03 LAVAṆŌPĀKHYĀNAM

After dealing on the aspect of attaining a state of vairagya Yōgavāsiṣṭha opens with the idea of the importance of sravana and manana and goes on to describe the aspect of creation. Sage Vasishta however asserts that a true saadhaka has to concentrate more on the ways and means of getting out of the cycle of birth and death rather than think about the how and why of creation.

Shastriji opens his talk on the need to do manana and dwells very briefly on the aspect of creation as to how we are capable of creation when we are in the dream phase. He gives pointers to the inward journey in the path of saadhana. So, the inward journey is vital in the spiritual progress of every individual.

He then takes up in this talk on the aspect of chitta, as detailed out in the chittopaakhyana of the utpatti prakarana. The detailed study of the mind, cause of happiness and sorrow, controlling the flow of mind from moving thoughts in order to obtain stillness is the main thrust in this talk. This gives clear picture to a saadhaka.

Being a scientist and a saadhaka himself, Shastriji has been excellent in his systematic explanation on the interpretation of the movement of mind.

• Editor

LET US NOW DISCUSS SOME ASPECTS OF THE आत्मा, मनस् and ब्रह्म, Atma_, Manas and Brahma. _Sage Vasishtha explains in detail on the play of mind, in Lavaṇōpākhyānam of Utpatti Prakarana.

नहि चंचलताहीनं मनः क्वच न विद्यते,

चंचलत्वं मनोधर्मो वन्हेर्धर्मो यथोष्णता.

nahi caṁcalatāhīnaṁ manaḥ kvaca na vidyatē,

caṁcalatvaṁ manōdharmō vanhērdharmo yathōṣṇatā.

(YV.3-9-23)

Mind without vacillation or fluctuation does not exist. Like heat is inseparable from fire, fluctuation which is the nature of the mind is inseparable from it.

At the start itself, Vasishta makes a big statement. There is nothing like mind without (caṁcalatā), wavering, vacillating or fickle. It is almost like saying that mind is caṁcalatā and cāṁcalyam is mind. It is a definition of mind.

caṁcalatvaṁ manōdharmō – What is the characteristic quality of mind? It is caṁcalatvaṁ, meaning movement or स्पंदन_, spaṁdana_. Now he gives an example: vanherdharmo yathoṣṇatā - Just as the thermal value is the property of fire or heat is the property of agni, chanchalya is the property of the mind. You cannot think of fire without heat. Similarly you cannot think of mind without movement. The movement may be of the form of sound, picture or mere emotion. Anger, jealousy, irritability, inferiority complex etc which show up as pressure / burden are all movements. Thus pressure or tension is also a movement.

यैषा हि चंचला स्पंदशक्तिः चित्तत्व संस्थिता,

तां विद्धि मानसीं शक्तिं जगदाडंबरत्मिकाम्.

yaiṣā hi caṁcalā spaṁdaśaktiḥ cittatva saṁsthitā,

tāṁ viddhi mānasīṁśaktiṁ jagadāḍaṁbaratmikām.

(Sl.3-9-24)

The feature of vacillation is really the spanda shakti. It is the capacity of movement abiding in the chit, consciousness. It is that mental power that is responsible for the spectacle called world.

Cit is ‘Self’. Citta is mind. The pre state or the casual state or the moolaswaroopa is Chit. When we talk of sat chit aananda, the word cit is Consciousness or Self or Atma. Citta or mind is the after position.

We call it spandana, pulsation when there is a to and fro motion. A tuning fork produces spandana. A stone thrown in the pond produces spandana. A ball rolling or a person walking is called lateral motion, a displacement. Here, Chanchalatha is equated to unsteadiness or simple motion or spandashakti.

cittatva saṁsthitāyaa caṁccalā spaṁdaśaktiḥ - This power of movement or shakti or the vyaapaara dharma or spandashaskti is abiding in the cit-tatva or sva-swaroopa.

tāṁ viddhi mānasīṁśaktiṁ - The Self in the state of movement is mind.

This is an excellent definition of Self. Pundits ask for shastra pramaana for this, as this statement looks funny for them.

निगृहीतं मनः एव निर्भयं ब्रह्म

nigr̥hītaṁ manaḥēva nirbhayaṁ brahma

A mind quietened is Brahman. This is a standard position in Vedanta. There is nothing like mind being different from Brahman or Atma Then how are they connected? Can we go from mind to Atma? When you are in the mind state what happened to Atma? Everyone has to face conflicting questions like this! But there is only STUFF everywhere, both inside and outside.

स बाह्याभ्यन्तरो हि अजः.

sa bāhyābhyantarō hi ajaḥ.

If there is no activity, that is, if mind is in the state of rest, then it is ‘SELF’, if there is activity it is MIND. When the mind drops its continuous activity, it is ‘Self’. Following karika in Mandukya Upanishad (Ch.3-46) beautifully puts this fact.

यदा न लीयते चित्तं न च विक्षिप्यते पुनः।

अनिङ्गनमनाभासं निष्पन्नं ब्रह्म तत्तदा॥

yadā na līyatē cittaṁ na ca vikṣipyatē punaḥ,

aniṅganamanābhāsaṁ niṣpannaṁ brahma tattadā.

(Ma.Upa-Ka-4-46) ^{__ __}

When the mind is no more wandering, when it does not seek any more, that mind is verily Brahman. It is either moving or in a state of rest. When it is in movement, we call it as mind and when it is in rest, we call it Brahman or Svarūpa. Such a state is further described as svastham (a quietened mind), śāntam (peaceful), nirvānam (liberated), and sukham (a very relaxed state).

• Mind in the non functioning state is SELF.
• Self in the functioning state is MIND.

When we accept this equation, things become very simple. Saadhana is at once known to us. What one has to do? One should quieten the mind. You are carrying the burden of Vyaapaara dharma when you are in the active state. It can be concluded that when you are in the state of suffering, drop this burden, duhkha is gone.

What is this संसार, saṁsāra with its ceaseless repetition? We can say it is a nasty world. But what is wrong with birth and death? Simply saying that we get caught in the wheel of samsaarachakra, looks absurd. What is the problem in living? What are the elements that give one this problem? It is nothing but the burden. We are all caught by the phraseology of samsaarachakra! We should understand that doing phase itself is taxing. Shastra says, why don’t you do the pareeksha of this phase itself? What else is everyday’s burden - vaarious activities at the karmendraiya level or jnaanedriya level or the chitta level like listening talking, thinking, planning, etc. There is nothing more than this. Even listening to good music for a long time, makes you get up and walk away. Any prolonged activity at either physical or mental level is taxing. This is the duhkha.

What is the remedy? Mind in the active phase is duhkha because it is nothing but movement. Movement is what we are complaining of. What is the meaning of the sentence ’let me rest’? Everybody makes this statement. But, the argument is that one can be comfortable and wants to be so, even while working. You are doing less than what you would do when you are under pressure. When you say ‘if I sit down I am unhappy, but it is better when I move’ what are your intentions? You are under pressure when you are resting. The reason is your entire activity is localized. You are capping the forces. Please note that you are not really quiet when you are sitting. If you were quiet, when you sit on a chair, you would never think of going to the kitchen and look for another cup of coffee. Such a sitting would be wonderful. There is no chittavyaapaara. The sounds and pictures have vanished. There is only a mere focusing. Even this is a burdened state! Who so ever says that work is giving him comfort, the work that he is doing is expending the burdensome forces inside. That means, by spending them he is free and that leads to a no activity stage.

Now, how do you justify that activity is duhkha? You were more burdened when you sat. Pressure that developed when you sat quiet, is the horrible activity inside compared to the state when you were mobile. In a small shell you are trapping these forces which build up pressure which is movement of the mind. If you go a little further, shabda and drushya are the activities of the mind. Minus these two also, there can be activity which is called general activity which we call pressure or emotion like anger jealousy etc. Thinking is a movement. Prana moves from other centers to the ajnachakra. The prana that is sarvavyaapi gets into a constricted mode in the area of ajnachakra and thus focusing starts.

So there are three aspects. One is shabda, sound. Another is drushya, picture formation and the third is the भावनारूप, bhāvanārūpa. These three constitute the mind. Boredome also comes under the bhaavana-roopa. Thinking posture is itself a state of minding which is ending in a thought. It shapes itself in to thought called examining phase or the questioning phase. My spread version or diffused version is localized and collected into a point at Ajnachakra.. Every attention or thinking or minding or seeing or an action starts from Ajnaachakra. This is called _spaṁda-śaktiḥ _what the sage Vasishta is referring to.

jagadāḍaṁbaratmikām - So this jagat vyaapaara is this movement. So citshakti is mind, minus of this is Self - what a useful definition!

Q. What does it mean when one says that one has to sit like saakshi or witness, watching the three states of jaagrat swapna and sushupti?

A. It means that when you come to that state of seeing, much of the vyavahaara in the citta has come down. But there is still something more to see. Suppose I am watching the three states mentalising the process, then that seeing itself is pressure. This is the difficulty in the model when you apply this method.

When someone says ’imagine your toe relaxing, imagine your feet relaxing’ this very imagination itself is a burden. So the next question that arises is, should we not do soft relaxation! It is alright if you are capable of observing with utter casualness. Watching is also a burden. It is a torture. When a suggestion is given to you that you should watch the breath, to calm the mind, it means that the activity of the breath is a neutral one and it does not stir emotions or drift you away. But, care needs to be taken here also that the watching should not be keen. In that case it becomes a torture. Whereas when you watch the thought itself, there is every possibility of the drifting of the mind. You have to understand this clearly when you apply this model. There is no priya or apriya when you watch the breath, with the result the mind loses its strength of wandering to a great extent. This is the lesson we have to learn. Calmness puts you automatically in Saakshi-Bhaava not in the seeing process itself.It is to be noted that casual or leisurely seeing is saakshi-bhava.

Q. Just as in the waking state, so also in dream, the nature of objects remains the same, the only difference being the limitation space in the dream phase, Then, what about the argument of Gaudapaada in the swapna portion of the Kaarika (Man Upa Ka 2-4)?

A. The person who lights up the swapna, (dream) is the person who created the dream. The drama that unfolds in a dream is a mere spandana. The person is a mere watcher. He has released pictures and sounds and is not involved at all in the operation. He is not choosing since he is not an involver. The person who is enjoying or suffering in the dream is a different person! All the action that is being endured is by a different person. So, there is a more fundamental stuff in ME that is rehearsing all these pictures etc .The meaning of the word pashyati in the mantra is in that context. By seer we mean, the Creator who releases the vyaapara is the creator himself..

The same thing applies in the case of Vaishwaanara in the jaagrat, wakeful state. You just watch that there is a window, a fan, a table, people around you, not involved in the details of the objects that are being watched. Once you start detailing, then you no longer become a mere seer. So, when you go to such a state where there is pure observation then that ‘seer’ becomes the creator. Looking or watching that way will be your bhavya swaroopa. This is the aspect that one has to contemplate in saadhana. You have to sit in such a mood that you are a witness to so many activities that are going on without the effort of observation and thus become a pure observer or साक्षि, sākṣi. The sage is showing that the spandana shakti that is dormant, is Brahman. _Yaa esha _- is the point to be remembered.

Most of the pundits say that avidya is the cause of this entire problem, but are unable to explain what this avidya is. We have to know that even this avidya is also a shakti. We call this by many names - maaya, manas, avidya, shakti, avyaakruta, mahattatwa - having different degrees of the spectrum which are very gentle. Whatever is the चित् शक्ति, _cit śakti that is stationed in the moolaswaroopa is the आश्रय, āśraya, shelter _for this shakti.

yā eṣā hi caṁccalā spaṁdaśaktiḥ cittatva saṁsthitā – Cit is the ashryasthana, place of shelter for this spaṁdaśakti. My state is महा मौन_, mahā mauna, _utter silence or moolashaktisthiti.

tāṁ viddhi mānasīṁśaktiṁ jagadāḍaṁbaratmikām - But it can project all activities. Even the projection aspect is the aspect of this citshakti.

Let us move to the next mantra.

यत्तु चंचलताहीनं तन्मनो अमृतं उच्यते,

तदॆव च तपः शास्त्रं सिद्धान्तोमोक्ष उच्यते.

yattu caṁcalatāhīnaṁ tanmanō amr̥taṁ ucyatē,

tadēva ca tapaḥśāstraṁ siddhāntō mōkṣa ucyatē.

(Sl.3-9-25)

Devoid of or without this fluctuation, the mind ceases to exist and that is one’s state of liberation or immortality or svaroopa. This state is the aim of all kinds of tapas or penance, study of scriptures and spiritual doctrine, etc.

yattu caṁcalatāhīnaṁ tanmanō amr̥taṁ ucyatē – Suppoose you tame the mind and it loses or ceases its chanchalata. Then mind has become amr̥taṁ. A mind without its movement is _amr̥taṁ _or svaroopa or cit.

tadēva ca tapaḥ - the process by which one softens the spandana of the mind or characteristic quality of the mind is tapas or penance.

Shaastarm tadēva; This is what we have to understand from shastras. That is, to remove the chattering of the mind. This is what we have to do.

tadēvasiddanta; That is the conclusion also.

mōkṣa tadēva; The so called moksha or duhkha raahitya is to achive calmness of mind which is spandana rahita sthiti or that state of no vibrations.

Q. What is it that takes us to spandana rahita state?

A. Any suggestion to achive the spandana rahitya state itself creates a spandana - even that is mind in a controlled state. If anyone asks whether one spandana can kill another spandana, the answer is, yes. It is the experience of a sadhaka and experience cannot be questioned by logic. By vichara or counseling we calm down the mind. And the cunsellor is the mind only. So, mind is capable of calming or killing mind. It is just like removing one thorn by another. We ourselves would have experienced this on any number of occasions.

Duhkha by itself is a spandana or a movement. Absence of this is moksha. Even the shaastra says the same thing. This is also called tapas. One has to sit calmly and reduce the mind to a spandana rahita state. But the one that is responsible for this spandana rahita state is also a spandana. It comes in the form of sound. That is also manas. How do we say this? Of course, by experience. Logic cannot question the anubhava or experience. By your own admission and experience, you say that you have put the mind to a quieter state. The decision to advise the mind to calm down rests with me, which is again mind. When we say that we have no hurry at all, the hurry element disappears in the mind. So, emotion also comes down. How can one advice the mind to calm down? The mind is constructed that way itself and one cannot question the property of the mind. You cannot question as to how a cit which is silent is able to project itself and generate the strength required to be able to project itself. This is a big lesson in Vedanta.

There are two examples of how mind can dissolve mind. One is to take the case of removing the thorn that is stuck on your body. Remove the thorn by using another thorn and then throw away both the thorns. Both of them become useless once the job is done. Similarly the cancelling mind and the cancelled mind or the removed mind and the removing mind are both lost. This is what happens in saadhana.

When I say that I have to sit quiet, then I should also give up the sankalpa that I should sit quiet. Otherwise that itself becomes a burden. It is not possible to come out of the difficulty otherwise.

To achieve this, you need the support of shastra, sampradaaya and above all a guide or a guru as you may call it. Even the notion that you should give up something has to be dispensed with.

That is what we saw in Shikidwaja’s case. He goes to the extent of arguing with Choodala that he has given up everything in life to achieve moksha. Choodala says - Yena tyajasi tat tyaja – drop also the intent or shradhaa to get liberated. Unless that is also given up, there was no question of swaroopa siddhi. So, that alertness, that watchfulness also has to be given up. You must be like a child and throw away things in a jiffy. That tightness of giving up has to go. The indulgence forces were only replaced by checked forces. This is one aspect of nigraha, self control. But, the force of restraint in us is also a pressure just as the force of indulgence at a higher level of sadhana.. It may be a mild one. But it is still a pressure. So, relax yourself from that also. J K’S famous words ‘childlike innocence’ has to be remembered. Plenty of shastra vaakyaas are there to support this. That is what the rishi says - tadeva ca tapaḥśāstraṁ siddhānto mokṣa ucyate - These clear definitions help us to become subtler than the subtle buddhi vyaapaara. Even the effort of moderation in buddhi vyaapaara is a burden. You have to get out of them also. Please note that it is not the agitation of the mind. Agitation itself is the mind. Mind has no existence without agitation. It is difficult to describe the agitationless mind.

Q. What is the difference between sat and cit then?

A. Both are same. Shankara gives a clarification. सत्ता, sattā also can mean vastusatta where the inertness aspect may come. To recognize the statement that cit is not a jadavastu, inert object, the word sat has been used. In satyam jnaanam anatam it is shown that jnaanam is not jada, inert. Jada niraakarana, denial of inertness is the main idea here. Sat means the imperishable – and not a-sat. Anantam is one having no edges or no contours or boundaries. Jnaana implies that there is no khandatwa. Then only it becomes ananta. One follows the other.

We will go to the next sloka.

तस्य चंचलता यैषा त्वविद्या राम स उच्यते,

वासनापरनाम्नीं तां विचारेण विनाशय

tasya caṁcalatā yaiṣā tvavidyā rāma sa ucyatē,

vāsanāparanāmnīṁ tāṁ vicārēṇa vināśaya.

(Sl.3-9-26)

The fluctuating power of the mind is called by several names such as avidya, ignorance, vasana, tendency and others. The flirting mind is no other than the fluctuating Shakti itself. It is this fluctuating potency of the mind that you should destroy through ceaseless Atma-vicara, Self enquiry.

tasya caṁcalatā yaiṣā tvavidyā rāma sa ucyatē -Another name of this chanchalata is avidya. It is also known as maya, shakti, avyakruta or spandana. It is not the avidya as explained by the pundits.

vāsanāparanāmnīṁ - another name for that is vasana

tvāṁ vicārēṇa vināśaya - By simple vichara, deliberation we have to get rid of all these vasanaas We are all doing vichara only. I am chit swroopa. I need not be disturbed by the circumstances. Nothing can touch me. By such vichaara things become very clear. I need not excite myself by slipping away from my swaroopa to chanchalata. Our natural conviction is to encourage the movement state and we are not ready to give up. So, the Rishi asks us to give up chitta. This is a very big recommendation. Unless one gets convinced that he should give up chitta there is no remedy. In one mantra it was summerised as to why one should give up the chitta and in another mantra it is made clear whether it is possible to give up chitta.

Shastra says that there is an undisputable proof in your nidra stithi and you should examine that. In nidra, there is no sound or picture and also no emotion whatsoever. It is clear from Nidra that one has the facility to stay in the non-doing dharma. This is beyond the suggestion of Pantajali sutras and is a strong pramaana or proof in Vedanta. A mischievous question could be as to why one should give up chitta. For this, Vedanta says that your nidra-swaroopa is a cure or solution to your duhkha since it is your anandasthana when you are in sleep.

अत्र माता अमाता भवति पिता अपिता भवति स्तेनो अस्तेनो भवति भ्रूणहा अभ्रूणहा भवति अनन्वागतं पुण्येन अनन्वागतं पापेन तीर्णो हि तदा सर्वाञ्छोकान्हृदयस्य भवति.

(Bru.Upa.4-3-22)

atra mātā amātā bhavati pitā apitā bhavati stēnō astēnō bhavati bhrūṇahā abhrūṇahā bhavati ananvāgataṁ puṇyēna ananvāgataṁ pāpēna tīrṇō hi tadā sarvāñchōkānhr̥dayasya bhavati.

In Nidra you are rid of all the limitations and constrictions that encompass you while you are in jagrat.

• There is absolutely no grief of any kind while in sleep. There we have found a meaning for the sutra - chitta vrutti nirodha, in a sense that Pantajali’s aphorism is also supported by the Upanishad.

All aspects that we have covered in the whole Upanishad are condensed in eight lines of Lavanopaakhyaana. Vaasana, avidya, chaanchalya, spandana and mind are one and the same. The absence of these is chit which is ananda itself. Maaya, shakti, avidya are different layers. The mind without spandana is Brahman. When spandana is there, Brahman is mind.

Q. What is the difference between Kumbhana, Dhaarana, and Ekaagrata?

A. All three are similar group of words. Ekaagrata only organizes the unruly hellish activity into an organized activity. During Yajna or Pooja all random activities are moderated into or directed into organized activity. Chanchalata has come down in ekagrata. So, Ekaagrata gives a slightly softer state of mind. But even that becomes a burden. To break this position a lot of karmakaanda activities are to be followed.

A person who is dedicated to karmakaanda has got almost ninety percent of chittashuddi. One has to only understand the how and why of Karmakaanada. You can get to a level of balanced mind. But, if one takes to karmakanda practices very seriously by going into every detail, even this becomes a burden to him since this can also become a curse. A karmakandin is better placed than a kaamuka who rushes for bhoga.

We should not forget that, most of the time we do not even have the sukha that is generated by the activity of vijnaanakosha. We have understood that the vijnaanakosha is the one that gives us all the happiness. But we have not reached that level to retain the samata or equilibrium in our actions and performance.

विज्ञानं यज्ञं तनुते. कर्माणि तनुतेपि च.

vijñānaṁ yajñaṁ tanutē. karmāṇi tanutēpi ca.

Here, (Tai.Upa.-2-5) the phrase karmaani means vaidika karma, not any other worldly karma. Vijnaanakosha is equated to Brahman by the demigods. It is very much glorified by them. It is necessary for getting the needed penetration in to saadhana. Plenty of rush to bhoga is dropped when you are in Vijnaanakosha, because of the vichaara. This is the main characteristic of vijnaanakosha. So, in order to get rid of even the ten percent of the bhogavasana, one has to dwell deep into Vedanta.

When one reaches vijnaanakosha, sufficient amount of manonairmalya or purification of mind has already happened. Even this is itself a great boon to us. But continuation of the process of this purification leads us to Brahman. So we should not stop at this kosha if we want to soften the mind further.

Q. What about prema and bhakti?

When you adopt prema and tyaaga, the mind almost reaches a pure stage. It is so much softened. There are degrees of softness as you all know by now. Lot of further softening is necessary and for this we have to practice the removal of selfish attitude constantly and continuously. Selflessness is the root of prema bhaava.

Tat sukha sukhitwam – Finding happiness in others happiness, is the principle to be followed. I always remember the relationship of Radha and Krishna as the finest example for this statement. In the aspect of sukhaanubhava, Radha really merged herself in the happiness of Krishna. She was waiting to give Krishna all the support needed to make him happy. His happiness is what all she wanted always. Whereas, Satyabhama’s prema was quite the opposite. She wanted to use Krishna as a tool to come out of her boredom and she used him as a means of getting happiness. Her actions were only aimed at that. Compared to this, Radha and Rukmini’s prema towards Kriishna was one of giving solace to him.

We as scientists should not question the facts of the universe. It is better to accept selfishness as a natural trait in human nature and make sincere effort to eliminate it rather than taking selfishness, as hate is a negative force. When you take things with a reverential attitude, then faults in you drop down. In fact everything in this world is pooja worthy. By careful analysis tamas can be dropped or at least brought to a minimal level.

There are two aspects of prema - prema that arises towards the God where you tend to be worshipful, which is called bhakti and the prema that originates among friends and relatives follows the principle of tat sukha sukhitvam. Selflessness is the yardstick of one’s growth. While bhakti has a poojyabhaava, prema has an element of excitement which is absent in bhakti and that leads to a pure mind and that leads to Brahman.

Q. What is vaasana?

A. When the svaroopa which was in the restful or vishraanti state takes to spandanashakti, (started vibrating) it is called as avidya, vaasana, maya, etc. Hence, vaasana is also a dormant shakti in swaroopa. Let us not confuse ourselves. Forgetting its true nature, this Me or Self got conditioned to various forms. This is beautifully depicted in Chamaka Prashna of Krishna Yajurveda and Devi Bhagavata wherein it is declared that both good and bad aspect of life is ME only. If one continuously encourages anger, over a period he becomes a mass of anger. We are all conditioned one way or the other. Whatever type of shakti in the infinite varieties the Self has encouraged, it becomes that shakti. Hence one should not demean any one. Good, bad, ugly, everything is that Stuff only. Hence, everything is to be approached and treated reverentially. How can one hate anybody then? This is called sarva brahmadrushti or sarva pavitra drushti. There is nothing good or bad in this world. If one develops this attitude then it results in samatva and atma- samaadhaana. This leads us to recognize the bad or negativities in us and accept them without repulsion. By accepting selfishness than detesting it, one has got great chance of crossing it because hate is a stronger version. As ardent saadhakaas we are developing relaxation or vishraanti or manas samaadhaana. After ten years what are you? You are a relaxed person.

To sum up: If there is no movement inside there is no mind.Activity is mind and and in the broader sense activity is also Self as there is only Self in the whole universe. In Gaudapaada’s language:

चित्तं निर्विषयं नित्यं असंगं तेन कीर्तितम्

cittaṁ nirviṣayaṁ nityaṁ asaṁgaṁ tēna kīrtitam

(Ma.Upa.Ka-4-72)

• If you think of chitta in its paramaarthata or in its purest sense, it is Brahman.
• Vijnaana or Consciousness is Self.

विज्ञाने स्पंदमाने वै नाभासा अन्यतो भुवः.

vijñānē spaṁdamānē vai nābhāsā anyatō bhuvaḥ

(Ma.aUpa.Ka-4-51)

The Jagat is Self in the vibrating phase. The noise, the sound, everything is spandamana vijnana.

अस्पंदमानं विज्ञानं अनाभासं अजं तथा

aspandamānaṁ vijñānaṁ anābhāsaṁ ajaṁ tathā.

(Man.upa-ka-4-48)

Whereas, Vijnana in the non vibrating phase is Self or Brahman only.

Consciousness, when not in motion, is free from all appearances and remains Changeless. Energy is spandana. We have already discussed three types of motion. To recollect, they are linear motion, circular motion and simple harmonic motion. Even at the micro level of atoms, electrons and protons there is terrible movement. The entire creation is spandana only. In this spandana phase we can call it mind. We can also call it ajnaana, vaasana, avidya, shakti, chanchalata, avyaakruta and mahattatva.

Q. What is jagadaadambara?

A. It is activities of jagat. Modern way of defining Jagat is, that it is nothing but matter and energy. In Vedanta jagat is defined as naama, roopa and karma or vaak, chitta and praana. So jagat is mere activity. Jagadaadambara means activity and it is a derivative of the mind.

Taking the argument further that happiness is what is needed and you must find out how to get it. You think that money and objects give you that. How do you get money? Through activity, through professional work and you conclude that doing is a must for that. Even if doing is not my true nature or necessary nature, I still tend to support it because it gives me joy in the end.

Next sloka:

अविद्यया वासनया तयान्तश्चित्तसत्तया,

विलीनया त्यागवशात्परं श्रेयः अधिगम्यते.

avidyayā vāsanayā tayāntaścittasattayā,

vilīnayā tyāgavaśātparaṁśrēyaḥ adhigamyatē.

(Sl.3-9-27) ^{__ __}

By virtue of renunciation, the avidya which is vaasana, inside the mind stuff gets dissolved thereby resulting in one’s liberation. Having said that one has to clean the mind by vichaara, Sage Vasishta goes on to expand the idea.

paraṁśrēyaḥ adhigamyate - shreya means moksha or total comfort or liberatioin from bondage.

avidyayā vāsanayā - Here avidya is vaasana and vice versa. tayāntaścittasattayā, - chitta or satta, the mind stuff that is inside for which another name is avidya or vaasana.

Vilinaya - If that chitta-satta which is in all of us gets dissolved.

tayāntaścittasattayā - We dissolve vaasna by tyaaga, by giving up. The rushing after things has to be reduced. Abhimata vastu tyaagavashaat - interest for things or in the things of the world is to be dropped. And it is not vastutyaga. Withdrawing the outgoing forces is tyaga.If you can quieten the mind,you get parama shreyaha - means total comfort or liberation from bondage.

How Vilinayaatyaagavashaat? It is only tyaga of tendencies towards bhoga. That is, one has to stop the outgoing forces. Tyaaga has the meaning that the outward going senses have to be stopped.

यत् तत् सदसतोर्मध्यं यन्मध्यं चित्तजाड्ययोः,

तन्मनः प्रोच्यते राम द्वयदोलायिताकृतिः.

yat tat sadasatōrmadhyaṁ yanmadhyaṁ cittajāḍyayoḥ,

tanmanaḥ prōcyatē rāma dvayadōlāyitākr̥tiḥ.

(Sl.3-9-28)

Mind is that which is associated with and oscillating between both Cit and jada, that is self and inert matter, is in between Sat and a-sat.

He is giving another excellent definition. There is chit which is my swaroopa and which has the power of seeing or becoming. (jagadaadabrratmika), Brahman has become jagat svaroopa in the form of nama, roopa and karma through spandana. Three things are involved in looking at an object.

• Cit, that is, sat is the Seer and Cētya, that is, a-sat is the object seen. The object is jada. It cannot change as It is pure.
• The stuff in between Cit and Cētya or sat and asat is manas or mind. It is the process of becoming a specific object. It is not quiet like Cit or insensitive like the objet.

sadasatōrmadhyaṁ - In between sat and asat is the MIND. In the process of becoming a specific thing the mind has become jaadya. That is, when the mind is in the process of seeing, it has lost its freedom. In every seeing of an object the chit has become that particular, sensual, unthinking stuff. So chit and jada are the limits of the mind. This oscillating stuff between sat and a-sat called mind, does not take the jaadya dharma, hence it becomes swaroopa. By forgetting the swaroopa dharma it takes on jaadya dharma - dolāyitākr̥tiḥ. So, mind is the mid stuff which can become the jada if it falls. Otherwise it can become the pure thing, chit

If you drop the thinking process it is svaroopa. If the thinking process is involved in creating an object it becomes the object. The संकुचित, s_aṁkucita_ or shrinking phase of svaroopa is mind. If shrinking takes place, then it becomes is table, chair, etc. Creation of a specific object is jaadya srushti.

Mind is the process of becoming entities of the jagat. Not the entity itself. It is the mid stuff. It can become jada formation or if it does not become it remains as sat or ananda. What becomes the specific thing is jada. The process is the mind.

By thinking continuously, a vastu can be created. If the thinking is dropped it becomes swaroopa. The mind is the material that is undergoing sankochata If that happens, then it becomes a table,a chair, book etc. A definite vastusristi is called jaadyasristi. Between chit or sat, that is, the non doing phase and the jada or a-sat the mind rests. Between sat and a-sat is the mind. A sadhaka has to take cue from this and reduce looking outworldly. Then this becomes a wonderful tool for saadhana.

जाड्यानुसंधानहृतं जाड्यात्मकयेद्धया,

चेतो जडत्वमायाति धृढाभ्यासवशेन हि.

jāḍyānusaṁdhānahr̥taṁ jāḍyātmakayēddhayā,

cētō jaḍatvamāyāti dhr̥ḍhābhyāsavaśēna hi.

(Sl. 3-9-29)

Chit gets corrupted or vitiated and itself becomes inert by prolonged contemplation of the inert matter.

Fools and non saadhaka we are, we are encouraging the quality of looking here and there. Endlessly we are doing jaadyaanysandaana. This is the cause of human suffering and it is his dourbhaagyam is misfortune. When you are sitting alone, you go on thinking about something or seeing one thing or the other. You begin to invite details. That is, you are engrossed in naama, roopa, karma. Creating a vastu means creating a form or roopa. It is also an aspect of jaadya. jāḍyātmakayēddhayā - Because of this practice of ours -cēto jaḍatvamāyāti – Cit imbibes jadatva. We do not create one thing and stop there. But, are continuously jumping from one to another creation of thought. We hop from one scene to another. The mind is doing the anusandhaana of jaadya in various forms. The only consideration is that we have the ability of freedom from this practice. We have the ability to ignore so many things which are in our field of vision and thought.

The consciousness, having lost its freedom of everywheweness, takes upto only one sankalpa intensely and thus becomes jada. That is known as _eka roopa drusti - _having lost the independence of even enquiring on another object. This has resulted in the formation of material. We are not able to hold on to the chit swaroopa for a long time mainly for two reasons. One is the fear and the other is that we do not know the trick or technique of holding on to it. That is where dhyaana, dhaarana, samaadhi aspect comes into being.

If the mind is watching a particular thing, it should not occur that ‘I’ am the one watching and you should become that thing itself. Our ekaagrata is so feeble that we cannot hold on to any one object or form even for a second. One would be observing a thing even without seeing that the observer is watching. It should be like:

स्वरूपशून्यमिव प्रत्यामात्रा निर्भासम्.

svarūpaśūnyamiva pratyāmātrā nirbhāsam.

In that state there should be nothing when I am observing an object. I immediately infer that I saw the object instead of becoming the object. I have created a dual stage at that point of observation.

I have always given that instance of my experiments to some senior sadhakaas only. When I wished to think of a child like Krishna and do the dhaarana, he would remain for long periods in my mind and even move along with me. It became so much that he would even jump on the platform in front of me. This amounted to almost creating stuff. If it were hallucination the object cannot remain for long. This is a case of volition and not helplessness. Suppose it is possible to keep this image for long period it might sometimes become terrifying for you. The mentally created shakti can walk to your house and even talk to you. If the stability of that praana is so powerful then it is possible that you can see the object created by me.

Any stuff that is created should have a main characteristic of impenetrability and should be opaque. That is how shristi happens. I was told that Allama prabhu had that type of creating power. For devataas since it is manodeha sukshmataya karana - creation of mental objects is easy. If this idea is expanded too large, then one can create the jagat itself. (Sl.3-9-30)

विरोध एक अनुसंधानात् चिदंशात्मतया मनः,

चिदेकतां उपायाति दृढाभ्यासवशादिह.

virōdhaēka anusaṁdhānāt cidaṁśātmatayā manaḥ,

cidēkatāṁ upāyāti dr̥ḍhābhyāsavaśādiha.

By contemplation or reflection of one’s spiritual nature, by intense practice and by its natural or instinctive spiritual tendency chitta becomes one with Chit.

Virōdha ēka anusaṁdhānāt – This is what we are required to do as sadhakas. I am not the mind. I am the pre mind stuff. I can think, focus or defocus. The mind is a mid stuff and thus can worsen itself by encouraging minding or purify itself back to Self by not encouraging the minding business. Mind is continuously creating. It is in the narrowing mood..Suppose I don’t do that as it is the mid stuff and can work both ways.

cidaṁśātmatayā manaḥ - This mid stuff or this attention I is not there inside at all. If you come to a situation where there is no ’I’ at all– then you reach your chit svaroopa,

cidēkatāṁ upāyāti dr̥ḍhābhyāsavaśādiha – If you reverse the process the process which gave you the jaadya and apply it to swaroopa, you become swaroopa maatra. An utter relaxation on your part leads to chinmaatrata. That is why the mid stuff is important. You can spoil yourself and become jada or get back to your source. This was the case with Nisargadutta Maharaj. His Guru told him to hold on to that state. That put him into jnaana swaroopa. It was an extraordinary attainment. Even UGK was like that. This is called Jnaana siddhi. (Sl.3-9-31)

पौरुषेण प्रयत्नेन तस्मिन्नेव पदे मनः,

योज्यते तत्पदं प्राप्य भवत्यभ्यासतो हि यत्.

pauruṣēṇa prayatnēna tasminnēva padē manaḥ,

yōjyatē tatpadaṁ prāpya bhavatyabhyāsatō hi yat.

Through effort unite the mind to that Supreme State. With practice that State is certainly attained. Therefore one has to use purusha prayatna all the time, all the twenty four hours to attain that state. If you are able to stay on in that vistaarata,(expansive state) then you touch the source.

अतः पौरुषमाश्रित्य चित्तयाक्रम्य चेतसा,

विशोकं पदमालंब्य निरातंकः स्थिरो भव.

ataḥ pauruṣamāśritya cittayākramya cētasā,

viśōkaṁ padamālaṁbya nirātaṁkaḥ sthirō bhava.

(Sl.3-9-32)

Therefore, by overcoming the mind by the mind, attain to that state untainted by sorrow and remain established in IT.

You have to conquer the realm of chit with the help of chitta itself Then you can remain steady in that state If you take care to see that Bhaavanas or emotions are controlled, then both the chintana and bhaavana will die. If chintana is carefully contained, both chintana and bhavana disappear. When there is no subject where is the problem of developing raga and dvesha? So, if you drop the sankalpa, both bhavana and sankalpa vanish. You should keep on practicing to remain in that peaceful state or samaadhaana sthiti for longer periods_. pauruṣeṇa prayatnena tasminneva pade manaḥ. _So, if you are able to sit in that swaroopa state for at least five or six hours in a day it will be a great sadhana. There is no mystery at all in Vedanta! Hence: _cittayākramya cētasā _- you control the mind by the mind and there is no other separate entity here. Both the controlling and the controlled parts are mind only.

viśōkaṁ padamālaṁbya - You get to a state of no shoka (grief) or ayaasa rahita (tireless) - vyaapaara rahita sthiti. Vyaapaara is synonymous with shoka which is in turn sukha and duhkha. nirātaṁkaḥ sthirō bhava - remain in that no anxiety state. Yogavasishta thus, is a manana grantha as we can ponder over one sloka at a time for long periods of time.

मन एव समर्थं हि मनसो दृढनिग्रहे,

अराजा किं समर्थं स्यात् राज्ञो राघव निग्रहे.

mana ēva samarthaṁ hi manasō dr̥ḍhanigrahē,

arājā kiṁ samarthaṁ syāt rājñō rāghava nigrahē.

(Sl.3-9-33)

It is only mind that is capable of decisively vanquishing or conquering the mind as nobody else other than a king is capable of defeating another king.

mana ēva samarthaṁ hi manasō dr̥ḍhanigrahē - mind only is capable of firmly controlling the mind, Like:

arājā kiṁ samarthaṁ syāt rājñō rāghava nigrahē - Just as anyone else other than a king is incapable of conquering another king. One has to apply one’s mind to conquer the mind till quiet state is reached.

तृष्णाग्राह्य गृहीतानां संसारार्णव पातिनाम्,

अवर्तैरूह्यमानानां दूरे सं मन एव सौः.

tr̥ṣṇāgrāhya grihītānāṁ saṁsārārṇava pātinām,

avartairūhyamānānāṁ dūrē saṁ mana ēva sauḥ.

(Sl.3-9-34)

For those drowned in the ocean of samsaara, caught in the grips of the crocodiles of desires and carried far by the current, one’s mind alone is the boat which can save them.People who are caught up by endless desire and caught up in the vicious circle of bhoga vaasana are completely drowned in the samsaara saagara. For such people it is impossible to control the mind.

मनसैव मनश्छित्वा पाशं परम बन्धनम्,

भवादुत्तारयात्मानं नासावन्येन तार्यते.

(Sl.3-9-35)

manasaiva manaśchitvā pāśaṁ parama bandhanam,

bhavāduttārayātmānaṁ nāsāvanyēna tāryatē.

You have to cut the mind which is in the form of a tight rope from the mind itself and bhavāduttārayātmānaṁ - lift oneself from this worldly bondage. nāsāvanyēna tāryatē - it is not possible for anybody else other than you to come out of samsaara. This is not possible either by performing a pooja or surrendering to a guru. You must control it yourself. What else can be the suffering except this non stop thinking of so many things which are trivial in nature, yet giving rise to repeated duhkha. When the mind focuses on any subject, immediately a state of fear or anxiety is reached. Then raga and dwesha develops. This leads to a lot of strain. Focusing is a torture, a burden. Moment one changes to a lighter mood, then the burden goes. This is called understanding what misery is. To go after a thing or to run away from a thing is what happens to us generally all the time. So, for survival, every man shifts from a focusing mood to a lighter mood and this facility is available to everyone. (Chandogya upa)

विप्र: दरिद्रशोः सत् संपत्तिः समानानपि,

विद्वान् जान्येव गच्छति, अविद्वांस्तु अजानन् गच्छति.

vipra: daridraśōḥ sat saṁpattiḥ samānānapi,

vidvān jānyēva gacchati, avidvāṁstu ajānan gacchati.

Even though for an ordinary man and a jnaani, sleep phase is common, a vidwaan goes to sleep with a clear understanding that the sleep phase is a great opportunity to touch Brahman (a conscious entry into a no mind state). Whereas, an ordinary person goes to sleep without any thinking only to relieve himself from the burden of jagrat. Jnaani knows that it is the mukti sthaana and thus conciouslly enters into no mind state. It is a calculated carefree state. For an idiot his sleep is only a recovery to get back to his mundane activities.

ययोदेति मनोनाम्नी वासनावासितान्तरा,

तां तां परिहरेत् प्राज्ञः ततोअविद्याक्षयो भवेत्.

yayōdēti manōnāmnī vāsanāvāsitāntarā,

tāṁ tāṁ pariharēt prājñaḥ tatōavidyākṣayō bhavēt.

(Sl3-9-36)

Whenever the mind is activated by vasana, counter the vasana. That will destroy avidya.

yayōdēti manōnāmnī – As and when sankalpas or volitions crop up in the mind,

tāṁ tāṁ pariharēt prājñaḥ - the person of right understanding recognises that the sankalpa needs to be dropped then and there itself. Mind wakes up, Once a thought comes and it has to be immediately understood that it is likely to create vaasana. So, the moment you get to focusing state, you have to let go the same. Whenever mind gets fickle a person with understanding has to solve it by introspection. For a person of that type - avidyākṣayo bhavet - avidya naasha happens. Avidya here means that it is a force that is pulling you down. We have already seen many times as to what avidya is. Many synonyms are there for that word -vaasna, shakti, maya, chanchalya. All these lead to focusing. Stopping of this leads to swaroopa.

भोगैकवासनां त्यक्त्वा त्यज त्वं भेदवासनम्,

भावाभावौ ततस्त्यक्त्वा निर्विकल्पः सुखी भव.

bhōgaikavāsanāṁ tyaktvā tyaja tvaṁ bhēdavāsanam,

bhāvābhāvau tatastyaktvā nirvikalpaḥ sukhī bhava.

(Sl.3-9-37)

bhogaikavāsanāṁ tyaktvā - After dropping attractions and pulls towards worldly enjoyments

tyaja tvaṁ bhedavāsanam - Drop also the notion that I am the enjoyer

bhāvābhāvau tatastyaktvā - Moment you feel that you are the person who is enjoying the bhoga, you at once are different from swaroopa. So this has to be carefully monitored. You have to give up bhaava and abhaava also. Conceiving of things is known as bhaavana. Non conceiving things is known as a-bhaavana. If one is conscious of either of these then it is burdensome. Even the concept that I am doing vastu grahana and I need to leave it becomes a burden and becomes a bhaavana. Therefore you have to give up even the conceiving of things. You are watching that you are doing nothing. That is the paradox. What is the remedy?

bhāvābhāvau tatastyaktvā - you have to give up both grasping and non grasping. Watching the non watching is also a burden. Non doing becomes very much doing when you watch. Watching that you are not watching not doing anything is also attention. The approach that I will take care not to watch is also wrong. That is what Shkhidhwaja did. What to do?

JUST BE. LET GO.

_YENA TYAJASI TAT TYAJA - _DROP MINDING.

So, you have to give up even that. You neither watch nor avoid watching.

मा गृहाण विमुंच मा

mā gr̥hāṇa vimuṁca mā

You neither capture nor reject. Do not encourage the notion that you are doing a wrong thing and it is a-dharma. At the same time do not give in to aaswaadana or urge for enjoyment.

The best method is to cultivate a habit to go slow as much as possible in bhogaaasana. The forces of chitta have to be toned down. Even the निग्रह, nigraha, controlling or withdrawing activity has to be done slowly without any rush to eradicate. Then both will become pavitra, sacred. Pavitra karma is to cleanse yourself. Once this starts peace automatically sets in. One who does not have this knowledge will go on avoiding rather than slowing down the forces. Once you know the trick then you are always in swaroopa as far as sadhana is concerned.

• Shanti before - shanti during - shanti after any action is the way a sadhaka should go after.
• Speed before - speed during - speed after is the one that leads to misery or duhkha. The same applies to focussing also. So your aim should be towards shanti always and this becomes a success for your sadhana.

अविद्या अविद्यमानैव नष्टप्रज्ञेषु विद्यते,

नाम्नैव अंगीकृताकारा सम्यक् प्रज्ञस्य सा कुतः.

avidyāmānaiva naṣṭaprajñēṣu vidyatē,

nāmnaiva aṁgīkr̥tākārā samyak prajñasya sā kutaḥ

(Sl.3-9-40)

avidyāmānaiva – The avidya forces (mind, spandana, shakti, maya, vaasana, etc) that construct the universe do not really exit. Then where do they exit? _naṣṭaprajñēṣu vidyatē _- It is there for those who have forgotten their true nature. Here, we have to forget creation outside and think of creation inside. My thoughts, my emotions are not there when you keep in mind always my ultimate position. There is no mind at all for those who are convinced that they are a non thinking stuff, are aakashamaatra, there is no concept of _aham, Idam division(vibhajana), _splitting into ‘I’, this, that, etc.

If you accept thoughts are there, that shraddha keeps the thoughts intact. This has to be dropped for saadhana. We can conquer avidya also by cultivating the udaasinabhava.

Nashta prajneshu vidyate - one who has forgotten his true nature, avidya forces will always be rising.

nāmnaiva aṁgīkr̥tākārā - Existance of avidya is naamamaatra. They have accepted avidya or are having shraddha of the existence of the world and hence for them world is very much there. This shraddha keeps avidya going.

We have to look at how this can help us in sadhana. Avidya is reversible and steps are replaceable. It is a droppable stuff. If you maintain avidya it stays. It vanishes if you drop it - Avidyamānā eva avidyā vartate_samyak prajñasya sā kutaḥ_ - For a realized soul where is it?

You will get into difficulty when you apply this principle to x y z objects. Think of avidya as mental activity. Then, the point holds very well. If you maintain thinking, it is there. Otherwise it is absent. Generally we go on inviting thoughts which may become anger and it remains and you develop on that. That should be avoided. It vanishes if you dismiss it. My emotions, my reaction to the outside world may be kept on or dismissed. Our saadhana relates to the inside stuff. We have to exercise our freedom in dealing with outside world with the conviction that every mental activity has the option carrying element. We have got the option either to invite or dismiss/reject.

Prana and other positions of swaroopa are activities released by ‘Self’ but are reversible in nature. They can be absorbed back into that great silence again. These forces are released with the property of reversibility. That is our concept of jada in Vedanta. They can be re absorbed if we so decide. For example, curd cannot be re converted to milk. Whereas, water can be turned into ice and vice versa. This property sets the basis for our saadhana.

The most important sloka which I always quote:

अनास्थैव हि निर्वाणम् दुःखमास्था परिग्रहः,

अनेनैव प्रयत्नेन ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते क्षणात्.

anāsthaiva hi nirvāṇam duḥkhamāsthā parigrahaḥ,

anēnaiva prayatnēna brahma sampadyatē kṣaṇāt.

(Sl.3-9-39)

Absence of craving for pleasures is the state of liberation. Craving is fillled with misery. Through this practice Brahman is realised immediately.

The entire vedanta is condensed in the first line of this sloka. What is liberation? What is mukti?

Anāsthāēva hi nirvāṇam – It is indifference of higher type, being casual. Whereas, aastha is interestedness - aasakti. Duhkha is the burden you have taken on yourself.

āsthā parigrahaḥ - Feeding interest into the transactions we are in is āsthā. Minus of this is comfort.

See the second line of the sloka.

_anēnaiva prayatnēna brahma sampadyatē kṣaṇāt - _By such a resolve, brahmasparsha takes place in one kshana or moment. If you practice this you are liberated in split second. Although it looks like an overstatement, it is true. Udaasina bhava is the key which has to be cultivated.

We will go to sloka 43.

अविद्या यावत् अस्यास्तु न उत्पन्ना क्षयकारिणी,

स्वयमात्मावलोकेच्छा मोहसंक्षयदायिनी.

avidyā yāvat asyāstu na utpannā kṣayakāriṇī,

svayamātmāvalōkēcchā mōhasaṁkṣayadāyinī.

(Sl.3-9-43)

Svayamātmāvalōkēcchā - avidya stays till the urge for self introspection sets in. This urge to stay in self even annihilates the delusion caused by fake identification. Avidya will not go as long the interest to see inside does not arise. This is called subheccha in the Sapta Bhoomika. When one gets this inclination all other steps of shravana, manana, etc follows and Vasishtha affirms that liberation is assured.

अस्याः परं प्रपश्यन्त्याः स्वात्मनाशः प्रजायते,

दृष्टे सर्वगतेबोधे स्वयं हि एषा विलीयते.

asyāḥ paraṁ prapaśyantyāḥ svātmanāśaḥ prajāyatē,

dr̥ṣṭē sarvagatē bōdhē svayaṁ hi ēṣā vilīyatē.

(Sl.3-9-44)

asyāḥ paraṁ prapaśyantyāḥ svātmanāśaḥ prajāyatē – The moment one realizes his true nature, avidya gets destroyed.

How did movement set in? How did outgoing forces come in? Because you forgot your true nature of restfulness. Moment the interest to know the self comes; outgoing forces start \to calm down. One is mutually exclusive but complimentary to the other. Moment you say that you are peaceful and there is nothing to get disturbed or distracted the true nature in you springs up.

• If you become a manonishta, mind oriented person, aatmanishtata, search for Self gets dropped.
• If aatmanishtata is encouraged then the mind gets dissolved – manonishtata gets dropped.

By looking at the paratatwa, Self, avidya naasha happens. Outgoing forces sets in, the moment you go off the track. Without going to sleep if one is able to sit, then that is sadhana. Remember the teaching of Yama to Nachiketa in Kathopanishad - paraanchakhaani vytrunat svayambhuhu tasmaat — na antaraatman.

In a slightly expansive state thought cannot exist. Pictures and sounds vanish there when aakaasha dharma or spredness is established. This is exactly what happens when the nidra, sleep forces pull up, leaving you in amaneebhaawa, no mind state. When this is practiced in jaagrat, waking phase one is very peaceful and silent although there will be some movement in the minimal way, it does not disturb the peace that is already set in.

Being wakefully relaxed is the practice one needs to cultivate in sadhana. This is brahmaabhaayasa. Stopping manovyaapara and indriyavyaapara induces one towards the Self.

अहं मनः, अहं इन्द्रियाणि, अहं व्यापारवान्.

ahaṁ manaḥ, ahaṁ indriyāṇi, aham vyāpāravān..

I am mind, I am the sense organs, I am activity are all anaatma dharmaas, non-Self qualities which are to be dropped. The false notion that, I am the knower - Jnaatru, I am the doer – _kartu _and I am the enjoyer-_bhoktru _has to be overcome and dropped. LET GO. Drop narrowness and go towards anantata.

As per Vedanta, jagat is just naama, roopa karma – sound, picture and activity components If we stretch naama and roopa a little further then the creation itself crashes.For example, if picture formation is slowed down (a slow motion film) we cannot have a picture. If, say, pronunciation of Ramaha gacchati is slowly done by pronouncing each letter like - R a a m a h a, g a c c h a t i - it loses its meaning. You get picture and sound when there is the right speed. If shabda is slowed down and drishya is slowed down mind dies and what remains is aakaasha, which is svaroopa. This means that it is expansive nothingness.

dr̥ṣṭē sarvagatē bōdhē svayaṁ hi ēṣā vilīyatē - When one gets established in the knower (jnana) which has not become known (jneya) and thus is not localized and is all encompassing Self, the jagat of naama, roopa, karma gets dissolved. When naama and roopa disappears, the expansion sets in. The subtlest and the one without attributes sets in. There will not be divisions and segments. Then it becomes sarwavyaapi, all encopassing. Pundits and scholars say that one should catch the brahma-atma ekatwa. What do they mean? When you see explanation for this, one notes that giving up anaatma dharma is important than joining the Brahman and Atman. Shankara says this in his bhashya a hundred times. One should give up wrong understanding That means discarding the notion that I am the kartru, jnaatru and bhoktru is Brahma abhyaasa.

We will try to understand sookshmatva, niravayavatva and sarva vyaapakatva, a little better. If we say content of space, it is to say, here and there. Whenever you think of an object, you have to give a spacial link. But when you apply vyaapakatwa, khandatwa goes. So, Brahman by definition cannot have a-vyaapakatwa, but is only sarwavyaapi. Sukshmatwa is negation of indriya gocharatwa. A special localistion becomes indriyagochara, characteristic of sthula, a matter. Shnakara continuously asserts that every indifferent mood carries this element of anaastha., Knowingly or unknowingly, we touch Brahman. LET GO is the only solution.

• For a fool, this let go is a matter of convenience and not a conviction. For him it is only escapism.
• But for a sadhaka, let go is a tool and is the essence of his sadhana. So, the two are poles apart. One can never be mistaken for the other.

For a jnaani let go is a precious treasure. It is a saatvic state. It is born of pareeksha supported by a strong theoretical base. It is a calculated response. For us, we have reached a new stage. We have turned the corner and we have to spend a lot of time to achieve a level of a jnaani. So, fear is impossible in that expansive state. This is a point to be noted between a taamasic and a sativic person.

That state is called as sarvagata, where you are awake but not perceiving khandatva, division. Every minding is localization. When you say it is here and there it pre-supposes localization. Moment you get that contour, you lose that sarvagata vyaapakatva.

The famous statement of Chandogya upanishad_– _

यत्र नान्यत्पश्यति नान्यत् शृणोति ……

yatra nānyatpaśyati nānyat śr̥ṇōti ……

and the one from Taittiriya

कोहि एव अन्यात् कः प्राण्यात्……….

kōhi ēva anyāt kaḥ prāṇyāt……….

are to be remembered here. If we had not touched the aakaasha dharma we would not have even lived! That let go is the main point for the sustenance.

Who complains about heart beat? Is anyone thinking about it? If all your transactions in life become like that, then the whole life is enjoyment. All the actions of praana and other activities can be reduced to such a situation that they do not bother you at all. Even if you remain for thousands of years it is not a burden for you. This is called saakshi bhava. In an expansive mood whatever you do does not burden you. This is the reason that Vedanta repeatedly says that one does not have to give up family for attaining the state of expansion where you are always happy. All reflex actions are in this saakshi bhava. This is called is called jeevan-mukti.

Memory is possible when the shell is small because the impression causing forces operate in a small shell. That is why we are able to recall. When you are in a expansive shell things do not gather to give you the memory. The expanded ego cannot take the impressions in a way that it can be recalled from memory.

Nidra cannot come if you do not drop minding. Only when you let go all the forces, then only you surrender to sleep. What is the dosha, defect? The expansive state that you get is also limited to a big shell and after a length of time a small pressure is built up which will put into that knowing mind and looking for details. For a jnaani this does not happen. Nidra has limitedness about vistaarata, where a sadhaka can break those edges and goes forward. There can be no comfort without vistaaarata. That is why the following famous saying is relevant here._ _

योगरतो वा भोगरतो वा ,,,,,,,,,,,नन्दति नन्दति नन्दत्येव.

yōgaratō vā bhōgaratō vā ,,,,nandati nandati nandatyēva.

A jnani is always in the expansive state whatever be the situation. Lord Krishna always remained in that situation. This is the yard stick for you to determine the state of being. Do you become incapable of focusing when you are in that expansive state? No. The power will not go. One can focus more at the periphery. When I focus, I become that part which I focus. But, for Ishwara that does not happen. Even a jeevanmukta is in that state. So the Vedanta’s greatness lies in the shell expansion giving rise to casualness. Jnaana can give you the vision, but cannot remove the speed element because this speed is a crystallized force. That is why we struggle more than the ordinary people. In the expansive state,forces do not bother you.

इच्छामात्रं अविद्येयं तन्नाशो मोक्ष उच्यते,

स च असंकल्प शस्त्रेण सिद्धो भवति राघव.

icchāmātraṁ avidyēyaṁ tannāśō mōkṣa ucyatē,

sa ca asaṁkalpa śastrēṇa siddhō bhavati rāghava.

(Sl.3-9-45)

icchāmātraṁ avidyēyaṁ - Here one more definition for avidya is given. To desire is avidya.

tannāśō mōkṣa ucyatē - What is moksha then? Dropping desiring or eradication of desire is moksha or liberation.

यदा सर्वे प्रमुच्यन्ते कामा ये अस्य हृदि स्थिताः,

अथ मर्त्यः अमृतो भवति अत्र ब्रह्म समश्नुते.

yadā sarvē pramucyantē kāmā yē asya hr̥di sthitāḥ,

atha martyaḥ amr̥tōbhavati atra brahma samaśnutē.

(Ka.Upa.2-3-14)

When all the kaamanaas or desires in you become zero or subside or become subtle, then you will attain the brahmic state even when you are alive.

sa ca asaṁkalpa śastrēṇa siddhō bhavati rāghava - So, to get to that state one has to give up the sankalpa, wishing or volition itself. For example, if you do not wish to have your rasagulla, then the desire to get it does not arise at all. A sankalpa is a pre requisite to the appearance of the emotions such as likes or dislikes. So don’t invite pictures or situations in the mind. Then, on what can emotions play? They die down. This is the path to be followed. These are local hints for saadhana

मनागपि मनोव्योम्नि वासनारजनीक्षये,

कालिका तनुतामेति चिदादित्य प्रकाशनात्.

(Sl.3-9-46)

manāgapi manōvyōmni vāsanārajanīkṣayē,

kālikā tanutāmēti cidāditya prakāśanāt.

manāgapi manōvyōmni cidāditya prakāśanāt - When the light of the cit shines on you the darkness called vasana of the samsaara goes away. We have to continuously develop equanimity of mind.

kālikā tanutāmēti cidāditya prakāśanāt - Even if forces of vasana reduced to a small extent, to that extent aatmabodha happens. Even if the intensity of outgoing forces comes down by ten percent, comfort increases to that extent. So, it is a gradual process and not instantaneous. And comfort or samaadhaana, shanti is equal to Brahman. That is the reason that one should not put oneself into deep vairaagya. Apply leisureliness to all external transactions and move slowly towards the goal.

Why do we say that taking things slowly is satva and not tamas? All of us agree that tamas is always there. But all those forces are volitional in the wakeful state. Satva, Rajas and Tamas are all forces with different intensities. We cannot call those forces as tamas which puts you in a rush for objects. They are only raaga or dwesha forces. But, nidra force is tamas. That is, Vedanta suggests not to hate the forces like irritability, sex pulls, jealousy. When such forces erupt in you, notice it and try to conquer it.

The famous Devi Stotra should always be on your mind_. _

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु चेतनेत्यभिधीयते, बुद्धिरूपेण, निद्रारूपेण, चायारूपेण, शक्तिरूपेण, तृष्णारूपेण, भ्रांतिरूपेण……संस्थिते नमस्तस्यै, नमस्तस्यै, नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः.

yā dēvī sarvabhūtēṣu cētanētyabhidhīyatē, buddhirūpēṇa, nidrārūpēṇa, cāyārūpēṇa, śaktirūpēṇa, tr̥ṣṇārūpēṇa, bhrāṁtirūpēṇa……saṁsthitē namastasyai namastsyai namastasyai namō namaḥ.

The force of hate that develops in you is more violent than the forces already in you. So we have to reduce the intensity of such forces residing deep in us. The aim is to reach moksha and the pressure that is built up because of that sankalpa is itself a severe one. Vedanta does not classify forces as noble force or ignoble force. The speed with which you go towards the object is the only matter of concern. If you rush to go to a temple, that very rush leads to suffering. It may be a noble thought never the less it is the speed that bothers you.

That was exactly what happened to Shikidwaja. His concern that he should give up everything is no doubt a divine thing, but he took it so seriously that the pressure became hundred times more than the concern he had on mundane things. So his chitta got spoiled a hundred times more. The factor is not that he had a very noble cause. But, his going into details and the speed with which he went, was the burden he had to go through since he was always in the mood of conquering the unruly forces. This aspect had to be put into his mind and this was successfully done by Choodala.

If one reads Upanishads casually, that does not give him the peace he needs. If the purpose of reading upanishad is to only satisfy or increase the already disturbed knowledge, then the whole purpose is defeated. Unless the internal forces are not conquered, peace will not set in. Even the desire to attain moksha has to slow down and the process has to happen gradually. When avidya – that is, vaaasna, shakti, spandana, maya, aatmavismruti - is washed away, the Self reveals itself and vice versa. By knowing one’s expansive nature, all these violent or unruly forces get washed away. If one reduces the unruly forces, he touches the Self.

Sri Rama asks Sage Vsishta to describe more about the aspect of that ’Self’:-

यावत् किंचिदिदं दृश्यं साविद्या क्षीयते च सा,

आत्मभावनया ब्रह्मत्यात्मासौ कीदृशः स्मृतः.

yāvat kiṁcididaṁ dr̥śyaṁ sāvidyā kṣīyatē ca sā,

ātmabhāvanayā brahmatyātmāsau kīdr̥śaḥ smr̥taḥ.

(Sl.3-9-47)

yāvat kiṁcididaṁ dr̥śyaṁsāvidyā - Whenever you cognize things, you are in the doing phase and that is avidya.

kṣīyatē ca sāātmabhāvanayā - The avidya has to go by repeated remembrance of ones swaroopa as mere-ness or expansive non doing stuff. If by staying in ‘Self’ avidya goes, how to recognize Atma? How to identify ourselves with Atma? Vasishta replies_ _-

चेत्यानुपातरहितं सामान्येन च सर्वगं,

यत् चित्तत्वमनाख्येयं स आत्मा परमेश्वरः.

(Sl.3-9-48)

cētyānupātarahitaṁ sāmānyēna ca sarvagaṁ,

yat cittatvamanākhyēyaṁ sa ātmā paramēśvaraḥ.

cētya anupātarahitaṁ - cētya is a shrinking tendency resulting in taking note of things. Cit is swaroopa. A non-doing, mere wakefulness is svaroopa. When it comes to the focusing mood, the output of that focusing is the result of the watching process which is to know more about things like table chair etc. The result of a watching process is cētya. The pre watching state is cit. If the seeing process does not crystalise itself into objects, sounds and situations, then mind is in the pre state. Not going after these details, you tend to reach the cit.

Sāmānyēna - It is a generality. Mind means localization into objects, activities, details, etc. Minus this localization, it is the general version of yours.

ca sarvagaṁ - everywhere-ness means specialsations not having happened. Specialisation is opposite of Sāmānyatva. Localisation does not happen means sarvagaṁ or you are everywhere.

yat cittatvam - This is your swaroopa principle. _anākhyēyaṁ - _This cannot be described. It is that which is there even before the words formed. So words cannot describe that! If I try to describe that state it means that I have come to the lower state because description is a localization affair. Talking, seeing, etc are all instances of localization. That is the subtlest point in Vedanta. One only gets to that state when cognizing stops.

sa ātmā paramēśvaraḥ - That is Atma or Parameshwara.

सर्वं च खल्विदं ब्रह्म नित्यं चिद्घनं अव्ययम्,

कल्पनान्या मनोनाम्नी विद्यते नहि काचन.

sarvaṁ ca khalvidaṁ brahma

nityaṁ cidghanaṁ avyayam,

kalpanānyā manōnāmnī vidyatē nahi kācana.

(Sl.3-9-49)

sarvaṁ ca khalvidaṁ brahma - If specialization does not happen then it is Brahman,. In other words the world or any pattern is spandana shakti of Brahman. We can remember Devi Bhagavata here which salutes Brahman vibrating in all kinds of forms wherein there is nothing like superior or inferior, meaning that it is pure spandana. All our problems are to choose and prefer, differentiate between likes and dislikes. Not to cognize is the way of sadhana as per first line of the sloka.

The second way of sadhana is if you have to see at all, then see the ekatwa or pavitrata in everything.That silence in me has another quality. It is dormant power of Self. But, it can manifest itself into activity. Jnaani’s emptiness is not idiot’s emptiness. The silence has immense power available but it is yet not revealed. We have to remember the famous sloka. (B G -3-22)

न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं त्रिषु लोकेषु किञ्चन।
नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि.
Na me pārthāsti kartavyaṁ triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana,
Nānavāptamavāptavyaṁ varta eva ca karmaṇi.

There is nothing in the three worlds, O Partha, that has to be done by me nor is there anything unattained that should be attained by me, yet, I continue to engage myself in work.

The forces like kama, krodha, selfishness, selflessness, ego,etc emanate from either liking or disliking.They are all manifestation of spandana shakti of Brahman. All our attributes, whether good or bad, are developed over a period and thus have become our second nature.How can you hate that? One has to have universal compassion.

kalpanānyā manōnāmnī vidyatē nahi kācana - If you emphasize the non doing aspect, chitta becomes empty and there is no world at all for you. Even if you cognize the world, such cognition should not bother you. When the samatwa of the mind is disturbed by the emotions which play on you, you get spoiled or disturbed.

Q. Is not compassion also an emotion?

A. Compassion has a small tinge of soft emotion, but it is very neutral in nature. Compassion is adoora kevali bhaava. Prema, preeti. Bhakti, poojya bhava etc are all aspects of compassion. These are all very near to shanti or bliss. Growth in compassion is a sign of your not getting excited at all. At the highest level of compassion even that soft emotion to feel also dies down. Compassion arises when you do not prefer a choice. But chitashuddhi is happening. This is our wrong notion. Chittashuddi is nothing but swaroopanishta. A no chitta state is svaroopa.

Q. Either there is a desire or no desire. How can there be grades in that?

A. The shastra permits it and wants us to take it in that light. In fact Shankara goes to a higher level at this point.

अकामः तत्त्वस्य उत्कर्ष अपकर्ष अनुस्मृत्य

akāmaḥ tatvasya utkarṣa apakarṣa anusmr̥tya.

Science students know that the decrease of resistance is the increase of conductivity. So, both could have degree of variation since one is reciprocal to the other. A reduction in desiring can be taken as increase in non desiring to that extent.

Q. Can you desire to be non-desiring?

A. In the ideal way, NO. The desire for liberation is a stumbling block for liberation itself, though it is a noble desire. And liberation is that when this desre for liberation also gets dropped. It is a very big suggestion in advanced Vedanta. Any type of force is a problem. You must understand that rejecting is as much involving as capturing. One will be equally foolish in rejecting as the desire force is converted to disgust force with equal intensity,thus the force is not eliminated. How do you drop a desire without trying to drop it? Indifference is neither interest nor rejection. Gaudapaada has put this excellently:

ग्रहो न तत्र नोत्सर्गश्चिंता यत्र न विद्यते,

आत्मसंस्थं तदा ज्ञानमजाति समतां गतम्.

grahō na tatra nōtsargaściṁtā yatra na vidyatē,

ātmasaṁsthaṁ tadā jñānamajāti samatāṁ gatam.

(Gau.ka.3-38)

grahaha na tatra utsargaha na ciṁtā yatra na vidyatē - Going after things is not there. And, going away from the things is also not there. If there is no grahana or utsarga there will not be any chitta.

ātmasaṁsthaṁ tadā jñānamajāti samatāṁ gatam - This is your samatva and this is your Atma.

अहंकारं असत् विद्धि मा गृहाण विमुंच मा

ahaṁkāraṁ asat viddhi mā gr̥hāṇa vimuṁca mā

We always cling to the ’I’, giving importance to that ‘I’. This is called gr̥hāṇa. vimuṁca - At the same time we are also continuously thinking of giving up ‘I’, the ahankaara. That means you are again watching or taking notice of that ahankaara. Drop both. Let us say that you are taking the attitude of not becoming selfish. This is not the right way of saadhana. The focussing is intact. Selfishness focussed upon is there and a rejecting force is there. So, force never went and focussing never went. You are inviting the idea of selfishness and also the idea of rejecting it. What is to be done? Take neutral attitude. Be indifferent to both. Do not even take notice of that. A sloka from Kalidasa wherein he describes Vishnu just coming out of yoganidraa is worth quoting here;

योगनिद्रान्त विषदैः पावनैःअवलोकनैः.

yōganidrānta viṣadaiḥ pāvanaiḥ avalōkanaiḥ -

When Vishnu comes out of yoga nidra, the very sight of at that point, is sacred since the samaadhi stiti is a peaceful one. In the presence of Ramana maharshi and the sages of that calibre, one’s mind gets dissolved and all the questions get dropped. Even the list of questions that haunted Paul Brunton when he came to ask and corner the Maharsh, vanished in his very presence. These are the prescription for a man who is not in tamas. Coming to our discussion –

sarvaṁ ca khalvidaṁ brahma nityaṁ ciddhanaṁ avyayam. If you practice to sit quiet without disturbance for about six months, pictures and sounds hardly come. Thoughts lose without details. Mind becomes empty. You get the conviction that thoughts are mere swaroopa taking to specialization. That is all. sarvaṁ ciddhanaṁ avyayam. He is so much established in that non doing, that doing hardly happens. So how do you see the kaarya kaarana sambandha? It is born out of swaroopa. The shaanti has begotten that activity and that activity is drowning into that shaanti again. kalpanānyā manōnāmnī vidyatē nahi kācana. - there is nothing called mind. It is svaroopa taking the shape and soon dissolved.

न जायते न म्रियते किंचिदत्र जगत्रये,

नच भाव विकाराणां सत्ता क्वचन विद्यते.

a jāyatē na mriyatē kiṁcidatra jagatrayē,

naca bhāva vikārāṇāṁ sattā kvacana vidyatē.

(Sl.3-9-50)

When you move to that stage, you understand the value of these tools. He will be declaring about the non existence of mind. Mind just comes out of silence and dissolves into that silence. It has no sattaa. That is, the mind has no independent existence. Till now you continuously maintained the existence of mind. With this realisation you become casual with udaasina bhaava and finally even that dies.

केवलं केवलाभासं सर्वसामान्यं अक्षयम्,

चेत्यानुपातरहितं चिन्मात्रमिहविद्यते.

(Sl.3-9-51)

kēvalaṁ kēvalābhāsaṁ sarvasāmānyaṁ akṣayam,

cētyānupātarahitaṁ cinmātramihavidyatē.

This is the description of Brahman. You do the anusandhana of that stuff then the vaasnas will go.

cētyānupātarahitaṁ cinmātramihavidyatē - once again objects are not forming at all, pictures are not forming and sounds are not forming. That state is called cit – inside it is mere wakefulness. Mind is nothing but self in the thinking mode or seeing mode. There is nothing like two entities, self and mind. Mind is Self in the functioning phase, that is, in the formation phase of picture, thought and sound.

तस्मिन् नित्ये तते शुद्धे चिन्मात्रे निरुपद्रवे,

शान्ते समसमाभोगे निर्विकारोदिदात्मनि.

tasmin nityē tatēśuddhē cinmātrē nirupadravē,

śāntē samasamābhōgē nirvikārōdidātmani.

(SL.3-9-52)

Excellent adjectives are given. It is nitya, because it is everlasting. Śuddha - It is pure. nirupadravē, means there is no taxing or efforting phase. śāntē samasamābhōgē - peaceful and absolutely steady, without any variation. Nirvikārōdidātmani - in that pure, peaceful and non - efforting phase.

या एषा स्वभाव अतिगतं स्वयं सन्कल्प्य धावति,

चित् चेत्यं स्वयमम्लाना मन नाम्न न उच्यते.

yāēṣā svabhāva atigataṁ svayaṁ sankalpya dhāvati,

cit cētyaṁ svayamamlānā mana nāmna na ucyatē.

(Sl.3-9-53)

Somehow in that state, thoughts start coming and once thought comes, it becomes mind. Otherwise it is so pure and so effortless, which means ananda. In ananda the labour or toiling of creating is not there. In the normal course, we keep on creating sound and pictures endlessly. That is, creating inside the counterpart of jagat in the form of naama, roopa, karma. So, effortlessness is the principle of ananda. Ananda is non doing and doing is burden. That is why it is said:

प्रपंचोपशमं शान्तं शिवं अद्वैतं

चतुर्थं मन्यन्ते स आत्मा स विज्ञेयः

prapaṁcōpaśamaṁśāntaṁśivaṁ advaitaṁ

caturthaṁ manyantē sa ātmā sa vijñēyaḥ.

(Man.Upa.7)

prapaṁcōpaśamaṁśāntaṁśivaṁ advaitaṁ - not the outside cognizing, not the inside cognizing as in a dream, not the mere vyaapaara as in ndira. Having given up the three aspects of the prapancha, the world, such a swaroopa has been considered ultimate.

Sa aatmaa – satu vijneyaha – you have to re understand that forgotten Self of yours.

Always mind is in the toilsome phase. But it can become less and less toilsome, if you incorporate slowness and defocusing in your day to day work resulting in removing fatigue aspect. Shastra never says that one should give up karma. Yoga is naidhaanya. Both eating and working are considered as aahuti. Feed that restlessness so that it becomes relaxed. Any force is a damped oscillation. Unless subsequent feeding is there it dies. Left to itself any vyapara dies down in anantata unless feeding is done. Neglected, it dies. Not fed anymore and having neutral attitude it dies. The feeding has to be reduced so that relaxation sets in. A diffused version of any localization is peace. We should become light hearted so that it can manage speed. If bhoga and karma are approached in a leisurely way with defocusing then it becomes adhyaatma sadhana or brahma saadhana.

एतस्मात् सर्वगताद्देवात्सर्वशक्तेर्महात्मनः,

विभाग कल्पनाशक्तिः लहरीवोथिताम्भसः.

ētasmāt sarvagatāddēvātsarvaśaktērmahātmanaḥ,

vibhāga kalpanāśaktiḥ laharīvōthitāmbhasaḥ

(Sl.3-9-54)

ētasmāt sarvagatāddēvātsarvaśaktēh - He is always powerful in the potential and in the latent way. _mahātmanaḥ _- that great stuff.

vibhāga kalpanāśaktiḥ laharīvōthitāmbhasaḥ - then divisioning sets in. How? He gets power. Here, there, this, that, I, you are all divisions. This is the mechanism of creation. The undivided stuff, the everywhere stuff starts localizing which means gets divided. Special confinement has occurred. That is jagat. Here and there has set in due to its power. The whole of Yōgavāsiṣṭha talks in this language throughout its narration. Whatever power it releases, those units of powers start growing/ - mananaat mana uchayte. Vivechanaat buddhiruchyate. The respective indriya capabilities get strengthed. Tamas, rajas, karmendriya vyaapaara, any number of combinatins start building up.

अतः संकल्पसिद्धेयं संकल्पेनैव नश्यति,

येनैव जाता तेनैव वन्हिज्वालेव वायुना.

ataḥ saṁkalpasiddhēyaṁ saṁkalpēnaiva naśyati,

yēnaiva jātā tēnaiva vanhijvālēva vāyunā.

(Sl.3-9-55)

Now this is interesting. If this creation is because of the volition/decision or sankalpa of attention and doing, it can also be dissolved by non doing which is the counter sankalpa. It needs to be understood that we are discussing about the inner world and not the outer world. Let us say shraddha is helpful for creation. Atah- therefore

saṁkalpasiddhēyaṁ saṁkalpēnaiva naśyati - since it is born of sankalpa (to watch, to take notice of, to worry, to solve, to excite). If you give the opposite of this sankalpa, it dies. If you make asanlakpa that you need not bother, not listen etc then the whole thing gets dropped. What a wonderful prescription for a saadhaka! As a saadhaka, you learn the uselessness of thinking or the unnecessary aspect of thinking. We have to ponder over these two things. The one that supports thinking is the notion that everything is useful because it gives me sukha. Therefore we keep on thinking. The other reason why we go on thinking is that I cannot help thinking as it is my very nature. Vedanta says –why don’t you examine these things? Is it a must? If so, thinking has to go on all the year round, day and night. If it is a nitya dharma, it cannot be dropped. But we do not think that always. So thinking is not a must for me. We have an option on the act of thinking. The two notions that thinking is a must and thinking is useful are smashed. Then you get the courage to sit quiet. The concept of usefulness of thinking is called vipareeta Jnaana or ajnaana.

Our first ajnnaana is to label ourself as a functioning stuff and the other is, it gives happiness and is useful. Vedanta suggests you to study both the aspects and come to a clear conclusion. You will see that happiness lies in non doing. Non doing is a part of my Self. Karma is a burdensome phase. So to drop this act, you have to develop udaasena bhaava. This is vichaara as per Vedanta. That is the best way for vaasnaakshaya.

नाहं ब्रह्मेति संकल्पात् सुदृढात् बध्यते मनः,

सर्वं ब्रह्मेति संकल्पात् सुदृढात् मुच्यते मनः.

(Sl.3-9-56)

nāhaṁ brahmēti saṁkalpāt sudr̥ḍhāt badhyatē manaḥ,

sarvaaṁ brahmēti saṁkalpāt sudr̥ḍhāt mucyatē manaḥ.

nāhaṁ brahmēti saṁkalpāt - Now he explains it further. As long as you keep on saying that, I am body, I am mind, etc. then you are caught.

sudr̥ḍhāt badhyatē manaḥ - The mind is enslaved, imprisoned.

sarvaaṁ brahmēti saṁkalpāt sudr̥ḍhāt mucyatē manaḥ On the periphery all these ideas and sankalpaas can be created or destroyed. When they vanish it is Brahman. So,the non doing stuff inside me, is basically Brahman. What a beautiful explanation! When you decide that everything in you is Brahman, then you get liberated.

कॄशः अतिदुःखी बद्धः अहं हस्तपादादिमानहम्,

इति भावनारूपेण व्यवहारेण बद्धते.

(Sl.3-9-57)

kr̥̄śaḥ atiduḥkhī baddhaḥ ahaṁ hastapādādimānaham,

iti bhāvanārūpēṇa vyavahārēṇa baddhatē.

What are we doing all the time? Thinking that I am kr̥̄śaḥ atiduḥkhī baddhaḥ ahaṁ - I am thin, I am obese, I am losing my eyesight, etc. We live in our lives always complaining about one thing or the other.This narrow outlook and approach in our living binds us.

नाहं दुःखी न मे देहो बन्धः कस्यात्मने स्थितः,

इति भावनारूपेण व्यवहारेण मुच्यते.

nāhaṁ duḥkhī na mē dēhō bandhaḥ kasyātmanē sthitaḥ,

iti bhāvanārūpēṇa vyavahārēṇa mucyatē.

(Sl.3-9-58)

nāhaṁ duḥkhī - I have no reason to be miserable. I am fine even in my old age and with all the shortcomings and debilities, I need not suffer. I am always happy. This type of attitude and argument gets you peace. I am not the body. Where is the bondage for the ‘Soul’? If the ‘I’ thought goes, all other things disappear. I need not suffer means that I can drop my thinking ‘I’ also. A residue may remain, that is permitted. Apart from the participating ‘I’,if the minding ‘I’, the focusing ‘I’or watching ‘I’ is not there, even the residue gets dropped. If you do not encourage the thoughts the watching ‘I’ gets dropped. If watching I is not there the thoughts are also not there. So, one has to drop the thoughts. Vasishtha declares that there are three ways of touching or reaching the origin:

1. You go by the process of neti neti, I am not this, I am not this (a-kartrutva), not the body, not the mind, etc

2. Sarvam brahmeti sankalpaat – Conceptually look at everything as Brahman and hence the chitta looses separate identity and what remins is CIT.

3. Ultimately he says drop both sarva kartutwa, akartutwa. Akartr̥tvaṁ is, taking a stand that I am not the doer of all this. Sarva kartr̥taṁ - Everything is pure. Everything is His power.

Vasishta puts arguments for the three methods. Suddenly he suggests Rama to drop all these methods once for all and be steady in Self. (Y.V.4-5-14)

अथवा सर्व कर्तृत्वं अकर्तृत्वं च राघव,

सर्वं त्यक्त्वा मनः पीत्वा योसि सोसि स्थिरो भव.

athavā sarva kartr̥tvaṁ akartr̥tvaṁ ca rāghava,

sarvaṁ tyaktvā manaḥ pītvā yōsi sōsi sthirō bhava.

Why bother about sarva kartr̥tvaṁ or akartr̥tvaṁ? Drop both and swallow the mind, to be steadily established in the ‘Self’. So you can open the lock with any key you like. One shuld not insist for a particular method as superior. Coming to the sloka we were discussing.

iti bhāvanārūpēṇa vyavahārēṇa mucyatē – If you think on these lines you get freedom. Note that watching tendency is itself a division and you can nip it in the bud itself.

I wish to mention a small point here to show as to how originality can count.

Let us say one gets into a sort of dream and strange things happen. That is about creation and to show that how powerful a dream world is! There can be a matching between my dream and actual parts of the world. My dream can be exact replica of the world (Refer to the story of Gaadhi in upashama prakarana). On verification, whatever dream he had, Gaadhi) a counter part was there in the world. So, one should infer that the impressions were so strong that this was imposed on the chitta and gave a dream version here. This world may be the ethereal world equivalent impressing on the mind of king Gaadhi. This can be a matter of discussion. Unless we have proof, like yogi pratyaksha then only we can infer on such statements.

One cannot see the world with both open and closed eyes. If you can attain such a degree of vistaarata as aakaasha dhrama, then strange things happen. The world appears to one, in accordance with corresponding order of mind where co vibrations are possible! Even then, we cannot say that this is unreal.

We cannot say that the world is unreal. One can only say that this world appears to those who work on the same level of vibration. If your vibration is more gross, this world is mere andha-tamas (blind faith). If your vibration level is more subtle, then the world has no details for you. If the matching order is disturbed you may not see the world at all.

For example, there are many types of sounds here, supersonic subsonic etc. If the frequency of a particular sound is less than or more than the stipulated level human system cannot report it as sound. Whatever is the capability of the human ear, only those frequencies are heard. Similarly, pictures and objects are visible which are in the frequency range between ultraviolet and infra red. Our range is only between that. So objects and picture form only in this range. If the indriyaas were different we would not see the world at all in this way. If our eye had the capacity to see ultra violet and infra red regions this world does not appear to us in this pattern. Our report of the world would be entirely different. If we had X ray eyes, we would be only seeing skeletons and not the muscle portion of human beings. Despite this, there is a particular pattern with every object. Otherwise differences should not have been there between objects.

When we say that everything is Brahman, we should know that all are not in that state. Otherwise, I could imagine someone and he would appear in front of me! Why do I see some form in front of me and none elsewhere? We can only infer that everything is the modification of Brahman because of there is intrinsic difference between two pints in space. Ancient thinkers did not know this. Even today many say that it is an undifferentiated Brahman. If Brahman were to be undifferentiated then everything would have been identical. If the content of the beings were to be identical at all points, then they must be having the same distortion. But the fact is that they are different. That is why I see X and Y differently, not the other way.

So there is some order in the pattern of vibration that my eye catches. When the kaarya dharma is cancelled then we can infer that everything is Brahman. Some specialization has happened and it has to be undone. But at different points, different types of specialization have happened. That is the vaaasna visheshata. I do not think how you think. You may not think like what X, Y or Z thinks. My associations are different. Your associations are different. Before the thinking process begins, you and I are identical - Brahmamaatrata. But once thinking has started, I could have abc thoughts and you could have xyz thoughts. Prior to that there is identity_, jiva brahma ekatwa_ due to aaakaasha dharma. When there is fall or change in aakasha dharma, jiva brahma ekatwa disappears. There is a disturbance in resonance. As long as both are in aakasha dharma there is coincidence.

All these variations are brought about by praana which are nothing but vibrations. But, vibrations can be different when it comes to details. Are they not all vibrations? The answer is yes. But that does not rule out the difference. Their intensity may be different. The content of spandana can vary. As per the definition, if you call spandana as Brahman then the least spandana is Brahman as per our Calculus model. One cannot think of zero spandana. The softest version of spandana is Brahman.

Energy can be in a general form or in a specialised activity. Energy is in general form in sleep and energy has a special activity in wakefulness. Never the less energy has to exist. This model proposed is very easy for an Indian thinker. Whether there is God or not, if you take to the act of surrender, the whole saadhana path becomes so simple. But when it comes to creation, then problems arise and a saadhaka should not worry about tackling the universe and creation. That is how parampara puts it.

Shankara repeatedly stresses this point. Srustou aadharaha na kartavyaha. Paramaartha chinta eva aadraha kartavyaha. So the idea of maya can be easily understood since maya is nothing but energy. Everything inside is spandana, is energy. It is very well known that even electrons, nucleus, etc is energy only. This has been very well proved in science. A real impenetrable object can be had by a specialized type of spandana. Our ancient people did not know the matter and energy are interchangeable. For a scientist, this is not a surprise.