Divine vision means
acquaintance with,
and crystalline understanding of, the universal energy.
God and the devotee are one,
in his very nature the devotee is identical with God.
So long as one has not realized God,
one does not know what justice and injustice are,
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but with realization the devotee comes to know
the distinction between justice and injustice,
the essential and the contingent,
the eternal and the evanescent,
and this leads to his emancipation.
The divine vision eliminates individuality;
the manifest is clearly distinguished from the unmanifest.
When the sense of individuality is replaced
by that of impersonal consciousness
the devotee knows that he is pure consciousness.
Manifestation is pure consciousness
manifesting itself in all the different names and forms;
the spiritually enlightened take part in it sportively,
knowing that it is only the play of universal consciousness.
The name and form of the spiritually enlightened Saint experiences
the pangs and sorrows of life, but not their sting. He is neither
moved nor perturbed by the pleasures and pains, nor the profits
and losses of the world. He is thus in a position to direct
others. His behavior is guided exclusively by the sense of
justice.
The temporal life must continue, with all its complex
interactions, but the Saint is ever aware that it is only the pure
consciousness that is expressing itself in different names and
forms, and it continues to do so, in ever new forms. To him, the
unbearable events of the world are just a tame and harmless
affair; he remains unmoved in world-shaking events.
At first people, through pride, simply ignore him, but their
subsequent experiences draw them toward him. God, as justice
incarnate, has neither relations nor belongings of His own; peace
and happiness are, as it were, His only treasure. The formless,
divine consciousness cannot have any thing as its own interest.
This is the temporal outline of the Bhakta.
THE SOUL, THE WORLD, BRAHMAN AND SELF REALIZATION
The consciousness of one’s own being, of the world, and of its
supporting primal force are experienced all at once. Awareness of
one’s own being does not mean here the physical consciousness of
oneself as an individual, but implies the mystery of existence.
Prior to this, in the ignorance of one’s own being, there is no
experience of Brahman as being there. But the moment one is aware
of being, he is directly aware of the world and Brahman, too.
At the stage prior to this cosmic awareness, the self and its
experiences are limited to the worldly life. This worldly life
starts with birth and ends in death. To become aware of ourself,
the world and God all of a sudden is a great mystery indeed. It is
an unexpected gain; it is an absorbing and a mysterious event,
extremely significant and great, but it brings with it the
responsibility of Self-preservation, sustenance and Self
development as well, and no one can avoid it.
One who leads his life without ever wondering about who or what he
is accepts the traditional genealogical history as his own and
follows the customary religious and other activities according to
tradition. He leads his life with the firm conviction that the
world was there prior to his existence, and that it is real;
because of this conviction he behaves as he does, gathering
possessions and treasures for himself, even knowing that at the
time of death he will never see them again. Knowing that none of
this will even be remembered after death, still his greed and
avarice operate unabated until death.
SELF KNOWLEDGE AND
SELF REALIZATION
When we concentrate our attention on the origin of thought, the
thought process itself comes to an end; there is a hiatus, which
is pleasant, and again the process starts. Turning from the
external world and enjoying the objectless bliss, the mind feels
that the world of objects is not for it. Prior to this experience
the un satiating sense enjoyments constantly challenged the mind
to satisfy them, but from the inward turn onwards its interest in
them begins to fade. Once the internal bliss is enjoyed, the
external happiness loses its charm. One who has tasted the inward
bliss is naturally loving and free from envy, contented and happy
with others’ prosperity, friendly and innocent and free from
deceit. He is full of the mystery and wonder of the bliss. One who
has realized the Self can never inflict pain on other.
LIFE DIVINE AND THE SUPREME SELF
With heartfelt love and devotion, the devotee propitiates God; and
when he is blessed with His vision and grace, he feels ever happy
in His presence. The constant presence establishes a virtual
identity between the two. While seeking the presence of the
Supreme Soul, the Bhakta renounces all associations in his life,
from the meanest to the best, and having purged his being of all
associations, he automatically wins the association with the
Supreme Self. One who has attained to the position of unstinted
emancipation can never be disliked by others, for the people
themselves are the very Self-luminous soul, though ignorant of the
fact.
In this world of immense variety, different beings are suffering
from different kinds of ailments, and yet they are not prepared to
give up the physical frame, even when wailing under physical and
mental pain. If this be so, then men will not be so short-sighted
as to avoid their savior, the enlightened soul.
That overflowing reservoir of bliss, the beatific soul, does
confer only bliss on the people by his loving light. Even the
atmosphere around him heartens the suffering souls. He is like the
waters of a lake that gives nourishment to the plants and trees
around the brink and the grass and fields nearby. The Saint gives
joy and sustaining energy to the people around him.
THE ASPIRANT AND SPIRITUAL THOUGHT
Spiritual thought is of the Highest. This seeking of the Highest
is called the “first half” by the Saints. A proper understanding
of this results in the vision of God, and eventually matures into
the certainty of the true nature of the Self in the “latter half”.
One who takes to the path of the spirit starts with contemplation
and propitiation. It is here, for the first time, that he finds
some joy in prayer and worship. At this preliminary stage he gets
the company of co-aspirants. Reading of the lives and works of
past incarnations of God, of Rishis, of Saints and Sages, singing
the glories of the Name, visiting temples, and a constant
meditation on these result in the photic and phonic experiences of
the mystic life; his desires are satisfied to an extent now.
Thinking that he has had the vision of God, he intensifies his
efforts of fondly remembering the name of God and His worship. In
this state of the mind, the Bhakta quite frequently has a glimpse
of his cherished deity, which he takes to be the divine vision and
is satisfied with it. At this juncture, he is sure to come into
contact with a Saint.
The Saint, and now his preceptor, makes it plain to him that what
he has had is not the real vision, which is beyond the said
experiences, and is only to be had through Self-Realization. At
this point, the aspirant reaches the stage of the meditator. In
the beginning, the Sadhaka is instructed into the secrets of his
own person, and of the indwelling spirit; the meaning and nature
of prana, the various plexuses, and the nature and arousal of the
Kundalini, and the nature of the Self. Later on, he comes to know
of the origin of the five elements, their activity, radiation, and
merits and defects. Meanwhile his mind undergoes the process of
purification and acquires composure, and this the Sadhaka
experiences through the deep-laid subtle center of the Indweller;
he also knows how and why it is there, only that the deiform
element is kindled. This knowledge transforms him into the pure,
eternal, and spiritual form of a SadGuru who is now in a position
to initiate others into the secrets of the spirit. The stage of
Sadhakahood ends here.
As the great Saint Tukarama said, the aspirant must put in
ceaseless efforts in the pursuit of spiritual life. Thoughts must
be utilized for Self-Knowledge. He must be alert and watchful in
ascertaining the nature of this “I” that is involved in the
affairs of pleasure and pain arising out of sense experience.
We must know the nature of the active principle lest its
activities be led astray. We should not waste our energies in
useless pursuits, but should use those energies in the pursuit of
the Self and achieve identity with God. Spiritual life is so
great, so deep, so immense, that energy pales into insignificance
before it, yet this energy tries to understand it again and again.
Those who try to understand it with the help of the intellect are
lost to it. Rare is the one who, having concentrated on the source
atom of the cosmic energy, enjoys the bliss of spiritual
contemplation. But there are scores of those who take themselves
to be spiritually inspired and perfect beings. They expect the
common herd to honor and respect their every word. The ignorant
people rush towards them for spiritual succor and do their
bidding. In fact, the pseudo-Saints are caught in a snare of
greed, hence what the people get in return is not the blessings of
satisfaction, but ashes.
The self-styled man of God, speaking ad nauseum about spiritual
matters, thinks himself to be perfect, but others are not so sure.
As regards a Saint, on the other hand, men are on the lookout for
ways to serve him more and more, but as the ever contented soul,
steeped in beatitude, desires nothing, they are left to serve in
their own way, which they do with enthusiasm, and they never feel
the pressure.
Greatness is always humble, loving, silent and satisfied.
Happiness, tolerance, forbearance, composure and other allied
qualities must be known by everyone; just as one experiences
bodily states such as hunger, thirst, etc., one. must, with equal
ease, experience in oneself the characteristics connoted by the
word “Saint”. As we know for certain that we need no more sleep,
no more food, at a given moment, so too we can be sure of the
above characteristics from direct experience. One can then
recognize their presence in others with the same ease. This is the
test and experience of a tried spiritual leader.
THE MYSTIC
The blissful mystic clearly sees the difference between his
characteristics before and after realization. All that is
transient has an origin in time and is subject to change and
destruction, while he is free from change and can never perish.
The unchanging one views the ever changing world as a game.
All the characteristics of the Saint naturally spring from his
experience. As there are no desires left in him, nothing in the
world of sense can ever tempt him, he lives in the fearless
majesty of Self-realization. He is moved to pity by the
unsuccessful struggle of those tied down to bodily identity and
their striving for the satisfaction of their petty interests. Even
the great events of the world are just surface lines to him; the
number of these lines that appear and disappear is infinite.
Individuals are only the faint streaks of these lines, and only as
such lines are they recognized. When the streaks vanish there
remains nothing to recognize as individuals. The interval between
the moment of emergence and the disappearance of a line is what is
called life. The wiped out line can never be seen again.
The Saint who has direct experience of all this is always happy
and free from desire. He is convinced that the greatest of the
sense experiences is only a momentary affair, impermanence is the
very essence of these experiences; hence pain and sorrow, greed
and temptation, fear and anxiety can never touch him.
THE LILA OF GOD
Sport or play is natural to God, our experiences are known as the
Lila (play) of God. Without any prior intimation, we suddenly have
a taste of our own being; excepting this one instance of the
taste, we have no knowledge of the nature of the Self. But then,
even this bit of experience is hidden away from us. We are forced
into a series of activities and experiences: that I am a
homosapien, I am a body, my name is such and such, this is my
religion, my duty, etc. One action follows another, and there is
no rest from them, no escape, we have to see them through. This
goes on inevitably, until perchance, it loses all its charm, and
we seek the spiritual treasure.
If the purpose of all this be inquired into, we get different
accounts from different people. Some claim it is because of the
actions of millions of previous lives – but nobody has the direct
experience of these past lives; it is obvious that this is
fiction.
Dazzled by the ingenious inventions and discoveries of the
scientists, some base their interpretation on empirical facts and
offer them as explanations, but the suddenly experienced taste of
our own being cannot be interpreted in this way. When the world is
called by the word Maya or illusion, it is condemned to be mean;
when the same thing is called by the words “play of God”, it
becomes great! In reality the facts are what they are. Who is the
recipient of the high designation – who confirms the uselessness
for the condemnation – who is He – what name should we give Him
after first-hand experience?
That we have experiences is a fact; others tell us about their
experiences, we receive information concerning relations, and
instruction in the performance of activities, and we organize our
behavior accordingly. Someone from these guides initiates us into
what is said to be the core of the indwelling Spirit, but that too
turns out to be a transient affair. For the acquaintance secured
thus does not possess the experiential core of the taste, and the
initiator himself proves to be part and parcel of that bit; thus
both he and his knowledge are lost to us. Now we are free to go
our own way, but for want of the necessary taste, this self-help
is equally helpless. We are where we were.
What is it that we call the Lila of God? How are we related to
this sporting God whom we saw, talked to, had friendship with, and
intense love for. In spite of all this closeness and fondness,
what is our relation to Him? All the previous experiences with
their peculiarities have vanished. The Lila of God disappears
along with the pseudo experience with the advent of the present
experience.
THE SPIRITUAL ASPIRANT, THE FIRST MOMENT OF BLISS AND ITS
CONTINUOUS GROWTH
The ever-awaited first moment was the moment when I was convinced
that I was not an individual at all. The idea of my individuality
had set me burning so far. The scalding pain was beyond my
capacity to endure; but there is not even a trace of it now, I am
no more an individual. There is nothing to limit my being now. The
ever present anxiety and the gloom have vanished and now I am all
beatitude, pure knowledge, pure consciousness.
The tumors of innumerable desires and passion were simply
unbearable, but fortunately for me, I got hold of the hymn “Hail,
Preceptor”, and on its constant recitation, all the tumors of
passions withered away as with a magic spell!
I am ever free now. I am all bliss, sans spite, sans fear. This
beatific conscious form of mine now knows no bounds. I belong to
all and everyone is mine. The “all” are but my own individuations,
and these together go to make up my beatific being. There is
nothing like good or bad, profit or loss, high or low, mine or not
mine for me. Nobody opposes me and I oppose none for there is none
other than myself. Bliss reclines on the bed of bliss. The repose
itself has turned into bliss.
There is nothing that I ought or ought not to do, but my activity
goes on everywhere, every minute. Love and anger are divided
equally among all, as are work and recreation. My characteristics
of immensity and majesty, my pure energy, and my all, having
attained to the golden core, repose in bliss as the atom of atoms.
My pure consciousness shines forth in majestic splendor.
Why and how the consciousness became self-conscious is obvious
now. The experience of the world is no more of the world as such,
but is the blossoming forth of the selfsame conscious principle,
God, and what is it? It is pure, primal knowledge, conscious form,
the primordial “I” consciousness that is capable of assuming any
form it desires. It is designated as God. The world as the divine
expression is not for any profit or loss; it is the pure, simple,
natural flow of beatific consciousness. There are no distinctions
of God and devotee, nor Brahman and Maya. He that meditated on the
bliss and peace is himself the ocean of peace and bliss. Glory to
the eternal truth, Sad-Guru, the Supreme Self.
DEVOTEE AND THE BLESSINGS OF GOD
The Bhakta pours out his devotion, molds his behavior in every
respect in accordance with the will of God. In turn, he finds that
God is pleased with him, and this, his conviction, takes him
nearer to God and his love and friendship with Him grow richer and
richer. The process of surrendering to the will of God in every
respect results in His blessings.
One who is blessed by God is a blissful soul. Being at peace with
himself, he looks at the objects of enjoyment with perfect
indifference. He is content with whatever he has and is glad to
see others happy. If a person believes that he is blessed by God
and is still unhappy, it is better if he give up this delusion and
strive for the coveted Grace with sincerity and honesty.
Divine plenitude and favor is not judged by the objects of sense,
but by the internal contentment. This verily is the blessing of
God.
THE UNITIVE LIFE
Him have I seen now whom I so earnestly desired to see, I met
myself. The meeting requires an extremely difficult and elaborate
preparation.
I pined to see the most beloved one. It was impossible to do
without it, I was sure to die if I were not to do it. Even with
the innermost sincerity of my whole being I was not able to get at
it, and the situation was unbearable. Yet with love and
determination, eagerness and courage, I started on my journey. I
had to get through different stages and places in the undertaking.
Being quite deft, it would not allow me cognition, at first. But
lo, I saw it today, I was sure, but the very next moment I felt
perhaps it was not it. Whenever I saw it I was intent on observing
it keenly, but not knowing its nature with certitude, could not
decide either way. I could not be sure that it was my Beloved, the
center of my being. Being an adept in the art of make-up, it
dodged me with a quick change of form ere I could arrive at a
conclusion. These were the visions of various Incarnations of
Rishis and Saints, internal visions in the process of Dhyana and
Dharana, and external ones of the waking state eventual to the
siddhis, such as the power of prophecy, clairvoyance,
clairaudience, and the power to cure normally incurable diseases,
etc. Some were eager to serve me, to have faith in me and to honor
me, and this led me to believe that I had seen it for certain; it
is here its skill in make-up lies. It is so deft in the art of
changing the form, quality and knowledge, that the intellect does
not know where it stands, let alone the penetration through its
nature. But, what is this miracle? Wonder of wonders! The flash,
curiously glistening, majestic splendor! But where is it? It
disappeared in a flicker before I could apprehend it. No, nothing
could be known about what happened to me or to the lightning. I
could not say whether the extremely swift flash and the means of
my reconnaisance were one and the same or different. In the glow
of the flashing miracle the whole of the cosmic array is
experienced directly. The contact is immensely interesting. The
flash experience makes one feel it should be as spicy forever;
this is the characteristic feeling of the cosmic experience. But
in the very attempt to arrest the glowing flash for a basic
understanding, one loses it.
It is extremely difficult to get at the root of the cosmic energy,
that perfect adept in assuming an infinite variety of forms. The
consciousness to be apprehended and the power of concentration are
one and the same. Being polymorphous by nature, it cannot be
pinned down to any definite form or name or place, as for
instance, the internal experiences of the Dhyana yogin. In the
first instance, the attention of the meditator is silence in
excelsis, this is transformed into light, the light assumes the
form of space, the space in turn changes into movement. This is
transmitted into air, and the air into fire, the fire changes into
water, and the water into earth. Lastly, the earth evolves into
the world of organic and inorganic things. The water from the rain
takes the form of the juices in the grains and vegetables, which
essences supply nourishment and energy. This energy takes the form
of knowledge, courage, valor, cunning, etc. The limbless process
goes on. Neither form, name, nor quality is enduring. Nothing is
permanent or determinate.
The felt experience of the spiritually enlightened is difficult to
negotiate with. This may mean either that it is beyond our
capacity to get at, or it is beyond reach; yet one must go on with
concentration. The identity of the “I” as the miracle in the
process of the dazzling glitter, and the “ego” of the empirical
consciousness prior to the experience, must be firmly established
in Dhyana Yoga (meditation). Is the spiritually saturated soul the
same as the experience or is it even beyond that? There is no
duality to the experience one has in the process of Dhyana Yoga.
At the enlightened stage even the sense organs are involved in the
meditation of the spiritual adept, for the sense organs and the
five elements are one and the same at the core. The material
elements, subtle matter and consciousness, the three qualities,
Satva, Rajas and Tamas, and the three sources of knowledge,
perception, inference and testimony were seen, are being seen, and
lo! They are not there.
The characteristics of origination, sustenance and destruction
come under Dhyana Yoga itself. The activity of Prakriti in all its
forms, manifest and unmanifest, and the consciousness of Purusha
are also included in it. In the Dhyana Yoga process the eight
chakras are activated simultaneously and are experienced as such.
All these, in a single, unitive experience, I constitute the
contemplation. Meditation, consciousness, experience, are all but
a single unity.
Dhyana Yoga is the supreme activity of life. Concentration is the
central thing in experience.
The transformation of Dhyana Yoga into Mama [sic] Yoga is a
difficult process. In the consummation of this process alone is
the Atman cognized with certitude. As long as Dhyana Yoga is not
completely transformed into Jnana Yoga, so long there is no Self
knowledge. The test of Dhyana is knowledge, then follows the
duality of knowledge and the Atman. In the experiential knowledge,
there is a race between knowledge as Self and Self as Self. But in
deep samadhi there is an understanding between contemplation and
the Self. This results in the realization of bliss. The bliss is
transformed into supreme beatitude and the self is absorbed in the
supreme Spirit. Knowledge to itself, contemplation into itself,
the primal Maya, God, the Absolute state and the original throb
are all a single whole of Self-experience. The ever cherished and
desired Being is realized here.
Prior to this, in the process of the attainment of the siddhis
incidental to Dhyana Yoga, there ooze forth experiences in the
form of arts, love, and memories of past lives in different
regions such as Patala, Swarga and Kailas. In some cases one has a
taste of different siddhis and Avatars and of a series of meetings
with others in different regions. There are experiences of being
the Brahma of Satya region, Shiva of Kailas, and Vishnu of
Vaikunth from time immemorial. Again, there are different phases
of the yogin’s feelings, the best and the worst, and the endless
panoramas, not pleasant nor enduring; and the inevitable adjuncts
of Dhyana Yoga must go on until it is transformed into Jnana Yoga;
i.e., the transition from the Samprajuata (silent mind in
meditation) to the Asamprajuata (altered state of consciousness,
silent and alert mind) state of samadhi. Until then there is no
Self-realization. But, on the other hand, if in the process of
this transition the nature of this phase of Dhyana Yoga be known,
Self-realization is automatic.
All the experiences and visions arising out of Dhyana Yoga are
transitory. In the contemplation, there is an infinite variety of
phases and forms, and none of them is lasting. Whatever is taken
to be helpful and great and determinate vanishes in an instant and
a new form takes its place to yield place to the next. That
knowledge from which all the varieties issue forth in experiences,
such as earth, water, fire, air, ether, and their various
specifications, is itself unstable. Starting from meditation, the
contemplating soul, having experienced a taste of previous lives,
is further transformed into the primal Maya, primordial energy,
and Godhead, and even into the characteristics of the supreme Self
by the power of meditation, and all this for a trice, and it
disappears. It is here that it is called Kala, the final
liquidation of individuality. It is here that the separation from
itself is compensated for, and finds itself with spiritual
certitude, never to be lost again. The imperishable, indissoluble,
eternal Paramatman shines forth with perfection beyond the reach
of empirical experience.
KNOW WHAT ?
The continuous process of getting to know the environment goes on
from the birth of the “I” consciousness. Though the “I”
consciousness is automatic, hence effortless, one has to learn to
do various things; one also must learn about one’s own person and
its care. Some things are mastered of necessity, and of one’s
liking; others which are not essential must also be learnt.
In the process of conscious learning, over and above the world of
things, we are told we must also learn of the things beyond the
world; but before trying to know the things beyond, we must know
the controller and support of the universe called God, so that
other things may be known with His help.
Who is God and how is He to be propitiated? We are told that this
is to be achieved by forming friendship with saintly persons and
by regularly and devoutly carrying out their instructions; but
then, we are told, it is a matter of rare good fortune that one
comes across such a saintly soul, and when one comes across such a
person, by rare good fortune, the saintly soul tells us, “You
yourself are God. Think of Him alone, meditate on His being. Do
not engage yourself in thinking of anybody else.”
For a while I used to deal with various matters and perform
activities such as knowing and learning with the idea that I was a
human being, born of the “I” consciousness; next I started
meditating on myself as God in order to know myself. Now I know
that I am the knower of whatever I remember, perceive, or feel;
hence, ignoring all that is remembered, perceived, or felt, I
contemplate on the nature of the knower.
I am sitting in a secluded place where none can see me, with my
eyes half closed. Whatever I remember, perceive, feel or
experience comes into being from within myself. My meditation is
my torch and what I see is its light, all that I see and remember
is just the light of my meditation.
Now I do not feel the necessity to meditate anymore, for the
nature of meditation is such that it is spontaneous. In its
process, it gives rise to innumerable forms and names and
qualities....and what have I got to do with it all?
Now I am convinced beyond doubt that this meditation of mine is
born of God; and the world of things is the product of my
meditation only. The cyclic process of origination, sustenance and
destruction is the very core of the world’s being. However more I
may try to know, the same process must repeat. My inquisitiveness
has come to an end.
SPIRITUAL BLISS
The spiritual aspirant is absorbed in his spiritual experiments
and experiences, and the journey continues. One already has the
experience of the world through his senses, hence he tries, as far
as possible, to depend only on himself, he tries to gauge the
extent to which he can go with the minimum of help from others and
eschews the use of many things in the world. In due course, the
aspirant is sure to win peace; nothing is wanting, he has enough
and to spare. He is satisfied and his behavior reveals it. He
expects nothing from those with whom he deals. Is expecting
material returns from others any different from begging? If it is
true that he has attained to happiness beyond the reach of
ordinary mortals, why should he expect a beggarly share from
material gains? If he has in his possession the blissful spring of
eternal life, why should he ask a price from his dealings with
others? It is impossible that one who has realized his Self should
rely on others; on the contrary, he feeds others on spiritual food
with absolute ease.
As the happiness of the people increases, they begin to love him
with greater sincerity, they know his importance in their lives.
Just as they acquire and store food, so too they take care of one
who has attained the position of eternal peace, identity with the
universal spirit, perfection. Yet some people get to know some
occult processes from great Saints and practice them, enabling
them to acquire certain occult powers and they are misled into
thinking they have what they have been striving for, and style
themselves as Raja yogins, and engage in the avid pursuit of
material pleasures; but one who has tasted the pure bliss of
eternal life in Brahman is forever satisfied, the perfect soul
does not desire worldly honors.
It is impossible that the spiritually perfect soul should ever
desire to be called the preceptor or to make others bow down
before him or to expect all to honor his word in every respect.
One who gets the highest kind of happiness from his life source
has no interest in material happiness. That is spiritual happiness
which makes everyone happy. These are the external qualities
characterizing the enlightened satyagrahin (seeker of truth).
THE TENDER HEART OF THE SAINT
The heart of a mother is full of tenderness, but it is limited to
her child only; but the heart of the Saint is all inclusive, it
knows the how and whence of the origin of each one and the
vicissitudes they have to go through.
The Saint is full of spiritual knowledge and pacific repose, there
is nothing wanting. He practices his sadhana in such a way as not
to be discovered by others; he has no use for the external marks
of saintliness, he dresses in keeping with the time and climate.
Being in touch with the atom, the first cause of the universe, he
knows its nature quite well. Blossoming forth is the very nature
of the core of this atom, hence changes and differentiation are
bound to be there. Knowing this well, the Saint is neither elated
by pleasing events nor depressed by the opposite ones.
He has gauged the depth of the knowledge of the common man. He
knows its nature from beginning to end. He knows the how and the
why of the mentality, also the worthlessness of its achievements
and failures. The needs of the body prompt the creature to acquire
means of sustenance, but the greed for these makes the creature
pursue them to the point of uselessness, and all of this without
the least idea of what awaits the life in future. What the
creature deems essential and strives to acquire, the Saint knows
to be sheer trash.
The Saint is never a victim of passions. Life is a mixture of
passions and emotions; Atman, the origin of passions and emotions,
is the very core of the Saint’s vision, the nature of which he is
thoroughly acquainted. He knows its activities and varieties of
manifestation, as well as their consequences. The life principle
is the principle of feelings, passions, emotions. Desires and
passions engendered in this principle are just emotive
experiences, they have nothing of substance in them; yet the poor
creature thinks them to be of great significance in his life,
embraces the basically worthless desires, indulges in sense
enjoyment, and runs after them helplessly.
The mother, with sincerity but in ignorance, feeds the roots of
misery, while the Saint, with the same intensity, weeds them out.
The Saint knows what the welfare of the people lies in much better
than does the mother of her child. That is why the heart of the
Saint is said to be kind.
DEVOTION TO BALAKRISHNA
AND HIS CARE
During the process of Bhakta, Bhajan, and renunciation, the
experience of the immensity of God is on the increase, but as the
vision becomes more frequent, it gets narrower day by day. Here
vision and knowledge are identical. In whatever name and form God
is propitiated, that name and form he presents himself in. The
various forms and names are woven into prayers and hymns and are
sung by the common man.
The devotee by his firm determination, and God by his fascination
for devotion, are attracted to each other and the moment they come
face to face they merge; the devotee loses his phenomenal
consciousness automatically, and when it returns he finds that he
has lost his identity, lost into that of God and can never be
separated again; God everywhere and no separate identity.
The creator, enjoyer, and destroyer of all names and forms, the
controller of all powers, is revealed now; this is God, the Self,
Self-luminous, Self-inspired, and Self-conscient. Here is where
the primal gunas originate. Though atomic in character, he has in
him the absolute power to do what he wills, in accordance with the
emotive character of the gunas, and to take any form. This is the
atomic center, atomic energy, the first and final cause of the
universe.
The God of Gods, the soul of the movable and immovable, the
all-pervasive, qualified Brahman, the beloved of the Bhaktas, the
ocean of love and devotion is born here. This is Adinarayana,
residing in the hearts of the devotees; the Saints call him
Balakrishna (Baby Krishna), for in the beginning he is seen to be
the atom of atoms. By nature, he is innocence incarnate. He is
easily moved by emotions and becomes many (immense), in accordance
with the direction taken by the emotions. The nature of the
expansion is determined by the excess of one or another of the
three gunas. He manifests himself through each of the three gunas
at different times in a non-partisan spirit. As the Saints are
closely acquainted with him, they know what guna he would induce
at any given moment and what the consequences would be, and hence
they dissuade him from the excess of his nature. Excess of growth
in any guna is dangerous. Satva guna is absolutely good, yet even
that is harmful when hypertrophied; Rajas is restless and
overbearing, while Tamas is blind and arrogant. Knowing this well,
the wise man keeps his soul away from the effects of the gunas,
hence the energy of the soul remains undiminished and develops in
the right direction.
Satisfying various desires increases the taste for them, and the
thirst for enjoyment slowly decreases the power of the soul in
imperceptible degrees, but when, setting aside the temptation of
the gunas, the devotee finds his pure soul, he fondly takes to its
rearing with love and sincerity; only when the devotion is
successful is the Atman realized. He is seen as a child at the
dawn of victory, hence he is called the child of victory.
The Bhakta is alert not to allow it to be polluted by the craving
for sensuous pleasures; the firmer it is in its nature, the
greater becomes the power and strength of the soul, hence the
Saints do not allow it to lose its steadiness. The crux of rearing
it lies in keeping it firm, undeflected by the presence of the
gunas. If the spiritual gain of the soul be eclipsed by sensuous
desires, it is shaken to its very roots. It is difficult to keep
the gunas at rest, that is why the Saints advise stabilizing in
Self-knowledge.
SELF KNOWLEDGE AND
SELF REALIZATION
Those who have realized and stabilized in Self-knowledge are those
whose glory is sung from time immemorial; it is their names that
form the basis of divine meditation. Sri Krishna, Sri Vishnu, and
Sri Rama are some of the innumerable names given to God;
originally, these were the names given to the human form, but they
became Self-realized and came to know the root cause of all
experience. Those who came to possess this knowledge of the Self
and kept it pure and secure are known to be Gods and Saints, while
those who utilized it for the sake of sense enjoyment are called
devils and Ravanas. The highest and rarest gain is difficult of
achievement, but, if achieved, it is superlatively beneficent, and
if not properly cared for, is equally harmful. One who does not
get excited by the possession of spiritual knowledge of the root
cause can, with love and devotion, cultivate and brighten it.
Devotion and prayer and renunciation are firmly established in
him, he is always free from desires, and wherever he is the aura
of peace and happiness is about him; the auriole shown about the
heads of great Saints is a pictorial representation of this fact.
Whoever approaches him gets an unsolicited touch of the divine
bliss. The Saint never acts as an individual, all his actions are
the expression of the divine Lila.
SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE AND THE PACIFICATION OF THE DESIRE TO KNOW
This universe came into being through the activity of the primal
atomic (atmic) consciousness. There was nothing, not even a trace
of appearance before self-consciousness, and in this state there
came into being the consciousness of one’s own existence, the
awareness of one’s own being. In fact, there was no time, nor
space, nor cause. The awareness has no cause for it, hence it is
futile to name one. There was no time, hence it cannot be dated.
There was no space, hence its location is meaningless; yet the
atomic consciousness was felt as such and nothing more – why so?
For there was nothing over and above it to be aware of! The
awareness only of being was there. How long this state lasted,
there are no means to ascertain; but the great miracle is that the
self-consciousness was there; with it was the cosmic will,
followed by its realization. The atomic consciousness, on account
of its will and its instant realization, became many and
pervasive. Although apparently many, it is all one in essence.
When the atomic consciousness became many and pervasive on account
of its will and its instantaneous realization, the energy of the
single atom diversified itself into many centers, each with its
own peculiarity and will; hence the conflict. At any given moment,
the innumerable centers express their will in a variety of ways;
generally, the willing atom does not know the “whither” and “what”
of its will, but the effect is bound to be there. The tangible
result of the wills of the willing atoms is to be witnessed at the
moment of cosmic destruction, when the whole universe is reduced
to ashes. The loving wills are not cancelled altogether; the great
moments of happiness in the world are the result of these wills.
The characteristic of the individual energy to will is always
operative. It is its essence and it owes it to the primordial
energy.
The primal energy that scintillated first is one and homogenous,
but appears to be heterogenous due to ignorance.
The quivering atomic energy is designated as the Great Principle
by the Vedantas: the essential characteristic of the Principle is
consciousness. The felt awareness expands itself into ether, the
expanse of the ether is the space. With a single quality this
Great Principle became time, space and cause. Next came the three
gunas and the five elements. The speed was simply immeasurable.
The original scintillation moved in space and that was the air,
the air gathered momentum and fire came into existence. The
throbbing of the fire increased and became cold and that was
water; the water cooled even more and that was earth. All the
characteristics of the previous forms are crystallized in the
earth and vibrate there; in virtue of this peculiarity there came
into being innumerable varieties of living beings and vegetation,
and the original quiver pulsates in and through their vital sap.
The original will pervades the whole range of moving and immovable
things and is constantly active there.
The scintillating characteristic prior to ether is filling every
electron and proton and is constantly increasing in strength. As
long as the quiver in the atoms is operative, so long the
constituents must be in motion. The original will pervades the
whole range of moving and immovable beings and is constantly
active there.
The original consciousness sees nothing except itself. It has no
organs, yet it is in action with innumerable Spiritual Knowledge
and the Pacification of the Desire to Know 131 organs. It is never
polluted. The various conscious centers hedged by the limiting
adjuncts only think they are different from the original source,
but there is only one being, one spirit, one quality; formless,
timeless, non-spatial, the one, pure consciousness. There is no
scope for difference or distinction. The creature, deluded by the
narrow interests of “I” and “mine”, suffers pain for nothing, it
is limited only to itself. Everything takes place at the proper
moment, in accordance with the law that binds all, and everything
materializes at the proper moment. When Ravana becomes unbearable
Rama is there to give relief. When Kamsa rules supreme, Krishna is
there as an antidote. This is how the rhythm of ups and downs is
maintained.
The controlling force of all these events is the same, it never
changes. It cannot be that there is one God in one age and another
in another age.
Just a single quality gives birth to the glow of the expanded
universe; in the absence of that one quality, all is pure silence.
When this one single quality is known and befriended, the heart
mingles with the Heart; there is that supreme sense of inalienable
mutuality of oneness of quality in all, and all as belonging to
the One. The supreme unity is realized; hence it is called the
Supreme Self.
All time, all space and all cause have become one for eternity,
the One alone is all-active. It has no gain nor loss nor death. It
is unborn, eternal, and yet is born every moment and manifests
itself in every epoch. All spiritual and intellectual knowledge
comes to rest here.
THE GAYATRI HYMN
“The Hymn of hymns, oh Uddhava, is the Gayatri hymn. I shall
explain it to thee from the beginning to end; pray hear.” (Ekanathi
Bhagawata XXI).
The Lord says, “Oh Uddhava, Gayatri hymn is the bedrock of all
hymns.” All means many. That in virtue of which this number comes
to be experienced is Gayatri. The tri-syllabic A+U+M means Omkar –
The Logos. The next step starts with two numbers. The first one is
the consciousness of one’s own being. It is the natural
characteristic, the unuttered word. It is the unknowingly spoken
word given out everywhere and every moment and no one knows about
it. This word, uttered unawares, is the Gayatri hymn, the basis of
all hymns. Innumerable words are spoken subsequently; and all the
universes spring from them, but the prime source of all is the
Gayatri Chhandas, the unspoken word, the unuttered sound. Everyone
has the same experience, and what is the experience born of this
unspoken word? One’s own being.
There are innumerable varieties of being from the ant to the gods,
but what is the original being? It is Gayatri. The experience of
this being is one’s own being. This Gayatri Chhandas comes first,
the rest only follows. The characteristic of that being is
explained by the Lord as follows: “What is the nature of that
hymn? Even though there be the power to create innumerable
universes, it cannot be left hold of.” The original sound of the
unasked for, unspoken, unthought of and unuttered word was born in
the form of Chakrapani and it is unique to him; but not
recognizing it, the Perfect has come to be a deplorable creature
through graded degeneration in the course of the temporal process.
The pursuit of the Chhandas is fascinating. For everyone, it is
the same awareness of being, the unspoken word, yet spoken. In
spite of the efforts of the four Vedas, six Shastras and eighteen
Puranas, its interpretation remains incomplete ? Still there is
the uninterrupted fascination for the Gayatri Chhandas.
What does Gayatri Chhandas mean? It is the awareness of your own
being, it is whatever you understand without speech. Wherever
there is life, there is the hymn to support it. It vibrates in us,
and in spite of years of miserable drudgery, we do not feel like
parting with it. In virtue of this Gayatri hymn Sri Rama and Sri
Vishnu came to this earth as incarnations, but they mastered it.
This unwitting consciousness of your own being is the same in us
and in them, but they did it consciously and experienced it as
such. Other beings get only to the surface of the meaning, which
is only a perversion thereof; the yawning of the creatures lets
out the syllables A+U+M.
Meditate on the meaning as you have understood above. You are
Chakrapani, the being with a thousand hands and heads, the
unuttered sound. The word and its resounding sense are the first
Person, and are experienced as such. The sign of the experience is
complete satisfaction of the mind. Gayatri hymn is the substratum
of the satisfaction of all and it bursts forth spontaneously, for
the sound is ever glorious. The name that resounds in you without
being uttered is your own indwelling spirit.
It is enough if you silently listen to the ten sounds, five
resoundings, dual reverberation and the single voice, and the
symphony of them all. This basic Gayatri hymn is with you only.
SELF KNOWLEDGE AND
SELF REALIZATION
Three groups of eight syllables make one series of twenty-four
sounds. Gayatri Mantra consists of twenty-four syllables as
follows: Oam, Bhooh, Oam, Bhuvah, Oam, Swaha, Oam, Mahah, Oam,
Janah, Oam, Tapah, Oam, Satyam, Tat, Savituih, Varenyam, Bhargah,
Devasya, Dhimahi, Dhiyo, Yo, Nah, Prachodayaat. Great Rishis and
Saints acquire immense power by reciting this hymn of twenty-four
syllables. Innumerable worlds are created and destroyed by its
power, but consider the power of the bisyllabic word Rama that
easily cancels all this power and rests in perfection.
VEDAS AS BASIC: They were basic to the subsequent interpretation,
hence they are called basic, but the primal root, first cause of
everything is this hymn.
THE BEATITUDE OF BRAHMAN: The experience of one’s own being, of
the vision of one’s own Self and the eventual peace that is
unparallelled is called Brahmananda. The experience of one’s own
nature without the help of others is later on interpreted as the
Great Beatitude, (Paramananda).
SPIRITUAL LIFE: Just as there is the luster of luster, so also is
Gayatri Chhandas the very life of spirit. The Lord says, “I am
hidden and it is my treasure, but that which hides me also reveals
me. How do I appear when seen? Surely as non-dual, non-different.
He who listens to the vibrating hymn is hidden. With the devout
recitation of this hymn everything will be distinctly clear, for
it is already there; but if one wishes to realize my vision
without it, he will have it, and it will be Advaita – non-dual.”
(The reference is to Nama yoga as an easy alternative to Dhyana or
Raja Yoga.) What do the syllables of this immovable one signify?
Absolute bliss of the Self, it is Sat (being), Chit
(consciousness), and Ananda (beatitude). This is the essence of
the Gayatri hymn. Its contemplation confers absolute bliss.