Higher Levels of Consciousness

    Man can gain mastery over himself, his self, as well as, the world by gradually ascending the ladders of consciousness spiritual practices. The spiritual masters can guide the beginners in the art of yoga and samadhi. The humans as jiva embedded in the mire of mundane existence of hand to mouth, has to run the mill, before reaching this point of 'seeking a spiritual master'. It is only when the jiva finds life meaningless, and seeks some meaning a Guru arrives on the scene and takes him by his hand and leads him out. This happens only by the  grace of God and purva punya (result of good deeds in the past. However, nothing happens unless there comes a turning point in the life of a jiva (like a sudden calamity- of loss of possessions, dear ones, and other disappointments in life that cause disillusionment) and force the jiva to decide to leave the sensuous life and take an inward journey.    Then, the Guru will lead him out of the mess.

    The first four steps upto anahata-prajnya are already stated and, now the remaining three steps have to be carefully climbed. These are: the vishuddhi level, the ajnya level and the sahasrar level. The vishuddhi is the throat level and it is the realm of devi devata (deva loka). It is one of divine life. The bijakshara mantra for japa at this level is' 'ham'. This is also the level at which one can either go back, down towards the muladhara, or move forward toward the higher and higher consciousness depending the Lord's grace. The next step is ajnya (bhru or between eyebrows) level- the realm of learned sages, ascetics and siddhi purushas and seers (drishtara), the tapo loka. The bijakshara mantra for japa (meditation) at this level is "Om". It is difficult to stay in meditative mode uttering 'Om' at this level since it is the beginning as well as the end of the jiva on earth.
     The next stage is the highest, kaivalya at the 'sahasrar-prajnya'. The sages who attain this state are very rare! Most of the sages, Rishis, are also of different levels of attainment as is know by the terms like the Rishi, maharishi, rajarshi, devarishi, or brahmarishi and all are still in an a purely meditative state looking forward for the grace of the Lord to get redeemed and reach kaivalya. ka i e va la ya are also bijaksharas! At the level of Ajnya, the Rishis are capable of seeing, visualizing, the inner secrets of creation and can discover the power of the syllables (of the alphabets). They also get mantra from from sky as it were, anahata dhvani. One cannot become a Rishi, drishtara without getting a mantra, or at least a bijakshara. Thus, these rishis become the spiritual masters. However, the attention of these sages is fixed towards brahmn.
  Great sages like Devarshi Narada, Bbrahmasrshi Vashishtha and Vishvamitra, and Bhrugumuni and many other maharishis belong to this category. Before attaining the stature of Brahmarshi sage Vishvamitra was a King of pomp and glory and his ego knew no bounds. He repeatedly fell from attaining the highest level and even created a heaven for his disciple Trishankhu. Hence, it is needless to state that "anybody can reach to this highest level of Brahmn" and can become a Vishvamitra or a Vashishtha since "it is only a position of highest knowledge, chit, consciousness, that one reaches like these great sages! Beyond this level of Rishis, the only thing one can aspire is merger in the 'brahman'. There is nothing beyond this. This level is also attainable, according to scriptures, by any sincere seeker, or a determined spiritual sadhaka.
   Hence, anything is possible  to the jiva (in this human state of existence) and one can reach brahman. This is purushartha sadhana.

Life is all about...

   The Creator and His creation are one is the doctrine of 'unity consciousness', Ritambhara-prajnya. There are no subject and object, viwere and the viewed, 'known' and 'to be known'. In fact what all exists is 'jnyan, Knowledge, only. Knowledge is nitya,nirantara and never ceases to exist! What all one exhibits is only a level of understanding, level of knowledge attained, or the level of consciousness attained during the life-time. Beyond this, there is nothing.  Whether it is Galileo, Newton or Einstein or Stephen Hawking, what all exhibited during their time is some knowledge and it is not the whole knowledge; it is only a fraction of the faculty. Totality is something none can ever attain in a limited span of one's life time of even a hundred years. What all knowledge  we attain is not even fraction of a millionth of a drop of the ocean of knowledge, we all, as the humans operating at the animal level, is only it is just enough to survive by earning some food. this is the 'mula adhara', basic support for the body. The deity of this is Lord Ganapati. A product of this is Bheeshmacharya, Gangeya and we know how he became the cause of destruction at the end of dwapara yuga. That is all!..

   However, the scope for human to attain the highest level of consciousness is there and it needs an attained person to show the 'path of attainment. One can attain the highest para-brahmn level or the level of 'unity consciousness' with the help of 'nirvikalpa samadhi yoga' Hence, life is all about this attainment. Anybody can attain, step by step, 14 dimensions of existence through yoga, transcendental meditation. This can be done by chakra dhyana a nd bijakshara japa. The first seven levels are- from muladhara upwards- svadhishthana (the seat of devi, bhu, shree. Third level is the manipura, the abode of Devi where the Bhu actually lives. This region is the Navel, nabhi. Thus, these first three are the earth, water and fire levels and one can attain siddhi over these, respectively by the appropriate bijakshara mantra japa with focused attention on the respective point of the Chakra. Once a sadhaka gains control over these three food, prana, and manas one can conquer the world. The next level is the heart or  anahata or the mahat. This is the level of Vishnu Consciousness and the sadhaka will get clairvoyance state and can traverse in akash at will. This is the most exalted level asfar as the sadhaka can dream of. Here the person will conquer time, space and causality and overcomes days and nights, hunger and thirst and gains siddhi, control over manas (mind) and prana. This is done with hatha yoga. many siddhi purusha who have attained this level are there! We cannot see them because our level does not match with theirs. The bijakshara for dhyana at the firs four lower levels are: lam vam ram and yam. There are still three more higher levels of existence. One can sit in meditation on these principles and attain mahat0prajnya level. These may take several years even if taken up as a serious full time avocation and there is no guarantee that every sadhaka will achieve complete success! But, to start moving in this directions is itself a considered a aturning point in lige, and a success.
(to be contd.). 

Entanglements (Contd.)

    The entire world is a mesh or web of very powerful invisible forces operating on the minds of the people. The human civilizations of the past or the present, so called, modern industrial one are the product of mind! The people have devised different modes of life starting from that of hunting, fishing and agriculture. Villages industries and crafts have developed later and markets have come up only recently and organised ones are yet to come. In all these developments, the governing factors are desire and fear. The human beings are yet to develop into mature state of men of love, respect for fellow living creatures, serve fellow beings with compassion. Even today, there are countries who are so backward that their people are living in utter poverty. In a vast country like India,there is a dearth for good teachers,scientists,doctors, and craftsmen and labor at middle and lower levels- small and medium scale industries. village industries have almost died. So, what we talk about human development here, is yet to happen even in the so called advanced modern civilized countries. The living conditions of people in Europe and Mid-Asiatic Regions appear distressing with large movements of refugees, cities like Mossul in Syria destroyed by bombings. Islamic radical fundamentalism is the greatest to entire humanity!  

    Hence, what is really the crux of the problem? And, what is the solution to the present-day problem of life insecurity. Can people not live peacefully with mutual respect, help each other to improve the living conditions? Why not improve education and health facilities and share resources? The answer to these questions lie in spiritual development. This calls for a paradigm shift from the present mental to higher spiritual level. When a person rises in his level of consciousness from mundane materialistic world to that of spiritual level, there shall be a totally different approach to life. This does not require even education or wealth, The spiritually charged people attract wealth and dispense it for larger social good instead of hoarding or saving for self and future. This brings in a greater joy and happiness in society, without any feelings of differences of caste, creed, communities, or national boundaries.This is the concept of vasudhaiva kutumbakam of the ancient India, the principle of 'human development'. 

   Just as the cells in the human body divide and multiply, work in close coordination, and cooperate with each other and develop as the body grows older and older with the only intention of keeping the body healthy, likewise the society, too. should grow, develop, coordinate and cooperate and make all efforts towards mutual well-being of citizens, the society, nation, and world at large. There is no scope here for any ill-will, mistrust, fear, hatred, or fighting and killing!

   The politicians who takeover the reigns of administration need to understand this and develop a spiritual development approach to problems, and all other priorities come next. There should be a human approach to problems discarding the age-old practices of building armies, producing arms and ammunition and, waging wars, bombing cities and killing people.    

Entanglements

   The pristine soul, a particle of stellar dust-like particles of energy emanated by distant stars reaching the earth as electromagnetic radiation particles have embodied in embedded shells of various types of living beings, the jivarashi, here on earth. Our soul, atman, core of the entity, is an invisible energy source for the jiva, a battery constantly recharged from stellar sources. The soul is by itself a radioactive  or thermonuclear energy source and can support the living being, jiva, endlessly, albeit, subject to the ability of the capacity of the body to sustain itself from this source. Unfortunately, the body does not tap this source and depends on external supply of food for it build and growth, and finally dissipates. The soul is by itself an independent entity surrounding which different types of bodies such as plant, fish or frog, birds, or animals which develop and function in different forms! This embodiment is not clearly understood by either the scientists or the pundits- reading spiritual texts which describe the secrets, as in the Bhagavad-Gita or the Veda and the agama shastras.

    There are trillions and trillions of cells in the body of the living beings and each cell is of unique type performing specialized functions fully aware of its role in the function of the body.The trillion and odd brain cells perform functions that cannot be enumerated and pace at which they function is mysteriously fast, almost instantaneous! The way in which one single cell that carried the sperm after impregnation divided and subdivided into trillions and trillions with specialized functions is a mystery that can never be understood by us. Still we boast of inventions and progress!

    The nerves and neurons that carry life-forces, knowledge,emotions and even ideas and imagination need be clearly understood. The entire human body works on the whims and fancy of the mind and its moods. The physical organs play a secondary role and the role of the nerves and neurons cannot be underestimated here. In fact, who is the boss that runs the life? Is it the soul, the buddhi, the ego, or the mind? It is sad that an ignorant fickle mind is driven by the ego and the buddhi also plays second fiddle here, and the jiva gets entangled in the mire of earthly, mundane existence and suffers. There is no hope for this jiva as long as it does not realize who the boss is. When the buddhi (intellect) turns to prajnya (Consciousness) and gets the light of the soul it attains its goal! Yoginaam brahma bhavati saratahi | 

    This entangled jiva should dismantle all that it has acquired and woven around itself as the annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, jnyana and anandamaya koshas and get out of the clutches and limitations of time and space and be free from all its inhibitions. The jiva, once it is free from its limitations, will be supreme! This it can achieve by taking recourse to yoga. In samadhi yoga, one can reduce all the trillions of the cells into a molecule and thereby get the unitary state of consciousness (ritambhara prajnya). This is the divine state! All the mundane cravings disappear in this state.

Contradictions in Spiritual Statements

  We have before us a number of commentaries on the ancient scriptures by renown authors belonging to different schools of thoughts such as dvaita, advaita, vishishtadvaita, doctrines It is obvious that these scholars of repute carry convictions of their own schools of thought and their founder-teachers. Moreover, these contradictions, criticisms, and arguments in favor of their own schools of thought are in printed media that date back to hardly a few hundred years and most of these are not available to all. It seems futile to argue that Shankara's advaita is untenable by the dvaita philosophers who belong to later centuries, separated by several hundred years! So also, it is almost certain that all these different schools of thought have separated themselves from one single school due to difference of opinion amongst themselves. It is also true that nobody is certain whether the scriptures they  hold sacred are original or not and, may be they are not? There are thousand os scriptures in manuscript forms and may never find the light of the day! Who can say who is right or wrong?
    Not all disagree about the purpose of spiritual purpose and the methodology to attain to the highest. All agree that the jivatman has to revert to its true state by self-effort and knowledge obtained from the scriptures, yoga and renunciation. Renunciation is a must for attainment. There is no other go but to take to svadhyaya, satsang, nidhidhyasana and yoga. There is no second opinion here. But the differences arise in matters of definition, meaning and purport of certain words in the texts. Brahman is the first word that evades all definition, meaning and purport. There are differences as to the nature of Brahmn- one of attribute-less, undifferentiated, and the immaterial. There are those who attribute qualities, powers of creation, etc.to the absolute. Nobody is ever certain of what is Brahmn and everybody rushes to define the indefinable! Again, there are difference as to paths of enlightenment, liberation and nature of attainment. Nobody is certain what is to be attained?. Some say, there is nothing to attain, there is nothing to do and nowhere to go since 'you are already that- "thou art that". However, it is believed that 'the jiva suffers due to its ignorance', avidya, inability to know its true own true nature and opine that 'there is need' to 'realize the Self'.
   Hence we have a whole lot of commentaries written on the ancient scriptures, that are not even available  in the public domain! Is it due to the limited knowledge of the jiva that comes within the ambit of time, space and causality? Or, is it due to the basic flaw in creation? This question also needsa careful study; it is proved that the jiva can overcome these limitations by yoga and help of an attained person! We do have many an enlightened persons amidst us despite the vast majority of ignorant ones.
    There is no need to quarrel and go a separate way if one differs from another in matters of opinion regarding the path of realization or goal of life. We can study all the available texts and come to our own conclusion. Each one has a right to hold on to his belief, however foolish others may think of it. There is 'anekantavada' which states that 'each one is right according to his understanding and there is no question of another accepting or rejecting it'.Some of the ignorant people are so quarrelsome and some are so gullible and ignorant subject to brainwash by any intelligent persons. Under these circumstances, it appears to any sensible person that 'what all we find as different castes, creeds, mathas, are all silly, stupid, and idiotic. Whatever is presented or projected by the scriptures as doctrines need be meditated upon and realized by ones own efforts. Then the truth dawns the individual seekers and there will be no need to seek any further.

    Hence, we are presenting here statements selected from different sources for individual consideration, deep contemplation and meditation..  

(to be contd.) 

How many Gods do we need?

   The Upanishads give a clear idea about our concept of God, but not in the anglicized word (G O D), but, as Bhagavan, devi, devatas. We have given a name, a form, a specific power and armament and decoarte each one of them with ornaments in order to recognize their power and glory. Moreover, all these Gods exist within us! For us the Gods are personal and visible. Our parents, teachers and guests are our real Gods. We have Light, Fire, Air, Water, Soil and plants and animals, birds and all living creatures on this planet earth as Gods.Our Gods do not live somewhere in Kailas, Vaikuntha or do not come from somewhere; they are born with us in our heart, soul, eyes and ears and die with us! There are as many Gods as there the nadis and nadi granthis like brahma granthi, vishnu granthi, rudra granthi, kurma nadi, etc. There 72 000 nadis in which the God of Life Forec, Prana, lives and works! There is a God of Fire Vaishvanara in all of us who digests the four types of food we consume- solid, liquid, paste, and the like. The skin is warm due to the Fire God- agni deva; so also, our intelligence and the eyes and ears that see and understand due to the Gods of Light and Sound. Our Gods are not agents, but Gods by themselves with specific powers to make us what we are! If there is a doubt regarding this, no God will ever help such a fool! So trust in God within you and don't go from pillar to poste and face empty walls; Sit in meditation and visualize the God within you. He, the God, exists in the vital breath (Prana vayu. and He is Shiva who breathes, and none else bu Shiva!

   Some of the names of the Gods are Narayana, Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Sharada, Parvati, Chamundi, Kalika, Gayatree, Savitree, etc. There are twelve names of the Sun for twelve months of the year (dwadasha aditya); there are numerous rudras who protect us, including plants, animals,birds, and all that! And, there are Gods in every stone and need less to say minerals like the radio-active ones like uranium, vanadium, zircon, barium, and the like. In fact every particle of light photon) is a God and every electron, proton, ,boson, fermion and nucleotide and quarks are all Gods and exhibit the Power and glory of the Gods, however, a minuscule form, these might be! Thus, a butterfly exhibits its intelligence and, so also an ant, too, for that matter! The, where do you search for a God? A blooming flower is the most beautiful power of the supreme Lord, at His best.
  Not second or third or fourth is he called-- he who knows this God as One only. .Not fifth or sixth or seventh is he called-- he who knows this God as One only. Not eighth or ninth or tenth is he called-- he who knows this God as One only. He watches over all existent beings, those that breathe and those that breathe not. [Atharva Veda XIII, 4, 16-19]

   

The Vedic Gods- Narayana

    Rk Veda gives the details of Gods and Goddesses (deva, devi, devata). These are in a way elementa Gods like Fire (Agni), Air (Marut/Vayu), Rain (Varuna), etc. All these are the manifest forms of one God only, called Narayana. Rk Veda asserts Only Narayana as the God and all else His manifestations. Even this Narayana is not any person (purusha) but the ultimate one can attain as the highest position, a state of pure Consciousness. It is attainable by anybody not by acquisition, any practice, study or effort, but by a process of discarding what all one has acquired! It is said that the sage Nara-Narayana attained this status of 'Narayana' by austerity, yajnya, meaning giving up, sacrifice. Ahirbudhnya Samhita gives more details regarding this. (See F. Otto Shredder: Introduction to Pancharatra, Ahirbudhnya Samhita, Adyar Library, Chennai)
   What the Rk Veda states about the purusha sukta, devi sukta, shree sukta, saraswati sukta, bhu sukta etc is the same as the ones found in many pancharatra samhitas and thereby there is noi contradictions. The Lakshmi Tantra is all about the powers (shakti) of Narayana.and His Sudarshana. In fact, there is no difference between Lakshmi, sudarshana, or Narayana at all. Ahirbudhnya is supposed to be Shiva or Maheshvara who got this knowledge about Lakshmi and Narayana from Sankarshana. "After a long penance, Ahirbudhnya says, he got to know that this 'true knowledge' was the 'science of sudarshana'. He says, "The ultimate is the beginningless, ndless and eternal reality, which is devoid of all names and forms, beyond all speech and mind, the omnipotent whole which is absolutely changeless. From this eternal and unchangeable reality there springs a spontaneous idea or desire (sankalpa).The idea is not limited by time, space or substance." This eternal, nameless, immutble one is called the 'brahmn'.
   Brahmn cannot be expresses in thoughts, ideas, words or any other means. The most suitable word may come very close to 'tyat' or simply, 'That'. This is what is called "That's It' (Om tat sat iti). For want of a single name, Brahmn is known by several other names such as avyakta, Bhagavan,  Parmatman, Atman, vasudeva, prakruti, pradhana, etc. All these do not mean anything! Certainly the anglicised word 'GOD' will never come near these!!
   In Ahirbudhnys samhita sudarshana is considered as that most powerful one behinf all creation and dissolution!  

Why Invoke God?

    When we do not know who or what is God, why do we invoke God? First of all, it is sheer ignorance, avidya or anyathaa vidya,knowledge covered by fear, desire, attachment and ego that makes us to look for some support and we seek God. In this eagerness to get some support we seek the help of even a stone, a plant or tree, a bird, or even the slippers (paduka) of some body (a Guru>) and go ahead! This has been an age-old practice and there is nothing wrong since it is just a belief system! However, people of strong minds, rational beings, resist such temptation and walk straight without even looking at a temple! One may call somebody an atheist or a believer, a non-believer, etc. But all these are of no meaning or may we call it nonsensical? But doing harm to others, speaking untruth and acting against the common interest and against the welfare of society is a sin these very people who worship God..People do not realize this. 

   God is a concept that has no foundation, whatsoever. The Western philosophers have discussed much about this and so far have not even one! This is not the case of ancient Indian sages, or fo that matter, now and here many a siddhi purushas, attained persons, sadhakas well versed in yoga have visualized God.There is no doubt about this visioning, darshan, visioning God by Rishis, drushtaras.    Thos who have seen God in person need no proof. And, those who do not know what is God or those who need no God need not bother about it. That is it!
 Now, as regards existence of 'God', "this(God's existence) can be known by shastra pramana, the spiritual texts, which give us some idea about God. All other proofs which seems to demonstrate the existence of God ultimately fail to do so since suitable counter-arguments may always be successfully arrayed to destroy the efficacy of such arguments." (ibid, p. 189)
    "God cannot be perceived either by any sense organs or by the mind". The sense organs can help us to know only those objects with which  they can come in contact with. The mind, on the other hand, cannot make external objects known to us without the help of sense organs. Even what the yogis perceive may be just a memory of what they might have experienced in a state of extra-sensorial perception, and may not hold good for others! This experience of yogis is not transferable.
   The concept of God has been invented by those who could not explain satisfactorily how this world came into existence. "There are some who would want to support the cosmological argument on the ground that no less than a supreme person, entirely different from the individual persons, could be regarded as the maker of  this vast universe! The individuals have no capacity to create anything larger than themselves. They cannot even see things lying far away and things obstructed from their view. If they close the eyes things disappear and most of the time nothing exists when they are deep asleep! Thus it is necessary to hold that the maker of the universe must be a being of unlimited powers, a God?"
   Thus not one God, a number of them came into existence according to the needs of time, needs of circumstances, and the existing belief systems. But all these can be simply discarded when a person starts thinking  in a rational, scientific way. Even then, there is scope for the existence of a God since all the concrete phenomenal objective mundane worldly existence cannot be explained wither scientific or logical way. Since the material world has emanated from a spiritual background that is abstract and may be, non-existent! This calls for a supreme Lord, the God. Thus, God is an absolute necessity rather than an assumption, presumption or a creation of a confused mind. God is that supreme vast invisible force, abundant source of energy, light, intelligence, consciousness, etc that pervade the entire cosmos and creates and destroys anything everything. Even Gods- smaller or petty Gods are created by one supreme God, paramatman. Thus we have crores of Gods and Goddesses, all energy aspects of One supreme power, shakti. Thus, we have a God of a certain name, power, equipment of armas, and signs and symbols for every purpose and all our daily needs.are fulfilled when we invoke them with devotion sincerity!  

   The Agama shastra dwell at length on all these and narrate how Gods emanate in different forms, vyuha, bhava, vibhava, vyuhantaras, etc. We will give some of these in the following blogs, one by one later.

This Mysterious Creature called 'Man'

     Man is a thinking animal. The humans are endowed with power of thinking. This led Rene Des Cartes to say, Cogito ergo sum. This statement- "I think, so I am" may be changed a little to- "I am, so I think". So aham asmi or "I am" ('so'ham') is the Vedic doctrine. This may be fully stated as- "I Am That" The scientists have now come out with a new statement after a thorough research that 'the ultimate reality' is the 'Universe reflected in Man' that prompted them to state- "I Am the Universe".

    However, the mystery of creation is beyond all human capacity to think. The human beings can never decipher the secret of creation as long as they think that they are limited, incapable of knowing all the truth! However, this is not the case. Every human being is bestowed with creative power, intelligence, and ability to think and raise above the mundane level of existence. This is possible by taking recourse to yoga. What the yogic practices do is to help us to discard all the trash we have acquired since birth and restore us to our pristine pure Conscious state. 'Pure Consciousness' is the state of 'all-knowing', 'sarvajnyatvam. Thus, it is not very difficult to know the secrets of creation. The Bhagavad-Gita will greatly facilitate this understanding.

   Now, what is this mystery called /Man'? The mystery lies in the fact that 'nothing' appears like 'something' (illusion?) that makes him to search, reach there. This search is endless since the 'subject' searching, and the 'object of search' are one and the same. 

   The Lord says, "I only exist! Nothing besides Me. I only manifest as 'the Self' of all". Who else is there when a person is in a state of deep meditation, or for that matter, when one is in deep sleep?

   The mystery lies in getting this 'non-existential state in existence' and 'existence in a non-existential state' (samadhi). Thus, yoga helps to crack this mystery and realize 'Who I am'. When one realizes the fact that the human being is nothing but a bundle of energy(chemical bonds) in the form of a vibrant state in 'flesh and blood' supported by 'prana'; so also, the problem ends when the jiva realizes that it is nothing but 'vibration of energy'. The jiva ceases to exist the moment vibration stops. 'Everything is vibrant vital (pranic) energy' that takes some form under a certain frequency, wave-length, and then discards it! Thus, all great thinkers have arrived at a certain understanding that 'everything found here is just a 'make-believe' world, and nothing is certain here. This is the transient world we live in for a short span of life and disappear!   

Bhakti

   Bhikshu is of the opinion that 'devotion' (bhakti) as a way to the highest realization. This relation of the individual jiva with the supreme Lord, paramatman, is a matter of great  interest to all those who seek merger with Him. However, there are some who argue that this merger is never possible! How can there be a tiny particle of jivatman merge with the vast unbounded paramatman is there question. There are several types of mukti, moksha according to some and, some believe that there exists 'one only' and nothing besides 'That' (tyat)! Everything is just a voibration of the 'One' supreme. Hence, there is no question of 'one merging into the other'.This is exemplified by the mantra: poornamadah poornamidam pooranaat poornamuduchyate | poornasya poornamadaya poornamevaashishyate ||    However,  some argue that one can reach 'Him' like a thread that is connectineg the flowers in a garland. Some argue that one can at best be a servant of God and serve Him but can never become Him! Some argue that one can reach His realm (salokya) or at best be near Him (saanidhya); some argue that one can become a pendant in the golden chain; and, there are some who say that examples like Andal, and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who have just entered into Him! There are who say the ultimate goal is to reach Him with the help of a guru, attained siddhi purusha. Sadakhya, saamya, sameepya, saalokya, sayujya, are all advocated by different schools of thought. But ultimately, nobody realizes the fact that there exists nothing indepenedent of Him and everything is His leela, a maya!

  Thus, we are giving a view of Bhakti marg of the Bhagavats as enunciated by Vijnyana Bhikshu, Bhikshu says, "at the time of dissolution,or emancipation the individuals are not associated with any content of knowledge (jnyan), and are often devoid of any consciousness, and  being of the nature of unconscious entities like wood or stone they enter into the all-illuminating great soul (paramatman) as rivers enter into the ocean. Again, it is this great soul out of its own will sends them forth like sparks of fire and distinguishes them  from one another and goads them to action" (ibid, pp. 450-51). 

Philosophy of Bhiskhu and the Doctrines of Ishvara-Gita (contd.)

  one of the fundamental principles of  Creation pertains to the Creator. There must be a Creator in order to create is the basic assumption or presumption. Who is that Creator is the next question. This brings in the concept of a 'purusha', a paramatman, followedby 'prakruti'. But there is no such thing as either a separatepurusha and a prakruti since nothing is manifest unless it is perceived! Thus, prakruti is perceived as the manifest form of purusha. Where was this prakruti in order to present itself out of purusha?Where was the tree in the seed? Where was the child in man, orfor that matter, where was the hen in the egg? Thisis the problem.

    Hydel power is harnessed fro a river at the site of awaterfall. The hydel power was inherent in the flow and the fall! The potential energy is harnessed a the kinetic energy, electricity from water! The same is true of the fire in coal, oil, and natural gas; so also,the solar energy, wind energy, and all that. In fact, everything is fire, agnideva. It is the sun (surya) , agni (anala) and soma (the moon). Everything is Energy..(Rk Veda eulogisesagni deva in a numeber of suktas. 

   the so called 'paramatman' is changeless, immutable. Paramatman is not like the purusha and the prakruti or the manifest forms of the later as the sankhyans enumerate in their 24 principles. In fact, '' is a form of 'jnyan' (Knowledge). Knowledge (jnyan) always exists! What all exists is Knowledge only!   Supposing there is a book on the table. it doesn't matter as long as we do not evince any interest in it, or look at it. It comes toour attention, into our  cognition, only when focus attention on it with an eagerness 'to know' what is in it. This actually creates a. a person interested in the book;b. interest in knowing; and, c.the book. Finally, when the book is completely read and understood, both the need for the book and the interest in it disappear. What remains is only the 'knowledge'.

 "The ultimate essence of he world is of the nature of knowledge which is in the form of paramatman. It is in this essential form that the world is regarded as ultimately real and not as prakruti or purusha which are changing forms."

      Prakruti is non-existent as long as it is there in the potential power of God; it is considered as 'existent' as soon as it is projected, manifests, as evolutionary changes are effected as 'the power of God'.

    This is the concept of 'sada' and 'asada' eulogisedin the nasadiya sukta of Rk Veda Samhita. In the beginning, the nasadiya sukta of the Rk Vada says, there was neither existence (sada) nor non-existence (asada). Only Paramatman, brahmn existed in a totally non-vibrant or state pure consciousness!

Vijnyana Bhikshu's Philosophy and Doctrines enunciated in the Ishvara-Gita

   Let's always remember the fact that we the spiritual seekers are looking for some authentic texts in order to seek solace to our troubled minds in the Kaliyuga of the 7th Manvantara called Vaivasvata manvantara. Six manvantaras are already over. There were a krutayuga, treta, dvapara and a kali yuga in each manvantara and the Sun is always the 'Hiranta Garbha' from which the creation of a sort of our earthly life might have emanated in the past! We the humans are limited in our faculty and ability to know or grasp the 'truth' about creation. So here we have the scriptures presented to us as the 'spoken words of the Lord'- 'Bhagavan uvacha', may it be Ishvara-Gita, the Bhagavad-Gita, or the Ekayana Veda (not available now)..These words of the Lord reveal the secrets of creation, sustenance, dissolution, and merger at the end of each and every epoch; it is as if a projection and withdrawal of the universe! May be, it is just a cinema,a drama unfolding before us!

    Vijnayan Bhikshu (14th Cent. A.D) has given the Commentary (Bhashya) on the 'Ishvara-Gita' (available to the author Surendranatha Dasgupta in MS) and a few of these are presented here for our spiritual seekers.* Bhikshu's philosopphy is based on this Ishvara-Gita. Now, the doctrines enunciated in the Ishvara-Gita are very simple. These are pertaining to 'liberation', the nature of the jiva and its predicaments. Most of the problems of the jiva are related to its joy and sorrow, This duality cannot be overcome unless there is a permanent bliss (ananda). But this bliss or ananda is obtained only by a jiva attains to liberation and not all the jivas struggling for a livelihood on the earth at one stretch. .
   The ultimate goal, according to Vijnyana Bhikshu, is not the cessation of sorrow. He is of the opinion that the sorrow, misery of the world will not end with the emanciapation of a jiva;it remains and other jivas suffer as long as they are not relieved of it- not by death of the body, but by the awareness, enlightenment, realization of the Self (Atmajnyan). This is the case of Gautama who became the Buddha. He went in search of the solution to the old age, sickness, and death, but ended sitting quiet under the Bodhi vruksha (Banyan tree)! It is only the liberated soul, liberated from repeated emboodiment due to its avidya, that gets released from bondage, sorrow, misery of life (caused due to attachment, ego, jealous, etc.). Bhikshu says, "The ultimate state of emancipation cannot be a state of bliss, for since there are no mental organs and no mind in this state there cannot be any experience of bliss." Thus, it means, 'there must be a mind.to experience bliss, sorrow or misery! "The self cannot itself be of the nature of bliss and be at the same time the experiencer of it" When bliss (ananda) is there sorrow disappears as we have seen a child suddenly stops crying and starts laughing!. There must be a gradation of realities.Step by step, one can realize or get revelation of a more 'real' aspect! Thus finally, one can arrive at the ultimate 'truth'. This is how the jiva is liberated by 'enlightenment', 'realization of the truth', 'reality of existence', or becoming aware of one's own 'true nature', knowledge of the self (Atmajnyan). Courtsey: A History of Indian Philosophy, Vol. III by Surendranath Dasgupta, Pub. MLBD) Vijnyana Bhikshu

(to be contd.).  .  . 

Ishvara-Gita

   Ishvara-Gita is a very elaborate Agama Shastra-samhita that gives us a clear idea about the creation and dissolution of the universe. It all began with a group of sages assembling in Badarikashrama under the leadership of Vyasadeva (Badarayana?). These sages included Sanatkumara, Sanandana, Sanaka, Angira, Bhrugu, Kanada, Kapila, Garga, Valadeva, Shukra, Vashishtha, and Rishi . It seems Shiva also arrived there later. Suta Muni asks Vyasadeva to instruct them as to the 'true knowledge' leading to 'emancipation' (mukti) as originally imparted by Shri Hari Narayana in His Kurma avatara (incarnation as Tortoise). This has come to be known as 'Kurma Purana'. The Second Part of this is called 'Ishvara-Gita' where Lord Ishvara gives a discourse on "The Ultimate Nature of Reality".

   There is a Commentary on Ishvara-Gita by Vijnyana Bhikshu, who has written a number of other commentaries including the one on Brahma Sutras. He is of the opinion that the main purport of Ishvara-Gita is the same as the Bhagavad-Gita. Thus, one finds that Sankhya, yoga, and Vedanta are all one indivisible bunch of Adhyatma vidya. Since the main Text is very elaborate and voluminous, only a few important doctrines are placed before the spiritual seekers here for purpose of contemplation and realization.Essentially it is a yoga sadhana for emancipation.  
   The main questions asked by the Sages and the answer given by Shiva (Ishvara) are:
1. What is the cause of all? 2. Who suffers Rebirth? 3. What is the Atman (Soul)? 4. What is Emancipation  (mukti, moksha)? 5. What is the Cause of Rebirth? 6. What is the nature of Rebirth? Who can realize all? 8.What is the ultimate reality, Brahman?. To these questions, Shiva begins with the last question first- The nature of Atman not as the Individual Soul, but as the Highest Self (Brahman).
   The doctrine of absolute absorption or assimilation of the individual soul within the universal and infinite soul is accepted. This atma-brahma bhavaikya (Unity) is a reality. It samakhya/ Ultimately the individual soul (that manifests brahman) unites with the supreme Soul- brahman.  Even while the jiva runs it errands in its worldly existence without the knowledge of its true nature, it exists merely as a witness (Sakshin).
  The entire universe is the manifest forms of brahman and merge in it at the end after a short period of vibration due to the inherent chaitanya, Energy. The awareness or chit shakti is the cause of cognitionand the absence of it nullifies the very existence. Hence it is inferred that "It is the power of cognition(chit), consciousness that creates or destroys the perceived objective world.
 The universe appears from braman, nowhere and the moment this 'nowhere' is split into 'now' and 'here', the time and space appear. All that exists here is within this Time that is an illusion created by nowehere! Hence merging back into brahman 'nowhere' from 'now' and 'here' is the objective. So also,this creation is an illusion since 'every thing' emerges out of 'no thing'. This is just similar to 1, 2, 3, 4, and many emerging out of Zero, nothing! Have we not seen how a womb of the would-be mother is impregnated with an invisible seed (sperm) and there comes out the like of its form of life! The supreme Lord is the Father in Heavens who issues out the seed in the Sun, the Earth, and thus, the cause of all that is born here. 
   Thus everything is emerging from nowhere and nothing only to revert to its natural state of 'nothingness' , into oblivion, nowhere, at the end.
    .

Attaining to Brahman

Brahmasutras (3. 3.29-30) speaks about a  spiritual seeker (upasaka) reaching Brahman after death. There are two Brahmans- one qualified brahmn, with attributes (saguna) and, the other unqualified or attribute-less (nirguna). Brahman as such is neither saguna or nirguna; however, it is the sadhaka who takes to upasana of Brahman as such and such.. All the qualities (Guna) attributed to Brahman are due to the objective world experience and these attributed to the attributes of Brahman.But this is not true. Brahman is nirguna only. Brahman has no attributes or Gunas, and it is not even knowable! Then, what the upasaka is doing here during his life toime tokeep Brahman as the goal to revert to IT (tyat). For ordinary upasakas it may not be possible to meditate on brahman as 'nothingness'. So they may adopt saguna brahman for meditation. This process of meditation gradually takes the upasakato Brahmaloka after death. It is only the upasaka of saguna brahmn  who goes to Brahmaloka. The other category of upasakas who meditate on nirguna brahman have already attained to Him, even whileliving, (sadyomukti) and even need not wait for death to discard all the karma klesha, whether prarabhda, agami or the sanchita. This makes it clear that meditation on brahmn will definitely help one to discard the blemishes of the soul and revert to its pure state even while living. This will help the jiva to get released from bondage of rebirths..

Incarnations

  Almost all the scriptures mention about the incarnations, avatara, manifest forms of the supreme Lord. When the doctrines enunciated in the Vedic texts are properly understood, it becomes clear that "Everything is the manifest form of that One supreme power only." Behind this manifestation lies the divine desire, deveccha. 'Will' of the Lord. "The Lord Willed", says the Veda. Eko'ham bahusyam | "I am alone, I shall become many," says the Lord. Thus the phenomenal objective world, transient, ever-hanging, and impermanent has appeared (to us who look at it?). 

   In all there are 39 incarnations specifically mentioned in the scriptures. Some of these are matsya, kurma, varaha, nrasimha indicate the different stages of evolution of life on this planet.  However, we cannot exclude many of the plants and animals from this incarnation principle since these too have come to be worshiped by us. Cow and the Tulsi plant are examples. These are divine, in the sense have attained divinity! The secret of evolution revealed in the Vedic texts that need a careful decoding. The incarnations of the Lord such as Fish (matsya), turtle (kurma) boar (varaha) and Lion faced man (nara-simha)- rather an intermediate stage when Man was evolving from the animal state, are all symbolic. These are explained in the mythological stories for the benefit of common man who cannot understand the intricacies of symbolism in the scriptures like the Veda, agama shastra,  including the Bhagavad-Gita. Our ability to understand all these secrets is highly limited due to our inability to spend mote time for all these. But, those who study well can know these secrets, the coded language of the scriptures. mere reading or hearing the puranas will not help us here.

   As regards the  incarnations of Rama, Balarama, Parashurama, Krishna, Buddha or Kalki, it is very clear that all these are mere names and forms depicted in the Purana like the Vishnu purana and Padma purana. One has to look deep within oneself as directed by the Lord, Bhagavan Sri Krishna in the Gita. He says, "I am not somebody whom one can know; I am not easily known from the study of scriptures, and even the devi devata or learned sages can ever know Me since I am of no name or form. I am not an object to be known. I dwell in the heart of all. It is I who seated in all as the self of all eat, think, and act! " 

 Vishvaksena Samhita of the Pancharatra says, All avataras spring, emerge or manifest from Aniruddha, either directly or indirectly. Maheshvara or Shiva has come indirectly from Aniruddha through Brahman; so also Hayshirsha (Hayavadana) from the matsya, a direct avatara of Sri Krishna. Lakshmi Tantra says, all manifest forms of Gods (vibhava avatara) are from Aniruddha  On the other hand, Padma Tantra says, all the ten avataras manifest from" Matsya, Kurma and Varaha from Vasudeva; Narasimha, Vamana, Sri Rama and Parashurama from Sankarshana; Balarama from Pradyumna; and Krishna and Kalki from Aniruddha. All other avataras may be inferred from this. Even a Crooked Mango tree in Dandakaranya is said to be an avatar as stated in the Vishvaksens Samhita.
 This is how, one can understand that all are manifest forms of Supreme Lord only and Lord Shree Krishna Paramatma says, "He is the Self, the Atma, of all". Thus, there is no other God's avatara different from the 'Self'.
 "The Self is all". Ayam atmaa brahm | Atma eva Brahmaa ||

   "All living beings are the manifest forms of Brahman. Sarvam kahluvidam brahmaa  Evenm the non-moving objects are endowed with the energy, chaitanya, power of the Lord. there is nothing that is not divine here. Those who do not realize this are fools, says the Lord.|"

Taittiriya Text

"That from which all beings are born... .. Try to know that. That is Brahman." (Taittiriya Upanishat). This aims at a non-dual Brahman s the only reality and does not define a saguna Brahman. It defines Brahman as the efficient, as well as, the material cause of the universe , since it is the place of the dissolution of the universe. Being the material cause of everything in the universe, It is the basic reality behind everything. This gives rise to the intuition knowledge that Brahman is non-dual and everything else is unreal, It (Brahman) being the efficient cause it also proves that It is non-dual and it precludes anything else as being the efficient cause. It is through vivarta or apparent modification through avidya, nesience, that Brahman is transformed into the universe. This univese is therefore illusory.

   There are some who argue that 'although a Pot is made of clay, it is the result of the handiwork of a potter'. If clay is the efficient cause potter is the material cause. This is not the case of Brahman who is both the efficient and the material cause of the universe. It is also true that the universe is like the rope that is mistaken for a snake. The Snake is superimposed on the rope due to avidya, nesience, or mistaken identity. What we see is just an image of the objects perceived by the senses due to the focused attention of the mind; the object is projected by the eyes on the mind screen and the image is transformed into cognition by the brain. These are stored in memeory and cause the illusion- like rope appearing like snake in dark (avidya, ignorance). When light falls on it, knowledge dawns, the snake (image) disappears and the real rope (cognised as real) appears. Even the rope is not real since it is based on our perception. Hence, the world, the rope, the snake, all the phenomenal objects for that matter, are illusory as long as the Consciousness (Chit-Shakti), 'Light of the Soul', Atmajnyan, does not shed light on it! So, we all live in a make-believe world and we ourselves put on a mask in our day-to-day life and act as actors on a stage. No wonder, this prompted Shakespeare to say- "the world is a stage and we are all actors and spectators, too."

Doctrines (Contd.)

"This or not this"

  Ahirbudhnya Samhita clarifies about the doctrine of  'This' and 'not this' as regards the true nature of existence.What appears to us 'such and such' may not be true as it appears! 

"The powers of all things are in themselves of an unspeakable nature, inexplicablu subtle, a-prathak-sthita, from the substances in which they inhere; they are the potential or subtle states of the substance itself, which are not perceived separately in themselves and cannot be defined as 'this' and 'not this' in any way, but can only be known from the effects." it is the inexplicable subtler aspects that is brahmn, beyond all knowledge and definition that has manifest itself as the universe.

  This applies to us, the living beings, as well. We do not know for certain, who we are. Despite all that we see and know we are not what we appear to be. Albeit, there is a date of birth and a date of death we do not exist as 'this' and 'not this' through out, as we pass from stage to stage, from a microscopic 'spermatozoa' that enters a woman's womb and begets a shape, form and assumes a name as such and such. Surprisingly, the jiva goes on changing every seven years from childhood to adolescent, youth, old and dies! This leaves an eternal question as to who is that that existed?

   It is no wonder that nobody is an Einstein or Newton in the state of childhood and nobody even when lying unconscious and dies, but for the trail of light, knowledge that flashes sometime during his bright days. Thus, the question remains-what is this? And, what is not this or that?

   This is what is the paradox of this changing, transient, phenomenal objective world, called maya.
Let's seewhat the Upanishat says,

     Sage Yajnavalkya : "Do not say: From the semen, for that is produced from the living man. A tree springs from the seed as well; after it is dead it certainly springs again. 6. If a tree is pulled up with its root, it will not spring again. From what root, tell me, does a mortal spring forth after he is cut off by death? 7. If you think he is indeed born, I say: No, he is born again. Now who should again bring him forth? The Upanishad states: It is Brahman, which is absolute Knowledge and Bliss, the ultimate goal of him who offers wealth and also of him who has realized Brahman and stands firm in It." (Yajurveda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad III, IX-Yajnavalkya and Vidaghdha, 28).
   

Doctrines Enunciated in the Samhitas

    Now, we will give some the doctrines enunciated in the various Samhitas. These doctrines are to be used as the subject of contemplation,meditation. Meditation on a particular concept will enable us to know the inner secret and we get the intuitional knowledge that becomes our own. Then onward, we need not look to others for ourknowledge. Also, this will enable us to take up the inward journey, step by step, reaching the inner core of the Self, the brahmn.

   Liberation:

 Lakshmi Tantra give an account of Liberation from worldly bondage means that the jiva has been freed from his three limitations- of space (anu), knowledge (asarvajnya), and power to act (anaishvarya). There are four ways whereby a jiva may seek to attain liberation. These are karma, sankhya, yoga, and sharanagati (prapatti). The Bhagavad-Gita explains the first three and Acharya R Libaeration.amanuja explains the last one.