Sadhana Panchakam - Post 57

 

The vedic scriptures, Upanishads and all the spiritual documents have one thing in common, that is the goal which the fragment has for the whole, and the rivers have for the oceans. 

Chhandogya Upanishad specifically enjoins that ‘here in the city of Brahman, there exists an abode, like a small lotus flower, within it is a small place. What is within that should be sought, for that assuredly is what one should desire to understand’. That is what one should be propitiate.

 

In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajnavalkya clarifies that as the ocean is the one goal of all waters, as skin is of all kinds of touch, as nostril is of smells, as tongue is of all tastes, as eye is of all forms, as ear is of all sounds, as mind is of all resolutions, as heart is of all forms of knowledge, as hands are of all actions, as organ of generation is of all joys, as excretory organ is of all evacuations, as feet is of all movements, as speech is of all Wisdom …so verily is this great being, infinite, limitless, as aggregate of Wisdom, Arising there from they disappear there into. 

When one thus goes forward, there is no more to be known. And finally when all the aggregate karmas cease, the self loses its individual identity in the vast and ever encompassing Brahman even as a lump of salt loses its individuality when it sinks in the vast ocean.  

When such event occurs then like the juices which are reduced to honey do not know the tree from which they were sourced, the Self ceases to know the form which it had before it became one with supreme, luminous, the immortal Brahman, designated as  SATHYAM - the Prime Existence.  

Katha Upanishad says let the wise Brahmin after knowing SELF, practice wisdom and not waste time in reflecting on many words, for that is, verily, weariness of speech.

 

Mundaka Upanishad delving on the subject says that seers having realized the enlightened wisdom, being content, established in Self, freed from attachment and composed in mind, realize the all-pervasive One in all directions, and merge into that all.

 “I am Brahman” stands here for complete identification with the Supreme Source of our existence. It is the very opposite of “I am the Body”, which stands solely for the material aspect of existence. 

The realized person passes through his Prarabdha Karma with complete balance, unaffected by joys and sorrows that are brought on by Prarabdha. He simply witnesses them passing through him. 

‘I AM BRAHMAN’ - In the sentence, ‘Aham Brahmasmi,’ or I am Brahman, the ‘I’ is that which is the One Witnessing Consciousness, standing apart form even the intellect, different from the ego-principle, and shining through every act of thinking, feeling, etc. This Witness-Consciousness, being the same in all, is universal, and cannot be distinguished from Brahman, which is the Absolute. 

Hence the essential ‘I’ which is full, super-rational and resplendent, should be the same as Brahman. This is not the identification of the limited individual ‘I’ with Brahman, but it is the Universal Substratum of individuality that is asserted to be what it is. The copula ‘am’ does not signify any empirical relation between two entities, but affirms the non-duality of essence. This dictum is from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. 

An extract from talk delivered by Swami Vivekananda in San Fransisco, on 23 rd March 1900. 

“I am the one Existence. Nothing else exists. I am everything. 

Go on saying “I am free”. Never mind if the next moment delusion comes and says “I am bound”. 

This truth is first to be heard. Hear it first. Think on it day and night. Fill the mind with it day and night: “I am it. I am the Lord of the Universe. Never was there any delusion…” Meditate upon it with all the strength of the mind till you actually see these walls, houses, everything, melt away until body, everything vanishes. “I will stand alone. I am the one”. 

Struggle on! Who cares! We want to be free. We do not want any powers. Worlds we renounce. Heavens we renounce, hells we renounce. What do I care about all these powers? And this and that! What do I care if the mind is controlled or uncontrolled! Let it run on!. What of that! I am not the mind. Let it go on!. 

The sun shines on the just and unjust. Is he touched by the defective character of any one? I am He. Whatever my mind does, I am not touched. The sun is not touched by shining on filthy places. I am existence. 

This is the religion of non-dual philosophy. It is difficult. Struggle on!. Down with all superstitions!. Neither teachers nor scriptures nor gods exist. Down with temples, with priests, with gods, with incarnations, with God himself!. I am all the God that ever existed. There, stand up philosophers! No fear! Speak no more of God and the superstition of the world. Truth alone triumphs, and this is true, I am the infinite. 

All religious superstitions are vain imaginations.  This society, that I see before me, and that I am talking to you- this is all superstition. All must be given up. Just see what it takes to become a philosopher!. This is the path of Jnana Yoga, the way through knowledge. The other paths are easy, slow. But this is pure strength of mind. No weakling can follow this path of knowledge. You must be able to say “I am the soul, the ever free, I never was bound. Time is in me, not I in time. God was born in my mind. God the Father, Father of the Universe- he is created by me in my own mind…” 

 

With this we come to the end of this sacred treatise “Sadhana Panchakam”.

 

 

Love.

 

Sadhana Panchakam - Post 56

Cause-effect is an in-alienable and un-avoidable Cosmic Law. ’Prarabdha” is the result of the aggregation of all previous actions. Krishna says that the all-pervading Self does not take on the sins or the merits of any creature. It is only for the one born to terminate the effect of the actions performed in earlier life, and no amount of divine intervention would put end to them. 

Therefore, the sages seek to find the reasons which turns cause in to effect and ways how to disengage and neutralize the cause from being transformed as effect. 

Continuity of primordial life become palpable when one observes the aggregate karmas, the sanchita karma - being transferred as arrows  from one life to the other, with body deteriorating, decaying and dying and a new body taking over the same, as Prarabdha karma. 

Deliverance comes not only when entirety of the sanchita karma ceases to be transferred but also when new karma cease to bear fruit. It is like burning the seeds to prevent further fruits coming forth. 

Krishna points out that performance of actions is natural for every creature and no one can remain even for a moment without performing action. Therefore in one who has restrained the tendency of senses turning cause transformed as effects, only his intelligence is considered firmly established. Only he who has abandoned all desires and lives and acts free from craving, without any sense of I and mine, attains peace within, becoming released. 

For those who desire a deeper philosophic insight into the way a sage sees the world, an Acharya obliged with the following unusual explanation: 

1. No Duality: A new term is now being introduced – Akhandata. It means “no dichotomy between subject and object”. In ordinary perception, there has to be a subject and an object. In God-realization, the sage has the Akhandata vision. He sees an unbroken mass of Reality. There is no two (subject and object); there is only the One Reality. 

2. No Ego: In normal experience, the ego is the subject, and the world is the object. In God-vision this is not the case. Oneness cannot co-exist with the ego. In the state of Oneness, the ego gets dissolved completely and one experiences Oneness with the whole world. Subject and object become unified. 

3. No Karma: The implication is that at one shot, the Sanchita karma is totally annulled. Let us take the example of a dream experience. 

Suppose one has this fantastic dream: He is a tycoon, not an ordinary tycoon but a super-tycoon, the sort that one can only be in a dream! Real tycoons are known to buy out islands; but the dream-tycoon is presently dreaming of buying off the whole continent! At that point he suddenly awakens from his dream. However promising the dream was, does it not all simply vanish into nothingness? It is the same with the Sanchita karma of a realized saint. 

4. No Cause & Effect: The very nature of the experience of existence suddenly changes – it has no semblance to ordinary existence as we know it, which has to follow the cause-effect rule. From a worldly standpoint, It is impossible to have any non-causal situation; to us, anything has to have a cause. We cannot comprehend the Absolute plane which is a “Karma-free Zone”. There are no Karmas in the Absolute plane! 

5. No “Death”: In normal experience, when Prarabdha Karma is exhausted, the body has done its work and, without exception, it has to fall off. The ‘pot’ space merges with the universal space. But in the case of the sage, there is no separate space in the first place. So death itself has no significance to him; he is already ‘dead’ to the world from the moment he had realized. Hence, in his case, the term death is not used. Instead, he is said to have attained Videhamukti, or “liberation from the body”.

 

Let us go through a conversation between Sri Ramana Maharshi (M) and Maurice Frydman (M. F.).

 

M. F.: Narada Bhakti Sutras say that the path of devotion is best, as all paths lead to devotion. Cannot the same be said of jnana or yoga or nishkama karma?

 

M.: Why this differentiation?

Jnana is bhakti; vairagya is jnana.

M. F.: To know is to love. If we love, we know more, and vice versa.

M.: Yes.

 

M. F.: Ashtavakra Gita, Chapter IX, verse 4 says: “Things come by themselves.” Does anything come of itself without the operation of some cause behind it?

 

M.: That which comes to a man without present effort or desire is the result of past efforts or desires — Prarabdha karma. Even a jnani who has no desires has to meet such events, as they are the result of his Prarabdha karma.

 

M.F. Some one: “Jnana burns away all karma,” says the Bhagavad Gita; so the jnani’s jnana could not leave Prarabdha unburned. Is that so?

 

M.: In the jnani’s view all karma has gone. But in the world’s view, the jnani’s body is seen subject to some karma and this is attributed to Prarabdha.

 

M. F.: The Ashtavakra Gita says, “The jnani does not remember what he has done or not done.” How to understand this?

 

M.: He is in Brahman, so he does not feel that he is the agent who has acted or not acted.

 

M. F.: If the jnani is subject to Prarabdha, he may have to face desires, which are also a part of Prarabdha karma. Desires cloud jnana. How can he then be a jnani?

 

M.: The desires that float before the jnani do not affect his jnana.

 

M. F.: The Puranas say that jnanis warred against jnanis. That must be due to Prarabdha then?

 

M.: Yes. Krishna fought against Bhishma.

 

M. F.: But should not the jnani have vairagya, while it is desire that leads to conflict?

 

M.: Perfect vairagya is Jnana.

 

M. F.: How can we judge from the outside whether a man’s vairagya, or surrender, is perfect or complete?

 

M.: Of perfect vairagya and jnana, who is there outside to judge?

 

M. F.: Instead of constantly pursuing the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ why not constantly ask ‘Who are you?’

 

M.: Either enquiry that tends to still the mind is good. But ‘Who am I?’ is the shortest and most direct method. The others lead up to it.

 

Dear All,

 

All about Prarabdha Karma and how it is exhausted and how a jnani does not perceive any Prarabdha karma even while exhausting the same - have been covered in the posts under the theme " theory of Karma".  Much more clarity is given in the 4 parts of Karma session which is available in the author's youtube channel.  Readers who are not aware of his youtube channel may just surf youtube with "Journey deep within+karma" or leave a comment seeking the same and then the same shall be posted in a post.

 

Love.

 

 

 

Live Session Tomorrow on "Spiritual Journey to God Realization through Sai Student's Experiences"

 

https://youtu.be/pGlknHj4nMI

Sadhana Panchakam - Post 55

 

In ordinary existence, the actions we do now, get added to the bundle of Karmas which we have to pay off in our future. 

However, in the case of the saint who has realized his oneness with Brahman, whatever actions he does during the remainder of his life after realization, can bear no Karma in the future. 

Karmas are incurred by one who considers himself as their “Doer”. The saint has no trace of ‘doer-ship’. He holds the feeling that God alone is the doer of everything. His actions therefore cannot create any Karma. As there is no ego-sense in him, his actions cannot leave any trace of Karma. 

The “wisdom” referred to in this step is the wisdom of living and acting without any “doer-ship”, without any ego-sense. All actions are offered to the Divine; they are totally selfless; they have no power to bind the actor. That renders the man of realization exempt from incurring any further Karmas. Such a soul is freed from all past and future Karmas. 

Chitti Balam means “the strength of one’s pure mind.” These words appear significantly in the middle of the sentence, between the past Karmas and the future Karmas, and can therefore be taken to apply to both. Even as a light placed at the doorway between two rooms will light up both rooms, in the same way Chitti Balam applies equally to both the past and the future Karmas. 

When one uses intellect to reflect on the matter of creations of thoughts in Mind, it will be seen that even as earlier thoughts condition the latter thoughts, the later thoughts influence the influence the earlier thoughts, twisting and formatting the mind to a new mind.  

One cannot open one’s Mind to spiritual inputs without the inputs being presented in marks, symbols and words and experiences to which the Mind is familiar and receptive. Completely an unconditioned Mind is difficult for common masses, therefore, one should consider taking a leap to the spiritual from the temporal foundations. 

Therefore, Uddalaka Aruni prevails upon his son Shvetaketu “be receptive, well-disposed one to the temporal as well as the spiritual ones”. 

It is only a receptive one that can intelligently resolve to free him from the effect of subsequent actions, knowing the nature of the performance of his earlier actions, the result which such performances had on his mind and also the result which the performance of action in future would have on one’s mind and the samsara. 

The state of awareness comes when one realizes that a human Mind is an instrument for fulfilling the Divine Intent, and therefore one is obliged to keep it pure and auspicious by performing only such actions as are in accordance with that Divine Intent. As said in Isha Upanishad, having performed his duties in this manner, he strives to live for hundred (many) years.  

When a person becomes a Jivan Mukta, he stops identifying with the body, and his identity is established firmly as the Self. 

The scriptures say such a person – who no more has any sense of doership or enjoyership – does not acquire any Agami Karma, and Self-Knowledge also destroys his Sanchita Karma.  

For a Jivan Mukta, only Prarabdha remains. A Jnani (enlightened person) is like a ceiling fan whose electricity is cut off. But because of past momentum, the ceiling fan still revolves. 

This past momentum is Prarabdha, and since there is no electricity (no doership or enjoyership), there is no new momentum (Agami). 

So since Prarabdha remains, it will continue to give pleasurable and painful experiences. These experiences will only affect the body, because the Jnani being established as the Self is not affected. Therefore the Jnani is immune even to Prarabdha. 

And once Prarabdha is exhausted, Sanchita gone, and no new Agami, there is no Karma left. So there is no reason for the Jnani to acquire a new birth. This is called Videha Mukti, liberation after death. 

Agami Karma is the impact of those new actions, explained in the Karma session as the result of aiming new, fresh arrows available to a human being in every birth, which is pure, neutral, neither red (which would give bad results) nor white ( which would give him good results), where both these red and white were explained as results of  his past Karma, which he carries  as sanchita karma, to be converted to Prarabdha karma in the current birth and  it was also explained that  jiva has no control over the results which these arrows would fetch him as they are already  marked as red or white, bad karma or good karma. 

And, now, let us think of a Jnani in the back drop of so many sessions, so many blog posts where the state of a realized seer or a Jnani has been explained. 

His newer actions in the present life after He realizes SELF, have no trace of Ahankara, no trace of vasana. 

Apart from basic duties towards his family if he is a grahastha, all other actions of a Jivanmukhta are aimed at serving the humanity in whatever way God intuitively commands Him. 

A Jnani may serve explicitly by setting up institutions for education or health care etc, may spread Knowledge by expanding his ashram or even spread Love and peace in society in silence, without doing any service which is apparently seen by the world. 

He is Love, His existence is Love, His breathing is Love, His actions are (in) Love. 

If the readers can close their eyes and imagine such an existence, then the author need not convince them that such LOVE cannot fetch a Jnani any new Karma.

Love.

 

 

 

 

 

Live Session Tomorrow on Ashtavakra Gita - Chapter 2

 

https://youtu.be/0hxkXrcF1Ho

Sadhana Panchakam - Post 54

 

We learnt in Karma sessions about sanchita karma, thus:-  

Accumulated impressions: The karmas in the quiver are the accumulated deep impressions (Samskaras) that have been collected over our entire history. Some arrows have been added to the quiver (new Karmas) and others have already been shot (old Karmas), and are no longer in the quiver. 

The formula of karma: The total of the arrows (Samskaras) in our quiver today is the net of the new arrows added, minus the old ones that have been shot. These arrows and deep driving habits in the quiver are called "Sanchita Karma."  

Current karma = (Old samskaras) + (New samskaras added) – (Old samskaras that have played out)

Predispositions are awaiting opportunity: Along with the playing out of our current Karmas in flight, we also know that there are many predispositions, habit patterns, or Samskaras that are awaiting an opportunity to come into action. Though we may not know exactly what these are, by observing our actions we can infer some of these predispositions. 

Examining and attenuating karma: By a good job of preparation, balancing life, and learning to be a good archer, one can eventually examine the Samskaras in the quiver during Meditation. In this way, deeper habit patterns can be attenuated or eliminated through Meditation, provided one has become trained as a good Archer. 

Swami Sivananda roars,

 

“Tarkash (quiver), the case in which arrows are accumulated represents our Sanchita Karmas; the arrow that is ready for shooting represents our Agami Karma and the arrow which has left the bow, which cannot return and which must hit the target represents Prarabdha Karma. 

The store-room is the Sanchita. The articles that are put in the shop for sale are Prarabdha. The daily sale proceeds are the Agami. 

Sanchita Karmas are the accumulated works; Prarabdha Karmas are ripe of fructiferous actions; Kriyamana Agami Karmas are current works. 

The big storehouse for paddy represents Sanchita Karma. The paddy that has been taken out separately for the use of the current year corresponds to the Prarabdha; and the paddy that is growing in the fields in the current year represents Agami Karma or Kriyamana. 

Sanchita Karmas are destroyed by Brahma Jnana. One should enjoy the Prarabdha anyhow. (Vyavaharic Drishti only). 

Kriyamana Karmas are no actions as the Jnani has Akarta and Sakshi Bhava. God and Purushartha are synonymous terms. They are two names for one thing. 

In Mahabharata you will find that exertion (Purushartha) and Prarabdha combined bring about fruits. If you are ailing, you must do Purushartha. You must take medicine. You leave the results to Prarabdha. 

Throughout Yoga Vasishtha, Vasishthaji recommends Purushartha only to Sri Rama. Markandeya through Purushartha alone conquered death. Man is, doubtless, the master of his own destiny. 

Purushartha can do and undo things. Markandeya changed his destiny through his Tapas. Fatalism will produce abnormal inertia. God helps those who help themselves. Be up and doing. Man is the master of his destiny. Prarabdha is the result of your own thoughts and actions. Change your mode of thinking. Think: "I am the Immortal Self." The immortal Self you will become. As you think, you so become. This is the immutable law. 

You have now the habit of thinking "I am body. I am mind. I am Prana. I am Indriya or sense."Change your present habit of thinking and think, "I am Brahman. I am the all-pervading intelligence." You will conquer your destiny. If you are in the habit of writing in a slanting manner, you can change your habit and can write in a vertical manner. Even so you can change your habit of thinking. Conquest of habit is conquest of destiny. Fate or destiny is your own creation through your own Karmas. You are the master of your destiny. Change your mode of thinking. Instead of foolishly thinking "I am body," think "I am Atman, all-pervading." 

When the person attains the God-realized state, he becomes “dead” to worldly affairs. He no longer has the body and mind identity. He has risen to the absolute realm, from which standpoint Karmas do not even exist.  All the Sanchita Karmas become annulled at the moment of realization. It is said the fire of knowledge burns away all those Karmas, however big the bundle may have been.”

Karma is one of the fundamental realities which a human being cannot dispense with. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is firm on the principle of cause and consequences saying that as one acts, as one behaves, so does he become. The doer of good becomes good, the doer of evil becomes evil; this is an eternal law. One becomes virtuous by virtuous actions, bad by bad actions. 

Others say that Karma is the consequences of desires. As is his desire, so is his will; as is his will, so is the deed he does, whatever deed he does that becomes his consequence. 

Yajnavalkya tells Jaratkaru Arthabhaga that when the speech of the dead person enters fire, breath enters air, eyes into Sun, mind in moon, hearing in quarters self in space, etc then what remains of the person, it is the aggregate Karma that is carried forward. Verily one becomes good by good actions, bad by bad actions. 

Sankara says, since mind is the primary instrument of the subtle body, the quality of the mind is the quality of the subtle body. Therefore, when all the desires that dwell in the heart are cast away, then does the mortal become immortal and he attains Brahman here (in this life itself). 

One need not wait for the time when the body falls, it comes about the moment ignorance is eliminated. Krishna, therefore, recommends the performance of actions without desire and giving up the fruits of actions so that he may remain free from the good or bad consequences of the actions. 

Maitri Upanishad says that since it is the Mind which absorbs the effects of the performance of previous actions giving an appearance to the mental responses, the mind which should be investigated. By freeing Mind from sloth and distraction and making is well-established he becomes liberated from Mind. That is the supreme state. 

Only through sadhana and through no other means can one really work towards SELF REALIZATION, upon which, the sanchita karma, the quiver in store, yet to be discharged, are rendered useless. 

Like the potter wheel keeps rotating even after the potter has stopped making pot, for some time, like a car still keeps moving a few yards even after the driver has set the gear to neutral, the arrows which have been discharged from the quiver, the prarabdha karma, still are on play and even a jnani has to undergo the impact of such in flight arrows or the prarabdha karma. But in His God realized state, he is unaffected by the pleasure / pain that prarabdha karma brings to him and He verily abides in SELF and exists in undiluted bliss.

 

Love.

 

Sadhana Panchakam - Post 53

When we see a mirage, it is our knowledge of geography that tells us that it is not water. Knowledge has the power to rectify a false perception. In the same way, where previously the world appeared real, now with knowledge it is clearly seen as a projection of the Self. The world is still the same, but now it is seen differently.  

Brahman is the infinite Cause of all the finite manifestation. Having evolved from the root (Bhru), Brahman is That One which became effulgent, or bursts forth in abundance.  

Yajnavalkya said, ‘That the knowers of Brahman call it the imperishable, neither gross nor fine, neither short nor long, neither glowing red nor adhesive like water, neither shadow nor darkness, neither air nor space, unattached, without taste, smell, eyes, ears, voice, mind, radiance, breath, mouth and without measure, having no within and no without. It eats nothing and no one eats it’. Of That One, it is said, neti neti, it is nothing like any other things seen here. 

Brahman, the Prime Existence is the formless and the eternal and all that is perceived alone is not all that represents as the Prime Existence, unperceived also being the Prime Existence. Sun does not cease to exist because a blind person does not perceive. The Prime Existence is an eternal reality, all; manifestation being a temporary phenomenon.  

When Yajnavalkya explained Ushasta Chakrayana that Brahman is within as his self, who breathes in with your breathing in, who breathes out with your breathing out, who breathes about with your breathing out, who breathes up with your breathing up, it was not understood him saying the explanation was as one might say, ‘this is a cow’, ‘this is a horse’. Yajnavalkya clarified, ‘You cannot see the seer of seeing, hear the hearer of hearing, think the thinker of thinking, understand the understander of understanding They who know the breath of the Primal Breath, the eye of the Eye, the ear of the Ear, the mind of the Mind, only they have realized the ancient primordial Brahman’.  

Therefore, Kena Upanishad points out: That which is not expressed through speech, That which is not thought by the mind but that by which the mind thinks; That is Brahman, not what the people here adore. Brahman is all the things that exist, the Existence in entirety.

This world is the manifested aspect of the Lord. He was alone in the beginning when there was no creation. After creation also He remains unattached and free like the ether in the pot. The earthen pot is full inside and outside with ether but the ether is not at all affected by the existence or non-existence of the pot. 

Even so the Lord is all-pervading and full, inside and outside of all beings, and remains ever non-attached. He guides the actions of all beings but He is not the actor. He is the mere witness of the activities of the organs. He gives power and strength to the organs. So He may be said to be the actor but at the same time He is Akarta (non-doer) and Asanga (non-attached).

 

 At the highest state of existence, A Jnani roars,

“Only when you suppose creation to be a reality, the questions who created it and how it was created and so on arise. People who are not endowed with a sharp and discriminative intelligence, who cannot understand the true import of the Vedantic Truths and who cannot live in the spirit of those teachings, struggle themselves with these knotty problems. But the moment they realize the underlying Reality, all doubts vanish like darkness before bright light.

Because the world was never created at all, the points who created the world, how and why it was created etc., still remain unanswered to our entire satisfaction. How can a thing which has no existence be described? Why should anyone discuss such points like How many teeth does a crow have? How many eggs does an elephant lay? How deep is the water of the desert? How many horns has a hare got? How many children did a barren woman give birth to? These are useless and irrelevant questions.

In reality the Jiva or the individual soul creates this world of names and forms on account of his own ignorance and delusion. When he attains knowledge of the Self by the Grace of his spiritual preceptor, he dissolves the external world into himself and sees his own Self everywhere. He sees oneness everywhere. He becomes struck with wonder when he thinks of the world of duality. The world of diversity appears to him like a mere dream and he exclaims in surprise, Where has this world full of the charms of Maya disappeared now which was glaring before my very eyes till this very moment!”

 

Love.