Sandeha Nivarini - Post 16

Recap from previous post

Swami: Yes. Awareness has another name: pure consciousness (suddha sathwa). It is as opposed to the impure consciousness as knowledge (vidya) is to ignorance (a-vidya). Impure consciousness is inherent in the pure as much as darkness is inherent in light.

Since many words are spoken, don’t get confused my dear boy! Knowledge-ignorance, wisdom-stupidity (jnana-ajnana), pure-impure consciousness —all indicate the same idea, not different ones. I shall ask you an- other question. Have you heard the word that is the opposite of “nature (prakriti)”?

Now, to the current post.

Devotee: I heard it, Swami. When I studied grammar, I learned that the opposite of prakriti is vikriti. 

Swami: What does vikriti mean?

Devotee: Vikriti means changed, transformed, derived (vikara). Agni (fire) is the original; aggi, the derived word. So, too, jama is derived from yama (control of the inner senses), janna from yajna (ritual), and so on.

Swami: So also, the Lord’s nature (prakriti) is known as knowledge (vidya), and its derived or lower form (vikriti) is known as ignorance (a-vidya). 

For knowledge or pure consciousness (suddha-sathwa), ignorance (a-vidya) or impure consciousness is the lower form.

Devotee: How is that, Swami? Knowledge (vidya) is effulgent in the Lord and ignorance (a-vidya) is apparent only because of knowledge. That is to say, the universal cosmic principle is in the Lord, and this principle itself appears as different from individual to individual —the appearance of individuals is caused by the external char- acteristics of name and form. 

This power of ignorance (a-vidya-sakthi) also manifests as an inseparable entity. For the Lord is the only existence. Therefore, that one existence is the basis or foundation for the universal and the particular, the totality as well as the apparent parts. This is Your meaning, isn’t it, Swami?

Swami: That is why the Lord is referred to as truth (sathya) and Brahman. This truth is indivisible (akhanda). It is non-dual (a-dwaitha). It is without end. In the Upanishads, this truth, which is associated with the unmanifested power of illusion (maya-sakthi), is called the Full (Purna), “That (Adah)”. The truth associated with the manifested power of illusion is called the Full, “This (Idam)”. This is the secret of the Upanishadic mantra “Purnamadah Purnamida ...”.

Devotee: Oh, what fine teaching! Just like giving unto the hand a fruit peeled and ready to eat! This manifested total cosmos (purna) arose out of the Fullness (Purna) of unmanifested indivisible Reality —this is what you spoke of, isn’t it?

Swami: It is on account of this that we say Vasudevas-sarvamidam, Sarvamkhalvidam Brahma, etc. The words Vasudeva and Brahma are different, but there is no difference in meaning at all. Did you understand?

Devotee: It is all like nectar, Swami. But so far, you haven’t told me who I am.

Swami: This is enough for now. Next month, I ‘ll solve your doubts with illustrative examples. Grasp well what has been told. Practise; don’t forget and lay aside. Meditate on it. Well, you can take leave now. 

Dear All,

We will get further into what Swami has taught us in last 2 posts, in our next post.

Love.

Sri Ramana Maharshi

That which is Bliss is also the Self. Bliss and the Self are not distinct and separate but are one and the same. And That alone is real. In no single one of the countless objects of the mundane world is there anything that can be called happiness.

It is through sheer ignorance and unwisdom that we fancy that happiness is obtained from them. On the contrary, when the mind is externalized, it suffers pain and anguish. The truth is that every time our desires get fulfilled, the mind, turning to its source, experiences only that happiness which is natural to the Self.

Similarly in deep sleep, in spiritual trance (samadhi), when fainting, when a desired object is obtained, or when evil befalls an object considered undesirable, the mind turns inwards and enjoys that Bliss of Atman. Thus wandering astray, forsaking the Self, and returning to it again and again is the interminable and wearisome lot of the mind.

It is an unwise person who acts thus, whereas the wise man never leaves the shade: in the same way the mind of the Enlightened Sage (Jnani) never exists apart from Brahman, the Absolute. The mind of the ignorant, on the other hand, entering into the phenomenal world, suffers pain and anguish; and then, turning for a short while towards Brahman, it experiences happiness. Such is the mind of the ignorant.

- Sri Ramana Maharshi