Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 13

Verse 2

(Like the future tree in a seed, this universe, before (creation), remained un-manifest.

Then, due to the illusory play of Maya, Her creations in Time and Space, project themselves in endless names and forms

Just as a juggler unrolls his magic, even so the “Great Yogi” (Brahman) manifests this universe by His own free will

To that “Great Yogi”, who is the form of the Guru, do I offer my salutations. He is the Revered Form of Sri Dakshinamurti.)

Let us take the first line for today’s contemplation

Like the future tree in a seed, this universe, before (creation), remained un-manifest

Before the creation, this world was undifferentiated. But then just as sprout comes from inside the seed, this world  has come forth.

Ancient rishi’s vision of creation is not the same as the modern scientists.  Scientist calls it singularity. We probably don’t have the right language or scientific concept to describe it. However, the world comes from something. It did not come from nothing. So, it is more of a transformation rather than the creation.

In the vision of Vedanta, the un-manifest becomes manifest. That is meant by creation.

Before here means logically before this world manifested. It does not refer to the time. Time itself began with the manifestation of this world (big bang).

Before does not refer to the time factor before the creation emerged but it refers to the state of Brahman prior to the emergence of creation.

Tree in a seed

If you open a seed, you don’t see the sprout. In fact, to your naked eyes, the seed seems undifferentiated. But from that undifferentiated seed, sprout comes forth (manifests). The seed is the cause for the sprout. This metaphor very appropriately explains the creation.

The seed represents the Un-manifest state of Creation, and the future tree represents the universe that emerges from that un-manifest state. To help us to accept this, we have this simile.

Everyone knows that it is possible for a tree to grow out of a small seed. All the potential to become a tree lies in the seed, but the seed is not the tree. 

Knowledge and Material  

Any active creation requires two basic qualities – Knowledge and Material.

The seed is the material for the sprout. Interestingly, from the brown seed, light green sprout comes out.  Also the seed must be intelligent enough to cause the creation. 

This metaphor is used for this world. The world is compared to sprout. Just as the sprout comes forth from the seed, this universe sprouted forth from its creator.

Ishvara is both, the material for this universe and the knowledge for the creation. This world is like a sprout which is within the seed. This world was at first featureless. 

But then we have cycles of manifest – creation and un-manifest. Just as the sprout comes forth from the seed, eventually that sprout will go away but will leave behind more seeds. There is cycle once again.

 

Swami Dayananda Saraswati explains,

“In the Dakshinamurthy Stotram we have this sentence- Like the sprout is there within the seed in an un-manifest form, so too, this world is in an un-manifest form before creation”. 

The un-manifest tree in the seed manifests under conducive situations. What is already there alone comes to manifest. The tree is there in the subtle form, in a programmed form in the seed. That is why only the mango tree comes from the mango seed; no other tree comes. Just as the whole tree is un-manifest in the seed, so also, this entire jagat is un-manifest before creation. 

Again it becomes manifest ‘as it was before’. The phrase ‘as it was before’ points to the previous manifest state that was there before the un-manifest condition. So, from this it is clear, it is cyclic.

The world has not come into being from total non-existence. If it is already existent, it need not come. So, from non-existence the jagat cannot come, and from existence also, the jagat cannot and need not come because it is already existent. The nonexistent pot can never come into being, and an existent pot does not require coming into being. 

We cannot say that the pot is both non-existent and existent. There is a self-contradiction in that statement. A thing cannot be both non-existent and existent at the same time. So, it is only the un-manifest pot that manifests, because of the intervention of the pot-maker in the form of his plan, skill, and effort. 

Pot is potentially there in the clay and that is brought into manifestation now. The intervening factor is called the intelligent cause accompanied by secondary or aiding causes like the wheel, the water, the sun and so on. This jagat was there before in an un-manifest form. From the un-manifest, it is manifest now.” 

In the panchadasi session, we learnt that the un-manifest creation was there in the 2nd stage, when the canvass was starched and then the third stage, when the outline of the drawing in the mind of the painter was drawn on the starched canvass.

The drawings have not yet emerged, but the will of the painter to draw various pictures has already come forth.

These 2 stages were understood by us as the mysterious will of Eswara to create this universe and the broad outline of the creation which emerges in the cosmic mind of the creator.

In the un-manifest (canvass), thus, the future upcoming manifest creation (drawings) has been willed. 

Love.

 

 

Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 12

(He who directly experiences at the time of realization, His own Atman as being one with this Universe)

At this point, we are introduced to the realized person’s experience. The equation for realization is simple, the Maya element has to be removed:

JEEVA – MAYA = ATMAN.

From the viewpoint of realization, the world will certainly appear unreal, as just a reflection before us. And because there is no mirror anymore, whatever we see as the world will be seen as being in the Atman. In other words, the Atman and the Universe will be inseparable. That is the vision of realization.

There is a logical extension of this vision: All Jivas have essentially the same Atman; it is only their unique mirrors that make them appear different. Without that mirror, the realized person will see all Jivas as himself. In fact, he will see all inert objects, too, as himself. 

That is nothing short of being Iswara Himself, the totality of all creation. And the Atman that he realizes, not being connected any more to his individuality, is now no different from Brahman, the supreme, universal Reality. What a shift this is! The realized person transcends his individuality completely and lives in universality.

Upon realization, one gains knowledge of his true Self by recognizing the illusory mischief of Maya and eliminating it, then, for him, “I am Atman” at the individual level, and no different from Brahman at the universal level. So, in fact, I and Brahman are found to be the same Reality. 

Janaka roars in Ashtavakra Gita, thus: -

(Wonderful, Marvelous, In Me, the limitless ocean, the waves of individual selves, according to their nature, arise, jostle about (push / strike each other), play for some time and disappear)

Let us see this verse in depth from different perspective.

When the Jiva perceives this verse in his early stage in sadhana

When the waves are considered as Jivas, with even Janaka may be one of them, then, the whole session on the wave and ocean fits in this verse straight.

However, that is not what is given in this verse.

The absolute level which this verse echoes.

These were the bullet points noted by the author when he went into a very deep contemplation on this verse and he is giving it to the world of seekers as it is.

•       At transcendental level, Janaka cannot perceive anything apart from Him, the limitless ocean.

•       Therefore, all his expressions about all beings arising, jostling, playing and merging in Him, is not possible

•       At the substratum level (Pure Canvas), He cannot come up to the surface level (creation level) to see various beings arising..

•       Even if any being is there, for Him, that being, all beings are not apart from Him the Pure Canvas, substratum.

The way a Guru would teach this to mumukshu sadhakas.

•       Assuming the role of a preceptor, acting as Sadguru for all future mumukshus to come in 1000s of years, He comes down from that transcendental state 

•     And, He says, yes, you may say there is creation, there are various human beings with various vasana levels

•       For you, I must teach that “You, if at all you arise from me, the Pure Canvas and due to ignorance, say that you are different from me, you are Non SELF, then I have to teach you that you may arise, jostle against each other, play ….. but you have to ultimately come and merge in me.

•       Your assuming an identity as wave, apart from me the Pure Canvas, is your ignorance, your misapprehension.

•       But I, if I must see you all, must clearly express that I see you as what you were before arising (before identifying yourself as Jiva, wave, separate from me) or I can say, I see you all as that, after you have merged with me at your final moment of realization.

In both these states, before you were even born or you were just born in your first ever birth, without developing any ego 

Or

After going through all the roller coaster of life in few/many births, when you have discovered SELF and have merged in me the Pure consciousness. 

You (the sum total of “each you”, representing the whole creation) is always same as me, the Pure consciousness/ Atman.

Swami says,

Unity is not Combination, it is a Realization.

What does unity mean? It is not the combination of many; it is the realization of oneness. When you have mirrors all around you, you see your many forms. These are all truth.

The one who asks the question and the one who gives the reply, both are one and the same. All are one. The same person appears in many forms. To consider these forms as different from each other is a mistake.

(Sathya Sai Speaks Vol.42/Ch.19)

 

(To that “Realized One”, The Revered Form of the Guru, do I offer my salutation; He is the Revered Form of Sri Dakshinamurthy)

This Pada or the 4th line, common to all the verses, is the basic line of salutation to the Guru, who is addressed in the context of this verse as the “Realized One”, known as Sri Dakshinamurthy.

All the three references to the Lord (Tasmai and Moortaye (moortaye appearing twice)) are to indicate who is saluted. This indicates that they are terms to be regarded on an equal footing. 

This implies that the Guru and the Lord Himself are on equal footing. The Guru is being saluted as an embodiment of the Lord. This is the attitude of an ideal student.

Any realized Guru will never equate himself with God on his own. 

But in his perfection, in his utmost purity, in his absolute desire less ness, in his love, in his compassion, in his existence as  pure existence, awareness, bliss, the experience gained by few sincere disciple is exactly the same as that which they get when they are in divine presence of God. 

To such an ideal disciple, his realized master gives the assurance, “If  the guru has realized SELF, then the  disciple can also realize SELF. 

In fact, the disciple, irrespective of his shortcoming, his vasanas, his ego, is ever the pure SELF. This purity of the disciple is reflected in the mirror (SELF) which the Master exists as. 

Love.

 

Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 11

Now, we move on to the 2nd line of the first verse

(Although the play is happening within in ‘Me’, the Atman. Yet, due to Maya’s power, it is seen to be produced outside ‘me’, the Jiva, just as it appears in a dream)

When we look at a mirror, what do we see? Ourselves, of course. That means, the Atman within is seeing Itself as the Jagat outside. 

The real “I” is being equated to the world seen in the mirror. What makes the ‘Me’ within appear as the ‘world’ outside?

The text says that this is due to a cosmic illusory Power called Maya. That which makes the internal ‘Me’ appear as an external ‘world’ is Maya. 

It means the mirror is Maya. If Maya were not there, there would be no world out there. That means there will also be no “me” as Jiva, but only ‘Me’ as the Atman.

Actually, the world is not an illusion. But our experience is illusion.

For example, when you watch a movie, you are seeing various lights on the silver screen. But your perception is entirely different. You watch still pictures in a succession every second. But you have a perfect illusion of seeing action. This illusion is due to Maya.

You think, what you perceive is REAL. But it is complicated illusion of all things brought in by your senses and projected on your mind, creating a sense of real experience. This illusion is due to maya.

Swami Sivananda writes,

“Maya is cunning and deceptive. She is the illusory power of Ishvara. It is the finitising principle that creates finite forms in Infinite Brahman. She has got 2 powers, Avarna Sakti and Vikshepa Sakti. 

She hides the Truth through Avarana Sakti (veiling power). She projects this universe, creates false names and forms through Vikshepa Sakti (projecting power).

Avarana Sakti conceals the Atman and veils the Jiva. Through the force of this Sakti, he is not able to separate himself from the five sheaths.”

Maya has different meanings in different context. In this context, it means the capacity to delude you from recognizing the true experience (ignorance).

This immediately throws out a challenge to our intellect and we think, My current experience is that the world appears real to me; I consider myself to be a real entity. But I am told that this world is not real, but is a reflection of ‘Me’, reflected outside by Maya, like the sun being reflected outside itself in a mirror. All the other Jivas like me are equally reflections of the one Atman in various mirrors; I as an individual am one of them.

So, each Jiva must surely have its own unique mirror, constituted of varying proportions of Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas, producing its own world.

This fact of Jivas experiencing different worlds unique to each Jiva, is compared to the appearance of dream. 

Each Jiva produces its own dream which no other Jiva has any access to. Similarly, due to having different mirrors, each Jiva produces its own ‘world’, which is different from the worlds seen by other Jivas.

When you dream, your dream world seems external. 

You see so many things happening and you may even see yourself as a part, as one of the characters in your dream.

You are there and the dream is happening outside you. This is what you think, till you get up next day morning.

Next day you realize that the dream existed within your mind. 

This dream world seems as though exists outside, but it is seen within oneself. Everything that is experienced in dream exists within.

This dream experience brought in by Sankara in this verse clearly explains to a sadhaka, one truth.

The creation, as though appearing outside you (like the dream appeared to have been happening outside you), in reality, it is only the play of your mind due to the power of maya/avidya.

There is no creation outside you and there is no you the jiva other than you the atman, to perceive any creation outside you.

It is futile to keep struggling to find out how maya is causing me to look at the creation outside me, even myself as a jiva outside me (the SELF). 

It is beneficial to realize SELF and upon the realization, maya shakti gets away from you, unable to bear the fire of your Brahma anubhuti!!

Love.

 

 

 

Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 10

Dakshinamurthy Ashtakam

After completing the Dhyana Shlokam, we are starting the Dakshinamurthy Stotram or the Dakshinamurthy Ashtakam, as it is referred to.

Verse 1

 

(The Pluralistic Universe is seen as though in a mirror, reflected in it like a city. 

Although the play is happening within in ‘Me’, the Atman. Yet, due to Maya’s power, it is seen to be produced outside ‘me’, the Jiva, just as it appears in a dream;

He who directly experiences at the time of realization, His own Atman as being one with this Universe, to that “Realized One”, 

The Revered Form of the Guru, do I offer my salutation; He is the Revered Form of Sri Dakshinamurthy.)

The verse introduces seven key Vedantic concepts that are described in later verses:

    1. Jagat – the Pluralistic Universe.

    2. Maya – the Power of Illusion which projects it.

    3. Jiva – the individual soul that experiences it.

  4. Eswara – the universal Soul that is the totality of all Jiva(s) and all inert objects.

    5. Brahman – the universal Reality, that is identical with

   6. Atman – the individual Reality. Realization of this is the spiritual goal.

    7. Guru – the Teacher who leads us to realization is himself the Reality. 

These seven concepts need to be understood clearly by the serious student. Their inter-relationships are elaborated upon in the remaining seven verses of the Ashtakam. 

The opening verse is the Vastu Sangraha Vakya or “Contents page” for the remaining verses.

The Simile of the “Mirror”

The entire world is like a city which is being seen in a mirror, but it is located within oneself.

The mirror is an excellent simile for the subject matter as it clearly demarcates the Real from the unreal, the two being on either side of the mirror. 

The first message the text delivers is that Jagat, referred  here as Viswam, the Universe of names and forms, is an unreal, illusory appearance, like any image we see in a mirror. 

In the case of an ordinary man the world is taken as real, because the presence of the mirror is not known. 

The external world is experienced through the 5 basic senses of knowledge called sense organs.  These senses are Eye, Ear, Skin, Tongue, and Nose. 

Their functioning is seeing, hearing, touch, taste and smell respectively. These senses metaphorically project its experience on the screen of the mind. 

This projection on mind is illumined by the consciousness. Thus, the external experience conveyed through the senses is known to you.

Everything you know about the world comes to you in the form of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell (through five senses). It creates the perception on the screen of your mind.

My mind always thrives in the association of something gross that my five sensory organs deliver to it. The five sensory organs bring in material things, thoughts, emotions and my mind without them cannot stay on its own. 

It craves for them and runs behind them. In this process, it becomes stained with the impressions of them. 

Awareness is for the mind to notice these happenings. Noticing or witnessing is enough to understand about the clinging. Reality in its purest form is never affected by anything. 

Just like that, awareness is also like a mirror reflecting everything and never being affected by them. When I am aware I need not worry. Realizing that I am a mirror is called awareness and thus my mind is stainless.

The immediate fact raised in the very first line is that there are two selves. 

1) There is an unreal self or “me” who is the individual, the Jiva, that is part of the world, part of the reflection. 

2) The other is the Real Self or “Me”, the Atman, who is looking into the mirror and seeing the whole world reflected in it, including the Jiva. 

In this sense, the Atman is the Witness of the Jiva and the world in front. My present experience is only of the unreal “me”, the Jiva. I do not know anything of the Atman who is the real ‘Me’. 

I, the Self, see Myself as the world. I, the seeker-Jiva, am told that this Universe which I see before me is only an illusion. These are two distinctly different ways of looking at the same world. 

My two selves see the world in two opposite ways: the Jiva aspect, ‘me’, sees the world as being different from ‘me’. 

Whereas the Atman aspect, “Me”, views the world including “me”, as its own Self!

An enlightened person is just like that mirror. They just reflect only the present and yet are not attached to it. They are not anxious of the object that must be reflected and if there is nothing to reflect upon, they just reside in the emptiness.

Relating to the mirror=mind, Author gave a session long back on Mind=consciousness. 

The enlightened seer’s mind is like that. He does not see anything except himself, the pure consciousness and hence, the mirror mind, the seen creation, the perceiving senses - he cannot differentiate these things and see them as objects, for him, there is nothing apart from him, the pure awareness consciousness.

Love.

PS- Today's post covers only the first line and in the most brief manner possible. We will be going very slow, getting into the very depth of each line and if need be, each word / expression, henceforth.

 

 

 

 

Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 9

 

Dhyana Shloka - 5

 

 

(Salutations unto that Dakshinamurti who is the meaning of “Om”. Salutations to the one who is described by the word ॐ whose form is only pure knowledge. 

To that Dakshinamurthy, who is ever-pure and ever-calm, I offer my salutations.)

 

“OM represents the underlying order that sustains all creation, and to one who understands the true significance of the word, it is indeed the name of the Lord.”

The chanting of Om is the most common spiritual practice to render the mind meditative. The chanting may be done aloud, or in a whisper, or in complete silence. Whatever way we look at it in practice, the thing that matters is that which it signifies. Om is a symbol which signifies or indicates the Divinity within.

“Om is the symbol of the unchanging eternal universal supreme God .... Om is the sound of the movement of the stars in the firmament; it is the sound that manifested when the dawn of Creative Will stirred the Niraakaara (the Attribute less) into activity".

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

(SSS6, Chap. 42)

Shuddha Jnana: “Pure Knowledge”. There are two important points to keep in mind when Om is chanted. 

The first is that it must relate to Pure knowledge, which is knowledge free from all mental concepts, terminology, elaborate explanations, etc.

The second point about Om-chanting is that the practitioner must feel connected to his heart; he must be filled with a rare stillness and silence, ever steady and calm. This is described as Pure Bliss in many Vedanta texts. It is the Pure Atman, the supreme Indweller within our heart. What is the perfect reminder of this state?

Shri Dakshinamurti is described as taintless, free, and unaffected by anything whatsoever.

Pure consciousness remains unaffected by your thoughts even when you are angry, sad, depressed, or frustrated. Whatever your thoughts / emotions are, your consciousness remains unaffected. 

Yesterday, in a talk on Ashtavakra Gita (uploaded in the youtube channel), the author spoke on “Purity of awareness” at length. 

Awareness, when it is related to any object which one gets aware, the mind and intellect play a part in such knowing or such awareness and once mind and intellect are present, the awareness does not qualify to be said as “pure awareness”

Pure awareness or Pure consciousness is Pure, because it is objectless awareness. It is not awareness of something but it is awareness itself which illumines our intellect with which we are aware of all other objects in the creation.

Sri Dakshinamurti is thus understood as one’s own consciousness, the divine Sadguru within.

These Dhyana Shlokas are technically not part of the Stotram. But they are traditionally chanted before the Stotram. It is helpful to develop an image in one’s mind for the sake of prayer and meditation.

From the next post, we will start with actual Stotram.

 

Love.

 

Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 8

 

Dhyana shloka - 4

 

 

To the abode of all learning, to the healer of all who suffer the disease of Samsara, to the teacher of the whole world, to That Sri Dakshinamurti, do I offer my salutations!

A tribute is paid to the teacher of the knowledge which heals us from the disease of Samsara. The Teacher who imparts that knowledge is offered salutation:

Sarva Vidyaanaam: “all learning”. Indian culture places all learning on a very high pedestal, whether it is secular or scriptural. Any learned person is honored for his learning, quite apart from any other quality he may possess.

The treasure is not with reference to the material wealth such as Gold, Platinum or Diamonds. Rather, treasure among all forms of knowledge.

Is it possible for you to have a vast treasure of Gold or Diamonds and still be miserable in life? Many people are. Having material wealth is no guarantee for happiness in life. 

In fact, it is not hard to make an argument that too much wealth will make you miserable. Obviously not enough wealth will make you suffer. But similarly, too much wealth also leads to suffering.

Since material wealth cannot guarantee peace, happiness, and contentment in life, what can guarantee is spiritual wisdom. 

 

Swami: “Tell me what you understand about ‘Prajnanam Brahma’.”

Devotee: “Swami, ‘Knowledge is God’. Prajnanam means ‘knowledge’ and Brahma is God. So, it means, ‘Knowledge is God’.”

Swami: “There are four forms of knowledge. First is Jnana, second is Vijnana, third is Sujnana and fourth is Prajnana. 

First, Jnana, what is Jnana? All information, all knowledge, all worldly information is Jnana. Everyone has this. Material knowledge, secular knowledge, education, humanities, science, technology -- that is all Jnana.”

Second, Vijnana. Vijnana is the knowledge based on investigation, cause and effect, experimentation, observation, and inference. So, Vijnana is science and technology. Jnana, Vijnana the third one is Sujnana. What is Sujnana? Sujnana is spiritual knowledge.”

“The fourth one is Prajnana. What is Prajnana? Prajnana is your very being. Prajnana is your very Self. Prajnana is awareness. Prajnana is ‘Constant Integrated Awareness’. That Supreme Self, knowledge of the Self, awareness of the Self, the very core of your life, the very being of your life, that is called Prajnana. That Prajnanam Brahma, that Prajnana is Divine. That’s the reason why Vedanta says, ‘You are the Children of Immortality. You are the Children of Eternity. You are the embodiments of Divine Atma.’”

Bhava Roginaam: “the disease of worldliness (literally of existence)”. The view of the world is that we are suffering it as a disease if we do not use our existence to progress towards God, towards Oneness with the Lord in everything. 

Na hanyate hanyamane sarire (BG 2.20). 

After the annihilation of this body the soul does not die. He accepts another body. This is our disease. This is called bhava-roga. Bhava-roga means material disease. 

Bhava-roga, the disease of repeated birth and death in the material world, and being in oneness with God / Self is bhavauṣadhi, the medicine to cure this bhava-roga. 

We exhaust or wear ourselves out or make ourselves sick, by seeking / chasing happiness, peace and contentment in all the wrong places. Typically, this wrong search takes place outside in the external world. The true source of happiness is found within oneself. Shri Dakshinamurti himself is the one who revels in one’s own self. 

The moment the knowledge given by the Guru penetrates our heart, the world is no longer seen as a disease, but as a medicine that cures us of it.

There is no pessimism in this view. It is the view which always looks optimistically at the world to remind us of the highest. The knowledge of God is such that it compels us to view the world as the manifestation of God. The world remains as before, but our outlook is healed of worldliness. There can be nothing more positive than this.

That is why Shri Dakshinamurti is worshipped as the medicine for this illness. He cures the illness by removing the ignorance to reveal the knowledge.

Sarva Lokanaam: “Teacher of the whole world”. This clearly means something very symbolic. It is not referring to a person, but to a principle of learning that has taken a human embodiment and to whom we relate as a disciple. We need the attitude of discipleship towards the universal Teacher. This means keeping ourselves open to learn from all our encounters in the world. In other words, the teacher of the whole world, really means the whole world is our teacher.

Dakshinamurthaye namah: Salutations are offered to such a Guru again and again during meditation. It is the means, by which the meditator connects himself to the Lord within. An attitude of adoration and surrender to the inner Guru is conveyed in this last line of the verse.

“Satchitananda” is the common name for all of us and everything. Satchitananda is our own essential name. And that is the real Guru within. That essence is what you call Satchitananda. It is divided into three parts: Sat, Chit, Ananda. Sat is existence, Chit is knowledge; the Truth revealed. And then by knowing that, the outcome is Ananda or bliss.

For example, wood pulp exists. That is the Sat. Then it expresses as a piece of paper. The existence expresses, so you get the Chit, the knowledge of it. And then when you use it, you have the Ananda. So, existence‑knowledge‑bliss.

The Guru within you is Satchitananda. It directs you continuously. We call that the antar Atma, the inner Self which constantly guides you. It is your conscience. “Be true to your Self,” we say. That is the Self. Listen to that Self!

Love.