Saturday, December 30, 2017

Sandeha Nivarini - Post 37

Dear All,

Though Swami has covered many aspects in the previous chapter which were covered from posts 32 to 35, we will try and take in a few selected teachings from this chapter in the next couple of posts.

1) MUKHTI

Devotee: But they say, “attained liberation (mukthi)”, etc. What is that?


Swami: Understanding the root of death and birth, one must destroy completely the awareness of the separate “I”; that condition is “liberation (mukthi)”.


Devotee: So, when I die, I and You are One, right?

Swami: Who said “No”? That feeling of One when you are firmly established in it, there is nothing separate at all.


2) CHIDABHASA AND CHIDAKASHA

Devotee: But what exactly is this chidabhasa?

Swami: Chidabhasa means the “I” awareness conditioned by the consciousness (chit) that One became three, the three became five, the five became many. 

-The “I” awareness (purity, sathwa) became three on account of contact with passion (rajas) and ignorance (thamas); 

-In these three, the five elements (bhuthas) arose; and through those five, the manifold happened. This is what causes the illusion that the “I” is the body. 

Devotee: What is chidakasa

Swami: That is the Atma.

-----

Author's note

In the language of vedantha, Chidakasha is known as pure consciousness and Chidabhasa is known as reflected consciousness.

Let us take the example of illumination by sun.

The Sun stands as the source of light / illumination.

However, when the sun rays falls on a pot containing muddy water, the sunlight, upon reaching the muddy water, stands scattered / diverted into many / few rays of sun light, with lesser intensity, when we look upon the pot containing water.

Another example - The sun rays are intense when they fall on earth. However, when the sun rays fall on a mirror, then from the mirror, the rays gets scattered / diverted to few / many rays with lesser intensity.

Similarly, Chidakasha is to be understood as pure awareness / pure consciousness / Brahman which have been explained in detail in various posts under the theme "Creation of Universe" / "Vedas and Vedantha" .

Chidabhasa is the abhasa or conditioned consciousness when the pure awareness / consciousness reaches our mirror intellect and from there, the same gets conditioned and goes to illumine our mind and in this process, the chances are that the consciousness, just as the sun rays got disturbed due to the muddy water in the pot, may get mixed up with our own limited mind with its limited vasanas / limited likes and dislikes!!!!

We will see the next couple of main learning from the previous chapter, in the next post.

Love.











Paramhansa Yogananda



Friday, December 29, 2017

Sandeha Nivarini - Post 36

Devotee: This means that all spiritual exercises are included in the path of inquiry (vichara-marga)?

Swami: Yes. The teaching of Vedanta is about “Who am I?” Only those equipped with the four instruments are competent to make this inquiry. The purpose of the four is to realise that the Atma is real and that all else is unreal and to discriminate between Atma and all else. 

Devotee: How is that to be realised, Swami?

Swami: By inquiring into the nature of the Atma! First they do all varieties of spiritual exercises and nally enter upon this. While a child, they teach you A, B, C, right? Even M.A. and B.A. curricula consist of the A, B, C, D and their permutations and combinations! But to realise this fact, one has to complete one’s studies! The spiritual texts (sastras) are based on akshara; meaning both letter and the Imperishable. All paths are based on the path of inquiry (vichara-marga).

Devotee: But there are some who attain samadhi. Will they have all this enquiry, etc. in samadhi?

Swami: Wonderful fellow! How can there be inquiry in samadhi? When you sleep soundly, do you have any

thoughts about the world around you? Samadhi is like that. 

Devotee: There will be no mind in samadhi, will there?

Swami: The mind that persists in sleep will be there also.

Devotee: They talk of a “beyond stage (thuriya)” in samadhi. What is that, Swami?


Swami: Beyond the waking, dreaming, and deep-sleep stages.

Devotee: Why are those stages absent there? What are the characteristics of that stage?


Swami: Those three stages are the characteristics of I-ness. Ego (ahamkara), the person with mind (manas), who does all acts. That will not be present in the “beyond” stage. It would have disappeared long ago. For them, it is all the same, with eyes open or with eyes closed. It is all One.

Devotee: Swami, without that “I (aham)”, how can they talk?

Swami: What was “I” in the beginning is transformed into the true entity (swarupa) when the reality is grasped; this is referred to as the destruction of the mind (mano-nasanam).


Devotee: So, this undifferentiated deep communion (nir-vikalpa-samadhi) is all destruction (naasam)?

Swami: Well, my boy, all samadhis are merging (laya), not destruction. The spiritual-aspirant stage is when you have both construction and destruction.

Devotee: This subject is very interesting, Swami.

Swami: Don’t sit quietly, merely appreciating it. Practise it in daily life. All right, you can take leave.


Devotee: Very good Swami. Please bless me in that practice. I shall be back soon.