Gita 6.12

Sadhak: "Guruji, this verse introduces the purpose of yoga—self-purification. But purification from what? I try to live ethically. What impurity remains?"

Guru: "The impurity here is not ethical but existential. You could be a saint in behavior and still be covered by mental impressions—fears, desires, memories, beliefs, assumptions about reality. These accumulate throughout life, conditioning every perception. The 'impure' self is not a bad self but a conditioned self—one that cannot see clearly because vision is filtered through layers of past. Self-purification means removing these filters until awareness is unconditioned, direct, clear."

Sadhak: "How does making the mind one-pointed purify the self? I would have expected purification to require analyzing and removing specific impurities."

Guru: "Analysis happens in the mind and is itself conditioned by the mind's impurities—how can the polluted clean the polluted? One-pointedness works differently. When the mind becomes truly focused, its normal activity subsides. In that stillness, impurities naturally rise to the surface and release. It's like settling muddy water: you don't analyze each particle; you simply stop stirring, and the mud sinks, leaving clarity. One-pointed attention is the non-stirring that allows natural clarification."

Sadhak: "'Controlling the activities of mind and senses'—this sounds like suppression. Won't suppressed thoughts return with greater force?"

Guru: "Control (yata) is not suppression (dama). Suppression forcibly holds down what wants to arise—this creates pressure and eventual eruption. Control is more like training—gradually teaching the mind and senses where to direct attention. You don't fight thoughts; you simply return attention to the focus object. Over time, the wandering decreases not because it's forbidden but because the mind learns a better way. It's the difference between locking a wild animal in a cage and training it to come when called."

Sadhak: "I've tried to make my mind one-pointed but it lasts only seconds before scattering again. Is something wrong with my practice?"

Guru: "Nothing is wrong—this is everyone's experience, especially initially. The mind has scattered for decades; it won't become one-pointed in days. The practice IS the returning. Each time the mind wanders and you bring it back, that's a repetition—like lifting a weight once in the gym. The wandering itself is not failure; only stopping the returning would be failure. Over months and years, the intervals of one-pointedness lengthen, the wandering weakens. But even advanced practitioners report wandering. The difference is their returning is so swift it almost doesn't break concentration."

Sadhak: "What exactly should the mind be one-pointed on? The breath? A mantra? An image?"

Guru: "Krishna will elaborate in coming verses, but various objects work: the breath is universal because it's always present and connects body and mind; a mantra gives the mind something to do so it doesn't wander randomly; an image of the divine provides devotional focus. Different temperaments suit different objects. The key is choosing one and staying with it—not changing objects when one becomes difficult. Whatever object you choose, the process is the same: return attention again and again until stability develops. The object is the training tool; one-pointedness is the goal."

Sadhak: "'Seated there on that seat'—the previous verses elaborated the seat at length. Why such emphasis on a mere sitting position?"

Guru: "Because body and mind are not separate. A restless body creates a restless mind; an unstable body creates an unstable mind. The previous verses established the foundation—clean place, stable seat, proper height. This verse assumes that foundation and moves to the mental work. If you skip the physical foundation, the mental work becomes much harder. Trying to concentrate on a wobbly seat is like trying to write during an earthquake. The body must be handled first so it doesn't interfere with mental focus."

Sadhak: "Why self-purification? Why not self-improvement, self-development, or self-realization?"

Guru: "The word choice is precise. 'Improvement' suggests something deficient becoming better—but the self is not deficient. 'Development' suggests growth—but the self is already complete. 'Realization' is accurate but describes the end state. 'Purification' captures the process: removing what covers the already-perfect. The self is like gold buried under dirt—you don't improve gold or develop it; you purify it by removing what's not gold. Meditation removes what's not-self, leaving the self revealed. This framing prevents both self-rejection (I'm bad and must become good) and spiritual ambition (I must become something I'm not). You're simply uncovering what you already are."

Sadhak: "I notice I feel more 'pure' after meditation—lighter, clearer—but the effect fades within hours. Is temporary purification useful?"

Guru: "It's not temporary purification but glimpses of permanent purification. Each time you experience that clarity, you're seeing what's always there beneath the covering. The covering returns because old patterns are strong. But each glimpse weakens the covering slightly. It's like briefly opening curtains to see the sky—the sky was always there; opening curtains doesn't create it. Your meditation opens curtains. Eventually, the curtains stay open more easily, longer, until finally the separation dissolves. The temporary clarity is evidence of permanent clarity waiting to be fully revealed."