The disciple is required to shift from Sakaara - Saguna, i.e. worship of God with form and attributes, to Nirakaara - Nirguna, i.e. worship of the formless and attribute less God.
The idea is to shift from the grosser to the subtler, from the body to the mind. The disciple gets trained gradually to go more within himself. He does so through the following five stages:
i) Traditional Puja: This consists in making offerings of ghee, ringing bells and playing instruments, observing the form of the Lord’s murti, reciting prayers, etc. These together require the use of the hands, eyes, ears and the mind. This is the first stage of worship.
ii) Omitting the Hands: Retaining all items except the Havan and the instruments, the hands become quite free. Only the eyes, ears and mind are now engaged.
iii) Omitting the Eyes: Then the form also is taken away, while the chanting of the Mantra continues. Now only the ears and mind are needed.
iv) Omitting the Ears: The Mantra is replaced by Om, which is first aloud, then whispered and finally chanted mentally.
All external distractions are now removed. The Sadhana shifts completely into the mind. Even the Om-chanting is dropped by gradually reducing its duration.
v) Omitting the Mind: When this is mastered over a good length of time, the Guru prescribes the highest form of Vedantic worship where there is no prop for the mind to lean on and the mind itself dissolves. The disciple gets completely absorbed in his inner Self.
All this, verily, is Brahman, from which all things emerge, are sustained and in to which they dissolve. Therefore, being tranquil one should meditate on it, says Chandhogya Upanishad.
Brahman is the source of manifestation of effulgence of the essence and the diverse forms. Animate manifestation do not discriminate but respond to their senses and intuition inanimate one does not respond in the absence of sensation, as we know it, though within them the essence exists, concealed within and changing the external form.
The human being, among all the animate and inanimate manifestations, being endowed with sense of discrimination, enabling him to distinguish the internal essence from the external form, can aim to reach out to the goal.
Therefore Sankara writes in Vivekachudamani that human life as important in spiritual evolution pointing out that:-
· rare
is the human birth for creatures,
· rarer
is the birth as a male,
· rarer
still is attaining Brahmin hood,
·
still rare is being born a Brahmin and following knowledge of vedic
scriptures, and
· rare,
indeed, is being a man of Wisdom.
· Even
thereafter, to have sense of discrimination for the self and non-self,
awareness of Brahman and deliverance is not possible to be attained even in
crores of lives.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad points out that the object to which mind gets attached to, to that object the subtle self goes together with the deed.
Bhagwad Gita points out that whatever resolve he has at the time of departing from his body, such one be becomes his inclination. Therefore, Krishna further recommends the seeker to fix the mind on him, be attuned to him, adore him, revere him; thus having disciplined himself, with him as the goal to him alone the seeker shall come.
For Sankara, the uncompromising purpose of Wisdom is being supremely established in awareness of the Self. A person who is luminous in receptivity and reflective and meditative in Mind finds fulfillment in his purpose laid out by him because the non-luminous person, being obscure his vision becomes one with unresolved purpose in life and suffers.
Therefore, Wisdom of Brahman should be the prime purpose and enterprise of a person which sense of discrimination between the eternal and the transient –“Nitya - Anitya viveka”.
Swami says,
“How can one contemplate on God with an invisible form? What is the use of such contemplation? Divinity is the very life breath that can be perceived and heard. How can one recognize and experience the sound of this Divine breath?
The Upanishads have given the names of "Brahman" and "Atma" for this invisible Divine breath in human beings. The body is living, as long as the life breath emanates from the body. Mind is made up of sankalpa (resolution) and vikalpa (negation or dissolution). This is the Vishnu Principle. What is the root cause for this Brahma Principle? That which attracts the sound (shabda).
The all pervading sound of the sruthis is constantly in us, with us and is part of us. When you hear the sound of the mantras, you feel very happy, even though you are not able to understand their meanings. There may be several meanings for the words in these mantras. But, the very sound emerging from the chanting of these manthras will make you happy.
In
order to understand the nature of Divinity (Paramatma),
we must engage our mind in the contemplation of the Transcendental Principle (Para tattwa). "
(Extract from Divine Discourse
12/10/2002)
Love.
