Light and Love

 

    Swami teaches....(18 December 2004)

 

    Brahmam is the Cause, Cosmos is the Effect

 

       Vedic saints have several (at first sight) different aspects concern to Universe, Maya, Brahman* (in general, equal expression is Atman, Atma) what are in core the same with accent on different approaches to qualities of Universe, Maya, Brahman. 

   

    The discovery that the Atma alone is beyond Time, and that all objects perceivable by the senses of sight, etc., are only transitory. The Atma alone suffers no change. It alone is Nitya Sathya (Timeless Truth).  
    There are who contend that the two - Maya and Brahmam** - are the twin causes of the Cosmos. Still others assert that Maya is solely responsible.

    Some others assert that the Universe is a manifestation of Vishnu and that it has its being in Vishnu Himself. They declare that the emergence, subsistence and merging of the Universe are all caused by Vishnu.

    Of course, nothing in the Universe can be made without a maker. What, then, must be the nature of the maker of the Cosmos? He must have limitless power, unbounded glory, and perfect omniscience. It is not possible for every one to visualise such a phenomenon, though it is the very fulfillment of the purpose of each one's life! It can, however, be conceived and confirmed by two characteristics: one, called Thatastha, and the other, Swarupa. Thatastha is the temporary time-bound indication. It cannot confer a correct picture or view. It can only reveal signs and glimpses, off and on. Swarupa means the very reality in its fullness. This is the result of the illumination of intuitive wisdom. It reveals the immanent and the transcendent, the limitless source of All.

 

    Every entity, article, or thing in the Universe has five qualities: Asthi, Bhathi, Priyam, Roopam, Naamam. Asthi means 'Is'. So, Is-ness is the feature of all that is. Bhaathi means 'shining', luminescence. The thing that is known to us is capable of being known to us because it shines: It has the power to enter our consciousness. Then, we have the word, Priyam. Everything is capable of being used or benefited from and therefore becomes dear, attractive; fondness is the meaning of Priyam. The two other features, Roopam and Naamam. They do change and can be modified. All things seem to undergo some transformation or other and often assume again the original form. They are apparent alterations of the basic entities, which have the first three features always. Name and Form are superimpositions on the basic reality of 'Is-ness', 'Illumination' and 'Joy'. The Divine is the base, the Divine Will is the superstructure. The beads are many but the inter-connecting, integrating string of the rosary is one. So, too, for the entire world of living beings, God, the permanent, omnipresent, Parabrahma, the Supreme Divine consciousness, is the base. 'Soham', 'He is I', 'I am that', all these axioms indicate that even those which differentiate themselves under names and forms are in fact God Himself. This is the reason why it is proclaimed in the Vedas, 'He who knows Brahmam becomes Brahmam Itself'. This awareness is the awareness of the Reality. 

 

    The Cosmos of which the Earth is a part and with which we are embroiled has as its basic cause, as the stump for the ghost, Brahmam Itself.
    We can know a great deal about the nature of the Cosmos. But the instrument of knowledge we possess is the human eye, is it not? Physical sciences have discovered much, but all that has been discovered by the human mind, is it not? They describe and analyse things as they are. However, how long do they exist as now? They are subject to modification each moment. But, one is aware of a truth or fact that is not affected in the least. That unchanging principle is the basis, Brahmam, the Eternal Base, the Unmoving, the One, the Sathya, Truth. 

 

    The Supreme Principle is the Cause for the Being turning into Becoming and the Orderly Behaviour of the Universe. Physics can probe into matter and explain how it is formed; but, it can not probe and discover why it is so formed.  The Sath, the Being, must be beyond both Subject and Object. Cogniser and the Cognised. But, when we have to delineate the Sath or Brahmam, it becomes necessary to use words in current usage, such as Creator, Lord, Providence, God and also as Brahmam.

 

    When the inquiry into cause and effect is made from the point of view of the Cosmos, we reach the conclusion that God is the Cause, and the Cosmos or Jagath is the effect. When the distinction between subject and object is transcended we become aware that it is all Pure Consciousness or Brahmam, and that this is both the primary as well as the subsidiary factor. That invokes both Brahmam, Jagath and the mergence in Brahmam. It is Maya that causes the delusion that one originates from the other. (A tiny compilation and extracts from: Sathya Sai Baba. "Sutra Vahini," pp.6, 16 - 20). 

 

    PS: 1. * and ** 'Brahman' - by Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English. In Swami's book is used the spelling 'Brahmam' what is not changed.

            2. Compilation with extracts from Swami's texts - in blue.