When there is a quick alternation between concentration and distraction, mental operations are, as it were, cut through by means of a saw which goes backwards and forwards; and the disappearance of the mental operations of all types is contributory towards making the mind absolutely still, without allowing consciousness to fall into abeyance.

All thoughts which appear in the mind of the aspirant are forms of perturbation of the mind; and they have their origin in the momentum of stored sanskaras or impressions. The perturbed condition of the mind can disappear only when the aspirant can so control his mind that all thoughts can, at will, be ruled out. Only in complete internal silence is Truth found. When the surface of the lake is still, it reflects the stars; so when the mind is tranquil, it reflects the nature of the Soul as it is.

The different forms of meditation which a man practices before consciously entering the Path, as well as the different forms of General and Special Meditation, which he resorts to after becoming an aspirant, are all preparatory to the attainment of the highest state of Sahaj Samadhi or Spontaneous Meditation, in which the aspirant gets permanently established, when he realizes the ultimate Goal of life. The Sahaj Samadhi of the Siddha or God-realized person is continuous with all the prior forms of meditation and is a culmination of them all; and it is, in a sense, the completion and fulfillment of all prior meditations. But it is, at the same time, in many ways, different in kind and belongs to an entirely different order.

The spontaneity or effortlessness of Sahaj Samadhi must be carefully distinguished from the pseudo-sense of spontaneity, which is present in the usual "meditations" of the worldly man, who has not yet entered the Path. The mind of the worldly man gets engrossed in the objects of sense or in other worldly objects and pursuits; and he experiences no sense of effort in all the "meditations" concerning these objects. His mind dwells upon them because of its natural interest in them and not because of any deliberate effort on his part. The sense of effort arises, not in allowing the mind to dwell upon these diverse worldly objects, but in trying to dissuade it from them. So the pre-spiritual forms of "meditation" seems to have some similarity with the culminating Sahaj Samadhi of the Siddha, in having a sense of spontaneity. But this resemblance between the initial phase of meditation and its final phase is only superficial, since Sahaj Samadhi and pre-spiritual "meditations" are divided from each other by vital differences of great spiritual importance.