ATMA BODHA 35

 

ATMA BODHA 35

“AHAMAKASAVAD SARVAM BAHIR-ANTAR-GATO-ACHYUTAH

SADA SARVA-SAMA-SUDDHO NISSANGO-NIRMALO- ACHLAH”

SIMILAR TO SPACE I FILL ALL  THINGS WITHIN AND WITHOUT> I AM CHANGELESS AND THE SAME IN ALL AT ALL TIMES> I AM PUR, UNATTACHED, STAINLESS AND MOTIONLESS.”

 SaNKARA  continues and asserts the real nature of the SELF. Space or akasa envelops  all things in the world. Even this seemingly never ending Element of infinite expanse is a concept of the mind only. SELF is That which is beyond time, space and causality and cannot be localized at any given part in this body. Another specialit y of space or Akasa is that it allows things to exist in it but is never contaminated by the things present and exist in space. Similarly, the SELF, though allowing  the perceptions of the non Self in It, is not contaminated by them.

“In the nature of my existence, I am Eternal and immutable and one and the same in all and equally divine in all beings. I am the pure Self unadulterated by the layers of matter around me, unattached, ever stainless I am that All pervading Brahman.”

“And this Atman can only be described by ‘not this, not this.’ He is incomprehensible, for he can never be comprehended. He is indestructible, for he can never be destroyed. He is unattached, for he does not attach himself. He is unfettered , he does not suffer, he does not perish. O Janaka, you have indeed reached the state of fearlessness,” thus said Yajnavalkya. (Brihadaranyakopanishad)

“ He is the eternal  among the eternals, the intelligent among the intelligences, the one among the many, who fulfills their desires. He is the cause which is to be apprehended through discrimination and discipline. By knowing that God one is freed from all fetters. ( Swetasvataropanishad)

“Smaller than the small and greater than the great, the Self is hidden in the heart of every creature. A man who is free from desires beholds the glory of that Self through the tranquility of his mind and senses and becomes free from sorrow.” ( Kathopanishad)

“ The wise man who knows the Self as bodiless within the bodies, as the unchanging among changing things, as great and all pervading, will never grieve” ( Kathopanishad)

 

 

ATMA BODHA 34

 

ATMA BODHA 34

NIRGUNO- NISHKRIYO- NITYO- NIRVIKSLPO- NIRANJANAH

NIRVIKARO  NIRAKARO  NITYA-  MUKTO-SMI  NIRMALAH

“I am without attributes and actions. ETERNAL (Nitya); without any desire and thought (Nirvikalpa),  without any dirt ( Niranjana),  without any change ( Nirvikara), without form, ( Nirakara) ever liberated ( (Nitya mukta) ever pure ( Nirmala)

ALL objects in the world have physical and chemical properties or gunas.  They constitute matter. The spirit indicated here  is entirely  different from matter. This is clearly stated by the phrase ‘ it is without properties.’ In other words, “ I the Self am without properties”.  Matter, with properties is finite. It has an end. The Spirit or Self has no properties. Spirit, the Self is therefore  Eternal. All our desires and thoughts are generated from the mind intellect equipment. Naturally, the Self, the Truth that Transcends these two has none of these characteristic features.

By these two preceding terms the gross body and the subtle body are negated in the Atman. In the same way, the causal body is negated by the next term. “It is dirtless “meaning bereft of all Vasanas Immaculate. Such a type of Truth having all the above four aspects must be one without any change and also without form. Naturally it must be ever liberated and ever pure.

 When all the superimposed limitations are negative, the one substratum on which hangs all this world of matter, the One Awareness, “ Asmi” illuminating all thoughts stands Itself gloriously alone. Thus” I rediscover  myself to be  That”. That is the changeless in the changing phenomena “  like the gold in the ornaments” the mud in the pots”,  the immutable Spirit. Hence, That my real Self is Formless and Free, Eternal and Pure and  without attributes and action.

“The Eternal among the transient,  the consciousness of conscious beings, the One who fulfills the desires of many------ the wise who perceive Him within themselves, to them belongs eternal peace, not to others.”  (Kathopanishad)

“The person of the size of a thumb the inner Self, abides always in the hearts of men. One should draw Him out from the body with firmness as one draws the pith from a reed. One should know Him as the Pure, the Immortal,  yea, one should know Him as the pure, the Immortal.” ( Kathopanishad)

“ He contains all works, all desires, all odours and all tastes-----He pervades the whole world, silent and unmoved. He  is my Self within my heart. And this is Brahman. And with Him shall I be united on departing from here. He who has this faith will have no more doubts. Thus said Sandilya, yea, Sandilya. (“Chandogyopanishad)

 “As a spider moves along its threads, and as from a fire tiny sparks fly in all directions, even so  from this Self  come forth all organs, all worlds, all deities and all beings.  Its mystic name is ‘the Truth of truth,’  The senses are the truth and the Self is the Truth of truth.” ( Brihadaranykopanishad)

ATMA BODHA 33

 

                                                              ATMA BODHA   33

                         “AMANASTWAD NA-ME DUKKH-RAG-DWESH BHAYADAYAH

                           APRANO-HI-AMANA SUBHRA  ITYADI SRUTI SASANATH.”

“I AM DIFFERENT FROM THE MIND ANA SO FREE FROM SORROW, ATTACHMENT, MALICEAND FEAR  BECAUSE “ HE IS WITHOUT BREATH< AND WITHOUT MIND, PURE etc” IT IS THE COMMANDMENT OF THE GREAT SCRIPTURE, THE UPANISHADS,”

When thoughts flow,the mind  becomes an irresistible and terrific force. It is ever changing in its

contents and moods. In fact man cannot exist even for a moment without a thought flow or the mind. At the same time I am not the mind  although “ I have a mind.” In other words I am separate from the mind. My real nature is the Self, the changeless and the Eternal.The mind has its own idiosyncracies. The mind is a bundle of thoughts engendered by desires acquired from my experience of objects that have nothing to do with myself. I am thus really something other than the mind. I also realize that the power of awareness of the inert mind is because of the illumination of the Self.

I , therefore remain perfectly remain unaffected by the eruptions of the mind. Waking up from my dream, I do not mourn for the dream child that died in my dream. In short, I have ceased to identify myself with the mental emotions that gurgle up in the mind. I can no longer be a victim of the onslaught of sorrow, fear and other things that torment man.

 I am without a mind!  I am pure Intelligence itself:  I am the Higher and Imperishable Truth beyond all explanations and concept of time. This can be experienced by everyone  when there is Self realization. Vedanta does not allow dogmatic assertions. Every statement requires the authority of the Vedas and Upanishads. So Sankara quotes his authority : the Upanishads.

“Then Uddalaka Aruni said to his son Swetaketu, “ Learn from me, my boy, the true nature of sleep. When a man here sleeps, as they say, then he has become united with Pure Being, my boy, then he has gone to his own. ( Chandogya Upanishad)

“As a bird tied by a string flies first in every direction and finding no resting place anywhere settles down at last at the place where it is bound, so also the mind after flying in various directions and finding no resting place anywhere settles down in the vital breath, for the mind, my boy, is bound to the vital breath.” (Chandogya Upanishad)

ATMA BODHA 32

 

                                                                ATMA BODHA 32

                      “DEHA ANNYATWAD-NA—ME   JANMA-JARA-KARSYA LAYADAYAH

                        SABDADI VISHSYAI—SANGAH  NIRINDRIYATAYA  NA CHA”

“I AM OTHER THAN THE BODY AND SO I AM FREE FROM CHANGES LIKE BIRTH, WRINKLES, SENILITY, DEATH etc. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH SENSE OBJECTS LIKE SOUND AND TASTE. IT IS BECAUSE   I HAVE NO SENSE ORGANS.”

“ The Self is unmoving, indivisible; it is wiser than thought. The senses never reach itas it is ahead of them and in it does the moving spirit support the activities of man.”

“He pervades all things; He is radiant, incorporeal, invulnerable and sinewless; He is pure and untouched by evil;  He is the seer, wise, all pervading and self existing----He has disposed all things rightly through endless years.” ( Isavasya Upanishad)

The SELF is the Eternal Substratum of the entire world and it is the established fact. In the following six stanzas, Sankara,  elucidates the process of negation of the body, mind and intellect. It is to facilitate one to experience finally the SELF as the sole illuminator of all objects. The distinction between the body and Soul or Self is affirmed by Sankara in this stanza. If I am not the body, the merciless sorrows and pleasures and the vicissitudes the body undergoes are also not mine. The endless transformations that the body undergoes in the terrestrial world ---- birth (jayathe), growth ( vardhate)  decay ( kshiyate),  and death (layathe)  in the pilgrimage from birth to death --- all belong to the physical body and not to the SELF or SOUL as IT is unborn!

When “ I “ the SELF, am unborn  where is the question of death to “ME?” It is now clear that no other changes like birth, growth and senility and old age etc can  ever affect or come to “Me.” But unfortunately man confuses and identifies body for theSelf or soul and suffers untold miseries. He thinks that the torments and silly pleasures experienced are of the Self and not the body. He is under the grip of illusion or maya and mistakes the right as wrong and wrong as right. Common man has no capacity to discriminate and distinguish between the Body and the Soul. If I mistake any of these as mine it is the tragic error of the limited ego in me suffering from body consciousness.

When I am other than the body I am unattached to the sense objects as well. What am I if I am not the physical body or the sense organs? A zero?A non entity?  In short, I am the Consciousness that illuminates the entire dead world of matter in and around me---the Absolute One, the unattached  Immutable Spirit that revels everywhere!

 

 

ATMA BODHA 31

 

  “AVIDYAKAM  SAREERADI DRISYAM BOOD- BOOD AVAT KSHARAM

   YETAT VILAKSHANAM VIDYAD AHAM BRAHMETI NIRMALAM.”

“The body  etc up to the causal Body or Ignorance which are perceived objects , are as perishable as bubbles. It is through discrimination alone that one can realize that he is the “ PURE BRAHMAN” totally separate from all these.”

The five layers like ANNAMAYA,  PRANAMAYA and other kosas or sheaths are all vehicles of expression. The three bodies viz  the gross, the subtle and the causal are all conditionings through which the Consciousness expresses itself. When the SELF identifies itself with the gross body it is the WAKER  experiencing the waking state. When it identifies with the Subtle body it becomes a Dreamer who was himself a Waker earlier. The Dreamer experiences the dream world’s multiplicity. The Self, after this two way  identification as Waker and Dreamer, identifies itself with the Causal –body it become the SLEEPER enjoying the total negation of the multiple experiences which it enjoyed earlier.

If the SELF, in its identification with the gross, the subtle and the causal bodies becomes the Waker, the Dreamer, and the Deep sleeper,  It in Itself must be something other than  its manifestations in the three states. Sankara  asserts this point in this stanza. He advises the seekers to rediscover the Self which can never be the  perishable developments. This can happen only through a close subjective realization.

It is only through discrimination that the evils can be undone. What is perceived through the sense organs, the feeler or the mind, and the comprehending faculty or the intellect must be different from the Perceiver. The Divine Spark within is the  one Illuminator who illumines every-one of these objects Things illumined are always different from the Illuminator! Therefore objects recognized by me are certainly different from the Pure Self within me the Eternal Subject.

The KATHOPANISHAD establishes the very same aspect of the Eternal, Imperishable quality of the ATMAN or the SELF:

“The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings. How then could this fire? When He shines, everything  shines after HIM; by HIS light all this is lighted.”   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATMA BODHA 30

 

                                                           ATMA BODHA 30

                            NISHIDYA NIKHILOPADHEEN NETI—NETI –ITI VAKYATAH

                            VIDYAT-AIKYAM MAHA-VAKYAI JIVATMA PARAMATMANOH

“BY a process of negating the upadhis through the help of  the scriptural statement ‘ It is not this’  ‘It is not this,’ the oneness of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, as indicated by the great Mahavakyas, has to be ealised.”

The Vedic  aphorisams or Mahavakyas are 1“THAT THOU ART 2 “THE ATMAN IS BRAHMAN 3 CONSCIOUSNESS IS BRAHMAN  4 “ I AM BRaHMAN” All these indicate the NonduaL identity between  the individual soul (Jiva) and the Supreme Soul (Atma) since the Reality behind them both is the One Brahman, the Absolute.

Sankara indicates in this stanza  the way to Self realization by a process of negating the limiting factors of the individual namely the gross, the subtle, and the causal body developments and also  the  not-self(Anatma) objects  as seen by us in the outer world through these bodies. This guides the seeker  on  to the realization that the individual soul is in its real nature is nothing but the Supreme Soul  (Paramatman) Itself.

The Pure Consciousness in me is the Absolute Reality and this alone in you and in every other being is the Self everywhere. The Guru imparts the truth as “That Thou Art”. The seeker after truth in his burning desire to reach the goal analyses his own upadhis as well as their corresponding objects in the outer world; the body and the sense objects, the mind and its feelings, and the intellects and its thoughts. His power of discrimination rejects every one of them as not-self. Time, space and causality are also negated as perceptions of the mind and intellect. The process of negation “Not this, Not this” (‘neti’ ‘neti’) makes him realize that one is not one of the non-Self  vestures ( Anatma Kosas) within or without. He perceives and realizes the One Eternal Truth embedded in every one of the objects. It becomes a living experience, as “the only permanent in the impermanent.”

“The ‘ Mahavakyas  are no mere aphorisams but the golden keys opening to the gateways to a richer experience beyond words and comprehension by our intellect. By this process of negation of the false and assertion of the positive Truth one reaches the holy land of the full and pregnant spiritual experience: ‘I am Brahman’ ( Aham Brahmasmi)

The Jeeva conditioned by the body, mind and intellect bound by its own Vasanas, tempted by a number of objects, experiencing limitless sorrows and despairs  is the same as the “ Unconditioned  Infinite  Immutable Sachidananda Truth. The Jeeva in its limitations and sorrows can never become the ALL - Blissful Unlimited Brahman. But when the Jeeva dissociates itself from all its matter embellishment, it  is shorn of its ego centric individuality and experiences  The Truth Divine.

The common denominator in both the Jeeva and the Supreme is the term “Asi.”  In short the Infinite conditioned by matter is the Jeeva. The Jeeva that transcends its equipments  and rediscovers itself is  the Immaculate Divine>