Atma Bodha - Post 26

Verse 18

देहेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिप्रकृतिभ्यो विलक्षणम् ।

तद्वृत्तिसाक्षिणं विद्यादात्मानं राजवत्सदा ॥ १८॥

Deha indriya manah buddhih

prakritibhyah vilakshanam

tadvritti saakshinam vidyaat

aatmaanam rajavat sadaa

[The body, senses, mind and intellect  constitute Prakriti or matter; distinct from them, and known to be their witness, is the Atman or Self, always like the King(distinct from the crowd)]

  

Here we are introduced to the practice of being a witness to the five sheaths (i.e. the three bodies). The essential quality of being a witness is to remain “uninvolved”. A witness in a court of law has to be someone who saw what happened, but from a neutral perspective, not taking any sides.

Similarly, being a witness to our three bodies requires us to consciously remain neutral and not take sides, either towards likes or towards dislikes. That “un-involvement” is only possible if we see ourselves as NOT being these sheaths, that is, we see them as instruments we are using, but not identified with them in any way. “They are ours, we are not them”. That is the requirement for being a witness.

“Rajavat Sada” Simile

What simile can reflect this witness-ship better than a King who:

Simply by his presence among his ministers, gets them to do their job with perfect loyalty. If it is announced that the King is coming to a certain place, without any effort from the King, all the necessary arrangements for his visit are made automatically and people gather there in their thousands.

This air of authority, respect and confidence which the King instills in his subjects merely by his presence, is what Sri Sankara wishes to convey by choosing a King as the simile for the Self in this verse.

·       A King with such faithful ministers can sleep peacefully. His kingdom runs smoothly and efficiently.

·       He is not called upon to interfere in the state affairs.

·       He remains a perfect witness of all state matters.

Exactly in the same way, we should exist as witness consciousness, the Supreme SELF always where:

·       In our state of existence as witness, all the work is carried out by our body, mind, intellect on their own

·       We the witness, remain peaceful, blissful, while our body and senses perform the required functions smoothly

·       Witness, in a court, is the one who is supposed to have seen the incident but has not participated in the same. Similarly, while our Gross body and our subtler mind / antahkarana perform all the functions, we remain as witness, always aware that we are not the one who is acting there in his (our) physical identity.

Dear All,

All the above expressions may sound theoretical as we are seldom able to experience ourselves as witness to all that is going on within us, around us, to whatever we are doing or whatever is happening to us.

But to stand as a testimony to this verse, there are Self Realized masters and monks in advance state in spiritual evolvement who have existed in this world. Few of them exist even now.

There are masters like Swami Sivananda, his Disciple Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Paramahamsa Yogananda, Mata Amritananda Mayi and so on.

All of them were running a massive spiritual organization and in most of their organization, there were major service activities like running hospitals etc, and also there were educational institutions, besides their spiritual centre imparting spiritual knowledge to their disciples and to general public.

We can imagine how much work is involved in managing such vast institutions. Still, those who have observed these masters from close quarters sincerely and with reverence would have observed that while their body may be involved for 18 hours a day non-stop, 24/7, 365 days in a year, the peace and bliss radiated by them would clearly reveal how they exist as witness to all that is going on around them.  

Author has been fortunate to experience one such master, seated in the presence of the master, witnessing her involved apparently in some matter relating to the hospital under Her organization, talking to Her administration staff on hospital matter for 45 minutes and the author sat there, observing Her and with the peace within the author, he could clearly know and even experience the bliss and peace within that Master who existed as witness consciousness even when Her body was intensely involved in matter relating to the world. 

And, speaking of our divine Lord Sathya Sai, as far as His Human Avatar is concerned, Hospitals, Ashram, University and how many things He had to handle during the period He existed in physical form?

Still, How He existed!!

In this verse, it talks about being witness to one's Gross, Subtle and Causal body, to one's action in this world. 

And, as far as Sai is concerned, leave along being witness to His Body's functioning, He stood as witness to the functioning / right or wrong doings of the entire human race and still, what Bliss was radiated in the Hall when he glided / floated amongst a sea of devotees gathered!!!

Rightly therefore, while the verse gives the example of a King standing as witness to his Kingdom, his durbar and yet remaining peaceful, when it comes to Bhagawan, we learnt and sang samarpan bhajans in Sadan when we addressed Him as,

"Prashanti Mandir Ke Maha Raja,

Parthi Puri Tera Dham"

and

"Shiva Shakti Avatar, Sai Pooorna Avatar, 

Rajaadi Raj, Sathya Sai Maharaj"

Such a state of existence can be known by seeing such masters and can be experienced ONLY when one exists verily as witness consciousness, unperturbed by whatever that happens to him / his family / society etc.

Love.

Atma Bodha - Post 25

Dear All,

In the previous post, we went through the nature of Brahman as changeless, motionless, mindless and hence we left with the question,

“How in that state, consciousness can illumine intellect?”

Now, for the revelation on this illumination.

Purpose of God creating Human

This blog started with this theme, “Purpose of Human Birth”.

From that blog posts onwards and till now, and till the time this blog posts would be there, it is being repeated again and again that “The God created Human being as His own image, with His own perfection, with His own purity, to witness His own Images of perfection and then, He waits for the Human being to retrace his origin and to reach back to the Lord, to merge in the Lord, to realize the Lord.

Now, let us visualise

Now, imagine, for better clarity, the birth of the first ever human being in this creation.

And, imagine the body of that first ever human being lying on ground as a Jada, as a non living object.

If ever that body is existing as JADA, non-living, insentient, then, how will the God’s purpose of creating human shall be fulfilled?

So, for purpose of God to be fulfilled, that JADA body has to be conscious, it has to be aware, otherwise, how will that human being in insentient state undertake sadhana to evolve and reach God?

Intellect is the subtlest, purest faculty to absorb and get conscious

Out of all faculties in a human being, Intellect is the subtlest of all, though in the visualization as mentioned above, the intellect is also JADA.

Since the first step in Spiritual sadhana is VIVEKA or DISCRIMINATION and Discrimination arises only in intellect, it is INTELLECT, as though, is the most deserved faculty to be graced with CONSCIOUSNESS in the first instance.

Intellect absorbs Pure Consciousness

Imagine sunlight (present always, everywhere), appearing as moonlight at night though moon does not illumine at all and it has no quality of illumination in itself. Still, for the benefit of creation and all beings, living and non living that exist in the creation, it has just happened that the moon (with no quality of luminosity) still reflects sunlight.

Similarly, pure consciousness being existent everywhere, the intellect just absorbs Pure Consciousness and it becomes a medium for reflecting the same to antahkarana subsequently.

Though sunshine illumines all, still, only in most transparent object, sun itself, as though, appears - e.g. - in a pot containing clear water, on the dew- drop settled on a flower etc.

Similarly, consciousness itself, is absorbed by intellect on itself, as intellect is most purest, most subtlest equipment in the first human being.

This absorption of pure consciousness by intellect is the first reflected consciousness, taught in Vedanta.

There are subsequent process by which this reflected consciousness goes on to make the body, mind also conscious, which is not being taken in detail here.

Love.

Atma Bodha - Post 24

VERSE 17

सदा सर्वगतोऽप्यात्मा न सर्वत्रावभासते ।

बुद्धावेवावभासेत स्वच्छेषु प्रतिबिम्बवत् ॥ १७॥

SADAA SARVA GATHO API AATMAA

NA SARVATRA AVA BHAASATE;

BUDDHAU EVA AVA BHAASETA

SVACCHHESHU PRATIBIMBAVAT.

(Although the Self is always all-pervading yet It does not shine everywhere (in everything). It manifests in the intellect only, just as the reflection (manifests best) in a mirror.)

In the previous slokas, we learnt that the Atman is all pervading and all the duality on the world are just an illusions superimposed on Self. Here Acharya is explaining that the Atman though infinite and all pervading is manifested only by the inner equipment. In this verse the intellect is given its proper place as the prime instrument available to human beings to explore their spirituality.

It is in the intellect that the Lord shines more clearly than in any other sheath of the human being. Vedanta, in the same breath proclaims that only purity can capture clarity of intellect. Hence, the intellect that is given prime place is not a biased intellect leaning towards the mind and its desires, but a clean and clear instrument that is unswayed by desire. Such an instrument alone is capable of arriving logically at the Truth.

“Swaccheshu Pratibimbavat” Simile:

All objects reflect light in varying degrees. What appears dull is only dull because the light is not being reflected fully off that object due to roughness of its surface.

The smoother the surface the greater is its power to reflect light. Perfect smoothness is found in a mirror, which reflects most faithfully all the light that falls upon it. Hence it is a fitting object to be used as an example for the light that reflects off a purified intellect.

Of all the objects produced in nature that which reflects the light of the Self most faithfully is our INTELLECT. Other objects are too gross to be able to reveal the Self, although in a Sattwic person, there is a distinct purity that radiates even from his physical body, and his mind, being calm, radiates an aura of calmness and peace wherever it goes. However, even in a Sattwic person, it is his intellect which truly shines as we see in him the highest example of complete control over his mind and senses.

Dear All,

It was 3 weeks before that the Author gave a question to few selected sadhakas.

There are these following Truth about Pure consciousness / SELF /Atman.

1) Consciousness does not rise

‘Rising' means birth, i.e., coming into existence of an entity previously non-existent.

This cannot be predicated of Consciousness as it is    the Witness of even previous non-existence. Otherwise no one will be aware of such non-existence.

It means that when there was nothing, not even the 5 elements were there, Pure Consciousness or Brahman existed formless, attribute less.

This has to be TRUE because, every effect has a cause. So, if the 5 elements and out of that also, SPACE is the first effect that has emerged, then before the emergence of SPACE, there has to be some CAUSE for this SPACE to emerge as EFFECT.

So, there is no Birth for Brahman or God, as the first effect – SPACE is created by God whereas, there is no prior CAUSE for the creation of GOD.

2) Consciousness does not set

Setting   means disappearance of an existing entity, i.e., it’s becoming non-existent again. This state, though possible for relative entities, cannot be predicated of Consciousness.

No disappearance or destruction can be cognized without a conscious Witness.

The death of even this creation, during PRALAYA, is witnessed by God / Brahman and therefore, there can be no death for God / Brahman

3) Consciousness does not increase / suffer / decay.

Every perceived entity of the empirical world possesses six characteristics, viz., birth, existence, growth, change, decay and destruction.

Consciousness has none of the characteristics of a perceived entity. By negating birth and decay, the four other characteristics are also negated in Consciousness. Growth and decay are only possible for those entities which have parts.

With the above TRUTH being clear, the question given by the Author to the Sadhakas was,

“How, such a birth less, death less, motion less, Mindless pure consciousness can go and illumine our intellect”.

  

As an answer to this question, a full session was taken by the author couple of weeks before.

In the next post, the answer to the above question would be dealt with.

Love.