Deep Hindu Philosophy is based on the premise that there is only one absolute and ultimate truth – Brahman – Universal Consciousness and no other one. The universal consciousness along with Souls, the individual consciousness and Matter form an organic whole of the Universe. In the context of creation of the world, the doctrines of dualism and non-dualism are based on differentiation and non-differentiation of three eternals viz. Universal Consciousness (Brahman), Souls (Atman) and World (Jagat).
Based on physical perception, we decide that the various objects are indeed different. This kind of differentiation is “Duality or Dvaita”. Duality is the foundation of all the actions and worship. According to Dvaita, the world is real. God is the creator of the world. According to Advaita, all the different elements have their origin from same energy. Single energy or Universal consciousness is beyond the reach of the sense organs. Brahman is the one and only reality and everything else is a mere appearance, projection, formation or illusion. Modern science is approaching nearer and nearer to Advaita thought. The spiritual journey need to be from dualism to non-dualism. The start of the journey is change first in external behaviour i.e., behaving with others as we desire and then internally feeling no differentiation for living beings as entire world is appearance of universal consciousness or almighty. Pains gradually reduces as differentiation diminishes. So, non-dualism brings happiness and ultimately moksha. The interactions of the three are variously expounded in Hindu Scriptures & philosophies. Philosophers of Dualism–Non-Dualism Duality is the phenomenon of the world. Dualism or differentiation among Nirgun Brahman (universal consciousness, Ishwar), Atman (jiva, individual consciousness) and Jagat (material world) is variously postulated by Hindu philosophers as under –
Advaita on the other had says that action-free, attribute-less “Nirgun Brahman” alone appears to exist as the active attribute-full Ishvara and conducts the business of the world through Maya. According to Advaita, there is only one absolute and ultimate truth - Brahman. ब्रह्म सत्यं जगत् मिथ्या which means only Brahman is real and universe is unreal. Universe is appeared/realize due to ignorance (अज्ञान/अविद्या) only [Snake & Rope Analogy], it is unreal and just like dream. After attaining the jnana and satya universe/world doesn't exist. वो ब्रह्मैव नापरः which means ultimately there is no difference between Jiva (Ataman) and Brahman. The individuality of soul is also due to ignorance and after attaining jnana the non-duality (अद्वैत) of Ataman and Brahman is realized. Advaita emphasise/insist on self-realization/jnana (आत्मज्ञान) Shrimad Bhagavad Gita Shrimad Bhagavad Gita has expounded that Supreme Brahman has two concepts viz. Nirguna and Saguna. Nirguna Brahman is formless, without attributes or quality. Saguna Brahman, in contrast, was envisioned and developed as with form, attributes and quality. Vedas Vedas are dualistic in their impact. But the Vedas talk of non-dualism or Advaita at some places in the Samhitas and extensively in the concluding part, namely the Upanishads. It is concluded that Vedas first postulated Dvaita which is already known to us in our daily experience and later talk of Advaita which is not known to us but seek to establish. Just as the flower appears first and then it drops off leaving the fruit in position, first we have Dvaita and later leave it, and comes over to Advaita. Shiva Purana As per Shiva Purana, the manifest form of the formless Being is Shiva. Shiva then created the physical form Shakti from his body. This Shakti is called by various names - Pradhana, Prakriti, Maya, Para. Shakti is the mother of Buddhi Tattva (The cosmic Intelligence). Kapila’s Samkhya Darshan Maharishi Kapil propounded Samkhya Darshan wherein he postulated that Prakriti is root of material forms and is not produced. From Prakriti, Mahat (intellect) is produced which in turn produces ego. From ego manas (mind), five subtle elements or tanmatra, arises and they in turn produces five gross elements, five organs (instruments) of senses or perception and five organs of actions. Other than Prakriti is Jiva (Soul, Purusha). These are 23 elements. Kapil discovered that when the unconscious Prakriti comes in contact with the intelligent conscious Purusha, evolution of the universe begins. Purusha is pure consciousness absolute, eternal and subject to no change. Samkhya believes in dualism i.e. the creation is by Prakriti and Jiva. “The Purusha (Atma) is mere knowledge without any indulgence in activity. Prakriti is mere activity but without knowledge (Jnana) or life and animation, (Jiva Chaitanya). Such is the clear-cut differentiation, without explaining how it is possible for the Jada (inanimate matter) to transform itself into the other Tatvas. The only explanation offered is that the presence of the Purusha (Jiva Chaitanya) is responsible for such mutations of the Jada. Mandukya Upanishad Mandukya Upanishad has beautifully explained dualism and non-dualism by four aspects of Atman - Waking, Dreaming, Deep Sleep and Turiya. During waking state, we perceive differentiation between self and rest of the world. consciousness is turned outward to the external world and operates through its seven instruments (five gross elements, individuation & flow of energy) and nineteen channels (four antahkaran, five Vayu, five sense organs & five organs of action) it experiences the gross objects of the phenomenal world. During the dreaming state, consciousness is turned towards the inner world. It also operates through seven instruments and nineteen channels, which engage the subtle objects of the mental realm. During deep Sleep state, there is neither the desire for any gross or subtle object, nor any dream sequences. During Turiya, consciousness is neither turned outward nor inward; it is beyond both cognition and the absence of cognition. This is the real Self. Patanjali’s Yoga Darshan Patanjali’s Yoga Darshan’ eight limb is Samadhi which leads to Moksha (loosing dual state). Samadhi is the state, when the mind remains for long time as non-attached, afflictions decay which lead to moksha. Samadhi has four stages viz. Savitarka (mind still active), Nirvitarka, Savichar and Nirvichar. On attaining excellence in Nirvichar Samadhi, one becomes pure and witness Brahman. In all these samadhis, because of the connection with the prakriti—the seed from which everything originates remains i.e. dualism remains. In Nirvichar samadhi you have a separate experience wherein the mind loses all its limitation and it is filled with a new light and all past impressions are completely wiped out. But when you come back, you realize that you were in a higher state so that impression is still there. When even that impression is lost, you are in Nirbija samadhi. Once you go into Nirbija samadhi, there is no coming back. In this seedless state of Nirbija samadhi. Prayers for universal well-being believing Non-Dualism -
In English - Om May all be happy, may all be free from illness, may all see what is auspicious, may no-one suffer. Means – if all will be happy, we shall be automatically happy. Om Peace, Peace, Peace.
In English - or those whose heart is big, the whole earth is family and for those whose heart is small, they think it is their own, it is alien.
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In the series of articles on Sanatan Dharma, another article on the value-based Vedic education system is posted herewith which envisions to make better citizens. The Vedic education system was prevalent in ancient Bharat which aimed at developing character, physical, ethical, intellectual and spiritual powers of the students. It dedicated the first stage of life for education. The acquisition of education and the holistic development of student followed the principles of simple living and living together with the teacher in Gurukuls. Unlike modern education bought at hefty fees and other expenses, Gurukul education system was based on teacher-disciple system without any fee; where rich and poor, royal and pauper studied together. Shree Rama in treta studied in the ashram of Rishi Vashistha with Nishadraj (King of Fishermen) who was from other backward caste and Shree Krishna educated in the ashram of Rishi Sandipani with Sudama who was born into a poor Brahmin family. Unfortunately, the modern system of education brought to India in the year 1835 by Lord Macauley was commercial in nature; developed competition among students rather than personality development, laid less stress on personality development & creation of moral conscience. It was aimed at making students job-oriented which gradually wiped-out various professional skills. Guru in Vedic Education: Guru is Gu and Ru; Gu is darkness and Ru is remover. Guru dispels darkness, sin, and ignorance. Once Guru purifies himself both externally and internally and assumes the body of the deity he worships and propitiates, the body of the Guru is the same as the deity; his disciple receives a bit of the effulgence from the grace of the Guru. Guru is Brahma, Vishnu and Siva all rolled into one. In Vedic education system, teacher disciple relationship was ideal. There are three levels at which learning takes place. There are subjective knowledge, objective knowledge and meta-knowledge. Subjective knowledge teaches one about self, it is useful as it promotes wellness and peace in an individual, makes them better leaders and affords them with better social organization skills. A few verses are mentioned as under: -
First stage of life dedicated for Education: In ancient India an ideal life was considered to pass through four stages, and Brahmacharya, the first stage of life is considered as the period of education. The rules and conduct of a Brahmachari are given in Manusmṛti, Chapter 2. The four stages in life are – first ashram i.e., Brahmacharya (upto 25 years), second ashram i.e. Grahastha (25-50 years), third ashram i.e., Vanaprastha (50-75), fourth ashram i.e., Sannyasa. A few verses are mentioned as under: -
Gurukul System of education: The basic principle of Vedic Sanatan Dharma transmission from one generation to the next is the gurukul education, the parampara (lineage) of Guru – disciple relationship. Gurukul is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms guru and kula (कुल). Gurukul refers to “centres of learning around great teachers (Guru)” and forms part of the ancient Indian education system, which aimed at both the inner and the outer dimension of a person. Gurukul system was a comprehensive and all-encompassing system of education viz. Mathematics, Science, Astronomy, Languages, Early Medicine etc. This system of Education aimed at overall personality development and character formation. The Vedic school of thought prescribes the gurukul (sacred rite of passage) to all individuals before the age of 8 at least by 12. From initiation until the age of 25 all individuals are prescribed to be students and to remain unmarried, a celibate. Students were divided into three categories:
The fee of the Guru or Acharya was called ‘Guru Dakshina’. Begging was an important part of the celibacy fast thus being compulsory for all to follow. This helped the Guru run the Kul. Also, subsidies from the kings and the government, along with generous donations from the people around helped the financial administration of the Gurukul. अभिषेचनोपवास ब्रह्मचर्यगुरुकुलवासवानप्रस्थ यज्ञदान प्रोक्षणदिङ्नक्षत्रमन्त्रकालनियमाश्चादृष्टाय ॥ ६.२.२ ॥ Meaning: Ablution, fast, brahmacharya, residence in the family of the preceptor, life of retirement in the forest, sacrifice, gift, oblation, directions, constellations, seasons, and religious observances conduce to invisible fruit. (Vaiseṣika sutra 6.2.2) Every Syllable of Sanskrit & Hindi language has science & meaning. The research shows distinctive advantages of Devanagari script in brain activity. Sanskrit too has this advantage as it is written in Devanagari script. The National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) scientists have discovered that reading Devnagari script involves more areas of human brain than roman scripts. All European languages like French, German Spanish etc use roman script. This means learning Sanskrit and Hindi are more advantageous for human brain. No wonder Indian students are excelling intellectually all over the world.
The scientists at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have acknowledged that Sanskrit is the most scientific language in which the words are written exactly in the manner they are spoken or thought of. If talking computers become a reality in the future, Sanskrit would be the most useful language for them. A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins. Syllables are often considered the phonological "building blocks" of words. They can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic metre and its stress patterns. Sanskrit alphabets contain 46 letters (13 vowels - अ, आ, इ, ई, उ, ऊ, ऋ, ऋ, लृ ए, ऐ, ओ, औ & 33 consonants - क्, ख, ग, घ, ङ् च्, छ, ज्, झ्, ञ् ट्, ठ, इ द्, ण् त्, थ्, द्, ध्, न् प्, फ्, ब, भ म् य् र् ल्, व् श्, ष्, स्, ह्) and Hindi Alphabets contain 52 letters (13 vowels - अ, आ, इ, ई, उ, ऊ, ए, ऐ, ओ, औ, ऋ अं अः, & 39 consonants - क, ख, ग, घ, ङ, च, छ, ज, झ, ञ, ट, ठ, ड, ढ, ण, त, थ, द, ध, न, प, फ, व, भ म श, ष, स, ह य’, ‘र’, ‘ल’ व क्ष, त्र, ज्ञ, श्र ड’ एवं ‘ढ)). The writing direction is Left-To-Right, Horizontal. Sanskrit was the classical literary language of the Indian Hindus and Panini (6th – 5th BCE) is considered the scholar who standardised the grammar of Sanskrit language and founded classical Sanskrit. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit. The earliest attested Sanskrit text is the Rigveda. from the mid- to late-second millennium BCE. The official Hindi alphabet has 46 letters divided into 11 vowels and 35 consonants. On the other hand, the traditional Hindi alphabet has 46 letters including 13 vowels and 33 consonants. Hindi uses more consonants than English does, and some of them have no direct equivalent in English.
Hindi Vowels & Consonants are governing scientifically in their pronunciation. Vocal cords and use of tongue are scientifically designed. Vowels –
Sanatan Dharma is the outcome of collective wisdom and research done over thousands of years by ancient rishis (scientists). The beauty of Sanatan Dharma is nectar of scientific process viz. observations, calculations, testing and resultant values.
Sanatan Dharma is based on the premise of well-being of entire humanity, peace and progress. This is the ideal situation, anyone can envisage. It counts not only human beings, but also animals, plants and entire universe. It, not only postulate the principles for living ones and but also after death. The dynamics of body, mind, self and universal self has been lucidly explained to achieve the liberation from cycle of re-birth and agonies of births. A few verses are been selected to explain the core of spirituality in Sanatan Dharma as under: - Spirituality:
Meaning: The rivers do not drink their own water; the trees do not eat their own tasty fruits; the clouds do not eat the crop themselves, Wealth of the virtuous ones (should be) for helping others.
Meaning: Nobility is the ornament of greatness; restraint over speech, of courage; Calmness, of knowledge; obedience, of learning; wise spending of wealth; Control of one’s anger, of penance; patience, of efficiency, straight-forwardness, of dharma; Good character is the base for all the above qualities and is the greatest ornament of all.
Meaning: Age, knowledge, fame and strength of a man increase who greets elders and a person who constantly serves the elderly.
Meaning: Ornament of hand is charity, ornament of neck is truth, ornament of ear is listening what is need of other ornaments.
Meaning: Truth is God. The goddess of wealth always takes refuge in truth. Truth is the root of everything. It is supreme and there is nothing above it.
Meaning: Skill is superior to material things; knowledge is superior to wealth; Health is superior to profits and contentment is the best form of happiness.
Meaning: Anger destroys love, pride destroys modesty, hypocrisy destroys friendship, while greed destroys everything.
Meaning: A preceptor is more than ten ordinary teachers, our father is superior to a hundred such preceptors, but our mother surpasses the glory of a thousand fathers.
Meaning: Meaning: There is no eye like knowledge, no penance like truth, no sorrow like attachment and there is no happiness like a sacrifice.
Meaning: Respectability comes from giving and not collecting. Clouds (attain) a higher position and the oceans, a lower one.
Meaning: Dharma arises from Truth. Through compassion and offerings, it grows. Through forbearance, it endures (remains in existence). Through anger and greed, it disappears.
Meaning: There is no penance like peace, no happiness like contentment, no disease like lust and there is no Dharma like kindness.
Meaning: Whole beings are born from food, food originates from rain, rain comes from sacrifice and yajna is to be produced by prescribed actions.
Meaning: Who has knowledge then He cannot have ego. one who has ego then He doesn't have the knowledge.
Meaning: The human-body is the chariot, the soul (intellect) is its charioteer, the senses are its horses. The person who holds them carefully, cleverly and wisely travels happily in the world like a superior Rathwan.
Meaning: There are ten characteristics of 'Dharma' - patience, forgiveness, self-control, non- stealing, purity, control of senses, intelligence, knowledge, truth, non-anger.
Meaning: A person who is not educated, who is not ready to work hard, who does not donate whatever he has, who does not have knowledge, who does not have a good character, good qualities and one who does not obey dharma, such a person on this earth is just a useless person, he is as good as any other animal.
Meaning: One who wishes to prosper in this world, should keep back the following six faults sleep (too much sleep or ignorance), lethargy, fear, anger, laziness and miserliness (stinginess or procrastinate i.e., one who is slow in acting, takes too long for decisions etc.).
Meaning: Calf recognizes its mother among the herd of thousands of cows; the same way, karma of previous birth (good and bad deeds) goes with the doer.
Meaning: The cows of different colours produce milk of one colour, in the same way, the principle taught by different religions is one.
Meaning: The old age snatches away the beauty, hope takes away the courage, death defeats the life, hatred will destroy one’s noble attitude (dharmic behaviour), anger will lead to poverty, being in the company of bad people and helping them will take away ones 'sheela-bhava', uncontrolled desire will take away the shyness and false pride will take away all the good things!
Meaning: Signs of good human being - Getting delighted and feeling friendly by seeing others joys, getting dejected by seeing others sorrows, feeling happiness and satisfied by seeing others good work ('punya karma') and feeling ignorant on the bad deeds of others.
Meaning: The whole purpose of worship (Like chanting 'mantras', performing 'puja' etc.) is for purifying the mind and not for attaining the spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge can only be attained by deep thinking and reading and would not be attained even if anyone chants millions of 'mantras'.
Meaning: Immortality and death both these reside in the body only. Death comes because of temptation; and immortality by the truth.
Time & its Component:
The shloka explains five components - Tithi, Var, Nakshatra, Yoga & Karan. This is Panchang. Moon travels around earth which is Tithi. Time between sunrise to the next sunrise is called a day, Half of the day is Karan. The difference of a constellation between the Sun and the Moon is yoga. Yoga is ending moment for the angular relationship between the Moon and Sun. One Yoga also equals 13 degrees and 20 minutes and there is 27 Yogas in 360 degrees. There is a total of 27 nakshatras and 27 yogas and 11 karans.
Dynamics of Life:
Dynamics of body-mind-breath:
Meaning: Body parts are purified by water. Mind is purified by truth. Soul is purified by learning and penance. While intelligence is purified by knowledge.
Meaning: The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and the soul is even higher than the intelligence. Liberation from rebirth:
Universal Being:
Soul (Jiva) means spiritual ego or “I” sense ensouled in a body. During material embodiment, it identifies itself with body-mind and is called Pseudo ego. Jiva is witness and endowed with consciousness & will - the powers to know, to act and to enjoy.
Due to actions (Karmas) done in past lives, Jiva is burdened and is in bondage with physical body. The bondage creates ignorance (Avidya) of its true nature of Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss). Rather, the Jiva identifies itself with the physical body and its constituents – mind, ego and Intellect which are products of Prakriti. When jiva is suppressed by ignorance, its Outward consciousness (Dharmabhuta-jnana) is contracted. When Jiva is liberated, he continues to maintain his individuality, his Dharmabhuta-Jnana expands and becomes merged in that of God. Destiney of Jivas: Nibarkacharya explained that Mumuksus or Jivas who strive for liberation and perform good deeds, they depart to higher destiny as under:
According to Madhvacharya, the Jivas who are receptive to spiritual values, and through repeated embodiments they evolve into better and better person, and finally through concentrated spiritual disciplines and God’s grace gain salvation. These Jivas are called as Mukti-yogyas. The requisite qualifications for attaining the liberation are described as under:
Liberation or Salvation of Jiva from Re-Birth: When all his evil tendencies must already have been erased before he attains this state of spiritual excellence, only virtuous actions in harmony with the divine dispensation will be performed by him. Through spiritual discipline, the person realizes that his being is only a Sarra (body) of God and therefore he is Sesa (servant), he does not entertain the pseudo or false ego, and so all his actions are burnt in the fire of knowledge. He has no craving for the fruits of actions nor has he a sense of agency, except as being instrument of the divine. In Advaitic conception of Mukti, the Jiva loses his individuality in Brahman, as river becoming one with ocean. In Dvaita system, the individuality of each Jiva as an individual differing from every other and having different grades of capacity for the attainment of bliss is retained in the state of Mukti also. According to Madhva, Salvation is not Jiva’s death, but enjoyment of intense bliss while still retaining individuality.
The system recognizes the four-fold distinctions in Moksha as under:
The Jiva attain them according their eligibility. But no Jiva can get cosmic powers of God like creation. It is said that Abode has three regions – Svetadvipa, Anantasena and Vaikuntha. After the Parabdha, there is destruction of the effects of Karma. It is followed by Utranti which means death of gross body, preparatory for the abandonment of the subtle body (Linga-sarira) which has been the subtle medium clothed in which the Jiva has been passing through the trans-migratory cycles. The Jiva passes through several subtle regions conducted by heavenly messengers and attains to the Brahma-loka where he remains with Brahma (Hiranya-garbha or the world soul) until the creative cycle ends and Brahma enters into the being of Vishnu, the Supreme Being. Along with him the released Jivas also enter that Supreme Abode known as Vaikuntha. Attaining to that blessed state the Jiva never returns to the spheres of transmigration. He enjoys its felicity through eternity. Having dropped the subtle bodies, the Jivas get bodies of Suddha-sattva. They can assume any form they like. Reference: Bhakti Schools of Vedanta – by Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. It is said: “All problems are illusions of the mind.” Thoughts, feelings, sensations, perceptions, emotions, desires, impulses, reasonings, motivations and intentions are generated out of mind. Intensity of emotional reactions or negative impulsive behaviour and its longevity can impair or ruin your career, long-term relationship especially with your loved ones like, spouse, children, parents, in-laws, very close friends, etc., business or profession or whatever.
Intensions, emotions, desires and impulses are deep rooted into past. Past connotes “embedded impressions” of past life i.e., actions done in previous birth or prior to present day in current life. The emotions of shame, guilt, sadness, and anger are related to past wounds that have not been more fully addressed. Some of us, driven by anxiety and fear, are preoccupied with the future, but the combination of our nature and nurture may make us vulnerable to envision our future constricted by our past. A focused mind, not wandering into the past and future, is a peaceful, contented mind. Some specific techniques can be applied to harness our thoughts?
Genesis of Tendencies & Impulses: William Shakespeare quoted in Twelfth Night: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” The fact is greatly debated by scientists and psychologists. It is discovered that partly genetic structure may be responsible for the tendencies. The fact was mentioned by the ancient Hindu scientists (rishis) in Vedas, the oldest literature of world. To quote the references,
Means: The soul after death, according to its actions and nature, becomes violent and calm; fearful and fearless; ignorant and enlightened; roaring and quiet; patient or impatient passionate and ascetic; disruptive and concentrative; prey to bewilderment.
Means: Mental tendencies, character, potentials etc. are formed by the virtuous and vicious karmas done in past. Overt Reasons:
Impact:
Remedies – as per psychologists:
समं कायशिरोग्रीवं धारयन्नचलं स्थिरः। संप्रेक्ष्य नासिकाग्रं स्वं दिशश्चानवलोकयन्।।6.13।। प्रशान्तात्मा विगतभीर्ब्रह्मचारिव्रते स्थितः। मनः संयम्य मच्चित्तो युक्त आसीत मत्परः।।6.14।। युञ्जन्नेवं सदाऽऽत्मानं योगी नियतमानसः। शान्तिं निर्वाणपरमां मत्संस्थामधिगच्छति।।6.15।। He should hold the body, head and neck straight and steady, remaining firm and fixing the gaze on the tip of his nose, without looking in other directions (13). He should be serene minded, firm in the pledge of complete chastity and fearless, keeping himself perfectly calm and with the mind held in restraint and fixed on Me (Brahman/Shree Krishna), the vigilant Yogi should sit absorbed in Me (Brahman/Shree Krishna) (14). Thus, constantly applying his mind to Me (Brahman/Shree Krishna), the Yogi of disciplined mind, attains everlasting peace and supreme Bliss (15). Remedies – Impulse Control Mechanism: Scientific Approach: Shri Shrikant M Ambike has very lucidly explained the impulse control mechanism (https://www.shrikantmambike.com/emotional-intelligence-the-impulse-control-wheel/) as under:
Here again, impulse control success will depend on how much you value your relationships with others. It has to take precedence over your overtly inflated egos, false sense of pride, arrogance, rudeness, conceitedness and being one up over the other attitude. Any relationship has to be a give and take.
Charles Darwin wrote: It’s not the strongest of the species nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change. How to be more adaptable while maintaining your impulses:
Satchitananda
Satchitananda (Sanskrit: सच्चिदानन्द), a compound word of Sat (Existence), Chit (Consciousness), and Ananda (Bliss), is a description of the subjective experience of Brahman. This sublimely blissful experience of the boundless, pure consciousness is a glimpse of ultimate reality. Sat, Chit and Ananda are not three distinct entities. They are not different from one another. They are coeval and coexistent with Atman. Just as water, Jal & Pani and light, heat and luminosity signify one and the same thing, so also Sat-Chit-Ananda signifies the one Atman. What is Sat, Chit and Ananda:
Where Satchitananda explained: In Vedas & Upanishads: Sat or Truth:
One of the most important verses of the Rig Veda (1.164.46) is: The Reality (Truth) is ONE: the wise call It by various names. Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti. Ananda or Bliss:
In “Yoga and the Spiritual Life” Sri Chinmoynanada has stated - “To be sure, the Kingdom of Heaven is more than just a mere plane, like other planes. It is a plane of divine Consciousness. It is a state of Realisation. It embodies Sat-Chit-Ananda. Sat is divine Existence, Chit is divine Consciousness, Ananda is divine Bliss. When we go deep within, we feel these three together, and when we acquire the inner vision to perceive them all at once, we live verily in the Kingdom of Heaven. Otherwise, Existence is at one place, Consciousness is somewhere else and Bliss is nowhere near the other two. When we see and feel Existence-Consciousness-Bliss on the self-same plane, each complementing and fulfilling the others, we can say that we live in the Kingdom of Heaven. Yes, the Kingdom of Heaven is within us. Not only can we feel it, but without the least possible doubt, we can become it.” In Sri Aurobindo's evolutionary vision of the soul and the Universe, of which sachidananda is the principal term, even though the soul is incarnate in maya and subject to space, matter and time, it maintains an ongoing and eternal oneness with Saccidananda or divinity. This incarnating aspect or dimension of the human being, the spirit-soul, or the 'psychic being' or chaitya purusha, is the staple essence that reincarnates from life to life. This essence is of the energetic quality of sachidananda. Aurobindo holds that there exists a supreme power, the 'Supermind', which is the first emanation from sachidananda and can be brought into play through the practice of yoga to yoke life, mind and matter with sublime states of consciousness, being, delight and power and thereby manifest more of our inherent divinity. Where Satchitananda resides: Consciousness is multi-layered in human beings, which has potential to move upward. These layers are called in Hindu philosophy (Taittiriya Upanishad) as Pancha Kosha - starting from lowest, annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijaynamaya and ananadamaya. It depends on the evolutionary stage of the person, he or she enjoys living in that particular level or realm. Satchitananda is highest plane.
The trained mind can influence the entire physical body system to function well and conserve energy. The trained mind increases concentration. The purified mind overcomes selfishness and ego, increases inner strength and brings inner peace. We can purify the Manomaya kosha through meditation, karma yoga (selfless service and charity work), bhakti yoga (prayer), knowledge (studying the scriptures), and Yama and Niyamas (the yogic moral ethics towards the society and self-discipline). The state of the manomay kosh is affected by both what we eat (annamaya kosha) and our energy level (pranamaya kosha) too. The person residing in this layer has thoughts and desires which identify with form and name, position and qualities. He is emotional in nature. This person lacks the cognitive abilities of reasoning and is void of any discrimination but may have keen appreciation for fine arts, music and dance and drama.
The person residing in Vigyanamaya Kosha is knowledgeable and wise. Loves literature, creative and are good orators. This fourth sheath is the wisdom that lies beneath the processing, thinking aspect of the mind. He knows, decides, judges, and discriminates between the information he processes and is innovative. Discovery, research and management are the areas where these people are involved in. Persons experiencing Anandamaya Kosha are stable in behaviour and firm in decision, are happy in every state of life and appreciate higher order of things and thinking like nature, prayers, meditation connection with God etc. They are self-realized persons.
In Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, Bhagwan Sri Krishna has explained the means to reach Satchitananda. Self-surrender (Smarpan) to almighty is only means to reach Satchitananda. He says:
Surrender literally means to stop fighting. Stop fighting with yourself. Stop fighting the universe and the natural flow of things. Stop resisting and pushing against reality. “I surrender” means total surrender. Surrendering of once attachment to its possession, post, pride and place; preferences-priorities; liking-disliking; pleasure-pain etc. Surrender is ultimate means to get success in apara prakriti (external or material world) as well as para prakriti (inner or spiritual life). In this material world, surrender before boss, surrender before mighty…….is mantra for getting the desired results.
The ultimate aim of all religions is “Surrender of ego”. The different religions have different rituals which are for spiritual upliftment and to reduce ego. Rituals symbolizes lower form of surrender – temporary surrender of possessions, time, actions etc. Higher form of surrender is attainment of spiritual upliftment by complete & permanent self-surrender (body, mind and ego). What is Surrender: The surrender does not mean leaving the rational decisions, inactions or laziness, not being emotional, not taking resolves from will power etc. It is rather perfecting the decision-making, to be intensely emotional, taking strong resolution and working hard. The process invites the purifying the mind, intellect, chit and ego. It will require to dropping the burdens of past sins, not taking selfish decisions, not doing selfish actions, to be fearless of outcomes, etc. Why Surrender: Total Surrender can be to any deity, Guru, Parents, work-in-hand, for personal enquiry or to Nirankar Brahman. In Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, Bhakti yoga, Karma yoga, Jnana yoga and Raja Yoga are the different paths to attain salvation. All the four paths mandate total surrender which can be to any personal deity or if Guru or parents attain that stature; or when work become worship without selfish motives; or making intense enquiry forgetting everything else; or in the Asamprajaatah (seedless) Samadhi wherein all desires, ignorance, afflictions, sufferings, impressions etc. retire. Saint Kabir said – “जब मैं था तब हरी नहीं, अब हरी है मैं नाही । सब अँधियारा मिट गया, दीपक देखा माही । “ Means: When I was immersed in my ego – I could not see the God – but when the guru illuminated the lamp of knowledge within me, all the darkness of ignorance disappeared – the light of knowledge kept the ego going and in the light of knowledge I found the God. Importance of Surrender in Hinduism: In Shree Bhagavad Gita, Bhagwan Shree Krishna said Arjuna,
Processes of surrender: In Hinduism, there are five methods for achieving the self-surrender which are mentioned as under:
Mind is the gatekeeper of inner subjective world which transact with outer world through sense organs. All the sensory perceptions or experiences are stored in mind. Faculties like thought, imagination, memory, will etc. are responsible for various mental phenomena, like perception, pain-pleasure, belief, desire, intention, and emotion. The transactional mind acts as a smokescreen that prevents us from seeing within ourselves. The pure awareness or consciousness is in fact separated from body-mind. If we compare electricity and electrical instrument, electricity is the pure awareness and mind is electrical instrument. But activities of mind create false ego. This false ego separates us from pure consciousness and bifurcates the inner being. One suffers intensely due to the burns from the bogus bifurcation in the inner being.
The sense organs of the body generate the mind. The sense organs send sensory perceptions in mind and create sensuality i.e., stimulation for desire to enjoy. Thoughts in mind analyse & classify sensations into pleasant and unpleasant and that is the beginning of sensuality. This generates cravings for the repetition of the pleasant and for riddance from unpleasant. So, the root cause of our sorrow and sufferings is the separation of sensations. Mind casts a shadow on the understanding of the eternal reality. Eternal reality can be discovered only when the consciousness is free from illusion. Human mind remains dormant due to the dominant activity of the separative “I”. chittavrithi separates from Chaitanya. Surrendering of “I” is bliss and silence. What duality: The mind dwells in duality or opposites – pleasure or pain, attachment or aversion, fear or fearlessness, cowardice or courage, anger or amicability, victory or defeat etc. The “Intelligence”, the Chaitanya is not corrupted by choices, by likes-dislikes, preference-aversion, justification-condemnation. In chapter 3 of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, Shree Krishna says, “the person in material consciousness is convinced by false ego that he is the doer of everything. He does not know that the mechanism of the body is produced by material nature, which works under the supervision of the Pure or Supreme consciousness.” Quantum physics says that in the subatomic universe of quarks, objects exist in the quantum state of non-separateness. The objects continue to be connected. This connectedness remains unaffected by distance and time! The connecting force does not move through space despite a mysterious movement par excellence. ‘Close’ and ‘far’ are the same in this quantum state where ‘time’ and ‘space’ lose the conventional meaning as they become inseparable! Quantum physics has thus hit the nature of division-less, time-less Divinity! Bhagavat Gita (vii 24-26) has also said: - Ground Human Awareness is absolutely free from division in time and space. Mind as cause of Duality: Mind has five constituents viz. evidence, beliefs, choices, inertness and memory. These constituents are responsible for suffering and non-suffering. Chief contents of mind are craving, fear, attachment, dependency and greed. Greedy persons are fearful.
End of Dualism: The refusal to be involved with attraction and aversion, is detachment (Vairagya). Detachment comes through having complete attention. This is the result of aloofness from sense objects i.e., sensory perceptions are not converted into sensuality by classification as pleasant or unpleasant. When the sense organs function in their natural state without inference of thoughts, then sensuality is totally wiped out and equanimity or even mindedness takes place. In the state of equanimity, the person does not feel opposites – pleasure or pain, attachment or aversion, fear or fearlessness, cowardice or courage, anger or amicability, victory or defeat etc. This leads to no-mind state. When the activities of the mind are dormant, the divinity reveals its dominance. One is released from the dualities of suffering and satisfaction, of the fences and freedom, of grief and gratification, even of the life and life-less-ness. Three-dimensional attitude to end duality:
Kriya Yoga to end duality: When we are caught in our unnatural state of the “I-ness” (Chittavrithi), we function in the dimension of opposites, constantly struggling to become something other than our being. We desperately seek ‘what should be’, refusing to see “what is”. Humility means emptiness without a trace of borrowed knowledge or the conditioned reflexes as experience. It is the complete abnegation of all self-centred thought and ideations. Thinking is wanting. When there is no want, there is no thought and thus just silence. Seeing all these outward things without condemnation or appreciation, you can ride on the tide of inner awareness in whole-ness generating intense inward silence. Comparison breeds animosity and subtle hatred, conflict, inner outer, is the ground for violence. The enquiry and exploration into this “I-ness”, the “me-ness” the “ego-ness”, - that is called Swadhyaya! That is the beginning of kriya yoga. Lessening the activity of the “I” is emergence of Intelligence. Kriya practices, Tapas is very subtle, but very effective. In due course, when the Tapas works Understanding happens. Its main purpose is to release the body from the stranglehold of the mind. Kriya practices is meant to work through the body on the mind silencing its activities. They transform the Gunas. They are a great cleansing process that helps to make the body available to the chance of penetration of Intelligence. Kriya practice helps to maintain this fine balancing act between thought and no-thought. Kriya yoga is the science of inner being. Kriya yoga is a journey towards no-mind. Kriya yoga blasts the duality in the life developed by the ego centre. It liberates the yogi from the possessiveness, accumulative and acquisitive urges. Possessiveness is not only of materialism but also of guru, an ideal, human being etc. But kriya yoga needs deep understanding, tremendous courage and Himalayan patience. Kriya makes person empty drum that gives the right tone, not the packed drum of borrowed ideas which makes a dreadful noise. Do not renounce the world, but just renounce the ‘me’! But it is most difficult to be simple! Dissolution of separative consciousness in the unitary awareness is kriya. Kriya yoga is stepping out of the world of time and mind and beginning to live the state of timelessness and eternity. Kriya yoga requires abandoning rituals, psychological registrations, pride, envy, comparison, come to emptiness, to existence, to eternal joy. Kriya yoga is not lure for more. No more running or rat race for power, reputation, delusion, experience, attachment, possessions, ego-gratification and stupid pleasure movement. By practising Kriya yoga, mind exists like honey, not like water. Honey, if disturbed, quickly returns to immobility; whereas water goes into turmoil by disturbance. Kriya yogi does not resist thoughts, but just remain disinterested in perpetuation of thoughts. In natural state, everything appears and disappears in rhythm. In kriya yoga all desires come to end, even desirelessness ceases to be an object for desire. Kriyas are not physical fitness program, rather it is simple practices to release the body from the stranglehold of the mental pollutions and to generate an energy of equanimity. If kriyas are done with patience and understanding without getting into the activity of the “I”, the blasting is not far off. Death of “I” that Kriya brings about, is immortality. Time is the enemy in the inner dimension of consciousness which prevents fusion of thinker and thought. Gunas are the natural traits and tendencies of the human mind. They are present at birth and later modified marginally. Kriya process which consists of knowing the activities of “I”, allowing the body to function naturally and blasting into the state of equanimity transforms the gunas. Spiritual experiences are just conditioned reflexes from the belief – systems, knowledge, ideas, imaginations borrowed from dream-merchants of the spiritual market. All the subtle feelings in the spine, buzzing or tickling of energy at the chakras, sounds and other phenomena must be choicelessly ignored for the blissful revelation of the innocence, intelligence, Chaitanya-Nath! Freedom is the natural state in meditation wherein the contents of the consciousness such as tradition, anxiety, name, position, and attachment, and voluntarily. Freedom lies beyond the field of separative consciousness which comprises fragmentations only. Discipline comes from constant watching of ‘what is’ which is the false inner division. All disorders emanate from the endless pursuit of ‘what should be’. Coercive discipline is fake order and thus it is still disorder. In Kriya Yoga, WATCH is the key –
Bhakti to end duality: Vibhakta means divided. Bhakta means not divided or whole or not fragmented. Bhakti is the virtue of Samarpan (surrender) and Samajh (understanding) and Saha-anubhuti (sharing the divine perception). Reference: Kriya Yoga by Shibendu Lahiri |
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