Jnana Vahini - Post 24

The Jnana derived from the mere hearing of Vedanta cannot be termed Direct Knowledge. 

Sravanam

Of course, by hearing about the Swarupa of the Brahman (which is Sathyam, Jnanam and Anantham), one may be able to picture it or imagine it; but one has to actually 'see' the Brahman, the Witness of the Five Sheaths of the individual (the Annamaya, the Pranamaya, the Manomaya, the Vijnanamaya and the Anandamaya.)

You may know from the Sastras that he who has four arms and carries the Sankha, Chakra, Gada and Padma in them is Vishnu; you may even be picturing Him as such in Dhyana; yet, unless you have actually 'seen' Him by your own vision, the knowledge gained by the study of iconography can never be equated with Prathyaksha or Direct Perception.

Since the Form of Vishnu is considered different and external when understood through the study of the Sastras, what you really get is indirect inference, not Direct Experience. Though a person is ignorant of the fact that the Brahman is His own self (not different or outside), can he not realize Himself as Brahman as soon as he hears the exposition of a Mahavakya like "Tat Twam Asi" which reveals that basic Truth? But he does not.

Mananam

He ruminates over what he has heard with faith and earnestness until he understands the characteristics of the Atma in an indirect way; then, to bring that knowledge into the field of actual experience, he takes up the process of Manana, i.e., revolving it in the Manas or mind.

Anantham

The Atma is present everywhere and is in everything; it is unaffected; it is omnipresent like Akasa or Ether; it is even beyond the Akasa; it is the Akasa in the Chit or the Universal Consciousness; so it is referred to as 'Param' or Beyond; it is described in the Sruthis as 'Asango-ayam Purushah', "this Purusha is unattached".

The Atma is unaffected and untouched by anything; it is beyond everything and devoid of agitation or activity. You should not doubt whether it is unlimited or not. It is beyond the three Limitations of Space, Time and Causation. 

You cannot state that the Atma is in one place and not in another. It is not limited by space. You cannot state that it exists at one time and not at another time. It is not limited by time. Atma is everything; there is nothing which is not Atma. Atma is All. So it has no limitation of Vasthu, (thingness), of Name or Form. Atma is Full and Free; knowing this is the Fullest Jnana, the Highest Truth.

Sathyam

A doubt may be raised here: If the Atma is immanent in everything, like the Akasa, is it not subject to transformation, Vikara, or change? No; existing, emanating, growing, changing, declining, dying - these are the six transformations or Vikaras; but the Atma is the universal, eternal witness cognizing Akasa and the other elements and hence it has no modifications at all; it is Nir-Vikara.

When it is said that the Atma is Nir-Vikara, it means some other things have Vikara or modifications. So the question may be asked, how then can the word, Advaitha, be used? 

Now, some things have Vikara and some have not. But when there is nothing besides Atma, it is wrong to speak of a two-fold entity; it is not two; it is one! There can be no doubt about this; it cannot arise.

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 23

Truth and untruth must be kept apart by means of the sharp sword of Jnana. It keeps the world afar and bring the Residence of the Lord within reach. That Residence is Nithyananda, Eternal Bliss, Paramananda, the highest Bliss; the Bliss of Brahman:

Jiva and Eswara are caught up in this proliferation and they are inseparably intertwined in the Jagath and so they too are creations of mental process like things appearing in the dream-world.

In the waking stage and during dreams, these three appear as real, but during deep sleep or while unconscious (as during a fainting fit), the mind is not working and so the three do not exist! This fact is within the experience of all. 

Therefore, it is easy now for you to realize that all these three will disappear for good when, through Jnana, the mental processes are destroyed. Then one gets release from bondage to all these three and knows the One and Only Entity. In fact, he gets established in Advaitha Jnana.

The idea of the snake which is Maya, flourishes on the ignorance of the real nature of the rope; it grows and becomes deeper the more one forgets the rope which is the base. Inquiry makes the snake disappear; the rope alone remains thereafter. 

To the question, how can one thing appear as two, the reply may be given that, prior to inquiry, Brahman appears as Jagath (like clay appears as pot, like gold appears as ornaments) though its real nature has not undergone any change at all. The one Brahman is apparent in many forms and under various names and so gives the impression of multiplicity. 

The Jnana won by the analysis of the mental process can alone end Maya. Maya flourishes on ignorance and absence of discrimination. So, Vidya spells doom of Maya.

When one tree rubs against another in a forest, fire starts and the fire burns both. So too, the Vidya or knowledge that arose from Maya destroys the very source of the knowledge. Avidya is reduced to ashes by Vidya.

Like the expression "hare's horn", which is the name for a non-existent thing, Maya too is non-existent and one has only to know it to dismiss it from the consciousness. So say the Jnanis.

Nor is this all. You label anything non-existent as Avidya or Maya. Whatever becomes meaningless, valueless, untrue, baseless and existence less when knowledge grows, that you can take to be Maya's manifestation.

Brahman alone is, was and will be. The conviction that this Jagath is but a superimposition is the real Vidya. This Vidya is the end of all ignorance.

Love.

Jnana Vahini - Post 22

Maya, by means of its power of (1) hiding the real nature and (2) imposing the unreal over the real, makes the one and only Brahman appear as Jiva, Eswara and Jagath, three entities where there is only one! 

The Maya faculty is latent, but when it becomes potent, it takes the form of the mind. It is then that the seedling of the huge tree (which is the Jagath) starts sprouting, putting forth the leaves of mental impulses or Vasanas, and mental conclusions or Sankalpas. So all this objective world is but the proliferation or Vilasa of the mind.

Jiva and Eswara are caught up in this proliferation and they are inseparably intertwined in the Jagath and so they too are creations of mental process like things appearing in the dream-world.

Imagine Jiva, Eswara and Jagath as having been painted; the pictorial Jagath has both Jiva and Eswara incorporated in it and all three appear as different entities though created by the same paint. So also the same mental process creates the appearance of Jiva and Eswara as pervading and immanent, in the background of Jagath.

It is Maya that produces the illusion of Jiva and Eswara and Jagath: this is declared by the Sruthis. The Vasishtasmrithi made clear that mental processes were responsible for the magic dance of He and I, This and That and Mine and His. 

Truth and untruth must be kept apart by means of the sharp sword of Jnana. It keeps the world afar and bring the Residence of the Lord within reach. That Residence is Nithyananda, Eternal Bliss, Paramananda, the highest Bliss; the Bliss of Brahman:

The expression "Sohamidam" found in that text indicates Jiva, Eswara and Jagath. "Sah" means He, the Unmanifested, the Supersoul, the Power beyond and Above, the Easwara. "Aham" means "I", the entity enveloped by the consciousness of doer etc. "Idam" means this objective world, the perceivable sense world. So it is clear that these three are the products of mental process only and they do not have any absolute value; their value is only relative.

The great souls who have won this Atmajnana deserve worship. They are holy; for they have attained Brahman, the right of everyone in the world, however great or whatever the Tapas. 

That is the Kingdom they seek, the honor they aspire for. This is the great mystery, the mystery elucidated in the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Sastras. The solving of this mystery makes life worthwhile; it is the key to liberation.

Love.

(Author's note- Swami has touched upon Jiva, Jagath and Iswara in this post.

The same was explained in one of the posts in another theme. The same is recaptured below.

Since we have our identity as Jiva, we need to know more about JIVA.

Our identity as JIVA is relevant only in the context of the people around us, the society in which we live, the world comprising of many societies, many beliefs, many faiths ETC. Hence, in this context, the importance of CREATION, the world around us, is important.

Jiva and Jagath has become important in the above context. But a question arises now. What is the principle, the power, the energy which has caused this Jagath and then we the Jiva in this jagath??? Who is the Supreme Creator?? In this context, the need / relevance of ISWARA arises. 

(1) Jiva or Individual

Vedanta approaches Jiva or an individual through the analysis of its internal nature. It says Jiva consists of three:

(a) physical body,

(b) mind and

(c) consciousness. 

After death the physical body is destroyed, but the same mind travels to find a next body – this is called rebirth. Consciousness part of Jiva always remains pure and it does not travel. Whereas mind experiences the various type of enjoyments and miseries through the physical body and preserves impressions within it. After the fall of physical body, mind carries those impressions with it to the next life.

(2) Jagat or Creation

Vedanta analyses the nature of this cosmos or creation around us through generalization. 

It says the perceived cosmos is available to us while we are awake in day time. In our dream while sleeping we have another creation – the individual dream world. 

In our deep sleep there is no such perceived creation. This waking cosmos is constantly changing – it is Anityam or temporary. It also does not exist eternally. Vedanta says –It is not really created, rather it is projected from Pure Consciousness. 

(3) Iswara or Creator

Iswara is defined as that from which the origin, sustenance and dissolution of this world proceed. Vedanta says the Pure Consciousness is the God itself. 

People also say it as Brahman, Supreme Self, Iswara, Bhagawan etc. Its nature is described as Satchidananda – Sat (Existence), Chit (Knowledge or awareness), Ananda (bliss) – The Blissful Conscious Existence.

Pure Consciousness ‘projects’ the cosmos out of its own. Iswara is both the intelligent cause and material cause of this cosmos. For example – Spider projects the web from its own body. Similarly, the Pure Consciousness, the greatest magician projects this cosmos. And swallows it when required. )

Love.