July 6, Vasishtha
Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 164, July 6
Sri Sadgurubhyo namaha
Om Santissantissantihi
Yesterday Vasishtha explained to us about the power of Mind. Its capabilities were described. It is mind which experiences the three states of wakefulness, deep sleep, and dream. It is also mind which experiences liberation. The one that takes us down to the deepest depths is also Mind.
With Sri Rama's question this 5th sarga begins. It is called Devasvaroopa varnana. Here Deva refers to Paramatma.
Sri Rama asks, "What supports, or what is the 'adhishthana' for the mind which is the cause of this illusory universe, and you say that the mind itself is illusory?"
We have heard this term adhishthana before, but we have not clearly explained the term.
We see something and mistake it for another item. The rope appears like a snake due to darkness or movement. The rope is the basis upon which a different attribute such as snake, is imposed.
Adhishthana here is the rope. The fundamental entity that is mistaken to be a snake.
If there is no rope to start with, how can one imagine a snake? Rama asked: For the illusion of mind to come into existence, what is the basis? What is it that we are mistaking for the mind?
Atma is not easily experienced by everyone. Ignorance, like a veil covers it. Once the curtain of ignorance is removed, the Self is realized or experienced. Atma is not directly seen or experienced. Nor is it completely hidden. It is not indirectly experienced. It is not pratyaksha, it is not apratyaksha, and it is also not paroksha. It is aparoksha. aparokshaanubhooti.
What does it mean? It means direct experience. But it is not physically visible to the sense ***, the eye. Pratyaksha is what is perceived by the sense organs. Aparoksha experience is that which is known, but not by the sense organs.
Vasishtha gives the description of the Soul.
When a soul departs from the body, for its smooth onward and higher journey, we perform certain rituals and karmas. The soul is subtle. We cannot offer it gifts directly for its upward journey. So we offer our gifts indirectly through prayers and rituals.
After Pralaya, nothing is left but Pure Consciousness. The mind imagines its own existence. In our own room, we imagine many things to exist which are non-existent. We imagine that we are really sick, if we dream one night that we had become ill. If in a dream we experience some pleasant event, we treat the dream incident as if it had really occurred. When we wake up we realize that the dream experiences are unreal.
Pure Consciousness fantasizes that it has a mind. Using the mind it then fantasizes this entire world phenomenon. And it identifies itself with the world that the mind had created and experiences the joys and sorrows it presents, as if they are all real. The fantasy of an individual is created, who experiences all the events of the world. A strange phenomenon is carried out like this.
This strange experience it goes through, while at the same time remaining unchanged in its original state. If that original state of non-change did not exist, then, the question of liberation does not even occur. If Pure Consciousness itself got transformed into something else, for instance, the world, then liberation is out of question. When the mind is withdrawn and merged back into Pure Consciousness, it is called Moksha or liberation.
Now the nature of Pure Consciousness is being described.
Mind emanated as an illusory entity out of Pure Consciousness.
Mind plays all kinds of games. Foot ball, cricket, and other sports are nothing in front of the games played by mind. We think that we are separate from our mind and that our mind is playing games with us. In a way, it is a better concept to think that it is mind that is playing games with us, and not the soul.
Then, by the samskara given to us by our elders, we can try and merge the mind in the soul and get liberated. Guru's grace is that. Our tradition is that since childhood, we are taught to restrain our mind and keep it under control. We are told that our mind sometimes misleads us. We are urged to develop concentration to gain success in education. We are prepared to cleanse the mind and develop clean tendencies of the mind. When deliberately we increase the balance of our pure mental tendencies, the negative mental tendencies will become weak, and eventually, we will attain perfect purity of mind which then will merge into Pure Consciousness.
Ravanasura, Hiranyakasipu, and Sri Ramachandra all had different samskaras. Setting aside the notion that Rama was divine, if we look at them all as individuals who lived in the world, what do we learn? Ravana's evil samskara led to his destruction. Rama's samskara placed him before us as divinity incarnate.
Samskara helps to uplift us. Guru builds our good samskaras, the way mother feeds and nourishes a child physically. Guru feeds us with spiritual food, to make us strong spiritually so that we gain purity day by day, till we become perfectly pure.
When a bad thought enters the mind, one should be alert to recognize the presence of a negative or wicked samskara and at once an attempt must be made to reject it.
That is why the mind games are described here. The mind makes one believe that the individual is the body and allows the body to take control and play games with the individual. When an individual identifies with the mind, he attributes all of mind's thoughts to himself, as if they are his thoughts. We get so obsessed with the comforts of the body.
If we are able to keep the entities separate, soul, mind, and body, and treat them as separate and not mix them, then we will be able to see the differences in them clearly.
Kapila revealed the nature of the Atma/Soul to Devahooti.
Lord Dattatreya showed his mother Anasuya, the difference between the body and the soul. Only the body remained there, when he separated the soul from it and showed it to her. It really means that Datta granted enlightenment to His mother.
Only to make us understand, at the basic level, in dramas, and cinemas they show the soul like a light or a lamp. Air is invisible. Space is invisible. So they show it like a light. No doubt, Soul is Light. But it is not the type of light that we think of. It is the light of consciousness and energy.
All the different states of being occur only to the mind. It is the one that rises to heights and falls to deepest depths. It experiences liberation. In Bhakti/devotion tradition, the devotee surrenders his mind to ***. There is a great deal of Jnana inherent in that gesture. He forgets everything else and declares that *** or Guru alone is Truth and Reality.
Even for one instant, if we can forget that we are the body, and if we can fully surrender the mind to *** or Guru, the result we obtain is infinite.
It does not occur just like that. If lifelong, daily, if you keep performing Satkarma (noble and virtuous deeds), then after decades, one day suddenly, the flash of realization may occur. This delusion that we live under, that 'I am the body', is so strong that it is very difficult to free ourselves from it. Surrendering the mind to *** means, seeing *** as being present everywhere and as everything, including oneself. He should minus himself also.
A disciple it seems kept asking his Guru, "When will I get liberated?" Guru said to him, " 'I' should cease to exist, for your liberation to occur. "
Every day thereafter, the disciple keenly observed the whereabouts and activities of Guru several times a day, peeking through his window. One day Guru asked the reason for his undue curiosity. The disciple said, "I am trying to see whether you have ceased to exist, so that I can get liberated." Guru laughed, and explained, "The 'I' in you, your ego should cease to exist. It has no relation to whether or not I exist."
When one says *** is everywhere, it does not exclude oneself. It does not mean that *** exists everywhere, except within you. It includes you. You must first realize ***'s presence inside your own heart. It is most difficult to do so. Jeevanmuktas live perpetually in that state. But we cannot verbally say it, without experiencing it. That is why, after consecration or abhishekam, Swamiji tells the devotees to go to the temple and have darshan. You should not say, "*** is in my heart. I do not need to visit temples." You have not reached the Jeevanmukta state yet.
You should not accuse Guru of giving a deviation in your path from the path of Jnana to the path of Karma.
Why does Guru say that the Karma path is all illusion?
It is because, the path of Jnana is very intricate. It is not so easy.
When you get to the diversion in the road, you take it, but not before. Till you reach a certain distance, both roads are merged. After you have reached a certain stage, then the paths separate and then, you may be eligible to take the diversion. Not until then. Guru knows when you are ready for which path. If you deviate from the path before it is your time, you will be the one who gets lost. You have to keep performing Satkarma till it you have matured to go to a different route.
We must keep performing good deeds.
We seek *** outside, forgetting that He exists in our own mind. That is why in the path of devotion, we must keep reminding ourselves that *** resides within us as well.
Mind is everything. Mind is the one that gets liberated.
Guru remains as Atma Swaroopa. We pray to him.
Deva svaroopa varnana - description of *** or Guru is described. It does not mean the physical form of a deity with crown and jewels, and so forth. All gods are of the form of Soul. That is why we worship them. If we offer them worship, if we offer prayers to Sadguru, because they are all always in the state of being merged with Pure Consciousness, they bless us out of compassion and grant us enlightenment.
Siva, Brahma, Vishnu, Mother Goddess, or Ganesha, or whichever deity, should also be prayed to for enlightenment. One should not pray only for the removal of troubles or the fulfillment of worldly desires. If one prays for Self-Realization, automatically, when that wish is granted, all difficulties will disappear. The very source of unhappiness will be removed. Therefore, pray for Jnana, spiritual wisdom.
With Gurus, and gods, their resolve itself is their power. Guru resolves that all the impediments of the disciple should be removed. He decides that the disciple should develop concentration. He should perform good deeds. The time, location and karma should cooperate with him. The power of divinity is so great that He can change anything at anytime. He has created this entire illusory existence in the first place by creating the mind. That is why we should pray. Atma is Paramatma, Supreme Soul.
This sarga begins with Sri Rama's question.
You said this mind is illusory. How did this come into existence? Upon what, as its basis, has the mind come into being?
Some fundamental basis should be there for any imagination to be based upon.
For instance, from a distance, you see an individual approaching from far away. At a closer distance you recognize that it is a female. You guess it may be Subbamma. When she approaches even closer it gets confirmed that it is indeed Subbamma. It is only when a human form is seen far away, unclearly, that you begin to imagine who it might be.
What is it we are mistaking to be the snake?
The rope might appear to us as an unknown object in semi darkness, it may feel soft and wet when you step on it, if the rope had soaked in water for three days. It may move with the strong breeze. You then scream, "Snake, Snake."
Your neighbor may assure that it is only a rope and that he had seen it earlier. He told you that he was originally mistaken and feared that it was a snake, but upon investigation, realized that it is only a rope. But you do not trust his words.
Guru clearly tells you that it is not a snake. It is only a rope. But you do not believe him. The belief occurs only when Jnana comes. Jnana comes only when there is complete faith in Guru's words, and in the statements made by the Vedas. Only then you attain Jnana. Without faith, there is no Jnana. Without Jnana, there is no comfort or peace. Without peace, misery continues endlessly.
If you dispel the delusion you suffer from, then your dejection and grief will go away. The snake fantasy exists in the rope.
What is it that exists which is giving us the impression that it is the mind?
bhagavan ...
O Guru, O ***, is how Sri Rama addresses Sage Vasishtha.
One should always be most reverential towards Guru. Never be frivolous with Guru.
In imagining the presence of mind, what is it that is deceiving us as if it were the mind?
This should be our question. The thought of snake must completely leave our minds. Only the rope should be seen. Fear should be completely absent. If fear is gone, then diseases will be gone. Sorrows will be gone.
Rope is the foundation for the snake.
What causes the mind concept to be imagined in the first place?
We ask: You say what if there were no such creature as snake existing in this world, how can there be an illusion of a snake then? Come may assert that even the rope is illusory.
We should not be splitting hairs here with these examples. The examples are given only to help us to understand. Do not take the examples to be literally true.
How did the mind get created when only Pure Consciousness exists?
Because bliss is eternal, our sorrows are replaced by happiness. If joy were impermanent, then there is no question of liberation.
We sleep every night and enjoy the bliss of deep sleep daily. But we assume that sorrows are permanent. Happiness exists.
In worldly life, enjoy the sight of a child playing, enjoy a simple joke. Some people are averse to enjoyment. some will keep complaining about one small flaw seen somewhere. After eating a sumptuous feast, one complains all day about less salt in just one item.
When there are so many people struggling with terrible handicaps, still people complain about their own small problems.
Pick up the gems lying under the rocks. They have given you a bag of precious gems and the disciple throws it away thinking that they are all rocks.
Guru gives us such tests to train us.
How was the mind born in the beginning? O Sage you are the best amongst all teachers. O Gurudeva, please explain this to me first, before you give other explanations.
Devasvaroopa Varnana begins.
maha pralaya..
The foundation for the mind has to be now explained.
The Samadhi (grave) structure of a great soul is called Adhishthanam. The Atma svaroopa or the Atma's presence there is established in the form of a chosen deity. What you may see with the physical eye may be the idol. But what exists there is the invisible energy of the departed soul.
Small calamities keep occurring. Thousands perish during floods, earthquakes, and wild fires. We must consider these disasters as minor Pralayas. Once every four Yugas, or at the end of each yuga, a Pralaya occurs. At the end, a Maha Pralaya occurs, as described in Sri Lalita sahasranama Stotram.
How can you call what had never existed, as real? This visible Universe merges in Pure Consciousness. Unimaginable countless galaxies will all perish.
Some scriptures mentions 14 worlds. It is up to your imagination, how many galaxies or worlds exist in this Creation.
Prior to Creation, go to that time, before the lotus emerged from the navel of Vishnu, before the birth of Brahma. Maha Vishnu was in Yoga Nidra.
Chaturmasya is a very auspicious time. All is pure, and peaceful during the time of that Yoga Nidra (Sleep of Yoga), when the Chaturmasya austerity is performed.
It is an experience that we cannot experience physically. The four months are Vishnu's time to sleep in Yoga Nidra. The time scale is different for different creatures.
He has not even conceptualized Creation by then. Only Jnana, Supreme soul consciousness exists then. Only peace with no adulteration or contamination or change, exists.
Take your mind to that state of peace. That is the dhyana of great souls.
No need to visualize calamities such as Pralayas, earthquakes, and volcano eruptions.
Merge your mind in the Supreme. Do not worry about your relatives and properties. You must reach the state of leaving everything, leaving all attachments.
Before creation occurred, only Pure Consciousness in its whole and pristine state existed. No mind existed then. The collective mind had merged and melted into Him. Only Consciousness remained.
aaste ..
When He is described as radiance, the question arises whether He ever sets, like the Sun. The Sun has a lifespan and eventually, when the gases and substances becomes exhausted, the sphere will disappear. We worship the Sun. We call Mother Goddess as Bhanumandala madhyasthaa - she is the energy that energizes the Sun.
In the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita there are five slokas considered as the Prana or the Life of the work. *** explains how He exists in different substances. He never sets. He never subsides.
The earth rotates and causes the rising and setting of the sun. You cannot make that the greatest aspect of science. It is the minutest Jnana to know that the sun does not really set. It is a children's lesson.
In some circumstances, you describe it as the chariot of the sun. No scientist ever refers to the earth is rising or setting. We do not use that terminology. Usage of expressions is not Jnana.
The seers sit at home in penance and they tell us what is edible and what is not. Scientists keep changing their statements. The statements of the seers are unchangeable. They have experienced truths. You cannot abuse and put down the sages based on recent scientific discoveries.
The feeling of sunset should be there in the mind before it can be explained that pure Consciousness never sets. If you close your eyes, do you see the sunset? Just because you have given up the body, does the soul die? No. The soul is imperishable. It always glows with radiance.
Everything is referred to as the play of ***. He sports all the time, like small children playing in the sand. They build castles and then stomp on them and go away inside. The child feels no remorse or sadness at destroying the castle which he has built out of sand. He does not lack mercy. He lacks attachment. Otherwise, after reaching home, he would be pondering over the fate of his sand castles.
Paramatma has no birth. no disease. He is eternal. He has the power to do everything that is done by all of us. He is the form of everyone. He is the *** of all gods. He is indescribable.
No matter how greatly you verbalize, you do not do justice.
yato vaachaa nivartante ..
Only the liberated ones experience Him. You must experience personally, to know Him. This Pure Consciousness is given the name Atma or Soul. These words are all only signs or symbols. They are all made up names. They are not descriptive names. Pure Consciousness has no nature that can be described. We make futile attempts to describe it.
yah puman
The Saankhyaas and others call it by different names.
Brhadeeswara Temple is huge, in Tanjavur. The Siva Linga is huge. 100 liters of milk poured over it during abhishekam will not even wet a small part of it.
Siva Linga has no form. It is only a symbol for the Paramatma. No shape can be seen.
Narasimha and Mother Goddess images are more specific forms we have created.
Scientists insists that ***'s existence has to be proven to them before they will accept. ..
Science should be beneficial. The Shoonyavadis call Him as Void.
The light that lights up the Sun is He.
vaktaa..
All those who describe Him are He. All the listeners of such descriptions also are He. You are telling and teaching yourselves. These are not lessons for teaching and testing others. I do this explanation for my own benefit. I do not do it for others. He is the teller, He is the listener. Neither the teacher nor the disciple should feel any sense of superiority or inferiority, since all are ***.
He is the one who does, who experiences everything. Nothing other than He exists anywhere.
He exists and yet appears to the ignorant ones as if He does not exist.
Some believe and attempt to realize Him. They get uplifted and liberated. The ignorant ones search for Him outside rather than within themselves.
He is right inside us.
ala vaikunthapurambulo ... wrote Potana.
Gajendra's soul is He.
Potana left the verse unfinished. Overnight, the verse was completed by *** Himself.
When Gajendra thought *** was far away, He did not come. But when He realized that He was right within, He came at once. Read the Gajendra Moksha (episode in the Bhagavatam) again thoroughly. You will understand.
As the sun fills all objects with light and reveals all, as light does similarly, to show us the things of the world, Consciousness is lit up by Him. He assumes the forms of Vishnu and other gods.
We will continue tomorrow.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi