Salt doll and sea story blends with dissolving into divine meditation; 'स्वरूपशून्यम्' (Svarupashunyam) of Yogasutra 3.3 blends with dissolving into nothingness

Given below are some extracts from Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba discourse, Summer Course, 16-6-1977, https://sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume13/sss13-33.pdf (slightly edited to fix typo kind of errors):

Yoga means union or yoking, and the jeevaathma (The Individual Soul) has to be yoked with the Paramaathman (Supreme Soul); one has to find its fulfilment in the Whole, of which it is a part. As the rivers carry the waters of the sea back into the sea itself, happy to lose the limitations of their names, their size etc. in that consummation, so the individual merges into the Universal. That is Yoga.

It is Yoga that happens to the salt doll that is dropped into the depths of the sea to calculate the depth of the water. The salt too comes from the sea and becomes one with the sea.

...

The aajnaa chakra on the mid-brow spot is the embodiment of vijnaana---the Splendour of Aware-ness---for when this chakra is reached, man glimpses the Truth, gets transformed and becomes translucent. It is only a step away from the final realisation, when the Sahasraara chakara (the thousand petalled energy centre) on the crown of the head is attained. That is the consummation of all saadhana (spiritual effort), of all search.

=== end extracts from Bhagavan's discourse =====

In my current meditation practice, I am focusing on dissolving into the (divine) awareness-I or dissolving into the (divine) nothingness. For details, please see: Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi terms: Links with Sanskrit, Hindi and English translations of related 3 key verses from Patanjali Yogasutra; Related FB posts, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2025/03/dharana-dhyana-and-samadhi-terms-links.html.

The salt doll that is dropped (or dipped) into the sea, becoming one with the sea, quotation of Bhagavan above, has become a superb illustration for me in my above dissolving into divine meditation practice. Note that this salt doll and sea story has been mentioned by many masters. I think I had read it in past years too but now this story has a stronger and more deeper meaning for me.

Bhagavan's explanation of a person getting a glimpse of the truth and getting transformed when a person reaches the aajnaa chakra on the mid-brow spot is also very notable for me now.

I also want to share that my recent reading/study of Patanjali Yogasutra verse 3.3 (covered in above mentioned post) led to the 'स्वरूपशून्यम्' (Svarupashunyam) part of the verse. As I am familiar with Hindi, the meaning of the words of 'स्वरूप' (own form) and 'शून्यम्' (zero/nothing) which are part of the above phrase was clear to me as Hindi has similar words.

In the above post, I have provided a modified translation of the verse as:

"When the meditator completely forgets himself/herself (sensing of body & mind becomes zero) and gets absorbed in (becomes one with) the object/point/region being meditated upon, that state is Samadhi."

I translated 'स्वरूपशून्यम्' as 'completely forgets himself/herself (sensing of body & mind becomes zero)'.

Now oneself (one's form) becoming zero ('स्वरूपशून्यम्') is dissolving into nothingness! So now the phrase 'स्वरूपशून्यम्' in the Samadhi related verse of Patanjali Yogasutra resonates very well with my current spiritual practice. That's very satisfying as Patanjali Yogasutra is a revered scripture.