When the five organs of knowledge are at rest together with the mind, and when the intellect ceases to function, that is said to be the highest.
In the height of meditation, the intellect ceases to function.
The above chart shows the spiritual journey from the beginning till Self-realisation.
90% of your sadhana is spent on performing karma, bhakti, and Gnana yoga. The purpose of these yogas is to drop the bulk of your vasanas. One who has exhausted his vasanas reaches a spiritually elevated stage known as uparathi, where the mind has no fuel to run behind the world. The mind has no desire, thought, or interest in the world and withdraws from it. That state of mental withdrawal is known as uparathi. If you are still interested in the world and running behind the objects, then you still have vasanas and not reached the stage of uparathi. One who has crossed the state of uparathi, he comes to dharana, open-eyed meditation. One has 5 or 6 sattvic desires and thinks of Self-realisation in whatever he does; it is dharana. Open-eyed means you are active but in a meditative zone.
The last journey is where 97% of your vasanas are dropped; you reach the stage of dhyana, meditation. In meditation, your mind is continuously chanting the mantra OM. When the mind is chanting OM, the intellect is discriminating the maatra sound OM and the amaatra silence between the chanting. This goes on until the mind is completely dissolved, no more sound in the mind, and there is total silence. So, first the mind becomes extinct. Intellect exists only when there is a pair. When the mind is extinct, the intellect has no job to do. When intellect only perceives silence, it is perplexed. That state of perplexion of the intellect and becoming extinct is when one attains Self-realisation.
Mantra 10 says that intellect ceases to function. When the mind stops chanting, the intellect has nothing to do and it ceases to exists.
This concept is also mentioned in Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, verse 52 & 53:
Chapter 2 – V 52
यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर्व्यतितरिष्यति ।
तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदं श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च ॥ 52 ॥
yard tea malamalama buddhirvyatitariṣyati ।
tadā gantāsi nirvēdaṃ śrōtavyasya śrutasya cha ॥ 52 ॥
When your intellect will cross the mire of delusion, then you will grow indifferent to what has been heard & what is yet to be heard.
When you do karma, bhakti and gnana, the vasanas are exhausted, your intellect crosses the delusion. ‘You will grow indifferent to what has been heard and what is yet to be heard.’ What has to be heard is the mantra OM and yet to be heard is the next chanting of OM. You become indifferent, not interested because you have reached a point of total silence.
Chapter 2 – V 53
श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला ।
समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि ॥ 53 ॥
śrutivipratipannā tē yadā sthāsyati niśchalā ।
samādhāvachalā buddhistadā yōgamavāpsyasi ॥ 53 ॥
When your intellect, perplexed by what has been heard, shall stand immovable & steady in meditation, then you will attain yoga (Self-realisation).
Mind is always unsteady, and when the mind becomes immovable and steady, the intellect gets perplexed. The mind stops chanting the mantra Om, and the intellect is stuck in silence; you attain Self-realisation. Mind can come to silence only when the vasanas are annihilated. Our mind and intellect are responsible for projecting the world. The world is a projection of your mind. As your mind so is the world. The world for each individual is choreographed in the mind and experienced outside. If you can bring about a change to your choreography, there will be a change in what you experience.
Q: When does one gain insight?
A: Mantra 9 says you will gain insight when the mind is controlled. That is relative silencing of the mind. When you control the mind, relatively you gain the wisdom of the Self. If you have controlled 50%, you will gain 50% Brahman insight in you. Mantra 10 talks about the absolute silencing of the mind that is when you attain Self-realisation. The crux is whether your mind is under control, because it is the mind that projects the world. You become a slave of your own creation. It’s your selfishness, ego mindset that is responsible for your own trap.
The only purpose of this life is realisation of the Self. When you have the constant awareness of the Self, then there is a chance of getting it. You have to sacrifice all desires for this goal alone. It is then you qualify for the Self. Lord Krishna says in the Gita that when you sacrifice all your interests, he assures of moksha.
