Sadhana Panchakam - Post 52

In One's spiritual journey, the processes of Sravana, Manana, Nididhyasana and Savikalpa Samadhi come to their culmination in Nirvikalpa Samadhi. 

The thick fog of doubt and delusion that surrounds the Self lifts up, and the aspirant beholds the rarest of all visions – he sees himself to be one with the luminous Sun of Supreme Consciousness. 

This is the crest-jewel among all human experiences. We reach the long-cherished Goal of all spiritual endeavor.

Beloved Friends, God-Experience is our topic now onwards.

The man of realization stands as an Emperor before all the forces of Nature which once danced all around him.

He is now Master of those forces that are the genesis of Creation. All its question marks have been dissolved. 

The pinnacle of perfection of this human birth is the experience of the unity of the Self. The ultimate Goal has become a certainty, as real as clutching a fruit in the palm of one’s hand.

Now, to the next sutra/verse.

 

Poorna-Atma: This word refers to the state which transcends all these limitations.

What are these limitations which every human being is subject to? They are two of them:

i)         Desha, or spatial limitation.

ii)        Vastu, or object limitation.

iii)     Kala, or time limitation; this leads to Anubhava, or an experience limitation.

 

Su-Sameekshyataam: Sage Sankaracharya uses the double prefix here. To translate it as “Realize and see” does not do it justice. The prefixes Su and Sam, are very significant.

They contain an appreciation of all the great effort that was taken in the 34 previous Steps, which made this Step of Self-realization possible.

The word pays tribute to all the prior stages in which the hard work was done to make Samadhi possible. What an unusual expression of gratitude – the very processes of Sadhana are given pride of place in the accomplishment! 

Such is the attitude ingrained in the Indian tradition of Vedanta. From every breath of Vedanta oozes out the precious feeling of gratitude. Gratitude is the string that runs through all the steps of Sadhana, and binds them into a beautiful garland worthy of being offered to the Divine!

In a human mind, thinking begins with one thought, leading to other associate or related thoughts arising therein weaving their own chain of thoughts, turning mind to scraps and fragments of unruly, disordered and undisciplined aggregation of thoughts. 

The awareness of the spiritual mind comes out sudden and instantaneous, like the flash of lightening or winking of the eye as said in Upanishads.

Spiritual awareness is never partial, it is all at once in comprehensive dimension or nothing at all. Upanishads declare that when It shines, everything else shines in its illumination.

The Self is the supreme goal, the supreme treasure, the supreme world, the supreme Bliss, on the particles of this Bliss, other creatures live. 

When all desires that dwell in the heart are cast away, then does the mortal becomes immortal, then he attains Brahman here itself (in this life). 

Sankara’s insistence that one should perceive the entirety of the subtle Self is a suggestion to be cultivated here and now and not later. 

Hindu philosophy, though conceives a series of births and deaths, yet encourages traversing the path though ‘sharp as the edge of a razor and hard to cross and difficult to tread’ is the Path, one is encouraged to take the first step, even though in the words of Krishna, the mind (and the resolve) is covered as fire is covered by smoke, as mirror by dust and an embryo by the womb, one should venture abandoning all desires born of will, without exception, restraining from all sides the mind from all senses, let him gain little by little tranquility through restraint and steadiness, fixing mind on the self within, and not thinking on anything else. 

On this path no effort is ever lost, no obstacles prevail. Even a little righteousness will save one from great fear. Therefore, one should engage oneself in this endeavor without hesitation.

 

Swami Sivananda writes on how a Jivanmukhta experiences the all-pervading SELF,

 

“A Jnani identifies himself with the all-pervading Brahman and uses his mind and body as His instruments for Vyavahara (worldly activities); an Ajnani identifies himself with his body. There have been cases of Jivanmuktas like Raja Janaka who attained Jnana and who utilized mind and body in this manner for the well-being of the humanity at large.

Sri Rama and Sri Krishna were ever resting on Brahman even when they were ruling their kingdoms. They were ever very conscious of their essential Sat-Chit-Ananda Brahmic nature, even though they assumed human forms. They utilized their minds and bodies as their instruments when they were doing various activities.

Even this world does not disappear as absolutely as is supposed in Jivanmukti state. Empirical world, in fact, ceases to exist. But this does not mean annihilation. It merely means that existence changes its form and color, as it were, for the Absolute. It is empirical existence and not all-existence which vanishes. Existence-Reality remains, but its limited forms vanish. 

Externality has to go; spatial and temporal views of things must go; causal determination of one thing by another must go; many-ness and oneness must go. This is inevitable. But the universe with all its reality will not go even for the liberated soul. It will merely change its form, meaning and significance.. 

Nothing will disappear except a false view, a limited horizon, erroneous idea and a circumscribed vision. Fact, Reality, Existence, however, will remain as fundamental as ever; but the viewpoint will change.”

 

Swami writes in Upanishad Vahini in His commentary on Isavasya Upanishad,

 

“The ignorant can never grasp the fact of Atmic immanence. Those who are conscious can see things and feel their presence. Those who have lost awareness will search for the lost jewels, even though they actually wear them at the moment. 

Though one may know all things, one conceives the Atma as existing in some unapproach- able, unreachable place on account of loss of consciousness. 

But the wise person, who is aware, sees the Atma in all beings and sees all beings as Atma. The wise person sees all beings as the same and perceives no distinction or difference. So, the wise person saves themself from duality.”

 

Love.