Nimittam aprayojkam prakirtinam
varana bhedas tu tatah kshetrikavat.
IV.3
In order to be released from them,
we must destroy the veil of the qualities of things.
And then we must become as gardeners.
The first chapter took us down the five paths to perfection. The next two chapters took us there through the eight limbs. The final chapter now takes us through the mental details to the same place.
There are many ways to the special power we mentioned. If a person is very attached to his house, for example, then after he dies he may return as a spirit or ghost chained to the house, with powers like walking through walls.
Deceased people in the spirit world, waiting for their next life, automatically gain similar powers, and try to contact loved ones. This existence and its powers also end, by nature, within seven weeks.
One can moreover gain special powers and visions using herbs or drugs, or through extreme practices like sleep deprivation or drastic fasting. Or one can utter special spells to fly or pick up fire.
The problem with all these methods is that they simply cannot be sustained at will. We must instead master deep meditation, and see that the qualities, which all things possess, actually come from our own seeds. Then we must quietly, happily, and steadily tend the garden of our own minds to produce paradise.
