SPIRIT AND MATTER
The universe (brahmanda) of galaxies and stars in space and the Individual self (pindanda) on the Planet earth as jiva are
the two ends of the same string- subtle current of Consciousness that vibrates
as a wave-form, terminating in gross Matter. Yogacharya Patanjali says, the
Mind pervades the universe covering all the planes such as raving (kshipta), forgetful (mudha) oscillating (vikshipta), one-pointed (ekagrata)
and the restrained (niruddha). In
fact, Mind emanatesfrom Consciousness and the same manifests as buddhi and
ahankara. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has given a beautiful account of this as the
Lagrangian String (L)- a spiral string. This is the oscillating mind, chittavibhrama. Only yoga can stop
the vibration. ‘Spirit’ is a state of Energy that is always
vibrant, it ends up as gross matter when its energy is drained out and depleted
in the process of transformations. Also, it may be said that the intensity,
frequency, or wavelength and amplitude convert energy into matter, May be, it
is true that the Energy is constant, but the consequent Matter is a
transformation that is ultimately deteriorating unable to maintain itself? Much
depends on the vibration, the waves, the associated frequency, intensity,
amplitude, and wave-length. Thus, nothing exists in a state of equilibrium.
Things begin to manifest with the vibration, and in fact, vibration only
creates an impression of forms in the mind that perceives it. However, Mind by
itself cannot perceive anything that is bigger, larger, and faster than itself.
Mind’s ability to think and act is limited. It can only create images, ideas,
and believe in its own creation.
An energy particle, a photon, a stellar dust particle manifests as Atman,
a spiritual entity, a spark of electrically charged particle, also called the Soul.
It is the ethereal, pranic, energy, chaitanya or spirit that pervades the
entire universe (Bhu-bhuvah-svah) as
radiant energy (emanating from distant Stars. A small quantum of energy reaches
the earth and enters into the elemental body as the jivatman. Since this is attributed to distant stars, it is
divine energy that is of immense creative energy, creative ability,
intelligence and omnipresent.
Thus,
the living beings are basically spiritual, covered by some sort of stellar
matter, may be like a solar battery, and work in an embodied structure- material
/ physical / biological shell, made of earthen materials / food (annam).
If the physical body supported by food is discarded by stopping supply of food,
the body gives way and the spiritual entity, the Atman, only remains as
an invisible entity. This Atman is an eternal, immortal,
changeless, deathless, and undecaying spiritual entity. It always exists in
space.
Normally, the Sun is the main source of all energy on the earth. But,
this does not prelude the entry of radiation from distant stars, especially
when they are much larger, however distant they may be. There are also stars
closer to Sun that exercise sufficient influence on the organic substances like
plants, animals, insects, birds and humans. The organic substances imbibe the
qualities of the lements and compounds of which they are made; and, as such,
there is ample scope for exhibiting qualities of different nature under
different conditions (environments).
All these call for a more detailed study in the field of Spectroscopy,
Light, and Radiation (of different types) of Rays other than the
electromagnetic waves so far known to us. There are much subtler and more
powerful radiation of waves and particles of Light than the alpha, beta, gamma,
Infra-Red, Ultra-Violet, and the X-Rays, LASERS, quarks, etc so far known to
us. All these exist in outer space and inner space called Mind, as well! Mind
is indeed dahar aakash only and it is
separated by an elemental body by the former where the Sun shines! The seven
colours (VIBGYOR) of Light refracted by a prism needs be studied more in detail.
Sir CV Raman, NL, Bangalore and Dr. L.Sibayya of Mysore University have been
credited with these works. However nothing more is known about the colours and
their properties that influence our lives. The basic colours- White, Red, and
Black, stand, respectively, for sattva, rajas, and tamas; these three major
qualities govern the behaviour of the jivas. Light has immense power to
influence life through the vibration of Mind (chitta). Even a crystal that is
bound in a gold ring refracts light that has subtle effect on our nerves,
neurons, and Mind- attitudes and behaviour. The Jivatman reflects it in his
behaviour.
A person may, thus, operate at the mundane, materialistic world
acquiring, trading objects of desire and consumption. As the same person takes
to higher levels of consciousness and discards all interest in the worldly
objects as childish, and becomes more mature and looks inward for spiritual
development, he becomes more divine, a mystic, an angel and a God. By doing
nothing he gets everything done. Buddha, for instance, acquired such a high
level of unity consciousness that almost half the world looks to him as God.
Indeed, no problem whatsoever concerning poverty, misery, disease and old age
and death has so far been solved. Buddh has only said what everybody knows. He
said, “Desire at the root of all our misery”. Is it possible to get rid of
desire, kama, kaamana and live peacefully?
Vedanta, too, asserts that there is no salvation unless the jiva gets
rid of its attachment (moha), desire, and ego (ahankar). Shree Krishna advises
Arjuna to get rid of his avidya, foolish thoughts that so and so is his
Grandsire, or revered teacher, and killing them in the battle for righteousness
will bring sin, etc. The person of worldly life cannot easily get rid of the
basic urges, instincts, and hunger, thirst, family, friends, etc. and run away
to unknown world of spiritual practices, metaphysics, and emptiness, shunyata.
MIND
IS MATTER, ENERGY
Mind is the enigma.
Mind is the mystery. Mind is the problem. So far, this mind has eluded and
deluded mankind and, it is the earnest effort of all the yogis to still this
mind. Mind is a terrific force, like the Sea waves that cannot be controlled by
any means. Mind is the product of ahankar and buddhi that are subjected to the
control of pure Consciousness. Mind stops its function when it sees anything
larger than itself, or cannot grasp. Hence, chants
of name of the supreme Lord, divya nama
smarane, helps us controlling the fickle, vikshipta, anudvighna, enraged Mind.
The Mind that is akin to Space, Akasha, is a zing thing. It is amazing.
It is within and without and operates either way. Like a balloon it bloats with
ego and shrinks, too. It has the ability to expand and contract, create,
dissect, divide, and destroy. It is strong, arrogant, adamant, and
incorrigible. At the same time, it is weak and holds on to anything it catches-
like greed, anger, fear, emotion, gambling, etc. It makes or mar one’s life,
unless it is tamed and made to sub-serve the higher goal of life- purushartha, moksha- liberation of the
embodied soul.
Let’s briefly touch on the vast field of Mind
that will never come within the understanding of the jiva as a result of which
it suffers through out its existence. Although very subtle and invisible,
Mind is said to be Matter in its gross form. In its vibrant state it is
spending its energy and in its cool state, it is a source of enormous power.
Here the gross state of Mind is its heaviness or lightness as felt by a
person. One may feel his mind is heavy. This heaviness is caused by its gross
state (manas). In its happy mode, it
light. But in its state of equilibrium it is as good as pure Consciousness. It
is ‘chit’, chitta.
The Mind is the main invisible component
that runs the life of a jiva. It is the first to emanate from Brahman as Akash,
pure Consciousness. It is Kham Brahma.
It is all-pervasive and as such found every where. It is the most intriguing part that is beyond reach
of any ordinary being to decipher. It is a vibrant form of Energy, ‘chitta-vrutii’ (Samsk.), as well as, an
inert Matter in its most sublime invisible state. It is very difficult to know what this Mind is, where is it, how
it functions, and where does it get all the energy (chaitanya) to vibrate at different intensity, frequency,
wave-lengths, and create a hell of a problem to the jiva. The jiva fails to
understand its true nature and does not know how to control it. Actually, it is
meant to serve the jiva. But it becomes the Master with the help of Ego. But
for this vibrant Mind and the Ego where is Life?
The vibrant Mind is Chitta where
as the tranquil Mind is Consciousness, the witnessing self. As a storehouse of
energy, Mind is always working as chitta and this has to be quietened by yoga
to make it a witnessing self and save it from maya, getting entangled in
mundane insatiable desires of worldly life.
Mind (manas) and moods (manobhava) of a person and, his whims
and fancies (svecCha), make him what he
is and shape his life! Left to itself, the person will go astray. The Mind is
said to be vast, deep, and so expansive that it is as good as sky- beyond human
ability to grasp, comprehend, and understand. It is called ‘akash’, space, ether- an elemental body
(bhutatmika). It is through which
everything is born, exist and operate, move and finally disappear. It has
enormous capacity to create. Mind is said to be Matter as well as Energy
depending on its intensity of vibration- its intensity, frequency, amplitude,
and wave-length. Energy is at the root of all that exist. Energy only becomes
Matter and matter can revert to its pure state of Energy. Unlike Energy that
cannot be created or destroyed, the Mind can be killed, rather stilled. The
Mind, a focussed one, at times, operates as heat energy, too, under high
intensity and frequency of vibration, vibrant energy as anger, or fire. At the
zero low level of vibration, entropy, Mind is in a state of equilibrium, its
vibration ceases, and its wave-length becomes a long wave, a straight line. It
is the state of yogic trance or ‘samadhi’
according to yoga. Time, Space, and Causality cease to exist at this level of
existence. This is the state of brahmn.
“When one regards himself as an individual soul, he is in deed the
individual soul; if, on the other hands, he looks upon himself as Brahman, he
is Brahman. The mind alone is the cause of bondage; giving it up is
emancipation. When the mind is dissolved, and the false ascription of
individual is removed, it is emancipation; it is also known as Brahman. Being
devoid of mental processes, and being bereft of will is called the dissolution
of mind, which is the transcendental state.” When the mind is active, thinking,
question and answers, imagination, etc. go on endlessly. The mind is indeed the
cause, the create the seed of rebirth; when the mind is destroyed by
discrimination, dissolved in pure Consciousness (laya yoga), the jiva is
relieved of its eternal bondage. When the mind is stilled, becomes blank,
everything becomes still, blank; the vibration stops and the world ceases to
exist for that yogin. When the mind is dissolved, what remains is pure
consciousness.
“Know therefore that all is Brahman and remain quiet.It is in quietude
that Brahman will doubtlessly be achieved. Brahman is what was there in the
beginning and Brahaman is what that will remain till the end. Nothing can come in between these and,
whatever crops up in the middle is maya, delusion. Consciousness, pure and
isolated is Brahaman, pure Goddess, and when is mixed up with mind the illusory
world emerges. The realm of maya is prakruti.” (SRK: The Tantric Practices in
Sri-vidya- Srri Sharada chatusshati). Thus, mind is an important tool in the
hands of man- antahkarana. The Mind
is often associated with intelligence (buddhi)
and ego (ahankar). These three are
considered the internal tools (antahkarana)
of operation in daily life. These are assisted by the Senses- five of Knowledge
(jnyanendriya) and five of action (karmendriya). Together these Ten and the
above three (indriya-manobuddhi-ahankara)
make a man function in a whimsical manner and often work detrimental to his own
existence, unless properly guided by the pure intellect, pure consciousness, Shuddha-vidya.
A person needs proper guidance to live a sane and sensible living lest
the person go astray. Most of the people lose track of their goal and live
aimlessly. The real goal of life is to search for the real meaning of life and
live a more purposeful life, to the satisfaction of the soul. This search is an
eternal one and it ends with true knowledge, ‘atmajnyan’- the ‘Knowledge of the Self’. A person who has attained
to this goal will not be bothered any more of the wares and tears, joys and
sorrows, the whims and fancies, the success and failures, and, not even the
heat or cold, or day and night. Such a person who is beyond all dualities is
called a ‘sthita-prajnya’- one of
stable mind, equanimous, calm, unperturbed mind, established in the Self
(Bhagavad-Gita).
Here again, yoga helps us to reach this point of absolute Bliss, mahat-ananda. Almost all the ancient
scriptures give instructions, guidance, and help in our search for this supreme
happiness. Happiness lies not in acquiring material wealth, not even sensual
gratifications since these are endless, and once obtained will leave us in
sheer boredom and craving for more. For all practical purposes, the untamed
Mind (vikshiptamanah, chanchala chitta) is the culprit in our
life. Only an illumined Mind will take us on the right path- the path of righteousness,
morals, ethics, and selflessness. Prajnya
(consciousness) helps the manas
(Mind) to be aware of its thoughts, ideas, and actions and their
consequences. In the absence of this Light, the Mind works in darkness. Most of
the time, we act unmindful of consequences despite our knowledge. How buddhi (knowledge) fails at times is a
mystery; knowing full well we act to our own detriment, such as untruthfulness,
selfish to the core unmindful of the harm it does to others, cheating, bribing
to get things done, overtaking despite knowledge of consequences, egotism and
putting others down, etc. this list of our behaviour is so long that it is
essential to be aware of it and cut it down to nothingness. That is the way one
can conquer the Mind. It is the ego that comes in the way of our mastery over
Mind since ego sits on the throne of the Mind. Mind does go round on errands to
satisfy the ego, use the senses, too, for this purpose. This ego is the master
and controls all thoughts and actions of the jiva. So far it is found
impossible to conquer the ego even by the great Rishis like Vishva Mitra,
Durvasa, and Indra. There are good examples for this ego among the Gods.
Both Sri Krishna (Bhagavad-Gita) and Sage Patanjali and Shandilya (Yoga
Sutras) give stress on this aspect of Mind Control. Sri Krishna says, “Yoga is
all about doing the ordained duty in an intelligent way without attachment, in
a selfless manner (‘karma koushalah’)”.
Sage Patanjali says, “It (Yoga) is stillness of mind, “yogasu cittavritti nirodhah.” A person who is in full control of
his mind (sthitadhih) is a sthitaprajnya (muni). It is said, ‘a man
of equanimous mind’ is a Sage- sthitadheeh
munir ucyate |
Swamy Shivananda of Advaita Ashrama, Hrishikesh (Uttara Khand) is an
authority on Mind. He gives a beautiful account of all the different facets of
Mind and its behaviour. He advises, “Mind should be made to serve the soul, and
seek guidance from prajnya that gets Light from it. Mind (manas) that is guided by enlightened Intelligence (buddhi) from prajnya will help subdue
ego (ahankar) and help jiva to reach
its destination. The egotistic and whimsical behaviour of Mind deserves
contempt and neglect since it neither helps the jiva nor the society. Since the
Mind has not got its own independence and stability it holds on to anything it
catches on. This becomes a phobia, a mental disease. Some get trapped in fear
or anger, pride or jealousy, ego, brooding and depression, or run after sensual
gratifications, mad pursuits of exciting things, power and wealth, or become
drug addicts and get ruined in the end. Some get so disillusioned in life that
attempt suicide instead they become yogi if they realize the same ‘futility of
this worldly existence’ and turn to ancient scriptures and yoga.
Hence it is advisable to give the fickle but obstinate Mind something
larger, greater than its capacity to grasp, or behold, say, the name of the
supreme Lord to chant and visualize Him, or take to study of the Veda and
Upanishads. It stops its wandering, holding on to that great (‘mahat’) principle of ‘Personal God’ (ishta devata). Chanting the divine name
(divya namasmarane or Sri Hari namasmarane) or ‘Hare Rama’ is supposed to be the best panacea for unsettled minds
since it helps to stop all wandering thoughts. Once the turbid Mind is
settled the rest will happen as per ‘divine
will’ and there will be no regrets thereafter, whatsoever.
Thus, Mind (manas) dictated by
bloated ego (durahankara) and
perverted intelligence (vikshipta buddhi)
makes or mar a man’s life unless is properly guided by the enlightened buddhi.
The first thing that the jnyanis
aimed at was to control the Mind by means of Meditation. Meditation is the key
to success and happiness in life.
Each Mind is a world by itself. There are as many worlds as there are
thinking minds. It is this thinking mind that makes a man a thinking animal.
Thoughts are really disturbances. A tranquil mind is a powerful tool in
evolution and the humans may reach the highest level of existence at
sat-cit-anand level by subjugating the Mind to the Will of the Supreme. In
other words, there is a higher Mind, a ‘Supramental’ state, and a brahmn state, where the Mind is in its
pure and pristine state. It is the highest state of existence, consciousness,
and bliss (sat-cit-anand).
Sri Aurobindo has given a detailed description of the stages of
evolution of mankind and the different aspects of functioning of Mind at each state.
Accordingly, there are: 1. the Physical, 2. the vital or the ethereal, 3. the
mental or the psychic and 4. the spiritual. At each one of these state there
are again all the four levels, such as the 1. Physical- physical-physical;
physical-ethereal; physical-mental; and the physical-spiritual, Ethereal-
Ethereal-physical; ethereal-ethereal, ethereal-mental; and the
ethereal-spiritual; and so on it continues till it reaches the Spiritual-
spiritual-spiritual, the ultimate. This supramental state of Consciousness is
not known as yet! (See Appendix I).
At present, man has reached only the Mental- mental (psychic)-ethereal
or pranic state where he is worried
about some skills, fulfilment of basic needs, and security; some may have
reached the Mental-mental-mental stage
and shine in some faculty and get nominated for a Nobel Prize, but very
few have reached the Mental- mental-spiritual level of the stature of a Swami
Ramakrishna and swami Vivekananda, or Swami Yogananda or Swami Shivananda; so
far none has reached the state of either Saint Aurobindo, Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi- both intellectual and highly spiritual, and it may be difficult to reach
the state of Sri Ramana Maharshi, an embodiment of Consciousness. Almost all
saints and swamis struggle at Mental- mental-mental state of attainment and may
or may not reach the mental-spiritual level. Realization of the Self, ‘Atmasakshatkar’, let alone divine
visioning and the highest Spiritual level of Brahmn is not forthcoming for want
of clarity, deep meditation (Samprajnya
samadhi). However, Nature helps all the human beings to attain to higher and higher levels
of evolution in due course of time and thereby enables them, particularly the
earnest Seekers (sadhakas), to reach
higher levels of ‘Sage-Knowledge’ quickly in this process.
The only aim of all saints and sadhus of India is to have the divine
visioning and attain to some sort of ananda, joy. They are ready to undergo any
sort of hardship such as Hatha yoga or Kundalini yoga to attain this. The goal
of life for an Indian is to experience supreme bliss, mahat-anand that liberates him from punarjanma, repeated births and deaths. It is the inner clamour of
the soul, the embodied soul. The all-knowing Atman drives the jiva to take to means such as yoga that enables it
to reach this goal. This supreme Bliss is one of immense happiness and joy and
needs no external support. All happiness and joy of the mundane world are
exhaustive, repetitive, and end up in frustration, disillusionment. But, this
one is ever-satisfying and the jiva is laid to eternal rest after this goal is
reached, even while it exists in the physical body. This is exactly what we
mean by Rest in Peace (RIP), mukti or mokshagati;
but that is not forthcoming easily without the knowledge of the Self.
It is important to focus our attention on the Mind since it is the most
important accessory of our life. It is absolutely essential to keep it stable,
without aberrations, and use it diligently for a noble purpose. It is a good
friend as well as a very bad enemy depending on our elation with it. To be a
good friend and help us we must tutor it and tame it. Its rough edges such as
anger, attachment, selfishness, miserliness, jealous, ego, etc. should be
smoothened out and rounded off. Mind is our best friend provided it looks to
its inner source of wealth of experiences, and uses buddhi well for its
guidance. There are many treatises on Mind that can guide us in the matter.
Understanding the Mind is as difficult as realizing the Brahmn.
J.Krishnamurthy is an authority on Mind. He goes on talking about the
vibration of mind and the thoughts, ideas, and illusions created by it. He
remained so entangled in the web of mind till the end and never conquered it to
become a Sri Ramana Maharishi, an embodiment of pure Consciousness, or the
Buddha who attained to nirvana, a mind-less state.
. Here, the difference between Mind and
Consciousness is noteworthy. In its pure state Mind as good as Consciousness;
both are same in pure state. Mind, like Akash, has immense space and capacity
to create and hold thoughts, ideas, dreams and desires. As the Mind is filled
with these pollutants, it becomes impure and stands apart from pure unblemished
undifferentiated Consciousness, called Brahman. This blemished mind with moha is termed ‘Arjuna’ in the
Mahabharata. The Mind of Arjuna is filled with attachment (moha) and, as such, he is not willing to fight his kith and kin,
teacher, and the Grand Sire Bhishma, whereas, Sri Krishna stands apart as a
witnessing Self, a state of pure consciousness Sakshin.
Contemplate on the following:
Mind is Akash. Mind can expand as well
as contract without limit.
Pure, pristine, unblemished state of
Mind is Brahman, pure Consciousness.
Mind has tremendous power of creation.
It creates illusory objects and believes them as true. Mind has no support and
seeks support and rests on whatever it can hold on. It sticks on to whatever it
catches- such as fear, anger, attachment, etc.
Mind is a powerful agent of the Ego, the
sustainer or destroyer. It makes or mars life of its master. Ego sits on the
throne of Mind and uses the intellect and senses to fulfil its desires.
Mind
cannot be conquered; it can be tutored and tamed to serve the Atman. Mind
cannot be used to annihilate the mind as stated in Layayoga. It only means to
set it aside.
Mind is a good servant as well as a bad
task Master.
Mind is restless and always on the run
shifting its desire from object to object. Its desires are insatiable and as
such always disillusioned.
Ultimately, the Mind in order to serve
the Lord should drop all its wandering and rest with its Master like a falcon that
comes to rest on the branch of a tree after day-long flight; or sit like
Anjaneya (symbol of turbid Mind) at the feet of Sri Ram with folded hands, or
Arjuna, for that matter, sitting similarly at the feet of Sri Krishna (pure
Consciousness) looking for guidance. When higher mind takes over, rest of the
things will be taken care of.
Normally, the Mind, Body, and Soul should work in unison, but will not.
Similarly, Mind should work under the guidance of Buddhi, Consciousness, but
will not.
The Bhagavad-Gita is a dialogue between pure Consciousness (Krishna) and
the deluded Mind (Arjuna). It helps to establish oneself in his true Self.
One who conquers his Mind conquers the
world, Bhavasagara, Samsara. The polluted Mind (full of desires,
attachments, anger, etc.) is cleansed by japa, chant name of the Lord, Ishta devata namasmarane, such as Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalita
Sahasranama, Soundaryalahari, or the Shree Sharada Chatushati. These
are the sure and certain sources of our happiness as well as ultimate release
from bondage, Liberation- bhukti mukti
prada.
The best way to control mind is to observe where the thoughts originate
and stop it by mere observation. Meditation is the means of observation of the
Mind. It kills the thoughts and desires and releases the inherent energy
required for enlightenment. The Mind and its behaviour constitute the crux of
the problem. All the problems of man have their root here in the unending
desires and the quixotic behaviour of mind, and conduct towards fulfilment of
the desires, or attainment. The moment desires cease the worldly interests wane
and wear out. Everything happens at the appropriate time when knowledge becomes
wisdom and turns the jiva towards renunciation (vairagya). This
renunciation comes to the jiva only when is tired of its worldly life. It is
also said, ‘only a very few blessed ones can take to jnyan-vijnyan yoga’ as stated in the Bhagavad-Gita. People
may take to devotion; but devotion without jnyan (knowledge) will not lead to
wisdom and renunciation. That is why Lord Krishna says,”there is nothing that
is equal to Knowledge”(nahi jnyanena sadrusham). There is nothing superior to Brahm-jnyan,
Knowledge of Brahman.
