inherent in the mind. The aspirant takes to different forms of meditation as a means to an end, i.e., because he looks upon them as avenues to the Truth. They are not a working out of some given impulse, but an parts of an intelligent and deliberate effort. But, though these forms of meditation may be deliberate to start with, the mind gradually gets habituated to them. The mind is also interested in the various aspects of the Truth, which the different forms of meditation try to seize upon; and this interest often makes even these forms of meditation increasingly spontaneous. In none of the meditations of a Sadhaka is the element of spontaneity more pronounced than in those forms of personal meditation which give scope for and require the expression of love. But, utter spontaneity and true freedom remain unattained until the goal of medication is achieved: till then, there is usually a mixture of a sense of deliberateness and a sense of spontaneity. The reaching out towards spiritual freedom is throughout accompanied by a sense of effort, which persists in some degree, until all obstacles of false perceptions are overcome. Though effort may vary in its intensity, it never disappears entirely except when it is swallowed up in the tranquility of final attainment.

In Sahaj Samadhi there is no effort because there are no obstacles to overcome or objectives to achieve; there is, instead, the infinite spontaneity of unfettered freedom and the unbroken peace and bliss of Truth-Realization. Progression towards Sahaj Samadhi consists in a transition from a state of unquestioned acquiescence in the momentum of sanskaras to the state of desperate struggle with sanskaric limitations and finally to the state of complete freedom, when consciousness is no longer determined by the deposits of the past, but is active in the undimmed perception of the eternal Truth.

The Sahaj Samadhi of the Siddha is different from the meditation of the aspirant, not only in freedom and spontaneity of consciousness, but also in many other important points. All the different forms of meditation in which the aspirant might be engaged, directly or indirectly, aim at securing a complete merging of the mind in the infinite Truth. But they only succeed in partial merging and fall short of the total annihilation of the individual mind. They represent varying degrees of approximation towards the spiritual goal, but not its realization. On the other hand, in Sahaj Samadhi, there is the realization of the spiritual goal, since the limited mind is completely annihilated and has arrived at a total merging in the infinite Truth.