Tattva Bodha - Post 24

ANANDA - BLISS

In the final analysis, what we all want is happiness. What is happiness? And more importantly, how can we be truly happy? The search after happiness forms the field of enquiry in a remarkable section of the Taittiriya Upanishad. What exactly is studied about happiness? The answer is: whether happiness is born of sense contacts between subject and object (as is usually understood) or whether happiness is the very nature of the Self. 

The Upanishad starts by looking at sense enjoyments as the source of happiness. 

The Upanishad proceeds to construct a model of maximum human happiness. Imagine a young man, physically strong, bursting with vitality and energy. He is highly educated and morally upright. Old age, physical weakness, ignorance and moral corruption—all causes of misery—are ruled out. Poverty, of course, is one of the greatest barriers to the fulfillment of desires and so the Upanishad endows this fortunate young man with plenty of cash—all the wealth of the world, in fact. 

Now imagine the happiness of this person—young, vital, energetic, noble, very highly educated and extremely wealthy. This is the unit of human happiness: ‘ekah manusha ananda’. 

Is it possible to get even greater happiness? Yes, but not in this human existence. For, this earthly existence, these material objects of enjoyment and the very human frame itself, all have their limitations. Beyond this familiar plane of existence there are superior worlds, finer objects of enjoyment and powerful bodies designed for greater enjoyment. Such is the manushya-gandharva-loka where happiness is one hundred times the maximum happiness possible in a human body! 

Even this is by no means the end. The Upanishad speaks of an ascending ladder of lokas, or worlds, of truly cosmic proportions. As one ascends to these higher heavens, happiness is multiplied by a hundred times at each level. In the highest heavens, happiness is millions and billions of times greater than the maximum of human happiness! 

How does one reach these lokas? By the merit earned through the religious rituals prescribed in the Vedas. Of course, one has to wait till death to travel to these higher lokas. 

Then comes the real point of this analysis. The Upanishad says that all happiness is only a reflection of the happiness of the Self, Atmananda. 

The bliss of the Self is reflected in the serene mind and experienced as happiness. Man, in his ignorance, feels that happiness is due to the enjoyment of a variety of sense objects and spends all his life trying to get happiness out of sense enjoyment. If one can actually make the mind calm enough, it will be filled with happiness—without need of external objects. What a great discovery — finding the joy within! 

An example

Water is placed in a pot and then placed over a stove to be heated. It rises to boiling point. It is then removed from the source of heat and left on the table. What happens to the water? It returns to room temperature. Why? – because it is its nature to be at room temperature.

In the same way it is our nature to be happy. Due to the excitement from the outside, we are taken on a swinging ride between pleasure and pain, joys and sorrows. When all disturbing forces are removed, it is our nature to settle down to the “room temperature” of happiness.

When we remove ourselves from the heating source of all thought disturbances, of whatever cause and whatever intensity, by the proper practice of Sadhana, we are sure to settle down to the state of calmness, equipoise and balance which enables us to enjoy the naturally exuding fragrance of happiness from our own Self. This is what Vedanta is pointing our attention towards.

You are Sat Chit Ananda 

So ultimately we are guided to experience ourselves in this manner: “I am and therefore I exist; I know that I am; and I am blissfully aware that I am.”

This is the triple definition of the Self – Sat-Chit-Ananda.

Love.

Tattva Bodha - Post 23

SAT-CHIT-ANANDA

(Continued…..)

SAT - PURE EXISTENCE 

In Chhandogya Upanishad, we find a dialogue between a sage and his son, Shvetaketu. The enquiry here is, ‘What is that knowledge by which everything becomes known?’  

And to grasp the answer to this bold question, we must appreciate the concept that by knowing the cause one can know the effects. Thus, if you know clay, you know all pots made of clay (you know that all such pots are nothing but clay), by knowing iron one understands all implements made of iron, by knowing gold, all gold ornaments are understood as nothing but gold and so on.  

In the same way, if we enquire deeply enough, the Upanishad claims, we shall see that all existent things are nothing but existence itself or pure existence. SAT is the term used for pure existence. 

Any matter that exists in this world, is made of 5 elements. The five elements, in between them, have this cause and effect relationship.

CAUSE	EFFECT
Water	Earth
Fire	Water
Air	Fire
Space	Air

Since each one of the 5 elements are an effect in themselves, they are perishable at one point of time or the other and hence they are not eternal existence.

However, from where came the Space? Who or what is the cause of Space?

Tasmadva etasmadatmana akash sambhutah |

Akasadvayuh | Vayoragnih | Agnerapah |

Adbhyah prithvi | Prithivya osadhayah |

Osadhibhyosnam |Annat purusah ||

(From that Atman (Supreme Soul) space came into being, from space wind, from wind fire, from fire water, from water earth, from earth plants, from plants food, from food man came into being.)

The cause of Space, as pronounced / revealed in our Vedas is Atman or Brahman, which is ETERNAL EXISTENCE. This has no cause, hence, it is never born and it never dies. This ETERNAL EXISTENCE IS “SAT”.

SAT is Truth, Existence or Pure Being. SAT is what always remains regardless of time or situation. When we awaken, we constantly recognize Pure Being. We are consciously aware of Pure Being as our true nature, the core and foundation of all life. 

CHIT - CONSCIOUSNESS 

In the Kena Upanishad, we find a very interesting question. We see, hear, speak and think—but what power impels our mind to think, our tongue to speak, our eyes to see and ears to hear? In other words, what are we in the deepest, most profound depths of our being? Like most deep questions, it appears deceptively simple. 

The Kena Upanishad begins with this question about consciousness—the inner experience of thinking, hearing, seeing, speaking. What is that shining within us which enables all these conscious experiences and functions? Who is that Being or what is that mechanism which makes these possible? 

The Guru’s answer is extraordinary and profound (and, at first, rather enigmatic). ‘It is the Ear of the ear, Mind of the mind, Eye of the eye ...’! Let us try to understand this. The answer, simply put, is pure consciousness—CHIT. 

CHIT is what you really are—pure consciousness. It is unchanging and undying and if you realize yourself as CHIT, you become immortal (rather, you realize that you are immortal and always were). 

In the context of an Upadesa Saram verse it was explained that the one who is apart from our three states of consciousness and our 5 koshas, which illumines all these, which is not Jada but which is sentient and which is within us through which we are even aware of our deep sleep when we wake up the next day, is AWARENESS or CHIT.

Continued.....

Love.

Tattva Bodha - Post 22

Atmaa tarhi Kah?
Sat-Chid-Ananda Swarupah

Then, what is the SELF?

It is the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss

Dear All,

Till now we dealt with the following from Tattva Bodha: 

•    Sadhana Chatushtayam – Fourfold qualification
•    Shareera Trayam – Threefold body
•    Avastha Trayam – Threefold states of experience
•    Pancha Kosha – Fivefold personality layers of an individual

We also saw that Shareera Trayam and Kosha Panchakam both refer to the same personality alone. 

The Shareera Trayam itself looked from another angle is called Kosha Panchakam and are practically one and the same. 

From the previous topics, we come to know that all the three bodies, Shareera Trayam, are made up of matter. 

What we arrive at is that Shareera Trayam is material in nature. In Sanskrit matter is called Jadam.  

To recapitulate, the stages of development are as follows:

Firstly we said Shareera Trayam Bhautikam [made of elements].

Therefore Shareera Trayam Jadam [insentient].

And they appear as though sentient and therefore Shareera Trayam has borrowed consciousness.

If Shareera Trayam has borrowed consciousness, borrowing is possible only when there is a lender. We require a consciousness which has to lend consciousness. 

And this lender of consciousness is the fourth factor in human personality. The other three being: 

     - Sthoola Shareeram

     - Sookshma Shareeram 

     - Kaarana Shareeram

The lender of that consciousness is Atman, which is defined as SAT-CHIT-ANANDA.

SAT – Existence

Sat is the single thought that “I exist, therefore I am”. 

One may describe such a state as existing in the eternal present. To the timeless Self, there is no past and no future. 

Everything that happens is happening NOW. The whole attention is focused on NOW. 

When this state is experienced after a great deal of preparation for it, we come to experience the deep silence of the present, the unshaken stillness of the present. 

And in that stillness, Vedanta leaves us to discover ourselves, the “I am” of our quest. No more words now, words have done their job. It is just for us to experience pure Existence: “I am”. 

CHIT - Consciousness

Maintaining the same sense of receptivity that we captured for the first word, we are led to the second word with great expectation. 

After all, we have come so far and who would not be eager to hear the final definition of our own real Self being spelt out. 

Chit is the thoughtless awareness that, “I KNOW that I am”. 

Combining it with the previous experience of Sat, we can say: “I am, and I know that I am.” 

ANANDA - Bliss

Continuing its description of the state of consciousness wherein I know that “I am the Self”, Vedanta now adds to it another dimension.

It is the awareness that, “I am blissfully aware that I am”. 

How do we understand such a state, when experience tells us the contrary? We feel the opposite of bliss on too many occasions to take this definition seriously. We are used to seeing happiness followed by deep sorrow. 

Continued……

Love.