I. Samādhi Pāda · Coalescence (1.40–1.46)
1.44 · Clear to the Riverbed
In the same way, coalescence 'with subtle thought' and 'beyond subtle thought', on subtle objects, is explained.
Word by word
- etayā
- by this
- eva
- same
- savicārā
- with subtle thought
- nirvicārā
- beyond subtle thought
- ca
- and
- sūkṣma-viṣayā
- having subtle objects
- vyākhyātā
- is explained
Where it fits
Rather than repeat 1.42–1.43, Patañjali applies the same pair to subtle objects: 'with subtle thought' and 'beyond subtle thought'. That makes four coalescences, matching the first two stages of 1.17. 1.45 asks how far subtlety reaches.
Reading
The same two steps repeat at a finer level. Coalescence on subtle objects, which in the Sāṃkhya map are the subtle elements behind gross things, is 'with subtle thought' while it is still framed by place, time and cause, as Vyāsa says. It is 'beyond subtle thought' when the insight is, as it were, emptied of itself and becomes the object alone. So there are four kinds: gross and subtle, each with and beyond its kind of thought. The deeper the object, the finer the attention it needs.
Vyāsa
“Coalescence on subtle elements whose properties have become manifest, and which are bounded by the experience of place, time and cause, is called 'with subtle thought'. … And when insight becomes as if empty of its own form, the object alone, it is called 'beyond subtle thought'.”
Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 89.
Practice
Listen to a single sound, such as a fan or distant traffic, for five minutes. First notice where it is, when it rises, what makes it. Then let those thoughts go and stay with the bare quality of the sound.
A question to sit with
What lies beneath the surface you are looking at?