Joy and Fulfillment

JOY OF THE SOUL
    Words cannot describe the joy of the soul whose impurities are cleansed in deep contemplation-who is one with his atman, his own Spirit. Only those who feel this joy know what it is. [Krishna Yajur Veda, Maitra Upanishad 6.34. upm, 103]
You are in truth the visible Brahman. I will proclaim you as the visible Brahman. I will speak the right. I will speak the truth. May this protect me. May it protect my teacher! May this protect me. May it protect my teacher! Aum, peace, peace, peace! [Krishna Yajur Veda, Tait. Upa.1.1.1. ve, 757].
     The one who has not turned away from wickedness, who has no peace, who is not concentrated, whose mind is restless-he cannot realize the atman, who is known by wisdom. [Krishna Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad 2.24. verse, 710]
    May He protect us both. May He be pleased with us both. May we work together with vigor; may our study make us illumined. May there be no dislike between us. Aum, peace, peace. [Krishna Yajur Veda, Taittiraya Upanishad 2.1. Invocation. upr, 541].
Prayer for Fulfillment:

Finally, he (the udgatri priest) should meditate on himself and then on the object desired and chant the praise correctly. Thus will be quickly fulfilled for him the desire, desiring which he may offer the hymn of praise, yea, desiring which he may offer the hymn of praise. [Sama Veda, Chan. Upa. I, III - Meditation on the Udgitha as the Sun and the Vyana, 8 – 12]

MOKSHA

The rites of oblation, O lovers of truth, which the sages divined from the sacred verses, were variously expounded in the threefold Veda. Perform them with constant care. This is your path to the world of holy action. Those who in penance and faith dwell in the forest, peaceful and wise, living a mendicant's life, free from passion depart through the door of the sun to the place of the immortal Person, the imperishable Self. [Atharva Veda, Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.11. ve p. 415 ]

    Let him approach with humility a guru who is learned in the scriptures and established in Brahman. To such a seeker, whose mind is tranquil and senses controlled, and who has approached him in the proper manner, let the learned guru impart the science of Brahman, through which the true, Imperishable Being is realized. [Atharva Veda, Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.12n13. eh, p. 157]

    That which is neither internal consciousness nor external consciousness nor both together, which does not consist solely in compact consciousness, which is neither conscious nor unconscious, which is invisible, unapproachable, impalpable, indefinable, unthinkable, unnameable, whose very essence consists of the experience of its own self, which absorbs all diversity, is tranquil and benign, without a second, which is what they call the fourth state -- that is the atman. This it is which should be known. [Atharva Veda,     Mandukya Upanishad 2.7. VE, P. 723].

  Revealed and yet dwelling hidden in the cave is that which is called the great Abode. Whatever moves and breathes and blinks is fixed therein. Know this as being and also nonbeing, the desire of all hearts, transcending knowledge, best beloved of every creature. Burning as a flame and subtlest of the subtle, in which are firmly fixed the worlds and their peoples -- that is the imperishable Brahman. That is life and word and spirit, the true, the immortal! That, my friend, is to be known -- know that! [Atharva Veda, Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.1-2, VE, P. 685].
Faith:

Vajasravasa, desiring rewards, performed the Visvajit sacrifice, in which he gave away all his property. He had a son named Nachiketa. When the gifts were being distributed, faith entered into the heart of Nachiketa, who was still a boy. He said to himself: Joyless, surely, are the worlds to which he goes who gives away cows no longer able to drink, to eat, to give milk, or to calve. He said to his father: Father! To whom will you give me? He said this a second and a third time. Then his father replied: Unto death I will give you. [Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad, Part One, Chapter I, 1 – 4]

 

Dialogue between Yama and Nachiketas

   Nonviolence is all the offerings. Renunciation is the priestly honorarium. The final purification is death. Thus all the Divinities are established in this body. [Krishna Yajur Veda, Pranagnihotra Upanishad 46-8. ve, 413-14]
Nachiketa said: O Death, may Gautama, my father, be calm, cheerful and free from anger toward me! May he recognise me and greet me when I shall have been sent home by you! This I choose as the first of the three boons.
Yama said: Through my favour, your father, Auddilaki Aruni, will recognise you and be again toward you as he was before. After having seen you freed from the jaws of death, he will sleep peacefully at night and bear no anger against you. [Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad, Part One, Chapter I, 10 -11]
   Nachiketa said: In the Heavenly World there is no fear whatsoever. You, O Death, are not there and no one is afraid of old age. Leaving behind both hunger and thirst and out of the reach of sorrow, all rejoice in Heaven. You know, O Death, the Fire-sacrifice, which leads to Heaven. Explain it to me, for I am full of faith. The inhabitants of Heaven attain immortality. This I ask as my second boon.
   Yama said: I know well the Fire-sacrifice, which leads to Heaven and I will explain it to you. Listen to me. Know this Fire to be the means of attaining Heaven. It is the support of the universe; it is hidden in the hearts of the wise. Yama then told him about the Fire, which is the source of the worlds and what bricks were to be gathered for the altar and how many and how the sacrificial fire was to be lighted. Nachiketa, too, repeated all this as it had been told him. Then Yama, being pleased with him, spoke again. [Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad, Part One, Chapter I, 13 – 15]
 Nachiketa said: But, O Death, these endure only till tomorrow. Furthermore, they exhaust the vigour of all the sense organs. Even the longest life is short indeed. Keep your horses, dances and songs for yourself. Wealth can never make a man happy. Moreover, since I have beheld you, I shall certainly obtain wealth; I shall also live as long as you rule. Therefore no boon will be accepted by me but the one that I have asked.
     Who among decaying mortals here below, having approached the undecaying immortals and coming to know that his higher needs may be fulfilled by them, would exult in a life over long, after he had pondered on the pleasures arising from beauty and song?
   Tell me, O Death, of that Great Hereafter about which a man has his doubts. [Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad, Part One, Chapter I, 26 - 29]
   Yama said: The good is one thing; the pleasant, another. Both of these, serving different needs, bind a man. It goes well with him who, of the two, takes the good; but he who chooses the pleasant misses the end. [Yajur Veda, Katha Upa. Part One, Chapter II, 1]

What After Death?

What after Death?

     When a man departs from this world, he reaches the air. The air opens there for him as wide as the hole of a chariot wheel. Through this opening he ascends and reaches the sun. The sun opens there for him as wide as the hole of a lambara. By this opening he ascends and reaches the moon. The moon opens there for him as wide as the hole of a drum. By this opening he ascends and reaches a World free from grief and cold. There he dwells for endless years. [Yajur Veda, Brih. Upa. V, X--The Path of the Departing Soul, 1]

Yajnavalkya continued: Now, when that self becomes weak and unconscious, as it were, the organs gather around it. Having wholly seized these particles of light, the self comes to the heart. When the presiding deity of the eye turns back from all sides, the dying man fails to notice colour. The eye becomes united with the subtle body; then people say: 'He does not see.' The nose becomes united with the subtle body; then they say: 'He does not smell.' The tongue becomes united with the subtle body; then they say: 'He does not taste.' The vocal organ becomes united with the subtle body; then they say: 'He does not speak.' The ear becomes united with the subtle body; then they say: 'He does not hear.' The mind becomes united with the subtle body; then they say: 'He does not think.' The skin becomes united with the subtle body; then they say: 'He does not touch.' The intellect becomes united with the subtle body; then they say: 'He does not know.' The upper end of the heart lights up and by that light the self departs, either through the eye or through the head or through any other part (aperture) of the body. And when the Self departs, the vital breath follows and when the vital breath departs, all the organs follow. Then the self becomes endowed with a particular consciousness and passes on to the body to be attained by that consciousness. Knowledge, work and past experience follow the self. And just as a leech moving on a blade of grass reaches its end, takes hold of another and draws itself together towards it, so does the self, after throwing off this body, that is to say, after making it unconscious, take hold of another support and draw itself together towards it. And just as a goldsmith takes a small quantity of gold and fashions out of it another-a newer and better-form, so does the self, after throwing off this body, that is to say, after making it unconscious, fashion another-a newer and better-form, suited to the Manes, or the gandharvas, or the gods, or Viraj, or Hiranyagarbha, or other beings. [Yajur Veda, Brih. Upa. IV, IV-Death and the Hereafter, 1-4].

When he departs from the body if he is a mere ritualist and ignorant of Brahman he then goes upward by these rays toward the worlds which he has gained by his meritorious work. Or if he is a knower of the doctrines of the akasa in the lotus of the heart, he then meditates on Om and thus secures entrance into Brahma loka. Or if he is ignorant he attains lower bodies. The knower attains the solar orb as quickly as one directs one's mind from one object to another. This indeed is the door to the World of Brahman for those who know; for the ignorant it is closed. On this there is the following verse: There are one hundred and one arteries of the heart, one of which pierces the crown of the head. Going upward by it, a man at death attains immortality. Other arteries, going in different directions, only serve as channels for his departing from the body, yea, only serve as channels for his departing from the body. [Sama Veda, Chan. Upa. VIII, VI - The Course after Death for the Illumined, 5-6]

'Unknowable and constant, It should be realized in one form only. The Self is free from taint, beyond the akasa, birthless, infinite and unchanging.' 'The intelligent seeker of Brahman, learning about the Self alone, should practice wisdom (Prajna). Let him not think of too many words, for that is exhausting to the organ of speech.' That great, unborn Self, which is identified with the intellect (Vijnyanamaya) and which dwells in the midst of the organs, lies in the akasa within the heart. It is the controller of all, the lord of all, the ruler of all. It does not become greater through good deeds or smaller through evil deeds. It is the lord of all, the ruler of all beings, the protector of all beings. It is the dam that serves as the boundary to keep the different worlds apart. The brahmins seek to realize It through the study of the Vedas, through sacrifices, through gifts and through austerity which does not lead to annihilation. Knowing It alone one becomes a sage (muni). Wishing for this World (i.e. the Self) alone, monks renounce their homes. The knowers of Brahman of olden times, it is said, did not wish for offspring because they thought: 'What shall we do with offspring-we who have attained this Self, this World?' They gave up, it is said, their desire for sons, for wealth and for the worlds and led the life of religious mendicants. That which is the desire for sons is the desire for wealth and that which is the desire for wealth is the desire for the worlds; for both these, indeed, are but desires. 'This Self is That which has been described as Not this, not this. It is imperceptible, for It is not perceived; undecaying, for It never decays; unattached, for It is never attached; unfettered, for It never feels pain and never suffers injury. 'Him who knows this these two thoughts do not overcome: For this I did an evil deed and for this I did a good deed. He overcomes both. Things done or not done do not afflict him. 'This has been expressed by the following Rig verse: 'This is the eternal glory of Brahman: It neither increases nor decreases through work. Therefore, one should know the nature of That alone. Knowing It one is not touched by evil action.' Therefore, he who knows It as such becomes self-controlled, calm, withdrawn into himself, patient and collected; he sees the Self in his own self (body); he sees all as the Self. Evil does not overcome him, but he overcomes all evil. Evil does not afflict him, but he consumes all evil. He becomes sinless, taint-less, free from doubts and a true Brahmana (knower of Brahman). This is the World of Brahman, O Emperor and you have attained It. Thus said Yajnavalkya. Janaka said: 'Venerable Sir, I give you the empire of Videha and myself, too, with it, to wait upon you That great, unborn Self is the eater of food and the giver of wealth. He who knows this obtains wealth. That great, unborn Self is undecaying, immortal, undying, fearless; It is Brahman (infinite). Brahman is indeed fearless. He who knows It as such becomes the fearless Brahman. [Yajur Veda, Brih. Upa. IV, IV-Death and the Hereafter, 20-25].

Of Births and Deaths

   Somebody has said, "Having born, to die is the next best!". It is one's experience in life that prompts him /her to make a statement like this. The Social Contract Theory of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau talks about- "Man is born free, but everywhere is in chains". Both this indicates the nature of the jiva. It feels a sort of bondage, lack of freedom. This feeling of bondage has led to revolutions. However, this question of bondage or freedom is a state of mind, not the reality! If one feels he/she is free, there is no question of bondage. This freedom of persons is sometimes affected by external conditions like that of furious nature, social and political conditions that prompt to enforce strictures, etc. But, what we are talking here is not about the freedom of the body, mind, and Intellect (that craves for expression), but it is of the embodied jiva. The jiva is all-knowing, omniscient. It knows its true nature when it is conscious of its self. It has experienced an absolute freedom as chaitanya, pure consciousness, unbridled freedom to pervade as Vishnu, but has now become conscious of its embodied state. Thus, it feels the need for getting rid of the embodied state. But who has given this state of embodiment? There is a super soul that has led this jivatman to this state! Thus, it is under the grip of maya, Nature, prakruti and has acquired qualities that make it feel under bondage. Its pure joy is now qualified and it feels the need for some external source of happiness. It is happy and joyful this moment and then cries misery next moment.
   There is one thing certain about 'life on earth' and that is 'the jiva that takes birth and has to undergo troubles and turmoils of hunger, thirst, disillusionment, old age, and finally death. Happiness here is a mirage. Whether one believes in rebirth or not, it seems it is certain that the jiva has to undergo lots of cycles of births and deaths until finally it is redeemed! Bhaja Govindam of Shankaracharya clearly states, "punarapi jananam, punarapi maranam, punarapi shayane janani jathram". All the scriptures speak of the jiva's predicaments and the ultimate cry for redemption, mukti, moksha. Some say, it is kaivalya. Some others say, it is total redemption once and for all now and here. But it is diffocult to understand all these points of view. The Veda is very clear about this as seen from a small passage quoted here.

  Shvetaketu, the grandson of Aruna, came to the assembly of the Panchalas. He approached Pravahana, the son of Jivala, who was being waited upon by his courtiers. As soon as the king saw him, he said: Is it you, boy? He replied: Yes, Sir. Then the king asked: Have you been taught by your father? Yes, he replied.

    The king said: Do you know how people, after departing from this life, proceed on different paths? No, he replied. Do you know how they return to this world? No, he replied. Do you know why the other world is never filled up even though so manypeople go there again and again? No, he replied. Do you know after how many offerings of oblations the water (the liquid oblation) becomes endowed with a human voice, rises up and speaks?

    No, he replied.

Do you know the means of access to the path leading to the gods or to that leading to the Manes, that is to say, through what deeds men attain the path leading to the gods or that leading to the Manes? We have heard the following words of the Mantra: 'I have heard of the two paths for men, one leading to the Manes and the other to the gods. Going along them they (departed souls) are united with their destination. They (the paths) lie between the father (heaven) and the mother (earth).' Svetaketu said:I do not know even one of these. Then the king invited him to stay. But the boy, disregarding the invitation, hurried away. He went to his father and said: Did you not tell me before that you had fully instructed me? What then, my intelligent child? That fellow of a kshatriya asked me five questions and I did not know one of them.

What were they? These, said Svetaketu and he recited them.

    They carry him to be offered in the fire. The fire becomes his fire, the fuel his fuel, the smoke his smoke, the flame his flame, the cinders his cinders and the sparks his sparks. In this fire the gods offer the man as libation. Out of this offering the man emerges in radiant splendor. Those even among householders who know this, as described and those too who, living in the forest, meditate with faith upon the Satya Brahman (Hiranyagarbha), reach the deity identified with flame, from him the deity of the day, from him the deity of) the fortnight in which the moon waxes, from him the deities of the six months during which the sun travels northward, from them the deity identified with the world of the gods (devaloka), from him the sun, from the sun the deity of lightning. Then a being created from the mind of Hiranyagarbha comes and leads them to the worlds of Brahmin. In those worlds of Brahma they become exalted and live for many years. They no more return to this world. But those who conquer the worlds through sacrifices, charity and austerity reach the deity of smoke, from smoke, the deity of the night, from night the deity of the fortnight in which the moon wanes, from the decreasing half of the moon the deities of the six months during which the sun travels southward, from these months the deity of the world of the Manes and from the world of the Manes, the moon. Reaching the moon they become food. There the gods enjoy them, just as here the priests drink the shining soma juice-saying as it were: Flourish, dwindle.And when their past work is exhausted they reach this very akasa, from the akasa they reach the air, from the air rain, from rain the earth. Reaching the earth they become food. Then they are again offered in the fire of man and thence in the fire of woman. Out of the fire of woman they are born and perform rites with a view to going to other worlds. Thus do they rotate. Those, however, who do not know these two ways become insects and moths and those creatures which often bite (i.e. mosquitoes and gnats). [Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 1-16].  

(to be contd.)

Fundamental Priniples (mula tattva)

When we say "Everything is Consciousness" it is very clear that Consciousness is the basic principle. It is the principle of cognition that makes one aware of the 'Self', as well as, 'an other'; in fact, the Self itself is Consciousness that is aware of its Self and there is 'one Self' only and nothing else besides it! Hence everything is Consciousness itself and its own power cognition. What one (re)recognizes as 'an other', is its self, a manifest form of its own, by its own power of cognition. This understanding takes us to Brahman. Brahman is Consciousness; everything is brahman and what all is seen as 'an other' is the manifest form, a cognitive power of Consciousness, Brahman. Shuddha Chaitanya-prajnya.

  Brahman first manifests as Space (Akasha); From Akasha (Space) comes out everything; rather, whatever manifests as brahman appears in the Space (Akasha).  Akasha is also said to be brahman. What all manifests is accommodated in space (akasha). The first to manifest from Shuddha chaitanya is Mind (manas), Intellect (buddhi), ego (ahankara) and Thoughts and ideas that emanate from a disturbed mind (chitta) and it is Mano-vikalpa, chitta-vibhrama that creates the objective world of Illusion (maya).

    The five great elements, pancha mahabhuta, and their tanmatras that manifest in the Space are:

From Sound (Shabdha) comes Akasha (Space) and in Space moves the power of feeling, sparsh,carried by Air (vayu); sparsh is the tanmatra of vayu while sound or shabdha is the tanmatra of space. This feeble shabdha can be heard as fine waves of sound like OM (in anahata dhvani).

   Then comes the Fire (agni) from Form (rupa), its tanmatra. In other words what all appears as some form or the other (rupa) comes in the light of the the Fire. Rupa is thus the tanmatra of agni. From Fire comes the tanmatra of rasa or swada that manifests as Water (jal/Aps). The Earth is said to be the manifest form of Water and its tanmatra is smell (gandha). Each of the subtle aspect of the element is called the tanmatra and these tanmatra create the organs of senses in the Jiva to experience the creation!

  All these together go to make 25 elements excluding brahman. Another ten aspects of brahman, the powers of creation, sustenance, dissolution, appear and disappear (tirobhava), as well as, anugraha are added to these. All these thirty aspects are hidden in the alphabets!

   Thus one undifferentiated aspect of pure Consciousness called brahman creates a multitude aspects of its own manifest from is called 'the  (sansar/prapancha/ that can be grasped by the five senses) 'objective phenomenal world'; This world begins with the vibration of chitta (Consciousness) and disappears with the equilibrium of chaitanya. This is the true nature of our existence.
  Since the same principle governs the creation at all the three levels, viz brahmanda (macro), pindanda (meso), and the andanda (cell/micro) all these principles repeat at every level and the structure is the same! The jiva may at best acquire some more qualities (gunas). However, the creation manifests from brahman, the undifferentiated and again merges in brahman at the end. This projection and withdrawal of the phenomenal world is thus limited by time (kaala/niyati/destiny), space and causation; the effect is inherent quality of the cause and the cause is brahman for all practical purposes. 

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The Mind and Consciousness

   The Bhagavad-Gita gives a clear idea about the Mind and Consciousness. Shree krishna appears as pure consciousness, purna-prajnya, and Arjuna is depicted as the confused mind in Arjuna vishada yoga. Bhagavan Shree Krishna further adds, "Arjuna, you and I are one only; however, you have been afflicted by attachment and desire and have gone away from Me. Drop what all you have acquired, you will be Me only." Hence, where is the difference between the Atma and paramatma? 

   Once the conscious mind acquires qualities it loses its original purity and this afflicted mind is full of attachment, desires, ego, anger, jealous, selfishness, etc. This makes the pure soul a blemished one and suffer in course of time. It is further clarified that, these qualities are not that of the Atman or the jiva that is embodied; it is the blemish, stain, attached to the soul/Atman and can be cleansed by yoga. These, in course of time, become so hard that it becomes very difficult to cleanse and the jiva suffers.

  Moreover, the qualities of the jiva are not of its own making. It is of the prakruti, nature, maya. It is beautifully explained in the Gita "as the acquired qualities come from the food, air, water and soil." Thus, the jiva suffers for no fault of its own. Here lies the cliche. Why should the jiva suffer for no fault of its own? The answer is very simple. The jiva should try to realize its true nature and revert to its pure and pristine form by yoga. Shree Krishna Bhagavan, as yogacharya, gives instructions to Arjuna in yoga and teaches how to get rid of thsi embodiment. Desire is the cause.

   Bhishma parva in Mahabharata gives both Bhagavad-Gita and vishnu sahasranama as a guide to mukti, moksha. Chant the name of the Lord and abide by the Lord's will and try to cross the ocean of sansar, says the scripture. One an cleanse the mind in a state of turiya, transcendental meditative state.

Prajnyam prajnyam eva ca |

    It is said that, prajnyam prajnyam eva ca | meaning, 'Consciousness is consciousness itself'! The entire universe is a matter of 'Consciousness'; there is nothing without consciousness. If a person is unconscious neither does he/she know who he/she is nor where one is. The world appears and disappears with this consciousness, chit shakti. The power of cognition is the direct manifest power of brahmn. However, none knows who is brahmn or what consciousness is. It is the power of cognition of the self as well as an other. 

   The first to manifest  from the depth of Ocean of Consciousness is the 'sat'.  This 'sat' only becomes the 'chit', the Consciousness.Gradually, the chit transforms into 'chiti' (fire /agni), chetana, chetasa, chaitanya and many other different forms in shuddha tattva.In fact, everything is chiti, Fire/ agni. The Sun in the heavens (svar), the lightning, thunder, clouds, etc in the sky (akasha) and oil and natural gas, wood, stone and all vegetation and animals are indeed fire only; every part of human body is fire- fire in the eye (akshi), Intelligence (medha), skin (tvac), tongue and stomach (vaishvanara) are fire only. the person is dead if the body becomes cold. The three states of Fire- the Sun, the electric charges, and the  intrinsic heat and energy in inflammable substances on and inside the earth, are called 'tribandhu' in asya vamiya sukta of Rk Veda. Thus, fire rules the universe as galaxies, stars, and all other manifest forms of brahmn, called Gods, in scriptures.

   The power of cognition comes gradually after a few months after birth and it gets strengthened over time. However, not all will have the same power and , many jivas may attain very powerful states and become jnyanis. Normally, there are seven to nine states of consciousness as already stated in the previous blogs. Only the lower three levels are important to us in our day to day life. We may reach higher levels with the help of a good yoga teacher in Yoga. However, not all will reach the highest level called the sahasrar prajnya, the supreme conscious state.But, there is nothing wrong in trying to reach this state.