Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 201, December 3 2015
Sri Sadgurubhyo namaha
Om Santissantissantissantihi
We are discussing the Jeeva Utpatti krama, the process of how the individual was created. Hiranyagarbha, the first living being, out of a Samskara hidden within, wished to become many beings.
From fire, numerous sparks emerge. The sparks are called Sphulingas. Each of those sparks wishes to become a separate entity. They strengthen their feeling of separateness from the source from which they had emanated. That is how individual souls get created. The Vedas mention this example.
The individual, who believed that he was separate, then wished to see. So he got eyes. He wished to hear. So he got ears. He wanted to touch, and got the skin. He wished to taste and acquired the tongue. In this manner, the individual obtained all the five sense organs and the five organs of actions. Because of the mind that wished for these things, he got them all. That is why it is said that mind is the individual and the individual is nothing but the mind. This is how the creation of individuals took place.
One who looks into a well and sees his reflection, imagines that he is actually seeing himself. He gets separated from Brahma and imposes upon himself the smallness that is not really his. This is similar to the way a spark of fire, imposes upon itself its smallness because of its sense of separation, although it has come from the larger fire and has the same potential to burn.
Just as it is extremely difficult for one who has fallen into a deep well to extricate himself, it is extremely difficult for a person who identifies himself with his body to become extricated from that feeling. Before he fell in the well, everyone could hear the man’s voice, but once he falls into the water deep underneath, his screams are not heard by the others. We fall also into this extremely deep pit called identification with the limited body. This is called Jeeva Bhava. Linga Deha is the name given to the limited feeling the spark of fire assumes upon itself.
Yesterday we learned that the mighty tree has sprouted from the small seed and produced the fruit. It means that the seed itself is the fruit also. The world that emerges from Brahma consists only of Brahma and nothing else. This is true spirituality. Only the Pure Consciousness or Jnana should be experienced all the time. Those who live in that state live the way the Jeevanmuktas live. Sadguru is also like that. They get endowed with the immense Atma Sakti, the limitless power of the Soul.
Yadbeejam
Everyone should question about the origin of the individual, where and how he came into existence. We ask about the world but forget to ask about ourselves and our birth. If we know the cause of our birth, then we will know the purpose for which we have been born.
Each of us asks, why was I born? Many answers may be given. You have to follow dharma, you have to support your family, and so on. You should take care of yourself by eating and sleeping on time, and so on.
How did the Creation come about? For what reason was I created? One must search for an answer to that question. Then you will know what you have to do, having been born. It makes things easy then. Each individual does something different. Each has a different calling, a different duty. Some do service. All that is true. But what is the cause for birth itself? Karma is the cause. When did I do karma? In the past life. What was I in my previous life? You were a soldier and you fought. Before that lifetime, what was I? This series of questioning will go further back until you question about your very first lifetime. When did that happen? What is the answer? There is no answer. You just have to accept that the question will forever remain unanswered. May be you may go back three lifetimes or three generations. The number three is very significant. Those karmas are the closest to this present birth. In the scriptures, they mention only three generations. If we know those that is enough.
The stories of the pairs of individuals, like Ravana/Kumbhakarna, Sisupala/Dantavaktra, and Hiranyakasipu/Hiranyaksha tell us that in three lifetimes they attained Liberation. These were originally Jaya and Vijaya who were cursed to be born on earth. But we cannot get liberated like that. We cannot hate and abuse God as constantly and with as much vehemence as they did. That is what earned them Liberation. Night and day, with every breath they blamed God. They uttered God’s name non-stop and got purified. We have no other recourse except to follow the path of Jnana.
Does anyone tell you that this is your very first birth? Seeing the snake in the rope is the sin. When that happens, that is the beginning of ignorance. That means you are not seeing Brahma. You are seeing the world and yourself as separate from it.
Getting separated from the identification with Brahma is the origin of the first individual. That is four-faced Brahma. When the first individual was thus born, all other individuals emerged out of him thereafter. What is the reason for that? He wished to become many. So Brahma turned into numerous individuals. That is what it means.
It is said that the enlightened see everyone in the world as the same. It means that they see everyone as they view themselves. They consider the pleasures and pains of others as their own. That is one level of perception in spirituality. The higher level is where they see everything as Brahma.
Before the beginning of the physical Creation, in the Tanmatra Akasa, the subtle potential space element, exist the other potential subtle perceptions. Consciousness itself becomes the one who knows, and with its own intelligence creates the illusory five subtle perceptions. It has the capacity to do so. These subtle perceptions become transformed into the five gross elements which take on the form of the gross world. This entire illusory Creation appearing in the space called Consciousness, is nothing but Brahma itself. The five elements that are imagined, also exist only in the Pure Consciousness. Brahma is the source for the five subtle perceptions, the Tanmatras. The five subtle perceptions are the source of the five gross elements, the Pancha Bhootas. The ultimate source for everything is only Brahma. The five elements are also not separate from Brahma. It is as if one gives a form to space. That original Jeeva, the individual imposed a form for space and for the five perceptions and elements. His Sankalpa gave forms to the feelings. This is exactly the same thing that occurs in dreams where mere imaginary shapes and events take on the appearance of reality. The external world is also deceiving us with its false impression of reality. We must understand clearly that it is in fact nothing else but Brahma.
When one experiences ecstasy, one often says, it was all like a dream.
We all have the Samskara of Brahma within us. We speak from that standpoint. In some corner of our being, that trait is hidden within us, even though we may not be fully aware of it. Even the most ignorant also have it.
This concludes that this world is fabricated and fleeting. We cannot create anything permanent out of it.
If one imagines himself to be what he is not, it is only out of ignorance.
A prince was taken away as a child and thrown in the jungle. The prince grew up like a tribal boy. He knew nothing about the kingdom. This is a story from the Upanishads. It is not a cinema story although they have used it in a movie. I know it. The minister made a search and found the culprits who had abducted the boy. Upon being tortured, they revealed the whereabouts of the boy. The minister found him. The boy was totally uncivilized. The minister explained to the boy that he really did not belong in the jungle. He explained to him his true status and lineage. He took him to the top of the hill and showed him the kingdom that was his true inheritance. He explained to him that he had to rule that kingdom, the way the tribal leader led his tribe. The minister got the boy shorn of his wild hair and made him look civilized. Once the boy was taken back to the kingdom, the boy gradually accepted the fact that he was the crown prince and the future king. How did the boy acquire this knowledge about his innate worth and position? It is because the minister tutored him and revealed the facts to him.
Similarly, you have joined with the tribals and have assumed that you are one amongst them. What the minister did to the boy, Sadguru does to you. He leads you back to where you belong and tells you who you really are.
Similarly, due to a misconception, we are also assuming that we are something other than what we really are. We think we are worthless and helpless. Sadguru gives us Upadesa and gives us the courage to overcome our limitations. We have to heed the advice and grasp it.
A new point is explained now. You are all listening. Some among the listeners are very intelligent. They will say, we have imposed upon Brahma the five subtle perceptions. To that degree, we accept. But why should we agree that the five elements also are Brahma? We disagree. What is wrong in it?
You have to be systematic. You must clearly understand the concept of cause and effect. You must know the relationship between the two. At this context, that principle becomes very important.
How can what is based on imagination become a reality? Pure Consciousness alone is the source of both the subtle perceptions and the gross elements. What does that mean? It means that Brahma is all of those.
Pot came from clay. It can only constitute of clay and nothing else. Since Brahma is both the cause and the effect for this world, in truth, there is no such thing as the world. It never came into existence.
This statement is rarely expressed, even in the Upanishads. But Yoga Vasishtha boldly declares. It.
True. We hear the statements: Brahma is Truth. The world is an illusion. But, because it is not the common experience, Sage Vasishtha comes down to our level. He pretends to accept our premise that the world is real. He questions us how we can take it to be real. We can only give it reality as being Brahma Himself. Then what is left? Only Brahma is left. He alone exists.
Because we are unable to perceive the world as an illusion, he is showing us the truth from a different angle. Looked at from any angle, this same Truth will be experienced. But this kind of a wonderful presentation will not be found anywhere else except in the Yoga Vasishtha.
All the later writers followed this logic. The world is the product. The raw material for it is Brahma. Therefore, the product must consist only of Brahma. It is as simple as that.
You drew crude oil from the ocean bed. Later, it served you as fuel. The ocean itself is the substance of the fuel, since it has produced it. It is the source. The earth itself is the fuel. Do not extend the example beyond the required context.
Use the Sastra only to the extent that it helps you to experience the Truth.
Nobody believes that the world just took birth one day as it is. Everyone agrees that it came from Brahma.
Evannajayate
What exactly is being taught here?
That the world emerged from Brahma is the popular belief. Therefore, do Dhyana, meditate, upon the thought that the world is nothing but Brahma. This is most essential.
But do not dwell on each object of the world. That will not give you benefit. It is important to seek the guidance of Sadguru in how to do Dhyana. It is impractical to keep telling yourself, this loud speaker is Brahma, that microphone is Brahma, and so on.
A Yoga procedure is to dwell on the five elements as Brahma. That will include you, your body, and all those whom and which you know.
If the world is nothing but Brahma, then how did the cause and effect perception of the world come about?
What makes the rope appear like a snake? The one who knows that it is only a rope is not scared. He is happy and relaxed. The one who does not know, and thinks it is a snake, is afraid. The fear is caused by his not knowing that it is not a snake. Knowing by experience is required. Simply seeing, reading about something, or listening, is not sufficient. Knowing and experience are one and the same. For that, you must do Sadhana.
The one who knows Brahma, becomes Brahma Himself.
How did the cause and effect concept come into existence? Brahma Himself is the cause and also the effect. This is what happens in a dream.
We are the origin of the dream. We are the cause for the dream. The effect, as the dream, is also us. Ego enters into the picture and makes what does not exist, appear as if it exists, thus creating the cycle of cause and effect. This is the one and only answer.
The dream is a perfect example of how something non-existent, such as a city and its events can take on the appearance of a real world situation, and give a real world experience, with an apparent but unreal physical existence to it. This is just a mind game. Jeeva also was never born. He never existed and does not exist. Similarly, the world also never existed and does not exist.
Now we are speaking about the individual, having spoken about the world. How the individual also is illusory, just like the world that he experiences is illusory, is now being taught.
People are ready to accept that they are imagining things. But it is difficult for them to accept that they themselves are a fragment of imagination and they do not exist. People think that they are real and have a gross existence.
Now, it is clarified that the Jeeva has neither existence nor independence.
Just as the non-existent dream city comes to be experienced as if it were real, the individual’s existence is also similarly experienced.
Who is getting the experience that he is a Jeeva? If only Brahma exists, it is He, who has that experience of being a Jeeva. Now Brahma, who is suffering from the Jeeva Bhava has to give it up and regain his original Brahma Bhava. He must now restore his Brahma Bhava to himself. That is Jnana.
Swapna sankalpa puravat
This is a beautiful sloka. If you keep pondering on each word of this sloka, the meaning will reveal itself as a personal experience. That is why we chant mantras. If we keep our minds concentrated on the mantras, what happens? The mind becomes identified with the mantra. That makes the mind pure and peaceful.
If you keep the mind on the slokas of the Bhagavad Gita or the Ramayana, as they are read or listened to, over and over again, it gives great benefits, even if you do not understand the meaning. Gradually a positive Samskara develops. Many foreigners have experienced this. Hanuman Himself gives the Jnana if you keep on chanting the Hanuman Chalisa.
Even those who have thoroughly studied the Bhagavad Gita, tend to forget certain subtle points over a course of time. But with repetitive chanting, the meaning and the insights will be retained in the mind.
In Pure Consciousness, inertness cannot exist.
In the sky, one may imagine any pictures. In the mind or in the sky you can imagine a road, a chariot and horses, and their speedy travel. There is really no road, chariot, or horses. But the running experience is felt merely through imagination. These are chariots in the mind, imagined by the mind. Such are some impossible desires one has, to obtain chariots which only are fabricated by the mind. Manoratha, they are called. By God’s grace, some such wishes do get fulfilled sometimes.
With nothing existing in Brahma, Jeeva appears as if he has a gross form.
The collective mind is gathered during Pralaya. At that time Hiranyagarbha, the Maha Jeeva also merges in Brahma. That is Maha Pralaya or Kalpanta. The collective individual becomes separated as numerous individuals when Creation occurs. That process is now explained.
In some families, the parents totally identify themselves with the children. They feel the hunger of the children and feed them, even though they themselves may remain hungry. It happens in some households. Even the children must feel likewise. But most people are selfish. Those who are unselfish like that, become Sadgurus. They are Jeevanmuktas.
Like for a spark of fire, the feeling of being a separate individual arises. That feeling creates a body for him. The body is only in imagination at first.
The Veda says: yadaagnehe
This is a wonderful statement from the Upanishad.
Sparks of fire that arise from Fire, are also fire. If they fall on a thatched hut, they can set it on fire. The spark begins to feel and act as if it is an independent entity. It forgets its source. It begins to behave as if it is totally separate. It should remember that it is only a tiny speck that arose from the Fire and is Fire itself.
Agniputra! Son of Fire! We are exhorted to remember our original source. We have to remember our unlimited source. Awake, arise, and realize your true nature. If you forget that, you get the Jeeva Bhava.
Who is responsible now, for our becoming a Jeeva? We get separated, and we ourselves are responsible for the feeling of our separateness as individual Jeevas. Do not ever blame others for your birth, or for your troubles. Your happy experiences are also your own creation. No one else is responsible.
Brahma is not the reason. Just to make it easy for us to understand, initially we said Brahma is the cause. But He is not.
There is no effect. Therefore, there can be no cause.
It is a divine state that remains. It is even greater than Supreme Bliss.
We will continue tomorrow.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi