There is no short cut to God ~ AMMA

"There is no short cut to God; sadhana (practice) must be performed regularly and with devotion. It is our own effort which will enable us to experience the grace of God which is being showered on us all the time.

~ AMMA

THE ERADICATION OF THE DESIREOUS EGO ~Swami Sivananda

THE ERADICATION OF THE DESIREOUS EGO

The ego manifests itself as ambition, desire and lust. Under their influence man indulges in hatred, love, flattery, pride, unscrupulousness, hypocrisy and delusion. 

To eradicate egoism arising out of Deha-Abhimana (body idea), think constantly on the foulness and perishability of the body and the pains arising out of the senses. Reject them as evil and mentally rise above them. Dwell upon that which is desirable, elevating and divine!

THE TRANSCENDENT PRESENCE of ATMAN ~ Swami Krishnananda

THE TRANSCENDENT PRESENCE of ATMAN

(The fourth state Consciousness, the Ātman, the Absolute, Brahman)

The Māndūkya Upaniṣhad  Verse 7

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda

7. Nāntah-prajñam, na bahih prajñam, no’bhayatah-prajñam, na prajnañāghanam, na prajñam, na-aprajñam; adriṣhtam-avyavahārayam-agrahyam-alakshanam- acintyam-avyapadeśyam-ekātmapratyayasāram, prapancopaśamam, śāntam, śivam-advaitam, caturtham manyante, sa ātmā sa vijñeyah.

7. That is known as the fourth quarter: neither inward-turned nor outward-turned consciousness, nor the two together; not an indifferentiated mass of consciousness; neither knowing, nor unknowing; invisible, ineffable, intangible, devoid of characteristics, inconceivable, indefinable, its sole essence being the consciousness of its own Self; the coming to rest of all relative existence; utterly quiet; peaceful; blissful: without a second: this is the Ātman, the Self; this is to be realised.

COMMENTARY

We have made an analysis of the three relativistic phases of the Ātman, both in its individual and cosmic aspects. But, Reality, as such, is neither individual nor cosmic. To say that it is cosmic is also to limit it to a certain extent, to bring it to the level of what we call creation. The Supreme Brahman, the Absolute, is not a cause, and not also an effect. It has no effects, and, therefore, it is no cause. We cannot call The Supreme Being as even a cause of things, especially when we consider that everything is identical with It. The Māndūkya Upaniṣhad describes not merely the gross, subtle and causal conditions of the manifested consciousness, but also Consciousness, as such. There is something called Reality in itself, independent of relation. Even īsvaratva is a description by means of a relation to the universe. We call God sarveśvara, sarvajña and sarvaśaktiman, because we relate Him to the creation. God is omnipresent, pervading everywhere, which means that we recognise Him in terms of space. He knows ‘all’ things, means that there are things which He knows; and He has power over all things, means that He can exercise power over something which is external to Him. All definitions, even the best ones, such as Creatorship, Preservership and Destroyership of the universe; omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence, are relative. They are tatastha-lakṣhanas of God, accidental definitions; - not svarūpa-lakṣhana, the essential nature of Reality. What was God before creation? That would be His svarūpalakṣhana or essential characteristic. God, in His own essence, is something more than a Creator, Preserver or Destroyer, more than a cause of things, more than even an Overlord, All-knowing and All-powerful. What is that essential essence which is by its own right, and abides in its own Greatness, in its own Majesty? What is that Light which cannot be beheld by others, the Light which shines, but shines not upon anything? That is the state of Pure Consciousness, which is neither causal, nor subtle, nor gross. It is neither outside nor inside. It has no external nor internal. That grand Reality is described in the seventh mantra of the Māndūkya Upaniṣhad. This Absolute is known as the turīya, or the fourth state of Consciousness, transcending all relational manifestations, - causal, subtle and gross. While the waking consciousness is external and the dream consciousness is internal, this Consciousness is neither external nor internal, because it is not either waking or dreaming. It is neither internally conscious nor externally conscious, nāntah-prajñam, na bahih-prajñām - not internal consciousness like dream, nor external consciousness like waking. One may think that it is a consciousness simultaneously of both the states. No; It is something different from a simultaneity of consciousness. It is not external, not internal, not a simultaneity of both, either; - no-’bhayatah-prajñām. It is not also a mass of consciousness like a homogeneous heap of water in the ocean, - na prajñāna-ghanam. It is not quantitative in its essence. Quantity is spatial, mathematical and Consciousness is not such. Hence, it cannot be called a mass of consciousness, also, because when you think of mass, you think of a heap, a body, indistinguishable, though. Not so is Consciousness, - na prajñāna-ghanam. It is not featureless Consciousness without any awareness, na prajñām. You may think that it is awareness without an object before it. It is not even that, because the object is contained in that Consciousness. It is not Consciousness bereft of objects. It is Consciousness into which the objects have been absorbed. So, it cannot be regarded as a featureless transparency of an ethereal consciousness. It is not also absence of  consciousness, - na-aprajñām. It is not a state of inert perfection which the schools of thought like the nyāya and the vaiśeshika describe. It is not unconsciousness; it is not absence of consciousness; it is not bare consciousness; it is not a mass of consciousness; it is not external consciousness; it is not internal consciousness; it is not both-ways consciousness. What is this? Such is God in His essence, the Absolute in its True Being. Adriṣhtam: Invisible is it. One cannot see it. Whatever be the effort of the eyes, the eyes cannot visualise it. Avyavāharayam: One cannot have any kind of dealings with it. You cannot touch it; you cannot grasp it; you cannot talk to it; you cannot see it; you cannot hear it. No kind of business can be established with it. You cannot have a relationship with it. It is unrelated; non-relational is it. It repels all relation. It is neither friendly nor inimical. Such is the mystery of the Being of all beings. Agrāhyam: It is not graspable by the power of the senses. You cannot catch it with the hands, smell it with the nose, taste it with the tongue, hear it with the ears, see it with the eyes. No such thing is possible. Alakṣhanam: And, therefore, indefinable is it. You cannot describe it. No definition of it is possible, because what is definition but an association of qualities which you have seen, heard, etc.? But here is something which you have not seen, which you have not heard of; how can you have a characterisation of it? There is, thus, no definition of this Being of beings. No one can say anything about it. Acintyam: It is unthinkable by the mind. You cannot form a thought of this Being. You cannot, therefore, meditate upon it in the usual manner. You cannot think it, because to think would be to bring the object to the realm of space and time, to externalise it. It is not an object, and it is not in space and time, and, so, it is not thinkable. Avyapadeśyam: Indescribable, ineffable is it. You cannot speak its glory with your tongue. No scripture can describe it; no saint can explain it. Not even the wisdom of the sages put together can be adequate to its greatness. It is beyond all the wisdom of the sages, and it is peerless, incomparable. This character of the Being of this Reality is due to the fact that it cannot be referred to by anyone else. This world is a network of references. One thing is referred to the other for the purpose of definition, understanding and dealing. The whole world of business is a realm of references made to ‘others’. Here, however, no such reference is possible. It is a silence of all activity, both of the body and of the mind. Ekātmapratyayasāram: Here, we have a wonderful characterisation of the Ātman. The Ātman can be defined only as the Ātman. You cannot define it by any other form or concept. It is said that the battle between Rāma and Rāvana was incomparable. To what can you compare the battle between Rāma and Rāvana? You can say that something is vast like the ocean, endless like the sky, bright like the sun, sweet like sugar. But, like what was the battle between Rāma and Rāvana? It was like the battle between Rāma and Rāvana! This was all that the poet could say. “Space is like space, ocean is like ocean, and the Rāma-Rāvana-battle was like the Rāma-Rāvana-battle.” So, also, is the Ātman. The Ātman is like the Ātman. You cannot say that the Ātman is like this, or that, because it is incomparable, and any comparison attempted would be a reference made to something that has come out afterwards as an effect. That would be a travesty of affairs, indeed. Therefore, it can be designated only as ekātmapratyayasāram, the Essence of the consciousness of Selfhood and Oneness. It is, if at all, definable by three interesting terms, - ekatva (Oneness), ātmatva (Selfhood) and sāratva (Essentiality). It is the essence of all things, and it is One, and it is the Self. It is the Self, and, therefore, it can only be One. It is the Self, and, therefore, it is the Esscnce. The Self is that which knows itself, not by a means but by its own existence. It is Existence knowing itself without any external proof. Perception, inference, verbal testimony, comparison, etc. do not apply here in the case of the knowledge of the Ātman. It cannot be inferred by logic, induction or deduction, and it cannot he perceived, it cannot be compared, it cannot be described by words. It is the Self, which means that it is not beheld by someone else. The Self is beheld by itself alone. Here, Self and Existence mean one and the same thing. Existence is Self; Existence is the Ātman. The Self is non-objectifiable, non-alienable from its own essence. The knowledge of the Ātman is intuition, which is a non-relational apprehension of Reality, independent of the operation of the senses and the mind, where existence becomes identical with knowledge, and knowledge is one with the known. Here the object of knowledge is the same as knowledge and intuition. When the object stands outside knowledge, it is called perception. This is the difference between intuition and sensory cognition or information. Where the object stands in an immediacy of relation with knowledge, it is intuition. One cannot say whether it is the object that knows itself or the knowledge that knows itself. The difference between their characters vanishes as when two oceans join together. The knowing subject and the object of its knowledge come together in a single coalescence of Being. This is ātmatva - Selfhood. Salila eko drashtā, says Yājnavalkya in the Brihadāranayaka Upaniṣhad. The Ātman is like an oceanic flood without a surface or a limit. The Ātman is the sole Seer, Knower, Beholder, Experiencer, without a counterpart objective to it. It knows itself, not ‘others’, for the ‘others’ are also a part of itself. Hence, knowledge of the Ātman is the knowledge of the whole of existence. It is not knowledge of this Ātman, that Ātman, this Self, that self, this person, that person. It is the knowledge of The Ātman, which can only be One. The Ātman is single, - ekātmapratyayasāram. The One Ātman is called the paramātman as distinguished from the multitudinousness of the so-called ātmans, called jīvātmans. It is paramātman, because it is the Supreme Self. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavāniti śabdyat, says the Śrimad- Bhāgavata. From the absolute, universal and personal standpoints, it is called Brahman, paramātman and bhagavān. In itself it is Brahman, the Absolute; and as the Supreme Creator, Preserver, Destroyer, it is the paramātman; as the Beloved of devotees, it is Bhagavān. It is all this; - dvaita, viśishtādvaita and advaita points of view come together here in this Ātman, and the conclusions of the schools of thought merge into the single truth of a blend of various standpoints. Quarrels cease, arguments come to a stop, philosophies are hushed, silence prevails. This Ātman is Silence, said a great Master. When a devotee came, and asked the guru, ‘Tell me the Ātman’, the guru kept quiet. When the disciple queried again, ‘Master, tell me the Ātman’, the guru kept quiet, again. A third time the question was raised, and the guru kept quiet, once more. When for the fourth time the disciple put the same question, ‘Tell me the Ātman’; the guru said, ‘I am telling you, you are not hearing; because Silence is the Ātman’. In that Great Silence, all the turmoil of the cosmos is calmed. All the clamour of the senses, all the noise of the universe is contained and absorbed in this Silence. The Silence here is better than all the sounds that one makes, and it explains things better than all the speeches that one utters. This Silence is a fuller explanation than all the logical arguments of the philosophers. This Silence of all silences connotes Reality in a more comprehensive manner, than anything else, because when we express it in words, we come down from its level to a lower grade, and begin to think of it as an external object. The Kena Upaniṣhad warns us when it says, “It is not known to those who know it; it is known to those who do not know it”. If you think you know it, you do not know it, and when you know it, you do not think, but you simply are. You have become That, and you are That; and that is real knowledge. Knowledge is not expression, but Being. It is not becoming or a process. It is called sattā-sāmānya, in the language of the Yoga Vāsiṣhtha, the General Existence of all things, as distinguished from the particular existences of bodies, minds and individuals. It is the Transcendent Being, which cannot be called either as this or that. It is neither sat (existence) nor asat (non-existence) in the ordinary sense of the term. It is not sat or existence in the sense of some object being there. It is not asat or non-existence, also. We say that something is, because we see it; we can think of it; we can hear it; we can catch it with our hands. And, Reality is not such a type of existence. But, thereby, you cannot say that it is non-existence. It is beyond sat (existence) and asat (non-existence). Anādimat param brahma na sat tan na-asad ucyate, says the Bhagavad Gītā. This Brahman, the Origin of all things is non-temporal eternity. Na asad āsīt no sad āsīt, says the Rig Veda. What was there in the beginning? Not existence, not non-existence. Definitions are given by persons, and all persons who give a definition of Reality came afterwards as an effect. Who is to define that which was prior even to the cause of all things, antecedent even to the condition of īsvara? Who can describe it, and what can you say about it except only characterising it, tentatively, as ekātmapratyayasāram? How do you grasp this Ātman? By knowing it that ‘It Is’, - asti-iti-eva-upalabdhnvyah, as the Kaṭha Upaniṣhad puts it. Know it as ‘That which is’, said Saint Augustine. What is the Reality of all realities? That which Is, the General Existence, sattā-sāmānya, ekatmapratyayasaram. This is Brahman. Prapancopaśamam: Here all samsāra, all this tumult of creation, subsides, like waves sinking into the ocean, as dream is withdrawn into waking consciousness. The universe, in all its conditions, - gross, subtle and causal, - ceases here. In this state, there is neither the virāt, nor hiraṇyagarbha, nor īsvara; because, there is no creation. This is the Ātman where there is neither waking, nor dreaming, nor sleep. Thus, it is called prapancopaśamam. It is not a condition; it is beyond all conditions. It is not a state of affairs. We do not know what it is. It is a mystery. Wonder of all wonders is this: Wonderful is that disciple who can comprehend it from the wonderful teacher who can teach this wonderful Being. Āścaryavat paśyati, vadati, ṣrinoti, says the Kaṭha Upaniṣhad. What a glorious Being is it! The prapanca, this vast cosmos, ceases there, and That alone is, shining as the glorious Sun of all suns. It is śāntam: Peaceful is that state. No worries, no anxieties, no pains, no sufferings, no births and deaths, no agonies of any kind can be there. It is not the peace born of the absence of sound or the absence of contact with things. It is the peace which is positive in its nature. We say we are peaceful when nobody talks to us, none disturbs us, and we have everything that we want. This is not the peace of the Ātman, because our concept of peace in the world is purely negative and, again, relational. The Ātman is non-relational peace that cannot be put an end to by the passage of time. Our peace on earth has a beginning and an end. Today we are peaceful, tomorrow we are not. We cannot afford to be always peaceful. But the peace of the Ātman is eternal, and most blessed is that state. It is śivam: It is the only thing that can be called really auspicious, designated by the most blessed terms, ‘Om’ and ‘Atha’. Praṇava is its designation, in its Self-comprehensiveness. Advaitam: Non-dual is that state. We cannot even call it as the One. It is ‘Not-two’; - that is all; because, to say that it is one, would be to denote it by a numerical figure. It is not one, because there is nothing other than it. We can only say, ‘it is not-two’; - advaita. The Upaniṣhad, after having said that it is eka (One), now says that it is advaita (Non-dual). We should not call it as one, or eka, because  ‘one’ has a relation to ‘two’, ‘three’, ‘four’, etc. It is non-relational; therefore, we should not describe it even as one. It is ‘not-this, not-this’; - ‘neti, neti’. It is not this, and not that; not anything that we can think, or understand. Caturtham manyante, sa ātmā: This is the fourth state of Consciousness, which is called the Ātman. It is called the fourth, not numerically, but in comparison with the three relative states of waking, dream and sleep. When you go to this fourth state, you do not feel that you are in a ‘fourth state’. You are, then, in the only possible state. It is the transcendence of the three, not in a fourth, but in a numberless, figureless, quantityless, immeasurable Being. This is the Ātman. This is our essential nature, and the essential nature of all things. We are the Ātman, which does not wake, dream or sleep which does not restrict itself to the outer or the inner. The Ātman is the sole Being of all beings, Existence of all existences, ‘sat’ of all ‘sat’, ‘chit’ of all ‘chit’, ānanda of all ānandas: - Supreme Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Sa vijñeyah: This is to be known. This is the purpose of life. We live here for this purpose, and we have no other aim in life. All our activities, all our business, all our functions, whatever they be, are conscious or unconscious attempts on our parts to realise the Ātman, and until and unless we reach the Ātman, we cannot be happy, we cannot be satisfied, and we cannot put an end to the cycle of birth and death. We are perpetually both and we perpetually die to train ourselves for attunement of our being with the Ātman. Births and deaths are processes of training in the field of experience. We experiment with the things of the world, with a view to visualising the Ātman in them, coming in contact with the Ātman in the objects. We love things because we hope that the Ātman is there in them, but we do not see it there because it is not in one place only. Why do we love things, love persons, love objects? Because we have a hope that the Ātman is there, and we go for it. We do not find it there, and so we go to another object, - perhaps it is there, - like the Gopis searching for Kriṣhna in different places. Kriṣhna! Are you here, are you there? You know, where; He is everywhere. The Gopis queried the trees, the plants, the bees and even the inanimate things. Have you seen Kriṣhna? Has Kriṣhna passed by this path? Where is Kriṣhna? Can you give an indication of Kriṣhna’s whereabouts? Madly did the Gopis ask of everything in creation, animate and inanimate. ‘Do you know Kriṣhna? Have you seen Him?’ In a similar manner, madly do we go after the things of the world. Is the Ātman here? Have you seen the Ātman? Can you get the Ātman here, there, in this, in that? It is nowhere! It is not in anything particularised, and, therefore, we cannot get the Ātman by any amount of search in the outer world of objects. So, all the loves of the world are futile in the end, and are bound to be frustrated, doomed to suffer, because of this erroneous approach to Reality made through the objects, to which Reality cannot be confined on account of their inherent structural defect. And, in this experimentation, we die. Life is too short. The experimentation does not end. In the next birth we do, again, experiment with things, because the objects in creation are infinite. We make infinite experiments, and the struggle goes on. This process is called samsāra, transmigration; and in all the lives that we take, in all the deaths that we pass through, the Ātman cannot be seen, just as the Gopis could not see Kriṣhna until He Himself made a Will to appear before them. Nobody could inform the Gopis as to where Kriṣhna was. ‘I do not know: I do not know’: this is what all the objects will tell you. What are we asking for, then? We have never seen it. And, considering this enigmatic situation of the quest for the Ātman, the Upaniṣhad finally said that perhaps it can be realised only by him whom it chooses. You have to leave it to itself. You do not know how you can see it. There seems to be no means of knowing it. Nothing in the world can be a help to us in knowing it. Yam eva eṣha vrinute tena labhyah: Whom it chooses, he alone can obtain it. This seems to be a solution arrived at by the sage of the Kaṭha Upaniṣhad. We are tired of the quest. And when the Gopis were fatigued in this arduous quest, when they became unconscious in their utter surrender to Kriṣhna, He revealed Himself. Now the time has come. The ego has gone; effort has ceased; one cannot do anything further; then He comes. You search, and search, and search, and you realise its futility. The ego realises its limitations, and it ceases. When you know your limitations, you cease from all egoistic effort, and the cessation of the ego is the revelation of the Ātman. God comes when the ego goes. When you are nowhere, He alone is everywhere. He takes the position of your personality. You vanish, and He comes in, not before that. When the personalities of the Gopis vanished, Kriṣhna took possession of their hearts, and instead of the Gopis being there; Kriṣhna was there. The jīva expires into īsvara. This is the Ātman to be known, the Goal for which we live in this world. This is the fourth state Consciousness, the Ātman, the Absolute, Brahman.

AS YOU THINK SO YOU BECOME ~ Atman Nityananda

EVERYTHING IS IN OUR MIND

We have made (consciously or unconsciously) our world in our minds.
That's why we can change it.

AS YOU THINK SO YOU BECOME

Think you are happy and you will become happy
Think you are brave and you will become brave
Think you are God and you will become God

THE ONLY OBSTACLE IS YOUR DOUBTING MIND
~~~
"As you think, so you become. As are your thoughts so must be your life. Improve your thinking. Better thoughts bring better actions."

"Man sows a thought and reaps an action. He sows an action and reaps a habit. He sows a habit and reaps a character. He sows a character and reaps a destiny."

-Swami Sivananda

I'm! THE WORLD IS REAL OR ILLUSORY? ~ Ramana Maharshi

THE WORLD IS REAL OR ILLUSORY ?

Question: "Brahman is real. The world is illusion" is the stock phrase of Sri Sankaracharya. Yet others say, "The world is reality." Which is true?

 
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Both statements are true. They refer to different stags of development and are spoken from different points of view. The aspirant starts with the definition, that which is real exists always. Then he eliminates the world as unreal because it is changing. The seeker ultimately reaches the Self and there finds unity as the prevailing note. Then, that which was originally rejected as being unreal is found to be a part of the unity. Being absorbed in the reality, the world also is real. There is only being in Self-realisation, and nothing but being.


Question: Sri Bhagavan (Ramana Maharshi) often says that Maya (illusion) and reality are the same. How can that be?

 
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Sankaracharya was criticised for his views on Maya without being understood. He said that: 1. Brahman is real, 2. The universe is unreal, and 3. The universe is Brahman.
He did not stop at the second, because the third explains the other two. It signifies that the universe is real if perceived as the Self, and unreal if perceived apart from the Self. Hence Maya and reality are one and the same.


Question: So the world is not really illusory?

 
Sri Ramana Maharshi: At the level of the spiritual seeker you have got to say that the world is an illusion. There is no other way. When a man forgets that he is a Brahman, who is real, permanent and omnipresent, and deludes himself into thinking that he is a body in the universe which is filled with bodies that are transitory, and labours under that delusion, you have got to remind him that the world is unreal and a delusion. Why? Because his vision which has forgotten its own Self is dwelling in the external, material universe. It will not turn inwards into introspection unless you impress on him that all this external material universe is unreal. When once he realises his own Self he will know that there is nothing other than his own Self and he will come to look upon the whole universe as Brahman.
There is no universe without the Self. So ling as a man does not see the Self which is the origin of all, but looks only at the external world as real and permanent, you have to tell him that all this external universe is an illusion. You cannot help it. Take a paper. We see only the script, and nobody notices the paper on which the script is written. The paper is there whether the script on it is there or not. To those who look upon the script as real, you have to say that it is unreal, an illusion, since it rests upon the paper. The wise man looks upon both the paper and script as one. So also with Brahman and the universe.

Question: So the world is real when it is experienced as the Self and unreal when it is seen as separate names and forms?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Just as fire is obscured by smoke, the shining light of consciousness is obscured by the assemblage of names and forms, the world. When by compassionate divine grace the mind becomes clear, the nature of the world will be known to be not the illusory forms but only the reality.
Only those people whose minds are devoid of the evil power of Maya, having given up the knowledge of the world and being unattached to it, and having thereby attained the knowledge of the self-shining Supreme Reality, can correctly know the meaning of the statement "The world is real." If one's outlook has been transformed to the nature of real knowledge, the world of the five elements beginning with space (akasha) will be real, being the Supreme Reality, which is the nature of knowledge.

Om! THE NATURE OF THE SUPREME SELF (ATMAN) ~ Vivekachudamani

THE NATURE OF THE SUPREME SELF (ATMAN)

extract form the book Vivekachudamani by Sankaracharya

124. Now I am going to tell thee of the real nature of the supreme Self, realising which man is freed from bondage and attains Liberation.

125. There is some Absolute Entity (the Atman), the eternal substratum of the consciousness of egoism, the witness of the three states, and distinct from the five sheaths or coverings:

126. Which knows everything that happens in the waking state, in dream and in profound sleep; which is aware of the presence or absence of the mind and its functions; and which is the background of the notion of egoism. – This is That.

127. Which Itself sees all, but which no one beholds, which illumines the intellect etc., but which they cannot illumine. – This is That.

128. By which this universe is pervaded, but which nothing pervades, which shining, all this (universe) shines as Its reflection. – This is That.

129. By whose very presence the body, the organs, mind and intellect keep to their respective spheres of action, like servants !

130. By which everything from egoism down to the body, the sense-objects and pleasure etc., is known as palpably as a jar – for It is the essence of Eternal Knowledge !

131. This is the innermost Self, the primeval Purusha (Being), whose essence is the constant realisation of infinite Bliss, which is ever the same, yet reflecting through the different mental modifications, and commanded by which the organs and Pranas perform their functions.

132. In this very body, in the mind full of Sattva, in the secret chamber of the intellect, in the Akasha known as the Unmanifested, the Atman, of charming splendour, shines like the sun aloft, manifesting this universe through Its own effulgence.

Maya and Creation by Swami Sivananda

Maya and Creation

by Swami Sivananda

MY SILENT adorations to my dearest Mother, Maha Maya, the illusory power of Brahman who keeps up this Lila! May She guide me in all my thoughts and actions! She is Sat-Asat Vilakshana-Anadi Bhavarupa Anirvachaniya Maya. She is Sat because you see actually Her creations. But She is not as real as Brahman because She vanishes as soon as Brahma Jnana dawns in the aspirants. So she is Asat or unreal. But she is not as unreal as the horns of a hare or the louts of Gandharvanagar in the sky or a barren woman's son. Hence She is called 'Anirvachaniya' or the indescribable or the inscrutable power. Have you understood Her nature correctly now? I shall proceed to describe Her creations.

Before I begin to narrate Her activities, let me touch the point which troubles the minds of aspirants often, the moment a little discrimination dawns in them. They begin to rack their brains with the question: 'Why has God created this Universe? He is Purna. He is without desires.' This is an Atiprasna or a transcendental question. You cannot find a solution for this question even if you rack your brain for millennia of years. No Acharya or teacher or prophet has even given an answer to this question. The finite mind that is conditioned in time, space and causation cannot find an answer. There can be a 'why' for matters concerning the physical plane. If a small boy asks his father: Papa, why did you create me? What answer will the father give? He will simply say, My dear boy, wait a bit; grow for some years and marry, then you will understand this subtle point; do not unnecessarily rack your brain now. This is exactly the case with our young, inquisitive aspirants. Vasishtha also gave the same kind of answer to Rama when he put the same question. He said: Dear Rama, do not put the cart before the horse; get Atma-Jnana; then alone you will understand the nature of Maya and Her activities and the 'why' of Maya; you are caught up in the fire of Samsara; there are methods to get out of this Samsara; practise and realise Brahman; then only you will understand the 'why' of this universe. What will a man do who has acute appendicular colic? Will he ask the doctor: What is this medicine? What are its ingredients? What is its price? Is it a German preparation or an English preparation? No, he will not. He will simply take the medicine immediately to relieve the pain. Even so, do not bother yourself about this point. You will be wasting your whole life if you try to find out a solution. I know of a deputy collector who was very much worried with this question for a period of twelve years. Whenever he approached any Sannyasi or Mahatma, he put he same question: Why has God created this universe? Now only he has got Shanti. I meet him last year. Whenever you sit for meditation, this point will trouble you and your meditation will be disturbed. Tell the mind whenever this question arises: Keep quiet, you dirty mind; I know the answer now. I have found out a solution. Get away. Do not mislead me. Immediately the mischievous mind will remain quiet.

Creation

Now I come to the point of creation. The one silent Brahman willed: Why I become many. May I bring forth. This world was projected by His illusory power - Maya. You will find in the Chhandogya Upanishad: Sat eva saumya idam agra asit ekam eva advitiyamIn the beginning this was Existence only, One only, without a second, O Saumya or good-looking youth! This Maya and Brahman are inseparable. They are like fire and heat or ice and cold. Shakti and Shakta are one. Worship of Shakti really means worship of Brahman. Worship of Brahman includes worship of Shakti as well. It is only the foolish or the sectarians who argue unnecessarily.

 Maya & Gunas, viz., Sattva, Rajas and Tamas

This wonderful Maya has got three Gunas, viz., Sattva, Rajas and Tamas which means purity, passion and inertia respectively. Pure Brahman is without attributes. There is no Maya here. That portion of Brahman which is associated with Maya is called Ishvara or Saguna Brahman. Maya is Shuddha Sattva. Ishvara has control over Maya. Jiva or the individual soul is a slave of Avidya. Avidya is Malina Sattva. Sattva is mixed with Rajas and Tamas. Maya is the Karana Sarira or causal body of Ishvara. Avidya is the Karana Sarira of Jiva.

Chaitanya and gunas

·       The Chaitanya that is associated with the Sattva Guna is Vishnu.

·       The Chaitanya that is associated with Rajoguna is Brahma and

·       the Chaitanya associated with Tamoguna is Siva.

The one Ishvara has become three according to the functions of creations, preservation and destruction. The Chaitanya is the same.

Srishti is of two kinds, viz., Sthula and Sukshma. First the Sukshma Brahmanda is created by Hiranyagarbha. Here matter exists in a rudimentary state.

The five Tanmatras or root elements.

There are the five Tanmatras or root elements. They are in a state of non-quintuplication. They are not mixed together.

The sum total of all minds and Prana is Hiranyagarbha. His Loka is Brahmaloka. Ishvara has no Loka.

Maya

Here Maya is in an Avyakta or undifferentiated or unmanifested state. Here matter and energy are one. Sound also exists in an undifferentiated state. Just as the tree exists in a seed state, so also the whole world exists in a seed state in this Avyakta, Maya. The whole world merges in this Avyakta, Maya. The whole world merges in this Avyakta during the state of cosmic Pralaya.

From the Sattvic portion of each of these Tanmatras is born the five Jnana Indriyas or organs of knowledge. From the sum-total of Sattva of the five Tanmatras is born the mind.

From the separate Rajasic portion of each of these five Tanmatras is born the Prana.

The born the five gross elements

From the Tamasic portion of each of the Tanmatra is born the five gross elements. by the process of quintuplication of Panchikarana this gross Brahmanda is formed. The gross water that you see outside really contains, eight annas of water Tanmatra, two annas of Akasa Tanmatra, two annas of Vayu Tanmatra, two annas of Agni Tanmatra and two annas of earth Tanmatra. Each element divides into two halves and one half of each element is mixed with the quarter of the outer halves of the four elements. Then the gross element is formed. by a combination of the five elements this physical body and the whole gross Brahmanda is formed.

Whatever you see outside is called Virat. This is the cosmic physical body. The underlying Chaitanya is Vaishvanara. The sum total of all astral bodies is Hiranyagarbha. This is in the macrocosm. The associated Chaitanya is Sutratma or the thread-soul. The sum-total of Karana Sarira is Avyakritam. The underlying Chaitanya is Ishvara.

In the microcosm, Visva is the associated Chaitanya of this physical body in the waking state. Taijasa is the associated Chaitanya of the astral body in the dreaming state. Prajna is the associated Chaitanya of the Karana Sarira in the deep-sleep state. Melt the Visva in Virat and the Virat in 'A' of Omkara. 

Melt the Taijasa in Hiranyagarbha and the Hiranyagarbha in 'U' of Omkara. Melt the Prajna in Ishvara and the Ishvara in 'M' of Omkara. There will remain the Ishvara Sakshi or Kutastha. That is your real Svarupa, O dear Surendranath, after doing Laya Chintana in the above manner.

Laya Chintana of the elements consists in involving the earth into its cause the water, water into its cause the fire, fire in Vayu, Vayu in Akasa, Akasa in Avyakta and Avyakta in Brahman.

The Antahkarana Laya Chintana consists in melting the speech in mind, mind in Buddhi, Buddhi in cosmic Mahat, Mahat in Avyakta and Avyakta in Brahman.

In Adhyaropa you have creation, world, etc. In Apavada the whole super-imposition of the world is deleted. Brahman alone remains. This world is after all a mental creation. Where there is mind, there is world - Manomatram Jagat, Manah Kalpitam Jagat. Is there any world during sleep?

As people with gross minds cannot grasp the theory of Ajati-Vada or non-creation, this world of Srishti Krama is given. If you study the doctrine of Ajati-Vada, propounded by Gaudapada in his Karika, you will find that this world does not exist in the past, present and future. This doctrine can only be understood by high class aspirants who lead a life of seclusion and meditation.

If you remain in Allahabad for six months, you forget all about your native place which is Madras. There is no Madras for you while you live in Allahabad and there is no Allahabad for you while you live in Madras. This world is a mere collection of Samskaras created by the mind. If you can consciously destroy the mind by Sadhana and Samadhi, the world vanishes. It is all Brahman only. You shut yourself in a room for a fortnight. Give up reading newspapers. Engage yourself in deep meditation and see whether there is world or not.

A man with colour-blindness sees green as red and red as blue. A man with fever finds no taste in milk at all. The man who has a paralysed tongue cannot find taste in orange and salt. A microphone exaggerates the sound of a fall or a pin. He who has cataract sees a double moon. A frog, an elephant and an ant have got their different worlds. This world is a play of colours and sounds. A man with a perverted sense of touch feels the sensation of butter in stone. If you have quite a different pair of lenses you will have another world. A round table will appear as a square one. The senses are deceiving you at every moment.

Time is created by Kala Shakti, space by Dik Shakti and form by Rupa Shakti. All are the products of Maya. Sometimes one mile appears as one furlong and one furlong appears as one mile. When you are in a state of concentration, one hour appears as ten minutes. When the mind is wandering half an hour in hanging on you as two hours. Time is mental creation. In winter the sun appears at eight in the morning and sets at five in the evening. In summer the sun rises at five in the morning and sets at seven in the evening. What is all this? Is this not a jugglery set up by Maya?

You find in the Gita that you can cross this illusion 'Mayaya duratyaya' by devotion unto the Lord. 'This divine illusion of Mine, caused by the qualities is hard to pierce; they who came to Me cross over this illusion.'

Obtain the grace of the world's Mother, Maha Maya. Through Her grace you will be able to transcend the three Guans. She will introduce you to Her Lord, Brahman. Then and then alone you can rest in everlasting peace and attain the immortal abode. She helped Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Vemanna of Andhradesa. She is ready to help you all, to take all Her children back into Her sweet bosom of love. Do total self-surrender unto Her. Say unto Mother: 'Mother, I am thine. Save me. Have mercy on me. You have saved several souls. I too am Thy son.' You will feel Her warm embrace now.

It is very difficult to get human birth. Utilise it for higher purposes. Do not waste it in idle talking, eating and drinking. You will never get again a birth like this. Cross the ocean of Samsara through the grace of the Mother and rest in your own Sat-Chit-Ananda Svarupa. I bow with folded hands once more to my loving Mother of compassion and mercy, Mother Kali who is known as Parvati, Durga, Ambika, Ganga and Gauri and who assumes the forms of Sarasvati, Lakshmi, Sita, Radha, and Kundalini.

Source: sivanandaonline.org

Serve, Love, Give, Purify ~ Swami Sivananda

Serve, Love, Give, Purify  

Excel in Service,

Expand in Love,

Advance in Knowledge.

Service is Love in expression,

Love is concentrated Knowledge,

Knowledge is diffused love

PURIFY

Spirituality means growing into the form of Divine Ideal. It is the transformation of your nature from human to Divine. This is brought about by Abhyasa, i.e., spiritual practice or Sadhana and Vairagya leading to renunciation.

Conscious attempt to merge ourselves in the Supreme Reality is called spiritual Sadhana, which should be the common aim of all, though the process may be different.

If you wish to evolve quickly, you must have the right kind of Sadhana. If you are a student of the path of self-reliance, you can select the Sadhana for your daily practice, yourself. If you are a student of the path of self-surrender, you should get the right kind of Sadhana from a Guru and practice it with intense faith.

Constant Satsanga with the wise and study of the Srutis under a Guru will slowly wipe out the wrong and worldly Samskaras.

Make intense inner Sadhana the keynote of your life. Base your life upon the ceaseless remembrance of the Divine consciousness and constant feeling of His presence.

Sadhana is at first mechanical and it is only in the later stages that it becomes a part and parcel of one's own life. It appears as a drudgery in the beginning, but later on it imparts joy, peace, strength, courage and freedom.

Do not be slack in you Sadhana. It is Sadhana that will help you in the long run. It is the only asset in this life.

Be regular in your Sadhana-and attain Self-realisation in this very birth.

Never mind repeated failures in your Sadhana. Nil desperandum. Despair not. Do not give up the struggle or the Sadhana. Stand up and fight again. Struggle again. You are nearer to success each time. Every failure is a steppingstone to success. You are sure to succeed in the long run.

Only when you have purified the heart, silenced the mind, stilled the thoughts and surging emotions, withdrawn the outgoing senses, thinned out the Vasanas, you can behold the glorious Atman during deep meditation.

The practical method of realising one's divine nature is the complete transformation of the base animal nature, transcending the human nature and awakening fully the dormant spiritual traits within.

This is done through perfect ethical evolution, self-restraint, self-analysis, self-purification, concentration, meditation, practice of selfless love and service to all and systematic inner culture through right speech and right conduct. This alone is the pathway to Yoga and inner unfoldment.

Never complain against bad environments. Create your own mental world wherever you remain and wherever you go. Do not try to run away from bad unfavourable environments. God has placed you there to make you grow quickly.

The world is not a hindrance to your spiritual path. The world is your Guru. The world is a training school. The world is Virat or Isvara.

Perfect serenity, cultivation of divine virtues, entertaining holy thoughts, discipline of diet-all these pave the way to success along spiritual path.

Right from the very beginning of your spiritual life, you must understand clearly that in true humility, sincere desire to root out gradually pride, egoism and jealousy, earnest and increasing introspection to find out one's own defects and improve oneself, lies your hope of progress.

The nature of the mind is such that it becomes that which it thinks upon intensely. Thus if you think of the vices and defects of other man, your mind will be charged with those defects and vices at least for the time being. He, who knows this psychological law, will never indulge in censuring others or in finding faults in the conduct of others. He will always praise others. He will only see good in others. That is the way to grow in concentration, Yoga and spirituality.

No man is absolutely bad. Everyone has some good trait or other. Try to see the good in everyone. Develop the good-finding nature.

Examine your character. Pick up some distinct defect in it. Find out its opposite-let us say that you suffer from irritability. The opposite of irritability is patience. Meditate on it regularly every morning for a few minutes taking one aspect of it-such as its value, its practice under provocation on different days.

Choose one virtue for every month and keep it before you as an ideal to be achieved throughout. Meditate on it morning and evening just after getting up from bed and just before retiring at night.

There is no easy path to salvation except through small improvements, correction, purity, Japa and celibacy.

If you are established in Ahimsa or non-violence, you will never be harsh, rude and haughty even for a moment. No thought of evil or of injuring others will ever occur to you, even for a moment. Your heart will be filled with love, kindness and affection.

Not to hurt others is not so difficult as not to be hurt by others. You will have to become mindless. You will have to kill your egoism in toto. You will have to develop patience to a maximum degree if you wish not to be hurt by others.

Source: sivanandaonline.org