time of the Brahmana texts, the concept arises that the symbolic meaning of the ritual must be understood if the ritual is to be efficacious (a conception that also insures the necessity of those who understand its meaning, i.e., the brahmins). Eventually the idea of the binding force is replaced by the system of ritual and symbolic identifications, and brahman as the "binding force" becomes Brahman, the ens reale, the metaphysical principle constituting the cosmos itself.
By the time of the Upanishads, the idea arises that ritual can be done away with entirely and performed in toto within the imagination of the performer. The Upanishads say repeatedly, he who knows "thus", gains "thus." In other words, as long as the meaning of the rite is known, that is, the ritual identifications are known, the benefits of the rite accrue. Thus Prashna Upanishad 4.4 says "the mind (manas) is the sacrificer." In time, this noetic form of the rite comes to be seen as superior to the physical rite due to its release from its imperfect material basis. Gita 6.33, for example, says that the "jnana yajna", the sacrifice done within the sphere of knowledge is superior to the material rite.
Identification, Ascent, and Yogic Theory
Simultaneously, personal eschatology and, eventually, soteriology, enter the picture. People begin to worry about the problem of recurring death. So, the Indians begin to conceive of ways in which death can be overcome. At first, they develop a special rite in which the patron of the sacrifice is ritually identified with Prajapati the lord of creation. As the creator is eternal, identification with the creator means that re-death need no longer experienced. Later, it is knowledge of the eternal that ensures union with it, since the effects of ritual action are but temporary fruits. "He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman," say the Upanishads repeatedly.
These ritual and symbolic identifications, not only between man and god but between the various objects in the system of correspondences, are known collectively as "sampatti," which primitively means to "fall into" (as in good luck) and derivatively means to obtain, to attain, or to partake in, or unite with. The idea of sampatti as "union" or identification is the metaphysical idea underlying the system of ritual equivalences; the idea of union with deities; and the idea in meditative theory that identification with a structure of being can be attained through the mental effort of concentration. In the Visuddhimagga and Yoga Sutra, the various jhanas and samadhis are called "samapatti," attainments, a term that is clearly a cognate of the earlier "sampatti. In meditative theory, the idea is that as one meditates upon an object, the sense of separation from the object gradually diminishes; eventually, identification with the object is achieved. Accordingly, Feuerstein, in his work on the Yoga Sutras, says that "samapatti" describes what he calls the "inner process" of meditation, and he translates the term as "coincidence".
The theory of sampatti, as both "identification" and "union," is the basic presupposition underpinning the meditative theory found in the Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, Buddhaghosha's Visuddhimagga, and Asanga's Abhidharmasamgraha. "Identification" is also the basic idea underlying the Vedantic practice of upasana (meditation/devotion), in which there is a gradual "merging" or identification (sampatti) with the god-form or "ishtadeva," a process described by Lex Hixon in his book Coming Home. It is no coincidence that Wilber makes use of Hixon in his own description of the meditative process. Wilber also draws implicitly from Asanga via his acquaintance with the Tibetan tradition, since Asanga's theory of meditation informs the Tibetan traditions of yoga in general. In every case, the core principles concerning meditative "ascent" through identification are virtually the same. Is this so because they all refer to "universal structures of consciousness?" I would suggest otherwise. The conceptions are the same because theorists borrow from one another. While such works point to a shared manner of interpreting meditative experience, it is not as if such conceptions were "discovered" independently of one another. Rather, certain theorists are recognized as authorities, and later authors acknowledge their authority by borrowing freely from them.
The idea that meditative experience determines one's future life is found throughout the Indo-Tibetan tradition. In both the Bardo texts of Tibet and also the Gita (8:6) we find the idea that one is reborn in accordance with one's final cognitive state. Here we find a corollary to the idea that knowledge determines one's fate. This will become the idea that one can reborn into that very heaven-world to which one has ascended during meditation in this life. And eventually, it becomes the transpersonalist conception -- underpinned by the theory of stages of psychological "development" -- that "structures" of consciousness can be "integrated" by spiritual practitioners through the practice of yoga and meditation, to the point where they become "permanent features" in an ongoing ascent through spiritual "stages."
Muktananda's Meditative "Worlds"
Before returning to the theory of correspondences as they relate to the "gross," "subtle," and "causal" in Muktananda's scheme, I will speak briefly about the various "lokas" or worlds mentioned in The Play of Consciousness and the various contexts from which this manner of thinking arises. We have already touched briefly upon early conceptions of personal eschatology and proto-soteriology in Vedic religion, and we can now relate some of those conceptions to cosmology. On page 135 of his book, Muktananda mentions Indra-loka. Vedic mythology speaks of the world of Indra, or Indra-loka and it appears also in later mythology; in the Mahabharata, for example, Arjuna travels to Indra-loka. By Indra-loka is meant, more or less, Svarga, the Vedic "heaven." It is often depicted as sitting atop mount Meru, the "axis mundi" of the Vedic cosmology. It serves as the home of the gods --- much like mount Olympus in Greek mythology --- and as an abode for the blest in the afterlife. Another conception of the afterlife is reflected in the Vedic conception of the world of the "forefathers," or pitr-loka, which Muktananda mentions on page 156. In this world, we would find the old heros and famous warriors of the kshatriya class. At one time in the Aryan past, great and wealthy patrons of the kshatriya class could perform elaborate and expensive rites that allowed them rebirth in the "world of the forefathers."
Brhad Up 1.5.16 mentions three worlds: the world of men, manushya loka; the world of the forefathers, pitr-loka; and the world of the gods, devaloka. It then relates that the world of men --- that is, success in the world of men --- is attained through having sons; the world of the forefathers is attained through special rites; and the world of the gods is attained by way of vidya, that is, by esoteric knowledge, and by this is meant knowledge of the various identities and equivalences (sampatti). The world of the gods, it says, is the best. In the Upanishads, at several places, the "way of the forefathers" (pitr-yana) is contrasted "with the way of the gods" (deva-yana). The way of the forefathers is thought to lead to a world in which there is an afterlife that lasts for a long time, but in which the karmic fruits of the rites eventually expire. When this happens, there is return to the world of men. The devayana is said to lead to a place from which there is no return, Satya loka otherwise known as Brahma loka. Muktananda mentions Brahma loka on page 146 and he associates it with liberation. Shankara interprets the term "brahma-loka" variously, calling its attainment "relative" immortality and a mere "union" (sampatti) at some points, while at others, the attainment of moksha. He does so in accord with whether or not the text refers to jnana.
The world of the moon, or "chandra-loka", which Muktananda mentions on page 121 is the realm associated with the moon. In the Brhadaranyaka Up, the moon is described as the abode of those who follow the path of ritual action. Brhad Up 6.2.1-16 contrasts the way of esoteric knowledge with the way of rites, and it describes their respective courses in detail. Brhad 6.2.15 describes the course of those who go the way of the gods thus: they first reach the "deity of the flame," and from there they are lead to devaloka; then they go to the "sun," and then finally to Brahma-loka. Brhad 6.2.16 describes the path of those who follow rituals. They reach the deity of smoke, and from there go to the moon where they live for some time, and eventually they return, through the rain, to be reborn. Chandogya Up 5.10.12 and 5.10.3-6 describe essentially the same courses. Incidently, Yoga Sutras 3.26 and 3.27 mention the "sun" and "moon" as objects of meditation.
We can see in the classification of the three worlds --- the worlds of men, forefathers, and gods --- an instance of the Indian penchant for triads and tripartite divisions. An even older conception also makes use of another tripartite division. The oldest Vedic texts refer to three domains: an underworld populated by Ashuras; a middle world populated by men; and a celestial world populated by the gods or devas. Yet another conception of three worlds describes a celestial realm, an earthly realm, and an intermediate realm. Brhad Up 5.5.3-4 describes these three worlds in relation to the cosmic person. It says, "bhur is its head, bhuvar is its arms, and svar is its feet." These three terms refer to the three lokas of Brahmanic lore. "Bhu" refers to the earthly world or Bhu-loka. "Bhuvar" refers to the intermediate realm of the air, that is, to the "atmosphere" which is known as Bhuvar-loka. Bhuvar loka, which is between the earth and sky, is said to be a world populated by semi-divine munis and siddhas. "Svar" refers to the celestial realm, Svar-loka, which is the same as Svarga, heaven, or Indra-loka. It corresponds to the sky and is populated by gods. Later, various other lokas are added to these three. The next to be added is Mahar-loka, which is said be populated by Brghu and other saints who survive the periodic dissolution of the lower worlds. Taittiriya 1.5.1 says, "Besides these three, the seer Mahacamasya knew a fourth, called Mahar." Eventually, two more worlds are added to these four: Jana-loka, a term that refers Brahma's sons; and Tapar-loka, in which deified Vairagyins dwell. Atop all of these is Satya-loka, otherwise known as Brahma-loka, the highest of the lokas, and for some, the domain of release. Eventually, the Indian tradition settles with these seven worlds. Muktananda speaks of a "Siddha-loka," but this could refer to any of the lokas above Bhu-loka.
The Basic Tripartite Structure of Vedanta
We can now return to what is perhaps the best known of the metaphysical triads in the Indian tradition, the division between the gross, subtle, and causal. The three states of consciousness are actually the original basis of this division. Descriptions of the three states occur in various places in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad. Initially, a contrast was developed between the waking state and the state of deep dreamless sleep. This pairing functioned as a kind of metaphor for the polarity between life and death, with deep dreamless sleep acting as a kind of analog or foreshadowing of the "sleep" of death. Dreaming initially appears as a kind of mediating or "daemonic" third term, a kind of metaphor for the imaginal realm situated between the two, not quite one nor the other. Chapter eight of the Chandogya Up also discusses the three states, but unlike the Brhad, which seems content to accept that the oneness attained with brahman in deep dreamless sleep is supreme, Chandogya 8.11.1 and 8.12.3 imply that a "transcendent self" lies beyond the three states. This issue between the two oldest Upanishads is resolved by the later Mandukya Upanishad which introduces a fourth term, the so called "turiya" The three states of the self and the "fourth" are all discussed in a more systematic manner in the Gaudapada Karika, the first chapter of which is a commentary upon the Mandukya Upanishad.
Over time, the tradition of Vedanta worked out a series of correspondences involving the three. A feature of this developed scheme of correspondence involves the introduction of the distinction between the individual and the universal, the microcosmic and the macrocosmic, or in Sanskrit, the adhyatma and the adhidaiva, or vyashti and samasti.
In the developed scheme, the terms gross (sthula), subtle (sukshma), and causal (karana) are applied to the "bodies" of the three individual selves. At the macrocosmic level, the three "bodies" of brahman are called Viraj (gross matter), Hiranyagarbha (the golden orb, i.e., brahma world), and avyakrta (unmanifest creation). The macrocosmic "selves" of brahman are called Vaisvanara, the physical universe, Sutra-atma, the world soul, and Ishvara, the lord of creation otherwise known as saguna brahman, or brahman with form. This terminology is not applied with great rigor however, and in fact, more often than not, the term Hiranyagarbha is used to describe the world-soul rather than its "domain."
The tripartite divisions at the individual level are perhaps better known. The gross self is known as Visva (though the term Vaisnavara is also used), the subtle self is known as Taijasa, and the causal self is known as Prajna. To these three selves correspond the three states of consciousness: the waking state (jagarita-sthana), the dream state (svapna-sthana), and the state of deep dreamless sleep (sushupta-sthana). To these three states are applied three objects of consciousness. The first two objects are described merely with the terms gross (sthula) and subtle (sukshma). The object of consciousness in the third state is described as bliss (ananda), though it is also described as the consciousness of nothing whatsoever (akincana-bhava). The first state is described as the cognition of externality (bahis-prajna), while the subtle state is described as the cognition of internality (antah-prajna). The third state is described as pure cognition, or prajnana-ghana, which means "a lump of knowing." As pure cognition, it is identified with the Witness (sakshin). And yet, the state of deep sleep is also associated with the state of primal ignorance, the "sleep of unknowing" (nidra). The three selves are said to be covered over by ignorance (avidya; ajnana). This ignorance is said to be of two kinds. In the waking and dream states, ignorance as "vikshepa," the "scattering" and distracting power of maya, is in effect. This is the power that yogins attempt to overcome through the practice of one-pointedness. When it is overcome in the subtle state, the various visions of the inner self, such as the smokeless flame, etc. are allowed to manifest. "Vikshepa" is not operative in the state of deep dreamless sleep. However, here, another, even more primordial form of ignorance is operative; indeed it is operative in all of the three states including deep dreamless sleep. This is "avarana," the "veiling" power of maya. It is this form of ignorance that the jnani is concerned with removing. The presence of this form of ignorance in the third state distinguishes the third state from the fourth, turiya. Another distinguishing feature is that in the state of deep sleep the "seeds" (bija) of future mental tendencies (samskara) are said to still exist. It is for this reason that the third state is called the "causal" state, as these "seeds" are said to give rise to, or cause, our karmic patterning, not only upon awaking each morning, but with each rebirth (an analogy that reveals the metaphoric identification of deep sleep with death). Shankara describes the state of samadhi in similar terms. In both samadhi and deep sleep, he says, though there is no object of consciousness, in both, the "seeds" of personal identity and the future capacity for conditioned cognition remain. The Buddhists treat the same problem in a similar way. How is it that we come back to being who we are even after attaining nirodha-sampatti? The answer: due to the vasanas contained in the alaya-vijnana. Analogously, at the macrocosmic level of the unmanifest (avyakrta), the third form of brahman is known as the "causal" since it exists as pure cause, prior to the appearance of "effects" such as mind and matter.
In the Chandogya, the "fourth" self functions as a kind of transcendental ground of the other selves. Although he vacillates somewhat on this point, Shankara generally agrees with Kant, and says that the transcendental self cannot be an object of experience since it is the transcendental condition of experience as such. In terms of turiya, this idea is referred to in Advaita via the dictum that turiya is not a state among other states but the "truth" of the rest. And yet in the Gaudapada Karikas, and elsewhere, this "fourth" begins to be treated as if it were some kind of "state" of consciousness. Karika 1.15 definitely refers to turiya as a "pada," not in the Mandukya Upanishad's sense of a metaphoric "part" of the self, but in the sense of a "state" or "stage." Also, in an explicit sense, turiya begins to designate liberation (moksha) itself. But if this is so, then we have a problem. To use Wilber's terminology, the other three states function as "structures" of consciousness. And yet moksha cannot be a "structure"; it can only be a "stage". Thus, if turiya is moksha, there is a qualitative difference between the first three padas and the fourth "pada."
To make matters more complicated, something else enters the picture. Various traditions begin to speak of certain states of consciousness as "transcendent," that is, as states that go beyond conditioned reality, beyond the "world" of samsaric existence epitomized by the first three states. These transcendent states are described as temporary; and yet they are held to be transcendent nonetheless. The best known of these are the nirvikalpa samadhi of Advaita Vedanta and asamprajnata samadhi of yoga. Buddhism, too, describes similar states as "transcendent." The Abhidharmists refer to nirodha-samapatti, the attainment of "cessation", and to asamjna-samapatti, the attainment of non-cognition, as "lokottara", which means "transcending the (three) worlds". Mahayana Buddhism, as well, describes states like "shunyata samadhi" as states that temporarily transcend samsaric existence.
Whereas Shankara had reverted back to the older model and simply equated samadhi with the third state, in this latter presentation we have three states of consciousness and another that temporarily transcends the other three. But the term "turiya" is already busy place-holding for moksha. How, then, is this "fourth" transcendent state to be designated? Here is one option: Muktananda speaks of turiya as being "present" in the waking state of the one who has become "enlightened." Since turiya is not a structure of consciousness but a stage of development, it can be associated respectively with the three states. In other words, the structures of consciousness do not disappear for the one who has reached moksha; he has simply been liberated from their effects. Likewise, the "trancendent" state is also available for the one who is released. And yet, how is this other "fourth" state of consciousness to be designated with respect to the liberated? In order to cope with this situation the transcendent state is called "turiyatita" by Muktananda, which means "beyond the fourth." As such, the terms "turiya" and "turiyatita" function in the Play of Consciousnes in a manner that is analogous to the terms "sahaja samadhi" and "bhava samadhi" in Franklin Jones' terminology.
However, there are in fact two ways to deal with this terminological quagmire. The other scenario is this: since certain traditions have begun to identify certain states as "beyond the three," these transcendent states can now collectively be referred to as instances of a "fourth" (turiya) state of consciousness. But then we now need a term to refer to the "enlightened" condition, to moksha, itself, that is, to the "stage" that the term "turiya" referred to above. The simple answer is to call moksha "turiyatita," beyond the fourth. This is an alternative approach.
The Four-Fold Scheme of the Grammarians and Tantrikas
While the tantric traditions such as those of the Naths and Kashmiri Shaivas, accept the three (or four)-fold scheme of gross, subtle and causal states which is derivative of the Upanishads, there is another scheme derivative of the grammarians that is also operative in tantric works. This scheme is the three, or four, -fold division of the nature of mantra. The grammarians had posited that the "word" (vak), in its most inclusive sense, has four dimensions: para vak, the supreme, which is soundless; pashyanti vak, at which stage the word begins to manifest at an intuitive level; madhyama vak, or the middling stage, at which the word manifests at the mental level as thought; and vaikhari vak, which is physical speech. The tantric tradition assimilates this theory of the grammarians and integrates it with the theory of the three selves of Vedanta. In fact, the tantric traditions incorporate under this four-fold scheme every conceivable facet of doctrine and ritual of their system in a vast edifice of correspondences. The synthesis of the Vedantic and grammarian schemes within the tantric manifold figures most prominently in the works of Abhibnavagupta, the great Kashmiri Shaiva yogin, polymath and philosopher. This four-fold structure occurs elsewhere in tantric literature and can be found, for instance, in chapter three of Jnaneshvar's Amrta-anubhava, The Experience of Immortal Bliss, a work clearly written under the influence of the Naths.
In the tantric version of the theory of mantra, these four stages of the manifestation of the word are associated with the cakras in an interesting way that may seem counterintuitive. The "supreme" vak is associated with the root cakra, muladhara. The "causal" stage is associated with the navel cakra, manipura. The "subtle" stage is associated with heart cakra, anahata, and the "physical" stage is associated with the throat cakra.
In the tantric formulation the term "madhyama" is clearly associated with the mind, either manas or buddhi, ie., the domain of the subtle. What, though, does "pashyanti" refer to? Here is my take: The verbal root "pash" means "to see," This particular ocular verb is sometimes associated with the "spiritual" seeing of the ancient rishis. The term "rishi" means, literally, "seer.". It was thought by some that the ancient rishis "saw" the Veda (which means "knowledge") and then composed their hymns and mantras accordingly. In the later tradition, this "seeing" is contrasted with "hearing" (sravana). In other words, the ancient rishis did not hear the Veda, they "saw" it; that is, they intuited its meaning directly. This, I think, is what is meant by the term "pashyanti." In Plotinian terms, it corresponds to immediate relation between noemata (Plato's "forms") and noesis (Plato's episteme) within the sphere of nous.
The Jhanas and Three-Fold Dhatu Scheme of Buddhism
At this point I would like to suggest a comparison of the three-fold scheme of Vedanta with another comparable scheme: the three-fold dhatu hierarchy of Buddhism, which is especially associate with the Abhidharmists.
The tripartite dhatu cosmography of Buddhism develops primarily out of the systematization of the jhanas (Sanskrit dhyana) and formless attainments (samapatti) that occur in the Pali canon. The earliest Buddhist Pali sources simply mention four jhanas (states of meditative absorption) and do not refer to their relation to vipassana meditation. There is also no menation of the "formless" jhanas. These first four jhanas bear a significant resemblance to the various forms of samprajnata samadhi described in the commentaries upon the Yoga Sutra. In both traditions, the terms savitarka, nirvitarka, savichara, and nirvichara are used to describe various forms of meditative trance. The roots of these four terms are "vitarka" and "vichara." It is not known, precisely, what was originally meant by these terms, though it is clear that vichara must refer to a slightly more subtle form of mental processing than vitarka. In any case, in both the Visuddhimagga and Yoga Sutra commentary, the "lower" jhanas and samprajnata samadhis are described as "with vitarka" (sa-vitarka) and "with vichara" (sa-vichara). A subsequent stage in meditation is described as without vitarka (nir-vitarka) but with vichara (savichara). The nemagga the fourth jhxt stage is described as without vichara (nirvichara) but with bliss or sukha in the Visuddhimagga. This corresponds with sa-ananda in the Yoga Sutra commentary. In the Visuddhaana the last jhana is described as without bliss but with perfect one-pointedness (ekagrata). We can perhaps take this to mean the attainment of samprajnata or savikalpa samadhi proper.
The Pali canon also mentions various other states or attainments (samapatti) that the Buddha-to-be supposedly attained during his course of study and practice with other teachers. These other states include the attainments of limitless space, of limitless consciousness, of nothingness, and of the state of "neither perception nor non-perception." The problem that presented itself to the commentators was how these descriptions were to integrated with the jhanas. What the Abhidharmists like Buddhaghosha did was amalgamate these attainments with the jhanas so as to form a new, more elaborate and systematized scheme. At the same time, the Abhidharmists "ranked" these four samapatti in the order that Gautama supposedly experienced them with various teachers, as revealed in the enlightenment narratives, and then "stacked" them up on top of the four jhanas. The result was eight "states" divided into two groups with four "levels" in each group. In time, the eight come to known as the eight jhanas, even though the four samapatti are never referred to as jhanas in the Pali canon. As the Abhidharmists begin to refine their descriptions of the eight, the first four come to be called the four jhanas with "form" (rupa) while the other four states come to be called the "formless" (arupa) jhanas. Strictly speaking, however, the formless states are to be understood simply as possibilities open to those who have attained ekagrata proper, that is, the fourth jhana. This scenario parallels descriptions in the Yoga Sutra commentaries, which also describe certain states or attainments open to those who have attained samprajnata samadhi proper. One such state is described in the Yoga Sutra commentaries as a state in which a kind of "omnipresence" of consciousness is experienced. The description here is similar to the first and second formless attainments, i.e., the attainment of limitless space and limitless consciousness.
Do these descriptions indicate "parallel discoveries" of two different traditions? While it is tempting to say they might be, given the terminological similarities between the two traditions with regard to their descriptions of samadhi and jhana, it is clear we are dealing with two instances of a single yogic undercurrent spanning two religious traditions. Or to put it bluntly, the Yoga Sutra commentators are simply lifting the terminology and ideas of the Abhidharmists and putting it to use.
Incidently, in The Play of Consciousness, Muktananda mentions a world that he calls "sarva-jna loka." This may be not so much a reference to actual "omniscience" in the sense of being "all-knowing" (sarva-jna) as much as a reference to a sense of "omni-presence" in the manner described in traditional yogic texts.
Eventually, this eightfold two-part structure of the Abhidharmists begins to be integrated with traditional Buddhist cosmography and myth. At this point, another six-fold structure is added to the eight state fold jhana structure. This is the so-called six realms: men, animals, hell-beings, hungry ghosts, gods (devas), and ashuras. The worlds of men, gods, hell-beings and ashuras are all old Vedic conceptions and we have already encountered a few of them; the Buddhist tradition simply takes them over.
The Buddhist cosmography now comes to describe three large domains made up of six, four, and four "levels" respectively. Each of these three "larger domains" come to be called "dhatus" by the Abhidharmists: kama-dhatu, the domain of desire; rupa-dhatu, the domain of pure form; and arupa-dhatu, the formless domain. As this three-fold structure "trickles down" from the theoretical world of the Abhidharmists into the popular imagination of the Buddhist narrative myth-makers, these "dhatus" come to be imagined as "mega-worlds"(loka) in the cosmographic sense proper. At this point they begin to be populated by beings of various beings drawn from the mythic imagination. The "realm of form" comes, in general, to be associated with the various "Brahma-lokas" of Indian cosmography. The formless realms, too, are described as very subtle types of "Brahma lokas" populated by extremely elevated forms of beings. For example, Maitreya, the next Buddha-to-be, is said to reside in the realm associated with the eighth jhana waiting for his next incarnation.
The fourth and final samapatti of the formless states comes to be called the "limit of conditioned being" or the "peak of cyclic existence" (samsara), as it sits atop the three-fold dhatu scheme. As such it marks the limit of conditioned existence for the Buddhist tradition. As mentioned previously, at some point, certain states come to be referred to as "loka-uttara," that is, as transcending the three lokas. The state known as "nirodha-sampatti" is one of these.
In any case, we can see in the three-fold dhatu scheme of the Buddhists another magnificent example of the Indian penchant for triads and tripartite structures and an analog to the Vedantic three-fold classification.
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Ken Wilber
March 2009 
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