Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 171, October 9 2015
Sri Sadgurubhyo namaha
Om Santissantissantissantihi
Yesterday we learned that Sri Rama had asked for a description of Paramatma. In response, Sage Vasishtha gave an answer in six verses, each one ending with the line: Tadroopam paramatmanah. But based on these verses, we should not assume that the formless Paramatman actually has a form. Just to make us understand, since we learn our lessons only by observing the things around us in this world which have form, examples are given from the physical world. It is not possible for us to grasp the obscure and abstract principles without the use of concrete examples taken from the worldly existence.
Sri Rama asked further: How do we experience Paramatma whose attribute is the ultimate Truth? This vast Universe appears before our eyes as very real. How can you claim that this is all unreal and that the unseen Paramatma alone is real? How can this be believed? How can this wide world be branded as untruth? We accept things as truth only from our direct observation. While this extensive creation is very much in front us and is a part of our direct experience, how can this be dismissed as unreal? The invisible Paramatma cannot be proven to exist. That being so, how do we get to experience Him?
Sage Vasishtha replied that it is not true to state that Paramatman is totally beyond establishment by proof. His existence can be proven by certain methods. One who has complete faith in the words of Guru and follows them with steadfast faith and sincerity, and believes totally in the statements made in the Upanishads will be able to establish the existence of Paramatma as Truth without any doubt. The Veda is proof. Guru’s words based on personal experience are proof. From their own experience the Mahatmas declare that Paramatma exists.
In the Ramayana, Sri Rama was in agony due to the abduction of Sita. He asked that a search should be made to find Sita. Even after several months, she was not found.
Sampati, a bird spoke up that Ravanasura took Sita and traveled in the southerly direction. Ravana lives in the South. He has kept her captive there. You will find Sita there. Trusting his words, the search party proceeded. Not all of them went. Hanuman alone traveled and had the darshan of Sita. Sampati’s words in that instance are like Guru’s words to us. Guru merely throws a sentence at us. We have to grasp those words and fulfill our lives. The word ‘Sampati’ itself conveys to us this lesson. Based on the words of a bird, Hanuman went and was successful in finding Sita. He returned with the good news that made everyone happy.
Similarly, the Veda, Guru’s words, and the experience of great souls serve as proofs to us and following their authenticity, we may proceed and succeed in realizing Brahman.
Bhramasya
We see many instances and consider them as truth. We sometimes get deluded. We see the sky as blue and assume that it is actually blue. But it is not. The world also appears real, the way the sky looks blue. We assume that something exists when it is non-existent.
A patient imagines that he has diseases which do not exist in him. It is the nature of man to imagine that the world exists and is real, when it is neither real nor does it exist. By entertaining such a false notion he gets distanced from the actual Truth.
Atyanta abhaava
We must adhere to the words of Guru.
It is not as if the world once existed and is gone now. The world never existed. Paramatma ever exists. With proofs you can understand this, if your belief in these concepts is firm. It is possible to grasp this concept.
Only a few in a thousand make an effort to seek Truth. Of them only one or two succeed. One must always make an effort to overcome the obstacles in the path. Hurdles occur in any effort, physical, religious, or spiritual. We must pray to Sadguru for strength to transcend the impediments. One must trust Guru’s words completely. Such persons will certainly succeed in knowing Paramatma.
Verse
With Karma, only with actions performed, you cannot have the darshan of Paramatma. Then, are not good deeds beneficial to us? Should one refrain from doing those? No. One must perform good karma. It is a must, and noble deeds help to cleanse the mind and make it one-pointed. Do Yoga. Do Pranayama. Do Yoga exercises. These will lead towards the ultimate goal eventually, whether or not you wish to travel along that path. Good deeds will smoothen your path. Do not make business deals with God, demanding returns for your virtuous deeds. God’s grace is what you should pray for and it will lead you towards Jnana. There is no need for anxiety or doubt. Those who do good deeds will certainly attain Self-realization indirectly by the cleansing and purification of the mind. Good deeds will not result in God emerging out of a Homa Kunda to give you darshan in a gross physical form. God is not visible to the physical eye. Spiritual awakening occurs internally when the mind is pure and clean. Only by placing faith in Guru’s words that Truth alone exists, one succeeds in the spiritual pursuit. There are no two truths. Both the world and the Paramatma cannot be true simultaneously.
Drishya
Unless this visible world vanishes, Paramatma will not be experienced. Even amongst a thick crowd, a devotee will spot his Sadguru at once because his mind is focused on him. But those who do not know Sadguru will be searching all around to see him. For the devotee, the rest of the crowd disappears from view. His eyes rest on Sadguru alone.
All the people around must disappear from the mind. The focus must zoom in towards Paramatma alone. There is no other way. The entire Yoga Vasishtha is based on this teaching. One must sweep away this entire physical world.
There are different ways of approaching this. One is to see God in everything and everyone. Another method is to consider that everything that is seen is a myth and should be ignored. Our minds must dwell without distraction on the ultimate reality alone.
Atyantaabhaava
The feeling in us must be full that nothing else exists but Paramatma. This must be constantly remembered. How to carry on in the world if one believes so? We see Sage Vasishtha himself, and we see our Sadguru. We see the divine incarnations such as Rama and Krishna who lived in the world and carried on worldly affairs while being in the spiritually awakened state. There is no need to fear that in the worldly life one will fail by becoming spiritually awakened. In fact, one will be more successful in the world.
Ignorance will be dispelled when Jnana is born in you. The wheel of light behind the head of a holy person when he is enlightened, is a symbol shown in pictures and movies. It is not a reality. You see a glow of knowledge in the personalities of the enlightened souls. Their presence exudes a certain peace and bliss. Jnana is itself Paramatma. Knowing Brahman is the same as becoming Brahman.
An MBBS doctor becomes a physician because of the knowledge he possesses. The certificate is required for him to set up practice, no doubt. But with or without the certificate, the knowledge is within him which makes him a doctor.
Jnana will awaken and will change the inner personality. It may or may not be visible on the outside as an apparent change in the individual.
Our earth is very small. When we transcend the galaxies themselves, then why worry about transcending the smallness of this planet?
Navidaha
A wonderful teaching is given here. Ignorance has many reflections. But Jnana has no reflection to be seen. Samvit is Jnana. It has no reflection.
There is a tunnel. On one side is Paramatma. On the other side is a mirror in which the mind reflects the world. Man is running away from Paramatma towards the illusory world reflected in the mirror. He keeps running and gets exhausted. Sadguru appears in the middle of the tunnel and urges him to change the direction of his travel. It is foolish to run towards a mirror. No one wishes to enter inside a mirror. One must run towards Reality. When he changed the direction, man traveling in the dark tunnel now began traveling towards himself. He began traveling towards Paramatma. The one who changes the direction of your travel is Sadguru.
When the object is non-existent, how can it have a reflection? The mirror is there. The object is not there. Then how can there be a reflection? For an enlightened soul, only Paramatma will be seen as a reflection in the mirror. The mind has created a mirror and has become the mirror, and inside the mirror it reflects an illusory world. If the mind has only the knowledge of Paramatma, only He will be seen. Two things will not be seen as truth simultaneously. When the mind is strengthened with the words of Guru, the world picture or the reflection of the world will disappear and will be replaced by the picture of Paramatma alone. Paramatma Jnana will burn away the world image.
Suppose that the mirror is large enough to reflect both us and the objects of the world that are behind us. That also is possible, you may argue. It is not possible. Brahma Jnana will burn the world into non-existence.
Either you only dwell on the thought of Paramatma to envision Him and live in bliss, or take the longer and tougher route of minus-ing all the innumerable objects of the world.
When Brahma Jnana awakens, untruth is burned away. Mirror goes out of existence, since you cannot have a mirror that cannot reflect anything. Unless untruth is burned away, Truth will not reveal itself.
Jagannaam
A wonderful teaching here. Let us assume that the world was born. How did the world come into being on its own? Did a pillar simply create itself out of its own will? Only the pillar of Light as mentioned in the description of the 12 Jyotirlingas emerged on its own, when Sadasiva took that form.
What will be our fate if concrete pillars should grow out of the earth on their own? It does not happen.
If you believe that there is a creator who has built this world, then consider that it is Paramatma who is that Creator, because the world has no power to create itself. It has neither the energy nor the consciousness to give it the knowhow. So who is behind the world, this universe, this Jagat? Ponder over it. Without anyone’s involvement, the world cannot come into existence. Is the Creator standing over and overseeing its construction? No. Paramatma does not engage in any action. He is not going to assume the role of a builder. Then how did this world come into existence? You have imagined its existence.
What has no power to build itself, can only be a myth. It is non-existent.
Vedanta, Advaita is a great science. It has to be taught in a scientific manner. It transcends science. Just as all rivers merge in the ocean, all sciences such as psychology, biology, and so on, merge into Vedanta. There is no science that is not included in Vedanta.
svasataa
There is no other way to Brahma Jnana except the acceptance that this world is not real. This is asserted with certainty. No matter if you struggle for eons on end believing this world to be true and real, you will not arrive at Truth. You will keep seeing only the world. You may gain worldly powers. We are not speaking about worldly goals here, such as siddhis, miracles, and so on.
We are only speaking about the seekers of Truth and Self-Realization. They have to accept that the world is unreal. There is no other alternative.
As mentioned in the story of Dhruva, he fixed a certain picture of God in the mind and viewed it internally, and by penance succeeded in seeing that same form externally also. Dhruva then wondered whether the form was really inside or outside. He realized that the form was actually inside his mind. Then he explored the nature of the mind. The Bhagavatam, which predominantly teaches about Bhakti/devotion, does not explain this point, but the commentators do.
Sri Rama got a doubt that we also get sometimes. Sri Rama teaches us here how to formulate our questions. He asked:
Iyato drishya
O Sage, what you have said is that this world does not exist. When we see the real physical world so definitely, so vastly, consisting of so many towns and cities, consisting not only of this earth, but all the galaxies as well, how can its reality be denied outright? This very strange statement is impossible for me to believe. You say that what is visible is all unreal and what is invisible is real. You are telling me to envision Paramatma who is most subtle and invisible, denying the existence of this visible world.
Moreover, what you speak is incredulous. How can a mustard seed contain within it the entire Meru Mountain?
Will anyone believe if I say that I have packed the entire earth inside my suitcase?
Paramatma you say is most subtle. Yet how can He contain within Himself this entire Creation?
A good question is posed by Rama.
We see an object not as what it is, but as what it is not. We see the rope as the snake. We impose something that is unreal onto to something that is real. How can we attribute this gross, vast world upon the most subtle Brahman?
Will anyone look at a mountain and believe that it is actually a small seed? Sometimes it happens. If you take a video using a magnifying glass as the lens and then project it, what do you see? The mustard seed will appear like a mountain. We refer to it as technical effects in movies. We assume it to be true. Recently I saw a video.
At a distance, there were two youths dressed as bikers with helmets, and so on, standing beside their motorcycles as if they were just about to ride off. From a greater distance another couple of bikers approached and picked their bikes up in their fists laughingly as if they were small toys. The first two guys were actually tiny toy figures. We will be surprised to see such projections.
It is wrong to assume that small things cannot appear to be big. It is also a false conception. Everything that we observe in this world must be applied as an example to further explain the subject that we are trying to understand.
Rama asked how Mount Meru can fit inside a mustard seed. Anything is possible. Nothing is impossible here.
This question comes to you because you think that this world has a physical reality.
Dinaani
Rama, you said that this world is vast and has a material existence. You asked how you can visualize Brahman who is most subtle. If you stay with me for a while and follow my instructions to the letter, in no time I can simply sweep away your misunderstanding. This is a very simple affair.
We think we know a lot. But before Sadguru, our knowledge flies away like a small piece of cotton wool.
We may keep a huge pile of cotton, but it will fly away in one whiff of breeze. In a huge gust of wind, even automobiles may fly away.
If you follow my guidance with earnestness, Rama, you will succeed. Your mind should have complete concentration. There should be no excitement in the mind. The mind should be calm and one-pointed. Then you will experience it in an instant. You must associate with the enlightened and listen to good teachings.
Like the mirage of water disappears as one approaches it, the realization emerges instantaneously and easily that this world is only a mirage. One who knows the nature of the desert will not run towards the mirage and get exhausted like the ignorant person. Similarly, when Jnana is awakened, the delusion of the existence of this world vanishes.
Drishyaabhaave
Only if there is a scene, the question of seeing it comes into place. If the scene is removed, the seer and the process of seeing will no longer exist. The Triputi, which we spoke about yesterday, will be destroyed. The mind will then be at peace in pure Jnana. Jnana alone remains then. One should strive towards attaining this experience.
Sage Vasishtha gives more explanations with greater examples. One must keep pondering over these. Many things will be discussed. They should be noted down and recollected often, to establish the concepts firmly in the mind. Otherwise confusion will result.
The easiest subject to learn is Vedanta. It is closest to us. If one has interest in learning it and approaches it with sincerity and listens with concentration, it will be easy to grasp. Other sciences appear to be easy on the surface, but once you get into them, they will be quite difficult to master.
One at the seashore will think the ocean is very nice. He would not even have touched the waters yet. Only when you enter the waters you will realize the ocean’s depth. If you take ten steps forward, you may even get drowned if you do not know how to swim.
Vedanta is effortless and joyous. It is very pleasant and easy to learn. There is no strain here for body, mind, or the intellect. One must listen with concentration and faith to understand properly.
Make an effort to earn the grace of Guru. I pray that by His grace you will all be able to master this subject.
Today is Friday and Dwadasi. Abhishekam to Lord Venkateswara will be performed now. Let us all witness it.
Om Santissantissantihi
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta