Structure and Composition of the Jiva

  The Earth is called a 'Living Planet' for it supports life. It is not clear whether any other planet hosts life or not. However, it is certainly clear about what supports life.  Life or jiva is a biological entity, It is sustained by air, food and water. Thus, wherever air, food and water are available there is the possibility of formation of life.

    Now, what is life? This question is not easy to answer for it has several shades of meanings. Some think just living is life, whereas, some think there is something beyond just living! Life is, interestingly, Energy, Force, Intelligence and Light (L I F E). The motive power behind all living beings, jivas, is the Energy factor. It comes from Light (of the Sun). Life is essentially a by-product of food produced by sunlight. Food is created by a combination of elements and compounds and the jiva manifests from food! A little soil, moisture and light are enough to create miniature life forms.  The Viruses and germs that abound in atmosphere are very powerful physio-chemical entities that turn biological! Thus, chemistry is involved in creation of biological entities. The Ribose and the DNA are the basic factors in creation of jiva. There are hosts of proteins (almost 77 000!), enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, genes, harmons and chromosomes that go to build cells, which in turn construct tissues and organs of the jivas. The most intriguing factor of the jiva is the cell formation, cell division and cell  function. One single Cell can perform almost 60 000 functions in a fraction of a second! The same cell does different functions in different organs created by itself by permutation and combination. Just like a person performs different functions in family, society, and community, the same cell does the functions of creation, sustenance, development and dissolution. The cells constantly die out and create new ones and transfer all memory before they die out! The ageing process that depends on the cells development is a mystery yet to be solved! The number of cells in a jiva cannot be measured. There are a trillion cells in the brain of man! Each cell is a mini universe!
   Thus, the cell biology and genetics holds the clue in future of mankind on this planet.

The Matter-Spirit Continuum

   Now that the scientific discoveries have proved that there is no dichotomy in matters of 'Spirit' and 'Matter'. Spirit only becomes Matter and reverts to state of Spirit. Spirit leads to creation of Matter and the underlying factor is the intensity of waves. The fermi ions give rise to Bose ions and the mazorana bosons! The potential energy become kinetic due to internal friction, fusion and fission. All these are explained the coded languga eof the Vedic texts (Suktas). We have the spiritual texts including the Veda, Upanishads, and the Bhagavad-Gita that explain the process creation, sustenance, development, and dissolution in great detail. The following are the three major aspects that need careful study.

   First, there is a Creator and then the Creation. The Vedic Texts state that the Creator only manifests as vivid creation. Eko'ham bahusyam. He the Creator entered the creation. tad srushtva tadevanupravishat. So, the Spirit only becomes Matter. The Matter can revert to its true nature of Spirit. The Yoga helps in Matter reverting to Spirit!

  Now, Mahapurusha manifests as Purusha and Prakruti. Prakruti undergoes five-fold divisions, 'panchikarana', as Sat becomes Chit, chaitya, chetasa, chaitanya, later on chiti, chitta and the like. The Space becomes the pancha bhuta, pancha tanmatra, pancha jnyan and pancha karma indriyas. All that is Creation is sustained by the spirit like prana, prajnye, usiru and jivatman. The same principle is also there for the embodiment of the soul.

   On the material side, we have the space, filled by the myriads of stars, galaxies and the planets with their satellites and the Earth with its atmosphere- air (vayu) with gaseous elements such as oxygen, hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, ozone, argon, methane, etc. All these gaseous elements have their spirit components such as Energy, Light, Force, Intelligence! The chemical bonds create energy, too! Life is thus a combination of the physical elements, chemical composition and biological entity as a process!
   If the Sun as a Star provides Hydrogen and Helium as the basic ingredients of the Planets, the Earth provides Air with the gaseous elements like oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and water with Hydrogen and Oxygen, and the different minerals like iron, silicon, magnesium, aluminum, etc in rocks, soils and the various physical and chemical compounds. The chemical compound become biological entity when life-force, intelligence, and other divine forces enter them! Thus the same hydrogen, carbon and oxygen compounds turn into biological entities! The hydrocarbons (HCO) and carbohydrates (CHO) are termed fire aspects or Vaishvanara agnideva!

  Now, the Knowledge ('vid'),vidya is complete. One cannot isolate the physical world from the spiritual components that sustains it. Manas or Mind, Intelligence, Ego, are the emanates from from the soul, Atman. These create the evolution of life in stages. Man is now at the beginning stage pof evolution of Mind and may end at the scale of Spiritual Attainment! This is deification, the man evolving into human and divine. 

Vashishtha Gita

  Sage Vashishtha describes the stages of enlightenment in different prakaranas.

   The first chapter is Vairagya Prakarana, in which Sri Rama experiences a very deep and intense dispassion and distaste for all worldly objects and pleasures. Although in Sri Rama's case the desire for worldly objects was never described as being very intense, still it is the first stage of Sri Rama's spiritual evolution and the first requirement in spiritual life.

    The second chapter is the Mumukshu Prakarana, which describes the intense desire for Self-realization that Sri Rama experiences. After achieving vairagya, after attaining the state of being different from the world, of not being involved but being more of an observer, then the next stage is changing the quality of the   desires from worldly to spiritual. That is the second stage of Sri Rama's evolution.

   The third chapter is the Utpatti Prakarana in which Sri Rama learns from his guru the origins of the world. It is deepening the understanding of why we get caught up and involved with worldly objects and pleasures, and how those outside objects are identified in the mind.

    The fourth chapter is the Sthiti Ramayana in which, after having attained that firm understanding of the origin of the world process, Sri Rama sustains himself in the Self, in Brahman. That is the time of spiritual enlightenment.

    The fifth chapter is the Upasama Prakarana, which describes the deep peace that emerged from having attained that spiritual enlightenment. The sixth chapter is the Nirvana Prakarana, which is the final liberation.

From intellect to intuition

   The introduction to Vairagya Prakarana contains many stories within stories. These stories have a twofold meaning. There is always a superficial meaning and at another level a more spiritual and deeper understanding.

   In the first story Sutikshna approaches Agastya for spiritual guidance. Sutikshna means subtle, sharp, and Agastya means the effulgent sun. The movement of Sutikshna towards Sage Agastya represents the move of the intellect towards intuition. An aspirant with the ability to move from intellect to intuition is considered to be the highest type of aspirant. The scriptures say that intellect is considered to be a barrier in spiritual life, but this has to be understood properly. As the absence of intellect is not the key to overcoming this barrier, the key has to be something associated with intellect.

   Intellect begins with the letter 'I'. The purpose of intellect is also to serve 'I', so if intellect is not the barrier directly, it is this 'I-ness' associated with the intellect which becomes the barrier. Intellect and ego, 'I-ness', have a very intimate relationship, even more intimate than the relationship between a husband and wife. The way to transcend this barrier is therefore not to create an absence of intellect, but to change the purpose and application of intellect. Instead of applying the intellect for ourselves, we apply the intellect for others.

   The guru-disciple relationship is described as the way to transcend this barrier. In all these stories there is a guru and a disciple. In the guru-disciple relationship there is acceptance, faith and surrender: one is undergoing training, one is 'in-tuition'. This ability to move from intellect to intuition is considered to be a quality of the highest type of aspirant, because while letting go of family and possessions is not considered so difficult, letting go of that 'I-ness' is considered to be one of the toughest and rarest abilities.

Purification of the mind

The second story is between Karunya and Agnivesya. Karunya means one who is full of grief, confusion, and Agnivesya means an embodiment of fire. The movement of Agnivesya towards Karunya represents the need of the chitta to be purified by the superconsciousness, the need of the mind to be purified through raja yoga. Karunya is considered to be the second best type of aspirant on the spiritual path. In the first story Sutikshna approached Agastya for spiritual guidance, but here Agnivesya had to approach Karunya in order to relieve him of his grief and confusion.

Spiritual inclination The third story is between Suruchi, a damsel, and Devadutta, Lord Indra's divine messenger. Suruchi means good taste. Her calling out to Devadatta is a sign of spiritual inclination, because even though it may have been a mental diversion initially, it becomes the source of her being led to spiritual heights, as Devadutta then tells the story which eventually leads to the dialogue between Sage Vashishtha and Sri Rama. Suruchi also represents the integration of sentiments required in an aspirant on the path of bhakti. She is considered to be the third best type of aspirant on the spiritual path.

From rajas to sattwa

    In the next story, Arishtanemi approaches Sage Valmiki, not directly, but after having refused a first class invitation to the heavens. The movement of Arishtanemi towards Valmiki therefore symbolizes the movement of rajas towards sattwa, Arishtanemi representing rajas, the destroyer of evil, and Valmiki representing divine purity, sattwa.

Sri Rama and Sage Vashishtha

   In the next story revealed by Sage Valmiki to Arishtanemi, Sri Rama represents the embodied divine Self and Sage Vashishtha represents the Self in the highest state of liberation. This depicts the movement of the soul towards Self-realization. It is the waking up of the soul from the world, which is the theme of Yoga Vashishtha. Sri Rama is the ideal disciple, the best that one can find.

    In this teaching, Sage Valmiki expands on each and every aspect of spiritual evolution. These stories, therefore, are not only stepping stones leading into Yoga Vashishtha, but also describe the different types of aspirants on the spiritual path and the internal processes and movements they undergo as the personality is transformed. They also emphasize the need for a guru-disciple relationship. Before beginning the story between Sri Rama and Sage Vashishtha, Valmiki explains that he had composed the Poorva Ramayana. Yoga Vashishtha is known as the Uttar Ramayana and the Ramacharitamanas is considered to be the Poorva Ramayana. Valmiki says that he offered the Poorva Ramayana to his disciple Bharadvaja, who became so enlightened and so happy from reading it that he revealed the story to Brahma, the creator. Brahma also became so happy after hearing it that he offered Bharadvaja any boon he wanted. Bharadvaja asked for a way by which everyone could escape from and transcend the miseries of the world, and become liberated. Brahma then sent him to ask Sage Valmiki to write the Uttar Ramayana, which would be in the form of a dialogue between Sri Rama and his guru Sage Vashishtha. As a result, everyone who comes into contact with that spiritual teaching and who studies it with devotion will become liberated. It is from this point that the dialogue between Sri Rama and Sage Vashishtha begins.

Great Sages Vashshtha and Vishva Mitra

    We have two exemplary Sages, Brahma Jnyanis, in the Guru Parampara. Both these Sages are of the highest order in yajnya, dana, and tapas. However, there is a slight difference between the two. The great Sage Vashsishtha is said to be an attained soul, established in His Self, unperturbed by the happenings in the world, as could be seen from his advice to shree Ramachndra in Vashsishtha Gita. On the contrary, Vishva Mitra seems to be of unsettled mind, seeking worldwide acceptance, acclaim,  He wanted Vashishtha to acknowledge the attainment to Brahm-jnyan! A person who seeks recognition, acceptance, acclaim from others is not a jnyani, at all!

    A Sage or Rishi is supposed to have got a mantra from anahata state! He is a visionary, drushtara. Sage Vishva Mitra was a king who worked hard to become a rishi and got the Gayatri mantra with the grace of paramatma Narayana. The Gayatri is a song, a sacred mantra of the Metre Gayatri comprising of 23 and a half syllables- tat savitru varenyam bhargo devasya | All these syllables are the seed letters, bija mantra, and have 12 mantra and 12 tantra devata, deities who pay obeisance to the Sun God, and as such, Vishva Mitra is called friend of the world (Light). The significance lies in that the grace of Lord Narayana is the most important factor here. Thus, Vishva Mitra struggled hard for his attainments and failed several times in his attempts. Finally, he succeeded in becing a jnyani, but not necessarily attained the brahmn! No one will ever attain the state of brahmn unless everything, everything attained, including jnyan, is dropped! 

Sage Wisdom- Vashishtha

Concepts of the Yoga Vasistha

There is nothing except Brahman and its energy --

The Yoga Vasistha uses many names for Brahman -- Infinite Consciousness, the Self, the inner reality, witness consciousness, the homogeneity, the absolute, the eternal, the indivisible, CID (Sanskrit).

Brahman's energy (CIT in Sanskrit) has infinite manifestations including these three:

1) The movement which is the initial vibration of the 'creations' (the Big Bang and/or collision of branes)

2) Movement which is the atomic structure of the natural world (the string theory)

3) Movement in consciousness which is in a limited format (the Mind)

Movement (vibration) and limited consciousness (thought) are the same thing and are used interchangeably.

The Mind, in its creative aspect, is called Brahma. It is also the Ego. The Mind serves as a veil which prevents us from recognizing ourselves as Brahman, prevents us from recognizing everyone else as Brahman, and prevents us from recognizing Brahman as the underlying reality of every thing we see, hear, sense, etc. This veiling by the Mind is the root cause of sorrow.

The Mind seeks the Self (Brahman consciousness) only in order to dissolve itself in the Self. . .this is the supreme goal. p. 124 Yoga Vasistha

The following may help your initial reading of the book --

1) Distinguish Brahman (the infinite) from Brahma (the creator/mind)

2) Recognize that the development of dispassion is to take relationships, events, etc. beyond the limitations of the Mind/Senses to the unlimited Witness Consciousness.

You (Self) dwell in 'me' in a state of equilibrium, as pure witness consciousness, without form and without the divisions of space and time.  p. 248 Yoga Vasistha

3) Recognize that happiness/unhappiness are trivial compared to the bliss of the Self.

4) Understand that the word 'exist' is used in its classic sense -- which is to have separate reality -- hence, the Yoga Vasistha states: "The world does not exist".

5) Realize that the word 'awareness' refers to that state of mind wherein the Mind identifies some aspect of Brahman as being apart (that is, individual) and thereby creates a subject/object split.

6) About Stories. From the scripture --

    . . . when a truth that has not been personally experienced is expounded, one does not grasp it except with the help of an illustration. Such illustrations have been used in this scripture with a definite purpose and a limited intention. They are not to be taken literally, nor is their significance to be stretched beyond the intention. When the scripture is thus studied, the world appears to be a dream-vision. These indeed are the purpose and the purport of the illustrations. 

7)    A personal observation:

As a way to integrate the Yoga Vasistha into one's daily life, it may be beneficial to distinguish between "Witness Consciousness" and the "Knower of the Field". While the scripture at page 181 of Vasistha's Yoga would appear to equate these two terms, many other passages clearly attribute only "witnessing" to the absolute, indwelling self.

The recognition of the absolute "Witness Consciousness" by reference to this scripture --

"You (Self) dwell in me in a state of equilibrium as pure witness consciousness, without form and without the divisions of time and space."

gives one a touchstone for experiencing the Absolute. The recognition of the manifesting, self-experiencing, relativity-based "Knower of the Field" as

". . .the knower of the knowable and the doer of all actions, the experiencer of all experiences, the thinker of all thoughts. . ."

gives a reminder that one's ignorant identification with "individuality" is the basis of sorrow, so. . .

". . .liva as the sages of self-knowledge live. They know infinite consciousness and the world-appearance: hence they do not relish nor renounce activity in this world."

The Supreme Lord appears as Isvara, omniscient and omnipotent and as the jiva, of limited knowledge and power, both unborn. But this does not deny the phenomenal universe; for there exists further the unborn prakriti, which creates the ideas of the enjoyer, enjoyment and the object. Atman is infinite and all-pervading and therefore devoid of agency. When the seeker knows all these three to be Brahman, he is freed from his fetters. Prakriti is perishable. Hara, the Lord, is immortal and imperishable. The non-dual Supreme Self rules both prakriti and the individual soul. Through constant meditation on Him, by union with Him, by the knowledge of identity with Him, one attains, in the end, cessation of the illusion of phenomena. When the Lord is known all fetters fall off; with the cessation of miseries, birth and death come to an end. From meditation on Him there arises, after the dissolution of the body, the third state, that of universal lordship. And lastly, the aspirant, transcending that state also, abides in the complete Bliss of Brahman. [Yajur Veda, Svetasvatara Upanishad, Part I, Chapter 1, 9-11].

The enjoyer (jiva), the objects of enjoyment and the Ruler (Isvara)-the triad described by the knowers of Brahman-all this is nothing but Brahman. This Brahman alone, which abides eternally within the self, should be known. Beyond It, truly, there is nothing else to be known. Yajur Veda, Svetasvatara Upanishad, Part I, Chapter 1, 9-12]

Animals belong to him as objects of enjoyment and he becomes rich in animals who, knowing this, meditates on the fivefold Saman in animals.[Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad II,VI - Meditation on the Fivefold Saman in Animals, 2]

The most excellent objects belong to him, nay, he conquers the most excellent worlds who, knowing this, meditates on the fivefold Saman, which is the most excellent, as the senses. [Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad II,VII - Meditation on the Fivefold Saman as the Senses, 2]

Shorten our path, O God, remove all stumbling blocks, Deliverer. Be at hand to guide. Scare from our road the wicked wolf, the ill-intentioned one who lies in wait to harm. The robber lurking round our path, who cunningly contrives our hurt, chase far away. From you, wise wonder-working God, we claim today that selfsame aid you gave our Fathers. [Rk Veda I, 42, 1-5]

He who inhabits the mind, yet is within the mind, whom the mind does not know, whose body the mind is and who controls the mind from within-He is your Self, the Inner Controller, the Immortal. He who inhabits the skin, yet is within the skin, whom theskin does not know, whose body the skin is and who controls the skin from within-He is your Self, the Inner Controller, the Immortal. He who inhabits the intellect (vijnana), yet is within the intellect, whom the intellect does not know, whose body theintellect is and who controls the intellect from within-He is your Self, the Inner Controller, the Immortal. He who inhabits the organ of generation, yet is within the organ, whom the organ does not know, whose body the organ is and who controls the organ from within-He is your Self, the Inner Controller, the Immortal. He is never seen, but is the Seer; He is never heard, but is the Hearer; He is never thought of, but is the Thinker; He is never known, but is the Knower. There is no other seer than He, there is no other hearer than He, there is no other thinker than He, there is no other knower than He. He is your Self, the Inner Controller, the Immortal. Everything else but Him is perishable. Thereupon Uddalaka, the son of Aruna, held his peace. [Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad III, VII-Yajnavalkya and Uddalaka, 16 (CONT)

Accept the healing remedy your mother and your father bring together with your sister and your brother. I make you one who reaches ripe old age. Live on, O man, with your spirit unimpaired. Do not follow the messengers sent by Yama! Remember the cities where the living dwell! Come back hither in response to our calls, you who know the path that lies ahead, the way and the ascent of every living person! [Atharva Veda V, 30, 5-7]

Atmabodha- 'Meditate on Brahmn'

   There is much confusion as regards 'meditation'. What is the object of meditation and how to meditate are important problems. The mind is a store house of energy, a generator, that constantly vibrates once it is initiated. The mind is activated by sources which are extremely difficult to trace. Once the source of generation of thoughts, ideas, images, imagination, aspiration, dreams are all traced it becomes easy to control the mind. Thus, the mind is the problem in meditation. Mind does not allow concentration and it is extremely difficult to concentrate on abstract things. Thus, the methods of concentration, meditation, are explained by Sri Shankaracharya, thus-

  Meditate on "That supreme brahmn, which cannot be comprehended by speech, but is accessible to the eye of pure illumination;which is stainless, the embodiment of knowledge, the 'Beginningless Entity' - that brahmn art thou.Meditate this in thy mind."

Atmabodha

   Atmabodha of Sri Adi Shankaracharya is a beautiful treatise on the Knowledge of the Self (Atma-jnyan). It gives a clear-cut idea about the nature of the jivatman and paramatman and how the jiva forgets its true nature and suffers due to ignorance. When knowledge dawns, the jiva reverts to its pure and pristine state shredding off all the acquired qualities. However, the task of shredding the acquired qualities, imparted by nature (prakruti) is not very easy. It is possible only with divine intervention and with the help of an attained guru. satsang,svadhyaya, nidhidhyasana, japa, tapa, and yogabhyasa will greatly help in attaining to the knowledge of the Self.

  The principles enunciated in the Text will be presented briefly in the following.
   The Vedic doctrine of "tattvamasi" is the central theme of Atmabodha. Sri Shankara takes all possible means of explaining this principle to his devotees and the debate still goes on! The most beautiful method of instruction is called 'dashamanyaya', the Tenth. It is interesting to find here how the ten persons crossed the stream by a boat and started counting whether anybody is missing. While counting each one missed himself and started crying that one person is missing! Then a came a passer-by who asked them the reason for their wailing and found that nobody was missing and all the ten were present. Then he asked each person o count again and touch his chest and say, "I am the tenth". Thus the problem was solved and everybody was happy. This, it is stated that one should find what is missing in himself, not elsewhere!
  The guru explains the Vedic doctrine of 'tattvamasi and exhorts his disciples to meditate.
    "That what is beyond caste and creed, family and lineage, which is devoid of name and form,merit and demerit; That which transcends space,time and sense objects- That brahmn art thou! Meditate on this in thy mind"'
(to be contd.),