Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 138, May 17
Sri Sadgurubhyo namaha
Om Santissantissantihi
Yesterday we heard about the individual soul, the Jeeva. Jeeva is compared to a bird, or the flame of a lamp. What actually is a Jeeva? We all understand the concept of Jeeva, the individual soul. One must question what Jeeva is.
The seer (one who sees), the scene (what is seen), and vision, the capacity for seeing are all one and the same.
Who can all the three be one and the same? To think that they are all different, is an illusion. It is ignorance. Your own consciousness appears before you as an object. There is no difference between the consciousness and the object that it projects as something separate from it. If consciousness is absent, no objects can appear.
This is the simple and basic explanation.
In the Pramana Niroopana section in the Mumukshu Vyavahaara Prakarana, we have learned that only direct evidence is the best. We may accept similarities as evidence. We may accept hearsay when it is from the Vedas or from words of Sadguru. But direct experience is the best of all. Triputi or Sakshi Chaitanya or Jeeva Chaitanya is introduced to us. Triputi, the threesomes are themselves the individual. Karta, Karma, and Kriya are a threesome. They are not separate from him. That being so, what is this visible world? It is but a dream. Just as we see ourselves in our dreams, but dismiss the dream as unreal, we must also dismiss this visible world as unreal.
One must understand the nature of dreams. We see ourselves in our dreams. We experience things happening to us, both good and bad. The dreams then melt into deep sleep. Is a dream then real or false? People even weep and laugh in their dreams. Any intelligent man will declare that dreams are unreal. Otherwise, a borrower may promise to repay a loan in your dream. Will you accept it? No. One should not be satisfied with trivialities. One must aim for the greatest reward.
The world appears real. We experience it as real, and we insist that it is real. We accept what we like in the world, and reject what is undesirable. We are told that it is just a rope and not a snake and we have nothing to fear. When the delusion is removed, we experience relief and bliss. This Science of Vedanta grants the highest bliss. Our small joys are fleeting. A child finds that a chocolate is a great treat. An adult does not give a piece of chocolate that much significance.
Removing our delusion is the most important aim of Vedanta.
Yoga sadhana, practice of Yoga is important. Patanjali, in his Sutras gives the methodology mainly, but does not go deep into the theory of Vedanta.
Jnana is called Samvit. Our signature placed on a check represents our identity, even if it looks like the scratching of a hen on the ground. The signature is identified with the person who placed the signature there.
Absence of contemplation and analysis is the cause that ignorance remains in an individual and makes what is unreal appear as real.
Who is Maha Purusha? How to recognize and understand him? Sadachara Krama was taught to us up until now. Because of not analyzing properly, falsehood appears as truth. For a small discomfort we lament. But a great yogi, despite being in great turmoil, does not give much significance to the trouble. A child bumps into a pillar and weeps inconsolably. We comfort him, by saying we will punish the pillar for hitting him. An adult is not fooled by such talk or arguments to console. An adult does not consider bumping into a pillar as any major mishap.
After the conclusion of this section we proceed to the next.
Why is it necessary to realize the Parabrahman? It is because, Creation, Sustenance, and Dissolution occur on account of Him. He Himself is all three of them. That is how the explanation begins, and leads further to a more advanced explanation.
By Paramatman alone, Creation, Sustenance, and Withdrawal occur. He himself is all three of them.
We maintain the feeling that this Creation already exists and that we come into it and depart from it. We entertain the beliefs that we are instrumental in creating certain things, and making certain things happen. But if one travels backwards in time, you will realize your mistake. If you were to travel to a different planet, you will realize that 24 years on earth equals to 1 minute on another planet. One must first remove oneself from the boundaries of Time and Space to understand our misconceptions. Ignorance is the root of this Creation. One’s own Karma or Ignorance is the cause for one’s Janma/birth. Good and bad karmas of the past get intermingled and cause this human birth. That is why humans experience both joy and sorrow. Hunger is discomfort. A good meal gives comfort. Sin gives discomfort. Merit grants comfort. Sin and merit are always mixed. Karma means ignorance, ajnana.
The question is: Did we perform Karma first? Or did we get our birth first? It is a natural question. The answer will be given later.
Remember the concept of a Dream. What is a dream? Who is the one dreaming? Paramatman is the one dreaming this dream. If that is so, then why do I suffer? It is because you yourself are the Paramatman. The rope that you have brought along, binds you once again.
To realize this world as a dream, is the end benefit of this study. A king dreams that he is a beggar. A beggar dreams that he is a king. Many unfulfilled desires are satisfied in dreams. How did so many people and creatures appear in my dreams? You sometimes see yourself as all the different people in an assembly, your face is seen as the speaker, and as the people in the audience. How did this Dream-like Creation emerge from the Paramatman? You cannot attribute ignorance to the Paramatman. He merely had a sankalpa for the one to become the many. I am only one. I will become different entities.
Until more yoga details are learned, I should not go into further explanations of this subject. Brahma Jijnasa is the topic that will be explained in detail later.
It is the nature of the individual to believe that this world is real. That is his natural tendency and attribute. Only upon careful contemplation, it will be realized that this world is nothing but a dream. Consciousness has the capacity to dissolve the false delusion and lead one to the Parabrahman.
Sometimes dreams break up and one wakes up. Dreams do not always end in deep sleep. Sometimes when a dream is distasteful, one wakes up, the way a person who does not enjoy the movie, walks out of the theater in the middle of the cinema. One becomes conscious of one’s identity in the world when the dream suddenly ends and one wakes up. One at once recognizes the dream as something unreal. The consciousness withdraws the entire dream sequence into itself and makes it disappear. Then, the entire world appears as nothing but the light of consciousness. Satyam, Jnanam, Anantam, Brahma. Brahma is of the form of Sat, Chit, and Ananda.
Now, I am skipping reading the verses, and am simply explaining the summary.
The individual should transcend even the mental conceptualization and analysis. All sounds, words, meanings and so on, will vanish in the state of Liberation. From the sound Om, the Vedas have emerged. Even the Vedas dissolve in that highest state of Liberation. Vichara is asking and learning facts. The delusion that this world is real, disappears.
The one who reaches the top and has no need to come down again. He has no need for the steps of the ladder again. No one who reaches the top desires to come down again. The mind, and the sense organs calm down. Even if the Jnanendriyas, the organs of perceptions are still functioning, he does not accrue any Karma bondage. A Jeevanmukta is not bound by Karma, regardless of whether he acts or does not act. For normal human beings, there are definite dos and don’ts to follow. Until we all reach that state, we have to keep following the scriptural rules and engage in mandatory actions. Otherwise, it will be a sin. But a Jeevanmukta is not bound by the laws of Karma or either action or inaction.
Kriya Yoga should be practiced throughout until the highest state is reached. One need not deliberately stop the pursuit of yoga. Once its need becomes unnecessary, the practices will automatically stop. There is no need to deliberately stop the training. Once a person reaches college level, the multiplication tables are automatically left behind.
Just as a machine does not function, unless you operate it, similarly, it is your mind that decides whether or not you should operate this machine called the organs of action in this world. Once the mind is switched off, no actions will occur thereafter.
Till the battery runs out, or the momentum dies down, the machine moves.
Two wooden rams are placed in front of each other. They are used as puppets to lock horns and fight, in a puppet show with strings attached to the wooden figures. Until the mind-machine stops functioning, this world will continue to exist. The mind should be restrained by developing devotion. The string called attraction towards worldly objects is what draws it outward. Focus the mind on Sadguru’s feet or on a chosen deity. Even the act of restraint is an action. But it is needed in the preliminary stages. Pull the mind back from its tendency to move towards objects. The mind becomes fickle and unsteady because of its attraction towards the objects of the world.
Children these days are obsessed with checking their mobile phones for messages. The mind keep running erratically and constantly. Does the object move, or does the mind move? It is the mind that moves. It turns on the phone and checks for messages constantly. While doing Puja or Dhyana, one should set aside all gadgets and concentrate on the ritual at hand. One must make a determination that the mind will be kept steady and calm during a ritual or an austerity. The awareness in the mind of the objects of the world is what instigates the mind to move towards them. The objects themselves do not move or disturb one. They already exist in the mind. It is the movement of the mind which is the cause for disturbances.
Just as there is the nature of movement in Air, Vayu is called Sadacharaha – ever- moving and he is everywhere. Lord Hanuman as the son of Wind is everywhere. The moment we remember Rama, He will appear there. We feel the movement of air when the breeze touches our skin. We must dissolve the mind in the Brahman. Then the mind will remain at rest. Brahman is not an object of the world. Brahman is ourselves. Because we are trying to grasp what this Brahman is, we are referring to it as something separate from us. We ourselves are Brahman.
What is the root cause of this Creation? What gave me birth? Why was I born? These are questions that arise in the mind.
We must first introduce to ourselves whatever is familiar to us and proceed from there.
Satva Guna emerges first. A karma/action is performed. According to it, a vibration or movement occurs in the Parabrahman. A subtle consciousness arises. We have no form, we have not even entered into the father yet. We exist as a tiny ray of light with no form. It cannot be described or defined. That little movement, makes the ray of light enter into a rain drop that falls to the ground, nourishes a plant, and the food produced by that plant somehow reaches the parent at the right time and place and the specific individual is given birth to. According to the individual’s past karma, all the required circumstances will fall into place as if all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle magically come together. Karma is the root that determines the species, the time, and place of the birth of the individual soul. It is a great science that is beyond any science existing in the present day. Veda explains this. That is why it is called Vedanta. We have to study it.
People declare that so and so has been born. The power of consciousness gathers up all the necessary attributes to take an appropriate birth as per past karma and samskara. Jada Bharata’s samskara/past tendency gave him birth as a deer. Divine incarnations are born already enlightened. They have the knowledge of their emergence and their nature as Pure Consciousness.
One should ponder about the facts of one’s birth as a tiny creature, gradual growth into a larger individual, and the ultimate dissolution of the body, and the merging back into something insignificantly small. Such contemplation will help one to understand these things.
The ignorant individual forgets his true identity. The mother even forgets her own needs, while serving the family and neglects her health. The individual identifies himself with his body and keeps serving it with glee and relish. At least in this present birth, we must improve our awareness of our true self. We must develop our Samskaras/positive tendencies to realize what our true nature is. It requires a great deal of samskara to realize one’s identity with the Paramatma.
Even if you do not understand, you should listen. It will help to improve the samskara so that eventually the subtle concepts will be understood.
Paramatma encompasses all forms. Mercury takes the form of any container that it is poured into. The important topic today is that Triputi is oneself. One is the seer, the scene, and the act of seeing. All three are one and that one is oneself. Unless there is someone who can see, a scene will not exist. Mother Goddess Lalita is praised as: Dhyana dhyaatr dhyeya roopaa.
The question arises that unless there is a seer, there cannot be a scene. The truth of the matter is that whatever is seen is not real. Since whatever is visible is unreal, it is illusory and false, just like a dream. Things which occur in a dream are transient. They do not endure. Similarly, what is seen in the visible world also is fleeting and hence, understand that it is not real. It is made up and illusory, like a dream. Know that this visible world is nothing but an illusion. It has no real purpose for its existence. Paramatma sees everything. He is everything.
But in truth, what is seen is not real. Paramatma, the Pure Consciousness has no cause that brings Him into existence. If Paramatman also is said to emerge from a cause, then he would be like one of us. Pure Consciousness exists without a cause. He does not cause transformations or changes in Creation. When milk turns into curds or yogurt, it is a transformation. One cannot extract milk from the yogurt. It is impossible. What was once milk, cannot be retrieved from the yogurt. You may be able to churn the buttermilk, extract butter from it and offer it, declaring that it is more valuable. But if one insists on only having the milk back, it is not possible to produce it from the yogurt. When transformation occurs, the original loses its attributes. This is called Parinaama vaadam.
In Vivarta vaadam – clay turns into a pot. Gold turns into a piece of jewelry. Clay can be extracted from the pot.
Gold can be retrieved from the jewel. The value of the jewel lies in its gold content, not in the polish or the shape of the ornament. If gold is absent, the jewel does not exist. If clay is absent, the pot becomes non-existent. It is fruitless to argue that because it is given a shape and a name called pot, that it has an identity of its own. It still only remains as clay. The shape and form are given to it. Eventually the realization will come that all that exists is only clay and that the pot is an illusion. What exists is only the Parabrahman. What appears as the Universe, is merely an illusion.
That is why Swamiji says, treat the entire ashrama as my body. How can that be? Swamiji is different and the ashrama is different. We argue and disagree. But we have to see this universe as only the Parabrahman. Instead, we see this universe as something real and get fooled. What happens then? We become distanced from the Truth. Whatever is born, or comes into existence has to be unreal. Just as a rope assumes the form of a snake that is non-existent, the Parabrahman appears in the form of this Universe, which is non-existent. It is a scientifically proven fact. When the universe is illusory and non-existent, one cannot say that the Parabrahman is the cause of this Universe. Therefore, Brahman is not the cause. For what is non-existent, a cause cannot exist.
Brahman is non-dual. He alone exists. He alone is the Truth. If that is so, who are you and I? We are also the same as He. Swamiji’s music is not a disturbance. But other useless music serves no purpose. We spend money to acquire worthless songs.
If Brahma Himself were to turn into the world, then what would happen? If that is so, if milk gets transformed into yogurt, milk would no longer exist. Therefore, that argument is not valid. Brahman is not subject to transformation. Parinama vaadam does not apply to Brahman. Vivarta vaada is what applies to Brahman.
Marriages are made in heaven it is said. You yourself had decided, way before, that you will go through this experience and this relationship. Never blame anyone in this world that they have caused you unhappiness. All that exists is entirely within yourself and is of your own creation.
One must do Atma Vichara. Anumana Pramana, Sabda Pramana etc. do serve a certain benefit, but Pratyaksh Pramana alone is the ultimate proof and evidence. Chaitanyaarghya samaraadhyaa is a descriptive name for Mother Goddess.
O Sri Rama, you make a genuine and deliberate effort. People may succeed sooner or later. Never lose hope or discouraged. Have faith in your effort and in good fortune. You perform your Upasana.
Do not run after astrologers to get the horoscopes studied, without putting in your effort. Anxiety about the positioning of the planets is not going to achieve any results.
One must follow the teachings of a Sadguru who is from an established lineage. Doing sadhana without proper guidance and restrictions will prove to be worthless. The Sadhana should continue until the Brahma Tatva is completely and satisfactorily experienced. Even after reaching that stage, Sadguru’s position as the ultimate, remains the same.
Tatva Vichara should continue endlessly unless the Parabrahman comes into direct experience.
arya ..
O Sri Rama, the seeker must first approach a holy person. Sadhu Sangama Kshemadayakam. A guru shares his knowledge. Using that knowledge, one must make the mind blossom. The limited intellect must be surrendered to Sadguru so that it loses it limited nature. Guru’s Life History and Guru’s attributes must be studied. If a satisfactory Sadguru who is perfect is not available, then, gather information from different sources, like the nine different gems gathered from different sources make a necklace, create a garland for yourself. The narration about the 24 gurus of Lord Dattatreya explains this concept of gathering useful knowledge and wisdom from various different sources. .
Only he, who has Poorna Jnana, total enlightenment, is a Maha Purusha.
verse
New sprouts grow into mighty trees and yield fruits eventually. Practice Shama (tolerance), Dama (restraint), and Nirahankara (absence of ego). They are priceless and must be diligently applied in life.
Annam and other substances used as Havis offerings in homa, will yield rains. Crops grow and yield food to feed us all. Surrender to God whatever He has given you. Offer to God in the form of Homa, the good things that God has given you.
Lakes and lotuses mutually benefit each other. Jnana and Shama and other attributes will mutually strengthen one another. Jnana and Sadachara should go hand in hand. Sadachara is not merely following physical austerities. Mentally one must practice restraint. Control the mind.
The Life History of Sri Swamiji is the ultimate guide for all Datta devotees. Both the pursuit of spiritual knowledge and the practice of austerities should be done together.
A farmer’s wife claps her hands and sings in the field. It drives away the birds and also entertains and refreshes her.
Yoga also grants the stage of transcending rebirth.
Desire and attachment will vanish in the one who practices the above.
Till now, since last July, in these past 10 months, we have learned about Sadachara Kramam. We have learned a little about Jnana and Sadhana. We have learned a little about the knower. About Jnana, we will learn more in the future. Jnana grants the greatest bliss and peace. A seeker must acquire this priceless knowledge from Sadguru who is fully enlightened and is one’s well wisher.
verse
This work grants the highest bliss. One who is our well-wisher should be the one to share this knowledge with us.
Srutva ..
During the rainy season, water turns muddy. When alum is added to the water, the water becomes clear again. Similarly, once you listen to these words of wisdom from Guru, your mind will be cleared of all confusion and you will enjoy clarity of thought. Prasadam has the power to grant peace, in addition to giving strength to the body.
vidita..
By performing the stipulated spiritual practices, the seeker, even if he does not wish for it, will still attain Liberation. Once you visit the ashram, you automatically are granted Guru’s grace. It comes to you on its own without your deliberate effort.
Once you put yourself in the auto-mode, even if you do not deliberately wish for Liberation, permanent bliss will be granted to the seeker. Ignorance will be destroyed permanently. The enlightenment that occurs will last forever, unlike a light that flickers, or goes on and off. It will never leave the consciousness of the seeker. One, who listens to this Jnana Krama, the delineation of Truth, will absorb its essence and will become Self-realized. While in the body, such a seeker enjoys the Jeevanmukta state. Once the body is discarded, he will be totally liberated. This is not only the attribute of a true seeker, but is also the nature of the Brahma Tatva, which is in the form of spiritual knowledge. The strength lies not merely in the power of sadhana, but in the body of knowledge itself. This concludes the Mumukshu Vyavahara Prakaranam, the second Prakarana in Yoga Vasishtha.
Utpatti Prakaranam is the next. The first verse is:
vagbhati ..
Yoga Sastra takes us to a certain level. Thereafter, we proceed with knowledge about Birth, Creation, and Life.
Utpatti means emergence.
Today is Chaturdasi. Veda examinations are commencing. Soon the Brahmotsavam and Sri Swamiji’s Birthday Celebrations will commence. After all these events conclude, after fifteen days, we will resume our study. Until then, you are granted time off to review what has been studied so far, and whatever you remember from what you have listened to so far, and whatever you have understood.
When grief strikes you, remind yourself that this is only a dream. All troubles will pass. Remain happy. A guest will eventually leave. If he stays permanently, then he will become the man of the house.
Keep going over the lessons. Remember and ponder over the details. Keep your devotion strong. Be disciplined in your spiritual practices. You have listened to the Vairagya Prakarana and Mumukshu Prakarana. The next is Utpatti Prakarana. It is presented in an interesting manner. By Guru’s grace may everyone grasp the essence of this subject.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi