Jnana Vahini - Post 28

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.

Though Brahman 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?

But one fact has to be emphasized 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.

Love.

PS - With this, Jnana Vahini comes to an end. However, efforts are being made to give the Jnana Vahini in a changed sequence, matching the path to be followed in the path of Jnana, to the extent possible, in a summarized way. 

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 27

To entitle one for embarking on the inquiry into the Atma, one must be endowed with the Sadhana Chatushtaya 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: "Everyone is qualified, provided one is equipped with the Sadhana Chatushtaya".

Mere reading of the Sastras does not entitle one; the attainment of Sadhana Chatushtaya mentioned therein is essential. The doubt might then arise: how can a person who has not read the Sastras attain Sadhana Chatushtaya? 

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, even without the initial back ground of Sastric study.

It is the mind which is a limitation on the Jivi; it has to be conquered; the body-consciousness must disappear; steady faith has to be cultivated in Jnana.

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 Brahman-hood dawns.

Experiencing identity with the Lord, the Jivi declares, "I am Brahman, 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 Sat-Chit-Ananda Swarupa, devoid of the three types of distinction". 

He is immersed in the Bliss of Brahman. This is the fruition of Jnana.

(Author’s note - The first step in the path of wisdom / jnana is equipping oneself with the 4 qualifications - viveka, vairagya, shad-sampat and mumukshatva.

The mansion of Spiritual sadhana, reaching up to the top most roof of Moksha, is impossible to be sustained without the 4 strong foundation pillars of these 4 qualifications.

Man, believing in his intellect, takes up discourses in this path, reads few books here and there, goes through Upanishads and thinks that he has understood this path. 

It does not work this way. Why? Because, in most cases, intellect is not pure, it is mixed up with our ego, our vasanas. So, we end up understanding the Upanishad truth with the coloring of our ego, our vasanas and ultimately, we end up nowhere and we leave the path more faster than anyone else.)

 The prescribed path is 

The contemplation has to continue till the time, the teachings / revelations of the Shrutis given by Guru is experienced subjectively within the disciple's heart.

Guru can even be someone who is an acclaimed realized Master, who may not be alive now, only if one is not fortunate to get / find  a Guru living in contemporary world, available to him physically, to go through all spiritual instructions one to one, to get all doubts cleared one to one and to see the Guru living before his eyes as the proof of all the vedanta teachings!!

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 26

JIVA

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. 

Caught up in the coils of change, it is very hard to realize one is just the witness of all this passing show. 

SAKSHI

The Sakshi has no Ajnana and so has no need to get rid of it! The ignorant alone need to 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. 

JIVA BECOMING SAKSHI

When a Jiva 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 Seer or Witness (or Sakshi) with himself. 

Undergoing the sorrows of Ajnana and seeking solace in the study of Vedanta, one infers that there must be a Witness, unaffected by the passing clouds. 

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 Brahman.

Later, the Sakshi or Atma, which one knew by reasonings, is realized in actual experience, when the superimposition of the illusion of the world is removed by Sadhana.

The Sakshi is the inner core of everything, the 'immanent', the embodiment of Sat, Chit and Ananda. There is nothing beyond it or outside it. 

The Akasa in the pot is the Akasa that has filled everything everywhere. The Akasa in the pot is the ever-full immanent Akasa. 

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.

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 25

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. 

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. Everyone 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 Sat, Chit and Ananda.

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 splendor are the nature of Fire, not its attributes. Atma, too, in the same manner, has Sat, Chit and Ananda as its very nature. Liquidity, coldness and taste are of the very nature of Water; yet, water everywhere is the same, not diverse.

(Author's note - Swami clarifies here that Sat-chit-ananda is not the characteristic of Atman like we describe all other objects in this world with their characteristic but sat-chit-ananda is the very nature of Atman, not mere attributes of Atman)

The Eternal Knower - Chaitanya

Atma is Chit 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'.

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. 

Some people declare that they have had Realization! How can it be taken as true? When according to the statement, "Aham Brahmaasmi", one understands that "I am Brahman", the Jivi who is the 'I' is a mutable entity, a Vikari. How can he possibly grasp it? A destitute cannot realize that he is a monarch; so too, a mutable entity like man cannot grasp the immutable Brahman or posit that he is Brahman.

(Author’s note - In the last para, what Swami is revealing? He is drawing our attention between idam and aham which we understood in Upadesa Saram, He is teaching us the difference between Aham which is pure and Ahankara which is Ego.

So, till the time one exists as pure Aham or Sat-chit-ananda, he cannot say that he has realized SELF / Brahman. And, when one actually roars that he has attained realization, then, there is no thought, no mind, no ego involved there. Such a roar is from and as the source and not from the Jiva.

How is that roar?? 

Janaka reveals about His… ne... THAT state, in Ashtavakra Gita when He says,

aho ahaṁ namo mahyaṁ

vināśo yasya nāsti me

brahmādistaṁbaparyantaṁ

jagannāśo’pi tiṣṭhataḥ

How wonderful am I! Adoration to myself, who knows no destruction, surviving even beyond the destruction of the entire world from Brahma down to a clump of clay.

aho ahaṁ namo mahyaṁ

eko’haṁ dehavānapi

kvacinna gantā nāgantā

vyāpya viśvamavasthitaḥ

Wonderful am I! Glory to myself who, though with a body, am One, who neither goes anywhere nor comes from anywhere but abide forever, pervading the Universe.

aho ahaṁ namo mahyaṁ

dakṣo nāstīha matsamaḥ

asaṁspṛśya śarīreṇa yena

viśvaṁ ciraṁ dhṛtam

Wonderful am I! I bow down to myself! There is no one so clever as I, who is bearing the Universe for all eternity without even touching it with my body!

aho ahaṁ namo mahyaṁ 

yasya me nāsti kiṁcana

athavā yasya me sarvaṁ 
yad vāṅmanasagocaram

Wonderful am I! I bow down to myself! I who possess nothing at all or possess everything that is thought or spoken of.

It has to be known clearly that all along when Janaka says "I am" in the above verses, the I referred is beyond his body, mind, intellect, vasanas, senses. It is the Pure SELF, SAT-CHIT-ANANDA which is the very nature of "I" when Janaka roars - "How wonderful AM I".

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 24

The Jnana derived from the mere hearing of Vedanta cannot be termed Direct Knowledge. 

Sravanam

Of course, by hearing about the Swarupa of the Brahman (which is Sathyam, Jnanam and Anantham), one may be able to picture it or imagine it; but one has to actually 'see' the Brahman, 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 Brahman is His own self (not different or outside), can he not realize Himself as Brahman as soon as he hears the exposition of a Mahavakya like "Tat Twam Asi" which reveals that basic Truth? But he does not.

Mananam

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.

Anantham

The Atma is present everywhere and is in everything; it is unaffected; it is omnipresent like Akasa or Ether; it is even beyond the Akasa; it is the Akasa in the Chit 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.

Sathyam

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 cognizing 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, Advaitha, 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.

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 23

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 Brahman:

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.

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 realize 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 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. Inquiry makes the snake disappear; the rope alone remains thereafter. 

To the question, how can one thing appear as two, the reply may be given that, prior to inquiry, Brahman appears as Jagath (like clay appears as pot, like gold appears as ornaments) though its real nature has not undergone any change at all. The one Brahman is apparent in many forms and under various names and so gives the impression of multiplicity. 

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.

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 existence less when knowledge grows, that you can take to be Maya's manifestation.

Brahman 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.

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 22

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 Brahman appear as Jiva, Eswara and Jagath, three entities where there is only one! 

The Maya faculty is latent, but when it becomes potent, 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. 

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 Brahman:

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.

The great souls who have won this Atmajnana deserve worship. They are holy; for they have attained Brahman, the right of everyone in the world, however great or whatever the Tapas. 

That is the Kingdom they seek, the honor 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.

Love.

(Author's note- Swami has touched upon Jiva, Jagath and Iswara in this post.

The same was explained in one of the posts in another theme. The same is recaptured below.

Since we have our identity as Jiva, we need to know more about JIVA.

Our identity as JIVA is relevant only in the context of the people around us, the society in which we live, the world comprising of many societies, many beliefs, many faiths ETC. Hence, in this context, the importance of CREATION, the world around us, is important.

Jiva and Jagath has become important in the above context. But a question arises now. What is the principle, the power, the energy which has caused this Jagath and then we the Jiva in this jagath??? Who is the Supreme Creator?? In this context, the need / relevance of ISWARA arises. 

(1) Jiva or Individual

Vedanta approaches Jiva or an individual through the analysis of its internal nature. It says Jiva consists of three:

(a) physical body,

(b) mind and

(c) consciousness. 

After death the physical body is destroyed, but the same mind travels to find a next body – this is called rebirth. Consciousness part of Jiva always remains pure and it does not travel. Whereas mind experiences the various type of enjoyments and miseries through the physical body and preserves impressions within it. After the fall of physical body, mind carries those impressions with it to the next life.

(2) Jagat or Creation

Vedanta analyses the nature of this cosmos or creation around us through generalization. 

It says the perceived cosmos is available to us while we are awake in day time. In our dream while sleeping we have another creation – the individual dream world. 

In our deep sleep there is no such perceived creation. This waking cosmos is constantly changing – it is Anityam or temporary. It also does not exist eternally. Vedanta says –It is not really created, rather it is projected from Pure Consciousness. 

(3) Iswara or Creator

Iswara is defined as that from which the origin, sustenance and dissolution of this world proceed. Vedanta says the Pure Consciousness is the God itself. 

People also say it as Brahman, Supreme Self, Iswara, Bhagawan etc. Its nature is described as Satchidananda – Sat (Existence), Chit (Knowledge or awareness), Ananda (bliss) – The Blissful Conscious Existence.

Pure Consciousness ‘projects’ the cosmos out of its own. Iswara is both the intelligent cause and material cause of this cosmos. For example – Spider projects the web from its own body. Similarly, the Pure Consciousness, the greatest magician projects this cosmos. And swallows it when required. )

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 21

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 centered 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 Brahma chinthana or Jnaana abhyaasa or Atma abhyaasa.

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.

The recalcitrant mind can be slowly turned towards Brahma dhyana 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. 

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 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.

Love.