If fire can give the splendour, then,
why does not a stick or blade or pebble placed in the fire
become as shining as gold? So one has to conclude that the
splendour came not through fire but out of its own inner nature.
The Prathyagatma, or the Inner presiding Atma, is separate from
the Five Sheaths of the Individual, the Panchakosas; it shines
with its own splendour; it is the witness of the activities and
consequences of the three Gunas; it is immovable; it is holy and
pure; it is eternal; it is indivisible; it is self-manifested;
it is Peace; it has no end; it is wisdom itself. Such an Atma
has got to be cognised as Oneself!
To realise this Atma, this Jnanaswarupa,
there are four obstacles to be overcome: Laya, Vikshepa, Kshaya
and Rasa-aaswaadanam. Let us take these one by one.
LAYA: Sleep: when the mind
withdraws from the external world, it enters into deep sleep or
Sushupthi, on account of the overpowering influence of Samsara.
The sadhaka should arrest this tendency and attempt to fix the
mind on to Atmavichara, or the Inquiry into the nature of the
Atma. He must keep watch over the mind so that he may keep
awake. He must discover the circumstances that induce the
drowsiness and remove them in time. He must start the process of
Dhyana again and again. Of course, the usual producer of
drowsiness and sleep during Dhyana is indigestion. Over-feeding,
exhaustion through too much of moving about, want of sufficient
sleep at night, these too cause sleepiness and drowsiness. So it
is advisable to sleep a little during noon on those days when
you wake up after a sleepless night, though generally all those
who engage in Dhyanam should avoid sleep during daytime. Do not
eat until you feel proper hunger. Practise the art of moderate
eating. When you feel three-fourths full, desist from further
eating; that is to say, you will have to stop even when you feel
you can take a little more. The stomach can be educated in this
way to behave properly. Over-exercise too is not good; even
walking can be overdone. You can walk until you conquer
drowsiness; but remember, you cannot plunge into Dhyanam
immediately after you have warded off sleep.
VIKSHEPA: Waywardness: the mind
seeks to run after external objects and so constant effort is
needed to turn it inwards, away from the attractions of sensory
impressions. This has to be done through the rigorous exercise
of the Intellect, of Inquiry. Discriminate and get the
conviction driven into you that these are evanescent, temporary,
transformable, liable to decay and, therefore, unreal, Mithya
not Sathya. Convince yourselves that what are sought after as
pleasurable and avoided as painful are only the fleeting
products of sensory contacts; train yourselves in this way to
avoid the distractions of the external world and dive deep into
Dhyanam.
A sparrow pursued by a hawk flies in
despair for shelter into a house; but it is anxious to again fly
into the outer world, isn't it? So also, the mind is anxious to
go again into the outer world, from the Atma where it takes
refuge. Vikshepa is this mental attitude, the urge to run back
into the world from one's shelter. The removal of Vikshepa alone
will help the concentration of the mind in Dhyanam.
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KSHAYA: The mind is drawn with
immense force by all the unconscious impulses and instincts of
passion and attachment towards the external world and its
multitudinous attractions. It therefore experiences untold
misery and might even get lost in its depths. This is the stage
called Kshaya or decline.
The state of inertia into which one is
driven by despair cannot be called Samadhi; or one might even
indulge in day-dreaming in order to escape from present misery;
or one might start building castles in the air. All this is due
to attachment, to the temptations of the outer world. There is
another type of attachment too, the attachment to the inner
world ... the planning within oneself of various schemes to
better oneself in the future as compared to the past. Both these
form part of what is called Kshaya. The basis for both is the
attraction of the outer world. Attachment brings about desire;
desire leads to planning.
RASA-AASWAADANA: When Kshaya and
Vikshepa are overcome, one attains the Savikalpananda, the Bliss
of the Highest Subject-Object Contact. This stage is what is
called Rasa-aaswaadanam or the Enjoyment of Bliss. Even this is
not the Highest or the Supreme Bliss, which one does not attain
or acquire, but simply IS, becomes aware of, so to say. The
Rasa, or the sweetness of the Subject-Object Samadhi is a
temptation one has to avoid, for it is only the second best. It
is enough joy to act as a handicap. The joy is as great as that
of a person who has just deposited a huge load he has been long
carrying, or as that of a greedy person who has just killed a
serpent guarding a vast treasure he wanted to grab. The killing
of the serpent is Savikalpa Samadhi; the acquisition of the
treasure, that is the Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the highest stage.
When the sun rises, darkness as well as
the troubles arising from it disappear. Similarly, for those who
have realised the Atma, there is no longer any bondage, nor the
sorrow arising from the bondage. Delusion comes only to those
who forget their bearings: egoism is the greatest factor in
making people forget their very basic Truth. Once egoism enters
man, he slips from the ideal and precipitates himself from the
top of the stairs in quick falls from step to step, down to the
very bottom floor. Egoism breeds schisms, hatreds and
attachments. Through attachment and affection, and even envy and
hatred, one plunges into activity and gets immersed in the
world. This leads to embodiment in the physical frame and
further egoism. In order to become free from the twin pulls of
pleasure and pain, one must rid oneself of body-consciousness
and keep clear of self-centred actions. This again involves the
absence of attachment and hatred; desire is the enemy number one
of Liberation, or Moksha. Desire binds one to the wheel of birth
and death; it brings about endless worries and tribulations.
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Through inquiry on these lines,
knowledge is rendered clearer and brighter, and liberation is
achieved. Moksha is only another word for independence, not
depending on any outside thing or person.
If nicely controlled and trained, the
mind can lead one on to Moksha. It must be saturated in the
thought of God; that will help the inquiry into the nature of
Reality. The consciousness of the Ego itself will fade away when
the mind is free from pulls and when it is rendered pure. Not to
be affected in any way by the world; that is the path to
self-realisation; it cannot be got in Swarga or in Mount
Kailasa.
The flame of desire cannot be put out
without the conquest of the mind. The mind cannot be overcome
without the scotching of the flames of desire. The mind is the
seed, desire is the tree. Atmajnana alone can uproot that tree.
So, these three are inter-dependent: mind, desire and Atmajnana.
The Jivanmuktha is established firmly in
the knowledge of the Atma. He has achieved it by dwelling on the
Mithya of the world and contemplating its failings and faults.
By this means, he has developed an insight into the nature of
pleasure and pain and equanimity in both. He knows that wealth,
worldly joy and pleasure are all worthless and even poisonous.
He takes praise, blame and even blows with a calm assurance,
unaffected by both honour and dishonour. Of course, the
Jivanmuktha reached that stage only after long years of
systematic discipline and unflagging zeal when distress and
doubt assailed him. Defeat only made him more rigorous in
self-examination and more earnest about following the prescribed
discipline. The Jivanmuktha has no trace of the 'will to live';
he is ever ready to drop into the lap of Death.
Aparokshabrahmajnana or Direct
Perception of Brahma is the name given to the stage in which the
aspirant is free from all doubt regarding improbability or
impossibility, and is certain that the two entities, Jiva and
Brahman, are One, and have been One, and will ever be One. When
this stage is attained, the aspirant will no longer suffer any
confusion, he will not mistake one thing for another, or
superimpose one thing on another. He will not mistake the rope
for the snake. He will know that all along there was only one
thing, the rope.
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He will not suffer from Abhasa-avaranam
also; that is to say, he will not declare, as he was wont to do
previously, that the effulgence of Brahmam is not in him. In the
heart and centre of every Jivi, Paramatma exists, minuter than
the minutest molecule, larger than the largest conceivable
object, smaller than the smallest, greater than the greatest.
Therefore, the Jnani who has had a vision of the Atma in him
will never suffer sorrow. The Atma is there, in all living
things, in the ant as well as in the elephant. The whole world
is enveloped and sustained by this subtle Atma. The Sadhaka has
to direct his attention away from the external world and become
insighted; he has to turn his vision towards the Atma. He must
analyse the process of his mind and discover for himself
wherefrom all the modifications and agitations of the mind
originate. By this means, every trace of 'intention' and 'will'
has to disappear. Afterwards, the only idea that will get fixed
in the mind will be the idea of Brahmam. The only feeling which
will occupy the mind will be the feeling of Bliss, arising out
of its establishment in the Satchidananda stage.
Such a Jnani will be unaffected by joy
or grief, for he will be fully immersed in the ocean of
Atmananda, above and beyond the reach of worldly things. The
constant contemplation of the Atma and its glory is what is
connoted by the terms, Brahmabhyasa and Jnanabhyasa, the
practice of Brahma or the cultivation of Jnana.
The mind is so influenced by the passion
for objective pleasure and delusion of ignorance that it pursues
with amazing quickness the fleeting objects of the world; so it
has to be again and again led on towards higher ideals. Of
course, this is difficult at first; but with persistent training
the mind can be tamed; then it will get fixed in the perpetual
enjoyment of the Pranava, OM. The mind can be trained by
following the methods of quiet persuasion, the promise of
attractive inducements, the practice of withdrawing the senses
from the outer world, the endurance of pain and travail, the
cultivation of sincerity and constancy and the acquisition of
mental equipoise, that is to say, the methods of Sama, Dama,
Uparathi, Thithiksha, Sraddha and Samaadhaana.
The mind can be turned towards Brahmam
and the constant contemplation of Brahmam by the study of the
Upanishads, the adoption of regular prayer, the sharing with
others of the ecstasy of Bhajan and the adherence to Truth. Very
often, with the progress of Dhyana, new desires and new
resolutions arise in the mind. But one need not despair: the
mind can be broken, provided one takes up the task in right
earnest and follows a regular routine of training. The final
result of this training is Nirvikalpa Samadhi or the Unlimited,
Unmodified Bliss-Consciousness.
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Nirvikalpasamadhi gives full knowledge
of Brahmam, and that, in turn, results in Moksha or Liberation
from birth and death. The mind must be attuned to the
contemplation of Brahmam; one must strive to tread the path of
Brahmam and live in Brahmam, with Brahmam. Atmajnana can be won
only by the triple path of 'giving up Vasanas', 'uprooting the
mind' and 'the analysis of experience, to grasp the reality'.
Without these three, the Jnana of the Atma will not dawn. The
Vasanas or instincts and impulses prod the mind on towards the
sensory world and bind the individual to joy and misery. So the
Vasanas must be put down. This can be achieved by means of
discrimination (Viveka), meditation on the Atma (Atmachinthana),
inquiry (Vicharana), control of the senses (Samam), control of
the desires (Damam), renunciation (Vairagya) and such
disciplines.
The mind is a bundle of Vasanas; verily,
the mind is the Jagath itself; it is all the world for the
individual. While in deep sleep the mind does not function, and
so the Jagath is practically non-existent for the individual.
The Jagath is born, or 'enters the consciousness' and dies or
'disappears from the consciousness', according to the cognitive
power of the mind. When therefore the mind is destroyed, the
world too is destroyed and one is free, one is liberated; one
attains Moksha.
Whoever succeeds in controlling the
Chitta or the Consciousness can have a vision of the Atma.
Consciousness is the grown-up tree; the seed is the "ego", the
feeling of "I". When the seed "I" is cast aside, all the
activities of the consciousness also vanish automatically.
The Sadhaka, who is earnest for these
results, has to be ever vigilant. The senses might, any moment,
regain their lost mastery and enslave the individual. He might
lose much of the ground already gained. That is the reason why
Sadhakas are warned off from the attachments of the world.
Be ever and always immersed in the
search for Truth; do not waste time in the multiplication and
satisfaction of wants and desires. One source of pleasure craves
as a corollary to another source. Thus the mind seeks again and
again to acquire the objects it has given up; so do not yield to
the vagaries of the mind. Turn back, even forcibly, from sensory
attachment. Why, even prayer cannot be done, according to the
mind's vagaries. One has to stick to the same place and time!
The Atma itself will sustain such Sadhakas and give them
strength and steadiness.
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He who has subdued his mind will be the
same, in good times and in bad. Grief and joy are but
aberrations of the mind. It is only when the mind is associated
with the senses and the body that it is affected and agitated
and modified. When one takes in an intoxicant, one is not aware
of pain, is it not? How does this happen? The mind is then
detached from the body and so it is not bothered by physical
pain or discomfort. Similarly, the Jnani too has immersed his
mind in the Atma; he can establish mental peace and quiet by
disciplining the mind.
The Jnani gets full Bliss from his own
Atma; he does not seek it anywhere outside himself. In fact, he
will have no desire or plan to find joy in anything external. He
is satisfied with the inner joy he gets. The greatness of a
Jnani is beyond description, even beyond your imagination! The
Sruthis proclaim, "Brahmavith Brahmaiva bhavathi". Brahmavith
param aapnothi", that is to say, 'he who has known Brahmam
becomes Brahmam Itself', 'he who has attained the Brahmam
Principle has become the Highest'.
All bubbles are but the same water; so
also, all the multiplicity of name and form, all this created
world, are but the same Brahmam. This is the fixed conviction of
the Jnani, nay, his genuine experience. As all rivers flow into
the sea and get lost, so also all desires get lost in the
effulgent consciousness of the Realised soul. That is what is
termed the Atmasaakshaathkaara, the Vision of the Atma. The Atma
has no death. It is not born and it is unaffected by the
six-fold process of change. It is Aja (birth-less), Ajara
(without old age), Amara (without death) and Avinaasi (without
decline and extinction). These processes are for the evanescent
body; they are "shad-bhaava vikaras". They mean being born,
existing, growing, changing, getting old, declining and lastly
dying. The Atma has no such modification. It is stable,
unshakable, fixed, the witness of all change in space and time,
unaffected by the transformations, like the waterdrop on the
lotus-leaf.
Liberation from the tentacles of the
mind can be got by the acquisition of Brahmajnana, the knowledge
of the Absolute. This type of liberation is the genuine
Swarajya, self-rule. This is the genuine Moksha. Whoever grasps
the reality behind all this passing show, he will be troubled by
instinct or impulse or any other urge; he will be the master of
the real wisdom.
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The robber who has robbed us of the
precious gem of Atma is no other than the mind; so, if the
robber is caught and threatened and punished, the gem can be
regained. The possessor of that gem is immediately honoured by
being installed as Brahmam.
The Sadhaka must seek the personages who
have attained this Knowledge and learn from them their
experience, and honour them for it and share with them their
joy. Indeed, such Sadhakas are blessed, for they are on the road
to Swarajya, self-rule. This is the mystery of Brahmam, the
understanding that there is no other. This is the Atmajnana.
There are four types of Jnanis:
Brahmavid, Brahmavidvara, Brahmavid-Vareeyaan and
Brahmavidvarishta. These types are differentiated, according to
the development of the Sathwic quality in the Jnani. The first,
the Brahmavid, has reached the fourth stage called
Pathyapaththi. The second, the Brahmavidvara has attained the
fifth, the A-samasakthi stage. The third has gained the sixth
stage, the Padaartha bhavanaa. The fourth, the Brahmavarishta is
in the seventh grade, the Thureeya, the stage of perpetual
Samaadhi.
The Brahmavid-varishta is 'liberated'
though he is in the body. He has to be forcibly persuaded to
partake of food and drink. He will not engage himself in any
work relating to the world. He will be unconscious of the body
and its demands. But the other three will be aware of it, in
varying intensities, and they will engage themselves in worldly
work, to the extent appropriate to their spiritual status. Those
three have to acquire the destruction of the Manas, the Mind.
This itself is of two grades: Swarupanaasa, the destruction of
the agitations, and even their shapes and forms; and Arupanaasa,
the destruction of the agitations only.
Readers might be troubled by a doubt
while on this point. They might ask, who are these who have
conquered and wiped out the Mind? Those who have neither
attachment nor hatred nor pride nor jelousy nor greed. Those who
are free from bondage of the senses, those really are the heroes
who have won the battle against the mind. That is the test. Such
heroic persons will be free from all agitations.
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He who has achieved Swarupanaasa would
have eliminated the two Gunas, Thamas and Rajas, and he will
shine with the splendour of pure Sathwa. Through the influence
of the pure Guna, he will radiate Love and Beneficence and Mercy
wherever he moves. (In the Brahmavid-varishta, the already
'liberated' individual, even this Sathwaguna will be absent).
The Sathwa guna will have as its unmistakable concomitants:
splendour, wisdom, bliss, peace, brotherliness, sense of
sameness, self-confidence, holiness, purity and similar
qualities. Only he who is saturated in Sathwa guna can witness
the image of the Atma within. It is when the Sathwa is mixed
with the Thamasic and Rajasic, that it is rendered impure and
becomes the cause of Ignorance and Illusion. This is the reason
for the bondage of man. The Rajasic quality produces the
illusion of something non-existent being existent! It broadens
and deepens the contact of the senses with the external world.
It creates affection and attachment and so, by means of the dual
pulls of happiness and sorrow (the one to gain and the other,
avoid) to it plunges man deeper and deeper into activity. These
activities breed the evils of passion, fury, greed, conceit,
hatred, pride, meanness and trickery. And the Thamasic quality?
Well, it blinds the vision, and lowers the intellect,
multiplying sloth, sleep and dullness, leading man along the
wrong path, away from the goal. It will make even the
seen, the 'unseen'! One will fail to benefit even from one's
actual experience, if one is immersed in Thamas. It will mislead
even big scholars, for scholarship does not necessarily confer
moral stamina. Caught in these tentacles of Thamas, the pundits
cannot arrive at correct conclusions.
Even the wise, if they are bound down by
Thamas, will be affected by many doubts and misgivings and be
drawn towards sensory pleasures, to the detriment of the wisdom
they have gained. They will begin to identify themselves with
their property, their wives and children, and such other worldly
temporals. They will even confuse untruth with truth and truth
with untruth! Note how great a trickster this Thamas is!
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This power of super-imposition that Maya
has hides from the Jivi (or the Individual) the Universal which
he is, the Sath-Chith-Ananda which is his Nature. All this
Jagath, with its manifoldness, is born out of the ascription of
multiplicity where there is only Unity. When all this evolution
is subsumed by the process of involution (Pralaya), the three
Gunas are in perfect equilibrium or balance. This is the stage
called Guna-saamya-avastha. Then, through the Will of the
Super-Will or Iswara, the balance is disturbed and activity
starts, leading to consequences which breed further activities.
In other words, the World originates and develops and unfolds.
This is the stage called Unbalanced, or Vaishamya. Thus, from
the subtle Inner unconscious and sub-conscious to the gross
outer physical body, everything is due to Maya or the power of
super-imposition of the Particular over the Universal. That is
the reason why these are referred to as An-atma, Non-Atma. They
are like the mirage, which super-imposes water over desert sand.
It can be destroyed only by the vision of Brahmam or Atma.
The affection one has towards one's
relations, the satisfaction one gets when one secures the things
craved for, the happiness one gets when one utilises such
things, all these are bondages which the consciousness imposes
on itself. Even sleep and dream are such 'agitations' which have
to be overcome before the Atma can be well visualised and
realised. In sleep, the element of Ignorance persists. The 'I'
and 'Mine' feelings produce an endless series of activities and
agitations in the various levels of Consciousness. But, as a
single soldier in a vantage position can successfully tackle
hundreds of enemy personnel who come in single file through a
narrow gap, one has to tackle each agitation as and when it
emerges in the Consciousness and overwhelm it. The courage to do
this can be got through the training derived by practice.
All agitations will cease the moment one
enters on the inquiry, "Who am I"? This was the Sadhana that
Ramana Maharshi achieved and taught to his disciples. That is
also the easiest of all the disciplines. First, there must be
the Subhechchaa, the desire to promote one's own welfare. This
will lead to the study of books about Brahmam and its
principles, the search for the company of the good, the
withdrawal from sensory pleasure and the thirst for liberation.
Even the Mahaavaakya, "Aham Brahmaasmi", has a trace of
ignorance sticking on to it, the Aham, considered as separate
but identical. This Aham is so persistent that it will disappear
only through ceaseless meditation on the implications of
"Thatwamasi" and all-inclusive Atma or Brahmam. This is the
Vichaarana stage or Bhumika; the Bhumika, subsequent to the
Subhechchaa stage. By these means, the Mind can be fixed very
soon on the contemplation of Brahmam. Each stage is a step on
the ladder for the progressive rise of the Mind, from the
concrete to the subtle and the subtle to the non-existent. This
is the Thanumanasi or the last stage.
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The three stages referred to above and
the disciplines they involve will destroy all desires and
cravings and illumine knowledge of the Reality. The Mind is
rendered fully holy and saturated withTruth. This is called
A-samasakthi, or the stage of No-attachment or No-contact. That
is to say, all contact with the exterior World or even with
one's own past is wiped out. No attention is paid to the
internal and the external; the Sadhaka reaches
Abhaavapratheethi, as it is called. He has no Padaarthabhaavana
of his own; that is to say, no object can create any sensation
in his consciousness. He, the perfect Jnani, will be ever
immersed in the Bliss of the Atma. He has no awareness of the
seer, the seen and the sight, the triple thread. This is the
Thuriya, the Fourth, the Beyond Stage.
Some are Wakeful-dreamy, or
Jaagratha-swapna: they build castles in the air, planning with
the known and the unknown, the seen and the unseen. Others are
extra-wakeful, Mahaajaagrath; their 'I' and 'Mine' have become
too deep-rooted through many births. These are all but
agitations of the Consciousness, Vrittis. Wisdom can dawn only
when these are destroyed. Until then, however much one may know
of names and forms, one cannot grasp the Reality. The ceasing of
all Vrittis or agitations is the sign of the person who really
knows the Reality.
Look at the clouds that wander across
the sky; note that they have no intimate lasting relationship
with the sky which they hide but for a few minutes.
Such is the relationship between your
body and You, that is to say, You who are of the nature of
Paramatma. The body is but a temporary passing phase, hiding and
clouding the truth.
How can the body's behaviour -
wakefulness, dream and sleep - affect in any way the Eternal
Consciousness, the Paramatma?
What of your shadow? Is it not something
separate from you? Does its length or clarity or career affect
you in any way? Understand that the same is the relationship
between the body and Yourself. If you take this bundle of flesh
and bone as yourself, consider what happens to it, and how long
you can call it 'mine'. Pondering over this problem is the
beginning of Jnana.
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This physical frame, built out of earth,
fire, water, wind and ether, breaks up into its components, as
built-up things do. Only ignorance will take it as Real; only
the uneducated will attach value to it as permanent and eternal.
Did this body exist before birth? Does it persist after death?
No. It appears and disappears, with an interval of existence!
Therefore, it has no absolute value; it is to be treated only as
the cloud or the shadow.
As a matter of fact, this physical world
is like the mango tree raised by the magician's wand, the
product of the trickster known as Mind. Just as clay takes the
form of pot and pan and plate and after an interval becomes once
again clay, shapeless clay, so too, all this is the formless
Sath - Chith - Ananda; the Niraakaara appearing with Aakaara for
some time, on account of the delusion and ignorance of the Mind.
Some things are useful, some are not, all because of this Name
and Form.
All Forms are He; all are He. You too
are He, above and beyond the Past, Present and Future. You are
not this body which is tied up with time, and which is caught in
the toils of Was, Is and Will. Be ever fixed in this attitude,
dwell constantly in the thought that You are of the nature of
Parabrahma; thus, you grow into a Jnani.
That mind is in bondage which craves for
objects, for the company of men, and prefers this location or
that. Attachment is bondage; non-attachment is Liberation,
Moksha, Mukthi. To crave is to be imprisoned, to die. To
withdraw the mind from all attachment is to be free, to live for
ever.
"Mana eva Manushyaanaam Kaaranam bandha
mokshayoh"; for men, the mind it is that causes bondage and
grants liberation. The mind runs after an object, gets attached;
the senses are alerted; an action results; the mind is rendered
happy or unhappy; feeling ensues; fear enters; anger grows;
affection develops. Thus, the bonds are thightened.
Fear, anger and affection are the
closest comrades of Attachment, the comrades dearest to its
heart! They are, all four, inseparable companions, moving always
together. This is why even Pathanjali was forced to assert,
"Attachment runs after happiness". And what is it that grants
happiness? The fulfilment of desire, is it not? Desire leads to
hatred of those who thwart it, fondness for those who feed it
and to the inevitable wheel of opposites, of likes and dislikes;
there is no escape from this for the Ignorant.
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Impure gold is melted in the crucible
and it emerges shining and bright. The mind rendered impure by
Rajas and Thamas, by anger and conceit, by the impressions of a
thousand attachments and desires, can be made bright and
resplendent if it is put into the crucible of Inquiry and heated
on the coals of Discrimination. That brightness is the light of
realisation, of the knowledge that You are the Atma.
Like the loo that covers everything with
dust, the desires, attachments, thirsts and cravings all blacken
the mind; they have to be kept away in order that splendour of
the Self might merge in the splendour of the Overself, the
Paramatma.
Whatever the crisis, however deep the
misery, do not allow your grip over the mind to get loose;
tighten it further, fixing your eyes on the higher values. Do
not allow the mind to stray away from the holy tabernacle of the
heart. Make it bow before the Atma within.
Thus, one can proceed from the Samadhi
of Savikalpa to the Samadhi of Nirvikalpa, that is to say, the
Merging with the Differentiated to the Merging with the
Undifferentiated. Delusion must disappear without even a trace;
then only can one merge with the Un-differentiated. There is no
duality there; it is Brahmam and Brahmam alone. All bonds of
Avidya, Kaama, etc., fall away and one is genuinely, fully Free.
The snake shrugs off its coil and has
nothing more to do with it. Develop that attitude of
non-attachment. Escape from the body-delusion. The weak can
never grasp this fact. By constant meditation on the Atma and
its Glory, one can come out of the tangles of the world and
worldly affairs. The Sadhaka, who is earnest, must divert all
his attention and effort from the sensory world and fix them on
the Eternal Brahmam.
Man did not arise merely to wallow in
casual joy and fleeting happiness. It is insane to believe so.
Identifying oneself with the 'I' and getting attached to 'Mine'
- that is the root cause of sorrow and ignorance. Where there is
no egoism, there will be no cognisance of the external world.
When the external world is not cognised, the ego cannot exist.
The wise one, therefore, will dissociate himself from the world
and behave ever as the Agent of the Lord, being in it but
not of it.
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Once in the midst of conversation,
Vasishta spoke thus to Rama: "Listen, O, Rama, the Valiant! The
Jiva is a bull reclining under the shade (Moha) of a vastly
spreading tree in the forest, Samsara. It is bound by the rope
of Desire and so it is infected by the fleas and insects of
unrest, worry and disease. It rolls in the mire of wrong, while
struggling in the dark night of ignorance to slake the thirst of
the senses. Then, some good men who are wise untie it and take
it out of the dark recesses of the forest. Through Viveka and
Vichara, one achieves Vijnana; and through Vijnana, one is able
to grasp the Truth, to realise the Atma, to know the Atma. That
is the ultimage goal of all Life, the stage that is beyond the
Past, Present and Future".
But one point has to be clearly noted
and remembered always: mere giving up external activities
connected with the satisfaction of sensory desires is not
enough; the internal cravings have to be uprooted. The word
Thrishna covers both these, the internal promptings and the
external actions. When all promptings cease, it is called
Mukthathrishna. Knowledge of the Atma and faith in the Atma -
these alone can destroy the irrelevant thirsts.
When the Jnani declares, 'I am Brahmam',
he is uttering the truth from the reality of his experience.
When the gross and the subtle are transcended, when the Manas,
the Buddhi and the Prana are sublimated, that is to say, when
the Self is no longer bound by feelings, thoughts, impulses and
instincts, what remains is Sath only. Existence - pure and
unalloyed, Parabrahmam. Hence, the Jnani feels one with the
Omnipresent, the Omnipotent; while the uneducated, un-initiated,
person who has not taught himself the first steps of Sadhana
feels he is one with his physical frame.
Sath-Chith-Ananda - the expression
indicates the Eternal. Niraakaara means without Aakaara or Form.
What form can we posit for the All-pervasive, the All-inclusive?
'Paras' or 'Param' means super, beyond, above, more glorious
than all. Parabrahmam indicates the One beyond and behind
everything, grander than anything in the three worlds. It is
non-dual, unique, eternal and infinite. 'Two' means difference,
dissension, inevitable discord. Since Brahmam is all pervasive,
It is One and only One. It is Indivisible and Indestructible.
Realising this is 'Jnanam', the 'Highest
Wisdom'.
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The word Brahmam is derived from the
root, Brh, meaning to expand, to increase, to enlarge etc.
Brhath means big, enlarged, gross, high etc. Purusha has its
root, Pri meaning to fill, to complete. Pur means a town 'full'
of inhabitants, that is to say the body, in a figurative manner
of speaking. He who completes or is immanent in or who fills it,
the Purusha.
The word Atma has, as its root Aap
meaning to acquire, to earn, to conquer, to overcome etc. He who
knows the Atma can earn all knowledge, has acquired everything,
has earned the knowledge of everything because the Atma is
omnipresent. He is then fixed in Sath-Chith-Ananda; that is, in
the embodiment of Brahmam. Sath is the essence of Santham; Chith
is the essence of Jnanam; these and Ananda together form the
Swaroopa of Brahmam, or the embodiment of Brahmam.
The Taittiriya Upanishad has declared,
"Through Ananda, all this is born; through Ananda all this is
living; in Ananda alone all this is merged; in Ananda all this
rests". Like the category Brahmam, the category Anthar-Atma also
is possessed of the same attributes. It is also Ananda-born,
Ananda-full and Ananda-merged. The more the Jnana, the more the
awareness of the Ananda. The Jnani has Joy as his right hand,
helpful in all emergencies and always willing and able to come
to his rescue.
Bhoomaa means 'limitless'. The Chandogya
Upanishad declares that Ananda inheres only in the Bhoomaa, the
Eternal, the Brahmam. Again, another word used by Jnanis to
describe their experience of Brahmam is Jyotiswarupa, meaning,
'whose nature is splendour, glory or effulgence, who is
Illumination itself'. Ten million suns cannot equal the
Splendour of the Param-Atma. The word Santhiswarupa indicates
that It is Santhi Itself. In Sruthi texts like Ayam Ayma
Saantho... etc., it is proclaimed that Paramatman is Prasanthi
itself.
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This is the reason why Paramatma is
characterised as Eternally Pure, eternally intelligent,
eternally liberated, eternally illumined, eternally content,
eternally conscious etc. It is Wisdom Itself and so it is the
embodiment of all teaching. It is not attached to anything and
so it is ever free. When the Brahmam is tasted, that very moment
all hunger ceases, all desires come to an end and so it grants
contentment. Vijnana is the name given to the actual experiences
of the Brahmam; it is a special type of Jnana, unlike the common
fund of information got from the study of books. The net result
of the study of any branch of learning, the fruit of all that
study, is also sometimes referred to as Vijnana. The unique
Jnana of the Brahmam is known by a variety of names like Jnana,
Vijnana, Prajnana, Chith, Chaithanya, etc. Chaithanya means Pure
Consciousness; its opposite is the Unconscious or the Jada, the
Inert. Atmajnana makes everything Conscious, Active. Brahmam is
Eternally Conscious, Nithya Chaithanya.
A Jnani will feel that the Atma immanent
in every one is his own Atma; he will be happy that he is
himself all this; he will see no distinction between man and
man, for he can experience only unity, not diversity. The
physical differences of colour, caste and creed adhere only to
the body. These are but the marks of the external body. The Atma
is Nishkala, that is to say, it has no parts; it is Nirmala,
blemishless, unaffected by desire, anger, greed, affection,
pride and envy; it is Nishkriya, activity-less. It is only
Prakrithi that undergoes all these modifications or at least
gives the impression that it is so modified. The Purusha is but
the eternal Witness, the Ever-inactive, the Modification-less.
Of what can you say, 'This is Truth'?
Only of this, which persists in the Past, the Present and the
Future, which has neither beginning nor end, which does not move
or change, which has uniform Form, unified experience-giving
property. Well, let us consider the body, the senses, the mind,
the life-force and all such. They move and change; they begin
and end, they are inert, Jada. They have three gunas: Thamas,
Rajas and Sathwa. They are without basic Reality. They cause the
delusion of reality. They have only relative value; they have no
absolute value. They shine due to borrowed light only.
Absolute Truth is beyond the reach of
Time and Space, it is A-parichchinna, that is, indivisible. It
does not begin; it is always and ever existent; it is the basis,
the fundamental, the self-revealing. Knowing it, experiencing
it, is Jnanam. It is A-nirdesyam, that is, cannot be marked out
as such and such and explained by some characteristics. How can
something that is above and beyond the intellect and the mind be
described through mere words?
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It is also termed Adrisya, invisible to
the eye, the optical apparatus that undergoes change and which
is very limited in its capacity. Brahma can never be grasped by
anything elemental and physical; through Brahman, the eye is
able to see, so how can the eye perceive Brahmam itself? The
mind is bound by the limitations of time, space and causation.
How can the Param-Atma who is superior to these and unaffected
by them, be limited by them?
The terms, Amala, Vimala, Nirmala
applied to Paramatma connote the same meaning: A-mala implying
absence of impurity, Nir-mala, 'without impurity' and Vimala,
'having all impurity destroyed'. So too, A-chinthya (incapable
of being conceived), A-vyavaahaarya, (without any activity, for
activity or work implies the existence of another or others,
whereas It is unique and so unaware of any move towards or away
from another) are words applied to Brahmam.
Know that the Jagath is the Swaroop of
the Viraatpurusha, the form imposed by Maya on the Super-soul.
Brahmam is that which has become or appears to have become all
this, the Antharyami, the Inner Motive Force. In the Nirguna
aspect it is the Primal Cause, the Hiranya Garbha, of which
Creation is the manifestation. Grasping this secret of the
universe and its origin and existence - that is Jnana.
Many people argue that Jnana is one of
the attributes of Brahmam, that it is of the nature of Brahmam,
a characteristic of Brahmam etc. But such opinions arise only in
the absence of actual experience, of actual attainment of Jnana.
Arguments and discussions multiply when there is no firsthand
experience; for the realisation of Reality is individual, based
on revelation to oneself.
I declare that Jnanam is Brahmam, not a
mere characteristic or attitude or quality. The Vedas and
Sastras announce that Brahmam is Sathyam, Jnanam, and Anantham,
not that Brahmam has these and other attributes. When Brahmam is
known, the knower, the known and the knowledge all become One.
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Indeed, Brahmam cannot be described as
such and such; that is why it is referred to as just, "Sath",
"It is". Jnana too is just Sath, no more, no less. The Sruthis
use the word Vijnanaghana, to indicate Brahmam. The word means,
the Sum and Substance of Vijnana, Knowledge with a capital K.
Only those who are unaware of the Sruthis and the Sastras will
aver that Jnana and Brahmam are distinct. Jnanam is Brahmam;
distinction is impossible. It is a sign of ignorance to posit a
difference.
All knowledge that is limited by the
three Gunas is Ajnana, not the Jnana of the Transcendental,
which is above and beyond the Thamasic, Rajasic and even the
Sathwic motives, impulses and qualities. How can such limited
knowledge be Jnana? Knowledge of the Transcendental has to be
transcendental too, in an equal measure and to the same degree.
It might be said that Brahmam has Form
while Jnana is Formless; but both are Formless in the real sense
of the word. The apparent form of Brahmam is the result of
Avidya or Ignorance; Form is attributed to Brahmam only, to
serve the needs of the Embodied Souls during the period of the
embodiment. The Absolute is reduced to the level of the
Conditioned, because the Soul too is conditioned in the body.
Not to know that this human interlude is but the conditioned
state of the Atma is to be reduced to the dullness of the beast.
"Jnana is the panacea for all ills,
troubles and travails". This is how the Vedas describe it. To
acquire this Jnana, there are many paths, and the chiefest of
them is the path of Bhakthi, the Path adopted by Vasishta,
Narada, Vyasa, Gouranga and other great persons. What the oil is
to the flame in the lamp, Bhakthi is to the Flame of Jnana. The
Heavenly Tree of the Joy of Jnana thrives on the refreshing
waters of Bhakthi. Understand this well.
It is for this reason that Krishna, who
is the Personification of Prema, and who is saturated with the
quality of Mercy, declared in the Gita: "I am known by means of
Bhakthi", "Bhakthyaa maam abhijaanaathi".
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Why was this declaration made? Because
in the path of Bhakthi there are no hurdles. Young and old, high
and low, man and woman, all are entitled to tread it. Who among
men are in urgent need of medical treatment? Those who are badly
ill, is it not? So too, those who are groping in A-jnana are
first entitled to the teaching and the training leading to the
acquisition of Jnana. Why feed those who have no hunger? Why
drug those who are not sick? Brahmam or Jnana, is the drug for
the unrealisation of the falsely realised, the removal of the
fog of misunderstanding or A-jnana. It will burn off the dust
that hides the Truth.
Everyone, whatever the status, class or
sex, can win that Jnana. If it is stated that women are not
entitled to it, why is it mentioned that Siva taught Vedanta to
Parvathi? Or how did Kapilacharya, a great Yogi, teach the
Sankhya system to his mother, Devahoothi? Or how did Yajnavalkya
the great Rishi impart the essential principles of Vedantic
philosophy to his wife, Maithreyi, as mentioned in the
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad? The Upanishad cannot be false. The
Scriptures wherein these facts are mentioned speak only Truth.
There is no doubt that the sage Matanga
was a great ascetic. Does not the Ramayana declare that he
taught the woman Sabari the secret of the sacred doctrine of
Brahmam? Is that statement false? Coming to this age itself, who
does not know that the scholarly wife of Sureswaracharya
contended with Shankaracharya himself in a philosophic
discussion on Brahmam? So the chief qualification for the path
leading to Jnana is only Sadhana, the Tapas one is engaged in,
not the irrelevant consideration of caste, creed or sex. Leaving
all other matters aside, one should concentrate on that Sadhana
and that Tapas.
The Lord is accessible and available to
all. He is All Mercy. No one except the Lord has the authority
to declare any one unfit for the discipline of Jnana. If you
reflect a little deeper, you will realise that the Lord would
not deny any one the chance to reach Him. To sparks of the same
fire, or drops of the same sea, how can the flame or the sea
deny refuge? The Lord will not refuse or reject.
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A father with four sons cannot state
that one of them has no right to a share in his property. It
won't be just or proper. Then what shall be said of the Lord,
who is devoid o the slightest tinge of partiality or prejudice
and who is full of mercy? To attribute favouritism to Him is to
commit sacrilege.
Referring to this question of who is
entitled and who is not entitled to Brahmavidya, Krishna said in
the Gita "I have no favourite, nor do I dislike anyone. Whatever
might be the case, whether the person is man or woman, whoever
worships Me with faith and devotion will reach Me, nothing can
stand in their way. I too will manifest in the hearts of such".
Is the Gita, therefore, meaningless? No, the Gita speaks
profound Truth.
There is another wrong belief current
today. It is said that in order to be entitled to the practice
of the Sadhana for the realisation of Brahmam, like Japa and
Dhyana, one must adhere strictly to certain modes of daily
conduct laid down in tradition and thus attain purity. I do not
agree. For medicines ar essential only for the bed-ridden. How
can they become hale and healthy without first taking a course
of the medicine? To say that a person must be pure and good and
follow certain codes of conduct before he can tread the path of
God is to say that he must be free from disease in order to
deserve medical treatment! This is absurd. Purity, goodness
etc., are all the consequences of the journey towards
God; they cannot be insisted upon as essential for just starting
upon it. The taking in of the drug will gradually induce health
and cheer; health and cheer should not be insisted upon before
the drug is even prescribed or supplied! This obvious fact is
ignored by many; that is a serious malady indeed!
All those suffering from the malady of
Ajnana or ignorance must read and ponder over the books dealing
with the treatment of that disease, namely, the experiences of
elders in the field of spiritual endeavour. It is only then that
they can understand the real state of things.
There is also one other secret of
success; this too has to be borne in mind. Every course of
medical treatment involves some regulation and restriction of
diet, movements, habits and conduct. These should not be
neglected or taken lightly. In fact, if the doctor's advice on
these matters is not strictly followed, even the costliest or
latest or most efficacious medicine will be ineffective.
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Consider the persons who underwent the
treatment, drugs, restrictions, limitations and all, and
successfully emerged from the sickroom hale and hearty! They are
of all castes and ages and of both sexes. Vasishta was born of a
public woman; Narada's mother was a washerwoman; Valmiki
belonged to the hunter caste; Viswamithra was a Kshatriya;
Matanga was a member of the Depressed Classes. The inference is
that what is important is constant meditation on the Lord, not
the labels of caste or creed. Jnana is the attainment of the
feeling of Oneness, the realisation that there is nothing high
or low. That is the true Divine Principle, the Brahmam.
A sugar doll has head, neck, arms and
limbs, but each part is as sweet as the other. From head to
foot, it is one uniform sweetness; there cannot be two types of
sweetness. That is why it is said to be not dual but non-dual,
not Dwaitha but Adwaitha. Those who emanate from the Lord's Face
and those who emanate from His Feet are both His children. The
realisation of this Truth is the sign of Jnana.
There are trees like the jack tree which
bear fruit from the root up to the topmost branch! Does fruit
near the ground differ from the fruit on the tallest branch?
They are all the same, is it not? Or do they taste differently
like distinct fruits? Of course, among the fruits some may be
tender, some unripe, some a little ripe and some fully ripe; and
these may differ in taste too as is only natural. But you can
never find bitterness in the bottom and sweetness in the top or
sourness in the middle. Tender, green and ripe are three stages,
or three characteristics.
So, too, the four castes are four
characteristics, Gunas. According to their nature and their
activities, the four castes have been ordained. Like the fruits
on the same tree some tender, some green and some ripe, men too
are considered as of four groups, according to their stage of
development which is judged from their actions and character.
Those in whose thoughts and behaviour the Sathva guna
predominates are grouped as Brahmins who progress along the path
towards Brahmam; those in whom Rajoguna is dominant are referred
to as Kshatriyas. Thus, the Sastras have spoken of ingrained
qualities as the basis of caste, not otherwise. Why? The Gita
itself proclaims that the four castes have been established by
the Lord taking into consideration (1) the dominance of the
three gunas and (2) the practice of Karmas like Japam, Dhyanam
and other disciplinary duties!
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Though born as a Sudra, a person does
attain Brahmin-hood through Brahmam-ward struggle and Sadhana;
though born as a Brahmin, if that ideal and the effort to attain
it are not found, the person becomes a Sudra.
Anushtana and Nishta, conduct and
discipline - these two are the criteria, the deciding factors.
The inner Atmic Principle is the same in all. It knows no caste
or class or conflict. To realise that the self is beyond all
these subordinate categories, Bhakthi is the first requisite.
Bhakthi merges in Jnana and becomes identified with it. Bhakthi
ripens into Jnana; so do not speak of them as different. At one
state it is called Bhakthi, at a later stage we refer to it as
Jnana. Once it is cane, later it is sugar.
Through Bhakthi, the Jiva is transformed
into Siva, or rather, it knows it is Siva and the Jiva idea
disappears. To posit oneself as Jiva, that is Ajnana; to know
oneself as Siva, that is Jnana.
A white cloth that has become dirty is
dipped in water, cleaned with soap and warmed and beaten on a
slab in order that it may be restored to its colour and
condition. So too, to remove the dirt of Ajnana that has
attached itself to the pure Sath-Chit-Ananda Atma, the water of
un-blemished conduct and behaviour, the soap of
Brahmam-reflection, the warming of Japam and Dhyanam and the
slab of Renunciation are all necessary. Then only can the
fundamental Brahmam-hood of the Atma shine forth.
It does not help if the soap is good
when the water is soiled. All that soap and all that bother of
heating and beating will be wasted, for the cloth will continue
to be as dirty as before. This explains why many aspirants fail.
Though they have meditated on Brahmam for many years and studied
about it for long, their modes of behaviour and conduct are all
wrong. The fault lies in the water, not in the soap! Their daily
habits, acts and activities are mean and low; the Dhyana on
Brahmam is all wasted.
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People in their ignorance hesitate to
accept the rigours of spiritual discipline, considering them as
so many fetters on free living. They decry the Divine command
and denounce the Grace Divine. That command is not understood
and appreciated, it is disobeyed and even fought against. But
the wise man who sows wheat will be blessed by a harvest of
wheat; the fool sows tears and weeps because wheat does not
grow. For every one in the world, whether we believe it or not,
two plus two make four; the result does not depend on your likes
and dislikes. The fact that in every being there is the Supreme
is similar inescapable Reality. God will not give up if denied
or enter if invited. It is there, it is the being's very Being.
This is the Truth and if you want to know it and experience it,
develop the vision of the Jnani; without that, you can never see
it. As the telescope alone enables you to see things that are
far away, so the 'Jnanascope' or Jnanadrishti is essential to
see Brahmam immanent in every being.
As the child refuses to believe in
things beyond its circle of vision, the weakling afraid of the
travail of winning that Drishti refuses to believe in the
All-pervasive, All-inclusive Brahmam!
A set of persons with curious ideas have
cropped up recently and they strut about with great pride, for
they have no yearning for God, even no use for God; they are
Sevaks and they are satisfied with Service! But the essence of
Seva is selflessness and abnegation of the fruit thereof; the
Sevaks have no right to look down upon the godly and the
Spiritual aspirants as inferior. For, that is but reaching for
the fruit while neglecting the tree! Selfless service is the
final fruit of the Godward Discipline. How can the fruit be
gained without the long and laborious nurture of the tree? The
very foundation of Nishkaama Karma is Prema towards all beings,
Prema that seeks no reward. Without spiritual experience of this
higher Love, selfless service is impossible.
At present, the world is full of persons
who clamour for good profit for themselves but are unwilling to
give good value for the things they receive. They want God, but
are engaged in the cultivation of some other crop! They do not
seek it and strive for it day and night; they have, on the other
hand, installed the god of wealth in their hearts and spend all
their time and energy worshipping it and praying for its favour.
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How pure is the heart full of Bhakthi to
God and Prema towards all things! Selfless Service is possible
only by such; the rest only prattle about it and pretend to be
impelled by it. Only those who are well established in the faith
that all are children of God, that He is the Inner Motive Force
of every being, can include themselves in that class of social
servants.
For those who say they have no use for
God or for Bhakthi, egoism is the core of their personality, and
exhibition its outer rind. However much is written and read,
that egoism will not wither away. Ego consciousness leads to
self-aggrandizement; and when self holds sway over the heart, no
deed worthy to be styled Service can emanate. It is sheer
selfish greed that makes him label his deed as Service.
Ignorance will never vanish until this
discrimination dawns. "This world is but God and nothing else.
Everthing, every being is but His Manifestation, bearing withal
a new name and a new form" - Love this Truth, believe in it, and
then you have the right to speak of Seva, Bhakthi and Dharma and
the authority to preach on those paths. Knowledge of the Reality
will show you that Bhakthi, Seva and Dharma are all one and
indivisible. Without that knowledge, selfless service etc.,
become mere exercises in hypocrisy.
Every act done with the consciousness of
the body is bound to be egoistic; selfless Seva can never be
accomplished while immersed in body-consciousness. But
consciousness of Deva instead of Deha, of God instead of body,
will bring forth the splendour of Prema. With that as
inspiration and guide, man can achieve much good without even
knowing or proclaiming that he is selfless in outlook. For him,
it is all God's Will, His Leela, His Work.
Light is wisdom. Without Light, all is
Darkness. If you have not secured the lamp of Jnana to illumine
your path, you stumble along in the gloom with Fear as your
companion. There is no falsehood greater than Fear, no Ignorance
mightier than that. Decide therefore to travel in the daylight
of Jnana and be worthy of this human birth. Through your
success, you can even make the lives of others worthwhile.
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Vairagya or Non-attachment also depends
upon Jnana as well as Bhakthi. Deprive Vairagya of that basis
and you will find it crumbling fast. Why, this is the prime
cause for the want of spiritual progress at present. All these
three have to be emphasised in Sadhana; they are not to be
separated and striven for individually.
Bhakthi includes Jnana; if Vairagya
(Detachment) is isolated from Bhakthi and Jnana, Jnana is
isolated from Bhakthi and Vairagya and Bhakthi is isolated from
Vairagya and Jnana; each is ineffective. The best that each
isolated path is capable of is to give some training in purity.
Never therefore develop conceit and declare that you are
Bhakthas or Jnanis or Vairagis (Recluses). Sadhakas must dip in
the Triveni of Bhakthi-Jnana-Vairagya. There is no other way to
salvation.
Before anything, be pure and holy. Of
aspirants and Sadhakas, there are plenty; but of those who are
pure in heart, the number is few. For example, observe this one
fact: there are many who religiously read the Gita over and over
again; there are many who expatiate on its meaning for hours and
hours, but persons who practise the essence of the Gita are
rare. They are now like gramophone records, reproducing someone
else's song, incapable of singing themselves, ignorant of the
joy of song. They are not Sandhakas at all. Their Sadhana does
not deserve that name.
Life must be seen as the manifestation
of the three Gunas, as a play of temperaments pulling the
strings of dolls. This awareness must saturate every thought,
word and deed. That is the Jnana you need. All else is Ajnana.
The Jnani will have no trace of hatred
in him, he will love all beings; he will not be contaminated by
the ego, he will act as he speaks. The Ajnani will identify
himself with the gross body, senses and mind, things which are
but tools and instruments. The eternal pure Atma is behind the
mind, and so this mistake of the Ajnani plunges him into
trouble, loss and misery.
All the names and forms that fill this
universe and constitute its nature are but creations of the
Mind. Therefore, the mind has to be controlled and its wayward
fancies calmed in order to perceive the Truth. The ever-moving
waves of the lake have to be stilled so that you can see the
bottom clearly. So too, the waves of ignorance that ruffle the
mind have to be stilled.
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Keep the mind away from low desires that
run after fleeting pleasures. Turn your thoughts away from these
and direct them towards the permanent Bliss derivable from the
knowledge of the Immanent Divinity. Keep before the mind's eye
the faults and failures of sensory pleasures and worldly
happiness. Thus, you can grow in discrimination, non-attachment
and spiritual progress.
As gold melted in a crucible gets rid of
dross and shines in its pristine glory, man too has to be melted
in the crucible of Yoga by the fire of Vairagya. To possess this
Jnana is the sign of Samadhi, as explained by some.
For those capable of self-control along
these lines, the innate power will gradually assert itself and
the Reality that is now misunderstood will be cleared of the
fog. Patiently cultivate the habit of meditating on your
Atmahood and see the particular as the Universal. Through
Samadhi, the attainment of Liberation is assured.
The springs of egoism etc., arise from
ignorance of the Basic Truth. When knowledge of the Atma dawns,
ignorance with its brood of worry and misery will vanish. The
mark of the Jnani is the absence of egoism, the extinction of
desire, the feeling of equal Love for all without any
distinction. These are the fundamentals of Atmajnana.
You can see without eyes, hear without
ears, speak without the tongue, smell without the nose, touch
without the body, walk without legs; yes, ever experience
without the mind. For you are the Pure Essence Itself; you are
the Supreme Self. You have no awareness of this Truth; hence,
you are drowned in ignorance. You feel you are the senses only
and therefore you experience misery. The five senses are all
bound up with the mind; it is the mind that separately activates
the senses and is affected by their reactions. Man reads through
the mind-associated eye and so he fails. But the Jnani has the
Divyachakshu, the Divine eye, for he has the Divine Vision; he
can hear and see without the aid of the senses.
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As said in the Gita, the Lord's feet are
everywhere, the Lord's hands are everywhere. His eyes, His ears
are everywhere. So He sees all, He does all. Devoid of senses,
He makes all senses function. To grasp this mystery, the path of
Jnana has to be trodden. When a person develops into a full
Jnani, he becomes It and It is merged in him and both become
indistinguishable. Then he realises that he is the inscrutable,
the indefinable Brahmam, not limited by the illusory
super-imposition of name and form.
When fire burns, its light can be
discerned from a distance; but those who are far cannot hope to
feel its warmth. So too, it is easy to describe the splendour of
Jnana for persons who are far from acquiring it; only those who
have actually neared it and felt it and are immersed in it can
experience the warmth and the joy, emanating from the passing
away of the illusion.
For this, continuous Thapas, continuous
meditation on God are needed. The Pure Essence can be known by
the Sadhana of Bhakthi. The goal of Bhakthi is indeed Jnana.
When an author writes a play, the entire play will already be in
his mind, before he sets pen on paper, act after act, scene
after scene. If he has no picture of the entire drama in his
mind he will never entertain the idea of writing it at all. But
take the case of the audience. They can grasp the story only
after the drama is fully over; it unfolds itself scene by scene.
Once they have understood the theme, they too can confidently
describe to others the purport of the play. Similarly, for the
Lord, this Drama of Time with its three Acts, the Past, the
Present and the Future, is as clear as crystal. In the twinkling
of an eye He grasps all the three. For He is Omniscient; it is
His Plan that is being worked out, His Drama that is being
enacted on the stage of Creation. Both the actors and the
spectators are lost in confusion, unable to surmise its meaning
and its development. For how can one scene or one act reveal its
meaning? The entire play has to be gone through for the story to
reveal itself.
Without a clear understanding of the
play in which they are acting their roles, people cling to the
error that they are Jivis and waste away their lives, buffeted
by the waves of joy and sorrow.
When the mystery is cleared, and the
play is discovered as mere play, the conviction dawns that you
are He and He is you. Therefore, try to know the Truth behind
Life, search for the Fundamental, bravely pursue the underlying
Reality. Seekers of Jnana must always be conscious of this.
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The Lord is in every heart, in the
subtle as well as the gross form. So the Jnani, who has had a
vision of the Atma dominating the Inner Stage, will never be
affected by sorrow; it can never hold sway over him. The Atma is
in the ant and the elephant, in the atom as well as the
atmosphere. Everything is saturated with Brahmam. The seeker
must divert his attention inwards from the external world; he
must find out the origins of the agitations of the mind. This
process will diminish and destroy the activities of the mind
which make you doubt, discuss and decide. From that stage
onwards, the exhilaration of being Brahmam oneself will be
constant. This will stabilise the Sath-Chith-Ananda arising from
that experience.
Such a Jnani can never be affected by
joy or sorrow, however great; he will ever be immersed in the
ocean of Atmananda, blissfully unaware of the world around him,
far above and beyond its coils.
This is the discipline called
Brahma-abhyaasa, that is to say, the ever-present exercise of
remembering the basic Brahmam of the Universe, praying to the
Form-ful Aspect of that Brahmam, speaking of His Glory, being in
His Company and living always in His Presence. That is why the
Panchadasi says, "Thath chinthanam, thath kathanam, anyonyam
thath prabodhanam, ethath eka param thwam cha, Jnanabhyaasam
vidur budhaah". "Thoughts dedicated to Him alone, speech devoted
to Him alone, conversation centred on Him alone, this
one-pointed existence is referred to by the wise as the
Discipline of Jnana". This is the lesson taught in the Gita by
Krishna. "Math chiththaa mathgatha praanaa bodhayanthah
parasparam, kathayanthi cha maam nithyam thushyanthi cha
ramanthi cha". "They fix the mind on Me, they survive only
because they breathe me, they inform each other about Me, they
talk only of Me, they are happy and content with these only".
This ceaseless thought of the Lord is also referred to as
Brahmachinthana or Jnaanaabhyaasa or Atmaabhyaasa.
The mind pursues exterior objects only
either because of the pull of the senses or because of the
delusion caused by superimposing on the external world the
characteristics of permanence etc. So it has to be again and
again brought back to travel to the correct goal.
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At first the job is hard; still, by
proper training the agitations can be calmed by the Japam of Om.
The training consists of sama, dama, uparathi, thithiksha,
sraddha and samadhana. That is to say, the mind is controlled by
good counsel, superior attractions, withdrawal from sensory
objects, ability to bear the ups and downs of fortune,
steadfastness and poise. The recalcitrant mind can be slowly
turned towards Brahmadhyana if at first it is shown the
sweetness of Bhajan, the efficacy of prayer and the calming
effects of meditation. It must also be led on by the cultivation
of good habits, good company and good deeds. Dhyanam will, as it
proceeds further and further, give rise to greater and greater
keenness. Thus the mind has to be caged in the cave of the
heart. The final result of this discipline is no less than
Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the Equanimity that is undisturbed.
This Samadhi is really speaking
Brahmajnana itself, the Jnana that grants release or Moksha. The
discipline for this consists of three exercises: the giving up
of craving, the elimination of mind and the understanding of the
Reality. These three have to be cultivated uniformly and with
equal ardour. Otherwise, success cannot be ensured; one of them
is not enough. The instincts and impulses or Vasanas are too
strong to yield easily; they make the senses active and greedy
and bind the person tighter and tighter. Attention has therefore
to be paid to the sublimation and subjugation of the senses and
the promptings behind them, to the development of
self-abnegation, the relentless pursuit of reason and
discrimination in order that the mind may not get mastery over
man. When the mind is won, the dawn of Jnana is heralded.
The Sadhaka has to be ever-vigilant, for
the senses might recoil any moment: especially when the Yogi
mixes with the world and the worldly. The basic Truth must be
kept constantly before the mind's eye. Wants should not be
multiplied. Time should not be frittered away; no, not even a
minute. The craving for one pleasant thing will give rise to
another still more pleasant thing. Cut at the very root of
desire itself and become master of yourself. The renouncing of
desire will take you fast to the pinnacle of Jnana.
The Jnani or the liberated person will
be unaffected by joy or sorrow, for how can any event produce
reactions in him who has wiped out his mind? It is the mind that
makes you 'feel'; when one has taken a drug that deadens the
consciousness, he feels no pain or joy, for the body is then
separated from the mind. So too, wisdom, when it dawns,
separates the mind and keeps it aloof from all contact.
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By special discipline, the turbulence of
the mind can be calmed; as a result of this, it becomes possible
to taste the bliss of the Atma, free from its pulls. The mind
attracts him outwards and offers only external objective joy.
But the wise man knows them to be fleeting. For him the Atma is
enough to fulfil all desire for happiness - complete and
permanent. So he will have no need for the external world.
The Jnani will acquire some special
powers too, through his beneficent resolutions, his beneficent
promptings and purposes. Through these, he can attain whatever
he wishes. The greatness of the status of a Jnani is indeed
indescribable, beyond imagination. It is of the same nature as
the splendour and magnificence of the Lord Himself. Why, he
becomes the Brahmam that he has always been. That is why it is
declared, Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavathi, Brahmavid Aapnothi
Param. That is to say, "he who has known Brahmam becomes himself
Brahmam; he attains Brahmam-hood." The fact that this world is
unreal and Brahmam alone is real must become patent; then all
impulses are destroyed; ignorance is demolished. The gem of
Jnana has been stolen by the Mind; so, it It is caught, the gem
can be regained. The gem entitles you to the status and dignity
of Brahmam, which you assume immediately.
The great souls who have won this
Atmajnana deserve worship. They are holy; for they have attained
Brahmam, the right of every one in the world, however great or
whatever the Tapas. That is the Kingdom they seek, the honour
they aspire for. This is the great mystery, the mystery
elucidated in the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Sastras. The
solving of this mystery makes life worthwhile; it is the key to
liberation.
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Truth and untruth must be kept apart by
means of the sharp sword of Jnana. It keeps the world afar and
bring the Residence of the Lord within reach. That Residence is
Nithyananda, Eternal Bliss, Paramananda, the highest Bliss; the
Bliss of Brahmam:
Maya, by means of its power of (1)
hiding the real nature and (2) imposing the unreal over the
real, makes the one and only Brahmam appear as Jiva, Eswara and
Jagath, three entities where there is only one! The Maya faculty
is latent, but when it becomes patent, it takes the form of the
mind. It is then that the seedling of the huge tree (which is
the Jagath) starts sprouting, putting forth the leaves of mental
impulses or Vasanas, and mental conclusions or Sankalpas. So all
this objective world is but the proliferation or Vilasa of the
mind.
Jiva and Eswara are caught up in this
proliferation and they are inseparably intertwined in the Jagath
and so they too are creations of mental process like things
appearing in the dream-world.
Imagine Jiva, Eswara and Jagath as
having been painted; the pictorial Jagath has both Jiva and
Eswara incorporated in it and all three appear as different
entities though created by the same paint. So also the same
mental process creates the appearance of Jiva and Eswara as
pervading and immanent, in the background of Jagath.
It is Maya that produces the illusion of
Jiva and Eswara and Jagath: this is declared by the Sruthis. The
Vasishtasmrithi made clear that mental processes were
responsible for the magic dance of He and I, This and That and
Mine and His. The expression "Sohamidam" found in that text
indicates Jiva, Eswara and Jagath. "Sah" means He, the
Unmanifested, the Supersoul, the Power beyond and Above, the
Easwara. "Aham" means "I", the entity enveloped by the
consciousness of doer etc. "Idam" means this objective world,
the perceivable sense world. So it is clear that these three are
the products of mental process only and they do not have any
absolute value; their value is only relative.
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In the waking stage and during dreams,
these three appear as real, but during deep sleep or while
unconscious (as during a fainting fit), the mind is not working
and so the three do not exist! This fact is within the
experience of all. Therefore, it is easy now for you to realise
that all these three will disappear for good when, through
Jnana, the mental processes are destroyed. Then one gets release
from bondage to all these three and knows the One and Only
Entity. In fact, he gets established in Advaitha Jnana.
The Jnana won by the analysis of the
mental process can alone end Maya. Maya flourishes on ignorance
and absence of discrimination. So, Vidya spells doom of Maya.
Fevers originate because of your
actions; they flourish on wrong modes of life and diet; they
grow with the growth of such wrong conduct. The idea of the
snake which is Maya, flourishes on the ignorance of the real
nature of the rope; it grows and becomes deeper the more one
forgets the rope which is the base. The ignorance which prevents
and postpones the inquiry into the nature of the Atma makes Maya
flourish. Maya fostered by this attitude becomes as thick as
darkness. When the flame of Jnana illumines, the darkness is
dispelled along with the illusion of Jiva, Jagath and Eswara.
Inquiry makes the snake disappear; the
rope alone remains thereafter. So too, Maya and the blossoming
of that Maya through the mind as Jiva, Jagath etc., will all
disappear as soon as Vichara is done about the reality of
appearance. One realises that there is nothing other than
Brahmam. Brahmam alone subsists.
To the question, how can one thing
appear as two, the reply may be given that, prior to inquiry,
Brahmam appears as Jagath though its real nature has not
undergone any change at all, just as the pot was understood as
pot, before inquiry revealed that it is basically clay only.
Crown, earring, necklace all appear as different until inquiry
reveals that they are basically, fundamentally, gold. So also,
the one Brahmam is apparent in many forms and under various
names and so gives the impression of multiplicity. Brahmam alone
is, was and will be. The conviction that this Jagath is but a
superimposition is the real Vidya. This Vidya is the end of all
ignorance.
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The hare's horn is non-existent; it is a
description of something super-imposed; knowledge of the reality
alone will destroy the idea for ever. Then the false idea will
melt away. Only the ignorant will stick to Maya as Truth; the
wise will at best designate it as "Indescribable" or "Beyond
explanation", for it is difficult to explain how Maya
originated. We know only that it is there, to delude. The wise
refer to it as "hare's horn".
When simple-minded children are told,
"Lo! There lurks a ghost there", they believe it to be true and
get terribly frightened. So too, unthinking, ignorant persons
get convinced of the reality of the objects around them through
the influence of Maya. Those endowed with Viveka, however,
distinguish between the true Brahmam and the false Jagath;
others, unable to do so, or to find out the real nature of Maya,
simply dismiss it as 'beyond description', 'anirvachaneeya'.
Jnanis who have clearly grasped the
truth characterise it as the mother whose corpse is cremated by
the son! It is the experience of Maya that gives rise to Jnana,
or the 'revealing wisdom'. The child Vidya kills the mother as
soon as it is born. The child was delivered for the very purpose
of matricide, and its first task is naturally the cremation of
the dead mother.
When one tree rubs against another in a
forest, fire starts and the fire burns both. So too, the Vidya
or knowledge that arose from Maya destroys the very source of
the knowledge. Avidya is reduced to ashes by Vidya.
Like the expression "hare's horn", which
is the name for a non-existent thing, Maya too is non-existent
and one has only to know it to dismiss it from the
consciousness. So say the Jnanis.
Nor is this all. You label anything
non-existent as Avidya or Maya. Whatever becomes meaningless,
valueless, untrue, baseless and existenceless when knowledge
grows, that you can take to be Maya's manifestation.
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Another interesting point is this: It
may be argued that since Maya produces Vidya, Maya is right and
proper and deserving of respect; but the Vidya that arises out
of it is also not permanent. As soon as Avidya is destroyed
through Vidya, the Vidya too ends. The tree and the fire, both
are destroyed when the fire finishes its work.
The Jnana derived from the mere hearing
of Vedantha cannot be termed Direct Knowledge. Since the error
of taking one thing as another is not removed by actual
experience in such a learning process, how can it be treated as
direct or authentic? No, it cannot be; it is indirect only.
Of course, by hearing about the Swarupa
of the Brahmam (which is Sath, Chith and Ananda only), one may
be able to picture it or imagine it; but one has to actually
'see' the Brahmam, the Witness of the Five Sheaths of the
individual (the Annamaya, the Pranamaya, the Manomaya, the
Vijnanamaya and the Anandamaya.)
You may know from the Sastras that he
who has four arms and carries the Sankha, Chakra, Gada and Padma
in them is Vishnu; you may even be picturing Him as such in
Dhyana; yet, unless you have actually 'seen' Him by your own
vision, the knowledge gained by the study of iconography can
never be equated with Prathyaksha or Direct Perception.
Since the Form of Vishnu is considered
different and external when understood through the study of the
Sastras, what you really get is indirect inference, not Direct
Experience. Though a person is ignorant of the fact that the
Brahmam is His own self (not different or outside), can he not
realise Himself as Brahmam as soon as he hears the exposition of
a Mahavakya like "that thwam asi" which reveals that basic
Truth? But he does not.
You may doubt whether the knowledge got
from the Sastras about things different from you, like Heaven
etc., has any value; but you should not declare so! For the same
Sastras have said that you are the Brahmam Itself, that you are
fundamentally Brahmam and nothing else, by means of Mahavakyas
or Great Announcements. And they also warn you that Direct
Experience is not got by the mere hearing of these Mahavakyas!
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The progress of the aspirant is of this
nature: He ruminates over what he has heard with faith and
earnestness until he understands the characteristics of the Atma
in an indirect way; then, to bring that knowledge into the field
of actual experience, he takes up the process of Manana, i.e.,
revolving it in the Manas or mind.
The Atma is present everywhere and is in
everything; it is unaffected; it is ominipresent like Akasa or
Ether; it is even beyond the Akasa; it is the Akasa in the Chith
or the Universal Consciousness; so it is referred to as 'Param'
or Beyond; it is described in the Sruthis as 'Asango-ayam
Purushah'. "this Purusha is unattached".
The Atma is unaffected and untouched by
anything; it is beyond everything and devoid of agitation or
activity. You should not doubt whether it is unlimited or not.
It is beyond the three Limitations of Space, Time and Causation.
You cannot state that the Atma is in one place and not in
another. It is not limited by space. You cannot state that it
exists at one time and not at another time. It is not limited by
time. Atma is everything; there is nothing which is not Atma.
Atma is All. So it has no limitation of Vasthu, (thingness), of
Name or Form. Atma is Full and Free; knowing this is the Fullest
Jnana, the Highest Truth.
A doubt may be raised here: If the Atma
is immanent in everything, like the Akasa, is it not subject to
transformation, Vikara, or change? No; existing, emanating,
growing, changing, declining, dying - these are the six
transformations or Vikaras; but the Atma is the universal,
eternal witness cognising Akasa and the other elements and hence
it has no modifications at all; it is Nir-Vikara.
When it is said that the Atma is
Nir-Vikara, it means some other things have Vikara or
modifications. So the question may be asked, how then can the
word, Adwaitha, be used? Now, some things have Vikara and some
have not. But when there is nothing besides Atma, it is wrong to
speak of a two-fold entity; it is not two; it is one! There can
be no doubt about this; it cannot arise.
How can it be said that there is nothing
outside the Atma? For this reason: the Atma is the Cause of all
this, and there can be no distinction between Cause and Effect.
The Cause cannot be without the Effect, and Effect cannot be
without the Cause.
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Some might be suffering under the doubt:
How can the Atma be the Universal Cause? The Atma is the
Universal Cause because it is the Universal See-er. The see-er
is the cause of all the delusion in this world; the see-er
creates silver in the mother of pearl; the varied scenes of the
dream-world are the creations of see-er. So too, for the
multiplicity of things experienced during the waking stage, the
Atma, who is the see-er, is the instrument.
The world is an illusion, which on
account of the play of Maya seems to be subject to the evolution
of names and forms and involution of the same until the whole is
dissolved in Pralaya or Universal Fire, an Illusion disappearing
with the Illumination of Jnana, as Light dispels the delusion of
the snake with which the rope was covered! Then, the knowledge
that the Atma is All, fills and fulfils; one is Atma through and
through! That is what the Sruthi too declares.
The Atma is always content and blissful.
To you, one thing appears more attractive than another and so
this sensual attachment and affection are the results of
delusion and desire. It is like a dog that gnaws a bone and when
blood oozes out of its tongue and gets mixed with the bone, it
relishes the bone all the more for that additional taste. When
it gets another bone, it drops the first one and runs after the
second. What the Atma does is to super-impose upon the external,
evanescent object its inherent bliss and thus envelop that
object with a certain attractiveness.
Objects are taken to be pleasure giving,
but they are not really so; they only add to the grief. It is
ever-changing, this affection towards things seen through the
deluded eye; it is limited, not unlimited.
The attachment to the Atma will not
undergo any modifications; even when the senses and the body
fall, the Atma will remain and infuse bliss. It is unlimited and
indestructible. Every one has attachment to the Self, or Atma.
It is of the nature of Paramananda. For this reason, it is also
described as of the nature of Sath, Chith and Ananda.
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Are these three the characteristics or
qualities of the Atma? Or are they its essence, its nature? A
doubt of this type may arise. Redness, heat and splendour are
the nature of Fire, not its attributes. Atma, too, in the same
manner, has Sath, Chith and Ananda as its very nature. Agni is
one and Atma too is one, though both may appear as different.
Liquidity, coldness and taste are of the very nature of Water;
yet, water everywhere is the same, not diverse.
Atma is one; it subsumes all, and by
knowing it, all is known. The Atma is the witness of the five
kosas of the individual; the Annamaya, the Pranamaya, the
Manomaya, the Vijnanamaya and the Anandamaya. How can it be all
knowing, it may be asked? Atma is Chith and all else is jada.
Atma alone can know, nothing else is capable of knowing; and
Atma knows that all else is Atma. Can the pot know the Akasa
inside it? Though it does not know, the Akasa is there all the
same. But the Atma in man knows even the inert that is of the
senses. Thus, the body, the house, the field, the village, the
country, are all "known"; so too, the unseen items like heaven
etc., are 'understood'.
Though the multiplicity of the body,
country etc., is non-existent, they appear so because,
they are formed by the tendencies of the mind; they simply
appear on the screen as different and varied. In dream, though
one experiences multiplicity, one knows that they are unreal
creations of one's own mind; this is clear to the witness of the
dream. Similarly, the experience of the waking stage also is a
mental picture, at the most. People also talk of heaven etc.,
though they have no experience. Investigation of the Truth and
Unity behind all this is the duty of the Jnani, his real
characteristic.
Some people declare that they have had
Realisation! How can it be taken as true? When according to the
statement, "Aham Brahmaasmi", one understands that "I am
Brahmam", the Jivi who is the 'I' is a mutable entity, a Vikari.
How can he possibly grasp it? A destitute cannot realise that he
is a monarch; so too, a mutable entity like man cannot grasp the
immutable Brahmam, or posit that he is Brahmam.
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Who is this Jivi calling himself 'I'?
Reflecting on this problem, he will see that the 'I' is the
immutable permanent-witness, the Atma, which forgetful of its
real nature considers itself affected by change, through sheer
ignorance. When he deliberately spends thought on his identity,
he will know, "I am not a Vikari, I am the witness of the ego,"
the ego that suffers continuous modification; then, from this
step, he will proceed to identify the immutable See-er or
Witness (or Sakshi) with himself. After this stage, there is no
difficulty in realising "Aham Brahmaasmi".
How can it be said that it is the Sakshi
who realises Aham Brahmaasmi? Who is it really that realises it?
Is it the Sakshi? Or the Jivi, who calls himself I and undergoes
modification? If we say that the Sakshi so understands, the
difficulty is that it is the witness of the 'I' and it has no
egoism, or Aham idea. If it is said that it is the Aham, then
how can it be the Witness also? It will have to be subject to
modifications if it is Aham. The Sakshi too then becomes a
Vikari! It can have no idea like, "I am Brahmam"; so it can
never understand, "I have become Brahmam". Therefore, there is
no meaning in saying that the Sakshi realises, "Aham
Brahmaasmi".
Then, who is it that so realises this
Truth? It becomes necessary to say that it is the Jivi, the 'I'
that does so. For the practice of the meditation on identity
with Brahmam is done by the Ajnani for his liberation from the
shackles of that illusion. The Sakshi has no Ajnana and so has
no need to get rid of it! The ignorant alone need take steps to
remove it. Qualities like ignorance or knowledge attach
themselves only to the Jivi, not to the Sakshi. This is proven
by actual experience. Because the Sakshi who is the apparent
basis for Jnana and Ajnana, is devoid of both, while the Jivi is
actively bound to these two.
Some may doubt, how this distinction
came to be. "Does the Sakshi know the Jivi, the I, which changes
and gets modified and agitated? And who is this witness? We are
not aware of it", they may ask. But undergoing the sorrows of
Ajnana and seeking solace in the study of Vedantha, one
infers that there must be a Witness, unaffected by the
passing clouds. Later, the Sakshi or Atma, which one knew by
reasonings, is realised in actual experience, when the
superimposition of the illusion of the world is removed by
Sadhana.
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The experience of Jnana is available
only to the Jivi, for it alone has Ajnana. So it is the Jivi,
not the Sakshi, that knows "Aham Brahmaasmi". After the dawn of
that knowledge, 'I-ness' will disappear. He becomes Brahmam.
Now, who is it that saw? What is it that was seen? What is the
sight? In the statement, "I saw", all these are latent, isn't
it? But thereafter, to say, "I saw" is meaningless; it is not
correct. To say, "I have known" is also wrong; by merely seeing
the immutable once, the mutable Jivi cannot be transformed into
Sakshi! Seeing the king once, can a beggar be transformed into a
monarch? So too, the Jivi who has once seen the Sakshi cannot
immediately become the Sakshi. The mutable Jivi cannot realise
"Aham Brahmaasmi", without first getting transfused into the
Sakshi.
If it is said that the Jivi, who has no
idea of its basic substratum, can by reasoning realise that it
is Brahmam, how then can it 'declare' so, in so many words? When
one has become king, the kingship is recognised by others, not
declared by the king himself, isn't it? That is a sign of
foolishness or want of intelligence.
Caught up in the coils of change, it is
very hard, well nigh impossible, to realise one is just the
witness of all this passing show. So the Jivi must first try to
practise the attitude of a witness, so that it can succeed in
knowings its essential Brahmam nature. Getting a glimpse of the
king inside the fort does not help the beggar acquire wealth or
power; so too, the Jivi must not only know the Sakshi,
(the Sakshi, more ethereal than the sky, beyond the three-fold
category of knower, known, and knowledge, eternal, pure,
conscious, free, blissful) but must become the Sakshi.
Till then, the Jivi continues as Jivi, it cannot become Brahmam.
As a matter of fact, so long as 'I'
persists, the state of Sakshi is unattainable. The Sakshi is the
inner core of everything, the 'immanent', the embodiment of
Sath, Chith and Ananda. There is nothing beyond it or outside
it. To say that such Fullness is 'I' is a meaningless
expression. It is wrong also to call it the Vision or
Sakshathkara.
The Sruthis also did not consider
Jiva and Brahma as of the same nature. The more
important identity according to the Sruthi is of the Akasa
within one pot and the Akasa in another pot. The Akasa in the
pot is the same as the Akasa in the pan; the Akasa in the pot is
the Akasa that has filled everything everywhere. The Akasa in
the pot is the ever-full immanent Akasa. That is the
mukhyasamaanaadhikaaranyaaya. The wind in one place is the wind
in all places; the sunlight in one place is the sunlight
everywhere; the God in one image is the God in all images. This
type of identity has to be grasped.
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So too, the witness in one body is the
same as the Witness in all.
But the Sruthi does not declare that the
Jivi is Brahmam, as the statement Aham Brahmaasmi will indicate.
It allows a limited, restricted identity. That is to say, the
I-ness of the Jiva has to be got rid of by reasoning; then,
Brahmam remains as balance, and knowledge dawns of "Aham
Brahmaasmi"; this is the restricted process of identity.
Continuing as Jivi, one cannot grasp the Brahmam essence; the
beggar has to forget his body to recognise that he is the king;
so also, man has to bypass the human body, which is the base for
his I-personality, to realise his nature, which is divine.
The human personality has to be
discarded by inner devotion and discipline and the acquisition
of the Divine; then the knowledge dawns that one is divine.
Limitation of the Jivi has to be overcome before Brahmam-hood
dawns.
Of course, one can get a glimpse of
Brahmam-hood during deep sleep when one is free from all mental
agitations, or Vikalpas. The Taijasa during dream stage becomes
the Viswa in deep sleep stage, and ponders: "Did I all this time
travel over various lands, undergo multitudes of experiences?
Was not all this a fantasy? I was never involved in all this; I
was happily sleeping unaffected by everything". As a man
recovering from intoxication, or freed from illness, or as a
beggar coming by a fortune and forgetting his indigence, man
realises his being Divine and enjoys Divine bliss.
Experiencing identity with the Lord, the
Jivi declares, "I am Brahmam, where have all the changing worlds
fled? How deluded I was to be caught in the tangle of Jiva and
Jagath! Past, present and future do not really exist at all. I
am the Sath-Chith-Ananda Swarupa, devoid of the three types of
distinction". He is immersed in the Bliss of Brahmam. This is
the fruition of Jnana.
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The Jivi can realise itself only by the
destruction of all limitations. The mind is the greatest of
these. The mind undergoes two stages while being destroyed,
Rupa-laya, annihilation of patterns of the mind and Arupa-laya,
annihilation of the mind. The agitations of the mind stuff are
the Rupas. Then comes the stage of equilibrium where there is
the positive Ananda of Sath and Chith; where also the Arupa or
formless Mind disappears. The annihilation of mind is of two
kinds, namely, the mind pattern and the mind itself. The former
applies to sages, liberated while still alive; the latter to
Videha Mukthas. Now, only the Rupa-laya is possible. This makes
the person enjoy the Bliss derived from the experience of the
Identity with Brahmam.
So, the mind is a limitation on the
Jivi; it has to be conquered; the body-consciousness must
disappear; steady faith has to be cultivated in Jnana; delusion
will then fade away; all 'I-feeling' will go; every moment, the
spring of Sath-Chith-Ananda will well up in the individual. That
is the real Sakshathkara. The Acharyas too emphasise this
discipline and dwell on this bliss. This verily is the Truth.
To entitle one for embarking on the
inquiry into the Atma, one must be endowed with the Sadhana
Chathushtaya or the Four Qualifications. Scholarship in all the
Vedas and Sastras, asceticism, mastery of ritual, dedication to
japa, charity, pilgrimage - nothing will help in granting that
authority. "Saantho dantha uparathi thithiksha...", says the
Sruthi; so equanimity, self-control, withdrawal of the senses,
steadfastness - these alone confer that title; not caste,
colour, or social status. Be it a Pandit versed in all the
Sastras, a Vidwan or an illiterate, a child or youth or an old
person, a Brahmachari, Grihastha, Vanaprastha or Sanyasin, a
Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya, or Sudra, or even an outcaste, man
or woman, the Vedas declare: "Every one is qualified, provided
one is equipped with the Sadhana Chathushtaya".
Mere reading of the Sastras does not
entitle one; the attainment of Sadhana Chathushtaya mentioned
therein is essential. The doubt might then arise: how can a
person who has not read the Sastras attain Sadhana Chathushtaya?
My answer is: how does the person who reads them attain them?
"Because he knows the Sastras, he does act in a spirit of
dedication to the Lord, gets mental purification thereby, and
acquires Vairagya, renunciation, and other qualifications in
increasing measure". Now, how can these be cultivated by one who
does not know the Sastras? it is asked. Why can he not cultivate
them? By the accumulated fruits of the educative influences and
good deeds in the past births, it is possible to become
qualified for Atmavichara in this birth, without Sastric study.
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Now the question might arise, how, when
efforts in previous births are rewarded and one is endowed as a
result of these with the Four Qualifications, study of the
Sastras here and now does not help! Some persons also are
handicapped by the evil effects of past Karma and they do not
get fruit from Sastic study. But, as far as character and bent
of mind are concerned, the lucky ones who are engaged in good
deeds in past births are at an advantage. The student whose
study is handicapped by past Samskaras is as unlucky as the
aspirant who has failed to develop a spiritual bent of mind by
his activities in the past births.
Well! Even when one has mastered the
Sastras, if one has not taken up Sadhana, he cannot grasp the
Atmic basis of Existence. Of course, he who has understood the
scriptures has greater chances of entering upon a course of
Sadhanas and practising them more steadfastly. The merit
acquired in past births appears now as a keen thirst for
Liberation, as a sincere endeavour to approach a guru, as a
determined struggle to succeed in Sadhana, and comes to fruition
with the realisation of the Atma. Success comes to those who
have Sraddha more than anything else. Without Sraddha, the
prompting to translate what has been read in the Sastras will be
absent and scholarship will hang as a burden on the brain.
Since Vairagya etc., are the
qualifications for realising the Atma, scholars and the rest are
both equally entitled to it. If it is not through Sadhana alone
that the Atma can be known, why bother to master all the
Sastras? Well, to know the self, Sastras are indispensable;
having known it, they are unnecessary. But all that is inferred
from the Sastras are only indirect experiences; direct
perception is impossible by any means other than Sadhana. Direct
understanding alone is Jnana.
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What exactly is Atmavichaara? Not the
study of the attributes of the Atma, as given in books, but the
analysis of the nature of the 'I', laying bare the enveloping
sheaths, the Panchakosas, through concentrated discrimination,
directed inward. It is not the Vichara of the external world or
the outer objective world, or the academic scholarship directed
towards the interpretation of texts. It is the analytical
penetration of the secret of the Atma, achieved by the keen edge
of intellect.
Is it then impossible to realise the
Atma through a study of the Sastras, it may be asked; the answer
is, it is not possible. The Atma is of the nature of
Sath-Chith-Ananda; it transcends the Sthula, Sukshma and Karana
Sariras; it is the Witness of waking, the dream and the deep
sleep stages; can a mastery of the meanings of these words give
the direct vision of the Atma? How then is it to be seen? By
unravelling the Five Sheaths that cover the personality, by
negating each of them and experiencing, "Not this", and passing
beneath and beyond to the substratum of the Atma, the Brahmam,
which all the while appeared varied and manifold.
Anything misplaced in the home must be
sought in the home itself; how can it be recovered by a search
in the woods? The Brahmam covered by the Five Sheaths must be
sought in the Five-sheathed Body, not in the woods of Sastric
lore.
Though Brahmam cannot be discovered in
the Sastras, they tell you of the Pancha Kosas or the Five
Sheaths and of their identification marks and characteristics
and so, by the exercise of the intellect, it is possible to
reach down to the Atmic Truth. How can one not versed in the
Sastras master the process of this analysis and this
consummation, it may be asked. He can learn it from a Guru, or
an elder Sadhaka, can he not?
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But one fact has to be emphasised again.
The Atma principle is beyond the reach of even the most profound
Pandit who has learned the Sastras; it can be understood only by
direct experience. That is why it is said that even a person who
has had the vision has to approach the Guru. Without guidance
from such a teacher, the Atma cannot be grasped. Even Narada had
Sanathkumara as Guru and Janaka had Suka, and other Saints had
other Gurus. When one has the Grace of the Lord, the Guru
becomes very often superfluous; He makes everything known.
Maitreyi, the consort of Yaajnavalkya and the unlearned Leela
and Choodala are examples to show that without a prolonged study
of the Sastras women in the past learnt the Atmavidya from the
Guru and attained success. Of course, whatever else a person may
have, if he is blessed with the Grace of the Lord, he can
certainly have a vision of the Atma, however deficient he may be
in generally accepted qualifications.