OM! Who is called a Jivanmukta or liberated sage ~ Swami Sivananda

Who is called a Jivanmukta or liberated sage

~ Swami Sivananda

extract from his book "Jivanmukta Gita"

He is called a Jivanmukta or liberated sage who has a balanced mind, an equal vision and who beholds the one Satchidananda Atman in all names and forms.

He is called a Jivanmukta who has transcended the three bodies, the three Gunas, the five sheaths and the three Avasthas.

He is called a Jivanmukta who perceives equally the One Infinite Being seated in the Jiva and Siva and in all beings.

He is called a Jivanmukta who is desireless, angerless, egoless, mineless, selfless, homeless and mindless.

He is called a Jivanmukta who is possessionless, who has transcended time, space and causation and who abides peacefully in the Chidakasa of the heart.

He is called a Jivanmukta who has transcended the waking, dreaming and sleeping states and is established in the Eternal Consciousness of Self-Identity.

He is called a Jivanmukta who knows that the Self, the Guru, and the universe are all the taintless Ether of Consciousness and that nothing actually comes or goes. He is called a Jivanmukta who is simple, gentle, humble, bold, courageous, patient, self-restrained, ever-peaceful, calm, serene, forgiving, just, truthful and non-covetous.

He is called a Jivanmukta who has a broad heart like the sky, deep as the ocean, fragrant like the Jasmine, pure as the Himalayan snow and brilliant like the million suns shining at a time in the firmament.

He is called a Jivanmukta who is free from vanity, crookedness, chicanery, cunningness, diplomacy, hypocrisy, harshness and double-dealing.

He is called a Jivanmukta who is benevolent, kind, compassionate, merciful and loving to all beings.

He is called a Jivanmukta who is free from Raga-Dvesha, likes and dislikes and who is endowed with dispassion, discrimination and cosmic love.

He is called a Jivanmukta who has no enemy, who has no body-consciousness and who ever dwells in the Eternal Brahman.

He is called a Jivanmukta who is free from distinctions, differences, and who is above caste, creed, colour and race.

He is called a Jivanmukta who clears all doubts of aspirants, who is an ocean of divine wisdom, who is noble and magnanimous.

He is called a Jivanmukta who practises the highest Yoga, who has internally renounced everything, but appears inert outside, and who has abandoned everything internal and external.

He is called a Jivanmukta who is not bound by any rule of the society, who is ever moral and who does not break the harmony of the society.

He is called a Jivanmukta who sleeps anywhere he likes and who eats any food from anybody’s hands.

He is called a Jivanmukta who realises that he is pure Absolute Consciousness which connects all as a thread connects all pearls, and that he is the attributeless Brahman.

He is called a Jivanmukta who is above sex idea and sex distinction and who has no thought of tomorrow.

He is called a Jivanmukta who ever identifies with the all-pervading universal Brahman, and who is above praise, censure, honour and dishonour, respect and disrespect.

He is called a Jivanmukta who, through the knowledge of the Self realises that the one appears as many like moon reflected in various receptacles of water.

He is called a Jivanmukta who has Trikalajnana, knowledge of the past, present and future and who is free from exhilaration and depression.

He is called a Jivanmukta who sees the one Brahman which is this whole world, shining like the sun in all beings. He is called a Jivanmukta who has realised that there is neither bondage nor liberation, and whose mind ever takes delight in being merged in the practice of meditation.

He is called a Jivanmukta who sees everything filled with one Consciousness which is the Ruler of all and exists all-pervading like ether.

He is called a Jivanmukta who respects all saints, all prophets, all religions, all faiths, all cults, and all creeds.

He is called a Jivanmukta who partakes of the essence of the bliss of Brahman and rejoices alone and for ever, being destitute of habits, natures and pairs of opposites.

He is called a Jivanmukta who, seeing the one Brahman existing in all beings, does not perceive any difference.

He is called a Jivanmukta who, seeing that the Jiva which is identical with Siva exists eternally, is not inimical.

He is called a Jivanmukta who regards the whole world as his body and home, and who has cosmic vision, cosmic love and very broad outlook in life.

OM! WHO IS A JIVANMUKTA ( a man liberated-in-life.) - Adisankaracharya

 

WHO IS A JIVANMUKTA ( a man liberated-in-life.)

In the next verses of his book Vivekachudamani Adisankaracharya defines the nature of a Jivanmukta.

423. If the heart’s knot of ignorance is totally destroyed, what natural cause can there be for inducing such a man to selfish action, for he is averse to sense-pleasures ?

424. When the sense-objects excite no more desire, then is the culmination of dispassion. The extreme perfection of knowledge is the absence of any impulsion of the egoistic idea. And the limit of self-withdrawal is reached when the mind-functions that have been merged, appear no more.

425. Freed from all sense of reality of the external sense-objects on account of his always remaining merged in Brahman; only seeming to enjoy such sense-objects as are offered by others, like one sleepy, or like a child; beholding this world as one seen in dreams, and having cognition of it at chance moments – rare indeed is such a man, the enjoyer of the fruits of endless merit, and he alone is blessed and esteemed on earth.

426. That Sannyasin has got a steady illumination who, having his soul wholly merged in Brahman, enjoys eternal bliss, is changeless and free from activity.

427. That kind of mental function which cognises only the identity of the Self and Brahman, purified of all adjuncts, which is free from duality, and which concerns itself only with Pure Intelligence, is called illumination. He who has this perfectly steady is called a man of steady illumination.

428. He whose illumination is steady, who has constant bliss, and who has almost forgotten the phenomenal universe, is accepted as a man liberated in this very life.

429. He who, even having his mind merged in Brahman, is nevertheless quite alert, but free at the same time from the characteristics of the waking state, and whose realisation is free from desires, is accepted as a man liberated-in-life.

430. He whose cares about the phenomenal state have been appeased, who, though possessed of a body consisting of parts, is yet devoid of parts, and whose mind is free from anxiety, is accepted as a man liberated-in-life.

431. The absence of the ideas of "I" and "mine" even in this existing body which follows as a shadow, is a characteristic of one liberated-in-life.

432. Not dwelling on enjoyments of the past, taking no thought for the future and looking with indifference upon the present, are characteristics of one liberated-in-life.

433. Looking everywhere with an eye of equality in this world, full of elements possessing merits and demerits, and distinct by nature from one another, is a characteristic of one liberated-in-life.

434. When things pleasant or painful present themselves, to remain unruffled in mind in both cases, through the sameness of attitude, is a characteristic of one liberated-in-life.

435. The absence of all ideas of interior or exterior in the case of a Sannyasin, owing to his mind being engrossed in tasting the bliss of Brahman, is a characteristic of one liberated-in-life.

436. He who lives unconcerned, devoid of all ideas of "I" and "mine" with regard to the body, organs, etc., as well as to his duties, is known as a man liberated-in-life.

437. He who has realised his Brahmanhood aided by the Scriptures, and is free from the bondage of transmigration, is known as a man liberated-in-life.

438. He who never has the idea of "I" with regard to the body, organs, etc., nor that of "it" in respect of things other than these, is accepted as one liberated-in-life.

439. He who through his illumination never differentiates the Jiva and Brahman, nor the universe and Brahman, is known as a man liberated-in-life.

440. He who feels just the same when his body is either worshipped by the good or tormented by the wicked, is known as a man liberated-in-life.

441. The Sannyasin in whom the sense-objects directed by others are engulfed like flowing rivers in the sea and produce no change, owing to his identity with the Existence Absolute, is indeed liberated.

442. For one who has realised the Truth of Brahman, there is no more attachment to the sense-objects as before: If there is, that man has not realised his identity with Brahman, but is one whose senses are outgoing in their tendency.

443. If it be urged that he is still attached to the sense-objects through the momentum of his old desires, the reply is – no, for desires get weakened through the realisation of one’s identity with Brahman.

444. The propensities of even a confirmed libertine are checked in the presence of his mother; just so, when Brahman, the Bliss Absolute, has been realised, the man of realisation has no longer any worldly tendency.”

Om! SELF-REALIZATION or ENLIGHTENMENT and the EGO / Atman NItyananda

 

SELF-REALIZATION or ENLIGHTENMENT and the EGO

Although great teachers like Adisankaracharya, Swami Sivananda and Sri Ramana Maharshi have made very clear what is the nature of Self-realization, unfortunately many western teachers have created their own idea about Self-realization. Some do not accept the necessity of purification of the mind and others doesn't mention the necessity of complete eradication of the ego and all agoic tendencies (vasanas). Some claim that even after Self-realization the ego remains but in the periphery. All these are are false ideas of unenlightened teachers whose mind resists to see the truth.

Lets see some quotes of these three great beings about Self-realization or libeartion or enlightenment (they are synonymous terms.

Sri Ramana Maharshi said:

"It is not by a single realization, ‘I am not the body but the atman’ that the goal is reached. Do we become high in position by once seeing a king? One must constantly enter into samadhi and realize one‘s Self and completely blot out the old vasanas and the ego, before he becomes the Self."

Therefore meditate!"

"The death of the ego in the unlimited Silence ( the non-dual Truth) and the shining forth of the Self is the attainment of Oneness (Kaivalya-Siddhi ). In that State of Jnana, pure Bliss will gloriously blaze forth as one’s own True Nature."

In his famous 40 verses says:

"He who, having completely lost the ego, sees the Self, has found God, because the Self does not exist apart from God."

"All religions postulate the three fundamentals, the world, the soul, and God, but it is only the one Reality that manifests Itself as these three. One can say, 'The three are really three' only so long as the ego lasts. Therefore, to inhere in one's own Being, where the 'I', or ego, is dead, is the perfect State."

In the above sayings Sri Ramana Maharahi makes very clear that Self-realization is reached when all vasanas and ego itself are completely dissolved! There alre many other quotes in which Sri Ramana says the same thing.

There are similar declarations of Swami Sivananda:

" A Jivanmukta* is a liberated sage. He is emancipated while living. He has cut off all bonds.

He has destroyed his mind. He is in a state of mindlessness. He is absolutely free. He has identified himself with Brahman or the Absolute Consciousness. He has no identification with the body. He is free from egoism, lust, anger, greed, selfishness, pride, likes, dislikes, exhilaration or depression.

NOTE: " In the spiritual teachings of east, who has achieved Self-realization or enlightenment is called Jivanmukta.

Adisankaracharya in his book Vivekachudamani says:

299. So long as one has any relation to this wicked ego, there should not be the least talk about Liberation, which is unique.

300. Freed from the clutches of egoism, as the moon from those of Rahu, man attains to his real nature, and becomes pure, infinite, ever blissful and self-luminous.

301. That which has been created by the Buddhi extremely deluded by Nescience, and which is perceived in this body as "I am such and such" – when that egoism is totally destroyed, one attains an unobstructed identity with Brahman.

303. As long as there is a trace of poisoning left in the body, how can one hope for recovery ? Similar is the effect of egoism on the Yogi’s Liberation."

"317... the destruction of desires is Liberation, and this is considered as Liberation-in-life."

We see that in these sayings there is not any doubt that Self-realization requires a complete dissolution of the ego and all egoic tendencies (Vasanas - anger, desires, fear, greed, pride etc.)!

READ ALSO THE NEXT POST: WHO IS A JIVANMUKTA (LIBERATED)