Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 145, June 10
Sri Sadgurubhyo namaha
Om Santissantissantihi
Whatever is fragmented or is in parts cannot be the entity that is indivisible and whole. This Universe therefore, cannot be Truth which is whole and un-fragmented.
This Universe is like a mirage, with its flowing waters of a river filled with ripples. Does it exist or is it non-existent? To the one who sees it and believes that it is true, it exists. But his belief is born from ignorance because there is really no water there. Only when he runs towards it gasping for breath, he finds that there is not a drop of water there. His belief is shattered.
How did the non-existent Universe come into existence, is the question. It is your ignorance that makes it appear as if it exists. You may call it Maya/illusion, Moha/delusion, or by any number of similar names. How to come out of such a false imagining is what is being taught here.
We learned yesterday about Suddha Chaitanya/Pure Consciousness, and Jeeva Utpatti/the emergence of the individual. Do not keep asking this question again and again, because there is no answer. That question is: How did ignorance find a place inside Pure Consciousness, when only Pure Consciousness exists?
Remove this question from your mind.
Ignorance is birth-less. It has always existed. That is why Mother Goddess is worshiped as Maya Svaroopini/the form of illusion. She alone can get us across this ocean of illusion. So it is important to take refuge at Her feet.
When you are drowning, you should grab something that will float, not something that will sink, if you wish to save yourself. That is why, Mother Goddess, who is Maya Herself, she alone can rescue us from illusion. That is why we prostrate to her humbly.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa worshiped Mother Goddess and he has shown us the way. But worship alone does not lead to Jnana/enlightenment. There is a danger in Upasana/pursuit of a revered object. We might, in course of time, loosen our hold, or the object of worship may become unreachable, by proceeding far ahead of us, faster than our pace. We may get drowned in ignorance eventually.
What is spiritual wisdom?
Why should we accept the existence of illusion/Maya? Why not assume that Maya itself is Mithya/falsehood? Why not pray that the curtain of Maya be removed from before us? That is difficult. If you can remove from before you, whatever has been created by Maya, then Maya will not be there. The illusory scene will disappear. Removal of ignorance is itself knowledge. That is why we begin with understanding the emergence of Jeeva, the individual. Pure Consciousness is a concept that is difficult to comprehend. Even the individual ceases to exist, once you reach a higher level.
All this is an illusion that occurs within Pure Consciousness. But simply saying that, will not give us that experience. We are individuals. Or at least we are under the delusion that we are all limited individuals. We have bodies and experiences. Hiranyagarbha is very close to Pure Consciousness. Hence, He is always pure.
We are limited beings with certain experiences. All of these experiences and individuals will merge eventually into the original individual.
We pray to gods. That is because, the gods are the Prathama Jeevis, the original individuals who have emerged from Pure Consciousness. They have the awareness of Paramatma. They still retain that knowledge. You are actually praying then to your own soul to know itself. This statement may sound ludicrous.
So we set the Jeeva aside as a separate entity. Guru is a Devata svaroopa, a form of god. That is because, Guru gives us the knowledge of God, of Soul, of Paramatma. Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva do nothing but that. Do the gods really need to come all the way down to satisfy our petty desires? You pray for small favors and you change your mind before the desire is satisfied, the way you ask your mother to prepare Upma/snack for you, and then quickly you change your mind and wish for something else.
We should pray to gods to give us spiritual enlightenment. That is the process of Upasana, the path of conducting rituals. In the path of Jnana, you yourself are the Jeeva. You are that individual. You are the Atma. You are the Prathama Jeeva. Once the Jeeva came into existence, he became filled with life force/Prana.
Yesterday, the Kriya Yoga practitioners asked me: How did Jeeva arise out of Paramatma, who is devoid of mind, life, and so on?
Jeeva, who never really came into being, imagined his own existence as a separate being. Had he identified with Paramatma, these troubles, these problems, diseases, and sorrows would not have arisen in the first place. Your own ignorance is the cause for all your troubles and grief. Do not think, ‘I am’. Even as Paramatma.
If only a tsp. of water is mixed with a large quantity of milk, it is closer to milk. But if a tsp. of milk is added to a lot of water, it cannot be considered as milk. So to begin with, you may think, I am Paramatma.
Jeeva first got life energy. Then movement occurred. Then he got the name Jeeva. Mind came into existence. Past remembrances surfaced. A large percentage of mental vibrations are remembrances of past events. Sadguru says: Give up dwelling in past. Instead, do Nama Smarana. Everything is linked. That is the Bhakti/devotion path.
The Jeeva has nothing like forgetting. At the end of the Kalpa, he knows the merits and sins of all beings. As before, their lives will begin where they left off in the previous Kalpa. Satya Sankalpa it is called. Truth to justice, creation begins anew. It is all in his mind. The Jeeva’s mind plays this game. That is why it is said that mind is the reason for everything.
Once he makes his decision to create, like a magician, he creates a whole cinema on the world-screen. When we watch the movies, the actors are all elsewhere doing other things at the moment. But the impressions made on the mind as we watch the show, affects us. We begin to identify ourselves with the characters in the movie.
Yashoda was telling the story of Ramayana to child Krishna. When she mentioned about Sita getting abducted, Krishna at once got up with a start, shouting, “Lakshmana, bring me my bow”. Yashoda realized that Krishna had identified himself with Rama.
Dattoham one must think in Datta worship – I am Datta. Forget the three heads and six arms. Datta is Paramatma. You identify with Him. Now even in the mobile phone, or even in the wrist watch screen you can see a picture of the whole world and moving scenes, as a video. Do not call it science. It is possible for such a thing to occur by the power of mind.
tanai..
What is this world like? How did this emerge? We sing Unnadi okade Sivudegaa. We mistakenly think that I am separate and all else is Siva. The last stanza says: Do not say, This is Siva and That is Siva. You are Siva and I am Siva. Know that you alone are Siva and Siva alone exists. The last stanza explains the essence of Truth.
You may have friendship or enmity with Paramatma. When Hiranyakashipu kept abusing Sri Hari, still, He did not come. Why did He then come out of the pillar? Vishnu identified Himself with Hiranyakashipu and had no enmity. But to prove to the world that He will make his devotee’s word come true, He came. Having come, He killed Hiranyakashipu, who represented ignorance.
yathaa kataka ..
A gold bracelet or bangle seems to be there. But actually it is just gold.
These days, jewelers may deceive you and give you adulterated gold.
Is there anything else in pure gold other than gold? If the jewel is made of an amalgam of metals, that is what it will be referred to as, not as a gold bangle.
Is the gold remaining as a separate entity, aside from the gold bangle? With pure gold, you cannot make ornaments. Some copper or silver has to be mixed to shape the ornaments. It cannot be 100% pure gold.
What is, has to be, always.
Therefore, the bangle is an illusion. Only gold is Truth.
When you try to sell a bangle, the jeweler will melt the gold and give you only the value of the gold that can be extracted from the bangle. You think only about pure gold. The gold here is contaminated with other metals.
Paramatma also is here contaminated with Maya/illusion. How can Truth and Falsehood coexist? Therefore, this Universe is merged into Parabrahma, some think. But that poses problems. Something inert/Jada cannot exist within Pure Consciousness/Chaitanya. This Universe has to be proven to be an illusion.
Pandavas and Kauravas completed their study of archery. Dronacharya, the teacher, gave a test. He pointed towards a tree and asked what they saw. One said, the world, another said, the tree. Karna said, a bird with an eye. But he was not 100% correct. Arjuna alone said he saw the eye. Drona wanted the eye to be the target. Arjuna read the teacher’s mind. You cannot see both the bird and the eye. The concentrated mind should see only the eye.
You cannot see both the world and Paramatma. You should see only Paramatma. You cannot say, I see Paramatma in the world or the world in Paramatma.
parichchedya..
Is the Universe limited or is it limitless?
It is limited. You may not see it all with your naked eye. But you see that even space, the sky, as if it has a limit, as the blue sky in a dome shape. Many, to this day, do not know that the earth is round. They think it is flat.
Anantatma? Paramatma is Akhanda. Therefore, this Universe is not Paramatma.
What is not, cannot be. This Universe is fabricated by your mind. That science is now being taught to us.
The bangle is not the cause of gold. Gold is the cause of the bangle. Many, out of ignorance, declare that God is man’s creation. Does anyone say: My father is my child? Would you believe such a statement? From cause, effect comes. Not the other way around. Do not believe such words. You will fall into ignorance. Such are the words of atheists. They are words used for their personal convenience.
What troubles does a child have? Why does he still think of God and why does he pray? Did Prahlada, the prince create God? No.
Many claim there is no God. But if the earth trembles, they will run, and call out to God.
Paramatma is the cause of all other causes. We have come from Him. To say that this Universe exists in Paramatma is not correct. Sweep away out of existence, this entire Universe.
Sometimes, you get into a confusion. Everything is Guru you say. Then, even dirt and soil are Guru. No. He is just Pure Consciousness. ‘Suddha Brahma Paratpara Rama’, is how Narada began narrating the story of Ramayana. How can Rama weep, and have human experiences? No. It is an illusion.
This Universe is an illusion. It is fabricated. It is false. You must recognize what is Truth.
satee ..
Again we ask: We see this world. We have so many experiences. We see the causes and effects. How can this be denied existence? No. As per the worldly norms, the Jeevanmuktas also act.
Prashant asked me: Does a Jnani leave everything and go away? I answered: Simply do your duty. Janaka, Sri Rama, Suka Yogi, Krishna, all their stories are different. Their Upadesas, and their behavior are different. All Gurus are different. Has anyone left off everything and run away? If you are in the Jeevanmukta state, you are free from bondage. You have experiences, and yet you are not bound by them.
In the desert, you see a mirage. You see a river that is actually not a river, when you are most parched with thirst. The water appears far away, clear as crystal. You even see the waves and ripples. Only the one who knows the desert, knows the actual location of an oasis. Such a one is not fooled by mirages. The mirage exists only in your mind. So you run towards it to get water. But once you reach there, you know that the river does not exist.
Does anyone who is insolvent call a stranger and tell him that he has no million rupees to give him? One will think the man is insane. We do announce to the world about the things we do not possess, “We do not have”, just out of a whim.
There is no river or water or ripples in a mirage. That realization comes only with experience. The man who knows the desert does not get deceived.
Guru also eats chapati and upma. He says so. But the difference between Guru and the ordinary man is that, there is jnana there and here it is absent. The camel knows where water can be found in a desert. The man follows the camel to find water. Similarly, we follow the guidance of Guru.
We think we have seen so much in this world. But we should experience and realize that we are ignorant.
How does this non-existent world appear as if it exists? We run frantically for water, despite good advice from the guide that it is useless to run because it is only a mirage. We fall down exhausted.
We ask: Why did it appear as if there was water?
We will learn the answer tomorrow.
Guru tells us to be patient and to use discretion. He knows what is truth and what is falsehood. He gives us proper guidance. We must follow.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi