Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 165, July 7
Sri Sadgurubhyo namaha
Om Santissantissantihi
Devasvaroopa Varnana – the description of God or Soul is being given.
Yesterday, we heard Sri Rama’s question as to what the foundation or basis is, for all this visible Creation, even if should be illusory. Unless a rope is there, the illusion of a snake does not occur. Unless some true entity exists, an illusion about it cannot arise. Therefore, what is that truth, which brings about this illusory world into existence? Please help me to realize that true substance which acts as the basis for this illusory world.
Sage Vasishtha began by mentioning the state of Maha Pralaya, where everything, including all the subtlest entities also become merged in the one and only true entity. Nothing else exists but that. It is not a void state. It is a complete or whole state of being. In words, it may just be a matter of semantics to say full or void, but in experience, it is a huge difference that exists between emptiness and fullness.
Void is darkness. Fullness is Light. Everyone wants only Light. Only Light exists. Pure Consciousness alone exists.
After Maha Pralaya, which occurs after the exhaustion of a period of Time that is as far away as your mind can comprehend or imagine, whether it is the unit consisting of the 4 Yugas, or Manvantaras, or whatever it might be, what is left at the end of it, is only Pure Consciousness. Not even the sky remains. Even space merges into Him. To say that space has merged into Him means, our mind has merged into Him. If mind remains, space remains. Even the mind must vanish. The collective mind, the minds of all living beings merge at that time into Hiranyagarbha. And he merges also into Pure Consciousness. What is left? Nothing but Pure Consciousness. It is the only entity that exists then. That is how Vasishtha began.
From that, how did Creation emerge? We are not talking about the birth of the earth. We are talking about the five subtle perceptions out of which the five gross elements were born. He started there, at the very beginning, and explained it as an Upadesam.
Here Deva refers to Atma. We must keep that in mind. Paramatma, Supreme Soul knows that He is Paramatma. He has that awareness. That is the big difference between Him and other living beings. All other creatures identify themselves with the bodies they wear and refer to themselves as being such and such and so and so, whereas gods are in the awareness of a higher divinity whose commands they implicitly follow.
They are unattached. They do not claim ownership of their achievements or accomplishments. That is why we worship the gods. All gods are Jeevanmuktas. Sadguru, who is also divine comes down to us and teaches us, and gives us Upadesa. The gods don’t do that. That is because they do not physically appear before us. That is why Sadguru is greater than all the gods.
More than the one who owns a lot of food, the one who feeds us, is more precious to us. Sadguru, a Jeevanmukta is the one who feeds us spiritual Jnana food. That is why for us he is the greatest. Despite being in a perishable body, he retains his divine attributes, and gives us direct instruction.
Paramatma, divinities, Jeevanmuktas – all are same. The difference is that the Jeevanmuktas are appearing before us in a physical form. The gods are in a subtle form. Paramatma is over and beyond even a subtle form. He is only Pure Consciousness.
The awareness of God is permanent in them, whereas in us, the feeling comes and goes. When we are in difficulties only we say, O everything is in His hands. Some do not remember God even during troubles. Regardless of whether there are joys or sorrows, gods and Jeevanmuktas ever dwell in the undisturbed awareness of Pure Consciousness.
How and why did those gods and Jeevanmuktas come into being? Their purpose is to maintain Dharma. Without their guidance and intervention when needed, this Creation will not proceed in the prescribed path of Dharma, Karma, and Jnana.
There is a sequence that is followed in this world. It begins with desires, and fulfillment of desires. Then there is the process of performing good deeds, and that is followed by renunciation, and seeking liberation. It is only to preserve this originally established system of Dharma, that the Vedas and all the different religions have come into existence. That is their prime purpose.
Why should we follow the dictates of religion and the scriptures? Only if you systematically follow their rules, starting from the basics, and go up step by step, you will reach the higher level of the head where the teachings of the Upanishads will come within your grasp. Unless you preserve the path and keep it clear and follow it diligently and judiciously, you will not find a way out of this ignorance, or find a way to reach Jnana which explains and brings to your experience the nature of the Soul. This fact must never be forgotten. Our time is short. The transient events of life should not become our main preoccupation.
Whatever good work we may do, if we maintain the awareness that every little action is leading us towards our primary goal, then even the small gestures and accomplishments will take on a major role in our lives. They form our stepping stones.
We are not at the very bottom rung of the ladder. We are somewhere below the middle point. We need the support of our good karmas to help us climb higher. From the status of Madhyama Adhikari we have to rise to the level of Uttama Adhikari, where our journey will become more focused and our direction will be more defined. Eventually, such a one will become liberated. Therefore, it is important for us to preserve and protect our Dharma.
People present different views. Not everything you hear is Truth. Many ideas will mislead us. That is why God has created the Vedas and the systematic procedure called Karma and Jnana. When there are millions of children, God has to teach in a manner where everyone will imbibe the instruction according to their individual capacity. That is why He has taught different lessons to suit each temperament and level. All of them combined is the one lesson taught by the Upanishads. This is the One Stop Shop. That is why we study this scripture. Then we comment, “Each Upanishad is giving a different message.” They are not different messages. They all teach the one Truth using different words, different examples, and different stories. The same essence is taught by all of them. Because we find it difficult to understand the Upanishads, God has blessed us with the Yoga Vasishtha.
Our duty is to protect Dharma. If we fail to do so, the primary goal of Dharma will itself suffer. If Dharma gets crippled, or lost, spiritual study will become extinct. Liberation will become impossible for anyone.
For the benefit of society, we have to protect this Dharma, because this path has the power inherent in it to preserve itself. Do not follow Dharma out of any selfish interest. A thousand years from now, this Dharma that you protect now, will come of avail. Because the essence of the Vedas is hidden inside this path of Dharma, it has to be protected so that entire humanity will attain the state of liberation eventually, that it truly deserves.
Fulfillment of desires alone is not the goal of life. Liberation is the goal of life. Therefore, Dharma needs to be protected.
That is why here, for us to be able to understand the subject easily, the process of Creation is being described to us.
God and His Universal Form are described. Why? Through that form, realizing that all Creation is nothing but He, we will be able to attain the highest state. Each is on a different, unique path. If we keep teaching, each will grasp whatever is useful for him. Samskara is the reason that different persons are at different levels and have different tastes. Whatever appeals to each, will be absorbed by them, and it will not leave them ever. It will stick with them, follow them, and will make them do sadhana.
It is because you have listened, studied, pondered over, and absorbed it, that it will adhere to you. Hence, it will follow you, and chase you. It will then uplift you.
Everything is the Soul. It is all-pervasive and omnipotent. This is the all powerful God, who is the source of this entire Creation. Even of it is an illusory world, still, its source and genesis have to be mentioned. The sources is God.
We may question, “Where is the need to give explanations, if after all, it is all only imaginary?” Still, there are reasons to give explanations.
adhyaaropa – is stating the sequence of events, how this whole thing happened.
apavaada is to say that this world is an illusion.
By both of these statements, it is made clear that –
nishprapancham – the entity that transcends both of the above is the root for both.
prapanchate –
Even the Upanishads describe the process of Creation, as do many other scriptures. Today, the genesis of gods is going to be explained, as well as the genesis of the inert world and the living world of moving entities. How this inert body that has its source in Him, becomes conscious is also mentioned. Other than Jnana, there is nothing else that has the capacity or power help us realize this Parabrahma, who is above and beyond everything.
Sri Rama, for our benefit, asks a question as to by what means this Parabrahma may be realized.
No sadhana except Jnana Sadhana will yield this realization. Once the realization occurs, even Jnana has to be let go. Such is the state of Parabrahma. The means is not the end. It is only the means until the end is attained. Once the merging with God occurs, the means which led to it must also be relinquished.
yasmaad ..
From Paramatma, Pure Consciousness, Vishnu and other gods have emerged, the way the rays disperse from the Sun; Vishnu with Satva Guna, Rudra with Tamo Guna, and Brahma with Rajo Guna have emerged, as per many Puranas, although the attributes may vary depending on the circumstance.
yasmaad..
All the endless galaxies emerge from Pure Consciousness the way bubbles arise from the ocean.
‘budbuda’ is the word for bubble. What happens when a bubble bursts? The water again falls into the water. It merges in the water. But we do not merge back as easily when this bubble called this physical body, breaks, unless we realize that we have emerged from Him like a bubble out of water.
If and when such a realization is there, then, as long as this bubble lasts, you will keep functioning in this world without any attachments.
For this type of realization to endure, one must do Jnana Sadhana; the same thought has to be kept alive constantly. Then, knowledge of Truth will draw you into itself. Jnana has that power. It will extinguish the mind. That is why that word is used there.
We use the word bubble in the context of something impermanent and transient. While explaining dispassion, we use that word to denote the fleeting nature of everything in the world.
But the word ‘budbuda’ is a great term. It is still an ‘upadhi’ – a container or a support. But here, Paramatma is water and so is the bubble which once again merges in water when it bursts.
yam yaanti ..
Siva Mahimna Stotra is a wonderful prayer. I always recommend that prayer if anyone asks me to suggest a good prayer.
Pushpadanta, a Gandharva king stepped over the sacred remnants of Puja materials (nirmaalya) out of arrogance. He acquired a very great sin by that action. As a result he descended to the earth as a human being. He composed a great prayer and arrogantly took it to Siva in Kailasa to offer it to Him.
Siva called one of his youngest and newly appointed assistants and asked him to show his teeth. All the verses composed by the Gandharva appeared on those teeth.
Gandharva offered obeisance, humiliated.
He praised Lord Siva as the ocean into which all of us, as rivers, have to merge sooner or later.
Even a small noble act will lead eventually to a significantly virtuous deed. That major meritorious act will lead to Jnana. Jnana will lead to liberation by merging one in Paramatma.
This is the goal of all living creatures. Every being in one way or another is constantly searching for Paramatma. Every living entity is obsessed with the question of who am I, and where have I come from? Swamiji’ Life History is based on the quest for answers to these questions.
Even demons like Hiranyakasipu, Kamsa, and others have merged in God after taking several births because it is the compassionate resolve of God to have them merge into Him eventually.
In just three lifetimes they desired to merge back into God, instead of in one hundred more comfortable lifetimes. Because of their meritorious services rendered earlier, they earned and deserved that compassion of God. If we keep serving Sadguru and God with virtuous deeds, compassion will arise towards us in the heart of Sadguru.
The greatness of God is that He reveals to us His own effulgence. He is ever present. That is why we are eventually able to see Him. Would we pray to God if our seeing Him depended on a light that we have to switch on? No. He is the self-effulgent Supreme Light.
This we must remember. He is not a thing. He is just Consciousness or Light. All things appear only because His light exists everywhere. That Consciousness exists within us.
aakaase ..
He is in space and in the physical body. He is in rocks.
He feeds the frogs hiding under the rocks. Narmada Baana Lingas and Gandaki Salagramas and Ambika Salagramas and Sphatikas (different sacred rocks) are very special and significant.
Narmada Bana Lingas are smooth and egg-shaped. They appear only in the Narmada river. Each has a special symbol naturally formed on it, signifying a deity or a power such as Adi Sesha or Vasuki or Vishnu. Who has engraved these? Were they created like that? We do not know. They come in all sizes. Their origin is unknown. We should become like that. Saala is a living insect. Grava is a stone. The insect engraves patterns inside the stones. Why and for how long this sculpting by the insect occurs, we do not know. The Salagramas have different faces of deities depicted.
He lives in water, rocks, trees, and in dust particles.
We do namaskaram to Guru, God, and elders touching our forehead to the dust on the ground. Both males and females do this. The dust of the feet of the elders must stick to our foreheads. We must then smear it across. The great poet Kalidasa has said that when we do that, that gesture will erase the bad characters which may be there in the writing created by Brahma on our foreheads, determining our destiny. This action deletes all bad predictions of negative fate.
The dust particle should remind us of the subtle nature of God.
Only by personal experience one has to realize it.
Swamiji has composed a song about it.
In Puranjana Upakhyana in the Bhagavatam there is a description. It is a difficult story to understand. But I urge you to read it. It will give you an idea of what this body is, who the resident in the body is, what the consciousness in the body is, and so on.
Eight constituents compose this body including the life force and the sensory perceptions, the limbs, ignorance, desires, actions, and the inner equipment that thinks and so forth. In deep sleep, also He exists within us. How? Where? What does He do?
These questions are the beginning of spirituality. How to obtain that bliss of deep sleep while staying awake?
Deep sleep occurs because of ignorance. Always remaining asleep is not the answer. That is wrong.
Jnanendriya – has the word Jnana only in name, that jnana is for use in worldly activities only – the organ of perception, be it the eye, nose, ear, or whatever. But it is filled with ignorance. It is not one that gives Jnana. It is always drawn outward towards worldly objects. That is how it has been created. It should be utilized to help us to gain real Jnana, spiritual wisdom. You have to make Jnanendriya, the organ of perception, go inward.
The means for making it go inward is Sravana, Manana, and Nidhidhyasana – Listening, contemplating, and deep absorption.
The body should help us, although by itself it is inert and lifeless. Without God and Consciousness, the body will not function. The Soul power makes it work.
The Soul has decided that rocks should remain mute. Otherwise, we will ask why the rocks are silent and do not speak, and why they all do not move about. That is God’s will. That is the answer.
This lifeless body becomes alive by God’s Consciousness. But without recognizing it, we take credit for our being alive, our thinking and our movements. We also think that we are superior to rocks because they appear to lack these qualities. Both of these attitudes are wrong. Both are God. One cannot look down upon anything or anyone.
mookeekrta ..
Some rocks appear in different shapes naturally formed. Some appear like human beings in conversation, or like sages deep in meditation. At the Grand Canyon and Stone Henge, Swamiji has had such experiences.
What makes the sky appear empty, is God’s will. It is endless. Why are rocks not flowing like water? It is God’s will.
aapo drtaa ..
Water flows, the sun glows with radiance, all because of Paramatma.
The four slokas from the Bhagavad Gita mentioned yesterday as the Atma or Soul of Bhagavad Gita, give the merit of studying the entire work, if chanted daily with reverence. So declared Sri Adi Sankara in his Bhashya, commentary.
The Sun’s radiance is caused by Atma or Paramatma. We offer prostrations to that Consciousness which lights up the Sun. The Sun represents the highest visible entity and that is why we offer Him worship, addressing the Sun as Paramatma. When we prostrate to the Sun daily, by doing the Surya Namaskaras, our soul gets recharged.
The five elements are mentioned now. Hiranyagarbha had resolved initially, at the very beginning of Creation, that the nature of the five elements should be as they are. Hence, they will never change through eternity. The cycle of Creation may repeat itself. The great incarnations of God like Rama and Krishna will repeat themselves because they are essential for the preservation of the knowledge of the Vedas through eternity.
Vedas are eternal. Jnana given by Sadguru is eternal. The liberated souls will not return. Those who are not liberated, will be reborn, based on their past karma. But Vyasa and other great sages will be reappearing by their own choice, for the benefit of the world. Hanuman is eternal. He is Brahma. This pattern of Creation will never change.
The sequence of creation will never change. The earth will never grow larger than the sky. The system will never change.
prasaranti ..
Paramatma will never get expended or spent. He is ever the same, although this entire cosmos emerges from Him. He is immortal and ever whole.
aavirbhaava ..
Coming into being, and getting withdrawn, of all the three worlds, happens by Him. But the strange thing is that the entire visible Creation is only a mirage, without any true existence. When the individual forgets his true source, then the mirage appears real and is treated as real. When God is remembered, the mirage disappears. Man gets deluded by these mirages.
naasaroopaha ..
As the world, He perishes. But as the Supreme Soul, He is imperishable. He resides inside everyone’s heart. That is where He reveals Himself.
gupto ..
He is secretly hidden. He is right within and yet many think that He is far away. He is the greatest of all. He transcends all. Such a supreme one is inside each one of us, in the form of all our feelings.
A wonderful description is given here.
prakrti ..
This entire Creation is a creeper called Maya, which is born of space. The fruit of this creeper is the Universe itself. The root for this creeper is the mind. The leaves are the sense organs. The air makes it move and dance.
Our own body is described here. Because of breath we move. Because we see it, the world exists. It only exists for those who experience it. If you have no experience of the world, then the world has no existence. It only exists in the mind of the one who experiences the world.
The realization that I am not the seer should arise in us.
verse
The body is a box. The thinking equipment, Chitta or mind, is a gem hidden inside it. As rays spread from the moon, this entire world, like rays, emerges from the mind. Paramatma is the cause for this.
verse
More descriptions are given.
The Siva Mahimna Stotra gives these same examples. You are the Sun, Moon, Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and the Sky. You are the Soul. All great souls describe you as such. But this is very inadequate. The sky may appear vast and endless for us. But what is its greatness for Paramatma? To compare Him to the sky is most inadequate and belittling to God. Great souls have given these descriptions, no doubt, but all such descriptive terms and examples are gross underestimations. They are all limited. No one can describe you, O God.
navid ..
For us, we do not know what you are not. We cannot say that you are this and you are this. Nothing is a good comparison to you.
Next is Sadaachaara Varnana.
How it benefits us to serve Sadguru will be explained. We will continue tomorrow.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi