Jnana Vahini - Post 16

Swami writes, 

Brahman or Jnana is the drug for the un-realization of the falsely realized, the removal of the fog of misunderstanding or Ajnana. It will burn off the dust that hides the Truth.

Who among men are in urgent need of medical treatment? Those who are badly ill, is it not? 

So too, those who are groping in Ajnana are first entitled to the teaching and the training leading to the acquisition of Jnana. 

Everyone, whatever the status, class or sex, can win that Jnana. If it is stated that women are not entitled to it, why is it mentioned that Siva taught Vedanta to Parvathi? Or how did Kapilacharya, a great Yogi, teach the Sankhya system to his mother, Devahoothi? Or how did Yajnavalkya the great Rishi impart the essential principles of Vedantic philosophy to his wife, Maithreyi, as mentioned in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad? The Upanishad cannot be false. The Scriptures wherein these facts are mentioned speak only Truth.

So, the chief qualification for the path leading to Jnana is only Sadhana, the Tapas one is enhgaged in, not the irrelevant consideration of caste, creed or sex. Leaving all other matters aside, one should concentrate on that Sadhana and that Tapas.

"Jnana is the panacea for all ills, troubles and travails". This is how the Vedas describe it. 

To acquire this Jnana, there are many paths, and the chiefest of them is the path of Bhakthi, the Path adopted by Vasishta, Narada, Vyasa, Gouranga and other great persons. 

Krishna, who is the Personification of Prema, and who is saturated with the quality of Mercy, declared in the Gita: "I am known by means of Bhakthi", "Bhakthyaa Maam Abhijaanaathi".

Why was this declaration made? Because in the path of Bhakti there are no hurdles. Young and old, high and low, man and woman, all are entitled to tread it. 

What the oil is to the flame in the lamp, Bhakthi is to the Flame of Jnana. The Heavenly Tree of the Joy of Jnana thrives on the refreshing waters of Bhakthi. Understand this well.

(Author’s note - Volumes and volumes have been spoken and written by the author on the subject - How Bhakti fructifies into Jnana, how Jnana is the final attainment of Bhakti.

Only after one’s focus, one’s undivided attention on his chosen God is achieved through Bhakti, it becomes easy for that bhakta to then focus on SELF / BRAHMAN, which is beyond any name and form.

Why it is said that Bhakti culminates in Jnana??

After all what is liberation or Self-realization?? It is not a new heavenly attainment. In Vedanta, Self-realization is Self-discovery, the realization that one is always and has always been Gold, the shining atman, once the dirt covering the Gold, the ego, is removed.

And, what is the ultimate attainment in Devotion? The Bhakta loses his self-identity and merges with Lord, in LOVE. 

Does this merger not take the Sadhaka / the Bhakta, directly towards SELF-REALIZATION in shortest time?

Any Jnani who has, in this contemporary world, attained Self-Realization, must be a Bhakta first, either in the same birth in which he attained jnana or in some other birth- This is not given in any treatise, but the author can vouch for this from his own subjective experience, 100%.

Swami kept him in the path of devotion for 35 years, before taking him to the path of Jnana and thereafter, the journey was shortened to 6 years and the pinnacle, the peak journey was in fact only 6 months!!!)

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 15

Swami says, 

Brahman is JNANAM

"The unique Jnana of the Brahman is known by a variety of names like Jnana, Vijnana, Prajnana, Chit, Chaitanya, etc. Chaitanya means Pure Consciousness; its opposite is the Unconscious or the Jada, the Inert. 

Atmajnana makes everything Conscious, Active. Brahman is Eternally Conscious, Nithya Chaitanya.

Many people argue that Jnana is one of the attributes of Brahman, that it is of the nature of Brahman, a characteristic of Brahman etc. But such opinions arise only in the absence of actual experience, of actual attainment of Jnana. Arguments and discussions multiply when there is no firsthand experience; for the realization of Reality is individual, based on revelation to oneself.

I declare that Jnanam is Brahman, not a mere characteristic or attitude or quality. 

The Vedas and Sastras announce that Brahman is Sathyam, Jnanam, and Anantham, not that Brahman has these and other attributes. 

When Brahman is known, the knower, the known and the knowledge all become One."

Brahman is SATHYAM

"A Jnani will feel that the Atma immanent in everyone is his own Atma; he will be happy that he is himself all this; he will see no distinction between man and man, for he can experience only unity, not diversity. 

The physical differences of color, caste and creed adhere only to the body. These are but the marks of the external body. The Atma is Nishkala, that is to say, it has no parts; it is Nirmala, blemish-less, unaffected by desire, anger, greed, affection, pride and envy; it is Nishkriya, activity-less. 

It is only Prakriti that undergoes all these modifications or at least gives the impression that it is so modified. The Purusha is but the Eternal Witness, the Ever-inactive, the Modification-less.

Of what can you say, 'This is Truth'? Only of this, which persists in the Past, the Present and the Future, which has neither beginning nor end, which does not move or change, which has uniform Form, unified experience-giving property. 

Well, let us consider the body, the senses, the mind, the life-force and all such. They move and change; they begin and end, they are inert, Jada. 

They have three gunas: Tamas, Rajas and Sathwa. They are without basic Reality. 

They cause the delusion of reality. They have only relative value; they have no absolute value. 

They shine due to borrowed light only.

Absolute Truth is beyond the reach of Time and Space, it is A-parichchinna, that is, indivisible. 

It does not begin; it is always and ever existent; it is the basis, the fundamental, the self-revealing. Knowing it, experiencing it, is Jnanam. 

It is A-nirdesyam, that is, cannot be marked out as such and such and explained by some characteristics. How can something that is above and beyond the intellect and the mind be described through mere words?

It is also termed Adrisya, invisible to the eye, the optical apparatus that undergoes change and which is very limited in its capacity. Brahma can never be grasped by anything elemental and physical; through Brahman, the eye is able to see, so how can the eye perceive Brahman itself? The mind is bound by the limitations of time, space and causation. How can the Param-Atma who is superior to these and unaffected by them, be limited by them?

Know that the Jagath is the Swaroop of the Viraatpurusha, the form imposed by Maya on the Super-soul. 

Brahman is that which has become or appears to have become all this, the Antharyami, the Inner Motive Force.

In the Nirguna aspect it is the Primal Cause, the Hiranya Garbha, of which Creation is the manifestation. 

Grasping this secret of the universe and its origin and existence - that is Jnana.

Love.

Author's note - Only a week before, there was a long session on the subject - "Sathyam Jnanam Anantam Brahman”, at author's home. 

SATHYAM

1.    Brahman is Sathyam, the eternal truth.

2.  Brahman is not the effect of any cause. While the 5 elements are caused by Brahman which in turn go one to create this Jagath, Brahman is Birth less and death less, as it is not caused by anything.

3.  The above causeless nature of Brahman proves that Brahman is ETERNAL PURE EXISTENCE- SATHYAM

JNANAM

1.    While all other objects are known by our mind, Brahman is the pure Knowledge, which illumines our very intellect / mind and senses.

2.  In all the worldly knowledge, there are 3 aspects - the knower of the object, the object that has to be known and the process of Knowing.

3.  Brahman is above these three aspects - It illumines the universe, it illumines each Jiva's intellect but with that intellect, Brahman cannot be known!!

ANANTHAM

·       All that we can perceive in this creation are limited by any or all of these three aspects.

1.    Desa / Space (One thing cannot appear in 2 places).

2.  Kala / Time (Anything is present only in one time).

3.  Vastu / Object (An object is limited by its shape / its properties / its characteristic).

·       Brahman is all pervading, infinite, not limited by space / time / object.

Though the above points are summarized above, it takes few hours to actually explain the above, which happens in the Kutir sessions.

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 14

Swami explains Brahman,

BRAHMAN

"The word Brahman is derived from the root, Brh, meaning to expand, to increase, to enlarge etc. Brhath means big, enlarged, gross, high etc. 

Purusha has its root, Pri meaning to fill, to complete. Pur means a town 'full' of inhabitants, that is to say the body, in a figurative manner of speaking. He who completes or is immanent in or who fills it, the Purusha.

When the Jnani declares, 'I am Brahman', he is uttering the truth from the reality of his experience. When the gross and the subtle are transcended, when the Manas, the Buddhi and the Prana are sublimated, that is to say, when the Self is no longer bound by feelings, thoughts, impulses and instincts, what remains is SAT only. 

(Author's note - Never should one confuse oneself with the physical identity of such a jnani who declares - Aham Brahmasmi. It is not the Ahamkara that speaks, it is the Aham, the pure SELF that roars and gives its pure identity when a jnani says - I AM BRAHMAN)

PARA BRAHMAN

Existence - pure and unalloyed, Parabrahman. 

'Paras' or 'Param' means super, beyond, above, more glorious than all. 

Parabrahman indicates the One beyond and behind everything, grander than anything in the three worlds. 

ATMAN IS ANANDA

The Taittiriya Upanishad has declared, "Through Ananda, all this is born; through Ananda all this is living; in Ananda alone, all this is merged; in Ananda all this rests". 

Like the category Brahman, the category Antaratma also is possessed of the same attributes. It is also Ananda-born, Ananda-full and Ananda-merged. 

Bhoomaa means 'limitless'. The Chandhogya Upanishad declares that Ananda inheres only in the Bhoomaa, the Eternal, the Brahman. Again, another word used by Jnanis to describe their experience of Brahman is Jyotiswarupa, meaning, 'whose nature is splendour, glory or effulgence, who is Illumination itself'. 

Ten million suns cannot equal the Splendour of the Param-Atma. The word Santhiswarupa indicates that It is Santhi Itself. In Sruthi texts like Ayam Ayma Saantho... etc., it is proclaimed that Paramatman is Prasanthi itself.

(Author's note - Swami Krishnananda speaks in a lecture, thus: -

"The bliss of God manifested itself as this world, by the bliss of God the world is sustained, and into the bliss of God the world will return one day. As we are not outside creation, we have also come from the bliss of God, and are sustained by the bliss of God. That is why we love everything. Everything is pleasurable for us because the essence of the bliss of God is present in the very ability in us to sustain ourselves. And in the end, we return to the bliss of God.

God has not created the world from sorrow; He has created it out of His bliss. The world does not proceed from sorrow to sorrow, but from bliss to bliss, if only we are agreeable to cooperate with this inclusiveness of God’s creation and set aside the egoistic exclusiveness of keeping ourselves apart from the things of the world. If you are a friend of the world, the world will be your friend, and God also is your friend.")

Oh, what an expression from this sage from Hrishikesh.

Love.