e) Shraddha—Faith in the master’s teachings as set out in the scriptures.
f) Samadhana—the ability to hold the mind steadily on the Self, with total disregard for the things of a worldly nature (Zorn, 1968, p.185).1
Of these six attributes that the aspirant must develop, Shama, which is control of the mind and the ability to concentrate, is one of the most difficult to achieve. According to Yogi W. Zorn, it is a belief of Hindu Philosophy that:
I,3 He whose mind is completely still becomes aware of his true nature . . . I,4 As long as the mind is active, man identifies himself with his mind. [He continues], I,12 Mental control is brought about by abhyasa and vairagya. Abhyasa means practice and vairagya is the Sansrit term for nonattachment . . . Both [of these] . . . are necessary to achieve control over the mind . . . I,13 Abhyasa is the persistent effort to restrain the different mental activities. One of the conditions necessary to achieve control over the mind is that one should consistently try to restrain thoughts and emotions . . . Controlling the mind is a task of great magnitude . . . The mind can only be brought under control after a long and hard battle. It is not sufficient to practice for a short period each day. One should try to control thoughts at every opportunity . . . The struggle should be uninterrupted . . . The second necessity for victory in the battle for mind control is Vairagya, or nonattachment. I,15 Vairagya, is the state in which the craving for objects has been overcome. Try as one may, it is useless to attempt to become absolute master over the mind if one does not also try to overcome the desire for worldly objects. As long as there is a craving for power, wealth, and luxury one will remain a slave of one’s desires. These desires must be eliminated [spiritual life does not condemn, wealth and possessions in themselves, only the attachment that arise from the desire for it] (1968, pp. 21-22).2
The second half of Shama is the ability to concentrate. Concentration is the capacity to focus and hold the attention of the mind to one thing or one thought. The last qualification is Mumukshutva which is an ardent desire for spiritual emancipation through knowledge of one’s true self (Zorn, 1968, p.185).3
To continue, in comparison, Swami Prabhavananda expounds on Sankaracharya’s four qualifications as follows:
In Hindu philosophy it is taught that certain conditions must be fulfilled before we can receive the truth of God . . . : Discrimination, shunning ephemeral pleasures [Non-Attachment], acquiring the six treasures of life, and the desire for freedom from the bondage of life. First learn to discriminate between the eternal and the non-eternal. This discrimination is the most important thing of all. Why is it that we want to seek the truth of God? Because, we find that everything in the Universe, everything that we sense, perceive, know, and enjoy is transient. There is something in our hearts, which cannot remain satisfied with the transient. Those, in whom discrimination has developed, discriminate consciously.
When desires and impulses arise, they ask themselves: “Is this really eternal? Is this something abiding?” As this Discrimination grows in you, you lose your thirst for the pleasures of the objective world. Man wants happiness above everything. He will run after happiness wherever he can get it. But, if he has this spiritual discrimination, he will see that the pleasures of the external world are not really satisfactory, because they are not abiding. And so he will shun them, and turn toward that abiding joy, that infinite happiness [God]. Mere renunciation of desire does not help. In order to prevent the mind from running after objects, a man must cultivate certain qualities within himself.
The qualities are called in our Scriptures the Six Treasures. They are the true treasures of life. The first is tranquility of the mind, interior calmness, and peace. Then comes sense—control, mastery over your passions. As long as we remain slaves to the senses and the mind, with its passions and its restlessness, so long we cannot really desire God. The third treasure is patience and forbearance. The next is burning faith in the ideal. The heart must move toward its ideal with pleasure—the pleasure is very important. When we move toward the objects of sense-attractions, we feel great pleasure in our hearts. We must find just as much pleasure in the search for God. It is no good merely saying: “Oh, yes, I believe in God.” That is not what is known as faith. But, if you really believe in God, then your heart will move toward the ideal of God—realization with great enthusiasm. We must cultivate that. It doesn’t come all at once . . .
Then comes self-surrender. And finally, the desire for freedom from the bondage of life. That is the most important thing of all—that thirst, that longing for God, and that desire for freedom from the things that hinder our approach to Him (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1971, pp.315-316).
To continue Swami Prabhavananda states:
Christ [Jesus], in His Sermon [on the Mount], as we shall see, speaks of these same conditions to be fulfilled in order that the purity of heart can be achieved and the truth of God revealed. But before we proceed on this subject, let me first try to explain the central note of the sermon. [Which is two-fold in nature.]
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,” [and] “Be ye therefore perfect even as the Father in heaven is perfect.” These two verses give the central note of the Sermon on the Mount. Whatever Scriptures one reads, one finds the same note, this same theme. See God! Be ye therefore perfect! Know God! Realize Him! This is the one purpose and idea of life . . . Theologians today may argue whether one can find God or whether perfection can be achieved or not, or what Christ [Jesus] meant by knowing the truth or seeing God: But this much I can say definitely—that when Christ [Jesus] spoke to his disciples, He meant literally that God could be seen in their present lives. And the disciples were hungering just for that truth, to know God, to be perfect even as the Father in heaven is perfect. How can the spiritual aspirant who is hungering for truth be satisfied with theology, with philosophy, with doctrines and creeds? Christ [Jesus] was not teaching any creed, He was not teaching any doctrine but He was teaching how to know and realize God. The disciples who were sitting at His feet knew that the first thing in spiritual life is to know God while living in this world, not after the body is left behind, but here and now! That is what is meant by religion. That is the central note of the Sermon on the Mount. And the chief method of knowing God is told in the verse: “Blessed are the pure in heart.” The Beatitudes and the Sermon explain how that purity of heart is to be achieved. But we must remember that seeing God and attaining that perfection is not possible in what we call our normal life and consciousness. Nobody has seen God with these eyes. There is no perfection if we live in this life of the senses (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1971, pp. 315-317).
Prabhavananda further states that:
CHRIST [Jesus] HAS TAUGHT US THAT, in order to see God, we must be pure in heart. What is meant by this purity? . . . Try to think of God now, this very moment. What do you find? The thought of God passes through your mind . . . like a flash; then all types of distractions begin. You find that you are thinking of everything else in the universe, but God. That is the test of true purity. As Christ [Jesus] understood the word: can a man, without any distractions whatever, keep his mind fixed upon love for God? Why are there these distractions? Because the mind remains impure from birth to birth—impure, because it has gathered so many impressions of so many kinds, good and bad.
These impressions have to be removed completely: to remove them, we have to know their cause. Yoga psychology defines five root causes of all our impressions. First, is ignorance, in a universal sense: This is the chief of all causes of impurity of the mind. It is natural to all mankind: because of it, we do not see God. Ignorance is our normal state of consciousness. God is within us, and all around us: we are carrying Him with us all the time. But, instead of seeing God, we see the universe, and believe it to be the ultimate reality . . . Then there is the sense of ego, which makes me think of myself as an individual being, and say: I must possess, I must enjoy, and I must have this and that. This sense of ego separates us from one another, and from the reality of God. From the sense of the ego, we develop attachment, and aversion: I want one thing, I hate another. That desire, and that hatred, is both obstacles in the path to God (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1971, pp. 318-319).
Vedanta philosophy continues to elaborate on the ego: Ego . . . is the root—cause of our ignorance. What is Ego? But a belief in separation from God, a belief