TAT SAT

K.R. Paramahamsa

Table of Contents
Page No
1. Enquiry

11

2. Cosmos

13

3. Physical Matter
Sentient Beings
Insentient Objects

14
14
16

4. Non-physical Categories
General
Prakrti
Reason
Ego
Mind
Sense Organs
Organs of Action
Subtle Elements
Gross Elements

17
17
18
20
21
23
31
32
33
34

5. Cognition
Introduction
Perception
Inference
Comparison
Postulation
Non-cognition
Word or Language
General

35
35
36
38
39
40
41
42
43

6. Metaphysics of the Cosmos

44

7. Metaphysics of Human Beings

General
Self
Soul
Subtle Body
Sheaths

45
45
46
49
53
55

8. Reality

57

9. Truth

58

10. Quest for Realization

60

11. Basic Thought of the Upanisads

63

12. Atman

65

13. The Brahman

66

14. Being - being

71

15. Becoming

75

16. Relative World

79

17. Consciousness
General
Witness Consciousness
Existential Consciousness &
Phenomenological Consciousness
Inner Controller
Infinite Consciousness

85
85
90
91
95
96

18. Realization - Bliss

100

19. The Path of Ethical Action

General
Ethics - Merit and Demerit
Samskaras
Rational Consciousness
Action Differentiated

104
104
108
112
113
114

20. The Path of Devotion

General
Attributes of Devotion
Stages of Devotion
Divine Incarnation
Faith

116
116
119
122
124
128

21. The Path of Yoga

General
Raja-yoga
Tantra-Kundalini
Aum
Other Types of Yoga

129
129
132
137
141
142

22. The Path of Discrimination and Knowledge

General
I, conscious Ego and the Brahman
Levels between the I and the Brahman

143
143
147
149

Cosmic Person, Personal God and the Brahman

Apperception - Time, Space and Akasa
Maya as a Measure
Unconscious
Darkness
Bondage
Liberation

151
153
159
162
165
168
170

23. Non-dualism

173

Appendix

175

Glossary

181

Prologue
Mahamahopadhyaya
Vedanta Siromani, Vedanta Visarada, Vidvan,
Dr.P.Sriramachndrudu,
MA. Ph.D (Skt), M.A. (English), M.A. (Hindi)
Recipient of Presidents Certificate of Honour,
Visvabharati Award and Sahitya Academy Award,
Professor of Sanskrit, Osmania University (Retd).

Om tat sad iti nirdes brahmanas tri-vidhah smrtah

(Bhagavad-Gita XVII-23)
The Brahman, the Supreme Being, is referred to by three words OM, TAT and
SAT. The Brahman is the ultimate reality. It is pure consciousness devoid of all
attributes (nirguna) and all categories of the intellect (nirvisesa). Being associated
with Its potency (maya), The Brahman appears as the qualified one, Saguna Brahman,
or the Lord (Isvara) who is the creator, preserver or destroyer of the world which is
nothing but His appearance. It is thus, because of maya, the Brahman is said to be the
creator of the world.
Maya is not pure illusion. It is not only absence of knowledge, but also
positive wrong knowledge and is, therefore, bhavarupa (of positive nature). It is
indescribable. It is neither existent nor non-existent, nor both. It is not existent for the
Brahman alone is the existent (sat). It is not non-existent for it is responsible for the
appearance of the world on the Brahman. It cannot be both existent and non-existent
as such a statement is self contradictory. It is thus neither real nor unreal; it is mithya;
but is not a non-entity like the horn of a hare. A rope is mistaken as a snake. The rope
is the ground on which the snake is super-imposed. When right knowledge arises, this
error vanishes. The relation between the rope and the snake is neither that of identity
nor of difference, nor of both. It is unique and known as non-difference (tadatmya).
Similarly, the Brahman is the ground on which the world appears through the power,
maya. When right knowledge dawns, the real nature of the so called jiva is realized,
and maya vanishes.
The Brahman alone is real. It is beyond the limits of space and time and is free
from all kinds of differences and changes. The ever-changing world is transitory and
unreal. It is unreal in the sense that it is not as real as the Brahman, but it has practical
reality. That is the reason why it is called mithya but not Asat (non-existent). It is not
an illusion. Things seen in a dream are quite true as long as the dream lasts; they are
unreal only when one is awake. Similarly the world is quite real as long as true
knowledge does not dawn. The dreams are the creation of the individual being and,
therefore, they are private. The world is public. It is the creation of Isvara. Therefore,
no one can escape from and avoid the worldly activity. Even the man of the highest
spiritual knowledge (jivanmukta) cannot but witness the worldly activities and
participate in them. He is like the cinema viewer of mature minds who, while
knowing full well that he is seeing the unreal, at the same time gets the experience

through his eyes and ears, of that which is presented before him on the screen by an
unseen operator. Therefore, it is wrong to get alarmed that the world is robbed of its
importance and significance by being reduced to the status of mithya (unreal).
Once it is established that Consciousness (the Brahman) is One, Allpervading, Supreme Being, Peerless and Eternal, there can be no second
consciousness called jiva, independent and different from the Brahman. Jiva is
nothing other than antahkarana which is translucent and is the purest (nirmala) of all
the non-sentient objects (achetana padarthas) being capable of reflecting and
radiating of cicchakti of the Brahman with which it is constantly connected and,
therefore, is never without chaitanya. There is no question of jiva moving from place
to place (one life to another). It is only the antahkarana with all its constant associates
like the subtle body, sense organs, etc which moves and migrates from place to place
(life to life) and from one world to the other. It receives the chaitanya from the allpervading Brahman wherever it goes. This point may be explained with the help of an
example, apart from the well known examples of ghatakasa (the sky delimited by
parts) and jala-surya (reflection of sun in water). Every living being requires prana
(related to inhaling of oxygen). But it does not carry it wherever it goes, but finds it at
every place it visits, lives on it and continues to be a prani. Similar is the case with
antahkarana which draws chicchakti from the All-pervading Consciousness, and
itself appears as chetana. The main difference is that the prana is not all-pervading
like the Brahman.
Jiva is not a particle emerging from the Brahman or a piece cut out of the
Brahman to be ultimately united with It, because the Brahman is all-pervading like
akasa with no form or parts. As the chaitanya part of the so called jiva is nothing but
the Brahman, it is declared Jivo Brahmaiva naparah. This is, in short, the philosophy
of Advaita taught in the Upanisads and expounded by Sri Sankaracharya.
In this scholarly work TAT SAT Sri K.R. Paramahamsa deals with the doctrine
of Advaita in detail. At the practical level, the advaitins accept, like any dvaitin, that
the world consists of actions, results and experiences as the vyavaharika satya
(reality). Therefore they accept their own pramanas, the means of correct cognition,
which are six in number being almost similar to those accepted by Bhattas, the
Principal Section of Mimamsakas. The jagat is created, sustained and withdrawn by
God whom they call Saguna-Brahman. There are punya and papa (merit and demerit),
different worlds like svarga and naraka which are peopled by different types of
beings. While the main sidhanta (philosophy) of Advaita (Non-dualism) can be
explained in one or two sentences, there are many theories regarding the creation of
the world, its nature, different types of karmas which give different results, various
upasanas which are the means to attain jnana leading to moksha. All these topics are
discussed in different chapters. The chapters 11-18 are devoted to explain the main
tenets of Advaita. The three yogas Karma-yoga, Bhakti-yoga and Raja-yoga which
are the means to get jnana are given due place in the discussion in chapters 19 - 21.
Each chapter shows the deep study and clear understanding of the subject on the part
of the author who must have been constantly engaged, for several years, in sravana,
manana and nididhyasana, the three requisites of sadhaka for approaching and
appreciating Advaita in which mere devotional emotion and emotional devotion
cannot make a dent.

This is a comprehensive treatise on Advaita. I am sure all those who make a

careful study of this work will be immensely benefited in understanding the otherwise
abstruse subject.
P.Sriramachandrudu.

10

1. Enquiry
Voltaire tells a story of The Good Brahmin who says, I wish I had never
been born because, I have been studying these forty years, and I find that it has
been so much time lost... I believe that I am composed of matter, but I have never
been able to satisfy myself what it is that produces thought. I am even ignorant
whether my understanding is a simple faculty like that of walking or digesting, I have
said to myself a thousand times that I should be happy if I were but as ignorant as my
old neighbor (who claims to be the happiest); and yet it is happiness which I do not
desire
The story relates the basic enquiry into what is ultimately true and real. What
is it that exists ultimately? What is the human being? How is he related to the society
in which he lives, the other species on earth and the cosmos? What is mans life?
What is its meaning and purpose? How is man to plan his life so that he can attain his
ideal? Is there any Reality? If life is part of Reality, how is he to know this Reality?
We speak of the evolution of Life in Matter, the evolution of Mind in living
form, etc. Life evolves out of material elements and Mind out of living form for the
reason that Life is already involved in Matter and Mind in Life. This is for the reason
that Matter is a form of veiled Life and Life a form of veiled consciousness. The
impulse towards Mind ranges from the more sensitive reactions of Life in the metal
and the plant up to its full organization in man. So in man there is the same ascending
series, the preparation for a higher and divine life.
The animal, it is said, is a living laboratory in which nature has worked out
man. Man himself may well be a thinking and living laboratory in whom and with
whose conscious cooperation nature wills to work out the superman to manifest God,
to disclose the soul as a divine being, to evolve a divine nature. If it is true that Spirit
is involved in Matter and apparent Nature is secret God, then the manifestation of the
divine in himself and the realization of God within and without are the highest and the
most legitimate ideal possible to man on earth.
The ideal of human life cannot simply be the animal repeated in a higher scale
of mentality. The animal is satisfied with a modicum of necessity. But man cannot
rest permanently until he reaches some highest good. He is the greatest of living
beings, as he is the most discontented and feels most the pressures of limitations. He
becomes, therefore, capable of being seized by the divine frenzy for the supreme
ideal.
The ascent to the divine life is then the human journey. This alone is the
justification of his existence, without which he would only be an insect crawling
among other ephemeral insects on a speck of surface mud and water, which has
managed to form itself amid the immensities of the physical universe.
The preoccupation of man in his awakened thoughts is the divination of
Godhead, the impulse towards perfection, the search after pure Truth and unmixed

11

Bliss, the sense of a secret Immortality. The urge is to know God, Light, Freedom and
Immortality.
This enquiry has engaged several seers for over two millenniums, through the
preceding millennium, mainly in India and recently around the world. The enquiry has
related to the spirit and the soul; it has been soul - searching. Several enquirers have
succeeded in finding answers in their own way. They continue to do so. They are
seers having realized the ultimate Truth and Reality.
The enquiry is anthropocentric as it is related to human species. It is mainly
because of the high level of consciousness endowed on the human being. The human
being himself consists of three main componentsphysical, non-physical and
metaphysical. The enquiry relates to his being-ness. It is, therefore, ontological and
metaphysical.
P.T. Raju classifies Being into two concepts - ontological and classificatory.
Classificatory Being is conceived when everything in the world is classified as an
individual being. But ontological Being is conceived in the form That is or That
exists. While Being is considered of the highest class under the concept of
classificatory being, I am is the highest form of the ontological Being. If one says
that is, the object, whatever it may be, may or may not exist. The is is regarded as
being implied grammatically, but not in actuality and truth. But in the I am, both the
noun and the verb coincide. They are identical. Ontological Being is the identity of
noun and verb, agent and action, being and becoming, assertion and its truth.

12

2. Cosmos
Our planet earth is in a sparse section of the Milky Way with only eight stars
that are ten light years from the sun. This galaxy has more than two hundred billion
stars. The universe is currently speculated to have hundred billion galaxies. This gives
us an idea how tiny is the earth in the universe. It is like a grain of sand at the edge of
a galactic shoreline of a vast sea in the universe.
The planet earth rotates round itself and rotates around the sun at exorbitant
speed. Similarly, the other planets of the sun in the solar system, which are very huge
compared to the earth, rotate round themselves and around the sun. All the heavenly
bodies in this galaxy and all the galaxies themselves follow suit. The earth and the
other planets have their own satellite bodies revolving around them.
The cosmos is always in vibration - motion. It is ever growing. Scientists
observe that the present cosmos had its beginning. It has been growing ever since. A
time comes when the growth stops and the cosmos starts contracting until it dissolves
into its Being. It is a cycle that repeats. Even when it contracts until its dissolution, it
is still growth, but in the negative direction. There is a perfect order in the manner of
evolution and the possible involution of the cosmos. What keeps the cosmos intact in
its functioning is stated to be the gravitational force. The space in between the
heavenly bodies in the cosmos is no vacuum. The entire space is a beehive of activity.
It is a potential source of energy quanta and matter particles.
Everything in the cosmos emits energy in every direction. This energy mixes
with all other energies, similarly arising form everything else. These energies
crisscross in patterns of complexity beyond the ability of the most powerful
computers to analyze. The crisscrossing, intermingling, intertwining energies racing
between everything that is considered physical is what holds the physicality together.
As such, the cosmos is a unified organic whole which holds together, ever changing
and in motion. What we know at the moment is only a fraction of what it is.
In late 1998, a team of astronomers and physicists made a revelation of the
possibility of existence of another universe, about 13 billion light years away from
earth. Do one or more universes other than the one of which our planet is part exist? If
it does, an interesting possibility is that the astronomers and the physicists will have
an opportunity to study how that universe(s) was developing and evolving 13 billion
years ago. What our scientists will see today is what was then happening. It will be
very exciting and gives a tremendous insight into the evolution of the universe (s).
Some other scientists advance theories as to the possibility of existence of parallel
universes.

13

3. Physical Matter
Sentient Beings
The genesis of human species on earth like every other object of creation is a
great wonder, may be a mystery. The human specieshomo-sapiens has 23 pairs of
chromosomes in each of its somatic cells. In the somatic cells, multiplication takes
place. It is the duplication of each chromosome pair. The reproduction of the species
depends on the exact number of chromosomes in each zygote.
One ovum is ovulated ordinarily either from the right or left ovary sometime
in mid menstrual period of a woman, while millions of sperm are present in the semen
of one ejaculation of a man. When they mate, all these sperms run a race in the female
genital tract and try to reach the ovum. Only one sperm out of millions enters into the
ovum. Immediately thereafter, a wall is formed around the freshly fertilized ovum,
impenetrable to any other sperm. The race terminates. The gene is formed.
Supposing another sperm enters the ovum, the chromosome number changes
in the zygote. There cannot be a homo-sapiens offspring. In such an eventuality, it
may be a different species. It does not happen.
The fetus inside the mothers womb collects sufficient quantity of iron from
the mothers blood and stores in the fetal lever and spleen. This is done to manage the
first few months of the post-natal life of the newborn, when mothers milk deficient in
iron is its sole food. On the birth of the child, milk is produced in the mothers
mammary glands. Under the influence of the pituitary, the ovarian and the thyroid
hormones, the ducts and the alveoli of the mammary glands develop, depositing fat in
the bosoms. The anterior pituitary hormone prolactin is secreted resulting in
availability of milk to the newborn child. This does not arise prior to the birth of the
child, nor does it arise for any woman with no newborn child.
Let us see the empirical human being. Its physical component is the body.
This is a physiological wonder. It consists of over hundred thousand billion cells,
arising and decomposing continuously. One cell becomes two, four and more. The
multi cellular embryo differentiates into ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm.
Different organs are formed. Specialized tissues are differentiated from the organs.
The brain, the spinal card, the peripheral nerves, the skin, etc. are formed from the
ectoderm. The lever, the kidneys, the eyes, the ears etc. are wonderful special organs
made of fine-tuned macro and micro constituents. All are sourced from the zygote.
The physiology of each system of the body is too wonderful to contemplate.
Billions of human beings are born, grow and die, with no identical resemblance
between any two of them.
Besides the homo-sapiens, there have been several million species of macro
and microstructures of living organisms. They range from various bacteria, amoeba,
plants, animals, etc. Several of them have remained for some time and perished,
giving place to new variations. The sub-cellular constituents, the cells, the tissues, the
organs etc. of these organisms have been fine-tuned to meet specific needs. All the

14

biological components constitute an integrated whole in each, and function with

perfect coordination. All the biological bodies are extremely complex in their
structure. They become sentient because of an element of consciousness introduced
therein. Its induction into the body structure is unrelated to its physicality, but to what
may be called the Divine. All the beings are ever in vibration (motion) and change.
The sentient beings are on the planet Earth as we know of now. They are
scattered on the land, in the water and the atmosphere enveloping it. The sentient
beings occupy a fraction of the surface of the planet. The other surface is covered with
insentient matter such as solids, liquids and gases.

15

Insentient Objects
At the micro level of the matter on earth and in the cosmos, the mystery is no
different. Let us look at a small stone. It is filled with millions of atoms, protons,
neutrons and sub-atomic particles. These particles move about continually, in a
pattern, each particle going from here to there and taking time to do so. Everything
that comprises the stone is moving at an incredible speed in time and space in a
pattern, which is perfect. In between the atoms and the sub-atomic particles, there is
space which accounts for about 98 percent of the volume of the stone itself. This
space is again filled with energy and such quanta particles as are not discernable.
Together, the entire matter called stone is an organic whole.
The very movement of the heavenly bodies in the cosmos, and the very
movement of the atomic and sub-atomic particles in a tiny stone at incredible speed
are what they keep the cosmos on one hand and the stone on the other, in perfect
equilibrium creating their stillness. They remain unmoved, and still movers
themselves. For the same reason, the earth, though rotates round itself and around the
sun at incredible speed, remains still for its inhabitants. Not only the planet as such,
has even the atmospheric zone around it remained still for us.
Who organizes this extraordinary creation? Who organizes this extraordinary
motion? To say that the Nature does act that way is only to admit our ignorance as to
the cause of the process.
Either the cosmos as a whole, or the tiny stone, ever in motion and yet stable
and unmoved is in the process of becoming. Becoming is the effect of the process in
which each is in. Becoming is empirical and apparent of what is termed the being of
the cosmos or of the stone. The becoming is ever changing and in motion; the being is
unmoved, stable and never changing.
What applies to the insentient matter applies to the sentient beings, too.
Sentient beings are only matter with life and consciousness. Matter associated with
life is sentient; matter without life is insentient.
As we understand, there is no life in ordinary matter such as a stone or any
other insentient object. Yet it is full of activity, being ever in motion. What makes it
active? It is a force or energy, may be Divine. This force is consciousness. It
permeates all sentient and insentient objects in the cosmos. This is the common string
(strand) that binds the micro particles and organisms to the All and makes IT an
organic whole.

16

4. Non-physical Categories
General
Besides being physical, a human being is non-physical, too. So is the cosmos.
The non-physical categories apply to the human beings and other living
organisms as well as all the objects in the cosmos. The difference may be in terms of
degrees of applicability. As consciousness is all-pervading and permeating both the
sentient beings and insentient objects, the categories become applicable to all, though
in varying degrees.
Different seers consider the non-physical categories differently. The Sankhya
philosophy gives 25 categories in the nature of ontological entities. They are Purusa
and Prakrti, Reason, Ego, Mind, five Sense Organs, five Organs of Action, five
Subtle Elements and five Gross Elements. Sri Ramakrishna sees in his vision 24
cosmic principles created by the Divine Mother. The categories of the Sankhya
philosophy and those stated by Sri Ramakrishna are the same except that Sri
Ramakrishna does not include Purusa in the list. Sri Ramakrishna considers that these
categories relate to Prakrti or Nature and are different from Purusa or Supreme
Consciousness.
An analysis of the categories may be significant to understand the Reality.

17

Prakrti
Prakrti (Un-manifest) is the world of change in its un-manifest state. For this
reason it is called the Un-manifest (Avyakta). It is also called the Primary (Pradhana)
as it is the source, the origin of everything therein.
Prakrti has three attributes sattva (serenity, tendency to manifestation), rajas
(activity) and tamas (inertia, obstruction to manifestation). Everything in the world is
the product of these three attributes.
Prakrti is considered to be in a state of dormancy when its three attributes are
in perfect equilibrium. This is said to be the original state of prakrti when there is no
world of forms and names - objects. The Sankhya philosophy states that when the
reflection of the Supreme Being (Purusa) is thrown in prakrti, the latter is disturbed.
This disturbance upsets the original equilibrium of the three attributes. As a result,
any one attribute dominates the other two. Evolution ensues into the world of forms.
Ontologically, the attributes constituting prakrti are ever active. But the
stability of prakrti like any other object or any society means that the forces inherent
in it are in a state of equilibrium, none becoming dominant over the others, all being
equally active and the activities of each force being harmonious with the activities of
the others. Stability, then, does not mean inactivity, or lethargy, but harmony in
activity. What is essentially and by nature force cannot but be active. What we call its
in-activity may really be its pulsations of activity under the same conditions and in the
same circumstances and pattern. In such an event, the change is not observable,
though it always exists.
This is in consonance with what is called the Super-string theory, stated to be
still in the process of development in the last three decades. As a violin string vibrates
at many different frequencies called harmonics, and the different harmonics
correspond to different musical sounds, it is postulated that the fundamental particles
making up the fundamental forces such as the electrons, the gravitons, the photons,
the neutrinos, etc cause vibrations in the universe in a perfect rhythmic harmony
creating the seen objects of form called the cosmos. This postulation is subject to
detailed study and empirical proof. It, however, corresponds to the normal physical
process of materialization of objects arising from radiation through vibration.
Prakrti cannot be an object of perception. It is too subtle to be so. It can only
be inferred from its effects. The inner sense, the outer senses and all the objects are its
effects.
The Supreme Being (Purusa) carries in IT all of prakrti, sometimes keeping
its forces latent and other times patent, and identifying IT with its manifestations.
For the Supreme Being to throw reflection into prakrti, Its consciousness must
have a direction towards prakrti into which Its reflection is to be thrown. The
Supreme Being is, therefore, to hold prakrti as Its innate part. This is best explained in
Svetasvatara Upanisad that prakrti is an ingredient of the Supreme I-am. This
directionality or intentionality has its orientations within Existence itself, in which a
split is introduced. We may not know why it has been introduced, but it is a matter of

18

experience of its being. This experience cannot be explained without assuming

transcendental implications pointing to the ultimate unity of Existence or Being.
From the point of view of ontology, Prakrti may be the process of the energy
emanating from the Being, forming into objects all around. The split in the Being may
be due to Becoming issuing out of Being, which the transcendental I-AM is. There is
no becoming without being. The activity of becoming has to occur in a field, subconsciously stable in order to be recognized as the activity of becoming. There can be
no becoming without a force behind. This force is to be operative in the being Itself.
There can be no other source for it.
If prakrti is a dynamic force with the three attributes active, then the Being is
also active. If the two are ultimately to be one, then the dynamism of prakrti is to be a
derivation from the dynamism of the Being and prakrti must belong to the Being.
There seems to be some primordial intention, inherent potentially in the Supreme
Being, to set prakrti in motion. That potentiality is the potentiality of Becoming.
Prakrti is truly the inherent nature of the Supreme Being with the drive to
become the world and also to return to the Supreme Being. The forward movement
manifesting in the world and the return movement in dissolution are the two
directions of Becoming. The two forms of the activity of prakrti called evolution and
involution are really the two forms of becoming founded in Being.

19

Reason
Reason (buddhi, mahat, vijnana, sattva) is the first evolute of Prakrti. Its
function is to make decisions both cognitively and ethically, both in cognition and in
action. It is cosmic and covers the whole world (universe). The world comes into
being out of a cosmic assertion or decision That is. This cosmic decision is related
to the Cosmic Person. While it is cosmic for the world, it is separate for each
individual. In relation to the individual, it may be either the transparent or the static.
In relation to the transparent character, it exhibits the qualities of knowledge, ethical
detachment, etc. In relation to the static character, it exhibits the opposite qualities.
Thus reason may be considered to relate to the Cosmic Person in Its highest
character, while it may be related to the individual beings in varying degrees between
the highest and the lowest qualities.

20

Ego
Ego is the sense of the I in experiences such as I know X, This is mine.
Its function is to appropriate all experiences to itself. Otherwise, the experiences
become impersonal. This is to say that all objective experiences fall within personal
experiences and cognitions. Otherwise, there will be no door open even from initial or
tentative subjectivism to reach the objective world.
The ego is of three kinds, depending on which of the three attributes is
dominant the transparent ego, the active ego and the static ego. In fact, the three are
aspects or phases of the same ego. All the other non-physical categories such as the
mind, the five senses, the five organs of action, the five subtle elements and the five
gross elements, all of which constitute the world of experience, issue out of the ego. It
comprehends and covers the entire world. It is not merely related to any one point of
reference.
There is no experience that is not the experience of the ego. Neither the mind
nor the senses work in the absence of the ego such as I see, I do, etc. They work
only in unison with the ego. If the ego is not present, the mind does not think, nor do
the senses perceive. Yet the ego is a product of prakrti or nature.
The ego is the thought I. Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the I
thought Is the first. Other thoughts arise later. Holding a form, it comes into being. It
stays on as the form is held. It breeds on it and grows strong. It changes form as
suddenly as it assumes form.
All suffering revolves around egotism. Egotism is the sole cause of mental
distress. Spreading the net of worldly objects of pleasure, it is the egotism that traps
the living beings. Egotism is but an idea based on a false association of the self with
the physical elements.
Indeed all the terrible calamities in this world are born of egotism. Egotism
eclipses self-control, destroys virtue and dissipates equanimity. When one is under the
influence of egotism, one is unhappy. Free from egotism, one is ever happy.
When the self of one, self-forgetfully, identifies itself with the objects seen
and experienced and thus becomes impure, there arises craving based on ego-sense.
This craving intensifies delusion. All sufferings and calamities in the world are the
result of craving. Ego-sense is the source of all sins. One is to cut at the very root of
this ego-sense with the sword of wisdom. When the whole universe is realized as
illusory, craving loses its meaning.
Craving ascends to the skies and suddenly dives into the nether world. It is
ever restless, for it is based on the emptiness of the mind. He alone is happy who is
free from egotism. Only he is a hero who is able to cross the ocean known as the mind
and the senses.
The delusion known as the ego-sense is like the blueness of the sky.
Of the mind and the ego-sense, if one ceases, the other ceases to be.

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If one focuses ones thought on ego-sense, it takes to flight. One is, therefore,
able to transcend the phenomenal existence of the ego when one dives deep into the
source from where the I thought arises. Everything rises with the rise of the ego.
Everything subsides when the ego subsides. To destroy the ego through self-enquiry
is renunciation.
Renunciation of everything puts an end to all sorrow. By renunciation,
everything is gained. Renunciation of the ego-sense leads to realization of the
Absolute. There is total renunciation when the mind (chitta) with the ego-sense is
abandoned. When one abandons the mind, one is no more afflicted by fear of old age,
death and such other events in life. That alone is supreme bliss. All else is terrible
sorrow.
Egotism is quietened by constant practice - abhyasa. Abhyasa is thinking of
That alone, speaking of That, conversing of That with one another and utter
dedication to That alone. When ones intellect is filled with beauty and bliss, when
ones vision is broad, and when passion for sensual enjoyment is absent in one, then
that is abhyasa or practice. When one is firmly established in the conviction that this
universe has never been created and, therefore, it does not exist as such, and when
thoughts like this is the world, I am pleased, etc do not arise at all in one, and then
that is abhyasa or practice. In such state, one is beyond attraction and repulsion and,
as such, egotism. One will have attained true wisdom. This is the practice of the yoga
of true wisdom by means of which one acquires the faculty of instantly materializing
ones thoughts. By such practice, one acquires full knowledge of the past, the present
and the future, too.
In other words, what covers the embodied soul is egotism. This egotism covers
everything like a veil. All troubles come to an end when the ego dies. Then, though
living in the body, one is liberated. This maya, that is, the ego, is like a cloud. The sun
cannot be seen on account of a thin patch of cloud. When the cloud disappears, one
sees the sun. If, by the grace of the guru, ones ego vanishes, then one is liberated.

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Mind
Mind (manas) is part of the Inner Instrument (antahkarana) to unite all the
sensations and present them to the I consciousness (atman). Mind is to convey pains
and pleasures to it.
Generally, it is said that the mind experiences pains and pleasures. In fact, it is
the individual I consciousness that experiences the pains and pleasures, the colors
and smells, etc. The mind performs the function of receiving the impressions of the
different senses and uniting them into phenomenal objects, and presents them as the
sense for which pleasures and pains are objects, to the I consciousness.
The objects of unified impressions and also of pleasures and pains are
conveyed to the individual I consciousness for enjoyment and suffering, and also for
appropriation as its own. This is the process responsible for the experience of mine,
as distinguished from thine and the neutral. Thus appears the ego or the ego sense.
The experience of seeing some things only at some times, remembering some
things at some times, remembering such experiences as we want to remember, and
forgetting some others even if we want to remember them relate to the functioning of
the mind. This experience is due to a mediating link between the all-conscious I
consciousness and the experience. This link fails in forgetfulness to connect the I
consciousness to the object of that experience.
If there is not such an intervening mediating link between the I
consciousness and the experience, one must remember all things all times. The
memories will be flooding, with no new perception and organization of experience to
be possible or effective.
Similarly, one experiences pains and pleasures only some specific times, not
always. These pains and pleasures are due to the experience of different objects. This
is possible only when there is something directing or pulling the I consciousness
towards such experiences at those times. It funnels and focuses the outwards-directed
consciousness as the inner instrument. It is what causes memory or forgetfulness,
different forms of sleep, pointed-ness, intentionality or directedness, and through it, to
the I consciousness.
Mind is a stream of thoughts passing over consciousness. It causes all thoughts
to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind. Thought, therefore, is
the very nature of mind.
Everything in the world is dependent upon the mind, upon ones mental
attitude. On examination, the mind itself appears to be unreal. But we are bewitched
by it. With mind controlling our activity, we seem to be running after mirage.
The mind flits in all directions all the time and is unable to find happiness
anywhere. Like the lion in a cage, the mind is ever restless, having lost its freedom. It
is never happy with its present state.
The mind alone is the cause of all objects in the world. The world exists
because of the mind-stuff. The mind vainly seeks to find happiness in the objects of

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this world. When the mind is transcended, the world vanishes, dissolves into its
source.
Creation of the mind is but agitation in Infinite Consciousness. And the world
exists in the mind. It seems to exist because of imperfect vision, imperfect
understanding.
When the mind entertains notions of objects, there is agitation or movement in
the mind. When there are no objects or ideas, then there is no movement of thought in
the mind. When there is movement, then the world appears to be. When one does not
see the truth, there are the feelings of I am, this is mine, etc. When there is no
movement in the mind, there is cessation of world-appearance.
On account of the agitation in mind, consciousness appears to become the
object of knowledge. Then there arise in the mind all sorts of false notions. Such
knowledge is not different from the mind. Hence it is known as ignorance or delusion.
Ignorance arises when craving envelops the mind-stuff. This craving dries up
the good and noble qualities of the mind and heart. It makes one hard and cruel. It is
this craving that is responsible for bondage and misfortune. It breaks the heart of man
and creates delusion in him. Caught in its whirlpool, man is unable to enjoy the
pleasures that are within his reach. Though it appears that the craving is for happiness,
it leads neither to happiness nor to fruitfulness in this life.
External objects like space, etc, psychological factors like I, etc exist only in
mind. In reality, neither the objective universe, nor the perceiving self, nor perception
as such, nor void, nor inertness exists; only One is. IT is cosmic Infinite
Consciousness (cit). It is the mind that conjures up the diversity, the diverse actions
and experiences, the notion of bondage and the desire for liberation.
One beholds with physical eyes only such objects as have been created by one
in ones own mind, and nothing else. Whatever appears in ones consciousness seems
to come into being, gets established and bears fruit. Such is the power of the mind. A
person is made of whatever is firmly established as the truth of his being in his own
mind, and he is nothing else.
Mind is the individualized consciousness with its own manifold potentialities,
even as spices have taste in them. That consciousness is the subtle or ethereal body.
When it becomes gross, it appears to be a physical or material body. That
individualized consciousness itself is known as the jiva or the individual soul when
the potentialities are in an extremely subtle state. When the jiva sheds its
individuality, it shines as the Supreme Being.
The mind is sentient because it is based on consciousness. When viewed as
something apart from consciousness, it is inert and deluded.
To control ones thought one is to assume a different perspective. One will
then have a different thought. This way one will have learnt to control ones thought.
In the creation of ones experience, controlled thought is everything. This controlled
thought is the constant prayer. Thought control is the highest form of Prayer.
Therefore, one is to think only of the Divine and the righteous. One is not to dwell in

24

negativity and darkness. Even in bleak moments, one is to see perfection, express
gratefulness and then imagine what manifestation of perfection one chooses next. This
process leads to tranquility and peace. In this awareness is found joy.
It is the mind that creates the body by mere thoughts, just as the potter makes a
pot out of clay. It creates new bodies and brings about the destruction of what exists,
and all this is by mere wish. Within mind exist the faculties of delusion or
hallucination, dreaming and irrational thought. It creates the appearance of the body
within itself. But in ignorance, one sees the physical body in gross physical vision as
different from and independent of the mind.
Every embodied being has a two-fold body. One is the mental body which is
restless, and which acts quickly and achieves results. The second is the physical body,
which does really nothing. When the mind confidently engages in self-effort, it is then
beyond the reach of sorrow. Whenever it strives, it surely finds the fruition of its
striving. On the other hand, the physical body is only physical matter. Yet the mind
deems it as its own. The mind experiences only what it contemplates. If the mind
turns towards the Truth, it abandons its identification with the body and attains the
supreme state. Hence one is to endeavor with the mind to make the mind take to the
pure path.
Mind and body do not act upon each other. Spinoza observes that the body
cannot determine the mind to think; nor can the mind determine the body to remain in
motion or at rest, or in any other state, for the decision of the mind and the desire and
determination of the body are one and the same thing. The inward mental process
corresponds at every stage with the external material process; the order and
connection of ideas is the same as the order and connection of things. According to
him, the thinking substance and the extended substance are one and the same thing,
comprehended now through this, now through that, attribute. Nothing can happen to
the body, which is not perceived by the mind and consciously or unconsciously felt.
Mind is only perception, and perception is movement in consciousness. The
expression of this movement is action, and fruition follows it. Whatever the mind
thinks of, the organs of action strive to materialize. As such, mind is action. However,
mind, intellect, egotism, etc are only concepts that are conceived to exist in the
Infinite Consciousness when the Infinite Consciousness, in a moment of forgetfulness,
views Itself as the object of perception.
If the mind is elsewhere, the taste of food being eaten is not really
experienced. If the mind is elsewhere one does not see what is right in front of
oneself. The senses are born of the mind, but not the other way. The body and the
mind are non-different, being mind alone.
What is man but the mind? It is the ignorant self-limiting tendency of the mind
that views the Infinite as the finite. As the sun dispels mist, enquiry into the nature of
the Self dispels this ignorant self-limiting tendency. The mind seeks the Self in order
to dissolve itself in the Self. This indeed is the very nature of the mind. This is the
supreme goal.

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The mind is able to create different states of consciousness such as waking and
dreaming. It experiences what it itself constructs. It is no more than what has been put
together by thought. Towards whichever object the mind flows with intensity, in that
it sees the fulfillment of its craving.
Mind constantly swings like a pendulum between the reality and the
appearance, between consciousness and inertness. When the mind contemplates the
inert objects for a considerable time, it assumes the characteristics of such inertness.
When the same mind is devoted to enquiry and wisdom, it shakes off all conditioning
and returns to its original nature as pure consciousness.
In all the experiences of happiness and unhappiness, as also in all the
hallucinations and imaginations, it is the mind that does everything and experiences
everything. It is the performer of all actions.
The seed of this world-appearance is ignorance. Man acquires this ignorance
or mental conditioning effortlessly. It seems to promote pleasure though, in truth, it is
the source of grief. It creates a delusion of pleasure only by the veiling of selfknowledge. When one becomes aware of the unreality of this mental conditioning,
ones mind ceases to be. As long as there is no natural yearning for self-knowledge,
so long ignorance or mental conditioning throws up an endless stream of worldappearance. This ignorance perishes when it turns towards self-knowledge.
All the powers that are inherent in the Infinite Consciousness and by which the
world has been brought into being are found in the mind. The sages have, therefore,
declared that the Infinite Consciousness is omnipotent.
The fictitious moment of energy in consciousness is known as mind. The
expressions of the mind are thoughts and ideas. Consciousness minus
conceptualization is the eternal Brahman. Consciousness plus conceptualization is
thought. A small part of the consciousness in the heart is known as the finite
intelligence or individualized consciousness. This converts into the thinking faculty,
abetted by the ego-sense, with reception and rejection as its inherent tendencies. The
mind appears to be intelligent and active only because of the inner light of
consciousness.
The mind has no self, no body, no support and no form. Yet by this mind is
everything consumed in this world. This is indeed a great mystery.
Conditioning of the mind is the conviction of the reality of the body in one
who has abandoned the distinction between the body and the self. Conditioning is of
two kinds - the adorable and the sterile. Sterile or barren conditioning exists in the
minds of those who are ignorant of self-knowledge. The adorable conditioning is in
those who have self-knowledge.
The very nature of the mind is stupidity. When it is transcended or ceases to
be, purity and noble qualities arise. The existence of such purity in a liberated sage is
known as sattva. This state of the mind is called death of the mind where form
remains.

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The death of the mind where even the form vanishes pertains to the
disembodied sage. In the case of such a mind, no trace is left. In it there are neither
qualities nor their absence, neither virtues nor their absence, neither light nor
darkness, neither existence nor non-existence, neither conditioning nor notions, etc. It
is a state of supreme quiescence and equilibrium. This is the state of nirvana, the state
of supreme peace.
When the mind perceives duality, then there is both duality and its counterpart
unity. When the mind drops the perception of duality, there is neither duality nor
unity.
The mind is free of delusion when it becomes devoid of all attachment, when
the pairs of opposites do not sway it, when it is not attracted to objects and when it is
totally independent of all supports.
The seed for this world-appearance is the body-consciousness within, with its
notions and concepts of good and evil. That body has a seed, which is the mind that
moves constantly in the direction of hopes and desires. The world-appearance,
therefore, arises in the mind, as illustrated by the dream state. Whatever is seen here
as the world is but the expansion of the mind, even as pots are transformations of
clay!
The two seeds of the mind are the movement of prana (life-force) and
obstinate fancy. When there is movement of prana in the appropriate channels, there
is movement in consciousness, and mind arises. Again, it is the movement of prana
alone, which is seen as the world-appearance that is as real as the blueness of the sky.
The cessation of the movement of prana is the cessation of world-appearance, too. In
order to bring about quiescence of the mind, the yogi practises pranayama - restraint
of the movement of the life force, meditation, etc. Great ascetics consider that
pranayama itself is the most appropriate method for achievement of the tranquility of
the mind and peace.
There is another view that the mind is born of ones obstinate clinging to a
fancy or deluded imagination. When obstinately clinging to a fancy and, therefore,
abandoning thorough enquiry into the nature of Truth, one apprehends an object with
that fancy. Such apprehension is described as conditioning or limitation. When such
fancy is persistently and intensely indulged in, this world-appearance arises in
consciousness.
Of the two seeds of the mind that give rise to this world-illusion the
movement of prana and the clinging to fancy, if one is got rid of, the other also goes
away, for the two are interdependent.
The notion of an object, either knowledge or experience of it, is the seed for
both the movement of prana and for the clinging to a fancy. It is only when such
desire for experience arises that such movement of prana and mental conditioning
take place. When such desire for experience is abandoned, both these cease instantly.
The very best intelligent means by which the mind can be subdued is complete
freedom from desire, hope or expectation in regard to all objects at all times. Just as
there is no harvest without sowing, the mind is not subdued without persistent
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practice. The practice is of renunciation. No one can reach the state of total dispassion
without persistent practice.
One is to live in the present, with ones consciousness externalized
momentarily but without any effort. When the mind stops linking to the past and the
future, it becomes no-mind. If, from moment to moment, ones mind dwells on what
is, and drops it effortlessly at once, the mind becomes no-mind, full of purity. If
consciousness ceases to be the finite mind, one is to know for certain that cyclic
world-illusion no longer exists, and there is perfection.
Knowledge of the self, company of holy men, the abandonment of
conditioning and the restraint of prana are the means to overcome the mind. Selfknowledge is not within the reach of the senses. It arises when the senses are
transcended. Transcendence of the mind follows.
One acquires victory over mind with the aid of ones own self-effort when one
attains self-knowledge and abandons the craving for what the mind desires as
pleasure. By intense self-effort it is possible to gain victory over the mind. Then,
without the least effort, the individualized consciousness - the mind is absorbed in the
Infinite Consciousness. Only by self-effort and self-knowledge, one is to make ones
mind no-mind.
The pure mind is free from latent tendencies and, therefore, it attains selfknowledge. That mind is pure in which all cravings are in a state of quiescence.
Whatever such pure mind wishes materializes. As the entire universe is within the
mind, the notions of bondage and liberation are also within it. One should constantly
direct the mind towards liberation through self-effort. An uncontrolled mind is the
source of sorrow. But when renunciation arises out of the fullness of understanding,
of wisdom born of enquiry into the nature of the mind, the renunciation leads to
supreme bliss.
Where is mind? It is not an independent physiological component of the
human body. It is like butter in milk, spread all over. Every cell of the human body is
stated to contain mind of its own which, together for the system, is reflected as it
functions. The density of the cells in the brain is quite intense. It is, therefore, felt that
the activity of mind is more in the sphere of the brain. The process of thinking is
detected by observing the involuntary vibrations of the vocal cords that seem to
accompany all thinking. It is said that mind comes into contact with the body at the
pineal gland.
Mind is the highest force in man. Yet mind in man is an ignorant, clouded and
struggling power. But super-mind is free, master and expressive of divine glories.
Because man is a mental being, he naturally imagines that mind is the
indispensable agent in the universe. This is an error. Even for knowledge, mind is not
the only possible instrument or discoverer. Mind is a clumsy instrument between the
Natures subconscient action and the infallible superconscient action of the Godhead.
Neale Donald Walsch states that mind makes decisions and choices from one
of at least three interior levels - logic, intuition, emotion and sometimes from all the

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three. Within the level of emotion, there are five more levels. These five are the
natural emotions - grief, anger, envy, fear and love. Of these five levels, the levels of
love and fear are the final ones. The basic emotions are love and fear. The other three
are the out- growths of these two.
All thoughts are sponsored by love or fear. All thoughts, ideas, concepts,
understandings, decisions, choices and the resulting actions are based in one of these
two. Even fear, the bipolar opposite of love, is itself an outgrowth of love and is based
in it. In the end, the only emotion that is true and exists is love. In its highest form,
everything expresses love.
Grief is a natural emotion to express the sadness within, at the experience of
any kind of loss. When expressed naturally, one gets rid of it. If it is suppressed
without being expressed, it results in chronic depression, an unnatural emotion.
Anger is another natural emotion. When expressed naturally, one gets over it
and returns to ones usual self very quickly. It will result in ones dealings
appropriately with others, whenever one overcomes it. If suppressed, it results in rage,
an unnatural emotion.
Envy is another natural emotion. It makes one to strive to act until one
succeeds. It is healthy to be envious, a natural emotion. It brings a healthy attitude to
an individual in the pursuit of his goals in his later life. If it is suppressed, it results in
jealousy, a very unnatural emotion.
Fear is a natural emotion. The purpose of natural fear is to build in a bit of
caution. Caution is a tool that helps keep the body alive. It is an outgrowth of love. It
is love of self. If fear is suppressed, it results in panic.
Love is a natural emotion. When it is expressed without limitation or
condition, inhibition or embarrassment, normally and naturally, it serves itself and
results in joy and bliss. If it is suppressed, it results in possessiveness, an unnatural
emotion.
Perfect love is to feeling what perfect white is to color. Love is not the absence
of an emotion. It is summation of all feeling.
Love is life. One loves another only when the other has life. When life
terminates in the other, one treats the others body as dead and is no more concerned.
Love is an all-inclusive emotion expressed as pure, unconditional love or in some
other modified form. Prakrti or Nature showers its pure and unconditional love on its
constituent whole.
Bondage and liberation are of the mind alone. The mind will take the color
one dyes it with. One is free if one constantly thinks that way. Repeating with grit
and determination I am free, I am not bound, one really becomes free. The one who
constantly says I am a sinner, I am bound really becomes so.
Sri Ramakrishna says the mind is like milk. If one keeps the mind in the
world, which is like water, the milk and water get mixed up. That is why people keep
milk in a quiet place and let it set into curd, and then churn butter from it. Likewise,

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through spiritual discipline practised in solitude, churn the butter of knowledge and
devotion from the milk of the mind. Then that butter can be kept in the water of the
world, without being affected by it. The mind, spiritually enlightened, will float,
detached, on the water of the world.
The animal life emerging out of Matter is the inferior term of mans existence.
The life of thought, feeling, will, conscious impulsion etc which we call Mind is his
middle term. There is a higher term which Mind in man searches after so that, having
found, he may affirm it in his mental and bodily existence. This practical affirmation
of something essentially superior to his bodily and mental self is the basis of the
divine life in the human being.
There is nothing mind can do that cannot be better done in the minds
immobility and thought-free stillness. When mind is still, then Truth gets its chance to
be heard in the purity of silence. Truth cannot be attained by the minds thought but
only by identity and silent vision. Truth lives in the calm wordless Light of the eternal
spaces. It does not intervene in the noise of logical debate.
Sri Aurobindo says: cease inwardly from thought and word, be motionless
within you and look upward into the light and outward into the vast cosmic
consciousness that is around you. Be more and more one with the brightness and the
vastness. Then will Truth dawn on you from above and flow in you from all around
you. This will arise only if the mind is no less intense in its purity than its silence.
Otherwise, in an impure mind, the silence will soon feed with misleading lights and
false voices.

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Sense Organs
Sense organs (jnanendriyas) are five corresponding to their sense perceptions.
They are eye, ear, nose, taste buds in the tongue and skin. The five corresponding
powers of sense perception are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling by touch.
Stimulus-receptors are present in each sense organ. Once a stimulus is
generated, it is transmitted though the fibers of a nerve in the form of an impulse
which is electrical in nature. The impulse is received by some nuclei in the brain.
Corresponding to the five types of sense organs, there are five loci in the brain to
receive the external stimuli and interpret the messages in the form of cognitions. In
addition, there are collateral nerve fibers that connect all cognitive areas in the brain
for information and coordination.
Psychic power-knowing about things may be considered the sixth sense. It
is the ability to step out of ones limited experience. It is the ability to tap into the
larger truth all around oneself, sensing a different energy. One who exercises psychic
power is aware that all thought is energy and all things are in motion. The psychic
becomes adept at feeling these energies that are very subtle and fleeting. The psychic
works, out of his mind, through intuition. The psychic feels the feelings of the other
which he is to interpret, and knows them intuitively.

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Organs of Action
Organs of action (karmendriyas) are called the motor organs. They are the
hands with which we receive or give, the mouth by which we speak, the feet with
which we move about, the organ of generation and the organ of evacuation. These are
the powers of action and the products of ego - ahankara.

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Subtle Elements
Subtle elements (tanmatras) are considered derived one out of another; air out
of ether, fire out of air, water out of fire and earth out of water. In other words, it is
touch out of sound, color out of touch, taste out of color and smell out of taste, all of
them being subtle elements. They are impersonal qualities that do not inhere in
substances. But substances in their gross form are formed out of them. They lie in
wait for each created person to be appropriated by him as his potentialities of action.
The subtle elements are the potentialities or latent forms of the different senses
or sensation possibilities. Further these potentialities have to be taken as belonging to
the I consciousness, and our senses have to be taken as the channels of the
manifestations, rays, and expressions of the said consciousness. By senses, we do not
mean the physical or the psychological senses, but the fields of the sensations, the
objects of the senses and the fields of their correlation. Rather, they are the
impersonal sensation potentialities or sense fields of the Cosmic Person of whom each
individual is part. This explains that the finite person partakes of the Cosmic Person.
The subtle elements can be treated as the transcendental grounds of the
substance-quality or substance-property manifestations. That is why they are called
Thats only, even though they are identified with the help of specific qualities such as
sabda-tanmatra (sound-That), sparsa-tanmatra (touch-That), etc. These qualities are
the potentialities of the activity of the self-manifestation of the Cosmic Person as the
experience of this or that object, the objects or the objective ends of the activities of
mind and senses - the manifestations of the Cosmic Person. What we call senses like
my sight and hearing are the instrumentalities and channels by which I sense objects
or the instrumentalities by which the objects reveal and manifest themselves.
Significantly, they are the channels of the manifestation of myself, my atman and also
the channels through which I withdraw and assimilate my manifestations to myself.

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Gross Elements
Gross elements (mahabhutas) are the products of the five subtle elements
(tanmatras). They are Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. According to the Vedantic
tradition, out of the subtle element of ether, gross ether comes; out of gross ether,
subtle air; out of subtle air, gross air; out of gross air, subtle fire; out of subtle fire,
gross fire; out of gross fire, subtle water; out of subtle water, gross water; out of gross
water, subtle earth; and out of subtle earth, gross earth. Although the cosmic gross
elements are created thus out of one another, every object in the world is considered
to contain all the five elements, but in different proportions. This doctrine of every
object containing five elements is called Quintuplication. It is doubtful whether this
doctrine can have a scientific basis. Even the doctrine of the five elements being
based on the five senses may not be scientific in the modern sense of the term.
The gross elements are symbolic of solid matter, liquid matter, energy matter,
and gaseous matter in relation to the first four elements, space remaining as such.
They are the transformations of the subtle elements. Otherwise, the correlativity like
that between hearing and sound cannot be explained. Reversely the correlativity
points to the unitary origin in the ego and finally in the I consciousness.

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5. Cognition
Introduction
The enquirer seeks valid ways of knowing for cognition of truth and other
aspects of the self and the world. Hearsay and rumour cannot be accepted as valid
ways of knowing.
Different seers have recognized different ways of knowing. The Mimamsa
tradition accepts generally six valid ways of knowing - perception, inference,
comparison, postulation, non-cognition and word or language. The Vedantic tradition
also accepts the same as valid ways of knowing.
An analysis of the ways of knowing gives an idea of their role in knowing the
truth about the Self, and the world.

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Perception
Perception (pratyaksha) is direct knowledge of objects through senses and
mind. It is external and internal. The senses come into contact with the objects, mind
with the senses and the I consciousness with mind. Knowledge arises as
consciousness, when mind and the I consciousness or atman comes into contact.
Internal objects like pains and pleasures are known by mind coming directly into
contact with them without the aid of senses. Mind directly conveys them to the I
consciousness. This concept of perception excludes the theory of correspondence.
Perception is of two kinds - determinate and indeterminate. Determinate
perception is the perception of an object as belonging to a class and as determined by
a universal. This perception involves memory of the object seen in the past and the
distinction between the individual object and the universal.
Indeterminate perception is the knowledge of a mere object without the
universal. In it, the individual object and the universal are present and known without
being distinguished. All living experience, actual experience or experience in act
requires the acceptance of indeterminate cognition (perception) which is cognition
by being, but not cognition by facing or opposing. In the act of experience whether
it is the perception of a book, the feeling of pain or going through abstract thinking,
the process takes place in an indeterminate way. In it are involved the epistemological
subject and object, the logical subject and predicate, the individual object and name,
and the individual and the universal. But their distinctions are not experienced in the
live act, just as the distinctness between the waking I present in the background of the
dream and the dream I in it is not experienced. But in the reflective consciousness as
in I know that I experienced X in my dream, the distinction arises. Similarly, in the
reflective stage of perception following the indeterminate perception, the distinctions
between the universal and the individual, and the logical subject and the predicate
come in.
What is of importance is that in this cognitive act of indeterminate perception,
my I-am, mind and sense of vision are involved and they cut out a specific contour
out of the cosmos. They are involved by being identified with the object.
When an external object is imagined, a seer has been created. If there is no
subject, there is no object either. It is the subject that becomes the object. There is no
object (scene) without a subject (seer). Therefore, the seer alone is real, the object
being hallucination. Gold alone is real; the bracelet is only a name and a form. The
subject exists because of the object, and the object is but a reflection of the subject.
Duality cannot be if there is not one, and where is need for the notion of unity if one
alone exists?
What cannot come into contact with the senses is not considered an object of
sense perception.
Perception is a function of the inner sense (instrument), which consists of four
parts or levels - mind (manas), ego (ahankara), reason (buddhi) and apperception
(chitta). The function of mind is analysis and synthesis of whatever is perceived by

36

the senses. The function of the ego is to appropriate the object as its object as in I see
X. Reason makes the object as an existing one as in that is an apple.
Until reason does its work, the object is an object of my experience, not an
object of the world. The function of reason is to make it an object of the objective
world through an assertion or decision. But the inner instrument goes further in its
work. In turning the sensations into a unified object, the inner instrument brings in
past experiences also into the unity. This relating is the function of apperception. It
collects different ideas about the object and relates them.
Before the perceptual cognition of the object arises, one is ignorant and
unconscious of its existence. The darkness of this Unconscious has to be lighted up
for the cognition to arise. The consciousness present in the senses and the mind
coming into contact with the object lights up the area disclosing the object. The object
has its own reality, its own place in the world. The mind also has the power to take
exactly the same form and then abstract the mental form later, if necessary, for
instance, when it remembers the object.
Perception reveals not only the forms of objects but their being (satta) that is
common to every existent and without which the forms cannot be real and cannot
have objective status. In That is a horse and That is a baby, along with the forms of
the horse and the baby, being is also revealed through the is, whether or not the
cognition is expressed in words.

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Inference
Inference (anumana) is syllogism, in Indian epistemology. Inference does not
cover all the thought processes covered by the word in western epistemology. For the
Indian logicians, generally, the major premise has to be accompanied by an example.
This excludes the universal negative. The mention of the example is considered
necessary to establish that the major premise is, in fact, based upon an actual instance.
The major premise, being a universal proposition, can then be shown to be a true
induction and not an imaginary combination of universals.
Inference has two forms of syllogism - inference for oneself in which all the
premises need not be mentioned and inference for another in which all of them are to
be stated.
If there is conflict between perception and inference, the Advaitins accept
inference and reject perception. Similarly, if there is conflict between inference and
scriptural testimony, they accept the latter and reject the former. The other Vedantins
do not reject any of the valid means of cognition and say that, in cases of conflict,
they shall be reconciled and none of them treated as false at face value.

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Comparison
Comparison (upamana) is not the deliberating process of comparing two
objects. It is the spontaneous cognitive process to be called the observing of
similarity. The cognition of similarity is a special kind of cognitive process showing
that mind has a spontaneous capacity to observe similarities.

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Postulation
Postulation (arthapatti) is the positing of something for making any unit of
cognition self-complete. It is to accept a fact or principle for explaining a truism,
which, otherwise, cannot be explained. Our understanding of a situation becomes
incomplete without accepting the truth of something not seen. Then that something is
the object of postulation, which is a spontaneous cognitive process of mind.
In postulation, there is no major premise. It is, in a way, the framing of a
hypothesis or constructive imagination. Postulation is not regarded as the same as
induction. Generally we postulate something when there is conflict between two
accepted facts. We may also do so when we do not find the reason for an event.
Instances for this kind of postulation are such as gravitation, magnetic force, burning
power of fire, etc.
Postulation is of two kinds - to explain something what is postulated being
perceivable or unperceivable, and to explain a meaning for making words intelligible.

40

Non-cognition
Non-cognition (anupalabdhi), also called non-apprehension, is not mere
absence of knowledge or awareness, but the cognition of the absence or negation of
an object. It is a distinct way of knowing as it establishes the reality of absence and
negation.

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Word or Language
Word or Language is the way of knowing verbal testimony or knowledge
obtained through words. Words have a double face. On the one hand, they are sounds
perceived by the sense of hearing. As such, they are only objects of perception. But on
the other hand, they mean objects or facts other than themselves. These objects or
facts are not perceived by the ear, but cognized through words. A deaf man does not
understand words, as he does not hear the sounds. But ordinary people understand
words not as mere sounds, but as meaning objects different from the words. Hence
verbal knowledge becomes a distinct way of knowing. It is not inference.
It is possible that verbal knowledge can be false. But the possibility of being
false is not confined to verbal knowledge alone. Perception and the other forms of
knowing can as well be false. Even if the person communicating knowledge to
another is honest and truthful, he himself may be mistaken. So the minimum
requirement is that the communicator is authentic.
It may be of interest to note that the Vedic texts are believed to have been
revealed to great seers. The seers are not their authors. They are only receptors of
what has only existed in the universe, but in the shape of sounds. Inspired by the
Divine will, different seers are believed to have comprehended the sounds into
structured hymns and the texts of the Vedas, through their inner sense. All of them
have been realized in their own way, in the absence of which it would not have been
possible for them to comprehend the Vedic texts. It may be for this reason that the
philosophies in India, which are the Brahman-centered, are considered Darsanas
(Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Purva-Mimamsa and Uttara-Mimamsa or
Vedanta) or perceptions of Truth or God. The names of the seers are associated with
what has been comprehended by them.
In fact, the Sanskrit language is stated to have been structured out of the Vedic
texts to convey the meanings comprehended by the seers. The structure of this
language is subsequent to the coming of the Vedas into the experience of the seers.
By the time of Patanjali, about twenty-five centuries ago, one thousand one
hundred and thirty one samhitas, which constitute the core text of the Veda, were
stated to be in the knowledge of the Vedic seers. The samhitas and the other Vedic
texts have been orally transmitted by the gurus to the pupils through the centuries. But
the number of the samhitas presently in the knowledge of the Vedic scholars is only
ten.

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General
The valid means of cognition are not limited. There may be as many ways of
cognition as is possible to cognize a reality. Valid means of cognition are different
measures of cognizing reality by fixing limits. They are the ways by which
cosmological reality is obtained, established and accepted.
For instance, memory, too, is to be recognized as a distinct way of knowing.
Memory is not mere fantasy, a mere flow of mental images. It is remembering ones
being involved in the past experience. Indeed, the past cannot be known without
memory. There is no other way of knowing ones past, autobiography and history.
Practical activity is only to confirm or disconfirm the truth of all empirical
cognitions, as the empirical world is the world of action. Generally we trust the
empirical cognitions to be true unless any one of them turns out to be false from
another cognition. The conflict between a perception and its consequent rejection as
false as in the case of seeing a rope as a snake arises only in the reflective
consciousness, that is, the witness consciousness.
These ways of knowing are not foolproof, but generally correct. They
substantiate one another. If we do not depend on cognition to know what an object is,
on what else can we depend? It is true that cognition goes wrong now and then. But it
is possible to get corrected by another cognition or action. It is important to realize
that valid cognition is not exactly the same as cognition tied to being in the
ontological sense.

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6. Metaphysics of the Cosmos

In religious mythologies, it is stated God has had many spirit children. Human
experience knows that life multiplies itself as suddenly as it dissolves. This parallel to
the human experience is made to hold in reality the idea of the existence of countless
spirits in the metaphysical world. The spirits are considered the offspring of the
Supreme Being, as much as the living beings on earth are so considered. In a way,
according to mythologies, the spirits of the metaphysical world assume forms of the
living beings.
Space in the universe is not to be considered as physical space only. There is
dream space as vast and infinite for me as the physical space. There is psychological
space in which the objects of my imagination exist. There is logical and mathematical
space in which logical and mathematical realities exist.
There is enough human experience that human souls (subtle bodies)
transmigrate on death of their physical bodies. They re-incarnate at their choice of
time, place and circumstance, some of them carrying very vivid details of their past
lives. Besides, several yogis display transmigration of their souls from one body to
another, even before the clinical death of their bodies, through the powers secured by
the practices of yoga. There is to be space for the souls to stay on, in between the lives
they assume. It seems logical that the spirit world exists, as vast and infinite as the
physical universe, though not perceived by the human mind.
The cosmos is, as we can speculate, infinite. Even the physical matter that
exists in the cosmos is not fully known to human beings, by its very nature of being
infinite. The existence of a parallel spirit world across the universe is a matter of
conjecture. In sleep, we dream. We imagine wild. There is to be space for the objects
of dreams and imagination. Besides, logic and mathematics need space for their
exposition. What else is contained metaphysically is not even conjectured. What It
Is is, however, known. It is pure consciousness at all levels - physical, non-physical
and metaphysical.

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7. Metaphysics of Human Beings

General
Birth is the first spiritual mystery of the physical universe. Death is the second
mystery. Life which would otherwise be a self-evident fact of existence becomes
itself a mystery by virtue of these two which seem to be its beginning and its end, and
yet betray themselves as neither of these things. They are rather intermediate stages in
an occult process of life. In the birth of life, there is something more that participates
in the emergence. This is a strong upsurge of some flame of soul self, a first evident
vibration of the spirit.
The human birth in this world is a complex of two elements on its spiritual
side - a spiritual person and a soul of personality. The former is mans eternal being.
The latter is his cosmic and mutable being. As the spiritual impersonal individual, he
is one in his nature and being with the Absolute that has willed his involution in the
nescience for a certain round of soul-experience and ensures its evolution. As the soul
of personality, he is himself part of that long development of the soul-experience in
the forms of nature. This means that his evolution must follow the laws and the lines
of the universal evolution. He is one with the Transcendence Immanent in the world.
As a soul he is at once one with and part of the universality of the Absolute selfexpressed in the world. His self-expression must go through the stages of the cosmic
expression. His soul-experience must follow the revolutions of the wheel of the
Absolute in the universe. He now appears as a human soul, the spirit accepting the
inner and outer form of humanity. But this form does not limit him any more than the
plant or animal forms previously assumed by him limited him. He can pass on from
his present form to a greater self-expression in a higher scale of nature.
The seeker after Truth realizes that he is not the physical body, nor does he
constitute the non-physical categories alone. The body is the container and the nonphysical constituents are the tools for the experience of his self. This self is
something, different from the other two, though related to them, and seeks to
experience itself. This is what the seeker calls the I consciousness. In the Indian
philosophy, it is the atman. It is neither physical, nor non-physical, but the basis of his
experience. It is, therefore, metaphysical. Besides the self, the individual has the
experience of the soul, the subtle body and also the sheaths as the metaphysical
constituents of his being.

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Self
What is the self of a human being? The self is pure awareness. It is pure
consciousness. It is a source of all kinds of illumination. It is the infinite I. It is
eternal.
The self is that where there is absolutely no I-thought. The self itself is the
world; the self itself is I; the self itself is God; all is the self.
The self alone exists. The self alone is real.
There is no one who even for a moment fails to experience the self. No one
ever stands apart from the self. He is the self.
The self is consciousness and as consciousness is eternal.
Knowing the self means being the self. Self-knowledge is unique in that the
knowing self is itself the known self. It can never become a known or unknown
object.
To be the self in the heart is supreme wisdom.
The self is self-luminous, without darkness and light, and is the self-manifest
reality. The self is only being. It is what it is. It is I-am that I-am.
The Supreme Self is what in one appears to be the experience of bliss, and is,
therefore, realized in oneself. It cannot be realized by means other than wisdom. The
company of holy men and the study of scriptures, and not the observance of religious
rites, are helpful for realization of the Self. Where there is cessation of the knowable
and the flow of attention is toward that which is not knowable (pure intelligence) is
the Self realized.
The Lord - the Self is the intelligence dwelling in the body. He is the universe,
though the universe is not He. He is pure intelligence. The Cosmic Intelligence in
which the universe, as it were, ceases to be, is the Lord. In Him the subject-object
relationship appears to have ceased, as such. He is the void in which the universe
appears to exist. Only if one is firmly established in the unreality of the universe like
the blueness of the sky, can the Lord be realized. Dualism presupposes unity; nondualism suggests dualism. Only when the creation is known to be utterly non-existent
is the Lord realized.
The Self is subtler even than space. Neither the mind nor the senses can
comprehend It. It is pure consciousness. The entire universe exists in the
consciousness that is omnipresent. That the consciousness exists is the experience of
all, and it alone is the self of all. Since it is, all else is.
The Self is empty like space; but It is not nothingness, since It is
consciousness. It is; yet It is not as It cannot be experienced by the mind and the
senses. It being the self of all, It is not experienced by anyone as an object. Though
one, It is reflected in the infinite atoms of existence and hence appears to be many.
This appearance is unreal even as a bracelet is an appearance of gold, which alone is
real. But the Self is not unreal. It is not a void or nothingness, for It is the self of all.

46

Further, Its existence can be experienced indirectly, as the existence of camphor can
be experienced by its fragrance. It alone is the self of all as consciousness, and It
alone is the substance that makes the world-appearance possible.
The Self, being infinite, moves not though moving, and yet is forever
established in every atom of existence. The Self does not go, nor does It ever come,
for where can the Self go when All That Is is within It? If a pot is taken from one
place to another, the space within does not move from one place to the other, for
everything is forever in space.
The Self is the reality in all, and infinite. The reality in fire is the self or
consciousness. It is the eternal light that shines in the sun, the moon and the fire, but
independent of them all. It illumines all from within. It alone is the intelligence that
indwells even trees, plants and creepers, and preserves them. From the ordinary point
of view, the Self is considered the creator, the protector and the overlord of all. But
from the absolute point of view, in reality, being the Self of all, It has no such limited
role.
As long as one sees the bracelet as a bracelet, it is not seen as gold. When it is
seen that bracelet is just a word and not the reality, then gold is seen. Similarly,
when the world is assumed to be real, the Self is not seen. When this assumption is
discarded, consciousness is realized. The Self is experienced in the atman (soul). It is
the All.
In the Infinite Self, there is no creator, no creation, no worlds, no heaven, no
humans, no demons, no bodies, no elements, no time, no existence, no destruction, no
falsehood, no truth, no you, no I, no notion of diversity, no contemplation and no
enjoyment. Whatever is is that supreme peace. There is no beginning, no middle and
no end. All is all at all times, beyond the comprehension of thought and word. The
Infinite is ever infinite. It is like the ocean, but without its movement. It is selfluminous like the sun, but without its activity. In ignorance, the Infinite Self is viewed
as the universe. But in truth, the universe is the Brahman existing in the Brahman as
the Brahman, as the space exists in space and is one with the space.
The Self, which is pure consciousness, exists as the supreme self of all,
everywhere, in all bodies at all times.
In a golden bracelet there are gold and bracelet, the gold being the reality and
the bracelet being the appearance. Similarly, in the Self there are both consciousness
and the notion of material (inert) substantiality. Since consciousness is omnipresent, it
is ever present in the mind in which the notion of substantiality in the nature of
universe arises.
The self and the body of an individual are ever different. The mud never spoils
a coin of gold fallen into it. Similarly, the self is untainted by the body. Even as the
sky is not affected by the dust particles floating in it, the self is unaffected by the
body. The self is one thing and the body is another, even as the water and the lotus.
A piece of wood, being proximate to water, is reflected in it. These have no
real relationship between themselves. Similarly, the body, and the self in whom it is
reflected have no real relationship. The reflection of an object in a mirror can be said
47

to be neither real nor unreal. Similarly, the body reflected in the self is neither real nor
unreal. It is indescribable.

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Soul
What is the soul in relation to man? Is soul a new creation of our mentalized
life, or is it not a permanent entity, the eternal companion of the energy we call
Nature, its very spirit and reality?
The soul shaped into humanity is a being of Being. This has risen out of
material involution by increasing self-expression in a series of births. Our humanity is
the conscious meeting place of the finite and the Infinite. To grow more and more
towards that Infinite in this physical birth is our privilege. This Infinite - the Spirit housed within us is not bound or shut in by mind or body. It is our own self. To find
and be our self has always been the object of our human striving, for it is the object of
the whole working of Nature.
Human birth, thus, is a term at which the soul must arrive in a long succession
of rebirths and that it has had the lower forms of life on earth in succession for its
previous and preparatory terms. It has passed through the whole chain that life has
strung in the physical universe on the basis of the body, the physical principle. As the
soul has not finished what it has to do by merely developing into humanity, it has to
go through a succession of human births. It has still to develop that humanity into its
higher possibilities. We may reasonably assume that a Vedavyasa or a Sankara marks
the crown of the out-flowering spirit in man. There may be a higher possibility, which
the Divine intends yet to realize in man. This highest point may have to be reached
before there can be no recurrence of the human birth for the individual.
Ontologically, the finite individual is to be considered as the finite soul the
jiva. The I-consciousness of the individual is the atman. It may also be called the
spirit. The soul is the same as the atman and so the same as the Brahman, according to
Sankara. There can be no difference between the soul and the atman according to him,
for the reason that difference is not a valid category.
The soul of an individual is, in effect, the Brahman as limited by, or reflected
in avidya (unconscious). It consists of the internal organ, the senses, the subtle
elements and the atman (Brahman). The atman (Brahman) is the innermost
constituent of the soul as it pervades everything, like butter in milk. The soul
(individual jiva), through which God sports, is endowed with His special power.
All life one thinks one is ones body. Occasionally, one thinks one is ones
mind. It is only at the time of death that one realizes what one really is. At the time of
death, the soul makes a decision that it is time to leave the body. If the soul realizes
that there is no further way to evolve through its body, the soul exits the body.
Nothing can stop it.
The body and the mind are subservient to the soul. The soul is very clear that
its purpose is only evolution. It is not concerned with the achievements of the body or
the development of the mind. If one is able to listen to the soul, one will pass away in
peace and without pain. There will be no frustration or anxiety to the dying individual.

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The mind very often seeks to exert its will on the body and does so. Similarly,
the body often seeks to control the mind. Frequently it succeeds. Together the body
and the mind do not have to do anything to control the soul, for the soul is completely
without need. So it allows the body and the mind to have their way until and unless
they care to listen to it. The soul indicates its desire, rather conceives. It is for the
mind to choose from its alternatives and to seek to create what the soul conceives. The
body is to act out the choice. If the body, the mind and the soul work in harmony and
in unity on the path of evolution consciously chosen by the soul, it leads towards soul
- self-realization. The soul knows itself in its experience.
The three aspects of the self - body, mind and soul are in no way unequal to
one another. Each has a function and no function is greater than another. Nor does any
function precede another. All are inter-related. That is why it is said that if one causes
ones body to experience something, one will soon have the feeling of it in ones soul.
The soul conceives of itself in a new way and presents the mind with a new thought.
From the new thought arises more action or experience by the body. The body begins
living a new reality. The body, the mind and the soul are one. The triune reality of the
self is a microcosm of the Supreme Being.
The purpose of all life is to experience its fullest glory. Everything else is
attendant to that function. That is what the soul seeks to do. The purpose is never
ending. If one realizes that one is at the point of experiencing oneself the fullest glory
of the soul, the same moment one will feel that there is even greater glory to fulfill.
The more one is, the more one can become; and the more one can become, the more
one can yet be. The secret of all life is that it is a process of creation, not discovery.
Life is an opportunity for one to know experientially what one already knows
conceptually. The soul knows all there is to know all the time. There is nothing
unknown to it. What it seeks is experiencing what it knows. This is creating its
knowledge into experience. It is the desire of ones soul to turn its grand concept
about itself into its great experience. Until concept becomes experience, there is only
speculation.
Desire is the beginning of all creation. It is first thought. It is a grand feeling
within the soul. It is the will of the Supreme Being that the whole life process is to be
an experience of constant joy, continuous creation, never ending expansion and total
fulfillment in each moment. This is what the soul seeks to realize as it evolves.
Ones life is always a result of ones thoughts about it including, obviously,
ones creative thoughts. Ones life proceeds out of ones intentions for it. One can
choose to be a person that has resulted simply from what has happened, or from what
one has chosen to be and do about what has happened. When one chooses the latter
course, one creates ones self, consciously. It is in this experience that the self
becomes realized.
The soul has come to the body for the purpose of evolution. One is to evolve,
to become. This is the purpose of life. This is the joy of creating self. This is the joy of
knowing self, of becoming. This is being self-conscious. Blessed are the selfcentered, for they shall know God.

50

The purpose of the soul is to fully realize itself while in the body. It seeks to
become the embodiment of all that it really is.
Feeling is the language of the soul. Feelings are sometimes difficult to
discover. Yet hidden in ones deepest feelings is ones highest truth.
The soul is the sum total of every feeling one has ever had. The awareness of
some of these feelings is called memory. When one has a memory, one is said to remember, that is, to reassemble the parts. When one reassembles all the parts of
oneself, one will have re-membered who one really is.
What the soul is after is the highest feeling of love one can imagine. This is
the souls desire. This is its purpose. The soul is after the feeling, not the knowledge.
The soul wants to know itself in its own experience. The highest feeling the soul
yearns is the experience of unity with the Supreme Being. This is the feeling of
perfect love. It will seek to realize its highest feeling through action. The urge to do
this is passion. It is the way to self-realization.
Doing is a function of the body. Being is a function of the soul. The soul is
forever being. It is a state of being-ness, not a state of doing-ness.
The soul conceives every experience. Nothing is visited upon the soul against
its will. The soul has everything - all wisdom, all knowing, all power and all glory. It
never sleeps; never forgets.
The soul only leaves the body on its death. It changes its bodily form when it
realizes that it no longer serves the purpose in remaining in that form. It changes form
willfully, voluntarily, joyfully and moves on the cosmic wheel. No soul dies ever.
Many souls seek to return to this world of relativity for another chance to
experience out the decisions and choices one makes about ones self in ones present
life.
The enlightened souls return to this world for the soul purpose of helping
others realize their selves. Always there are on earth several such souls in all
generations that have made such a choice. They return to earth only to help others,
even though their work is finished. This is their joy. This is their exaltation.
If a soul chooses to return to earth to experience itself, it reincarnates at a
place, a time, a circumstance and an environment of its choice. Its self will once again
separate its true dimensions into what one calls body, mind and spirit. In truth all are
one-energy, with different characteristics. The soul taking the form of a body on
reincarnation is the creation of pure thought - the work of the subtle mind forming
part of the soul.
Where is the soul situated in relation to the body? Neale Donald Walsch states
that a common perception is that it is within the body, like mind. His understanding is
that the soul is within and without, and larger than the body. It is not carried within
the body, but carries the body within it. The soul is that which holds one together, as
the Soul of the Supreme Person holds the universe together. When the soul of a body
envelops it, the soul of one is to overlap the soul of another and without end. It is in

51

the nature of aura enveloping each body and overlapping with other bodies. While
the soul relating to one is dense in relation to that one, it gets less dense or thin as it
overlaps the souls of others. This relates the possibility of one soul never ending and
another beginning in the world. This also relates to the universal Soul of the Supreme
Person - the Absolute being the same as the souls of all the individual beings. What is
metaphysically said that We Are All One appears physically true.
This conforms to the studies made in Parapsychology and the Kirlian
photography made at the University of California, Los Angeles. According to these
studies, each living person projects his own colored aura. In human form, we have an
ionized energy field flowing out and around our physical bodies, connected by a net
work of vital power points called chakras corresponding to the chakras of the
Kundalani of the Tantra. The electro-magnetic energy required to hold a soul on our
physical plane could be a factor in producing different earthly colors. The human aura
reflects thoughts and emotions combined with the physical health of the individual
concerned. Each soul may emit a specific colour aura.
At the time of death, the soul is stated to leave the dying individual a few
moments earlier than his clinical death. The emanation of the soul from the individual
body is recorded in the rapid movement photography.

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Subtle Body
The subtle body (lingasarira) consists of the inner instrument, the senses and
the subtle elements. It is considered the same as the jiva (soul) except the atman. It is
the subtle body without the gross body that is given by the parents. What
transmigrates on the death of an individual is the same subtle body.
The reflection of consciousness within itself is known as puryastaka. It is also
known as the subtle body - lingasarira. As long as the puryastaka functions, the body
lives. When it ceases to function, the body dies. When the body dies, the subtle body
chooses another, suited to fulfill the hidden vasanas.
It is generally believed that on death, the soul transmigrates to the spirit world,
and the body and the mind are dropped in the physical world. In fact, even the body
and the mind are not dropped. The body changes form. The dense part of the body is
dropped and perishes. The subtle form of the body forming part of the soul
transmigrates along with the subtle mind. This mind is not to be confused with the
brain. What transmigrates is the one-energy mass - the subtle body with the subtle
mind.
This leads us to an enquiry of what is death and how an individual is to accept
it.
Death is a reality and is part of life. As life principle (prana) enters the body,
so does it exit. As it is the only reality for the physical body, one is wise not to worry
about it.
It may be helpful to anticipate death and wish to die well. In it lies the wish to
live well, while alive. This will result in peace of mind and urge for self-realization.
Buddha says, It is in the nature of all things that take form to dissolve again. Strive
with your whole being to attain perfection. Spinoza says, A free man thinks of
nothing less than of death; and his wisdom is a meditation not on death but on life.
Most religions preach that the state of mind at the time of death will influence
the quality of life in the next birth of the individual. If one makes a special effort to
generate a virtuous state of mind at the time of death, it is possible to bring about a
happy rebirth. But if one continues to live an ego-centered and egoistic life, it will not
certainly result in having a serene and peaceful state of mind at the time of death. To
have such a state of mind at that moment, it is necessary to have ethical conduct and
spiritual approach, while in active life. The religious precept is, possibly, to inculcate
ethical conduct among men, while in active life.
When one dies, one does not die at all, but only shift into awareness of the
macrocosm where there is no time or space, now and then, before and after. From
a macro perspective, all the particles of everything merely look like the whole. This is
to say, on death one returns in consciousness to the macro reality which is but a
micro reality of an even larger macro reality - and so on, and on, and on, forever and
ever, without end. This leads to the realization that life is all a matter of perspective.

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Death in that instance is a glorious moment, a wonderful experience, as the

soul returns to its natural form, its natural state. This leads to an awareness of a sense
of total freedom, an awareness of Oneness that is sublime and blissful.
To learn how to die is to learn how to live. To learn how to live is to learn how
to act not only in this life, but in the lives to come. To transform oneself truly and
learn how to be reborn as a transformed being to help others is really to help the world
in the most powerful way of all.
The actual point of death is when the most profound and beneficial inner
experiences can come about. Through repeated acquaintance with the processes of
death in meditation, an accomplished seeker can use his actual death to gain great
spiritual realization. This is why experienced practitioners of yoga engage in
meditative practices as they pass away. An indication of their attainment is that often
their bodies do not begin to decay until long after they are clinically dead.
Highly realized beings awaken in themselves a perception of Reality in a
totally purified form, transparent to them in its entire limitless dimension. The
experience of death is no surprise to them. In fact, they anticipate and invite it at the
moment of their choice. They embrace it as an opportunity for liberation from the
bonds of physical life.
Equally significant is the need to be of great comfort and solace to those who
are dying. The dying persons are unable to help themselves. We should attempt to
relieve them of discomfort or anxiety, and assist them, as far as we can, to die with
composure. The prime aim is to help a dying person to be at ease. If he is familiar
with any spiritual practice, he may be encouraged and inspired to follow it. Even
some kind of a reassurance on our part will help engender a peaceful, relaxed attitude
in the mind of the dying person. A dying person needs only comfort and spiritual
solace, and not sympathy or expression of anxiety for the worldly after-effects.

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Sheaths
The Vedanta philosophy describes the five koshas (sheaths) that are stated to
exist in a human body. They are the annamayakosha or gross physical sheath made of
and sustained by food, the pranamayakosha or vital sheath consisting of the five vital
forces, the manomayakosha or mental sheath, the vijnanamayakosha or sheath of
intelligence and the anandamayakosha or sheath of bliss.
The five vital forces constituting the pranamayakosha are stated to be prana,
apana, samana, vyana and udana. These five denote the physical, biological (vital),
mental, rational and blissful functions.
The Taittiriya Upanisad refers to koshas as atmans (selves) in a person. They
are presumed arranged, one inside the other, covering the spirit - atman, which is the
innermost constituent. These are really levels of ones existence as man.
In a living organism, prana is the energy that circulates in energy channels
known as nadis. In accordance with its diverse functions in the body, it is also known
as apana, etc. This prana is indistinguishably united with the mind. In fact, mind is
the consciousness that tends towards thinking on account of the movement of prana.
Movement of thought in the mind arises from the movement of prana. And the
movement of prana arises because of the movement of thought in consciousness.
They thus form a cycle of mutual dependence, like waves and movement of currents
in water. The wise, therefore, declare that by the restraint of the prana, the mind
becomes quiescent. The movement of prana is arrested with the cessation of the
movement of thought in the mind.
The movement of prana is also arrested by the effortless practice of breathing
without strain, or the repetition of the sacred AUM with the experience of its meaning
when the consciousness reaches the deep-sleep state.
Prana is the energy that vibrates in the heart-lotus. It enables the sense organs
to experience objects. It has two different roles, one above and one below in the body,
known as prana and apana respectively. Prana and apana are constantly in motion
inside and outside the body. While prana is the vital air established in the upper part
of the body, apana is the vital air established in the lower part of the body.
The efflux of the vital force of the heart lotus, of its own accord and without
effort, is known as rechaka or exhalation. The contact with the source of the pranic
force, which is located downward to the length of twelve fingers, in the heart-lotus
is known as puraka or inhalation. When the apana has ceased to move and when the
prana does not arise and move out of the heart, and till these begin to happen, it is
known as kumbhaka - retention as of a filled pot.
Apana terminates in the heart where prana arises. Where prana is born, there
apana perishes; where apana takes birth, prana ceases. When prana has ceased to
move and when apana is about to rise, one experiences external kumbhaka. When

55

apana has ceased to move and when prana arises just a little, one experiences internal
kumbhaka. Rooted in these states, one does not grieve anymore.
Whether one is awake or asleep, is at work or in rest, these vital airs are
restrained by the orderly practices of the forces of prana, apana and kumbhaka. Then
ones mind and heart become pure and one is freed from delusion attaining
awakening, and rests in ones own self.
Consciousness alone is the reality in all forms and all experiences. Action
springs from thought; thought is the function of the mind; mind is conditioned
consciousness; but consciousness is unconditioned. The jiva is the vehicle of
consciousness; ego-sense is the vehicle of the jiva; intelligence is the vehicle of egosense; mind is the vehicle of intelligence; prana is the vehicle of the mind; the senses
are the vehicle of prana; the body is the vehicle of the senses, and motion is the
vehicle of the body. Such motion is karma - action. When the mind is merged in the
spiritual heart - consciousness, prana does not move and the mind attains a quiescent
state.
The control of the life force restrains the mind. Even as the shadow ceases
when the substance is removed, the mind ceases when the life force is restrained. The
life force is restrained by dispassion, the practice of pranayama (breath control), the
practice of enquiry into the cause of the movement of the life force, the ending of
sorrow through intelligent means, and direct knowledge and experience of the
supreme Truth.
The Katha Upanisad refers to seven levels of existence or of the self, the
seventh being the highest, beyond which there can be nothing. This highest level is
that of the Purusa, the absolute I-Consciousness.

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8. Reality
What is the human soul or the spirit seeking to experience? What is the Reality
it is seeking to realize?
The Reality is that which exists in the beginning and in the end.
The Reality is only one and that is the Self. It is Pure-consciousness and
eternal in nature. To one with the Reality, there is neither the mind nor the three states
of waking, dream and deep sleep. There is, therefore, no extroversion. The state of the
sage with the Reality is the ever-awake state. He is ever awake to the eternal Self. His
is the ever-dreaming state as the world is no better than a repeatedly presented dream
phenomenon for him. His is the ever deep-sleep state as he is without his body
consciousness ever.
Reality must always be real. It has no names or forms. It underlies all
limitations, being limitless. It is not bound in any way. Being real, It is That Which Is.
It transcends speech and is beyond description such as being or non-being. That alone
is real, which exists by itself, which reveals itself by itself and which is eternal and
changeless.
Reality is Being, Pure-existence, Consciousness.
Reality alone exists as a perfect undivided whole. The awareness of this
Reality alone is the Truth. There is no other reality. The Reality is in the form of
experience throbbing within ones real self.
The Nitya and the Lila - the Absolute and the Relative belong to the same
Reality. The Atman is the Eternal Substance.
The Reality is one and the same. The difference is only in name. He who is the
Brahman is verily the Atman. He is verily the Bhagavan.
The primordial power is ever at play. It is creating, preserving and dissolving
in play, as it were. This power is Sakti or Divine Mother. The Divine Mother is verily
the Brahman, and the Brahman is verily the Divine Mother. When the sage thinks of
the primordial power as inactive, he calls it the Brahman. When it engages in activity,
he calls it the Divine Mother. For him, the Reality is one and the same.
In relation to human experience, one great truth is that each individual is a
divine creature, divinely creating his reality even as he is experiencing it. Even if one
chooses to experience the larger, unified Reality, one will have an immediate
opportunity to do that. It is all a matter of ones desire, ones choosing, ones creating
and ones experiencing Oneness.

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9. Truth
What is Truth? Truth is experience of the Reality in ones consciousness. I
have nothing to do with sorrow, with actions, with delusion or desire. I am at peace,
free from sorrow. I am the Brahman - such is the Truth. I am free from all defects; I
am the All; I do not seek anything nor do I abandon anything; I am the Brahman such is the Truth. I am consciousness; I am the Brahman - such is the Truth. I am
the entire space; I am the Brahman - such is the Truth. I am the consciousness in
which all things are strung and through whose power all beings engage themselves in
all their activities; I am the essence of all things - such is the Truth. All things exist
in the Brahman; all things flow from It; all things are the Brahman; It is omnipresent;
It is the one Self; It is the Truth- such is the Truth.
Even as the taste of the juice of sugarcane cultivated in a hundred fields is
uniform and the same, so the consciousness indwelling all beings is the same - that
consciousness I am. I am that conscious energy (chit-sakti) which is larger than the
universe and yet subtler than the minutest sub-atomic particle and, therefore, invisible.
I am the consciousness that exists everywhere like butter in milk, and whose very
nature is experiencing. That consciousness is the reality that bestows the individual
characteristic on each and every substance of the universe. It is continuous and
homogenous in waking, dreaming, deep-sleep and the transcendental state of
consciousness. It is devoid of desire and ego-sense, and is indivisible. Established in
the realization of this Truth, the great sages have lived forever in peace and
equanimity.
The Truth which is omnipresent and which is pure consciousness devoid of
objectivity is referred to variously as Consciousness, Self, the Brahman, Existence,
Truth, Reality, Order and also Pure-knowledge. It is pure and in Its light all beings
know their own self.
The path of enquiry is easy for all, as the self-knowledge is the ever-present
Truth.
The seeker of Truth is to resort to moral courage. He is to seek to be a
mahabhokta (great enjoyer of delight), mahakarta (great doer of actions) and
mahatyagi (perfect renouncer).
A mahabhokta is one who does not hate or long for anything, but enjoys all
natural experiences. He does not cling to or reject anything even while engaged in
activity. He does not experience, though experiencing. He witnesses the world-play
unaffected by it. He is beyond pain and pleasure that arise in the course of life. He is
stoic and not concerned with calamities, old age, privation or death. His nature is
virtuous and non-violent. He enjoys what is sweet and what is bitter with equal relish.
A mahakarta is one who, free of doubt, performs appropriate action in all
situations. He is not swayed by likes and dislikes, success and failure, ego-sense and
jealousy, or dharma and adharma. He ever remains in a state of silence and purity.
Unattached to anything, he ever remains as a witness of everything. He is without

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selfish desires or motives, sorrow or grief, excitement or exultation. He is indifferent

to action and inaction. His very nature is peace and equanimity in all situations.
A mahatyagi is one who is beyond the concepts of dharma and adharma, pain
and pleasure, birth and death, desires and motives, doubts and convictions, etc. He is
the one who has abandoned the notion of world-appearance in his consciousness. His
ego-sense is totally dissolved in his mind. He is ever virtuous. For him, anger is
attenuated; delusion is ineffective; desire is powerless; and greed flees. His senses
function on an even keel, never excited or depressed. He is ever in equanimity.
Self-knowledge or knowledge of Truth is not had by resorting to a guru
(preceptor), or by the study of scriptures, or by good works. It is attained only by
enquiry inspired by the company of holy men. Ones inner light alone is the means,
nothing else. When this inner light illumines, the darkness of inertia dissolves into it.
One sees the Truth when one realizes that the body is not the self, that in his
body pleasure and pain are experienced on account of circumstances and that they do
not pertain to him, that he is the omnipresent infinite consciousness, that the Self
pervades everything, that the Self is the one infinite light of consciousness and the
sole Reality, that the non-dual consciousness that indwells all beings is omnipotent
and omnipresent, that he is not the body, that he is not the mind and that all things are
strung in the Self as beads in a thread, that all that exists is the Brahman, and that the
Self alone exists and that there is no substance in objectivity.
When delusion is gone and the Truth is realized by means of enquiry into selfnature, when the mind is at peace and the soul leaps to the supreme Truth and when
the disturbing thought-waves in the mind- stuff subside, then there is peace and bliss
in the heart. When this is realized in the heart, the very world becomes an abode of
bliss.
Such a person has nothing to acquire or to give up. He is not affected by the
defeats of life, nor touched by its sorrow. He does not come into being, nor go out,
though he appears to beholders to be engaged in activity. He need not do any religious
rites. He is not affected by the past tendencies as they have lost their momentum. He
rests in bliss that is his nature. Such bliss is possible only by self-knowledge, and not
by any other means. Hence, one should apply oneself constantly to self-knowledge.
That alone is ones duty.
He whose mind is firmly established in peace through the practice of yoga has
the right vision of Truth. To see that the supreme Self is without beginning and
without end and that these countless objects are the Self and no other is the right
vision. Right vision leads to salvation nirvana. In it there is no subject-object
relationship, for the Self is the knower, knowledge and the knowable

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10. Quest for Realization

The seeker is reflective and contemplative in search of fulfillment. The
seeking is rational and supra rational, not a development out of dogmas. It is a search
for the ground of his being. It is an ontological and metaphysical search, not through
pure thought alone, but also through realization.
The quest is for experience, not merely a matter of faith. The seeker is
empirical and naturalistic. Everything that is, is natural. It is not only the physical and
biological nature, but also the psychological and spiritual will also be natural. If
mans conscious being is natural, then whatever such a being implies and involves is
also natural.
If it is natural, then it must be capable of being discovered within mans
conscious being. This discovery is a matter of experience, not merely of logic. Then
the quest belongs to empirical experience; it is to be truthful.
The experience need not be of senses. For instance, illusions and
hallucinations are also experiences. But they are false experiences. We have to
enquire whether the experience sought is true or false. To determine its truth or
falsity, we have systems of philosophy and thought to help us determine, provided we
do not reduce the experience to the acceptance of some creed on the basis of faith or
dogma.
No one can pass judgment on religious or spiritual experience with standards
obtained from experience of physical objects. Rational self-reflection with an earnest
attempt to be consistent with itself, with the nature of man and the world, will help
one find the truth.
The seeker is aware intuitively that the world and his body form an interrelated and integrated whole. Both are transient, ever changing. He is aware of the
possibility of realization of his self within his conscious being the spiritual being.
This may be incomplete unless he is able to integrate the realization of his spiritual
being with the being of the world with which he is integrated. This realization is to be
by experience and not by way of logic or reasoning.
This is for the reason that the physical and the non-physical constituents of the
seeker do not provide the realization the self seeks. The self realizes that the world
around is transient, unreal in the sense that it is ever changing, full of imperfections.
Neither the external world, nor the physical, nor the non-physical constituents render
continuity of happiness or satisfaction. The seeker seeks to rise above the world of
impurity, and every kind of imperfection. But external action binds him to the world
and he has to enjoy the fruits of his action within the world. He gets caught up in the
whirlpool of worldly life with no satisfaction for the self.
The seeker is aware that he is subject to the laws of prakrti (maya - according
to Vedantic thought). He is the object of the fear of pain, old age, misery, fear of the

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others and death. Being is above and beyond the laws of prakrti. It has no death, nor
does It cause other privations. It is one, not many.
The highest ideal of the seeker, therefore, turns out to be to realize his true
being, that is, to be real with his being. This is to realize his atman or the Brahman.
Realization of the atman is the same as realization of the Brahman. This realization is
not an intellectual conviction. When the realization of the Brahman dawns on the
seeker, he enters the state of supreme consciousness where the world of forms
dissolves into the Brahman along with his ego. He realizes that he is no longer his
particular ego, but the Brahman Itself.
He whose spiritual consciousness is awakened possesses awareness. Only he
can be called a true human being. Futile is the human birth without the awakening of
spiritual consciousness.
One seeking self-realization does not get disturbed in the face of calamity or
disaster. Indeed, one blesses it as an opportunity for growth as from the seeds of
disaster sprouts the growth of self. Therefore, another purpose of life is growth. If one
is fully self-realized, there is nothing left to do, except to be more of that.
Ones purpose as a soul is to experience oneself as All of It. One is evolving.
One is becoming. One cannot know until one realizes in ones conscious self. The
journey is on. It is joy. As soon as one gets a sense of realization, one looks for a
higher idea, thought and state of realization. The journey continues. The joy is on.
Realization is salvation in this very life, ontologically. It lies in overcoming
ignorance and forgetting. Our finite being is rooted not only in the being of the
Brahman, but also in ignorance. The latter has to be destroyed. Destruction of root
ignorance is the destruction of finitude and the attainment of the infinitude. This way
of knowledge is not the way of intellectual convictions or belief. This is to realize the
deeper levels of our being itself, of our finite I-am and so of our existence. This
knowledge is essentially ontological, not merely rationalistic.
As the deeper levels of realization are not mere intellectual convictions, strict
ethical preparation is necessary. One may know what is ethically right. But one may
not care to follow what regulations such ethical code demands one to follow for strict
observance. The ethical preparation involves transformation of ones being. The
ethics underlying such a concept may be called the ethics of self-realization.
An individuals becoming is determined by his life of action, not merely by his
thinking. Thought has to cease to exist if it is to grasp the whole truth including its
ontological being. The seeker is to transcend his mind to realize the reality. To be
fully true is to become Reality. Otherwise, the ontological basis of Truth remains
excluded. But to become Reality is not possible without action. So it is action that
strengthens the sense of reality. Realization of the Supreme I AM is not possible
without action, even if action is not the supreme. The past, the present and the future,
the actual and the possible action - all action is to enter cognition as becoming enters
being.
The realization of the deeper levels of ones being is self-realization. The
emphasis on this realization, which is self-transformation to higher or deeper levels, is
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not on what one knows, but on what one becomes. In the process of realization, one
becomes the deeper and deeper levels of ones being, until one becomes the same as
the Brahman, the deepest Being.
The self-conscious atman is the spirit within, ontologically. It seeks realization
of itself, meaning to be real with it. It seeks self-realization. It is an experience for the
spirit or the self. It is Beingness what it seeks.
What, in essence, is Self-Realization? The atman (self) is what manifests itself
as the I (aham) in our experience. All the Vedantic seers - the highest realized souls
consider that the Brahman - the Supreme Being is realized as the I-am (atman) in this
life itself. This experience of realizing the Supreme Being - the Supreme I-am means
its inwardness to my I-am. That is, the Supreme I-am is the highest transcendental Iam. The Supreme I-am is of the nature of the I-am, but transcendental in experience.
Therefore, the essential experience of the transcendental Supreme I-am is
personal living consciousness, consciousness of being only. It has to be continuous
with my finite I-am in experience and being. The experience of the I-am is like that of
personal being, but not that of knowing a person. The difference is essentially
between being a person and knowing a person.
It may be understood in terms of am-ness which involves self-consciousness,
but not in terms of is-ness. The latter may not involve self-consciousness. Thus, the
Supreme Being, even in ontological terms is the most intimate personal experience
(uttamapurusa), but not that of a particular person, let alone the second and third
persons.
The Supreme I-am is, in essence, an I-am within my I-am. Indeed, this
experience transcends all thought, but not all experience. What transcends thought is,
by its very nature, not amenable to thought. The Supreme Being - the Brahman is
verily beyond mind and word.

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11. Basic Thought of the Upanisads

The ontological enquiry of the Beingness is the core of the Vedantic system
of thought. The Vedantic system consists of the Upanisads, the Brahma-sutras
(Vedanta aphorisms) and the Bhagavad-Gita. The Vedanta Aphorisms are again based
on the essential content of the Upanisads. The Bhagavad-Gita also contains the
essence of the philosophical teachings of the Upanisads with emphasis on the paths of
realization of the ultimate Reality. Thus the Upanisads, eleven of them are considered
the most important, constitute the basic structure on which the ontological enquiry of
the Being and the Reality is based.
For the sages and the saintly philosophers of the Upanisads, the basic
questions are the meaning and aim of human life. Their approach is to say and teach
something profound about the depths of mans being. Their search is for the soul and
the atman from different perspectives and in different contexts. All the Vedantins
maintain that there is an essential unity threading the Upanisads together.
The Upanisads mainly aim at explaining the nature of the Atman. That is why
the Upanisadic philosophy and the Vedantic systems based on It are said to be
Atman centered. Their teaching is in line with the teaching of Socrates, Know
thyself.
Some of the basic important teachings of the Upanisads are the following:
That the Atman is the Brahman
(ayam atma brahma)
I am the Brahman
(aham brahmasmi)
All This is the Brahman
(sarvam khalu idam Brahman)
All That exists is the Atman
(sarvam yedayam atman)
The Brahman is consciousness and bliss
(vijnanam anandam brahman and
prajnanam brahman)
The Brahman is Truth, Consciousness and the Infinite
(satyam jnanam anantham brahman)
Thou art That
(tatvamasi- It means that the I in you is one with the
Atman, the Ultimate Truth.)

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That Exists
(tat sat)
The Upanisads make various approaches to the Atman. The levels of the depth
of our inward being as elucidated in the Katha and the Taittiriya Upanisads and the
field of the I-Consciousness as elucidated in the Mandukya Upanisad are the most
clear and important.
On the whole, the general trend of the Upanisad teachings is idealistic,
ontological and existentialistic. The idealistic and the existentialistic teachings are
considered generally opposed to each other. But the Vedanta reconciles the two
trends of thought.
The Vedantic systems attempt to base their teachings on all the Upanisads
taken together. The systems provide a commentary on the Upanisads and the
Brahmasutras from their point of view.
The Upanisads consider that every action, every performance of duty, every
act of enjoyment is to be a sacrifice that ultimately reaches the Atman through the
Cosmic Person. It means that every act in the world is an act of sacrifice. Every
transformation is a sacrifice of the transformed. Even the Atman is said to have
performed sacrifice for creating the universe.
The Upanisads and the Vedantic systems seek to answer the basic questions,
What is the Atman?, What is the Brahman?, What is the Ultimate Reality?,
What is the Ideal of life? etc.
A brief summary of the most important philosophical doctrines of the eleven
most important Upanisads is stated in the appendix.

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12. Atman
For a seeker, the I consciousness is atman. The atman is self- conscious. All
cognition involves some kind of memory or recollection. All cognitions are acts of
consciousness directed towards particular sets of objects.
There is what the psychologists call logical memory. There is intuition. The
forms of memory and intuition become possible only when the atman is latently selfconscious. To cognize an object, the atman is to direct the mind towards it through the
relevant sense. The intent to direct the mind presupposes consciousness. It is a result
of the atman voluntarily directing its consciousness through an idea generated in
contact with the mind.
Potential self-consciousness, when interpreted as latent self-consciousness, is
comparable to the state of deep sleep. When one gets up from deep sleep into a
waking or dreaming state, the atman regains consciousness of the waking or the
dream world, as the case may be. It may, therefore, be said that mind and
consciousness naturally belong to the atman.
In addition to consciousness directed towards mind, senses and objects, and
towards ones own past experiences in the re-cognition of cognitions, there is also
self-consciousness, consciousness of ones existence in all acts of self-affirmation.
The peculiar nature of self-consciousness is without dimensions, fathomless.
Our ignorance of all objectivity in deep sleep is without bounds. But when we
wake up, we realize that the totality is an object in our assertion as in I am aware that
I was absolutely unconscious of everything in my deep sleep. It is this selfconsciousness - for I was aware that I was present in my totality in deep sleep - that is
working in my knowledge. Because of its infinitude, it makes stream consciousness,
memory, re-cognition and all the so-called varied forms of cognition possible.
It makes possible also the cognition of the meaning of the sentence consisting
of several words uttered in succession by transcending the succession of the meanings
of the separate words and again recollecting them into a unitary whole of the
meaningobject. Self-consciousness, the consciousness of my existence is the act of
self-affirmation and self-assertion, which is the will of affirming itself as continuing
existence.
The self-conscious atman is the spirit within, ontologically. It seeks realization
of itself, meaning to be real with it. It is self-realization. It is an experience for the
spirit or the self. It is beingness what it seeks.
The I consciousness is the pure being, eternal existence, free from ignorance
and thought illusion. If the seeker stays as the I, his being alone, without thought,
the I thought for him will disappear. The illusion will vanish for him forever.
The real Self is the infinite I. The infinite I is eternal. It is perfection. It is
without a beginning or an end.
When the I (ego) merges into the I (existence-consciousness - sat-cit), what
arises is the infinite I. This is the true I consciousness - the Atman.

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13. The Brahman

The Supreme I-AM is the highest level beyond which the seekers
consciousness cannot reach. That is the Supreme Being itself. It is the innermost,
further unfathomable depth of mans own being and thought. It is the I-AM. It is in
which the world including man has its roots and by which it is supported.
The true ontological being - the Supreme I-AM is the God (Aham Asmi) of the
Upanisads and the Exodus. It is also called the Brahman. The word Brahman is
derived from the Sanskrit verbal root brh, meaning to grow, to expand. The Brahman
is the ever growing, the ever expanding and the infinite dynamic being without limits
or bounds. This dynamism involves infinite energy, force or power. The Brahman is
thus not understood as mere abstract being, but as the root of the world itself.
The idea of the dynamism of the Supreme Being seems to have been obtained,
over the millenniums, from the food, which makes living beings grow, the chant of
the sacrificial priests that produces the desired results, the magical formulae that
produce results overtly, the power of sacrifices themselves and the power of prayer
itself.
The Brahman is considered the Supreme Deity. It is not one among many.
Everything in the world has its being in the Brahman. It is concrete in the sense that It
Is and asserts itself in the form I-Am. We only know that It Is. It cannot be a
person, as the word is generally understood. It Is, and yet indeterminate, beyond
speech and concept.
The Brahman, being the Supreme Being, permeating and pervading everything
in the world is the Supreme Consciousness. It is also considered the Supreme Spirit or
the Atman. By its very nature of all-encompassing and all-pervading phenomenon, the
Supreme Spirit or Atman is considered the innermost attribute or constituent of the
individual spirits or atmans. The Supreme Being becomes the Atman of all the atmans
- the Universal Spirit residing in all individual spirits. The Supreme Spirit inwardizes
into the individual spirits.
The Brahman is ontologically prior to everything. IT is, therefore, to be
regarded as the origin of everything. The Vedanta aphorisms define the Brahman as
that to which the birth, maintenance and destruction of the world have to be attributed.
The Brahman is, therefore, considered the creator, the sustainer and the destroyer of
the world.
The world-appearance is said to have the Absolute Brahman as its cause, in
the same way as the sky (space) is the cause of the growth of the tree, for the sky does
not obstruct its growth. In fact, the Brahman is not an active causative factor.
The Brahman has no initial cause. It is, therefore, uncreated (anadikarana). It
has no precedent state. It is not a product. Nothing changes to be the Brahman, nor
does It change to anything else. It does not undergo modification. The Becoming that

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arises out of It takes place without affecting Its very nature (vivartakarana). Vivarta
means change without being affected by change. The Brahman is changeless.
The Absolute is immaterial; so material sources of light like the sun do not
illumine It. It is self-luminous. Therefore, It is not inert or dark. The Absolute cannot
be realized or experienced by another. Only the Absolute can realize Itself.
The Brahman - the Supreme Being is without form; yet It has five attributes will, space, time, order (destiny) and the cosmic un-manifest nature. It has countless
powers or energies or potencies. Chief among them are knowledge, dynamics, action
and non-action. All these are pure consciousness though they are called the potencies
of consciousness.
The homogenous mass of cosmic consciousness does not give rise to anything
other than what it is its essence. Consciousness never becomes unconsciousness. Even
if there is modification, that, too, is consciousness. Hence, whatever there may be,
wherever and in whatever form - all is the Brahman. Everything exists forever in the
potential state in the mass of homogenous consciousness.
The Brahman or the Self alone is the reality in all beings as clay is the real
substance in thousands of pots. As wind and its movement are not different,
consciousness and its internal movement (energy) that causes all these manifestations
are not different.
The Infinite, which is without beginning and end, exists as pure experiencing
consciousness. That alone is this expanded universe, which is its body, as it were.
There is no other substance known as the intellect, nor is there an outside or void. The
essence of existence is pure experiencing, which is, therefore, the essence of
consciousness. Just as liquidity exists inseparable from water or any other liquid,
consciousness and unconsciousness exist together. Since there is neither a
contradiction nor a division in consciousness, it is self-evident. It is, therefore,
inappropriate to associate the created universe with the Brahman, and to associate the
inert with the Infinite Consciousness. The creation, which is of infinite form, is the
self-reflection of the Brahman. It is the Brahman, which knows Itself as the universe
and appears to be such.
The Cosmic Being has two bodies, the superior body that is Pure
Consciousness and the other that is the cosmos. All activity that takes place in the
cosmos originates in the Pure Consciousness. As a result, the cosmos is seen to be
real. The Cosmic Being exists in its Pure Consciousness as a sage exists in his atman
in his meditation.
The Brahman - the highest Being is the Absolute, Transcendental Self. The
three distinctions - Being (Existence), Reality and Truth become one in the Absolute
Reality. It not only satisfies the criterion of non- contradiction, but also is noncontradictable. It meets the highest criterion of logic, even at the level of
transcendental dialectic.
The one eternal immutable Truth is the Spirit or the Brahman. Without the
Spirit, the pragmatic truth of a self-creating universe would have no origin or

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foundation. The truths of universal existence are two-fold. One relates to the truths of
the Spirit that are themselves eternal and immutable. The other relates to the play of
the consciousness with the said eternal truths of the Spirit. The constant self-creation
which we call birth finds in the universal existence the perfect evolution of all that it
held in its own nature. All our births are the births of this Spirit embodying individual
spirit (atman) and self. To be is the object of our existence.
The ultimate reality of all that is in the cosmos is the triune principle of
transcendent and infinite Existence, Consciousness and Bliss, which is the nature of
the Divine Being. In addition, the fourth principle that manifests at the level of mind,
life and body is what we call the soul. This has a double appearance. Outwardly, the
soul strives for the possession and delight of things. Concealed and within, the true
psychic entity is the real repository of the experiences of the spirit. This fourth
principle of the soul is a projection and an action of the divine principle of infinite
Bliss. But this action is in the terms of our consciousness and under the conditions of
soul-evolution in this world.
From the cosmological point of view, the world has really colors, sounds,
smells, shapes, forms, etc. In the context of the valid means of cognition and the valid
cognitions to determine the objects of the world of actions, it is the Absolute Self
alone that meets the standards set by them in a negative way, that is, noncontradictability. There is absolute objectivity in it, not mere subjectivity, although it
is approached through finite subjectivity and its self-transcendence. The selftranscendence is not a mere point called the I, but the I as including its whole world at
that level, as assimilating and transforming it to itself. In fact, it cannot be reached
without the finite self somehow merging or becoming one with the Absolute Self.
Self-transcendence is not rational in the sense that we do not build up the
world of waking consciousness by elements of the dream world. We jump out of the
dream and carry the I consciousness to higher levels through assimilation to our
waking I consciousness. We generally take the world of action to be the reality. But
the world is a self-contradictory idea, as has been shown by the philosophers of the
East and the West. As Bradly says, the world is something hung on its sides from
chains the ends of which are fixed to something we know not what.
The idea of Reality is not self-sufficient, self-standing. As we seek to fix
Reality through the valid means of cognition with the help of valid cognitions, and as
the ultimate Reality is the self-conscious I Am and so Consciousness, we call the
Absolute by the name Absolute Truth, too. This is consciousness that is its own
object, often called intuition, integral knowledge, etc. Simply because it is
consciousness, it need not be identified with subjectivity as opposed to objectivity. At
every transcendental level, the opposition between the subject and the object at the
lower level is overcome and what transcends and covers both cannot be a mere
subject of the lower level. So there is justification to call the highest I Am by the
name the Highest Truth. The highest transcendental I Am cannot be one among many.
A question arises whether the Brahman does not get characterized by the
quality of being some cause for creation of the world, if the Brahman is considered
without qualities (nirguna). The non self-transforming cause effects change without

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being affected by it. This non self-transforming cause enables prakrti (maya) to create
the forms of the world. As such, prakrti is a constitutive quality, characteristic power
and energy of the Brahman. If we accept that prakrti belongs to the Brahman and
avidya to the finite atman (soul), avidya is the constitutive quality of the atman as
prakrti is of the Brahman. Here the word belongs is a way of suggesting in the sense
that my I or my character belongs to me, although I am my I am and am my
character. It is as heat to fire, as is generally understood.
The Brahman is beyond vidya and avidya, knowledge and ignorance. It is
beyond maya, the illusion of duality.
Sri Ramakrishna says: What the Brahman is cannot be described. All things
in the world - the Veda, the Puranas, the Tantras, the six systems of philosophy have been defiled, like food that has been touched by the tongue, for they have been
read or uttered by the tongue. Only one thing has not been defiled and that is the
Brahman. No one has ever been able to say what the Brahman is.
In samadhi one attains the knowledge of the Brahman one realizes the
Brahman. In that state, reasoning stops all together and one becomes mute, as mind is
transcended.
One cannot have the knowledge of the Brahman as long as there is the
slightest trace of worldliness. One is to keep ones mind aloof from the objects of
sight, hearing, touch and other things of worldly nature. Only then, does one realize
the Brahman as ones own innermost consciousness. And then, too, one knows only
this much of the Brahman: It Exists (Tat Sat).
As the all-pervading Spirit, the Brahman exists in all beings. But the
manifestations of His power are different in different persons.
There is a state of consciousness where the many disappears, and the One as
well; for the many must exist as long as the One exists. It is impossible to explain the
Brahman by analogy as between light and darkness. It is light, but not the light that
we perceive, not material light.
The Brahman is beyond mind and speech. As for camphor, nothing remains
after it is burnt - not even a trace of ash. A salt doll enters the ocean to measure its
depth. But it does not return to tell others how deep is the ocean. It melts in the ocean
itself. So is the Brahman beyond word and thought. It is only an experience for the
seeker.
The Brahman is without taint. The three gunas are in the Brahman. But It is
untainted by them. The Brahman is like air. The air carries good and bad smells. But
the air is unaffected.
The Brahman is neuter, unknown and unknowable. To be objectified, the
Brahman covers Itself with a veil of maya (prakrti), becomes the source of the
universe and so brings forth the creation.
Vivekananda says, The knowledge of the Absolute is absolute in itself. No
amount of study will give this knowledge. It is not theory; it is realization. Cleanse the

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dust from the mirror; purify your own mind. In a flash you realize that you are the
Brahman and your self is Its reflection. In other words, the Brahman is known to
every human being as I am. But man does not know himself as he is.
The Atman (Brahman) is self-illumined. Cause and effect do not reach the
Atman. This disembodied-ness is freedom. The Atman - the Brahman is beyond what
was, or is, or is to be.

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14. Beingbeing
The creative force is immanent in the Brahman. Creativity is negativity. There
is no creativity unless there is a leap from one state to another. Even in the case of
ordinary change, there is a leap from one moment of the process of change to the next.
There is a leap from waking to dreaming, then to deep sleep and back again to the
different states. But the leap does not mean complete destruction or negation. The
being thus never becomes non-being. There is continuity of being, with change of
form, one form succeeding another. It is the Brahmans own power of negativity, of
creative self-differentiation, of immanence and self-transcendence. This is to say that
the Brahman is the ground of everything that exists, the Being of the world, which is
ever transient.
There are said to be four levels of being covering the world of action. They
are the insignificant being, the apparent being, the pragmatic being and the Supreme
or the Ultimate Being. Self-contradictory objects like the son of a barren woman are
considered insignificant beings, as they do not exist at all. The objects of dreams and
illusions unrelated to the world of action through causal laws are considered apparent
beings. The objects of the real world have observability and perceivability. They are
meant for action and meet the conditions of action. They are, therefore, called
pragmatic beings. The being of the whole world as such is the Supreme or the
Ultimate Being. The difference among the four levels of being is not merely
epistemological, but ontological.
The significance of this classification into four levels of being is that each
higher level transcends the lower. This transcending is not by abstraction, but by
assimilation and absorption. The Brahman or the Supreme Being is described as
swallower, devourer (atta) of the world. As the Brahman creates and maintains it, He
destroys it, too. Where does it go when it is destroyed? It is absorbed and assimilated
into the Brahman. Similarly, the being of the objects of my imagination is the being
of my mind into which the objects disappear. The being of the objects of my dream is
the being of my empirical, waking self into which the dreams disappear.
That is why I remember my dreams, which sometimes come up to my
consciousness, long thereafter. Thus I am the retainer of the objects of my
imagination and also my dreams in some form or potency, which can sprout up at a
later stage. This way I am the swallower, devourer of these objects. I happen to be the
devourer of not only the objects of my imagination and dreams but also the I
consciousness, which is the subject of these objects. This is because every object is
necessarily related to a subject. Then what is devoured by the I of the waking state
are the objects of imagination and dreams of which my I also, in a transformed state,
is part. I remember what happened in a dream. Thus the transcending of the lower
level by the higher level of being is not by abstraction, but by assimilation and
absorption.
As belonging to the three worlds of imagination, dream and the waking states I
retain the objects of the lower worlds in myself and become part of the world of

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waking without inter-relating the objects of the lower world to the objects of my
waking state. Similarly, the world of action transcends itself through my I
consciousness, transforms itself into the Supreme I Am consciousness, that is, the
Brahman. Ontologically, the I-am is central for consideration of different levels of
being culminating into the Supreme Being - the Brahman.
The Brahman is the support of everything that is. It means that the being of
everything, that is, the to be of everything lies in its being rooted in the Brahman.
This means that the Brahman - the Supreme Being throws out of Itself the shapes and
forms of the world.
This makes the Brahman the efficient cause of the world. As ultimately the
stuff of the world is the being of the Brahman, It is the ultimate material cause. This
gives rise to the idea that the Supreme Being I Am is everywhere, in all things sentient and insentient objects, as the Supreme Being is the Consciousness Itself.
As Being and Consciousness, the Brahman is everywhere and is the material
cause of the empirical world. Just as I am everywhere, both in my I and every part
and every object of my dream and imagination, the Supreme Being is everywhere
both in my I-am and in every part of every object I experience.
In many religions, the Supreme Being, the Supreme Consciousness, the
Supreme I - Am or the Brahman is considered God. As the ultimate ontological
Being, He is the foundation of all beings. He is the support of all beings like the ocean
of the waves, the sun of its reflections, etc.
The Brahman is Being, Consciousness and Bliss (sat, cit & ananda). There is
no distinction between Being and Existence. Existence cannot be a predicate; so being
cannot be a predicate. What is not a predicate is not finite, limited. It has, therefore, to
be identical with being. So Being and Existence have to be one and the same.
The Brahman is Consciousness. The Brahman is Bliss. Bliss is the collecting
together of our dispersed and divided being into an intense unity. It is infinitely more
intense than the essence of everything in the world. It is the intensity of being. As
such the state attained in realization is bliss itself.
Being, Consciousness and Bliss are not qualities of the Atman or the Brahman,
which is without qualities (nirguna). These three are the attributes of the Brahman.
These are not the qualities the Brahman possesses. They are the Brahman.
The being of the Brahman is, thus, the ground for our saying that the world
exists - that the objects exist. Their existence is the Being of the Brahman shining
through our Is and egos. The Brahman is, thus, immanent in the whole world
including ourselves. Without It, there can be no existence of the world or us. In the
sense that the Brahman is immanent, the world is the Brahman. Yet, though
immanent, It is transcendent, too. The Being of the Brahman shines through the forms
of the world. But they themselves are not the Brahman. They are constituted by
prakrti (maya) and are subject to the natural laws - the laws of space, time, causality
and also the laws of change such as birth, decay and death. The Being of the Brahman
is not subject to any of these laws because IT is ever present in and accompanies
everything.
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The idea of causation or creation belongs to the world of objects. Carrying the
idea over to a realm beyond the world leads to contradiction. The four ontological
levels of the being based on considerations of truth and falsity are not meant to
demonstrate that the world is created or caused by something. In fact, when the
consciousness is able to rise to the highest level, there is no experience of the world,
and the question of relating the world to the Brahman in any way does not arise.
We have seen two kinds of causation with reference to the material cause causation in which the cause is self-transforming and causation in which the cause is
not self-transforming. Here material does not refer to physical matter as such, but
the stuff of the world, whatever it may be. The concept is that the effect, that is, the
material stuff is in the state of its cause and is identical with it. The cause is not nonbeing.
In the example of a pot being made of clay, the effect - pot is not different
from the cause - clay. What is new is only the form of the pot. We may say that the
form of the pot does not have its own being before it is made because its being is the
being of clay. As the form does not have its own being, we may be justified in saying
that it has no reality of its own. It does not mean that the pot does not exist. It is an
empirical reality as long as it exists in that form. As it has no being of its own before
it is made of clay, it is considered unreal, relative to its cause - the clay.
It can be generalized that no effect has a reality of its own. Relatively, the
cause has reality. This leads us to the conclusion that ultimately the Brahman alone is
real and all else is relatively unreal, but empirically exists. This doctrine propounded
by Sankara is called Satkaranavada, according to which the cause alone is being and
real.
The Advaita considers the Brahman as one and non-dual. The Brahman is pure
ontological being or Existence (satta). Being and Existence are one and the same.
Being cannot be many. If It is more than one, it becomes a class, and the word
becomes the name of the class. When I raise a question about how and where my
being is rooted, I do not ask what class of things it is, but what is to be. The
question, whether it is one or more, does not arise for the ontological being. We can
reasonably say that to be one is to be one among many. But ontologically, to be is
the act of being or existing. There is no duality both within and without being. If to
be is many, then the is in he is and the am in I am, etc should have different
meanings. But they do not have.
In the relative world, we are all individuals, with individual egos, bodies etc.
There is the Supreme Being - the Brahman, the Being of the universe as It manifests.
The Being is the universal soul. Each individual has his own being. The soul of each
individual is to be apparently distinct, as belonging to him. This is the divine
dichotomy.
Being-ness attracts being-ness and produces experience. At the individual
level, one is not to produce anything with ones body. One is to produce something
with ones soul. Ones body is merely the tool of ones soul. Ones mind is the power
that drives the body to act. So, what one has is a power tool, used in the creation of
the souls desire. The soul is seeking to be God.

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Being is whatever aspect of divinity one wishes to be; whomever one chooses
to be. Being is what one is. Being-ness comes from what is so and what works.
True awareness brings about an understanding that we have nothing to do, but to be.
When we are aware that we have nothing to do but to be, we stop trying to use doingness to solving our problems. Rather, we move to and come from a state of being
which would cause our experience of those problems to disappear. The conditions
leading to such problems, no longer, exist.
This does not mean that doing will be completely eliminated from ones life.
It only means what one experiences oneself doing, springs from ones being. The
latter does not lead to the former. Everything changes when one comes from being
rather than seeking to be. If one is trying to be happy or to love, one cannot get
there, by doing. The way to get there is to be there itself. Yet, one will be doing
wonderful things once one gets there.
Most people believe that if they have a thing like money, time etc, they can
do things, be happy, etc. In fact, the reverse is the truth. Having-ness does not
produce being-ness. It is the other way round. First one is to be compassionate or
happy. One is to start doing things from this point of being-ness. This results in one
having compassion or happiness. The paradigm have-do-be is to be reversed as
be-do-have. This is to say that one is to decide ahead of time what one chooses to
be, which produces that in ones own experience. Compassion, happiness, etc are
states of mind, which reproduce themselves in physical form. Act as if you are, and
you will draw it to you. What you act as if you are, you become.

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15. Becoming
It is an immutable law that the unreal has no real existence and the real does
not cease to be. If the creation is in fact real then there is no possibility of its
cessation. As the created world is ever in change, it does not stand the law of the real
not to cease to be.
The Creator of the universe is only spiritual and not physical, as the cause that
gives rise to the physical does not exist in Him. The Creator is not created - uncreated
(anadikarana), but Creator of all beings. The created (like a bracelet) is always of the
same substance as that of which it was created (like gold). As the Creator is spiritual,
the cause of His manifold creation is, therefore, His thought. He being the Spirit and
the cause of the creation being the thought, the creation, too, is truly of the nature of
thought, without materiality.
Nothing has ever been created anywhere at any time. Nothing comes to an end
either. Worlds within worlds appear in every atom. What can be the cause and how do
they arise? The Absolute The Brahman is All, Pure consciousness and Omnipresent.
A throbbing arose in the Creator whose thought had spread out as the universe.
This throb brought into being the subtle body, made of intelligence, of all beings.
Made only of thought, all these beings only appeared to be, though they felt that such
appearance was real. This appearance, thus imagined to be real, produced realistic
results or consequences as enjoyment in a dream does.
The Creator is the Intelligence (Consciousness) that supports the entire
universe. Every thought that arises in that Intelligence gives rise to a form. Though all
these forms are of the nature of pure intelligence, on account of self-forgetfulness of
this nature and of the thought of physical forms, they freeze into physical forms. This
is similar to ghosts, though formless, are seen to have forms on account of the
perceivers delusion.
The materiality of the creation is like the castle in the air, an illusory
projection of ones mind - imaginary.
Cosmic consciousness alone exists ever. That consciousness reflected in itself
appears to be creation. Even as the unreal nightmare produces real results, this worldcreation seems to give rise to a sense of reality in a state of ignorance.
The creation exists in the Brahman as the sprout exists in the seed, liquidity in
water, sweetness in sugar, etc. But in ignorance, it appears to be different from and
independent of the Brahman. There is no cause for the worlds existence. When there
is a notion of creation, the creation seems to be. When, through self-effort, there is an
understanding of non-creation, there is no world.
The Intelligence, which entertains these notions, conjures up the gross
elements - earth, water, fire, air and space. Associated with these, the same
Intelligence becomes a spark of light though it is the cosmic light itself. It then

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condenses into countless forms such as plants, worms, birds, animals, human species,
etc. Thus the vibration in Consciousness alone is the jiva, karma, etc.
Creation emerges in the Infinite Consciousness with no motive or desire as the
sun, without intending to shine, is reflected in a pool of water without the water
intending to so reflect it. As the sun causes night and day to follow each other without
intending to do so, creation arises in the Infinite Consciousness without any volition.
So far as the world (cosmos) is concerned, there is no Becoming without
Being, and no Being without Becoming. The Becoming is always patterned in a
perfect way. If there is no pattern, the Becoming will be a disconnected plurality. The
pattern confers the unity for different aspects of Becoming. This is to say that without
something the same running through the different instants or moments of Becoming,
Becoming cannot be becoming. Change cannot be change. They will be merely
unconnected events.
The way, in which man sees and experiences the universe, imposes on his
reason the necessity of a one original eternal substance of which all things are the
forms and a one eternal original energy of which all movement of action and
consequence is the variation. But the important question arises as to the reality of this
substance and the essential nature of this energy. Another question that arises is
whether this development is a creation or liberation. In other words, is it a birth of
what did not exist before or a slow bringing out of what already existed in suppressed
form or in eternal potentiality?
Nature is the force of self-expression, self-formation and self-creation of a
secret spirit. Man, hedged in his present capacity, is the first being in Nature in whom
the power of Nature is consciently self-creative. The reality of this whole mounting
creation is a spiritual evolution.
The word evolution carries with it, in its intrinsic sense, the idea of the
necessity at its root of a previous involution. If we believe that a hidden spiritual
being is the secret of all the action of Nature, we are to suppose that all that evolves
already existed involved, passive or active, but in either case concealed from us in the
shell of material Nature. The Spirit, which manifests itself in a body, must be
involved from the beginning in the whole of matter. Life, mind and whatever is above
mind must be latent, inactive or concealed in all the operations of material energy.
Whatever evolves is the release of the compressed powers of Nature involved. This
leads us to the idea of a Spirit present in the universe working through the steps of an
evolution, thus imposing the necessity of a previous involution.
The spiritual evolution may then be a kind of self-creation. It is not a making
of what never was, but a bringing out of what was implicit in the Being. The Spirit
involved in material energy is there with all its powers. Life, Mind and a greater
Supra-mental power are involved in Matter.
The Spirit is infinite existence, eternal, immortal being, a conscious self-aware
being. This world is because of the Spirits delight of its own infinite self-variation.

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Birth arises as all consciousness carries with it power of its own being, and power of
being is self-creative and must have the joy of its self-creation. Creation is only selfexpression. The birth of the soul in the body is nothing but a mode of its own selfexpression. Therefore, all things in the universe are expression, form, energy, and
action of the Spirit. Matter itself is the form of the Spirit, life the power of the being
of the Spirit; mind is the working out of consciousness of the Spirit. All Nature is the
power and action and self-creation of the one Spiritual Being. All Nature is a display,
and a play of God. Nature presents to the Spirit at once the force, the instrument, the
medium, the result of its powers. All these are the necessary elements for a gradual
and developing creation.
The ontological ultimate for the world (cosmos) is a consolidated and
concentrated unity of Being and Becoming. It is the I Am. It is a massive, intense,
dense, self-conscious experience without determinateness and without any possibility
of falsity. Becoming appears within the Being. This is so with the Supreme I Am as
with the individual I am.
He who is the Brahman is also prakrti (primordial energy). When thought of
as inactive, He is called the Brahman. When thought of as the creator, the preserver
and the destroyer, He is called the Primordial Energy. The Brahman and prakrti are
identical, like fire and its power to burn. Water is water whether it is still or moving.
Yogamaya signifies the yoga or union of Purusa and prakrti. Whatever is
perceived in the universe is the outcome of this union. In the image of Siva and Kali,
Kali stands on the bosom of Siva; Siva lies under Her feet like a corpse; Kali looks at
Siva. All this denotes the union of Purusa and prakrti. Purusa is inactive; therefore
Siva lies on the ground like a corpse. Prakrti performs all its activities in conjunction
with Purusa. Thus, Kali creates preserves and destroys. That is also the meaning of
the conjoined images of Radha and Krishna. On account of that union the images are
slightly inclined towards each other.
Existence-knowledge-Bliss Absolute is One and only one. But It is associated
with different limiting adjuncts resulting in Its manifestations. This is Becoming.
Ontologically the two ultimate categories of the cosmos are Being and
Becoming. Force and Activity are the potential and the kinetic stages of Becoming.
Being and Becoming are inseparable in the world. The force in both is the
same. One starts the process and the other fixes the pattern. Both have to be the one
and the same.
Becoming is truly applicable to self-conscious beings. They know that they are
going through the process of becoming.
It is also applicable indirectly to the insentient objects through the
observations of a self-conscious being. It is the self-conscious being that remains the
same through the observations of becoming in insentient objects, although the
structure and content of the observations, in their turn, go on changing. The observer,
then, is the witness consciousness so far as the becoming in the insentient objects is
concerned.

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Becoming is never pure, but is determined by modalities expressed by

subjects, objects, etc, in the words of Bergson.

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16. Relative World

The world (cosmos) is the realm of cause and effect, and the realm of means
and ends or of instruments and effects. This world is the world of process, action. The
world of action is an empirical reality. It is also an empirical being. This does not
mean that it is only a matter for experience. For instance, dreams are experienced. But
they are not considered an empirical reality. An empirical reality is meant to be a
realm of action, the result of past actions and impressions (samskaras), and is
changeable through present actions, controlled by the laws of causes-and-effects and
ends-and-means.
Logically and ontologically, the Brahman is prior to everything. It is,
therefore, the origin of everything. When the Brahman is considered the creator, the
sustainer and the destroyer of the world, then It must be the personal God. This
interpretation does not conflict with the position that the Brahman is without qualities
(nirguna). It only means that the Brahman is the ground of everything. This conforms
to the concept of the four levels of being, each higher being, being the ground of the
lower and ultimately the Brahman is the ground of all the lower levels and the world.
As It is the ground or basis, the Brahman is called the cause (karana), in the
ordinary sense of the term, of the world. Incidentally the Sanskrit word karana also
means ground, support and reason besides cause. It, therefore, follows that the
Brahman is only the supporting being (ground) of the forms of the world. What
constitutes the forms of the world is prakrti (the Un-manifest - maya).
The world is like a potters wheel. The wheel looks as if it stood still, though it
revolves at great speed.
Even as the un-carved image is forever present in a block, the world is
inherent in the Absolute, whether we regard the world real or unreal. The Absolute is,
therefore, not void.
As in the tangible ocean tangible waves are seen, in the formless Brahman, the
world also exists without form. From the Infinite, the Infinite emerges and exists in It
as the Infinite. Hence the world has never been really created - it is the same as that
from which it emerges.
Water in the mirage does not come into being and go out of existence. So this
world, too, does not come out of the Absolute, nor does it go anywhere. The creation
of the world has no cause and, therefore, it has had no beginning. It is only an
appearance based on the reality of the Brahman. It is not independent of the Brahman.
The Brahman alone exists.
In the waking state there is no materiality in the objects seen in a dream,
though, while dreaming, the objects appear to be solid. This dream-like appearance is
yet true during the period of the dream itself. The world-appearance is but a long
dream. This world, therefore, appears to be material, though in reality it is all pure
consciousness.

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The universe can be said both real and unreal. It is real because of the reality
of consciousness and unreal because the universe does not exist as universe,
independent of consciousness. The existence of consciousness cannot be denied, as it
is a matter of experience.
The world is as true in relation to the Brahman as the dream-city is true in
relation to the experience of the waking consciousness. Just as a mountain is seen
both inside the mirror and outside it, this world is both within consciousness as solid
matter and outside it as its reflection. The world and the cosmic consciousness are just
synonyms.
As for creation, material effects are produced by material causes. But the
created world has no immediate cause for the effect of creation. Then, surely the
cause existed in the past in the form of cosmic memory. Memory is like space, empty.
All creation is, therefore, the effect of emptiness. The creation is therefore empty, too,
like a dream.
There can be another concept of creation not based on memory of past
experience. This is the fortuitous meeting of atoms in Consciousness, which are then
able to produce their own effects. Creation ensues.
Either way the creation is no different from the Infinite Consciousness. The
Infinite Consciousness alone is thought-form or experience. Because of the essential
nature of the Infinite Consciousness, the universe(s), the infinite multitudes of the jiva
and forms keep arising and arising again and again by their own thought force and
return to a state of tranquility. This is in the nature of spontaneous play of a child.
There is no cause and effect relationship what so ever. The Infinite Consciousness is
forever in infinite consciousness. As consciousness exists everywhere forever,
creation of worlds and their dissolution goes on everywhere forever. All these are held
together by a mysterious omnipresent power innate in the Infinite Consciousness.
The fanciful conviction that the unreal is real is deep-rooted by repeated
imagination. The ethereal body alone is; by persistent fancy, it appears to be linked to
a physical body. When the intelligence is established in the conviction of the ethereal
nature of the body, the body is forgotten, as in youth one forgets life as just born
child. Whatever one thinks within oneself in ones intelligence alone is experienced.
This world is nothing but pure hallucination. It is no more than an idea. In the
Infinite Consciousness, the idea of the creation arose, and that is what is.
The individualized consciousness of the mind perceives what it thinks it
perceives, on account of its conditioning. In ignorance, the real appears to be unreal
and the unreal seems to be real. These hallucinations become reality when
experienced by many, even as a statement made by very many people is accepted as
truth. When these are incorporated in ones life, they acquire their own reality. After
all, what is the truth concerning the things of this world, except how they are
experienced in ones own consciousness?
The universe is as real as a dream vision, for no one produces it out of
anything with any instruments.

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The relationship between the life force and consciousness is imagined. As it is

so imagined, there is world-appearance. The life force by its association with
consciousness becomes conscious and experiences the world as its object. But all this
is as unreal as the experience of a ghost by a child. When the Truth is clearly
understood, that which was falsely imagined as the mind ceases to be, and is
transcended.
The Infinite Consciousness is free of all modifications. But when there arises
the notion of I am in It, that notion is known as the jiva. It is the jiva that lives and
moves in the body. When the notion of I (ahambhava) arises, it is known as egosense (ahamkara). When there are thoughts (manana), it is known as mind (manas).
When there is awareness (bodha), it is intelligence (buddhi). When seen (drs) by the
individual soul (indra), it is known as the sense (indriya). When the notion of body
prevails, it appears to be the body. When the notion of object prevails, it appears to be
diverse objects. Through the persistence of these notions, the subtle personality
condenses into material substantiality. The world-appearance ensues.
The mysterious power of consciousness produces in an inexplicable and
miraculous way the infinite diversity of names and forms. This mysterious power is
what is known as egotism. When egotism, which is no different from consciousness,
comes into being, it entertains notions of the various elements that constitute this
universe, and they arise. In unity arises diversity. This consciousness is not knowable.
When it seeks to be knowable, it is known as the universe. Mind, intellect, egotism,
the five great elements, the world, etc - these innumerable names and forms are all
consciousness alone. As a man and his life are indistinguishable being the static and
the kinetic manifestations of the same being, the jiva, the mind, etc are all vibrations
in consciousness. No change or transformation, however, takes place in
consciousness. As heat is to fire, liquidity is to water, butter is to milk, coolness is to
ice, brightness is to illumination, oil is to mustard seed, sweetness is to honey, and
aroma is to a flower, the universe is to consciousness. The world exists because
consciousness is, and the world is the body of consciousness.
The cosmic Being is the omnipresent omniscience. It shines eternally. When a
vibration arises in the cosmic Being, creation ensues comprising countless varieties of
animate and inanimate, sentient and insentient beings in the universe. The cosmic
Being shines in all the beings so created.
The only way to cross the formidable ocean of world-appearance is the
successful mastery of the senses. When one is equipped with the wisdom gained by
the study of the scriptures and the company of the sages and has his senses under
control, one realizes the utter non-existence of all objects of perception.
Some see the creation in different ways, too. Some are of the view that the
Brahman, as Being (satta), is the material cause, but maya (prakrti) is only a
subsidiary cause responsible for throwing up of forms of the world. Some others are
of the view that the Brahman, as the non-self-transforming cause, remains aloof from
the created world, while being immanent everywhere as Being, though transcendent,
too.

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Some are of the view that prakrti (maya) alone is the material cause, as the
unconscious insentient matter of the world cannot originate in the Brahman. Some
others are of the view that the Brahman along with prakrti is the material cause, as
both being and unconsciousness are present in the world. Prakrti veils consciousness
and shows only being in the object perceived.
Anyway, the world of forms is an ordered whole in which the laws of space,
time and causation hold true. But it is not a self-contained and self-consistent whole.
The self-contradictory nature of the world in relation to space, time and causation
establishes it. What lies beyond the world is no chaos, but being itself. The being of
the world we experience is the Brahman - the Supreme Being. It is the nature of the
Being to support the world in spite of its self-contradictions. The self-contradictory
aspect always points to something that is at least relatively not self-contradictory. In
spite of its self-contradictory nature, causality holds true in the world.
The world consists of the illusory duality of knowledge and ignorance. It
contains knowledge and devotion, and attachment to worldly desires, righteousness
and unrighteousness, good and evil. But the Brahman is unattached to these. Good
and evil apply to the jiva, as do righteousness and unrighteousness. The sun sheds its
light on all - the virtuous and the wicked alike. It makes no distinction.
The universe and the individual are necessary to each other in their ascent.
They always exist for each other and profit by each other. Universe is a diffusion of
the divine All in infinite space and time. The individual is its concentration within
limits of space and time. Universe creates in itself a self-conscious concentration of
the All through which it can aspire. In the conscious individual prakrti turns to
perceive Purusa; God having entirely become Nature, Nature seeks to become
progressively God.
How can one explain misery, sin and unhappiness in the world? The answer is
that these apply only to the jiva, the individual soul, based on the samskaras of the
past births and of the past in the present birth.
The created world is what it is. It consists of the poles of opposites. There is
good and evil, pain and pleasure, joy and sorry in human experience. To experience
an emotion or a sensation, the knowledge resulting from the experience of the
opposite pole is necessary. In the absence of it, either experience is not possible. Evil
is to be as much part of the world as good; pain is to be as much part as pleasure. If
the world carries only one emotion, its experience will not make any sense to any
person. So is the case with all other aspects of life as it operates.
In the Absolute, however, there is no experience, only knowing. Knowing is a
divine state. But the grandest joy is in being. Being is achieved only after experience.
The evolution, thus, is knowing, experiencing and being, in the relative world.
It is often asked that if God is all-perfect and all-loving, why God would
create pestilence and famine, war and disease and all kinds of natural disaster,
worldwide calamity, personal disappointment and the like. The answer lies in the
mystery of the world itself. The world is the way it is because it could not be any
other way and still exist in the gross realm of physicality. Natural disasters like

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earthquakes, floods, etc are but movements of the elements from one polarity to the
other. Worldwide calamities are the result of worldwide consciousness. The whole
birth-death cycle is part of this movement. These are the rhythms of life. Everything
in the relative world is subject to them. Life itself is a rhythm. It is a way, a vibration,
a pulsation at the very heart of That All That Is.
Illness and disease are opposites of health and well-being. They are made
manifest in ones reality. Each cannot be experienced in the absence of its opposite.
One cannot be ill without causing oneself to be. Similarly, one can be well again by
willing to be so. Personal disappointments are responses chosen.
The creation of the relative world seems very real. We accept it as truly
existing. This way God has created something else other than Itself, that is, the
realm of the relative. This creates an opportunity for one to choose the real emotion
love to experience. This is to realize ones true self. That is why highly evolved
souls always choose love, in every instance, in every moment and in every
circumstance. That is also why they always love even their oppressors, their
persecutors. The greatest souls known to humanity are always considered true
embodiments of love - Divine Love.
One only is what one is relative to another thing that is not. That is how it is in
the world of the relative as opposed to the world of the Absolute. One, therefore,
exists in this world as an identifiable individual only through ones relationship with
other people, places and events.
The soul is the energy of life that exists within and around (as the aura of) all
physical objects. In a way, it holds the physical objects in place. As the soul of the
Supreme Person holds the universe, the soul of each individual holds each individual
human body. While there is no actual separation among the individual souls, the One
Soul holding the universe manifests in physical reality at different speeds, producing
different degrees of density, constituting individual beings and objects in the relative
world. It is the sacred rhythm of all life.
Every one of us is moving from knowing to not knowing to knowing again,
from being to not being to being again, from Oneness to separation to Oneness again,
in a never ending cycle. This is the cycle of life the Cosmic Wheel, the relative
world.
There is nothing depressing about the cycle of life. There is only joy. Even
the joy would not be joy, were there not a time when there was no joy. This is as true
with spiritual as it is with physical joy.
Neale Donald Walsch states, Life is the process through which God creates
Itself and then experiences the creation. This process of creation is ongoing and
eternal. It is happening all the time. Relativity and physicality are the tools with which
God works. Pure energy - Universal Spirit is what God Is.
Life is like a CD-ROM. Everything that is ever going to happen has already
happened. Every possibility exists as fact, as completed events. In a computerized
video game, everything is on the disc. The computer knows how to respond to every
move the child makes because every possible move has already been placed on the
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disc, along with its appropriate response. Every ending, and every twist and turning
producing that ending, is programmed on the disc. The computer disc does not care
whether the child wins or loses the game. When the game is over, it only offers the
child another chance to play again. All the endings already exist and which ending the
child experiences depends on the choices the child makes.
So is the case with the universe. The universe is just waiting to see which
choice one makes at any given time. The response of the universe is directly related to
the choice made. When the game is over, the universe offers a chance again. In the
universe, all the possibilities exist and have already occurred.

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17. Consciousness
General
If we ask a man do you exist? he may be surprised or say emphatically I
do. His behavior clearly demonstrates that he is conscious of his existence, not
merely of the appearance of his body or of his having a body. Consciousness of ones
existence is self-consciousness. Self-consciousness can have no clear directedness or
intentionality towards anything, not even explicitly towards itself. Sartre defines
consciousness as a being such that in its being, its being is in question in so far as
this being implies a being other than itself. In other words, consciousness is a being,
the nature of which is to be conscious of the nothingness of its being.
Consciousness is the central aspect of our inner world and thus, first of all, an
experience. Basically the term has been used in three distinct ways. First, it is as a
theoretical construct referring to the system by which an individual becomes aware of.
Second, it is to refer to reflective awareness, an awareness of being aware. Third, it is
as a general term encompassing all forms of awareness. The first two ways of
experiencing consciousness are restrictive. Therefore, consciousness is best utilized as
a general term referring to all forms of experience or awareness. This is not restricted
to either conscious behavior or to waking experiences.
This approach to consciousness adopts a strategy termed experimental
empiricalexperiential. The approach attempts to understand the nature of human
consciousness with reference to varieties of experiences and the factors, which
determine an experiential state whether it is a common experience like dreaming or
unusual experience like ecstasy or samadhi. It studies various varieties of experiences
and treats brain mechanisms as one set of determinants. It is experimental for the
reason that the understanding of the mechanisms determining consciousness helps to
repeat a phenomenon to predict its occurrence and control it.
The approach is experiential on two grounds. First, it emphasizes on the
subjective nature of consciousness and accords primacy for experience. Second, the
aspirants seeking experience of consciousness practise different kinds of meditation
like Transcendental meditation, Buddhist meditation and the like techniques. Some
investigators go to the ascetics in the Himalayas who are experimenting with
consciousness, for first-hand experience. Others experiment with LSD, hypnosis,
sensory deprivation, etc. They are self-experimenters.
Classification of phenomenological data based on the experiments related to
consciousness reveals that individuals undergo experiences in a systematic way and
different kinds of experiences unfold themselves progressively in a systematic
sequence. Experiencing different states of consciousness has a definite order while
individuals differ with regard to the level of consciousness they reach in their
experience. It also reveals that the range and scope of human consciousness is almost
infinite, though the variance is wide for different individuals. It establishes that even
the waking state of consciousness is not uniform to all human beings, the variation
being very significant. Similarly, different states of consciousness lead to differences

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on different physiological parameters. Individuals differ significantly for better or

worse during or after an experience of altered states of consciousness. Some may
show better intellectual and perceptual capacities, improved emotional control,
changes in outlook and values, and over all efficient functioning. Some may get
disorganized in the personality make-up leading to disturbances in cognitive,
emotional and volitional aspects.
A state of consciousness is a manifestation of patterned interaction of physical,
biological, psychological and socio-cultural factors. Consciousness is related to
human nature as we normally understand, and also to the nature of Reality. This leads
to the postulation of the levels of consciousness, some being in a normal state and a
few others in a higher state of consciousness. Human beings in their ordinary waking
conscious state can become aware of themselves (ego), of others (interpersonal),
about human nature in general (realities of human nature), universe (aesthetic) and
about the external world as such (reality). Transcendent awareness is available to
those who are able to go beyond the confines of spacetime frame work. But when
one experiences transcendence, one is open to other realities. This experience will
have profound influence on other aspects of awareness. The interrelatedness of
different aspects of consciousness leads to the breakdown of compartmentalized
outlook resulting in the awareness of the Self.
Individuals who have strong motivation of growth, a flexible ego-structure and
who are free from internal conflicts and problems can move towards higher states of
consciousness, should they make determined efforts adopting experimental
experiential strategy. Different altered states of consciousness refer to psychological
functions referred to by Pathanjali as chittavrittihi. Manahstithi refers to experiential
state and manovikalpa refers to pathological state of consciousness. The terms prajna,
chaitanya, dharmabhuta-jnana, samadhi, brahmistithi refer to awareness,
consciousness, pure consciousness, pure awareness, etc.
Transformation to higher states of consciousness results from adherence to the
prescribed meditations whereby consciousness is refined, converted and realigned
from the coarse to the fine. Enhanced faculties of attention, thought, feeling and
sensation characterize the higher states. A different kind of perception, awareness and
experience arises conforming to different levels of reality and truth.
The idea that man has access to higher realms of consciousness and reality is
prevalent in all contemplative traditions. The Indian tradition speaks of four states of
consciousness - jagrat or the waking consciousness, svapna or the experiencing of
reality as the product of ones subjective projections, susupti or the divine wisdom
consciousness and turiya or the ineffable consciousness.
Individual consciousness is powerful enough. It creates events, occurrences,
conditions, circumstances etc. It releases creative energy. Mass consciousness is so
powerful that it can create events and circumstances of worldwide import and
planetary consequences. When one acts consciously, the act arises out of ones
consciousness. Whatever events one produces, or one draws to oneself without any

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thoughts, are unconscious events or actions. Conscious action is a thought consciously

put into action.
Sankara says: If you do not have a consciousness, then everything is dark and
nothing in the universe exists. This corresponds to the view of the modern quantum
mechanics that unless you can observe a thing, it just does not exist. This is for the
reason that there must be an interaction between the observer and the observed to
complete a measurement. It is consciousness that fills the bill in the material world in
the sense that it determines its existence.
The Perennial Philosophy considers that pure consciousness is the true state of
the divine Ground or the Godhead and it permeates the whole universe as the pure
activity of the Godhead. All conscious experiences are the states of consciousness
altered or modified with respect to pure consciousness. As a corollary, consciousness
is presumed present in all beings sentient and insentient in the universe. The
material world exists. The conscious world exists. They go together. It is the
combined cycle that operates. One must have the other. And there is not one without
the other. Both are ever in symbolic interaction with each other.
The universe is conscious on account of the Consciousness of God. The
universe is saturated with the Consciousness of God, as the earth is soaked with water
in the rainy season, says Sri Ramakrishna.
There are different planes of consciousness - the gross, the subtle, the causal
and the Great Cause. Entering the Mahakarana (Great Cause), one becomes silent.
One cannot utter a word.
Divine consciousness is in three moods - the inmost wherein one loses all
knowledge of the outer world, the semi-conscious when one dances with other
devotees in an ecstasy of love and the conscious when one joins the others in loud
singing.
All is a matter of consciousness. One has to raise consciousness before one
can bring about change of consciousness. It is without limit.
The alternating levels of relative consciousness are waking, dream and deepsleep states. They are not real, as they come and go. The I or existence that alone
persists in all the three states is real.
Existence and consciousness is the only reality. Ramana Maharshi says:
Consciousness plus waking, we call waking. Consciousness plus sleep, we call sleep.
Consciousness plus dream, we call dream. Consciousness is the screen on which all
the pictures come and go. The screen is real; the pictures are mere shadows on it.
Whatever is regarded as the real objective world experienced in the waking
state is no more real than that experienced during dream. During dream, the objective
world does not exist. During the waking state, the dream does not exist. That, which
holds together either experience, is absent in the other. One cannot say that either is
real or unreal, but can only say that their substratum alone is real. The universe exists
in the Brahman as a word, an idea. It is neither real nor unreal like a snake in the rope.

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The world-appearance is the waking state of consciousness. Egotism is the

dreaming state. The mind-stuff is the deep sleep state. Pure consciousness is the
fourth state. Beyond the fourth state is the absolute purity of consciousness.
The waking state is that state which endures. The dream state is that which is
transient. During the period of the dream, it takes on the characteristic of the waking
state. When the waking state is realized to be of a fleeting nature, it gets the
characteristic of dream. The two are, therefore, the same. The consciousness which is
awake in deep sleep and which is also the light that shines in waking and dreaming is
the transcendental consciousness - the fourth (turiya) state of consciousness.
To an immature and ignorant person who is confirmed in his conviction that
this world is real, it continues to be real. He who sees the objective world does not see
the Infinite Consciousness, which alone is true. The ego-sense and the fancy of the
objects of the world are as real as the dream objects. The sole reality is the Infinite
Consciousness, which is omnipresent, pure, tranquil and omnipotent whose being is
the Absolute Consciousness, which is not an object and, therefore, not knowable.
Wherever this Consciousness manifests in whatever manner It chooses, It is That.
Because the substratum - the Infinite Consciousness is real, all that is based on It
acquires reality, though the reality is of the substratum alone. As for the objects, the
reality is relative. This relative reality is like the reality of the dream objects.
Supreme consciousness is ongoing action or creation, consciously done with
an awareness and sublime intention to experience the Self. This is being at the
spiritual game. This is to say that one is to dedicate ones whole soul, whole mind
and whole body to the process of creating self in the image and likeness of God. This
is the process of self-realization or salvation or in whatever way it is called. This is a
moment-to-moment conscious action in pursuit of the sole - soul goal.
Supreme consciousness is a state of being in which one grows until one
reaches full awareness, creating and experiencing ones own reality, expanding and
exploring that realty, changing and re-creating that reality as one stretches ones
consciousness without any limit. In other words, consciousness is everything. It is the
basis of all truth, and thus of all true spirituality.
Supreme consciousness is God consciousness. It provides spiritual
enlightenment. When one experiences spiritual comfort, one will not find oneself
worrying about physical comfort. When once one rises to the level of God
consciousness, one will realize that one is no longer responsible for any other
individual. Ones concern for ones physical comfort gets drastically reduced. It no
longer remains a concern.
Supreme consciousness is the turiya (fourth) state of consciousness beyond the
three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. This state is eternal and the other three
states come and go in it. As the turiya state alone exists and as the three preceding
states merge into it and disappear, the turiya state transcends itself and becomes the
turiyatita. The Self is the turiyatita, beyond the fourth state of consciousness.

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Awareness is experience of the consciousness of the whole, within which the

individual soul is imbedded, being awakened. The individual aspect of the All That Is
becomes aware of itself. It becomes self-conscious.
Being-ness arises out of a state of total awareness. If one is seeking to become
aware, then one cannot be. If one seeks to have something, one cannot have it because
the very seeking is a statement that one does not then have it. When one is in a state of
total awareness, then one will be able to do all the things that beings in a state of total
awareness can do. Complete knowing will work its wonders. There are many on our
planet right now that have manifested many of these higher thoughts in their total
awareness.
Some seekers after Truth bring awareness to others by example. They seek to
be the source of love of the Supreme Person in the lives of others, for they realize that
what they give to others, they give it to themselves.
Some seekers in the state of total awareness seek to experience all the peace
and joy, limitlessness and freedom, wisdom and love that Oneness brings them during
their wakeful state itself. It means living in total awareness. The seeker becomes
totally aware of Who He Is. All of life is a meditation for a seeker, in which he
contemplates always the Divine. Experienced in this way, everything in life is
blessed. There is no more pain or pleasure, happiness or sorrow, anxiety or worry.
There is only experience, the experience of bliss.
Witness consciousness, Phenomenological consciousness, Existential
consciousness and Inner-controller are concepts related to consciousness with
ontological significance. An analysis of these concepts will help to appreciate the
relation between the Brahman, prakrti and the relative world.

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Witness Consciousness
The Brahman is undifferentiated. How does the differentiation take place
when the Brahman creates the world without being affected by the creative activity?
The answer lies in the idea of the witness consciousness (sakshi-chaitanya) which
witnesses that it is knowing, cognizing, experiencing urges, emotions, etc. This
corresponds to the idea of Spinoza of the mind knowing both itself and matter.
Husserls idea of the witness is similar to this concept.
The entire creation is like a stage on which all the potencies of consciousness
dance to the tune of time. The foremost among them is known as order - the natural
order of things and sequences. It is this potency that ordains that each thing from the
blade of grass to the creator Brahma should have a characteristic. This natural order is
what causes the world-appearance. The Supreme Being is the witness consciousness
of this cosmic dance - world-appearance. It is not different from the cosmic natural
order and the happenings.
The witness consciousness relating to the Brahman is the Cosmic Mind, which
is the attribute itself. The individuals mind is similar to the Cosmic Mind, as its
reflection or mode. Within the individuals mind, there is the distinction between the
witness and the witnessed consciousness. This is similar to ones experience of trying
to shake off the identity of the waking I with the dream I and absolve oneself from,
and be unaffected by, the actions of the dream I, when one comes out of the dream.
The witness consciousness has different levels. In the above example of the
dream and waking states, the witness is at the empirical level. Although it often
disassociates itself easily from itself as experiencing the dream objects, it has to make
often some special effort for the purpose. Then forgetfulness helps in erasing the
dream experiences. But at the deeper and higher levels of the witness consciousness,
the disassociation is more and more spontaneous and obvious to oneself.
If the witness consciousness, that is, the I consciousness, that is, the atman
knows the existence aspect of an object and if the existence of the object is different
and separate from the atman, how can the atman know the existence of the object?
The witness consciousness witnesses and is, therefore, directed towards the
experience it witnesses. It is directed outwards.
But existential consciousness is not so directed and knows only itself. As the
attribute consciousness directed towards the object includes or comprehends the
object for knowing its existence, witness consciousness, directed outwards, that is,
towards the object, includes the existence of the object. Directedness as a relation has
to include both the terms of the relation. Witness consciousness, then, knows the
existence of the object, true or false, as its own existence and the existence aspect of
the object are one and the same. Thus the empirical split between the subject and the
object must have been based on a transcendental unity to which the power of the
creative split must be inherent.
The idea of the witness consciousness is closely related to the ideas of being
and becoming. This is to say that without something the same running through the

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different instants and moments of becoming, becoming cannot be becoming. The selfconscious beings are aware of the process of becoming so far as they are concerned.
As for the insentient beings, it is the self-conscious being that remains the
same through the observations of becoming in insentient objects. The observer is the
witness consciousness so far as the becoming in the insentient object is concerned.
Here, the Inner Controller is the Cosmic Person of both the observer and the
insentient being. This is for the reason that the Cosmic Person constitutes the basic
structures and potentialities of the observer and the insentient being, within certain
limits, which is the witness consciousness of both. Although, Being and Becoming are
ontological, they have cosmological implications.

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Existential Consciousness & Phenomenological Consciousness

The concepts of Existential Consciousness (svarupa-jnana) and
Phenomenological Consciousness (dharmabhuta-jnana) throw considerable light on
the knowledge situation. The existential consciousness is the atman. The
phenomenological consciousness is described as working through mind and the
senses. It is everything that is said to be internal except the atman and mind.
The existential and phenomenological consciousnesses are in essence one and
the same, and also are distinct as in the reflective consciousness I-know that I-know
X. When I see a star, it is not merely my phenomenological consciousness that
becomes one with the existence of the star. In the live act of perception, both the
consciousnesses unite. But in reflection, the existential consciousness can transcend
the identity and make it its own object. The phenomenological consciousness is only
the outward going force of the existential consciousness. It is part and parcel of the
latter and can be assimilated to it. The complete disappearance of the
phenomenological consciousness in deep sleep is complete withdrawal into the
existential consciousness as structured by our finitude. The phenomenological
consciousness does not reveal the existential at the time that it reveals an object. But
the presence of the existential in the act of seeing and locating the object is revealed in
the reflective consciousness through the transcendence of the witness consciousness.
In fact, the light, which reveals the object through the phenomenological
consciousness, is the borrowed light of the existential. In other words, it is the light,
which is the existential consciousness that reveals the object through the
phenomenological consciousness, which is a form of activity of the existential
consciousness (atman).
It is for this reason that we do not know ourselves when we are focused on the
object and know the object. Although phenomenological consciousness denotes
something substantive, it is essentially the form of the activity of the atman, one of
the types of its becoming.
Thus, the atman as existential consciousness cannot be excluded from the
phenomenological consciousness which itself is a function, power, force of the
former. The phenomenological consciousness has, therefore, directedness towards the
object, gross or subtle, or even an idea, or a mental image. Direction has necessarily
two terms, that from which and that to which it points. Then the two terms must have
been included in the direction of the phenomenological consciousness. They have to
be inseparable from the consciousness. This direction or directedness is not that of an
empty or lifeless relation. It is that of a concrete, living process. It is a case of the
concrete, factual, experimental, not merely that of an abstract symbol as in formal
logic or mathematics.
Indeed, the phenomenological (attribute) consciousness, in a sense, flows
through the inner sense (antahkarana) and the senses. But they are not patterns
external to it. They constitute the very form of the attribute consciousness. They are
constituent to it, as its patterns of active directedness, not static or inactive. Thus, the

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independence of prakrti from the phenomenological consciousness of either the

Supreme Spirit or the finite atman is not tenable.
The atman absorbs its attribute consciousness and has infinite power or
potency to do so. This is to say that the directed knowing (I-know) is absorbed into
being (I-am), the phenomenological into the existential consciousness.
A question arises whether the individual atmans (the atmans of finite
individuals) as existential consciousnesses (svarupa-jnana) can ultimately remain
independent of one another. Empirically, in the world of action, they are often
independent, that is, separate, although dependent on one another in practical life. The
question is whether they remain separate and be many, through all the transcendental
stages. If the Logos and its various levels are the same for every individual,
constituting the stages of his higher self, is it possible that at these transcendental
stages all the atmans are separate and not one?
In Indian philosophy or thought, the question whether something remains so
and so ultimately is considered from the point of view of what it will be in liberation.
The presumption is that in the liberated state, everything assumes its absolutely
original form.
If the phenomenological (attribute) consciousnesses are each infinite by
nature, overlapping, interpenetrating, conscious, and conscious of one another, it is
not intelligible that they can be separate. If I know whatever is happening in anothers
mind, his thinking, his pains and pleasures without his telling me, then there is
nothing to separate him from me. Both of us have to be identical. But that does not
happen.
Regarding sensations and sense data, one may say that there is privacy of
experience. However, we cannot be so sure about the privacy of sensations as we can
be of pains, pleasures, mental images, illusions, dreams etc. although, all are
experiences. If X says, I am in pain, I know and the doctor knows that X is in pain.
It does not mean that I and the doctor experience the same pain which X experiences.
Still our experience, that X experiences pain, is real.
The sensations and the senses are different as belonging to different persons.
The atmans are each infinite and even the attribute consciousnesses of each are
infinite. Yet the sensations and the senses overlap and are different without becoming
numerically identical. How are we then to account for the identity of the object? In the
case of the pain of X, if the object of sensation is not the same for three of us, there
will be no identity of the object in perception. If the senses present sensations (sense
data), mind their unity as an object as a whole, then what is it in us that presents the
identity?
The Upanisads mention the inward structure of the self - senses, life, mind,
individual reason, Cosmic Reason and the atman in that ascending order. We may
have to say that it is the Cosmic Reason, which has to be the same, numerically
identical, in all of us. It is what finally confers existence on all the phenomenal
objects in so far as they are real. The Cosmic Reason in all of us must be the same
and also must be above the impurities of individual reasons. It has to be the higher

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aspect or dimension of the individual reason and has also to be its deeper aspect or
dimension. The numerical sameness of the object we contend for can be made
possible only by something numerically the same for all in our inner beings. Hence, in
spite of overlapping of experiences, it cannot be contended that we can be different
persons all the way up to the individual atman. It ends at the stage of the Cosmic
Reason before the atman in each individual. Existence is only one. Ontologically, all
existences, all beings of both God and the finite individuals are one. Only empirically
in the world of action, are they different.
The phenomenological (attribute) consciousness is structured and directed. It
has intentionality. The structure of the phenomenal world is due to the structure of the
phenomenological consciousness in so far as it works rightly. This consciousness is
said to be outward like the Eternal Force (nitya-vibhuthi). The two forms of
consciousness - of the atman and of God - are said to be inward, called the existential
consciousness.
Now in the atmans act of cognizing an object, how are the two forms - the
inward and the outward related? The answer may be that the same phenomenological
consciousness, when it reveals an object, reveals itself to the atman. For revealing
itself to the atman, which is inward, it must have inward directedness and for
revealing the object, it must have outward directedness. Then, the so-called inward
and outward directedness are not absolute distinctions, but are two intentionalities of
the same consciousness, that is, the phenomenological consciousness. The atman is
conscious of the phenomenological consciousness belonging to it like heat of fire. It is
the power of the atman or the existential consciousness itself. Without the existential
consciousness in the background, the phenomenological consciousness cannot be
phenomenological.
In the final analysis, my phenomenological consciousness is my rational
consciousness with directions outwards and inwards. It is finally to be absorbed,
assimilated to and made part of my being, my I-am which will be the true
indeterminate consciousness (jnana). It is infinite, without contours and fully restful.
The existential consciousness is not revealed only by the phenomenological
when it reveals an object, but is cognized by itself. Its cognition of itself is not like
revealing an object by the phenomenological consciousness; existential consciousness
is not an object of the phenomenological like the book on the table. The
phenomenological is known as another to the existential consciousness, but also as
being covered, comprehended and within the existential consciousness. It is like my
body being an object of my consciousness, but my consciousness extending beyond
my body.

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Inner Controller
At the level of the Supreme Brahman, prakrti dissolves into the Supreme
Being - the Brahman. With prakrti not existent in perception, the I consciousness
(atman) of the seeker is no longer concerned with prakrti, which is part of the
Brahmans self-transparent I Consciousness. The dissolution or vanishing of prakrti
means that it has become part and parcel of the seeker and is no longer controlling
him. It is being controlled by him. As he cannot find himself as an object distinct from
him, he cannot make prakrti his object. Nor does he feel its limiting power when it
becomes part of him. In other words, he is in full command as prakrti dissolves into
him.
This gives an idea as to how the concept of the Inner Controller works. In my
finite individual, my I consciousness is the inner controller of the activities of my
senses and my organs of action. In the case of ethical activity, my character, which
constitutes my personality, is the inner controller of my conduct. The idea of control
becomes meaningful when it is realized that my I consciousness is also the witness
consciousness and, as such, guides my activities.
Similarly, with different degrees of detachment, the three stages or levels of
the Logos - the Virat (Cosmic Person), Hiranyagarbha (the soul of the Cosmic
Person) and Isvara (the personal God), become inner controllers, each higher of the
lower. Generally all the three are clubbed. The Logos is considered the Inner
Controller and the Witness Consciousness in finite individuals. The Brahman is the
eternal Inner Controller and the Witness Consciousness. As there are levels of the
witness consciousness, are there levels of the inner controller.

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Infinite Consciousness
The pure Infinite Consciousness appears to become whatever forms It takes
whenever It manifests Itself. The mountains, the forests, the earth, the celestial bodies
in the cosmos are all but Infinite Consciousness. When the Infinite Consciousness in
the form of life-breath enters into bodies and begins to vibrate various parts, it is said
that those bodies are living. It is a small part of the Infinite Consciousness that
becomes the intelligence in these bodies. This intelligence, entering into these bodies,
brings into being the different organs like the eyes.
It is this intelligence, which is part of the Infinite Consciousness, that fancies
itself differently in different objects. When it fancies itself to be a rock, a tree, a bird,
an animal, a human being, etc, it becomes so. The Infinite Consciousness is present
everywhere and permeates equally; there is no distinction between the sentient and the
insentient, and between the intelligent and the inert. The differences in the objective
world are only due to the intelligence identifying itself as different substances. The
same Infinite Consciousness is known by different names in these different
substances.
Nescience is not a real entity, even as oil in sand is not a real entity. Nescience
and the self can have no relationship, as relationship is possible only between similar
entities. This is obvious in everybodys experience. Thus, it is only because
consciousness is infinite and all pervasive that everything in the universe becomes
knowable. It is not as if the subject illumines the object which has no luminosity of its
own. But since consciousness is all this, everything is self-luminous, without
requiring a perceiving intelligence. It is by the action of consciousness becoming
aware of it that intelligence manifests itself, not when consciousness apprehends an
inert object.
Infinite Consciousness regards its intelligence in its own Consciousness, as it
were, though it is not different from it, even as wind is not different from its own
movement and as fire is not different from its own heat. At that very moment, when
there is an unreal division, there arises in that Infinite Consciousness the notion of
space, which, on account of the power of Consciousness, appears as the element
known as space. That later believes itself to be air and then fire. From this notion
there arises the appearance of fire and light. That further entertains the notion of water
with its inherent faculty of taste. That believes itself to be the earth with its inherent
faculty of smell and also its characteristic of solidity. Thus do the water and the earth
elements appear to have manifested themselves.
At the same time, the Infinite Consciousness appears to have held in Itself the
notion of a unit of time. From this evolved the time scale right up to an epoch, the life
span of one cosmic creation. The Infinite Consciousness is uninvolved in these, for It
is devoid of rising or setting, or of a beginning, middle and end. The Infinite
Consciousness alone is the reality, ever awake and enlightened. It is the same with
creation, too. That Infinite Consciousness alone is the unenlightened appearance of
this creation. Even after the creation, It is the same as ever. When one realizes in the
self by the self that Consciousness is the Absolute The Brahman, then one experiences
It as All, as the one energy dwelling in all his limbs and all over the cosmos.

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In the Infinite Consciousness, there is an inherent non-recognition of its

infinite nature that appears to manifest as I and the world. Just as there is an image
in a marble slab even if it has not been carved, the notions of I and the world exist
in the Infinite Consciousness. This is its creation. The word creation has no other
connotation. No creation takes place in the Supreme Being or the Infinite
Consciousness. The Infinite Consciousness is not involved in the creation. They do
not stand in a divided relationship to each other.
It may be said that the world appearance is real so far as it is the manifestation
of Consciousness and because of direct experience. It may be said that it is unreal
when it is grasped by the intellect. This is similar to wind being perceived real in its
motion while non-existent when there is no motion. The mirage-like appearance of
the cosmos exists as not different from the Absolute Brahman.
The power or energy of the Infinite Consciousness, ever in motion, is the
reality of all creation related to space and time. That power is also known as
Mahasatta - the great existence, Mahachiti - the great intelligence, Mahasakti - the
great power, Mahadrsti - the great vision, Mahakriya - the great doer or doing,
Mahabhava - the great becoming and Mahaspanda - the great vibration. It is this
power that endows everything with its characteristic quality. The Infinite
Consciousness alone appears as one thing in one place and another in another place.
There is no division between that Consciousness and Its power, as there is no division
between the water and the waves, and the body and the limbs. That power or energy is
not different from or independent of the Brahman.
Some sages make a verbal distinction between the Brahman and Its power,
and declare that creation is the work of that power. The Infinite Consciousness is
aware of Its inherent power, as one is aware of the limbs of ones body. Such
awareness is known as niyati - the power of the Absolute that determines the nature. It
is also known as Divine dispensation. Niyati functions only as and through self-effort.
It has two aspects - human and super-human. The human aspect is seen where selfeffort bears fruit and the latter where it does not.
In the mirror of Infinite Consciousness are seen countless reflections, which
constitute appearance of the world. These are the jiva. Each jiva is like a little
agitation on the surface of the ocean of the Brahman. When, in that slight agitation,
the infinitude of the Infinite Consciousness is veiled, limitation of Consciousness
appears to arise. This too is inherent in that Infinite Consciousness. That limitation of
Consciousness is known as the jiva. This limitation of Consciousness when it is fed
by latent tendencies and memories condenses into egotism - I-ness. This I-ness is
not a solid reality. But the jiva sees it as real, like the blueness of the sky. When the
egotism entertains its own notions, it gives rise to the mind-stuff, the concept of an
independent and separate jiva, mind, maya or cosmic illusion, cosmic nature, etc.
When Consciousness, clothed as it were, by its own energy, limits itself and
considers itself jiva, that jiva, endowed with this restless energy, is involved in the
world-appearance.
The universe exists in the Infinite Consciousness just as future waves exist in a
calm sea, with the potentiality of an apparent difference. Infinite Consciousness is un-

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manifest, though omnipresent, even as space, though existing everywhere, is manifest.

Just as the reflection of an object in crystal can be said to be neither real nor entirely
unreal, one cannot say that the universe, which is reflected in the Infinite
Consciousness, is real or unreal. Just as space is unaffected by the clouds that float in
it, the Infinite Consciousness is unaffected and untouched by the universe that appears
in It. Just as light is seen through the refracting agent, the Infinite Consciousness is
revealed only through the universe. It is essentially without name and form but Its
reflections are only known through names and forms. Consciousness reflecting in
Consciousness shines as Consciousness and exists as Consciousness.
Being non-different from the Infinite Consciousness, the world-appearance
has a mutual causal relationship with It. It arises in It, exists in It and is absorbed in It.
Though, like the deep ocean, It is not agitated, yet It is agitated like waves on the
surface of the ocean. Even as one who is intoxicated sees himself as another, the
Consciousness, being conscious of Itself, considers Itself as another.
The Absolute Brahman being omnipotent, Its infinite potencies appear as this
visible universe. All the diverse categories such as reality, unreality, unity, diversity,
beginning, end, etc exist in the Brahman. The ocean is tranquil in some places and
agitated in other places though it is one. Similarly, the Infinite Consciousness seems
to embrace diversity in some places though It is in Itself non-dual. It is natural for the
omnipotent Infinite Consciousness to manifest in all Its infinite glory. Its
manifestation enters into an alliance with time, space and causation, which are
indispensable to such manifestation. As a result arise infinite names and forms but all
these apparent manifestations are in reality not different from the Infinite
Consciousness. The aspect of the Infinite Consciousness, which relates to the
manifestation of names and forms is known as the Knower of the field or the
Witness Consciousness. This Witness Consciousness becomes involved in latent
predispositions and develops the ego-sense.
As for the mind, whatever the mind does alone is action. Hence the mind alone
is the doer of actions, and not the body. The mind alone is the world-appearance,
which arises and rests in it. When the experiencing mind becomes tranquil,
Consciousness alone remains. This is the state of Pure Consciousness - the mind
transcended.
The wise declare that the mind of the enlightened is neither in a state of bliss
nor devoid of bliss, neither is in motion nor static, neither real nor unreal, but between
these pairs of opposites. His unconditioned consciousness blissfully plays its role in
this world-appearance as if in a play. He does not even entertain the notion of
liberation, or that of bondage. He sees the Self alone.
Consciousness free from the limitations of the mind is known as the inner
intelligence. It is the essential nature of no-mind. It is not tainted by the impurities of
concepts and percepts. That is the reality; that is supreme consciousness; that is the
state known as the supreme Self; and that is omniscience. That vision is not had when
the wicked mind functions. Such consciousness does not give rise to the worldillusion and the cycle of world-appearance. When consciousness realizes itself and
abandons its self-limiting mental conditioning, the mind is freed from its coloring and

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rests in its essential nature, which is consciousness. Even as the wave merges in the
ocean and becomes one and not different from it, the consciousness abandons its
objectivity and regains its absolute purity. When all external (material) and internal
(notional) objects merge in consciousness, there is pure being of consciousness. This
is the supreme vision, which the liberated sages attain.
Vibration and consciousness are inseparable like the whiteness of snow, the
fragrance of a flower and the heat of fire. Similarly, mind and movement of thought
are inseparable. When one ceases, the other automatically ceases.
The incidental manifestation of the power of the Infinite Consciousness
appears as the billions of species of beings in this universe. These countless beings are
caught up in their own mental conditioning. They are found in every conceivable kind
of situation in every place in the universe.
Just as water acquires the appearance of a whirlpool with a personality of its
own, consciousness seems to give the appearance of I etc, within itself. But
consciousness is consciousness only, whether it thinks of itself as Lord Siva or a jiva.
Division or diversification is not a contradiction of unity. The ramifications of
a tree with its leaves, flowers, fruits, etc extend from the seed in which there is no
diversification. Similarly, the universe of diversity extends from the Infinite
Consciousness, which is One alone.
The heart that is spoken of in spirituality is of the nature of Pure
Consciousness. It is both inside and outside, and it is neither inside nor outside. In it is
reflected everything which is in the universe. Consciousness alone is the heart of all
beings, not the piece of flesh which people call the heart.

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18. Realization Bliss

Several seers and sages have realized their selves, through the ages and
attained salvation. They have followed different methods for achievement of their
goal. Broadly the paths followed are classified as the path of ethical action, the path of
devotion, the path of yoga and the path of discrimination and knowledge.
But, the experience of the sages and the seers that have realized is that the
paths are not exclusive, but interrelated at different levels, one or more leading to
another. The seers have indicated the paths for self-realization broadly, only after
experiencing the state of oneness with the Divine. The aspirant on the path of
realization is to choose the path he considers best, intermingling with other paths at
such levels, as he considers most suited to his self.
Bhagavad-Gita stresses that knowledge is higher than the practice of yoga
(Pathanjalis). Meditation is higher than knowledge. Renunciation of the fruits of
action is higher than meditation. Finally, peace (santhi) is higher than even such
renunciation. This may lead to the interpretation that every former leads to the latter,
ultimately leading to the absolute peace of mind, that is, salvation within ones
conscious self.
According to Vedanta, ones ideal is to know the real nature of ones own self.
But such knowledge is impossible without the renunciation of ego. The ego is like a
stick that seems to divide the water in two. It makes one feel that one is different from
the Brahman. Only when the ego disappears in samadhi, then does one know the
Brahman to be ones own innermost consciousness.
The aspirant ultimately discovers the Brahman by knowing who this I is. He
realizes that this I is not the flesh, the bones, the blood, the mind or the intellect. It is
none of these. He will realize that he is free from attributes and that he has never been
the doer of any action, that he has been free from virtue or vice alike, that he is
beyond righteousness or unrighteousness. Through the process of discrimination, he
realizes that what he calls I is really nothing but the atman. He ultimately realizes
that the Reality is the Atman, the Indivisible One without qualities or attributes. I am
He is the ultimate realization.
To rid oneself of the disease of samsara or world-appearance, there is no
remedy other than wisdom or self-knowledge. Knowledge alone is the cure for the
wrong perception of a snake in the rope. When there is such knowledge, there is no
craving in the mind for sense-pleasure, which aggravates the ignorance. If there is
craving, one is not to fulfill it.
The world-appearance is nothing but the play of the mind. The mind itself is
but the play of the omnipotent Infinite Being. The mind veils the real nature of the
Self and creates an illusory appearance. This illusion can be overcome only by
wisdom - self-knowledge.

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Wealth is the mother of evil. Sense-pleasure is the source of pain. Misfortune

is the best fortune. Rejection by all is victory. Life, honour and noble qualities
blossom and attain fruition in one whose conduct and behavior are good and pleasant
and who does not crave for the pleasures of the world. Only self-knowledge is capable
of destroying all pain and pleasure. Hence every zealous effort should be directed
towards self-knowledge alone.
The seven states or planes of wisdom are pure wish or intention, enquiry, to
become subtle, to be established in Truth, total freedom from attachment or bondage,
cessation of objectivity and to be beyond all the preceding states, the state of
transcendence. This is the state of one who is liberated while living, the jivan-mukta.
Beyond the seventh state is the state of one who has transcended even the body. All
the great ones who ascend these planes of wisdom are holy men. They are liberated
and transcend happiness and unhappiness. They may or may not work or be active.
They rejoice in the Self and do not stand in need of others to make them happy. It is
only wisdom and self-knowledge that takes them to the highest state of consciousness.
The study of scriptures, the company of holy men and the unceasing practice
of truth enable one to reach the state of pure consciousness. The self-alone is the sole
aid for realization of the supreme Self or the Infinite Consciousness. When one is
firmly established in self-knowledge that is infinite, unlimited and unconditioned, the
delusion or ignorance that gives rise to world-appearance comes to an end. Where
there is self-knowledge, there is neither mind nor the senses, nor tendencies and
habits. There arises neither desire nor aversion towards anything, pleasant or
unpleasant.
In the state of realization, the aspirant no longer finds the existence of his ego.
Who is left there to seek it? Who can describe how he feels in the state of his pure
consciousness about the real nature of the Brahman? If one analyses, one does not
find any such thing as the ego in that state. If one peels off the red outer skin of an
onion, one finds thick white skins. When one peels these off one after another, one
finds nothing inside. So does the ego or I vanish in the state of realization of the
Self.
When an aspirant realizes the Self and returns to the worldly plane, he retains
the knowledge ego, the devotee ego or the servant ego. His wicked ego
disappears.
Sri Ramakrishna say: If God keeps the ego in a man, then he keeps in him the
sense of differentiation and also the sense of virtue and sin. But in a rare few, He
completely effaces the ego. These people go beyond virtue and sin, good and bad. As
long as a man has not realized God, he retains the sense of differentiation and the
knowledge of good and bad. One may say, virtue and sin are the same to me. I am
doing only as God bids me. But one knows in ones heart of hearts that these are
mere words. No sooner does one commit an evil deed than one feels a palpitation in
ones heart. Even after realization, God keeps ego - the sense of differentiation - in a
devotee as long as he is in the world. This ego is a mere appearance, like the mark left
on the coconut tree by its branch that has fallen off.

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In samadhi - the state of realization, the seeker becomes one with God and
gets rid of egotism. True realization is impossible without samadhi. At noon, the sun
is overhead. If one looks around, one does not see ones shadow. It will dissolve into
ones body. Likewise, one will not find even the trace of ones ego after attaining
realization in samadhi.
If one realizes Atman, one will see the Truth of all. All doubts disappear after
the vision of God. When one merges ones buddhi -intelligence in bodha consciousness, then one attains the knowledge of the Brahman; one becomes Buddha
- the enlightened. On realization, the aspirant turns out to be Nityasuddhabodharupam
- the Eternal and Ever Pure Consciousness.
After realization of the Brahman, the aspirant is over-powered with bliss. He
becomes still and silent. If a boiled paddy grain is sown, it does not sprout. Just so, if
the fire of knowledge and revelation boils a man, he cannot take part any more in the
play of creation. He is in a state of ecstatic bliss. Self-realization and cessation of
craving should proceed hand in hand, simultaneously.
If one seeks the Consciousness of the Supreme Person, the Consciousness of
All That Is, one will move into total peace, total joy, total awareness, total love and
total acceptance, for that is the Consciousness of All That Is. Then one will become
one with the Oneness - nirvana. One will have this experience in samadhi. This is an
indescribable ecstasy. This is the Bliss of the Oneness.
The Brahman is Bliss. Bliss is the collecting together of our dispersed and
divided being into an intense unity. It is infinitely more intense than the essence of
everything in the world. As such the state attained in realization is Bliss itself.
Souls that realize God without practising any spiritual discipline are called the
Nityasiddha - the eternally perfect. Those who realize God through austerity, japam
and the like are called the Sadhanasiddha - the perfect through spiritual discipline.
Those who realize God by His sheer grace are called the Kripasiddha - the perfect
through Divine grace. Those who realize God-vision suddenly are called the
Hathatsiddha - the suddenly realized. Those who realize God-vision in a dream are
called the Swapnasiddha - the realized in a dream.
The ever-perfect are of two kinds - those who attain perfection through
spiritual practice by the grace of God and those who are born in each life with their
spiritual consciousness already awakened. People are eager to see the first
manifestations of an ever-perfect souls zeal for God.
The ever perfect are those who have love of God from the moment of their
birth. They are like the natural image of Siva, which springs forth from the earth and
is not set up by human hands. The ever perfect form a class by themselves. They are
never attached to the world. Prahlada is an example. They are like bees which light
only on flowers and sip the honey. They drink only the nectar of Divine Bliss. They
are never inclined to worldly pleasures. They are ever realized and in a state of
ecstatic bliss.
Eternally perfect souls like Prahlada also practise meditation and prayer. But
they have realized God-vision even before their spiritual practice. They are like
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gourds and pumpkins, which grow fruits first and then flowers. Those who are born as
the companions of an incarnation of God are eternally perfect. For some of them, that
birth is the last.
The devotion of the ever perfect is not like the ordinary devotion that one
acquires as a result of strenuous spiritual discipline. An ever perfect does not follow
the injunctions of ceremonial worship. He develops raga-bhakti and loves God as his
own. Without intense attachment and passionate love for God, one cannot realize
God.

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19. The Path of Ethical Action

General
The mans finite being is turned outwards, towards the world of plurality. But
the self (atman) is inward. The presence and the depths of the inward being cannot be
recognized unless mind is purified and man becomes unselfish. He is to be non-ego
centered. It is, therefore, necessary to start with ordinary ethics to lift us to a higher
level than that of our petty ego.
When one acts according to a universal ethical law one places ones ego at the
level of the universal ego and lifts oneself to that level. One does not merely think of a
universal ego. One universalizes ones ego in ethics. This universalization is not
spatial outward but expansion inward, in which the particular ego is transcended.
There is spiritual significance for ethical action for purification of mind and the inner
instrument, in the absence of which realization of the self is not ordinarily possible.
As an empirical person, I feel my reality only with reference to the objective
world. I am part and parcel of it. Without my active connection with the object, I may
live in a world of fantasy and abstractions. The object concerned has to be a real
object, not an imaginary one. The reality of the object is made less uncertain in action
than in cognition, imagination, etc. The differences may be matters of degree. Even
those differences are important for life. Practical life involves not only the reaction of
insentient objects to my actions on them, but also the reaction of other persons to my
actions towards them and affecting them.
These activities tend to correct one another and keep me away from fantasy
about myself. The objects of imagination and mental images like the son of a barren
woman are dependent on my imagination. The objects of dreams and illusions are
dreamt as reacting to me and existing independently of my desires and imagination.
But when the dream is over or the illusion is corrected, the objects are found to have
no spatial-temporal and causal relations with the objects of my waking self. Their
difference from the objects of imagination lies in their reaction to my actions and in
their existence independently of my desires and imagination. This independence is
experienced in the objects of my waking consciousness. These objects exhibit
necessary spatial-temporal and causal relations.
These necessities are discovered by man through action on the objects and the
observation of their reactions. My action on them and their reaction are patterned
according to laws of necessity. This necessity reveals the objectivity and reality of
both the object and me. It is through action and the expected reaction that my reality
sense is confirmed. My own real being apart from my being in the world of
imagination and fantasy is repeatedly established only through action, making it
possible for realization of true satisfaction, pleasure and happiness.
There is no life without action. No one can live without action; even breathing
is action. None can condemn action; even condemning it is action.

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The law of action (karma) exists. Good work produces good results. Bad
work produces bad results. We shall have to reap the results of our past karma, either
of this or of the previous lives. One must admit the influence of tendencies inherited
from the past karma either of this life or of the previous lives. It is the result of
prarabdha karma. The body remains as long as the results of past actions do not
completely wear away.
But this law works differently for the devotees of God. The work that is done
in the name of God produces only good results. One devoted to God undertakes only
those works that present themselves to one and are of pressing necessity. One is to
undertake even those works in a spirit of detachment. It is not good to become
involved in many activities. That makes one forget God. One becomes more and more
attached to lust and greed, when one takes up more and more work.
It is not possible to give up work altogether. To think or to meditate is a kind
of work. Even the inhaling and exhaling of air to keep oneself alive is itself work. As
one develops love for God, ones worldly activities become fewer and fewer of
themselves. One loses all interest in them.
The path of action (karma-yoga) is very hard indeed. It is extremely difficult
to perform the rites enjoined in the scriptures. Mans life is centered on food alone.
He cannot perform many scriptural rites. Ones very nature will lead one to action
whether one likes it or not. Therefore, the scriptures suggest that one is to work in a
detached spirit, that is to say, not to crave for the results of the work done in the
manner anticipated.
The path of action (karma-yoga) is to work in such a spirit of detachment. One
may think that one is working in detached spirit, but attachment creeps into the mind
from, nobody knows, where. One may do compassionate and charitable work. One
may feel that one does so act without hankering after its results. But unknown to
oneself, the desire for name and fame somehow creeps into ones mind. Complete
detachment from the results of action is possible only for one who has seen God.
The aim of life is the attainment of God. Work is only a preliminary step. It
can never be the end. Even the unselfish work is only a means; it is not the end. The
aim of the path of action (karma-yoga) is to fix ones mind on God by means of work.
It consists of breath-control, concentration, meditation, etc done in a spirit of
detachment, surrendering the results to God.
Householders practise yoga through karma, the performance of duty. There
are four stages of life prescribed for men in the scriptures - brahmacharya,
garhasthya, vanaprasthya and sannyasa.
The first stage is that of the student (brahmacharya). When the boy is about
eight years of age, he goes to his teachers house and lives there until he finishes his
studies. The second stage is that of the householder (grhasthya). When the boy
finishes his studies and is grown up, his teacher asks him to go home and pay back the
three debts.
The first debt is to the forefathers. It is paid back by marrying and having
children. The second debt is to the teachers and is paid back by educating the next
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generation. Thereby, the learning acquired by the student is transmitted. The third
debt is to the gods who maintain and govern the universe. It is repaid by way of
performing sacrifices yajnas and yagas. A sacrifice may even be of butter, cooked
or uncooked rice or wheat, etc. These three duties, called debts, originally served the
society when they were conceived. They are called debts because meeting those
obligations produces no rewards, but violating them produces punishment or
unhappiness.
The third stage is called the stage of the forest dweller (vanaprasthya). After
leading the life of the householder and paying back the three debts, one retires to the
forest along with ones wife, to reflect on the values of life one has been able to
realize. This is the stage of self-reflection and self-examination.
The fourth stage (sannyasa) is that of the ascetic. At this stage, the ascetic
gives up all connections with family, and all rites and duties. He spends the rest of his
life as a holy man. He owns no property. He lives by begging. He even changes his
name so that others do not know his earlier family connections. He may teach
spiritual truths to men and women who are eager to know them.
It does not matter what kind of action one is engaged in. One can be united
with God through any action provided that, performing it, one gives up all desire for
its results.
All human actions are motivated at their deepest level by one of two emotions
- fear or love. These are the opposite ends of the great polarity in human experience.
Every human thought and every human action is based either in love or fear.
All other human motivations and ideas are derivatives of one of these two emotions.
The initial or the sponsoring thought is either of love or of fear. Human experience
oscillates between love and fear, taking the form of other derivatives in between.
Fear is the energy which contracts, closes down, draws in, runs, hides,
hoards, and harms.
Love is the energy which expands, opens up, sends out, stays, reveals, shares,
and heals.
When one chooses the action love sponsors, then one will succeed and have an
opportunity to realize oneself.
To think, speak and do something, which one does not truly believe, is
impossible. Therefore, the process of action includes belief or knowing. This is
absolute faith. The doing part of action includes knowing. It is complete acceptance as
reality of something which one acts upon. Thus, what one thinks, speaks and does
becomes manifest in ones reality. All action sponsored by love serves the self as a
higher being and takes one toward God.
The process of action starts with thought - an idea, conception, visualization.
Thought is the first level of action. Next comes the word which is a thought
expressed. It is creative, and sends forth creative energy into the universe, as words
are a kind of vibration, different from thought. Next comes action. Actions are

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words moving. Words are thoughts expressed. Thoughts are ideas formed. Ideas are
energies come together. Energies are forces released. Forces are elements existent.
Elements are particles of God. The beginning is God. The end is action. Action is God
experienced, says Neale Donald Walsch graphically.

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Ethics - Merit and Demerit

In ethics, to be is the aim of to do. So the former is more important than the
latter. This is to say that every ethical action is to result in transforming ones
personality. Repeated ethical activity is to mould ones personality, that is, ones
being. The ultimate result of this molding is one becoming one with the Cosmic
Person.
What is ethical action? It is the action according to the structure of the Cosmic
Person, the Logos. Such action sets one in the path of the Logos, lifts one above the
pettiness and narrowness of ones finite self. It is to lift one to the level of the Cosmic
Person leaving behind ones selfish and self-centered desires and ideals. It is at this
level that one can realize ones oneness with the Supreme Being. This means that
action in accordance with the structure of the Logos is essential.
Purification or universalization of ones mind is impossible without ethical
action. This concept of the Bhagavad-Gita seeks one to rise to the level of the Logos
and act whether, or not, anyone else acts in the same way. This raises ethics to a
higher plane, for the Logos or the Cosmic Person is not merely the structure of the
Cosmic Laws, but is more, as a being merciful, just, caring, compassionate, etc.
What is meant by purity of mind (chitta, antahkarana, etc)? It may be that it is
pure and transparent mind. What does this mean? Is such a mind placid like a mirror,
and so empty? If it is empty, it does nothing. On the other hand, it should be directed
towards the Supreme Being and reflect the Supreme Being. This reflection means
being a perfect image, not the clean mirror. So it cannot be empty. The stages through
which one has to pass in order to be such a reflection are the stages of the Cosmic
Person. So to be pure means to be one with the Cosmic Person and act according to
the processes of the Cosmic Person.
It amounts to saying that one is to develop a universal point of view and rise to
the universal level. That reality, objectivity is the law of the cosmos or the Cosmic
Person, as conceived in the Upanisads. It contains the factor of necessity, logical,
empirical, practical, ethical and even aesthetic. To be pure is to overcome ones ego
completely and be one with the processes of the Cosmic Person.
The Bhagavad-Gita says that living beings are born of food, food out of rain,
rain out of sacrifice, sacrifice out of action, action out of Brahma the creator and
Brahma out of the Brahman (Purusa). Thus the Brahman, which is all pervasive, is
installed in sacrifice. God Himself is eternally active, with no motive or desire. He is
ever active though He has everything.
The seeker is to know what action is right, what action is wrong and what nonaction is. Wrong action is the one prohibited. The wise man sees non-action in action
and action in non-action. Non-action does not mean non-movement of limbs. In such
a case, life becomes impossible. Every living being is always in action, in motion,
breathing being ever present as long as life exists.
Ethical non-action is action without any egoity. Merit and demerit, the results
of action, do not accrue to the agent of such action. This is for the reason that he does

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the action for the sake of law (dharma) and not for his own sake. It is not he as the
atman but as the body, the product of prakrti and its attributes, that does the action.
Man is to perform all actions as skillfully as he can, as he works as the agent of the
Cosmic Person in the discharge of the law. He shall surrender the result to God
saying, Lord, your will is done.
Ethical action in family and society is necessary to have reality-sense. A
normal person has a sound reality attitude and sense. It is profound ethical conflicts
that deepen a persons self and leads him to spiritual depths. One comes to grief, fear,
loneliness, anxiety, etc if one forgets that one is only a pole of the polarized Cosmic
Person.
Engrossment in ones inner life may turn one into an introvert, instead of
leading one to true inwardness. The true inwardness is a correlate of the true outwardness both of which can be realized only through ethical action. That alone correlates
one to the object on which one acts, and the consequent achievement. Otherwise, one
may be mistaking ones unreal I for ones higher I, which is not what is meant by
self-realization. The criterion of truth and reality is doing what a thing is meant for
doing or serving the purpose for which it is meant. Here, serving means serving in
practical activity.
It is often said that the hard facts of reality bring us to our senses. This only
reinforces that action is absolutely necessary if one wants that ones I not to belong
to a world of fancy, and to be raised to the level of the Cosmic Person.
Every action has merit or demerit resulting from good or evil it produces.
Ethical action includes disciplines for realization. The first is discrimination between
the eternal and the non-eternal. The seeker is to discriminate at every level of action
focusing whether the action leads to grasp of the eternal being. If the objects of action
relate to the transient or the temporal beings, he is to withdraw from action related to
them. This is ultimately to enable him to grasp the eternal being. The second is
detachment from all selfish pursuits - worldly and otherworldly. The third is
cultivation of the six virtues tranquility (sama), restraint (dama), renunciation
(uparati), endurance (titiksa), meditation (samadhi) and faith (sraddha). The fourth is
desire for liberation.
Of the virtues, renunciation is the most important and of three types - sacrifice,
charity and penance (tapas). All the three are actions. They purify the soul. They are
obligatory actions to be performed without any attachment to the results thereof.
One who does not do actions out of ignorance is under the influence of the
attribute of the Darkness (tamas). One who gives them up because of the difficulties
they involve is under the influence of the attribute of the Active (rajas). Either is
wrong. The one who performs actions without any self-interest is under the influence
of the attribute of the Transparent (sattva). He is the true renouncer of action, the true
knower and the truly wise.
Renunciation is of two kinds - intense and feeble. Feeble renunciation is a
slow process. One moves in a slow rhythm. Intense renunciation is like the sharp edge
of a razor. It cuts the bondage of maya easily and at once. It is not possible to

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renounce the world bit by bit. Such renunciation is to come about at once. Real
renunciation is like a man, with everything in the world and lacking nothing, feeling
all to be unreal. It also happens that by constantly hearing about renunciation, ones
desire for worldly objects gradually wears away. One should take rice-water in small
doses to get rid of the intoxication of liquor. Then one gradually becomes normal. He
who wants to renounce needs great strength of mind.
A person, who we consider is on a spiritual path, looks like having renounced
all earthly desire. What he has done is to understand the desire, see the illusion and
step aside from actions that do not serve him, while loving the illusion for what it has
brought to him. The one that renounces never denies passion. He simply denies
attachment to results. This amounts to choosing differently, an act of moving towards
something else, while turning away from the temptation.
If one frees oneself from attachment to lust and greed, by the grace of God,
one cultivates a spirit of strong renunciation. One endowed with a mild spirit of
renunciation realizes ones weakness, but still continues to be bound to lust and greed.
One expects that one will improve over a period of time. But the one with a spirit of
strong renunciation feels restless for God and does not swerve from the path of God.
He regards the world as a deep well and feels as if he were going to be drowned in it.
He looks on his relatives as snakes and keeps away from them. He has great inward
resolution. A strong spirit of renunciation is to give up at once, with determination,
what one knows to be unreal.
Renunciation means to have dispassion for the world. One cannot acquire it all
of a sudden. It must be practised every day. One must renounce lust and greed
mentally first. Then, by the will of God, one can renounce them both mentally and
outwardly. By practice, one acquires uncommon power of mind. Then one does not
find it difficult to subdue the sense organs and to bring the passions under control.
Such a man behaves like a tortoise, which, once it has tucked its limbs in, never puts
them out even if it is chopped with an axe to pieces.
The ideal man following ethical action is one who has realized his rational
being. His reason becomes steady. He preserves his equanimity under all conditions,
whether in grief or in joy. He does not have any egoistic desires. He looks upon all
events that happen, without being disturbed. He does not have any attachment for the
objects of his senses. He can withdraw his mind and senses from all temporal objects
and focus his mind on eternal objects.
The characteristics of sattva, rajas and tamas are very different. Egotism,
sleep, gluttony, lust, anger and the like are the traits of the people with tamas. Pride
and delusion come from tamas. Lust is another feature of tamas. Men with rajas
entangle themselves in outward activity. A man endowed with sattva is quiet and
peaceful. He does not hanker after name, fame, position and wealth. Men proud of
their scholarship, their education or their wealth cannot attain knowledge of God.
Compassion (daya) springs from sattva. Sattva preserves; rajas creates; and
tamas destroys. None of these three gunas can reach Truth. They are like robbers.
They rob a man of the knowledge of Truth. Tamas seeks to destroy him. Rajas binds
him to the world. But sattva seeks to rescue him from the clutches of rajas and tamas.

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Under the protection of sattva, man is rescued from anger, passion and other evil
effects of tamas. Further, sattva loosens the bonds of the world. Even sattva is a
robber. It cannot give man the ultimate knowledge of Truth, though it shows him the
path leading to God. Sattva, by itself, is far away from the knowledge of the Brahman.
The Brahman is, thus, beyond the three gunas that constitute prakrti.
Sattva mixed with rajas diverts the mind to various objects. From it springs
the conceit of doing good to the world. To do good to the world is extremely
difficult for an insignificant creature as man. But there is no harm in doing good to
others in an unselfish spirit. This is called unselfish action. Through disinterested
action, sattva mixed with rajas gradually turns into pure sattva. When a man develops
pure sattva, he thinks only of God. He does not enjoy anything else. Some were born
with pure sattva as a result of the potencies of action in their previous births. No
sooner does a man develop pure sattva than he realizes God, through His grace.
It is God alone that has planted in a mans mind what is called free will.
People who have not realized God may get engaged in sinful actions if God has not
planted in them the notion of free will. Sin will have increased if God has not made
the doer (sinner) feel that he alone is responsible for his actions. If he believes that
God alone does everything and God alone is the doer, then he will never take a false
step as the Cosmic Reason always dictates right action.

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Samskaras
All action is patterned and the patterns of action produce patterns of
samskaras. They become potential worldly drives in the depths of a person. These
drives and potentialities at the higher ethical life can become identical with those of
the Cosmic Person who constitutes the gateway to the Supreme Being and
emancipation in Him.
Every action produces an impression (samskara), a kind of an imprint similar
to a trauma, in the causal body and sticks in it like an inherent quality. It bursts into
activity when the occasion comes. The causal body is a storehouse of samskaras, both
cosmic and individual. They are dynamic forces. They influence our life, knowledge
and action. All my cognitions and actions, both known and unknown, produce
impressions on my personality and mould it. But neither my personality nor the
impacts of cognition and action remain static. They become forces constituting the
dynamism of my personality.
The samskaras are, therefore, creative and dynamic. They are of two kinds cosmic and individual. My birth and the way I have been born, which is common to
all individuals like me, are due to cosmic samskaras. The samskaras, which are
peculiar to me, are due to my own actions in my past births. For example, of two
children born in a family, one may become a saint and the other a criminal. This is
because of the personal samskaras of the individuals carried from their previous
births.
Likewise, the new samskaras acquired during the present life may influence
future activities in this life itself or in the next.
Buddhism believes that the samskaras become constituents of my personality
by being passed on from moment to moment of its duration. The action-samskaras are
transmitted from moment to moment of my existence, stay in me after my death and
become active in producing my next birth, and so on. Ethical action will produce
samskaras in the individual self for future action in this life or the later ones, paving
the way for realization.

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Rational Consciousness
Steadied rational consciousness is the state of what the Bhagavad-Gita calls
sthita-prajna. It denotes the one whose enlightened mind is steady and not wavering.
In other words, rational consciousness marks ones steadied character. This may
appear like floating in a current of the processes of the Cosmic Person. It is not so.
Only a dead body floats in a current. A living body swims with it. So to be one with
the law guiding the processes of the Cosmic Person is to act according to that law. It
is for the reason that all processes are patterned and so are controlled by, or are the
manifestations of the law of all laws, the law of the Cosmic Person.
This principle of following the law of the Cosmic Person is against the modern
general existentialist teaching that man ought not to be guided by any law above him,
for it violates his freedom. But freedom does not lie in going against the law of the
Cosmic Person, but in being one with Him. To go against Him is self-destructive; and
true freedom does not lie in self-destruction. It is action controlled by the cosmic law
that confers the proper reality attitude both to the world and to the individual.
The Gita explains the point in two ways. First, God Himself is the desire in
man that is not opposed to the law of reality or the universe. This means that the duty
sought to be discharged shall be in accordance with the law or nature of the Cosmic
Person, ones highest self, and so to attain God. The discharge of duty is not for its
own sake. If God himself is the desire that is in accordance with the law of the
universe, there is no way of escaping it. For example, there is no way of escaping the
action of breathing and eating. Thus action without desire means non-egoistic action,
the desire behind which is observance of the law that supports the universe. Without
action according to that desire, the society and the world face disintegration.
Secondly, the Gita says that mean people act the way they do, when they
desire the result for themselves. But a seeker shall take shelter in reason (buddhi). It
means that he shall act in accordance with his rational dictates and do that action with
all the skill needed. For, yoga is skill-fullness in action. Those who are motivated by
rational desire act only in one way. Those who are motivated by egoistic desires act in
different ways. The action dictated by the rational desire is the one in accordance with
the law of the universe. As such, the performer of the action is not bound by its
results.
Attachment breeds desire. Desire leads to anger when desire is frustrated.
Anger clouds mind. Such clouding destroys memory and then reason is destroyed, for
reason and memory are intimately connected. So the ideal man is neither attached to
the temporal objects, nor hates them. He performs all actions without any egotism and
seeks to attain oneness with the Supreme Being - nirvana.

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Action Differentiated
Action is divided into two kinds - that which does some personal benefit and
that, which is not so motivated, motivates. Man does not act without a purpose. The
distinction may be classified as the non-obligatory and the obligatory. The nonobligatory actions are those which a man performs for enjoying its results. They may,
indeed, be ethical, not necessarily unethical. If a man prays to God for a boon, he
performs a non-obligatory action. But if he prays to God without seeking any boon,
his action may be obligatory. Prayer and action like charity are obligatory actions.
Non-obligatory actions are considered actions with a desire. Similarly all
duties discharged for sustaining the society and the world without seeking any reward
are considered obligatory actions without any desire. Here desire means ones own
personal desire or benefit. Said another way, the non-obligatory actions may be
considered selfish and egoistic actions, while the obligatory actions are the selfless
and non-egoistic actions.
In the absolute, unconditional sense, there may be no action without desire.
Even the desire to do the right action is also a desire. Absolutely desireless action
belongs to the machine or the insentient world. In the ethics of the Gita, desirelessness
means the absence of desire to enjoy one-self the result of action. Otherwise, the
action becomes egoistic.
The three initiators of action are the knower, the known and the knowledge.
The three factors of action are the agent, the action and the instruments of action. Of
these, the agent, action and knowledge are of three kinds, according as they are
determined by the three attributes.
The knowledge that sees unity in multiplicity, the un-manifest Brahman in the
manifested differences, is determined by the Transparent. This leads one to act with
the welfare of the universe in view. The knowledge that sees only the differences as
separate from one another is determined by the Active. This gives the idea of the
immediate result and its relevance to the agent in view. The knowledge that leads man
to action without any thought whatsoever is determined by the Darkness. This gives
no idea of the result of action, as in persons of unsound mind.
The above classification is in relation to knowledgethe instruments of action.
Correspondingly, the agents and actions are also classified into three kinds determined
by each of the three attributes, with corresponding results.
Action is separately classified into five kinds, according to the kinds of causes
that produce it, namely the body, the atman, different types of instruments, different
kinds of vital functions and fate as the unknown factor. The will of the agent alone
will not produce the result aimed at. All have to cooperate in the right mix.
Action is also classified into three categories - bodily action, speech and
thought (mental action). All the three have to be pure and be determined by the
Transparent.
The mind seems very clear that God will bring good things to one if one gives
to another, what one chooses for oneself. If one chooses to be prosperous, one must

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cause another to prosper. If one chooses more love in ones life, one must cause
another to have more love in his life. If one acts that way sincerely, not because of
seeking any personal gain, but because one really wants the other to have them, all
things one gives to another will come to one. This is because what one is being; one is
creating for oneself. This is true altruism.
One does not have to do ones duty after the attainment of God, nor does one
feel like doing it then. Duty drops away by itself, after realization. One goes beyond
good and evil. The flower drops off when the fruit appears. The flower serves the
purpose of begetting the fruit.
The spiritual life (adhyatma-jivana), the religious life (dharma-jivana) and the
ordinary human life of which morality is a part are three different ways of life. One
must know which one desires and not confuse the three together. The ordinary life is
that of the average human consciousness separated from its own true self and from the
Divine. It is led by the common habits of the mind, life and body, which are the laws
of the ignorance. The religious life is a movement of the same ignorant human
consciousness, turning or trying to turn away from the earth towards the Divine, but
as yet without knowledge and led by the dogmatic tenets and rules of some sect or
creed. It may be the first approach to the spiritual, but very often it is only a turning
about in a round of rites, ceremonies and practices or set ideas and forms without any
issue. The spiritual life, on the contrary, proceeds directly by a change of
consciousness, a change from the ordinary consciousness to a greater consciousness in
which one finds ones true being and comes first into direct and living contact and
then into union with the Divine. For the spiritual seeker, this change of consciousness
is the one thing he seeks and nothing else matters.
At the beginning of religious life, a man makes much ado about work. As his
mind dives deeper into God, he becomes less active. Finally he renounces all work
and goes into samadhi.

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20. The Path of Devotion

General
Another way of realization is the way of Devotion (bhakti). The theistic
schools of philosophy, mainly Vaishnavism, generally advocate this way. This way is
to surrender oneself to God in love and devotion.
Emotional attachment to God is easier than dry detachment from fruits of
action. In fact, the detachment from the fruits of action or the ethical way of life
automatically brings about surrender to God in love and devotion. The seeker is to
realize that he is only an instrument in the hands of God. He is to think that he
performs his duties in obedience to the will of God. The fruits of his action belong to
God, not to himself.
The way of devotion purifies ones mind. Purity of mind leads to devotion. It
is a two-way path. If one is devoted to God and surrenders everything including
oneself, ones ego gets liquidated. By subduing ones passions such as lust, anger and
greed, one receives Gods grace to realize Him. The way of devotion is primarily
concerned with the culture and purification of the emotions.
Devotion implies the difference (duality) between the devotee and God. The
plurality exists. The ego of the devotee persists. The Vedantic thought indicates that
so long as the ego of the aspirant remains, it is not possible for him to realize the
Supreme Being. In the case of a true devotee, it is different. The devotee retains a
trace of ego to be distinct from the Divine. This ego is not the ego of an ordinary
individual, which keeps him away from the Divine. This ego is that of the greatest of
the sages like Prahlada and Narada who have been ever realized.
Devotion is intense love of God. The way of devotion results in knowledge.
Knowledge perfected, made steady and constant becomes love. Love is, thus,
uninterrupted flow of knowledge, uninterrupted like the flow of oil. It is very difficult
to practise, as mind by nature is fickle and moves from object to object.
To strengthen the love of God, several types of yogic practices, meditations,
forms of worship, initiations, etc are recommended. They are also difficult to practise.
Strict observance of ethical code and self-control are equally difficult. Action,
knowledge and devotion throw man on himself and require absolute self-reliance. But
as a finite being, man cannot be perfect in action, knowledge and devotion. Therefore,
he has to surrender his self to God, instead of relying on himself.
Self-surrender includes doing what is in conformity with Gods will, not doing
what is against His will. It involves absolute faith that God saves men, and all are to
surrender to Him for His guidance and protection. This is true renunciation. The
philosophy of Non-Dualism of the qualified Brahman (Visista-advaita) states that
devotion and self-surrender are essential for salvation. These two are not opposed to
the way of knowledge, but are its consummation.
Pure love is attachment to God alone. It is of the nature of bliss for the seeker.
God cannot be realized by logic or reason. Without devotion, all penance, rites,

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austerities become futile. Nor can man realize God by self-exertion. In the absence of
the grace of God, His vision is not possible. The pure mind of the seeker, seeking
God-vision in ecstasy, is devotion. In essence, it is the cultivation of divine love for
God.
Pure love of a devotee has two characteristics. So intense is ones love of God
that one becomes unconscious of outer things. One forgets the world. The second is
that one has no feeling of my-ness toward the body. One wholly gets rid of the
feeling that the body is his. Chaitanya experienced this kind of love.
Pure love (prema) is the rope by which one can tether God, as it were. Higher
than worship is japam; higher than japam is meditation; higher than meditation is
bhava and higher than bhava are mahabhava and prema. When one attains prema
(pure love), one has the rope to tie God. Whenever one wants to see Him, one has
merely to pull the rope. Whenever one calls Him, He will appear before one.
In Persian literature it is said that inside the skin is the flesh, inside the flesh
the bone, inside the bone the marrow, and so on. But prema (pure love) is the
innermost and the most sublime of all. Because of the pure love of the devotees for
Krishna, Krishna became tribhanga - bent in three places, bound to the devotees.
A devotee is one whose mind dwells on God without any egotism and vanity.
The water of Gods grace cannot collect on the high mound of egotism. It runs down.
A devotee can realize God if he calls on Him in all sincerity and with earnestness. The
feeling I am the servant of God helps one realize God. One can realize God only
through prema-bhakti - raga-bhakti. The Divine Consciousness one so attains is like
the sudden illumination of a dark room when light is brought in.
One cannot attain God if one has even a trace of desire. Subtle is the way of
dharma. If one is trying to thread a needle, one will not succeed if the thread has even
a slight fiber sticking out.
A devotee can see God if he unites in himself the force of three attractions the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the husbands attraction for
the chaste wife and the childs attraction for its mother. If the devotee can unite these
three forms of love, then he can see Him at once. The intense love of Radha for Sri
Krishna, a six-year-old boy in Brindavan, represents a super-sensuous experience of a
true devotee.
Verily God looks into a mans heart and does not judge him by what he does
or where he lives.
The name of God has great sanctity. It may or may not produce immediate
result. One day it must bear fruit. One can see His forms and His formless aspect as
well. The devotee who constantly meditates on God knows that God reveals Himself
in various forms and aspects, mainly in the form, which His devotee loves most.
However, one cannot see God without His grace.
The whole approach of the devotee is to love God and taste His sweetness. He
is sweetness and the devotee is its enjoyer. The devotee drinks the sweet bliss of God.
Further, God is the lotus and the devotee the bee. The devotee sips the honey of the

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lotus. As the devotee cannot live without God, so also God cannot live without His
devotee. Then, the devotee becomes the sweetness, and God its enjoyer. The devotee
becomes the lotus, and God the bee. It is the Godhead that has become these two in
order to enjoy Its own Bliss. That is the significance of the episode of Radha and
Krishna in which the Supreme Being Himself became Radha and Krishna in order to
enjoy the bliss of their mutual spiritual communion.
After the realization of God, He is seen in all beings. His greater
manifestation, among men, is more clearly in those devotees who embody sattva and
in those who have no desire whatsoever to enjoy lust and geed.
Realizing God, the devotee becomes like a child. One acquires the nature of
the object one meditates upon. The nature of God is childlike. As a child builds up its
toy house and breaks it, so does God create, preserve and dissolve the universe. As a
child is not under the control of any attribute (guna), so is God beyond the three
attributes. That is why great saints (paramahamsas) keep some children with them so
that they may assume the nature of the children.
According to Bhagavata, the signs of God-vision are that a man who has seen
God behaves sometimes like a child, sometimes like a ghoul, sometimes like an inert
thing and sometimes like a mad man.
There are other signs, too. One is intense joy. There is no hesitancy in him. He
is like the ocean; the waves and sounds are on the surface; below are profound depths.
When one finds that the very mention of Gods name brings tears to ones
eyes and makes ones hair stand on end, then it is known for certain that one has freed
oneself from attachment to lust and greed, and attained God.

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Attributes of Devotion
There are three kinds of formal devotion - tamasic, rajasic and sattvic.
While showing devotion to God, if a person is actuated by arrogance, jealousy
or anger then his devotion is tamasic. It is said to be influenced by the quality of
inertia.
If a person worships God for fame or wealth or any otherworldly ambition,
then his devotion is rajasic. It is said to be influenced by the quality of activity.
If a person loves God without any thought of material gain, if he performs his
duties to please God alone, and if he maintains the attitude of friendship and goodwill
towards all, then his devotion is called sattvic. It is said to be influenced by the quality
of harmony.
But the highest devotion to God transcends the three qualities. It is a
spontaneous and uninterrupted inclination of the soul towards God. Such devotion
springs up spontaneously in the heart of a true devotee, as soon as he hears the
mention of God or His attributes. A devotee possessing love of God of this nature
desires nothing even if he is offered the happiness of heaven in whatever way it is
conceived. The devotees desire is only to love God under all conditions - in pleasure
and pain, honour and dishonor, prosperity and privation.
Maya is nothing but worldly desires. A man living in its midst gradually loses
his spiritual alertness. He thinks all is well with him. One gradually acquires love of
God through the practice of chanting Gods name and glories, overcoming the
worldly desires. One does not succeed spiritually so long as one has sense of shame,
hatred and fear.
Compassion (daya) and attachment (maya) are two different attitudes.
Attachment is the feeling of my-ness towards ones relatives and goods. Compassion
is the love one feels for all beings of the world. It is an attitude of seeing God in all
beings. Compassion comes owing to the grace of God. Attachment also comes from
God. Through maya God makes one serve ones relatives. One is to remember that
maya keeps us in ignorance and entangles us in the world. Compassion makes our
hearts pure and gradually unties our bonds.
To develop love for God, scriptures indicate that the devotee has to build up
an intimate personal relationship to God. They suggest that God may be regarded as
the devotees parent, master, friend, child, husband or sweetheart. Each succeeding
relationship represents a further intensification of love. These attitudes (bhavas)
toward God are known as santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhur.
Santa is the serene attitude. Bhishma of the Mahabharata, on the bed of arrows
after the Great War at Kurukshetra, awaiting physical death, was a glorious example
of this attitude. The Vedic seers, too, had this attitude toward God. They did not
desire any worldly enjoyment. It is like the single-minded devotion of a wife to her
husband.

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Dasya is the attitude of a servant toward his master. Hanuman had this attitude
toward Rama. A wife feels this attitude toward her husband, with all her heart and
soul. A mother also has a little of this attitude, as Yasoda toward Krishna.
Sakhya is the attitude of friendship. The cowherd boys of Brindavan had this
attitude toward Krishna.
Vatsalya is the attitude of a mother toward her child, like Yasodas attitude
toward Krishna. The mother feels happy only when the child eats to its hearts
content.
Madhur is the attitude of a woman toward her paramour. Radha had this
attitude toward Krishna. A chaste wife feels it for her husband. This attitude includes
all the other four.
Vaishnavism preaches a significant concept in regard to madhur- bhava. The
male devotee is to consider himself as a woman in order to develop the most intense
form of love for Sri Krishna - the Supreme Being. This assumption of the attitude of
the opposite sex has a psychological significance.
In our experience, we may cultivate an idea to such an intense degree that
every other idea is withdrawn from the mind. This attitude can be utilized to subjugate
the lower desires to develop spiritual nature exclusively. The basis of all desires and
passions in a man is the conviction of his complete association with a male body. If he
can inoculate himself thoroughly with the idea that he is woman, he can get rid of the
desires peculiar to his male body. The idea that he is a woman is also to give way to
another higher idea that he is neither man nor woman (anyway he is not), but the
impersonal spirit. The impersonal spirit through his being can have real communion
with the Impersonal God. This is the transcendental experience of communion with
the Divine, close to the Vedantic thought.
The devotee assumes various attitudes towards Sakti - the Primal Energy - the
attitude of a handmaid, a hero or a child, in order to propitiate Her. A heros attitude is
to please Her as a man pleases his wife.
In the northwest India, the bride holds a knife in her hand at the time of
marriage; in Bengal, a nut cutter. This is symbolic that the bridegroom, with the help
of the bride who is the embodiment of the Divine Power, will sever the bondage of
illusion. This is the heroic attitude. Women are, all of them, the veritable images of
Sakti.
As the love of God intensifies, the glories are forgotten gradually. The devotee
realizes more and more intimacy with the Divine. Finally he regards himself as the
mistress of his Beloved. No artificial barrier separates him from his ideal. Nothing
binds his spirit. He experiences perfect union with the Godhead. The devotee retains
the duality of his self and the Self of the Divine, and still becomes one with Him.
Unconditional love and longing are the two requisites for a devotee to attain
the Godhead. Bhakti matured becomes bhava. Next is mahabhava. Next is prema.
The last of all is the attainment of God. These are the conscious state, the semiconscious state and the innermost state. In the conscious state, the devotee only chants

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the name of God. In the semi-conscious state, he dances in ecstasy. In the innermost
state, he remains in samadhi.
When prema is awakened, a devotee completely forgets the world and also his
body. An ordinary person does not experience mahabhava or prema. He goes only as
far as bhava.
Madame Guyon portrays unconditional love in her Acquiescence of Pure
Love, an expression of total surrender to the Divine will.
To me it is equal whether Love ordain
My life or death, anoint me pain or ease.
My soul perceives no real ill in pain;
In ease or health no real good she sees;
One good she covets, and that good alone
To choose Thy will, from selfish bias free,
And to prefer a cottage to a throne,
And grief to comfort, if it pleases Thee.

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Stages of Devotion
There are two stages of devotion (bhakti). The first one is Vaidhi-bhakti. It is
qualified by scriptural injunctions. At this stage, the devotee worships God following
the tradition. His worship is by way of repeating Gods name, chanting His glories,
hymns, prayers, etc. This is the lower stage of devotion.
But it matures into the higher stage - Para-bhakti or supreme devotion. It is in
the nature of ecstatic love - Urjita-bhakti of God. It overflows, as it were. When it is
awakened, the devotee laughs and weeps and dances and sings. It is the
manifestation of an inexplicable, ineffable experience of the natural perfection of the
soul, not the result of any spiritual practice.
Where there is manifestation of the ecstatic love, it is for certain that God
dwells there. It is pure love, in its intensity, for God. It is Divine Love. It is an end in
itself. It exists potentially in all souls.
Srimad-Bhagvatha refers to nine kinds of devotion. They are listening, praise,
remembrance or mental recollection, respectful service, ceremonial worship,
salutation, servitude, intimate friendship and self-surrender. Listening refers to
listening to the sport of the divine Incarnations. Praise refers to praising their glory.
Remembrance refers to keeping their name and spirit ever in mind and soul.
Respectful service refers to visiting the temples of the deities and to be ever involved
in service to mankind. Ceremonial worship refers to worshipping the deities with
heart and soul. Salutation refers to surrendering to the Divine with all parts of the
body. Servitude refers to rendering service considering that everyone and everything
around is the embodiment of the Divine and the service is only to the Divine. Intimate
friendship refers to true faith that the Divine alone is the true friend, philosopher and
guide. Self-surrender refers to surrendering oneself totally with body, mind and spirit
to the Divine while in meditation.
Innumerable examples are available in Indian mythology as to the devotees
that have attained Godhead following the above ways of devotion. Among them are
King Parikshit who attained salvation by listening to the sport of divine Incarnations,
Brahmarshi Suka by divine praise, Lakshmana by respectful service, Emperor Pruthu
by ceremonial worship, Akrura by salutation, Garuda and Hanuman by servitude,
Arjuna by intimate friendship, Emperor Bali by self-surrender and sacrifice. Kabir,
Ramadas, Tukaram, etc are other examples of devotees having attained salvation.
Narada Bhakti Sutras enumerate eleven modes of devotion. They are love for
listening to the sport and qualities of divine Incarnations, love for visit to the temples
of the deities, love for worship of the deities, love for mental recollection and
remembrance of the Divine, love for intimate friendship with the spirit of the Divine,
love for pouring affection to the Divine, love for the Divine treating Him as his hero
considering himself as His handmaid, love for total surrender to the Divine, love for
meditation to merge into the Divine and love for looking ever for every opportunity to
join the Divine spiritually.

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Through devotion, the seeker experiences kumbhakam spontaneously. The

nerve currents and breathing are calmed when the mind is concentrated. Also, the
mind is concentrated when the nerve currents and breathing calm down. It is a twoway path. Then the discriminating power - intellect (buddhi) becomes steady. When
the seeker achieves this state, he himself will not be aware of it.
The aspirants may be divided into different groups. They are the pravartaka,
the sadhaka, the siddha and the siddha of the siddha. The one who has just set foot on
the path of God realization is called a pravartaka. The one who has for sometime
been practising spiritual disciplines such as worship, japam, meditation and the
chanting of Gods name may be called a sadhaka. The one who has known from his
inner experience that God exists is a siddha. The one who has realized God very
intimately is the siddha of the siddha.
Devotion to God is to adore Him with body, mind and words. With body
means to serve and worship God with ones hands, go to holy places with ones feet,
hear the chanting of the name and glories of God with ones ears and behold the
Divine image with ones eyes. With mind means to contemplate and meditate on
God constantly and to remember and think of His lila. With words means to sing
hymns to Him and chant His name and glories.
Sometimes God totally effaces the ego of his devotee as in the state of
samadhi. But in many cases, the devotee keeps a trace of ego. That does not injure
anybody. It is like the ego of a child. The ego helps the devotee to enjoy the bliss of
the company of God. It also helps serve fellow human beings to realize Godhead
All trouble and botheration come to an end when the I - ego dies. One may
indulge in thousand ways of reasoning. But still the I does not disappear. A devotee
keeps the ego as in I am a lover of God. It does no harm.
Sri Ramakrishna says: The best path for this age is bhakti-yoga, the path of
bhakti prescribed by Narada - to sing the name and glories of God and pray to Him
with a longing heart, O God, give me knowledge, give me devotion, and reveal
Thyself to me! The path of karma is extremely difficult. Therefore one should pray,
O God, make my duties fewer and fewer; and may I, through Thy grace, do the few
duties that Thou givest me without any attachment to their results! May I have no
desire to be involved in many activities.The aim of life is the attainment of God.
Work is only a preliminary stepIt is not possible to give up work
altogetherEven unselfish work is only a means: It is not the endThe singing of
the name and glory of God destroys the effect of past action.

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Divine Incarnation
Mythological epics refer to Divine Incarnations. They represent the actual
descent of the Brahman in various mundane forms into the world, when evil prevails
and good is about to be destroyed. The Immanent dwells in all souls and accompanies
them in life and death. It is the Brahman residing in the spirit (atman) of man like
lightning in a cloud. The Incarnate as worshiped is the idol of God in various forms
acceptable to devotees.
The Saguna Brahman is meant for the devotees. In other words, a devotee
believes that God has attributes and reveals Himself to the devotee as a Person
assuming the form he believes in. It is He who listens to the prayers of the devotee.
The prayers are directed to Him alone.
A devotee, therefore, accepts Divine Incarnation in human form for worship. It
provides an object of meditation and prayer resulting in mahabhava and prema.
Those who follow the path of devotion seek an Incarnation of God, to enjoy
the sweetness of devotion.
Ordinary people do not recognize the advent of an Incarnation of God. He
comes in secret. Only a few of his intimate disciples can recognize him.
Gods play on earth as an Incarnation is the manifestation of the glory of the
Chit-sakti, the Divine Power. That which is the Brahman is also Rama, Krishna and
Siva.
The special manifestations of the Absolute are the Incarnations - the known
and the knowable. God becomes the Incarnations in different ages to show us the way
to become perfect.
As long as I-consciousness exists, God reveals Himself as a Person to a
devotee.
The formless God is real. Equally real is God with form. Formless God is the
water of the Great Cause, motionless. Waves spring up when it becomes active. Its
activities are creation, preservation and destruction.
God is born on earth as man in every age, to teach people ecstatic love and
devotion. There is a great accumulation of divinity in an Incarnation like the
accumulation of fish in a deep hollow in a lake. God can be directly perceived in man
with a tangible form. Seeing an Incarnation of God is the same as seeing God
Himself.
What is Gods form like? Like bubbles rising on an expanse of water, various
Divine forms are seen to rise out of the great Akasa of Consciousness. The
Incarnation of God is one of these forms. The Primal Energy sports, as it were,
through the activities of a Divine Incarnation.

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When God is born as an Incarnation in man, holding in His hand the key to the
liberation of others, then, for the welfare of the humanity, the Incarnation joins the
stream of the consciousness of the world.
God becomes man, an Avatar, and comes to earth with his devotees. And the
devotees leave the world with Him. A band of minstrels suddenly appears, dances,
sings, and departs in the same sudden manner. They come and they return, but none
recognizes them.
Even the Incarnation of God is conscious of the body. Embodiment is due to
maya. The Incarnation is bound to the relative by His own free will. But maya binds
man to the relative in eight fetters - shame, hatred, fear, caste, lineage, good conduct,
grief and secretiveness. The fetters cannot be unfastened without the help of a guru.
Assuming a human body, the Incarnation becomes a victim to disease, grief,
hunger, thirst and all such things, like ordinary mortals. Rama wept for Sita. The
Brahman weeps entrapped in the snare of the five elements. God, incarnating
Himself as man, behaves exactly like a man. That is why it is difficult to recognize an
Incarnation unless the mind is totally free from the worldly desires.
God exists in all beings. But the manifestations of His Power are different in
different beings. The greatest manifestation is through an Incarnation. Again, in some
Incarnations, there is complete manifestation of Gods Power, while in some others it
is partial.
In an Incarnation of God, one sees the sun of knowledge and the moon of love.
The greatest manifestation of God is in man. If one seeks God, one must seek Him in
the Incarnations.
It is Sakti, the power of God that is born as an Incarnation. If one sees a man
endowed with ecstatic love, overflowing with prema, mad after God, intoxicated with
His love, then one is to know for certain that God has incarnated Himself through that
man.
An Incarnation has a thin ego through which he will have an uninterrupted
vision of God. Though he remains in the human body he is always united with God.
Though established in samadhi, he can descend to the worldly plane. He who liberates
others is an Incarnation of God.
The knowledge of an Incarnation of God is like the light of the sun. Through
that light, the Incarnation sees everything, inside and outside, big and small.
Sat-Chit-Ananda alone is the guru. If someone in the form of a guru awakens
spiritual consciousness in one, then one is to know for certain that it is God the
Absolute that has assumed that human form for ones sake. The guru is like a
companion that leads one by hand. After the realization of God, one loses the
distinction between God and oneself. The distinction between the teacher and the
disciple ceases to exist after the disciple attains the Brahman.
When God creates all forms of the world, can He not have a form for His Self
if He so wills? The Divine Incarnation is necessary and arises to make the Divine

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Truth human truth to enable us to appreciate it. One cannot look at the sun directly;
but one can look at the reflected rays of the sun, to appreciate its glory and splendor.
Real knowledge of the Divine is only faith.
In a Divine Incarnation perfect Divinity and perfect humanity coexist as in
Krishna, Christ or Sri Sathya Sai. In any Divine Incarnation, formulates the Council
of Chalcedon, exists the same perfect in Godhead, the same perfect in manhood,
truly God and truly man. the difference of the two natures being by no means taken
away because of the union, but rather the distinctive character of each nature being
preserved.
A Divine Incarnation is thus a divine-human amalgam. According to the
doctrine of Ditheletism, the Divine Incarnation has two wills one divine and the
other human. When the Incarnation wills in its identification with the Divine, it surely
materializes. When It wills in identification with the human, it may or may not
materialize or fructify. The attributes such as the omniscience, omnipresence and
omnipotence of the Divine are latent in any Divine Incarnation. They become patent
whenever the Incarnation wills any of them to arise. This explains the adage in an
Avatar, the Supreme Godhead is not on duty all the time.
Thus the concept of the Avatar - whether Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Chaitanya,
Ramakrishna or Sri Sathya Sai - refers to a Divine Consciousness in an instrumental
personality according to the rules of the game - though also sometimes to change the
rules of the game. So the Avatar comes into existence not as a mere superfluous
freak of nature, but as a coherent part of the arrangement of the omnipotent Divine
in nature.
In the eternity of Becoming, each Avatar is only the announcer, the forerunner
of a more perfect future realization.
The concept of Divine Incarnation is the first link in the chain of ideas leading
to recognition of the oneness of God and man. God appearing first in one human
form, then reappearing at different times in other human forms is at last recognized as
being in every human form, or in all human beings.
Some say that there are ten Divine Incarnations, some twenty-four, while
others say that there are innumerable Incarnations. Both God and the human beings
have the same properties ontologically. Man is born in the image of God, is the
adage. All human beings are incarnations of the Divine, though the manifestation of
the divinity varies from human being to human being.
However great and infinite God may be, His essence can and does manifest
itself, through man by way of Incarnation. It cannot be explained by analogy. One
must feel it for oneself and realize it by direct perception. By touching different parts
of a cow, we touch the cow herself. But for us the essential thing about a cow is her
milk, which comes through the udder. The Divine Incarnation is like the udder, to
teach people from time to time devotion and divine love. Mans longing is not
satisfied without the Divine Incarnation, unless he sees God in a human form.

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As long as the aspirant has no means of seeing the real sun except through its
reflection, so long is the reflected sun real to him. As long as the I is real, so long is
the reflected sun real. That reflected sun is the primal energy. But if the aspirant seeks
the knowledge of the attribute-less Brahman, he is then to proceed to the real sun
through its reflection. He is to pray to the Brahman with attributes. The Brahman
listens to his prayers and He Himself will give the devotee full Knowledge of the
Brahman. For that which is the Brahman with attributes is verily the Brahman without
attributes; that the Brahman is verily Sakti. The aspirant realizes the non-duality after
the attainment of perfect knowledge.
A devotee may think of the Brahman as a shore-less ocean. Through the
cooling influence of the devotees love, as it were, the water gets frozen at places into
blocks of ice. In other words, God, now and then, assumes various forms for His
devotees and reveals Himself to them as a person. But with the rising of the sun of
knowledge, the block of ice melts. Then one does not feel any more that God is a
person, nor does one see Gods forms. Who will describe what He is? The aspirant
cannot find his I anymore.

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Faith
One develops faith by living in the company of holy men, by meditating on
God, by practicing discrimination and praying to God, to bestow faith and devotion
on oneself. Once one has faith, one achieves anything. There is nothing greater than
faith. One cannot have such faith unless one is guileless and broad-minded.
There are innumerable examples in mythology about the tremendous power of
faith. If one has faith in God, then even if one commits any type of crime, one will
certainly be saved.
Worthless people do not have any faith. They always doubt. And doubts do
not disappear completely till one realizes the Self.
One must have childlike faith and the intense yearning that a child feels to see
its mother. That yearning is like the red sky in the east at dawn. After such sky, the
sun must rise. Immediately after that yearning, one sees God.
A devotee is to have faith that he can attain the knowledge of the Brahman by
following the path of devotion. God is all-powerful. He may give His devotee
brahmajnana if He so wills it. A true devotee may not seek brahmajnana - the
knowledge of the Absolute. He would rather seek the consciousness that God is the
master and he the servant, or that God is the Divine Mother and he the child.
God cannot be realized by means of mere scholarship. One must have faith
and love. If one has real faith in ones gurus words, one need not practise sadhana
hard to realize God. Ones faith leads one to God. Reasoning pushes one far away. As
ones faith increases, so does ones knowledge of God.
Faith is not simple belief. It is the grasp on the Ultimate, an illumination. One
must first hear, then reason and find out all that reason can make out about the Atman
- the Brahman. Let the flood of reason flow over it; then one is to take what remains.
If nothing remains, one has escaped a superstition. When one has determined that
nothing can take away the Atman, then it stands every test. One is to hold fast to it.
Truth cannot be partial; it is for the good of all. Finally, in perfect rest and peace, one
is to meditate upon it, concentrate ones mind upon it and make oneself one with it.
Silence will then carry the Truth. One shall not let the outside world disturb one.
When ones mind is in the highest state, one is not conscious of it; ones mind is
transcended. One is to accumulate power in silence and become a dynamo of
spirituality.

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21. The Path of Yoga

General
Another way of realization is through practices of yoga. Several sages
propound several practices of yoga. The principal yoga propounded by Pathanjali is
called Raja-yoga.
Mainly, the practice of yoga is through the control of body and mind. Yoga is
essentially inward looking. It is both meta-physics and meta-psychology. The inward
is as real as the outward and the approach is from the outward to the inward depths
and vice-versa, all forming continuity.
Since mind and senses are by nature outward looking, special discipline is
needed to look inward. To look inward is not introspection. For the inward look, the
object is the mind itself, but not what passes in the mind. Mind is never self-conscious
according to Pathanjali, and is always the object of some consciousness. The ultimate
consciousness, which is the seer, the on-looker, the witness of everything that happens
in me and outside me, is myself. By realizing it, I accomplish two things my own
spiritual uplift when I realize the deeper level of my being and an explanation of the
intelligibility for the world. Yoga seeks to realize these two objectives.
The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit verbal root yuj, meaning to yoke to join. Thus yoga is the method that joins, that unites. What is joined is the finite
spirit with the Supreme Spirit, or an individual to his ethical ideal. Yoga means not
only this joining, but also the methods or practices leading to the joining.
The object of yoga is self-perfection, not self-annulment. The yogi is to seek
perfection in the universe. It is attained when the yogi fulfills existence in God. The
world is the Brahman; the world is God; the world is Truth; the world is Bliss. It is
our misreading of the world through mental egoism that is a falsehood, and our wrong
relation with God in the world that is a misery. There is no other falsity and no other
cause of sorrow.
By yoga we can rise out of falsehood into truth, out of weakness into force,
out of pain and grief into bliss, out of bondage into freedom, out of death into
immortality, out of darkness into light, out of confusion into purity, out of
imperfection into perfection, out of self-division into unity, out of maya into God.
Only that which aims at possessing the fullness of God is purna-yoga. The seeker of
the divine perfection is the purna-yogi.
The aim of a yogi must be to be perfect, as God in His being and bliss is
perfect, pure as He is pure, blissful as He is blissful. God in His perfection embraces
everything; we also must become allembracing.
Sri Aurobindo says: The aim of the yoga is to open the consciousness to the
Divine and to live in the inner consciousness more and more while acting from it on
the external life, to bring the inmost psychic into the front and by the power of the
psychic to purify and change the being so that it may become ready for transformation

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and be in union with the Divine Knowledge, Will and Love. Secondly, to develop the
yogic consciousness, that is, to universalize the being in all the planes, become aware
of the cosmic being and cosmic forces and be in union with the Divine on all the
planes up to the over-mind. Thirdly, to come into contact with the transcendent
Divine beyond the over-mind through the supra-mental consciousness, supramentalize the consciousness and the nature, and make oneself an instrument for the
realization of the dynamic Divine Truth and its transforming descent into the earthnature.
Yoga may be used for many purposes. Many of its physical practices keep the
body healthy and active. It helps even in controlling the involuntary functions of the
body including the functions of the life principle. The mental practices purify the
mind, clear it of all dross and enable it to receive the reflection of the Spirit in its
purity. Physical control is subservient to the vital, and control of the vital principle is
subservient to the spiritual.
The methods of control of voluntary and involuntary functions of the body are
considered together Hatayoga, a means to mental and body control. In hatayoga the
instrument is the body and life. All the power of the body is stilled, collected,
purified, heightened and concentrated to its utmost limits or beyond any limits by
asana and other physical processes. The power of life is similarly purified, heightened
and concentrated by asana and pranayama. This concentration of powers is then
directed towards that physical centre in which the divine consciousness sits concealed
in the human body. Hatayoga is not, however, recommended for self-realization.
Each type of yoga in its process has the character of the instrument it uses.
Thus, the process of hatayoga is psychophysical. The process of raja-yoga is mental
and physical. The way of knowledge is spiritual and cognitive. The way of devotion
or bhakti-yoga is spiritual, emotional and aesthetic. The way of works or karma-yoga
is spiritual and dynamic by action. Each is guided in the ways of its own characteristic
power. But all power, in the end, is really soul-power.
The significant truth is that the yogi, if he is intent on final liberation, is not to
be tempted by the powers generated by the practices of yoga. Several kinds of powers
arise in the course of practices, which, for ordinary people, look supernatural. To be
tempted by them is to be attached to them. To be attached to them is to be lost in
them, without achieving the goal of ultimate samadhi for realization. To be lost in
them at any stage is to forget the truth about oneself.
The practice of yoga involves at every stage genuine, not fanciful and
artificial, self-analysis. The self-analysis leads to genuine phenomenological and
existential self-analysis. It results in reaching the core of the self - the atman. The
different levels of samadhi are the different levels of the atman itself leading
ultimately to its pure, essential being.
The ways of obtaining ultimate spiritual realization are based on an analytical
understanding of the levels of our psychophysical being. True understanding of man
and his universe enables him to chalk out the right conduct he has to follow. But
true views (samyak-darsanas) implies a true analysis of mans self-conscious being
until the greatest possible depths are reached. Samadhi is not merely concentration of

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mind transcended, on an object or idea. Its essence is the concentration of mans

diversified being as such, ultimately resulting in self-realization.
An aspirant attains yoga when he has freed his mind from the worldly desires.
The Supreme Self is the magnet. The individual self is the needle. The individual self
experiences the state of yoga when the Supreme Self attracts it to Itself. But the
magnet cannot attract the needle, if the needle is covered with clay. It can draw the
needle when the clay is removed. The clay of worldly desires must be removed from
the aspirant.

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Raja-yoga
Pathanjali is the architect of the philosophy of Yoga and Self-realization
through Psychophysical practices. He defines yoga as the stopping of the five
functions of Reason - the sources of valid knowledge, false knowledge, empty
concepts, sleep and memory.
The stopping of the functions is a difficult task as the nature of Reason is to be
active ever. When it does not perform any function, it tends to sleep, which is also its
function. If it is to function, the concept is that it meditates on God which leads to
salvation.
According to him, God is omniscient and is untouched by the five afflictions ignorance, egoity, desire (want), hate and fear of death. Meditation on God involves
repeating His name, thinking its meaning. Then mind becomes inward looking. All
hindrances to meditation disease, lethargy, doubt, inattention, heaviness of body and
mind, attachment to object, error, inexplicable failure to obtain trance (samadhi) and
unsteadiness of mind - are removed.
Meditation is to lead to samadhi. It means the settling down of Reason (chitta,
buddhi) on something. Settling down implies peace and steadiness. It is the settling
down of Reason in Itself.
When all functions of the Reason including sleep are stopped, the Reason
stays in itself. But Reason is conscious and its consciousness is due to the reflection of
the Cosmic Person. The reflection, with no object to know, stays in its original nature.
This staying of rational consciousness in it is the samadhi. This is the aim of yoga.
When this rational consciousness does not stay in itself, the knower in it
identifies itself with the functions of the Reason and assumes its forms. The final
samadhi is the staying of the Cosmic Person in Him, not even as the knower. This is
the stage of final liberation while in body. The earlier samadhi is only the beginning,
the gateway to the final one. In the final stage, the three attributes of prakrti will be in
perfect harmony, maintaining perfect equilibrium.
Whether one is in samadhi or not is indicated by whether or not there is
movement of thought in ones mind. The unconditioned mind, in itself, is meditation,
freedom and peace eternal. Samadhi is the state in which all the desires and hopes
concerning the world have ceased, which is free from sorrow, fear and desire, and by
which the self rests in itself. It is the state in which there is eternal satisfaction, clear
perception of What is, egolessness, not being subject to the pairs of opposites, freed
from anxiety and the urge of acquisition or rejection. The enlightened ones are forever
in samadhi, even though they engage themselves in the affairs of the world.
The states of samadhi - the first and the final - cannot be had merely through
physical and mental exercises. The most important preliminary is the purification of
ones Reason, which is the I-am. So long as the I-am is activated by inner
functions, it cannot be pure and stable. It can be made steady by practice and
detachment. Practice is effort repeated. Detachment is equanimity and non-egoistic.

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To obtain these faculties one is to practise friendliness with generous people,

compassion for those in distress, affection instead of jealously for those who are
meritorious, and indifference towards the evil of evildoers. One is to practise selfcontrol such as non-injury, non-stealing, truthfulness, celibacy and non-acceptance of
gifts. It is significant that the preparation for achieving the states of samadhi is based
on ethical action.
To obtain the steadiness of mind, the seeker may follow any method he
considers suitable to himself. One easy method is to meditate on God he loves.
Another method is to meditate on the I-am consciousness, the ontological Reason
itself.
When one is able to fix ones mind, it passes through five stages. Here, mind
means Reason (chitta, buddhi). Its nature is to change every instant. The five stages
through which the Reason passes are as follows.
First, the Reason becomes agitated and restless. Second, it becomes torpid
when greater effort is made to fix it. It tends to fall asleep. Third, it becomes
distracted when still greater effort is made. Fourth, it becomes concentrated on the
object of meditation if the effort is not given up. Fifth, it becomes restrained and its
functions stop when the mind is steady at that level. The last two levels are conducive
to samadhi.
The practice of samadhi is really very difficult. To be able to practise
samadhi is to go against the very nature of prakrti, which is ever in change. So
Pathanjali recommends eight steps to be practised, generally one after the other. The
earlier has to be started before the latter, and the latter makes the earlier perfect. The
eight steps are: self-control (yama), regulation of life by rules (niyama), bodily
postures (asanas), breath-control (pranayama), withdrawal of senses from objects
(pratyahara), fixing the mind on an object (dharana), meditation (dhyana) and
samadhi.
These steps need elucidation for appreciation.
Self-control is of five kinds - non-injury, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy
and non-acceptance of gifts. All these relate to refusal to accept instruments of
pleasure.
Regulation of life by rules is of five kinds- a) purification of the body through
bathing, taking only pure food and keeping the mind pure through kindness,
compassion, cheerfulness and friendliness, b) contentment, c) penance, d) study of
sacred books and e) meditation on God.
Bodily postures are to keep the body comfortably steady while in meditation.
One may choose the postures that suit one.
Breath control is the regulation of inhaling and exhaling. It is of several kinds.
Perfection in the practice may give one control over ones involuntary functions.
Mental agitation results in irregular breathing. Breathing is a function of life. By
controlling breath, one may control ones involuntary activities. As life is a

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spontaneous activity of the inner sense, by controlling breath, the inner sense is also
controlled.
While breathing consists of inhaling and exhaling, retention of the inhaled air
in the lungs and keeping the lungs empty for a time by not inhaling immediately after
exhaling can be added as additional activities. One can regulate these four parts of
breathing according to some measure of time. By proper practice, inhaling can be
stopped for great lengths of time without dying. Thereby one can gain control over the
life principle. However, it is dangerous to practise them in the absence of guidance by
an expert.
Sense withdrawal from the objects is a difficult task to accomplish. Through
careful effort, the senses can be turned inward and away from their objects. This does
not result in destruction of the senses, but their unison with their source. As objects
issue out of the inner sense, they are also withdrawn when the senses are withdrawn.
At this stage, the senses assume the form of Reason itself. Then they are no longer
functional.
Concentration is the fixing of the inner sense upon a desired object. It is the
process of concentrating the mind on the object chosen.
Meditation is the unbroken continuity of concentration. In this state of Reason,
the cognition of the object meditated upon becomes continuous like the flow of oil. It
is the stage where the Reason knows itself as knowing the object. The distinction
between the object and cognition persists.
Samadhi is the stage where Reason is completely absorbed in the object; that
the object alone stands and cognition disappears. There is no sense, no awareness of
being aware of the object. At this stage, the inner structure of the object reveals itself
completely. It may be a physical object, ones own mind with its layers of the
Unconscious or anothers mind. It may be anything.
Of the above eight steps of yoga, the last three are said to be inner and the first
five external to yoga. The ultimate (final stage of) samadhi may be that in which the
potencies of the world are totally destroyed. The last three steps are, in their turn,
external to the ultimate samadhi. This is to say that the practice of the first five steps
leads to the next three steps ending in that state of samadhi that retains the seeds of
worldliness. But this samadhi leads, in its turn, to the ultimate samadhi where the
potencies of the world are totally lost and the Self realized.
Pathanjali divides samadhi - the absolutely original state, as it is the reflection
of the pure state of the Purusa - into two primary kinds. The first is the samadhi in the
known or with the known as being known as an object. The second is the samadhi in
the unknown or without the known as an object. The former has the consciousness of
the object as an object. The latter is without such consciousness. He divides again the
former into four kinds each of which is again of two kinds. He divides the latter into
two kinds.
The former is based on the constitution of the empirical personality, which
consists of the inner sense (antahkarana), the subtle elements and the gross elements.
In this division, there is no mention of concentration on each of the three factors of
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the inner sense, namely mind, ego and reason (buddhi). There is mention of
concentration only on mind and am-ness (asmita). This is to say that the ego
(ahankara) the nature of which is to appropriate objects and experiences as mine is
transcended or submerged or transformed into the pure am-ness. It is still first
personal, but not egoistic.
Pathanjali says that the ego, which is also a pattern of similar pulsations of
prakrti, is stopped, checked and merged in rational consciousness am-ness in its
pure state. Ontologically and basically, Reason in which the I, as the ego, is
absorbed is the pure I-am or am-ness. It is am-ness, but not merely is-ness
which is third personal and may not have the significance of the self-conscious being.
Pathanjali also makes the distinction between the determinate and the
indeterminate samadhi. The determinate is the one, which has a shape, a form, a
formation. The indeterminate is the one in which no shapes are perceived as objects.
According to him, the savitarka and savicara samadhis are determinate and the
nirvitarka and nirvicara samadhis are indeterminate.
The yoga enables the seeker to realize the identity of his particular being with
the whole world of nature (prakrti) just as he realizes his identity with his physical
body. He can have as much control over the world, as over his body. The
extraordinary powers resulting from such a control are not supernatural, but natural.
He has to distinguish himself from every aspect of prakrti, realize his separateness
from it, then enter it and be one with it, without at the same time losing his
discriminatory power attained, and then control its movements from within. The first
requirement is a kind of detachment from prakrti, which results in its control.
As the final realization of such discriminatory oneness with the evolutes of
prakrti arises, at every stage, some extraordinary powers are attained. The
achievement of siddhis or these psychic powers is dependent upon four factors - time,
place, action and means. Among these, action or effort holds the key to all endeavors.
All achievements are possible through the practice of pranayama.
At the end of the ultimate samadhi, the cognition of the seeker (yogi) is always
truth. It is direct intuition of anything in the world like the intuition of the existence of
ones body. How much of the cosmos can be known depends on the perfection of the
samadhi. But one can obtain other powers (siddhis) by following other methods of
concentration, at different levels.
Some obtain these powers simply at birth, as samskaras of the previous births.
Some obtain them through incantations, some through penance and some others
through samadhi.
By concentrating on the three moments of change - past, present and future,
one can obtain knowledge of the past and the future. By concentrating on the relation
of the word, the object and the cognition of the object, one can obtain the power of
knowing the meaning of words and sounds made by any living creature.
By concentrating on the samskaras of ones own Reason, one can know ones
past births. By concentrating on the relation between the expression on the face of
another and his mind, one can have knowledge of what transpires in the mind of that
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man. By concentrating on the form of ones own or anothers body, the body can be
made invisible.
By concentrating on objects as they appear, as they are in themselves, on the
subtle elements that constitute them, on their qualities, etc. one conquers all the
elements and obtains the powers such as becoming infinitesimally small (anami),
becoming infinitely large (mahima), becoming infinitesimally light (laghima),
becoming infinitesimally heavy (gurutvam), the power of touching anything at any
distance (prapti), obtaining anything desired (prakamya), lordship over everything
(isitva) and control over everything (vasitva). These powers are called the Ashta siddis, the most important ones. There are other less important powers realized, called
Riddhis.
Recent studies in parapsychology accept such phenomena as tele-kinesis producing motion in a body without the application of material force; clairvoyance the power of seeing objects or actions removed from natural sight; clairaudience - the
power of hearing sounds at a distance; telepathy - communication between minds by
means other than sensory perception; apport - producing at a place an object which is
at a far distant place; development of extra sensory perceptions and the like. These
studies also admit the possibility of a person dematerializing, re-assembling himself
elsewhere and reappearing there. They also accept thought therapy as a way of
healing diseases by intense well-wishing, positive thinking and faith cure. Some
practitioners in parapsychology organize inter-communication between the living and
the spirits. Some hypnotize the living persons and take them into their past lives by
way of regression to know the details thereof very vividly. They similarly organize
progression to know the future lives of the souls. Indeed, parapsychologists such as
Micheal Newton recall, in their studies, the journey of souls in between their lives on
earth or elsewhere.
Parapsychologists also accept the miraculous phenomena as a science in the
name of Thaumaturgy. They consider this science to be susceptible to rational and
logical experimentation.
The phenomena stated above are in the nature of siddhis acquired by sadhana
- practicing the exercises prescribed there for. They are similar to the siddhis acquired
by the seekers following the practices of yoga.
Pathanjali mentions many other kinds of powers and methods of obtaining
them. There are several yogis in all ages that have these powers. They do not care to
exhibit them if proof is sought. But several seekers experience these powers as the
yogis spontaneously display them.

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Tantra - Kundalini
Tantra is a system of theistic philosophy in which the Divine Mother or the
Supreme Power is the ultimate Reality. It also considers that the ultimate Reality is
Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. It considers man identical with this Reality, but
under the influence of prakrti (maya). Because of this influence, he is not aware of his
true nature. He takes the merely apparent world of forms and names as true. This error
in his approach is the cause of his bondage and suffering. The spiritual disciplines it
promotes are for discovery of his true identity with the Divine Reality.
Tantra takes into consideration the natural weakness of human beings, their
lower urges and their love for the physical. It combines philosophy with rituals,
meditation with ceremonies, and renunciation with enjoyment. The underlying
purpose is gradually to train the seeker to meditate on his identity with the Ultimate,
leading to his realization.
Tantra bids the seeker to enjoy the objective world but discover therein the
presence of God. Mystical rites are prescribed, which spiritualize sense attractions
gradually into love of God. The very bonds of man are turned into releasers. Tantra
aims to sublimate enjoyment (bhoga) into yoga - union with the Divine. For it, the
world with all its manifestations is no more than the sport of Siva and Sakti.
Tantric discipline is, in its nature, a synthesis. It seizes on the universal truth
that there are two poles of Being whose essential unity is the secret of existence such
as the Brahman and Sakti, Spirit and Nature, etc. To raise nature in man into manifest
power of spirit is its method. It is the whole nature that it gathers up for the spiritual
conversion. It lays its hands firmly on many of the main springs of human quality,
desire and action. It subjects them to an intensive discipline with the souls mastery of
its motives as the first aim and their elevation to a diviner spiritual level as its final
utility.
Tantra considers that Sakti is the active creative force of the world. Siva is the
Absolute and is inseparable from Sakti. Sakti as the creator of the world is the Divine
Mother. Ontologically, it is one with the Vedanta. Its practices are different, though
the ultimate samadhi realized through its practices aims at the same goals as in rajayoga.
As it considers Sakti as the Supreme Power, meditation on Sakti or the Divine
Mother is the central discipline of this system. While meditating, the seeker regards
himself as one with the Absolute. Then he thinks that out of the Absolute emerge two
entities one, his self and the other, the living form of the Divine Mother. He then
projects the Divine Mother into a tangible image before him and worships it.
The disciplines of Tantra are graded to suit aspirants of different levels.
Exercises are prescribed for people with animal, heroic or divine outlooks. Some rites
require the presence of members of the opposite sex. Here the male seeker looks on
woman as the embodiment of the Divine Mother. Every part of womans body is to be
regarded as Divinity incarnate.

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The rites are often dangerous. The help of a qualified preceptor is necessary.
Otherwise, the seeker may lose his foothold. Different practices, if held exactly as
prescribed, produce results as stated in the texts.
Tantra preaches a kind of yoga, called Kundalini (serpent power), leading to
spiritual perception and mystic visions. It is awakening the spiritual energy latent in
human beings.
Deep within the body there is a nadi known as the antravestika. It rests in the
vitals and is the source of a hundred other nadi. It exists in all beings. It is coiled at its
source. It is in contact with all the avenues in the body, from the waist up to the crown
of the head. Within this nadi dwells the supreme power. It is known as kundalini. It is
the supreme power in all beings, and it is the prime mover of all power. When the
prana or the life force, which is in the heart, reaches the abode of the kundalini, there
arises within oneself an awareness of the elements of nature. When the kundalini
unfolds and begins to move, there is awareness within oneself. All the other nadi
radiating flow of energy are tied to the kundalini, as it were. Hence the kundalini is
considered the very seed of consciousness and knowledge.
This philosophy elucidates that there are seven centers in the body designated
as Muladhara, Svadhistahna, Manipura, Anahata, Visuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara.
These are considered to be the dynamic centers where the spiritual energy becomes
vitalized.
These centers placed in the sushumna (antravestika) form the ascending steps
by which the kundalini or the spiritual energy passes from the foot of the spine to the
cerebrum. The spiritual energy passes through these centres upward and downward
with no resistance, along the sushumna. It is said to penetrate the six centers, also
called the six charkas, before it gets vitalized in the sahasrara center. This is known
as shatchakrabheda-penetration of the six chakras.
The muladhara chakra situated between the base of the organ of generation
and the anus is regarded as the seat of the kundalini. The centers (chakras) are
metaphorically described as lotuses. The muladhara chakra is said to be a fourpetalled lotus. The svadhistana chakra situated at the base of the organ of generation
is a six-petalled lotus. The manipura chakra situated in the region of the navel is said
to be a tenpetalled lotus. The anahata chakra placed in the region of heart is said to
be a twelve-petalled lotus. The visuddha chakra at the lower end of the throat is said
to be the sixteen-petalled lotus. The ajna chakra situated in the space between the
eyebrows is said to be a two-petalled lotus. In the cerebrum, the sahasrara chakra is
said to be the thousand-petalled lotus.
The sahasrara is considered the abode of Lord Siva - the Supreme Brahman.
This abode is stated to be as white as the radiant full moon, as bright as lightning and
as mild and serene as moonlight. The sahasrara centre is where the spiritual energy
manifests itself in its full glory and splendor. The lotuses of these centers are like the
fruits and leaves of a wax tree, in the subtle body. Only a yogi can see them. They are
not physiological entities.

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The chakras (centers) are formed of consciousness. The Primordial Energy

resides in all bodies as the kundalini. It is like a sleeping snake coiled up. The
movement of the kundalini along the sushumna nerve is called the movement of the
mahavayu, the Spiritual current.
Spiritual consciousness is not possible without the awakening of the kundalini.
This is, otherwise, to say that when the kundalini is awakened, the jiva goes beyond
the realm of maya (prakrti) and becomes united with the Supreme Soul. This is the
vision of God.
Kundalini is like an inner energy rose up along the inner column of ones
being until it reaches the area in the cerebrum. As one raises the energy, one causes it
to course all through ones body. It is like an inner orgasm.
One is literally to think it up the inner pathway of the centers. Once the life
energy is raised up repeatedly, one acquires a taste for this experience.
The experience of the energy being raised is very sublime. It quickly becomes
the experience most desired. Yet one never completely loses the urge for lowering of
the energy. This is for the reason that the higher level cannot exist in ones experience
without the lower level. Once one gets to the higher level, one is to revert to the lower
level so that one experiences again the pleasure of moving to the higher level. This
moving of the energy up and down is the sacred rhythm of all life.
Ones being is the universe in microcosm. Ones physical body is composed
of raw energy clustered around these seven centers or chakras. What is pleasurable to
or stimulates ones lower chakras is not the same as what is pleasurable to ones
higher chakras. The higher one raises the energy of life through ones physical being,
the more elevated will be ones consciousness. Those who are elevated in their
consciousness do not come from their root chakras in their interactions with fellow
beings.
For ordinary people, the mind - the base spiritual energy - dwells at the three
centers from the lower end - at the organs of evacuation and generation and at the
naval. When the mind ascends to the fourth centre, it sees the individual soul as a
flame. It sees light. When the mind rises to the fifth centre, the seeker wants to hear
only about God. When it rises to the sixth centre, the seeker sees God. Still there is a
barrier between God and the seeker. When the mind rises to the sahasrara, the mind
transcended merges in the Brahman. The individual soul and the Supreme Soul
become one. The seeker goes into samadhi. He loses his consciousness of the body
and the outer world. He is beyond mind and senses.
There have been several seers that have experienced the kundalini sakti - the
serpent power in their yoga. Sri Ramakrishna explains graphically the manner of
rising of the kundalini sakti. There are certain signs of God-vision. When a man sees
God, he goes into samadhi. There are five kinds of samadhi. First he feels the
mahavayu (the great nerve current whose rising is felt in the spinal column) rise like
an ant crawling up. Second, he feels it rise like a fish swimming in the water. Third,
he feels it rise like a snake wriggling along. Fourth, he feels it rise like a bird flying flying from one branch to another. Fifth, he feels it rise like a monkey making a big

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jump; the mahavayu reaches the head (cerebrum) with a jump, as it were and samadhi
follows. There are two other kinds of samadhi. First is the sthita samadhi when the
aspirant totally loses outer consciousness: he remains in that state a long time; it may
be for days. Second is the unmana samadhi: it is to withdraw the mind suddenly from
all sense objects and unite it with God.

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Aum
Aum is a spontaneous sound constantly going on by itself. It is the sound of
Pranava. It originates in the Supreme Brahman. Yogis hear it. People immersed in
worldliness will not hear it. A yogi alone knows that this sound originates both from
his navel and the Supreme Brahman. The yogi, following in the trail of the sound
Aum, gradually merges himself in the Supreme Brahman. His sandhya and other
ritualistic duties disappear in samadhi.
The sound Aum is the Brahman. The rishis and the sages practised austerity to
realize that Sound-Brahman. After attaining perfection, one hears the sound of this
eternal Word, rising spontaneously from the naval. Let us suppose one hears the roar
of the ocean from a distance. By following the roar, one can reach the ocean. As long
as there is a roar, there must also be the ocean. By following the trail of Aum, one
attains the Brahman of which the word is the symbol. Aum is described in the
scriptures as the unceasing flow of oil, like the long peal of a bell.
The letters a, u and m stand for creation, preservation and dissolution of the
universe.

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Other Types of Yoga

Several great sages have conceived of different yoga practices. Their ultimate
aim is only realization of the Self. They are modifications to the practice of raja-yoga
propounded by Pathanjali. In their own way, they have conceived of the modifications
to suit the psycho-physiological needs of different aspirants.
Aurobindo has propounded integral yoga. It is moving the life energy from the
cerebrum down the inner orgasm, emanating from silence. Paramahansa Yogananda
has propounded kriya-yoga. So are other sages.
In every practice of yoga seeking spiritual realization, the emphasis is on
discrimination at every level. It is in the nature of self-analysis to discriminate the real
self from the apparent self in the several identifications. This self-analysis is not in the
psychoanalytic sense but in the sense of discriminating whether the Self-Purusa is
really That with which It identifies Itself.
Each practice of yoga may not attempt to give an intellectual or
phenomenological analysis for the different levels of samadhi. But it helps the seeker
to rise to higher and higher stages of samadhi, which is truly catching, grasping and
staying in ones own self. This is like catching the transcendental ego as it seeks the
aspirant to remain and stay at the highest transcendental level. It is also an existential
analysis and goes beyond it, as it seeks the aspirant to stay at the level of being itself.
The being or existence of everything in the world is a reflection of the Supreme
Being.

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22. The Path of Discrimination

and Knowledge
General
Another way of self-realization is by way of discrimination and knowledge,
also called jnana-yoga. This is the core of the Vedantic philosophy that has engaged
the greatest sages and seers in India.
There are three kinds of reality - the Supreme Spirit, the individual spirits and
the material principle. There are three kinds of relationship - the relation of the
Supreme Spirit to the individual spirits, the relations of the individual spirits to matter
and the relation of matter to the Supreme Spirit. Each of the three terms is related to
the other two. So each relationship has two directions.
A number of questions arise. For example, are all the relations of the same
kind? Are they of the same kind in each of the directions? What is the nature of the
differences, if the three relations are of different kinds? If each relation is different in
each of its directions, what is the nature of the difference? What is the role of the
Brahman as the Supreme Spirit in creation of the matter the world?
One must practise discrimination to enquire the pros and cons of each issue
and to choose the one that leads to God. For instance, lust and greed is impermanent.
God is the only Eternal Substance. What does a man get with money? Food, clothes
and a dwelling place, and nothing more! One cannot realize God with its help.
Therefore, money can never be the goal of life. Such is the process of discrimination.
Discrimination is the path of reasoning - vichara.
One is to discriminate about objects. One is to consider what is there in a
beautiful body. On discrimination, one finds that the body of a beautiful woman
consists of bones, flesh, fat and other disagreeable things. Should one give up God
and direct ones attention to such things? Why should one forget God for the sake of
money, worldly objects and sensuous pleasures?
One may enter the world after attaining discrimination and dispassion. In the
ocean of the world, there are six alligators - lust, anger, avarice, delusion, pride and
envy. One need not fear the alligators, if one smears ones body with turmeric before
one goes into the water. Discrimination and dispassion are the turmeric.
Discrimination is the knowledge of what is real and what is unreal. It is the realization
that God alone is the real and eternal Substance and all else is unreal, transitory and
impermanent. One must cultivate intense zeal and love for God and be attracted to
Him as the gopis of Brindavan. The magician alone is real; his magic is illusory. This
is discrimination.
By turning the mind within oneself, one acquires discrimination and through
discrimination, one thinks of Truth. Then the mind feels the desire to go the way of
God. Going the way of God, one can, without effort, gather the fruits of artha
(prosperity), kama (enjoyment), dharma (ethical merit) and moksha (salvation). After
realizing God, one can also get, if one so desires artha, kama and dharma, which are
necessary for leading the worldly life.

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Discrimination leads to the right views or understanding of the nature of the

world, the right resolve to follow the truths, the right speech constituting truthfulness,
the right action including non-injury, non-stealing, non-sensuality, non-lying and nonintoxication. These, in turn, lead to the right livelihood that does not involve the
performing of prohibited actions as means of livelihood, the right endeavor to
overcome the temptations of evil, the right mindfulness constantly placing ones ideal
before oneself and the right concentration or meditation. When meditation becomes
perfect, one attains realization nirvana, a state of absolute non-disturbance and
liberation.
What is knowledge? It is to know ones own self, dissolving the mind in it. It
is to know the pure atman, which alone is our real nature.
Knowledge is discriminative understanding of What Is. Sri Sathya Sai defines
it thus: Advaita Darsanam Jnanam - Knowledge is realization of Non-dualism.
The means for developing it are the scripture, tapas, tradition, reasoning and
experience. It consists in the understanding that the Brahman - the Supreme Spirit
alone had been before the universe came into being, is what exists in the middle and
will continue to be when the universe including Time dissolves itself into It. The
Brahman alone is the Reality and the Truth.
Men may be divided into four classes - those bound by the fetters of the world,
the seekers after liberation, the liberated and the ever free. Those in bondage to the
world are sunk in worldliness and forgetful of God. Not even once do they think of
God. The bound souls may have realized that there is no substance to the world. But
still they cannot give it up and turn their mind toward God. The seekers after
liberation want to free themselves from attachment to the world. Some of them
succeed and others do not.
The liberated souls are not entangled in the world, not attached to lust and
greed. Their minds are free from worldliness. They always meditate on God. The ever
free live in the world for the good of others, to teach men spiritual truths. They are
realized souls. Among them are sages like Prahlada and Narada.
The path of discrimination and knowledge is very difficult. The Brahman
cannot be described in words. It has only been indirectly hinted at in the scriptures.
The aspirant is to live in the company of holy men as a prerequisite, if he sets out on
the path of knowledge. It is the path by which an aspirant can realize the true nature of
his own self. It is the awareness that the Brahman alone is his true nature, and real.
The aspirant, sticking to the path of knowledge, always reasons about the
Reality. The Brahman is neither this nor that. It is neither the universe nor the
living beings. Reasoning this way, the mind becomes steady. Then it is transcended
and the aspirant goes into samadhi. This is the knowledge of the Brahman. It is the
unwavering conviction of the aspirant that the Brahman alone is real and the world
illusory, like a dream. What the Brahman is cannot be described.
Sometimes it happens that, discriminating between the real and the unreal, an
aspirant loses faith in the existence of God. It is the company of holy men that helps
him stand his ground in that event.
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An aspirant reasons about the Brahman as long as he has not realized It. One
cannot have this knowledge so long as there is the slightest trace of worldliness. The
aspirant is to keep his mind aloof from the objects of sight, hearing, touch and other
things of a worldly nature. As long as an aspirant is conscious of his body, he is
conscious of duality. It is when he tries to describe what he sees, he finds duality. He
is to give up his identification with worldly things, discriminating not this, not this.
Only thus does he realize the Brahman as his own inner consciousness.
The aspirant thinks of God without form. He does not accept the Divine
Incarnation. The aspirant seeks to realize the Supreme Soul. His ideal is the union of
the embodied soul with the Supreme Being. He withdraws his mind from sense
objects and tries to concentrate it on the Supreme Being. Therefore, during the first
stage of his spiritual discipline, he retires into solitude. He practises meditation with
undivided attention.
The aspirant believes that the acts of creation, preservation and dissolution of
the universe and all its living beings are the manifestations of Sakti, the Divine Power.
By reasoning, he will realize that all these are as illusory as a dream in the sense that
they are transient. The Brahman alone is the Reality. All else is unreal. Even this very
Sakti is unsubstantial, like a dream.
Though the aspirant reasons continuously, he cannot go beyond the stage of
Sakti unless he is established in samadhi. Even when he says that he is meditating, he
is in the realm of Sakti, within Its power. The aspirant ultimately realizes that the
Brahman and Sakti are identical. If he accepts the one, he must accept the other. It is
like fire and its power to burn. It is like the sun with its rays. Thus, the aspirant cannot
think of the Brahman without Sakti or of Sakti without the Brahman. One cannot think
of the Absolute without the Relative, or of the Relative without the Absolute. When
he gets into samadhi, thus discriminating, what he realizes is the Brahman, beyond
mind and speech.
The aspirant gives up his identification with worldly things, discriminating
not this, not this. Only then can he realize the Brahman. It is like reaching the roof
of a house by leaving the steps behind, one by one. But the realized who is more
intimately acquainted with the Brahman realizes that which is realized intuitively as
the Brahman is then found to have become the universe and all its living things. The
realized sees that the Reality, which is nirguna, without attributes, is also saguna,
with attributes.
The aspirant initially feels that God alone is real and all else is illusory.
Afterwards, he finds that it is God Himself that has become the universe, maya and all
living beings. The process of discrimination involves first negation and then
affirmation. The aspirant attains satchidananda by negating the universe and its living
beings. But after the attainment of satchidananda he finds that satchidananda itself
has become the universe and the living beings. Everything is its manifestation. It is
God alone that has become everything. The world by no means exists apart from Him.
I and Mine - that is ignorance. Thou and Thine - that is knowledge is
the firm conviction of the aspirant.

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Selfrealization is realization of ones self in ones conscious being. Ones self

is ones atman. Ones atman is seen to be a reflection of the Supreme Spirit or the
Brahman. It is, of course, not an object of ones senses. It is not an object at all. It is
also not the subject in the ordinary sense of the term. The subject of ones experience
is oneself. But one is not the Supreme Spirit. As the Supreme Spirit cannot be
experienced outside ones self, it has to be experienced within. This does not mean
that this Spirit is something in ones mind like an idea or feeling.
The way to the Supreme Spirit is the very self of the individual, referring to
itself as I. As the Supreme Spirit is never an object, it has to be understood as an I
within ones I as the witness (sakshi) of ones I and as transcending it, though
within it. It may be said that it is an I-Am within ones I-am. It may also be said
that the Supreme Spirits I Am is deeper, higher, greater and more comprehensive
than ones I am. Spatial meanings have no relevance here.

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I, Conscious Ego and the Brahman

As already stated, the Brahman has three constitutive characteristics: Being
(satta), Consciousness (chit) and Bliss (ananda). Being and Consciousness are
relevant to epistemology and metaphysics. Bliss is relevant to aesthetics and the life
of salvation.
There are four levels of Being in the empirical world, the highest being the
Supreme Being. The fourth is presupposed by the third, the third by the second and so
on. This presupposition is based on the epistemological principle that every falsity
presupposes a truth. We may say that even the imaginary like the son of a barren
woman, which we consider to be impossibility, is called imaginary, because it is
possible to have experience of such object in imagination.
In the case of a rope being mistaken as a snake, if the snake is false and yet
appears as a being, its appearance, as independent of our mind, is due to the fact that it
has the borrowed being of the rope. Similarly, the forms of the world in spite of their
being self-contradictory and, therefore, false, appear as being, because the Being of
the Brahman or the Supreme Being shines through the said forms of the world. When
we say that is an apple, it means the being shines through the form of apple. It is
important to note that my I-am belongs to all the levels of being. It can understand
itself only when it realizes that it belongs to all of them and that all of them are related
to one another through it.
Without being shining through the form before us, there can be no
perception, but only imagination. In perception, being reveals itself and, through
itself, reveals the object. If and when being does not shine through that form, the
form is called a mere idea or a mental image. So the appearance of the forms of the
world as existing presupposes the truth of being.
This being is consciousness itself. Consciousness accompanies all our
cognitions. When I see a star at a distance, my consciousness is there where the star
exists and it is also there where my I stands. It is present in imagination, in
perception and in inference. It is present wherever being is present. Further, being that
is present to consciousness at the highest level cannot be different from that
consciousness. Otherwise, being becomes an object.
But, objectivity, as in the case of the world, is vitiated by self-contradiction.
Nor consciousness at that level is the epistemological subject. It is for the reason that
the subject, as set against the object, also becomes another object with the same selfcontradictions. So, the being, which my consciousness at my level considers it to be
the root of the being of my consciousness, is the same as the Being that shines
through the forms of the world. The consciousness that knows the world has as much
falsity as the world itself has. So, through both my subjective consciousness and the
objective world, the same being shines. I, therefore, consider that I, as this finite
being, exist and that the object also exists. The ultimate Being that is consciousness, is
the Brahman Itself.

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The above analysis establishes the distinction between my I, my conscious

ego and the Brahman. My I is being and consciousness and the root of the being of
myself. The Brahman is Being and Consciousness and the root of the being of the
world. I can say that I am, only because it is my I am rooted in the Brahman which
is the ground of all forms of the world. When I assert my existence, I say that I am.
When I want to say something about me, I say that I am so and so. But the Brahman
can only be said as I Am. The Brahman shines through me as the witness of myself,
my actions, my cognitions, and my states.
In cognition, I can say that I know that I know X. It is cognition of cognition,
owing to the presence of consciousness that accompanies my activities and me, which
is continuous with my particular I-consciousness, and yet higher and deeper than it. It
is the witness consciousness.
The aspirant discriminates that the world is illusory like a dream; it is maya.
When the world vanishes for him, only the jiva, that is to say, so many egos remain.
Each ego may be likened to a pot. Let one suppose that there are ten pots filled with
water, and the sun is reflected in them. There are ten reflections of the sun. If the pots
are broken one after the other, the reflections of the sun get correspondingly reduced.
When there is only one pot, there is only one reflection. When this pot is also broken
what remains? What remains cannot be described. It can only be inferred that the
reflection of the sun dissolves into the sun. What Is remains. We do not know there
is a real sun unless there is a reflected sun.
I-consciousness is destroyed in samadhi. A man climbing down from
samadhi to the lower plane cannot describe what he has experienced there. That is the
Brahman.
Those who realize the Brahman in samadhi come down and find that it is the
Brahman that has become the universe and its living beings. When one comes down
from the samadhi, one retains ones ego - the knowledge ego. One realizes that it is
the Brahman that has become the ego, too.

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Levels between the I and the Brahman

The witness-consciousness witnesses, in an undisturbed and unaffected way,
all that I do and know including all that I dream. If this witness-consciousness is the
same as the Brahman, then it must be the witness-consciousness of all the egos also as
the same Brahman is present in all egos. Then, as my ego is continuous with my
witness consciousness, the other egos also must be continuous with it and be able to
know all that I do and know. But they do not.
It may, therefore, be appropriate to identify the witness consciousness with the
I-consciousness in deep sleep. It may be lower than the Brahman - may be one form
of the Brahman as the personal God - Isvara. This personal God witnesses everything
I do and know. For every ego, there will be a separate witness-consciousness, which
will be one of the forms of the personal God. Then, there will be the Brahman, the
single personal God and his different forms as witness-consciousness.
We, therefore, find that there are two levels between the Brahman and I. The
levels are those of the Isvara-consciousness and the witness-consciousness. The ego
consciousness is continuous with the three higher levels, including the Brahman. But
one does not cognize such continuity because of the veiling power of the Unconscious
(avidya, maya). The realization of such continuity is itself an ideal for the seeker.
As my ego (ahankara) is continuous with the Brahman, the personal God
(Isvara) is also continuous with It. Sankara calls both of them the Brahman - the
Brahman the Higher-Brahman (Para-Brahman), and the personal God the LowerBrahman (Apara-Brahman). The Lower-Brahman is the same as the Higher-Brahman
as facing the world of objectivity, that is, with reference to prakrti. The LowerBrahman is not ultimately real. Nor is It over-whelmed by prakrti, as the witness who
witnesses others at work is not over-whelmed by what he witnesses. It is not,
therefore, in bondage. It is not within the power of prakrti. Only finite souls are
overpowered by the power of prakrti (maya).
Two ideas of the Divine, therefore, emerge - the Brahman and the personal
God (Isvara). The question is how can the Brahman, the Perfect, become the personal
God, the less perfect. If God is the final truth and is the creator of the world that is full
of evil and misery, the question is how such a perfect, omnipotent, omniscient and all
merciful God can be the creator of evil and misery. Different seers have different
conceptions in regard to these issues.
Our concern is with the ontological status of the personal God. He is the
Brahman with reference to the world. We are aware that the Brahman is the pure and
indeterminate Being. Yet we are prone to relate this Being to the empirical world.
We are prone to think of this Being as perfect, as having all the best qualities,
which, as human beings, we consider to be the possession of that Being. Being, as
indeterminate, is without qualities (nirguna). But we are prone to attribute all the best
qualities to God. While the Brahman is beyond mind and word, God, thus, becomes a
product of our thought. The idea of God is valid in the world; it lasts as long as the
world lasts.

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Both God and the individual thus belong to the phenomenal world. They have
no ultimate reality. But God, unlike finite individual, is not bound, nor subject to the
laws of the world.
Ontologically, the finite individual is to be considered as the finite soul - the
jiva. The I-consciousness of the individual is the atman. It may also be called the
spirit. The soul is the same as the atman and so the same as the Brahman, according to
Sankara. There can be no difference between the soul and the atman according to him,
for the reason that difference is not a valid category.
Once it is considered that the Supreme Consciousness - the Brahman is One
and All-pervading, there can be no second consciousness called jiva, independent of
and different from the Brahman. P. Sriramachandrudu states that the jiva is no other
than antahkarana which is translucent and is the purest (nirmala) of all the nonsentient objects (achetana padarthas) capable of reflecting and radiating the
chicchakti of the Brahman with which it is constantly connected and, therefore, it is
never without chaitanya. It is only the antahkarana with all its constant associates
like the subtle body, sense organs, etc which migrates from life to life. It receives the
chaitanya from the all-pervading Brahman wherever it moves about. The jiva is not a
particle emerging from or a piece cut out of the Brahman to be ultimately united with
It, as the Brahman is all-pervading like Akasa with no form or parts. As the chaitanya
of the so-called jiva is nothing but the Brahman, it is declared that Jivo Brahmaiva
naparah (the jiva is the Brahman only, not different from It) - the essence of the
philosophy of Advaita (Non-dualism).
The realized sees that the Brahman is Bhagavan, the personal God. He who is
beyond the three gunas - sattva, rajas and tamas, is Bhagavan. His six attributes are
stated to be infinite treasures, strength, glory, splendor, knowledge and renunciation.
Living beings, the universe, mind, intelligence, love, renunciation, knowledge are all
the manifestations of His power.
S. Radhakrishanan holds the view that the distinction between the personal
God and the Absolute continues to exist as long as the whole of humanity does not
have salvation. His concept is that an individual, as part of the world, may be
enlightened. But he cannot become one with the Absolute, so long as God exists as
God. This is for the reason that the world stays, as the rest of humanity is not
enlightened. So long as the world remains, God also has to remain as God and cannot
become the Absolute. The individual soul has, therefore, to remain with God until the
latter becomes the Absolute. Such souls remaining with God are the great souls
(mahatmas) who, remaining with God, work for the uplift of the humanity life after
life, until the whole of humanity gets salvation. Thus the distinction between God and
the Absolute - the Brahman becomes an ontological distinction.

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Cosmic Person, Personal God and the Brahman

There are said to be three levels before reaching the Brahman. They are the
Virat (Cosmic Person), Hiranyagarbha (the soul of the Cosmic Person) and Isvara
(the personal God). All the three are higher forms than the finite I consciousness, but
are continuous with it and the Supreme Brahman. These three are the three levels of
the Cosmic Person or the Logos. All may be considered cosmic personalities. The
Logos is a kind of unity in Trinity.
The Virat corresponds to natura-naturata, which cannot really exist apart
from natura-naturanas that corresponds to the Hiranyagarbha. The Logos
comprehends all that stands between the beginning of the finitization of the Supreme
Being for forming the finite person, and the finite person. The Virat is generally
considered the gross form of the Logos. He is the Logos manifest in the world. The
Hiranyagarbha is the soul of the Virat, his Reason the Mahan Atman, also called
Mahat, the Great. As the soul of the Virat, the Hiranyagarbha is attached to him and
enmeshed in him.
But Isvara - the personal God or the lower the Brahman is continuous with the
Virat and the Hiranyagarbha, though related to them. Isvara is able to detach Himself
from the objectifying and limitation producing prakrti completely, though not
unconcerned with it. This is to say that the consciousness of Isvara is directed towards
prakrti, but not affected by it. He is the truly unaffected witness. The other two are
also witnesses, but not so completely unaffected. For example, I am the witness of my
dreams, illusions and cognitions. But my being a witness is realized after I have been
involved.
But this involvement becomes less and less until it ceases completely in the
case of Isvara. At the stage of the Supreme Brahman, the I consciousness is
completely unconcerned with prakrti, which is part of the Brahmans self-transparent
I-consciousness.
We have observed earlier the absolute identity of the atman - the spirit in man
and the Brahman - the Supreme Spirit. But this identification is not a coinciding like
that of two equal triangles. It is not even merging, as there is no separate atman to be
merged in the Brahman. It is the realization that I, as the consciousness asserting itself
in the world, am a finitized appearance of the Brahman. This realization becomes
possible only through the realization of my unity with the Cosmic Person or God, that
I am essentially the same as He, the Cosmic Person.
The above analysis gives us an idea to regard the universe as a system of
forces, a plurality of patterns of activity controlled somehow by a supervising pattern
of activity. The controlling force is something running through and binding together
the members of the planetary system. The universe must be a pattern of patterns, an
active force controlling innumerable active forces. This corresponds to the advaitic
idea of the Sutratman which is said to be the thread, self-running through everything
in the universe and holding all together. This is equated to the life force of the
universe, its prana - consciousness.

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Manduka Upanisad illustrates three levels of the Cosmic Person corresponding

to the three states of the individual - waking state, dream and deep sleep. The three
cosmic stages are called the Virat for the waking state, the Hiranyagarbha or
Sutratman for the dream state and Isvara (God) for the state of deep sleep. In the
fourth state, beyond deep sleep, there is no distinction between the individual person
and the Cosmic Person.
The three stages of the Cosmic Person are indeed related to the three states of
the individual, but in three successive stages. The Brahman as related to prakrti in Its
undifferentiated and un-manifest state is Isvara (God). This relation may be
reflection, appearance (abhasa) or condition. Isvara is the Brahman about to create
the world and with all the potential forces necessary for such creation and without
being overwhelmed by them. He is the causal state of the world. This causal state then
becomes a subtle manifest state and is the Hiranyagarbha. The Hiranyagarbha is the
lord of all the subtle elements and preserves the inter-relationship of all dreaming
persons to their physical bodies through the life principle. Cosmically, the
Hiranyagarbha is the lord of life enabling every individual to use his subtle elements
and produce the dream objects in his own way. The third stage is the Virat who is the
lord of all the gross objects of the waking state. He lords over the totality of the world
of forms of the waking state.

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Apperception Time, Space and Akasa

Our ignorance of all objectivity in deep sleep is without bounds. But when we
wake up, we realize that the totality is an object in our assertion as in I am aware that
I was absolutely unconscious of everything in my deep sleep. It is this selfconsciousness - for I was aware that I was present in my totality in deep sleep - that is
working in my knowledge. Because of its infinitude, it makes stream consciousness,
memory, re-cognition and all the so-called varied forms of cognition possible. It
makes possible the cognition of time by its ability both to identify itself with every
instant and transcending a succession of them - thereby transcending its own
successive momentary pulsations of existence - and recollecting them into hours,
days, etc.
Apperception is always of the form that it collects (cinoti) the past and the
future through memory and anticipation into the present. As a collecting instrument, it
is a means in the hands of the Supreme I Am into which everything finally enters.
The questions like Does the past exist? Does the future exist?, in which the
past and the future are turned into the present, become relevant to us. In and through
this apperception, the I-am is connected with the I-have-known and the I-shall-know.
But the past is not merely retentive memory. Similarly the future is not merely
wishful imagination.
In both processes, the laws of logic and empirical sciences hold their control.
The logic of the laws also belongs to apperception. But such process becomes weak in
dreaming, wishful thinking, etc. It becomes totally absent in absurd dreams. In
dreams, memory works, but only as retentive memory. Logical memory is inactive.
What makes us generally dream is some emotion within, prompted by some desires or
some weak or strong traumata. These traumata generally get re-enacted for selfexhaustion and for becoming slowly merged and transformed into the general
constitution of the self.
Logical memory or the forces of pure logic and empirical sciences operative in
apperception are closer to the pure, undifferentiated being of the I-am than the forces
of the retentive memory. Even the retentive memory is retentive only because of the
stability and permanence of the base, the I-am, in which they are retained. The
difference between the two kinds of memory is similar to that between naturanaturata and natura-naturanas.
In the case of the retentive memory, what we remember may not be mixed up
in relation to the empirical logic. When we fail to remember something, it is possible
to re-collect it with the help of the laws of logic together with those of psychological
association.
In the case of pure logical memory that exists, the forces of pure logic remain
distinct but transparently interrelated in the undiversified and undifferentiated light of
the consciousness of the unitary I-am. That is why logic and mathematics are said to
function beyond time and space. Though we cannot utter all the sounds and symbols
simultaneously, but only in time, and we write them in extended space, what they
represent exist near the I-am above time and space. Without the presence of the

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undivided I-am, the unity of every inference containing different elements is not
possible.
If I cannot question my existence when I am in my senses, the same
indisputable element must be present in any inference, that is, its structure, in any
observation of coherence and consistency, to confirm the truth of what is observed.
Let us make three propositions of inference separately, one after another. In all
the three, the I has a special relationship to its assertions. When there is consistency,
the special relationship remains uniform and identical. When there is inconsistency,
the I realizes that its universality and identity are disturbed and there is a jar in its
being. The I as making an assertion inconsistent with the other or either of the two
assertions feels dividedness in its being. What divides the I-am then cannot be
logically true. One may say that this is a psychological explanation. But if ontology is
to be traced to the I-am, none can dismiss the cogito psycho-logism. Otherwise,
ontology will not be possible. The I-am is central to being and is not opposed to it
or even to the cosmological world.
Time and space are aspects of action, process and growth. Action is primary.
They are part and parcel, ingredients, and constituents of the force (sakti) of
becoming. The activities of analysis and synthesis are elements of the processes of
time and space. Apperception contains, among other things, the unending process of
becoming. We are, therefore, to realize that time and space exist within apperception,
with no empirical existence outside it.
It, therefore, arises that apperception is the source of both time and space. But
part of it is above time. It has cosmological, objective significance, which becomes
greater in its higher levels. At its lower levels, it is merely mine and individualistic
and is motivated by individual motives. At its higher level - its pure form - it is the
function of cognitive and ethical decision, and also knowledge, merit and nonattachment. Pathanjali describes that it results in self-control or self-conquest and
different kinds of extraordinary and supernatural powers. At the lower level, it has the
opposite characteristics. The attribute Activity (rajas) activates both the levels. The
lower levels belong to the finite individuals who are selfish, lazy, ignorant, etc. By
possessing the higher levels, the enlightened souls partake of the Cosmic Person and
get realized.
Time and space belong to action and to the world of action. Action belongs to
man, a self-conscious being, but not to mere material objects. To material objects
belongs process, which cannot be even becoming, apart from the observer.
The present is the experience of the aspect of I-am in apperception.
Apperception is not something different and separate from the I-am. It has no being of
its own, when not activated by the I-am. The present, then, of time is the presence of
the aspect of I-am in apperception, which collects together the past and the future into
the present. The memory and anticipation aspects of the I-am in apperception do this
collecting.
It is said that time belongs to action the verb, but not to the noun. The I-am is
a pronoun. There is no action unless initiated by the I-am as in I am writing. In the

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experience of the I-am, part of the action of writing is past, part is being gone through
and part is still to be completed. There is a point in the I-ams action at which the
action is completed and yet is not part of the past, which is actually the I-ams
presence of itself as in action or as acting. That is why the I-am is called the eternal
present.
In the act of writing, the I-am and the I-know are together, one and the same.
In the reflective consciousness, I have written implies I know that I have written.
Then the I-am makes the experience of writing its past. The anticipated experience of,
say, taking rest after the writing, will be the future of the I-am with reference to its
present. The past is remembered and the future is anticipated, not as mere ideas, but as
the I-am being involved in each. Memory and anticipation are interrelated through the
I-am and so are the past and the future.
The experience of the involvement has always to be there in memory and
anticipation, even though such experience may be weak sometimes. The nature of
apperception is to be swaying between the I-am and the I-know. The I-know has
directedness towards objectivity, directly experienced, remembered, anticipated,
inferred or imagined with a view to making the object concrete as a sense object. This
is to say that mind does not rest until its directedness ends up in an object of sense
stabilized for the time being.
Thus the source of time-consciousness and of time is apperception. Similarly
the source of space-consciousness and space is apperception. Space is what makes the
act of locating the objects possible. The objects may be physical or imagined entities,
universals and class concepts, remembered, anticipated or even abstract entities. All
objects need location. But the I-am is beyond space and time. Apperception is the
source of space and time.
Time consciousness involves the element of recognition of the presence of
ones self in the first and at every succeeding moment of any span of time. In the
objectification of time, there is to be recognition of every previous moment in every
succeeding moment. The recognition may not be explicit. Without the implicit
recognition, we cannot get the idea of time as one and continuous. Without it, even
objectively, time cannot be one. I have to be there at every moment as the witness of
the moment. At every succeeding moment, my I becomes a reflective consciousness.
This is reflective self re-cognition in the nature of the witness consciousness. This
enables me to collate all the moments and become the time consciousness, the
objectification of which becomes time.
Whether it is the collating of events or moments within my consciousness or
of the events taken to be outside my consciousness, the collation has to be done within
and by my consciousness for the cognition of time. This involves re-cognition, which
is impossible without presence of the same self throughout. This establishes that time
is perceived by the witness consciousness.
There is a self-conscious identity throughout the succession of events in time
and time consciousness. Time is a pattern of the relation of succession and is the act
of correlating the events in succession, to the presence of the identity of my selfconsciousness as the eternal present. According to Bhartrhari, time is a drive in my

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being, a force, a power, which introduces the order of succession into the process of
becoming. Every occurring event is correlated to my presence, and then turned in to
my past and its past and so on. It is retained as such in me. Every anticipated event is
considered to be future. It enters my presence and then enters my past and its past.
Time wears everything out in the cosmos. There is nothing in creation, which
is beyond its reach. Time alone creates innumerable universes and destroys
everything, too.
Time allows a glimpse of itself through its partial manifestation as the
moment, the year, the age, the epoch, etc. There is essentially no difference between a
moment and an epoch, both being measures of time. But its essential nature is
inexorable. It overpowers everything. It cannot be analyzed. However much it is
divided, it still survives, indestructible. It has an insatiable appetite for everything. It
is indeed this Time that successively creates and dissolves the universe (s) again and
again. As a mighty mountain is rooted in earth, the Time is established only in the
Brahman - the Absolute Being may be identical with It. No one really knows what
this Time is as no one really knows what the Brahman is.
There are two more aspects of time. One relates to the phenomenon of birth
and death. In this aspect we refer to it as the deity presiding over death. The second
aspect of time is krtanta - the end of action, its inevitable result or fruition. Every
action in time has its own inevitable result. On account of this krtanta, everything in
this world is ever in change. There is no permanence in the world. For this reason, this
world is considered unreal, not non-existent. This is the mysterious power that
governs the creation and is innate in all. Its individualized aspect is regarded as
egotism. Egotism is what destroys creation. The entire universe is under its control; its
will alone prevails.
The arrangement of the succession into the past, the present and the future is a
condition for the generation of time and the idea of time. Time, then, is a primary
pattern of force innate to the generally outwardly directed consciousness. It posits the
events of succession as objective and independent of existential consciousness. Thus,
time can be defined as the act of correlating a succession of events to my I-am as the
eternal present. Looked another way, it can be defined as the act, or the force behind
the act of the ordered projecting of the eternal present into what we call the moments
of time. Thus, time is a patterned force of activity. Time is not really independent of
the I-am at the transcendental depths.
So is the case with space. Space should not be conceived only as a physical
space. There is the dream space as infinite for me as the physical space. There is the
psychological space in which the objects of my imagination exist. There is logical and
mathematical space in which logical and mathematical realities exist. Apperception is
the source of time and space and is, therefore, both time and space. Physical space is a
concretization of the apperceptive space. The process of concretization works through
directedness into the space of sense objects. That is why the Upanisads speak of
different levels of space. If the Brahman is to be regarded as space (akasa) for the
reason that all things are located in It, then It has to be above time.

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In relation to space, different questions arise. Is space something in which

extended objects are located? Is it something, which is the extension itself of the
objects and their intervals? Or is it the function itself of locating, which involves
extension? In the case of space, as in the case of time, there is recognition of myself in
every successive placing of the yardstick and also of every earlier placement of the
yardstick in every succeeding one. Thus, time is involved in the conception of space.
Similarly, space is the pattern of force inherent to phenomenological
consciousness for locating one event by the side of another simultaneously. This
locating is the space function, which is an inherent function of apperception. Space
may be defined, like time, as the correlating of many events to the I-am as eternally
present. The correlation of one event among others involves both time and space.
One-point event may not produce the idea of space, even though it is involved in
locating it. The idea of space is brought to the surface of consciousness when the
locating of one event by the side of another is involved.
But can any event occur without its being located? It may be located in the
external world, in my mind or even in my imageless thought. But locating is a
function of spacing, placing. If nothing occurs, there is no locating and so no space.
Similarly there is no time then. So without action or activity, there can be neither
space nor time. If locating is a space function, there can be no time also without
space, ontologically.
Is space involved in the conception of time, too? This raises another question
whether we can measure absolutely empty time and empty space. If no events are
occurring anywhere, not even mental events or imageless thoughts, I may be in
timelessness, without time and time experience. So some process, some succession of
events is an absolute condition for the reality of time and for time consciousness.
This leads to the idea that time and space are not necessarily out there. They
are the functions of apperception. The objective space and time may not be the
voluntary functions of my finite apperception as I have it now, but the spontaneous
functioning of my apperception in its transcendental aspect. They are necessary for
me in that they belong to my transcendental depths.
If time and space are rooted in my transcendental apperception, then prakrti
also is covered by apperception as phenomenological or witness consciousness. Then
time, space and prakrti may be considered as the three different forms and functions
of the same witness consciousness, though overlapping one another. This is for the
reason that prakrti is also a form of consciousness. Even the unknown cannot be
known as the unknown, unless it is a block of consciousness known as the
unknown. Only the conscious can be known as the object of consciousness. Prakrti
is, therefore, to be treated as inherently conscious. According to Rigveda, prakrti is
the personified will of the Supreme Spirit in creation; and is inherently consciousness.
When time and space are taken as patterns of the functions of apperception, it
is not necessary to treat them as independent of prakrti. Space is a patterned act of
locating done by apperception, which is witness consciousness in the function of the
form I-know that I-know X. Locating is at the same time cognition; it is known.
Now, I-know and the act of locating cannot be objectless. I do not perform the act

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locating or knowing unless there is something to locate or know. So, the object,
which is part of prakrti has to be a part of the phenomenological consciousness and
does not have its own existence at the ontological and the transcendental level. As this
finite person, my problem, then, is to realize that the object I see, if real, is identical
with the object which is part of the cosmos, the Cosmic Person who is my
transcendental I.
Similarly, time is the apperceptive act of re-cognizing oneself, through
change, causal or otherwise, or a series of cognized events. It is the act of turning
what has happened and what is to happen into what is happening. My finite ego or Iam is divided into instants, as passing through the live cognition of the series of
events. These instants are brought together by my witness consciousness,
transcending the moments. This is the force of bringing these instants together into the
present, which is correlated to the I-am my existential consciousness.
Thus, time and space are the meeting points of the I-am and the I-know. But
they dissolve into the I-am when the I-know enters it. This is similar to the relation
between Being and Becoming of the Self. There is no Becoming without Being.
When Becoming dissolves into Being, there is only Being without Becoming.
Transcendentally, they are the distinctions we draw within the processes of the Spirit.
How are space (dik) and ether (akasa) related? On the basis of the Upanisads,
both dik and akasa are associated with the ear and sound. Often it is space that is
associated with the ear (srotra). But dik here generally means direction. We know by
experience that our ears recognize the directions from which sounds come.
Etymologically, akasa (ether) means that which shines in all directions or
everywhere. Shining is primary, and from or on all sides is secondary. The second
meaning is that of scope, place, room, etc in the sense that there is no room enough
for ten persons here. In the present context, akasa is what makes the appearance
possible on all sides of the object facing me. This is not ether. Nor is it the scientific
concept of space that does not have the connotation of appearing or shining. Then, all
round and everywhere turns out to be not myself as the subject, but an object for me.
As in the case of time and space, we are to bear in mind that dik and akasa are not
mere physical substances existing independently and in separation of my personality.
We have to identify and equate the two. They constitute the basis of my personality
my I-am.

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Maya as a Measure
The enquiry of Non-dualism is ontology of the Spirit. Sankara, the greatest
exponent of the Non-dualism of the Vedanta, introduces the concept of maya,
synonymous with prakrti as the instrument that creates, sustains and dissolves the
world of forms and names.
The verbal root of maya is ma, meaning to measure. The etymological root of
the word maya makes it clear that it is something that makes the object we experience
determinate through spatial, temporal and causal laws.
The Svetasvatara Upanisad gives an idea that maya is a kind of net thrown on
Being, making It look like the world fixed by some laws, constituting the structure of
the net. This idea makes it clear that maya is not mere illusion. The object of any
illusion, like that of dream, disappears later, whatever fright it may have created in the
person experiencing it. The idea of the Brahman creating the world, which does not
exist on its own, through His will, involves something like the idea of illusion.
Salvation as the ultimate goal is freedom from determinateness whether it is the life of
pain or pleasure, happiness or sorrow, good or bad, knowledge or ignorance. It is the
same as freedom from maya.
P. Sriramachandrudu explains succinctly that maya is indescribable. It is
neither existent, nor non-existent, nor both. It is not existent, for the Brahman alone is
the existent (sat). It is not non-existent, for it is responsible for the appearance of the
world. It cannot be both existent and non-existent as such a statement is selfcontradictory. It is thus neither real, nor unreal; it is mithya. But it is not a non-entity
or a figment of imagination like the son of a barren woman. In the example of a rope
mistaken for a snake, the rope is the ground on which the illusion of snake is superimposed. When right knowledge dawns, the illusion disappears. The relation between
the rope and the snake is neither that of identity nor of difference, nor of both. It is
unique and known as non-difference (tadatmya). Similarly, the Brahman is the
ground, the substratum on which the world appears through Its potency - maya. When
right knowledge dawns, the real nature of the world is realized as maya disappears.
The word maya does not mean absence of order. It is not magic. It is indicated
by the use of the word pramana for the means of cognition. Pramana means the
instrument for measuring. Prameya, a derivative of pramana, means that which is
measurable or measured. Generally it is considered as the object of cognition. A
significant point is that measuring is not possible without determinateness in the
measured. Every object has its own structure and determinateness at the cosmological
level. But at the ontological level, all is one. At this level, determinateness is
transcended.
Pramana means also standard, rule, evidence. It is generally accepted that
perception and inference are the common ways of knowing. The means of knowing
and the ways of knowing are treated to be the same. The question is what is meant
by the means of knowing. It is like the means of measuring a pure undivided
expanse by placing a transparent squared paper on it, and then counting the squares.

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It is like throwing the network of thought, mind and senses on pure objectivity
as such. The structure of the network conveys to us the structure of objectivity, after
actually determining it transcendentally. There is no other way of knowing what
objectivity is, except through the network. It is the instrument of cognition and is of
different forms like perception and inference. Pramana is the way of not only
measuring reality, but also the way of determining it.
It is significant that the three words - pramana, prameya and maya are derived
etymologically from the same verbal root ma. The world of cosmology is what is
measured and is called maya (prakrti) and also the product of maya. The Supreme
Being - Atman - the Brahman is beyond thought, speech and the means of cognition
and cannot, therefore, be measured. If what cannot be measured is the Being, what
can be measured is maya. It is important to note that what is not being is not nonbeing.
The above analysis shows that the idea of maya means that the world is an
ordered whole according to measure. The question arises as to what is the being of the
objects obtained by this measure. The four levels of being is the answer. The Supreme
Being (paramarthasatta) is not an object obtained through this measure. It is basically
that which does the measuring and lies behind the act of measuring.
The others are the results of measuring. The highest of the other three, the
world of action, or the being for action is determined by the accepted means of
knowing. But this is the world primarily meant for action; the being of the objects of
the world is meant for action and is determined by the past actions of the souls. The
being of the objects of dreams and illusions is an imperfect reflection of the being of
the world of action and is called the apparent being. The last is the insignificant being
belonging to mental images like the son of a barren woman, or the objects of mere
fantasy.
Of the four levels, all except the first belong to the realm of maya or the
measure. The last two are the results of measure indirectly, not directly. The dream
objects are permutations and combinations of the objects of the world of action and
are produced by the samskaras left by the latter, which are the objects of measure. We
do not do their permutation and combination voluntarily and knowingly.
If I can create the dreams I like, I always create the most pleasant. But quite
often, the dreams are very unpleasant. So long as the dream objects last, I take the
dream objects and their experiences to be real. The objects of the fourth level are
known to be unreal even when they are imagined and thought of.
The four-fold classification of being given by the Advaita is from the point of
view of ontology, while the classification of the valid means of knowledge is given
from the point of view of logic and epistemology.
This freedom from maya at the highest level, again, is not the knowledge that
we are determined, which is simply the consciousness of the consciousness that we
are determined, but complete ontological transcendence of determinateness like our
transcendence of dream and its horrors when we wake up.

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The practical activity in the manifold world is the result of the dynamic,
creative aspect of maya or avidya. The cognitive aspect of our life and the cognitions
of our activities and of the objects toward which our activities are directed are due to
the pure, conscious aspect of maya or avidya. Indeed, maya or avidya is obviously
creative.
The ever-changing world is transitory. It is considered unreal in the sense that
it is not as real as the Brahman. But it has practical reality. That is the reason why it is
called mithya, but not asat (non-existent).
The determinate world exists. But for a soul liberated, the determinate world
gets transformed into the pure being of the Brahman. It dissolves into the being of the
Brahman. But the determinate world continues to exist for the un-liberated souls as
empirically as ever. It is like It neither exists, nor does not exist, nor both, nor
neither and also It is neither true, nor false, nor both, nor neither. The principle of
the four-cornered negation precludes the idea that maya leads to acosmism or
negativism.
Said in other words, Paramatman as ruling maya is Isvara. Paramatman as
under maya is jivatma. Maya is the sum total of manifestations that will vanish in
realization. Maya is the energy of the universe, potential and kinetic. Until the Divine
Mother releases us from maya, we cannot be free.
The why of anything is in maya. If one asks why maya arises, it elicits no
answer as it is within maya. The question does not arise beyond maya as there is none
to raise it.

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Unconscious
Unconscious (avidya) is only karma (potency of past actions), according to
Ramanuja. Niyati (limit, determinant and limiter) is a concept of the Svetasvatara
Upanisad. It is explained as the potency of past actions. It forms the capital - the fixed
environment of the individual or the individuals horizon of experience, his world.
This potency forms part and parcel of the being and character of the person.
This potency cannot be made an object by a person, to be faced. Its existence
can be known only by its results. It can, therefore, be said to constitute the
individuals unconscious (avidya). It acts from behind me as it were, and limits my
capabilities of knowing and acting. It becomes the force veiling my original infinity.
Unless my original infinity is veiled, I cannot find myself as a finite person in the
world of forms and names. Maya becomes the principle of measure, the forms of
measure being the valid means of knowing, and the means of acting and enjoying.
This establishes that avidya is only karma. Incidentally it is observed that in the Saiva
and Pasupata traditions, niyati is explicitly said to be an offshoot of maya.
Maya or avidya does not remain as the unconscious forever for all. To be
liberated is to overcome the unconscious that determines, limits, measures ones
being. When it is overcome by being made part of ones conscious being it loses its
veiling and limiting power. For the liberated souls, maya and avidya do not exist. The
souls realize their infinitude and reach the realm of the unlimited. Unconscious is both
cosmic and individual. The cosmic Unconscious has also to be overcome for totally
dispelling it.
When, veiled by nescience, consciousness views diversity in an agitated state
and identifies objects as such, it is known as mind. When it is firmly established in the
conviction of a certain perception, it is known as intellect or intelligence. When it
ignorantly and foolishly identifies itself as an existent separate individual, it is known
as egotism. When it abandons consistent enquiry, allowing itself to play with
countless thoughts coming and going, it is known as individualized consciousness or
mind-stuff. When it pursues the fruition of action, it is known as karma. When it
entertains the notion I have known in relation to something seen or unseen, known
or unknown, it is known as memory. When the effects of past enjoyments continue to
remain in the field of consciousness though the effects themselves are unseen, it is
known as latent tendency or samskara. When it is conscious of the truth that the
vision of division is the product of ignorance, it is known as knowledge. When it
entertains the indweller with sensations, it is known as the senses (indriya). When it
remains un-manifest in the Cosmic Being, it is known as Nature. When it creates
confusion between reality and appearance, it is known as maya (illusion). When it
dissolves in the Infinite, there is liberation. When it thinks I am bound, there is
bondage. When it thinks I am free, there is freedom.
The absence of self-knowledge is ignorance or delusion. When consciousness
objectifies itself and regards itself as its own object of observation, there is avidya or
ignorance. The individual is no more than the personalized mind. Individuality ceases
when the mind ceases. The mind remains as long as the notion of personality remains.
When the notion of personality is abandoned, the mind dissolves into the Infinite

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Consciousness. So long as there is a pot, there is the notion of the space enclosed
within. When the pot is broken, the infinite space alone is even where the pot-space
was imagined before.
The jiva (individual) is nothing but the embodiment of the Absolute, limited
by the adjuncts (upadhis). Since avidya or ego creates various upadhis, the finite
individual forgets his real self. Each upadhi changes the individuals nature.
God has covered all with avidya. He does not let us know anything. Avidya is
worldly desires. He who puts avidya aside to see God can see Him.
Man dwells in the realm of avidya. Avidya does not permit him to see God. It
has made him a victim of ignorance. If avidya is once recognized, it feels ashamed of
itself and takes to flight.
We do not feel dispassion toward worldly objects, because of avidya. Through
avidya, one feels the real to be unreal and the unreal to be real. The real is that
which is eternal - the Supreme Brahman. The unreal means that which is non-eternal
- the world.
As long as a man is under the spell of avidya, he is like a green-coconut. When
one scoops out the soft kernel from a green coconut, one cannot help scraping a little
of the shell at the same time. But in the case of a ripe and dry coconut, the shell and
kernel are separated from each other. When one shakes the fruit, one can feel the
kernel rattling inside. The man who is freed from avidya is like a ripe and dry
coconut. He feels the soul separated from the body. They are no longer connected
with each other.
The feeling of I and mine is the result of ignorance and avidya. But to say
O God, you are the Doer; all these belong to You is the sign of knowledge.
Ignorance leads to passions such as lust, greed and temptation. One is to turn the
passions toward God. If one must feel desire and temptation, then one must desire to
realize God, feel tempted by Him. One is to discriminate and turn the desires away
from the worldly objects.
The bound soul (ego) may have realized that there is no substance to the world
only stone and skin. But still he cannot give it up and turn his mind toward God. If
he is removed from the worldly surroundings to a spiritual environment, he will pine
away. The worm that grows in filth thrives in filth in happiness. It will die if it is put
in a pot of rice.
One may reason a thousand times, but one cannot get rid of the ego and
avidya. The avidya is like a pitcher, and the Brahman is like the ocean - an infinite
expanse of water on all sides. The pitcher is set in the ocean. The water is both inside
and out; the water is everywhere; and the pitcher remains. Now this pitcher is the ego
and avidya of the seeker. But it is different if there is no pitcher.
Egotism is of the nature of tamas; it is begotten by avidya. The barrier of ego
is what separates one from God.

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The avidya seems to vanish this moment; but it reappears the next moment.
Unless one gets completely rid of the avidya, one does not receive the grace of God.
There are eight fetters that bind an individual to the world, namely, hatred,
shame, lineage, pride of good conduct, fear, secretiveness, caste and grief - the
offshoots of avidya. By the grace of God, they may all fall off in a moment like
darkness vanishing in a moment, when light is brought into a dark room.
A mans ego or avidya is destroyed if he gets into the fold of a real guru. If the
guru is incompetent and not realized, the disciple does not get rid either of the ego or
the shackles of the world.
After realization of God, what remains of the avidya is like the reflection of a
face in a mirror. The reflection cannot call names. Or it is like a burnt rope, which
appears to be a rope, but disappears at the slightest puff. The avidya that has been
burnt in the fire of knowledge can no longer injure anyone.

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Darkness
Darkness (tamas) is a positive reality. It is seen; it is not the absence of
perception. The Upanisads say that as air is without color, but touch, darkness (tamas)
is without touch, but has color. While we see darkness with our eyes, we cannot make
it an object of the sense of touch.
There is darkness not only for the senses but also for the inner instrument
(antahkarana), and also for the self. The senses are limited to the cognition of some
specific qualities such as colors, smells, etc. Every sense cannot perceive every
quality. Minds specific quality is experience of pain and pleasure and its specific
function is unification or differentiation of groups of qualities into groups of unitary
objects. Egos function is the appropriation of the experiences as mine and not thine.
Reasons function is the organization of the totality of experience. The I
consciousness pervades and activates all functions. Now, darkness can veil any or all
these functions.
Darkness does not refer only to physical darkness. The absence of speech in
the human race deprives it of one of the important sources of cognition. There can be
darkness in the case of the senses, speech, mind, reason and I-consciousness.
In deep sleep and when a man faints, he does not know himself. When he
regains the waking state, he is aware that he knew nothing in deep sleep and when he
fainted. This is possible as his finite person is not there in those states but its
transcendental being, as witness, is there. His being, transcendental or immanent, is
self-conscious. This is the peculiar power of darkness that it results in complete or
partial forgetfulness of all or part of my I consciousness and its true identity.
Similarly, it may withhold or impair partially or completely the functions of the inner
instrument and the senses.
Darkness is not negative. It works as forgetfulness, as absence of light and as a
condition of malfunctioning of the I consciousness, ego, mind, senses and other
objects. It is, therefore, a force (sakti); not a mere negation. This darkness constitutes
my ego.
Without this darkness penetrating the essential being of my I-am, I will be
infinite. When constituting my ego, it constitutes also the being or existence aspects
of the manifold objects. In a sense, they are ripples of my ego and also ripples of the
darkness constituting my ego. Yet their existence is impenetrable to the existence of
my ego as this finite being. The fact that I am aware of the existence of the external
objects is because inwardly their existence and my existence are one. But this oneness
also is veiled by darkness in which my transcendental ego is split into my finite ego
and the object. The existence of each is hidden in different ways. I know that the
object exists. But there is no sense organ that reveals its existence. Similarly, I know
that I exist. But I cannot make my existence an object like a book on the table.
However, darkness (tamas) is not entirely maya or avidya. It is an essential
prerequisite for the bursting forth of the manifold of the objective world, the cognitive

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instrumentalities like reason, mind and senses, and the instrumentalities of practical
activity.
What is it that makes me forget my waking state when I pass into dreams?
Dream is a new creation, which is not possible if I remember my waking state in it.
We call it sleep, but it is really darkness that partially overcomes me in dreams. It
completely overcomes me in deep sleep. The process of entering deep sleep through
that of dream is the gradual thickening of darkness. One may call it spiritual darkness,
or psychological darkness. As physical light can become physical darkness, that is,
the light of the eye becomes the darkness of the eye, the light of my selfconsciousness also becomes darker and darker when I enter the dream state and then
the deep sleep state. As this darkness relates to the existential consciousness, it may
be called Existential Darkness or unconsciousness.
When we close our eyelids, we still see a network of light, colors and darkness
(kesondraka). Similarly, we see objects in dreams. In both cases, we are not fully
overtaken by darkness. As the light of the eye and the field of sight are operative
when the eyelids are closed in our waking state, apperception, mind, ego, the senses,
their fields and objectifications are operative in dreams. But the cosmic forces of the
Logos (Virat) are not fully operative and we are relatively free from their control. So
what we see in dreams cannot be related to what we know in the waking state. But in
deep sleep, all operations cease and are overcome by darkness in full. Only my
transcendental ego, as my I-am, limited to my causal body (karana-sarira), remains
awake, to tell me when I wake up, that I had deep sleep.
The darkness overtaking me in deep sleep is another aspect to it. It is complete
forgetfulness of even my finite being along with my own experiences. When the
experiences are forgotten, they do not become extant. They are absorbed into my
apperception, my finite I-am. As they enter the so-called subject side, they are not
available on the object side. This non-availability is the same as entering darkness
(tamas).
The psychologists say that much of what is passed into my being and made
part of it can be brought up, sometimes by me making the attempt, and other times
with the help of some psychological techniques.
But everything in my finite being cannot be brought up to the surface of
consciousness. My I-am (my person) cannot be pulled inside out and be made a
clear object. Something has to be in the background to know the object. The cosmic
structure that is reflected in my being and appears as my finite I-am cannot be made
an object so long as my finite person lasts. When the finite I-am realizes that it is a
reflection, image of the Cosmic Person and identifies itself with it, all is revealed. The
finitude is dispelled.
Darkness discharges important functions. It makes all my experiences enter
my person and disappear behind a veil, but not become extant, in it. When the
opportunity arises, it comes out with all the experiences and takes on the form of the
world including myself. Darkness arises out as the phenomenological consciousness
and appears as the subject-object scene of the world of forms. Performing this
function at the cosmic level, it is maya.

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Even in ordinary causation, it is said that the cause creates the effect by itself
entering darkness to acquire the necessary force. This creation is the cause becoming
the effect. The entering of the cause into darkness is similar to our entering deep sleep
for gaining freshness and new strength. To enter darkness is to become potency. This
view may not agree with the scientific view of causation. But from the ontological
and existential points of view, it can be justified.
Every occurring event is correlated to my presence and then turned into my
past and its past and so on. It is retained as such in me. Every anticipated event is
considered to be a future. It enters my present, and then enters my past and its past. It
is not lost. My past is my darkness (tamas) and its past is also darkness. The future
springs out of darkness. It is future to me as my projecting me into the not yet present
and not the past, but a kind of surge, a drive to be something, which I am not now.
This is an indication of a power, a force within my being. This force pushes my being
into a becoming.
Thus, darkness has to be treated as being different from the negative nonbeing, for the reason that it is an experience. It is experience in the form of darkness
in oneself, which is dependent on an object. It is a shadow of the transcendental I-am
within itself and has no separate being of its own.

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Bondage
Bondage lasts as long as one invests the perceived object with reality. Once
the notion of objective reality ceases, does bondage cease. As long as one clings to the
notion of reality of you and I, there is bondage. It is not obliterated by merely and
orally denying such a notion of existence. On the other hand, such denial itself
becomes a further distraction.
When objectivity arises in ones consciousness, one becomes conditioned and
limited. That is bondage. When objectivity is abandoned, one becomes mindless. That
is liberation. When one thinks I am the jiva, etc the mind arises and with it the
bondage. When one thinks I am the self; the jiva and such other things do not exist,
the mind ceases and with it arises liberation.
The conditioned mind alone is bondage; liberation is when the mind is
unconditioned. The conditioning of the mind drops away when the truth is clearly
seen and realized. When the conditioning has ceased, ones consciousness is made
supremely peaceful. The Self alone is all that is is clear perception. Conditioning
and mind are mere words with no corresponding truth; when the truth is
investigated, they cease to be meaningful - this is clear perception. When this clear
perception arises, there is liberation. In essence, bondage is the craving for pleasure;
its abandonment is liberation.
When, in the Infinite Consciousness, consciousness becomes aware of itself as
its own object, there is the seed of ideation. This is very subtle. Soon it becomes gross
and fills the whole space, as it were. When consciousness is engrossed in this
ideation, it considers the object as distinct from the subject. Then the ideation begins
to germinate and to grow, multiplying by itself. This leads to sorrow. There is no
cause for sorrow in this world other than this ideation. To avoid sorrow, one is not to
entertain ideas. One shall not hold on to the notion of ones existence. For, it is only
by these ideas and notions that the future comes into being. When there is no thought,
ideation ceases. Transcendence of thought leads to happiness and avoidance of
sorrow.
Bondage is bondage to these thoughts and notions. Freedom is freedom from
them. One is, therefore, to give up all notions, even those of liberation. First, by the
cultivation of good relationships, one is to give up gross and materialistic tendencies
and notions. Second, one is to give up all desires and contemplate the nature of
cosmic consciousness. Third, one is to give up even the tendency of contemplation of
the cosmic consciousness, as it is also within the realm of ideation or thought. One is,
therefore, to rest in what remains after all these have been given up. One is thus to
renounce the renouncer of these notions. When the notion of the ego-sense has thus
ceased, one will be like infinite space and will have attained salvation.
There is no bondage other than craving for acquisition and the anxiety to avoid
what one considers undesirable. The mind does not reach the state of utter tranquility
till these two impulses of acquisition and rejection have been eliminated. As long as
one feels that this is real and that is unreal, etc, ones mind does not experience
peace and equilibrium. Desirelessness, fearlessness, unchanging steadiness,
equanimity, wisdom, non-attachment, non-action, goodness, absence of perversion,

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gentleness, courage, endurance, friendliness, intelligence, pleasant speech are the

natural qualities of one who is free from the instincts of acquisition and rejection. One
who is liberated spontaneously possesses these qualities.
Attachment is the cause for this world-illusion; it alone creates objects.
Attachment causes bondage and endless sorrow. The abandonment of attachment is
itself liberation.
Attachment makes the conditioning of the mind denser by repeatedly causing
the experiences of pleasure and pain in relation to the existence and the non-existence
of the objects of pleasure. One becomes unattached if one rises beyond joy and
sorrow and, therefore, treats them alike, and if one is free from attraction, aversion
and fear. One is unattached if one does not abandon the homogeneity of truth even
while carrying on activities.
Differentiated consciousness is bondage; liberation is its absence. There is no
difference between the two, for awareness is the same in both.
Desire for liberation interferes with the fullness of the self; absence of such
desire promotes bondage. Hence constant awareness is the preferred goal.

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Liberation
Conditioning of mind alone is responsible for the diversity in creatures. Latent
conditioning produces insentient beings. Patent conditioning gives rise to human
beings, etc. Dense conditioning is conducive to ignorance in some. In others,
attenuated conditioning is conducive to liberation.
There are four ways to enter the realm of Freedom (moksha - salvation liberation). They are self-control, spirit of enquiry, contentment and good company.
The seeker who rests his mind in the eternal is fully self-controlled and is,
therefore, in peace. He sees that pain and pleasure chase and cancel each other. In that
wisdom there is self-control and peace. One cannot rest ones mind in the eternal by
rites and rituals, by pilgrimage or by acquisition of life. Such state is attained only by
transcending the mind and by the cultivation of wisdom. The transcending of the mind
with the resulting self-control is the fruit of wisdom. When the mind is at peace, pure,
tranquil, free from delusion or hallucination and free from cravings of sense pleasure,
it does not long for anything, nor does it reject anything. This is self-control or
transcending the mind.
Self-control is the best remedy for all physical and mental ills. One who is
neither elated nor depressed by sense objects is self-controlled.
The surest sign of a man of the highest wisdom is that he is un-attracted by the
pleasures of the world. In him even the subtle tendencies have ceased. When these
tendencies are strong, there is bondage. When they have ceased, there is liberation.
Enquiry is the second way for liberation. By enquiry, intelligence becomes
keen and is able to realize the Supreme. The one in whom the spirit of enquiry is
awake illumines the world and realizes the falsity of sense-pleasures and their objects.
In the light of enquiry, there is the realization of the eternal and unchanging reality.
Such seeker is free from delusion and attachment. He does not seek any gain, nor does
he spurn anything.
True enquiry is to enquire thus: Who am I? How has samsara the cycle of
birth and death of the jiva come into being? What is the way to overcome it?
Knowledge of Truth arises from such enquiry. From such knowledge arises tranquility
in oneself. That leads to supreme peace that passes understanding, and ends all
sorrow. Enquiry (vichara) is not reasoning or analysis. It is directly looking into
oneself.
The firm conviction that I am not the Absolute Brahman binds the mind. The
mind is liberated by the firm conviction that everything is the Absolute Brahman.
Ideas and thoughts are bondage. Their transcendence is liberation. As thought or idea
sees blueness in the sky, the mind sees the world as real. The mind transcended sees
the Absolute Brahman as the only Reality.
To remain established in self-knowledge is liberation. The state of selfknowledge is that in which there is no mental agitation, distraction and dullness of
mind, egotism or perception of diversity.

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Liberation arises when ignorance ceases through self-enquiry.

Liberation or realization of the Infinite is attained when one arrives at the state
of supreme peace after intelligent enquiry into the nature of the Self, and, after this,
has brought about an inner awakening. Kaivalya or total freedom is the attainment of
pure being after all mental conditioning is transcended consciously, after thorough
investigation, in the company and with the help of enlightened sages.
Contentment is the third way to liberation. To renounce all craving for what is
not obtained unsought, and to be satisfied with what comes unsought without either
elation or depression is contentment. As long as there is no contentment in the self,
one is subjected to sorrow. With contentment in the self, the purity of ones heart
blooms. One who attains contentment does not relish craving for sense-pleasures. No
delight in this world is as sweet as contentment.
Craving for heaven and even for liberation arises in ones heart as long as the
I is seen as an entity. As long as it remains, there is only unhappiness in ones life.
The notion of the I can be got rid of only through self-knowledge.
The company of holy and enlightened persons - satsanga is another way to
liberation. Such company enlarges ones intelligence and discrimination, and destroys
ones ignorance and psychological distress. It is the light that guides one on the path
of spiritual enlightenment.
The constant company of holy ones rises wisdom in one concerning what is
worth seeking and what is to be avoided. This leads to pure wish to attain liberation,
which in turn leads to serious enquiry. Then the mind becomes subtle, because this
enquiry thins out mental conditioning. As a result of the rising of pure wisdom, ones
consciousness moves in the reality. Then the mental conditioning vanishes leading to
non-attachment. Bondage to actions and their fruits ceases. The vision is firmly
established in Truth as the apprehension of the unreal is weakened. Living this way,
one is fully liberated, transcending all the states.
These four ways - self-control, spirit of enquiry, contentment and satsanga are
the surest means for liberation. Satsanga is the best companion. The spirit of enquiry
is the greatest wisdom. Contentment is the supreme gain. Self-control is supreme
happiness. Any one or more than one or all-together will help the seeker to attain the
supreme good - liberation.
The entire universe is forever the same as the consciousness that dwells in
every atom, as an ornament of gold is no different from gold. It is the mind that brings
the material or physical body into existence. Experience alone is the mind. It is none
other than the perceived. The perception of objectivity is what causes bondage. But as
an ornament potentially exists in gold, the object exists in the subject. When the
notion of the object is firmly rejected and removed from the subject, then
consciousness alone exists without even an apparent or potential objectivity. Even the
tendency to objectify ceases. When this is realized, poles of opposites such as
attraction and repulsion, love and hate, etc cease in ones heart, as do false notions of
the world. This is true freedom or liberation.

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The mind is transcended or ceases to be when both happiness and unhappiness

do not divert a man from his utter equanimity, when the notions this I am, this I am
not, etc do not arise in him thus limiting his consciousness. When the very notions of
calamity, poverty, elation, pride, dullness and excitement do not arise, one is liberated
while living.
Liberation is but a synonym for pure mind, correct self-knowledge and a truly
awakened state. The attainment of inner peace by total non-attachment to anything in
the world is known as liberation.
Liberation is the Absolute Itself, which alone is. As one sees only gold in
ornaments, water in waves, emptiness in space, heat in mirage and nothing else, the
liberated yogi sees only the Brahman everywhere, not the world.

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23. Non-Dualism
The considered view, philosophical in character, is, therefore, that there is no
duality of the Brahman and prakrti. Prakrti is the constituent character of the
Brahman. Similarly there is no plurality of spirits (atmans). No difference or negation
is possible at the highest level of being between one atman and another and between
the Brahman and prakrti. Besides, the Brahman, the atmans and prakrti are all
infinite. How can there be many infinite beings, except in thought?
P. T. Raju explains the concept thus: Thought, which contains selfcontradictions, may entertain whatever concepts it finds useful; but the same thought
reveals their self-contradictions, and yet wants to attribute reality to them. Thought is
able to realize its own self-contradictions because of its continuity with intuition or
integral experience, in which it is rooted and which is aware constantly of the non
self-contradictory Being. This Being is the Brahman and is alone ultimately true.
The philosophy of Non-Dualism (Advaita) does not mean that the world does
not exist or that any object in the world is the same as any other object. This
philosophy is ontological, and ontology is spiritual. Spiritually speaking, man is free
from determinateness such as the laws of cause and effect, birth and death, restrictions
and limitations, etc only at the highest ontological level. To say that one is to get free
from determinateness implies that there is a world of determinateness from which one
has to get free. But when this world is mans cosmological being, he has to be free
from his own cosmological being and realize his one-ness with the ontological. What
happens then to his cosmological being? It does not exist for him. It disappears for
him. But ontological Being is eternal and is support of the cosmological - the support
of everything in the world of forms. From this point of view, one may deduce that the
cosmological being has eternally not been there. This explains the famous Vedantic
dictum the world is not real, and yet is not unreal; it is maya. This is to say that
determinateness is there, and yet is not there from the highest ontological point of
view.
One can reach the goal of perfection and attain the truth in any of the ways
discussed earlier. The attainment of the Truth is by knowledge of Reality (jnana),
adoration and love (bhakti) of the Supreme Person, practice of yoga or by subjection
of the will to the Divine purpose (karma). These are distinguished on account of the
emphasis on the theoretical, emotional, spiritual and practical aspects.
The seekers are of different types - reflective, emotional, spiritual or active.
But they are not exclusive in their approach. To those seeking knowledge, He is
Eternal Light, clear and radiant as the sun at noon. There is no darkness whatsoever.
To those struggling for virtue, He is Eternal Righteousness, Steadfast and Impartial.
To those spiritually oriented, He is Eternal Bliss. To those emotionally inclined, He is
Eternal Love and Beauty of Holiness.
Even as the Brahman combines all these attributes in Him, the seeker aims at
the integral life of spirit. Cognition, will and feeling, though logically distinguishable,
are not really separable in the concrete life and the unity of mind. They are different
aspects of one movement of the atman - the soul.

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The Eternal Religion embodying the above philosophy, the religion of the
rishis - the great spiritual masters of the past, has been in existence from time out of
mind, and will exist eternally, as long as man exists. There exist in this Sanatana
Dharma all forms of worship - worship of God with form and worship of the
Impersonal Brahman as well. It embraces all paths - the path of knowledge, the path
of yoga, the path of devotion, the path of ethical action and so on, for realization, in
this life itself, of the Highest Truth, for experiencing the Supreme Bliss of ALL THAT
EXISTS.

TAT SAT

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Appendix
Brief summary of the basic philosophical doctrines of the eleven most
important Upanisads:
Isa Upanisad teaches the doctrine of the Infinite to which addition and
subtraction make no difference. As to the Brahman, It is the One; It does not move
and yet is faster than mind; It is far and yet near; It is outwards and yet inwards to us.
The Upanisad teaches that the Lord pervades everything in the world.
Kena Upanisad raises the questions, What is it that impels the senses and the
mind to perceive and understand? What is it that sustains all, but which nothing
sustains? He who says that he knows it does not really know it, and he who says that
he does not know it verily knows it. That is the Atman, the Brahman. Without It, the
senses, the mind and even the gods can do nothing.
Katha Upanisad teaches that the knowledge of what happens to man after
death is more valuable than anything in the world, than even sovereignty of the whole
world. Such knowledge is the knowledge of the Atman. Atman is smaller than the
smallest and greater than the greatest. The objects are higher than the senses, mind
higher than the objects, the individuals reason (buddhi) higher than mind, the Cosmic
Reason (Mahan Atman, Logos) higher than the individuals reason, the Unmanifest
(Avyakta) higher than the Cosmic Reason and the Purusa (Atman) higher than the
Unmanifest; there is nothing higher than the Purusa. The Atman cannot be understood
by reason; it has to be grasped only as Is. It can be realized by withdrawing speech
(senses) into mind, mind into reason (jnana atman), reason into the Cosmic Reason
and that into the Atman of Peace (Santa Atman). Everything else is a branch of the
Atman and the Atman is the root. The whole is like the Asvattha tree whose roots are
above and branches below. It is symbolic that the Atman is above everything and yet
is the main root of everything.
Prasna Upanisad relates the answers by the sage Pippilada to six questions
put to him by different enquirers.
The first question relates to the creation of creatures. The answer is that the
creator God created couples of polar opposites, which in turn created the world of
beings. The couples were Rayi (material) and Prana (the life principle). The life
principle is the Cosmic Person and is ones atman.
The second question enquires as to who the gods are and who among them is
the greatest. The answer is that the gods are Ether (akasa), Air, Fire, Water, Earth,
Speech, Mind, Eye and Ear. Greater than all of them is Prana. Here the Prana means
not mere physical air or physiological bios, but the Cosmic Principle integrating the
part of the universe and the psychophysical constituent of human beings. When the
life principle exits the body, nothing remains and none of the other gods can perform
their functions. This establishes that by the time this Upanisad was written, the gods
of polytheism who were originally treated as natural forces were turned into cosmic
entities and into mans senses and organs.

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The third question relates to the origin of prana itself and how it divides itself
into senses, etc of man. The answer is that prana is born out of the atman like
reflection and employs its divisions for performing different functions in the body.
The fourth question relates to what happens to the gods in sleep and who is it
that sleeps. The answer is that in sleep all the senses become one with the god of
mind. Only prana and its involuntary activities do not sleep and continue to work. In
dream, the agent experiences whatever is experienced in the waking state, and even
what is not then experienced. In dreamless sleep, he is overpowered by a psychic
force (tejas) or its intense light and does not see dreams. Like birds resting on a tree,
everything rests in the atman.
The fifth question is about the word Aum. The answer is that the word is the
same as the Brahman, both the manifest and the unmanifest together.
The sixth question relates to the Purusa (Atman) and His sixteen phases. The
answer is that the phases are prana, faith (conviction of existence or being), the five
elements - ether, air, fire, water and earth, all the senses taken together - vision,
hearing, touch, smell and taste, mind, food, semen (the generative principle), penance,
sacred word, ethical action, the worlds and name. All of them are fixed in the Atman
like spokes in the axle. This means that the Atman is the centre as well as the
circumference of the universe. It is the source of functions and processes in It. It is the
consciousness of everything - not empty consciousness.
Mundaka Upanisad differentiates the higher and the lower forms of
knowledge. The higher is the knowledge of the Brahman and the lower is the
knowledge of the empirical sciences and arts including the Veda and its subsidiaries.
As the spider throws out its web and withdraws it into itself again, the Atman throws
out the world out of It and withdraws the world again into It. The life of action and
sacrifices is as unstable as an unsteady boat and is, therefore, not the highest, and
belongs to the world of ignorance. In man dwell two spirits - the higher and the lower.
The higher remains a pure witness of the lower and its experiences. The lower
performs actions in this world and enjoys their fruit. Because of the rewards and
punishments that follow the merit and demerit of actions, the lower is bound by them
and feels not happy. But it overcomes its bondage when it realizes the higher spirit,
merging with it. Study or intellect, penance or renunciation cannot attain the Atman.
Nor do the weak or the deluded. Only those chosen for it can realize it.
Mandukya Upanisad contains a summary of all the other Upanisads. It
teaches that the jiva-atman has four states - the waking state, the dream state, the state
of dreamless sleep and its original pure state. In the waking state, the consciousness of
the atman is directed towards external gross objects. It has then seven parts and
nineteen gateways. The seven parts are the forehead, eye, the life principle, bodily
centre, abdomen, feet and face. The nineteen gateways are the five senses - eye, ear,
taste, touch and smell, the five organs of action - hands, feet, the generative organ,
excretory organ and the organ of speech, the five vital principles - prana, apana,
udana, vyana and samana, the four inner instruments - mind, ego, reason and
apperception. (The five vital principles are said to control the involuntary functions of
the body making life possible. It is difficult to identify them).

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In this state the atman is considered the worldly person - Vaisvanara, meaning
the gross aspect of the Logos or the Cosmic Person. In dream, it has the same seven
parts and nineteen gates, but its consciousness is turned inwards, towards the dream
objects. In this state, it is called the psyche, as it constitutes psychic force enjoying
dream objects of subtle elements. In dreamless sleep, the atman desires nothing. Its
consciousness is its only gate and all plurality becomes one in it. It is then called
prajna as its being is pure, undifferentiated, solid, unified consciousness and into
which everything enters. It pervades the other two states and always stays as their
background. It is full of bliss. But it knows nothing, not even itself. The fourth state is
the atman in Its purity and is beyond thought and speech. It knows itself and is not
overwhelmed by the unconscious.
The word Aum consists of three parts-a, u and m. The letter a is the atman in
the waking state, u the atman in the dream state and m the atman in the deep sleep.
The Atman in Its original pure state is without distinction. It is Aum - the All.
This Upanisad gives a new idea as to the study of the I consciousness. It has
to be studied in its own field, not in the field of objects. The four states of the Atman
constitute the specific field of the I consciousness at the level of the macro as well as
the microcosmic personalities. The Atman is the Brahman. The names of the four
states of the macro Cosmic Person are Virat, Hiranyagarbha (Sutratman), Iswara and
the Brahman. The macro Cosmic Person includes all the microcosmic persons and
inter-relates them. The Cosmic Person works through the finite persons.
Taittiriya Upanisad mentions five forms of union - the union of physical
elements, the union of shining beings, the union of knowledge, the union of creative
beings and the union of physiological parts, incorporating the idea of union as the act
of creation. It establishes that, by the time of this Upanisad, five forms of causal
explanation of creation came to be accepted. They are the physical explanation of the
creation of the universe, creation as due to the actions of the divine beings, as due to
the potency of esoteric knowledge, as due to some cosmic sexes and as due to the
atman or man as the centre.
The Brahman is the Truth, Consciousness and the Infinite. From the Atman is
born ether, air, fire, water, earth, plants, food and man as I, one from the other
sequentially. Man is called atman because he eats, swallows and absorbs (adyate) the
different elements constituting the objective world. Inward to the atman made of food
is the atman made of the vital principle (prana). Inward to the vital principle lies the
mind, inward to mind, reason (vijnana) and inward to reason, bliss (ananda). Each
latter is the atman of the former and each former is the body of the latter. But every
one of them is a form of Purusa (Atman) Himself.
This Upanisad teaches that Reality in the beginning was absolutely
indeterminate - Unmanifest. It points out that the Bliss of the Atman is infinitely
greater than all the pleasures of men and gods put together. Even though several
distinctions among the levels of spirit and body are made, every level is considered
part and parcel of the Brahman.
This Upanisad defines atman as one that eats, swallows and absorbs the
different elements constituting the objective world. The Sanskrit word for absorption

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is adyate. This is symbolic of the atman, as everything is to dissolve into it ultimately,

ontologically. This is not the only etymological meaning of the word atman. From
the point of view of Indo-Germanic philology, the most reasonable seems to be from a
word meaning to breathe. The Sanskrit root will be an meaning to breathe.
Aitareya Upanisad gives a semimythological account of creation.
According to it, the Atman correlates the microcosm and the macrocosm. The gods
become the psychophysical principles. The mental functions are only the rays of our
rational consciousness (prajnanam). Our rational consciousness is the constant
integrated awareness (prajnanam-brahma).
Chandogya Upanisad states that, after salvation, mans spirit resides along
with the gods and the Brahman in the highest world. This conception is theistic. It
also states that everything is verily the Brahman. It is the innermost to man. It is the
smallest and yet the largest. It is reached after death. In the beginning, all was Nonbeing out of which Being came and then the cosmic egg. The egg burst creating the
cosmos. The Upanisad propounds that Being cannot come out of Non-Being, and so
originally there was Being.
The person seeing through the eye is the Atman and is the Brahman. The eye is
considered the most important of the senses.
Aruni teaches his son Svetaketu that in sleep, speech enters mind, mind the
life principle (prana), the life principle the psychic force (tejas), the psychic force the
Supreme Deity. All these belong to the Atman. That art thou (tattvamasi)!
Everything enters the Atman and loses its identity. The Upanisad mentions
mahavakyas such as I am all this (ahameva idam sarvam) and The Atman is all
this (atma eva idam sarvam).
This Upanisad anticipates the doctrine of the Mandukya Upanisad pointing out
the various stages by which the search for the Atman has to be carried out. It also
delineates the field in which the enquiry has to be conducted.
Brhadaranyaka Upanisad contains detailed information about different
kinds of meditation and several philosophical doctrines. Only when one sacrifices the
cosmos, gives it up, does one realize the Atman. It mentions that the horse sacrificed
in the Asvametha-yajna (sacrifice) is symbolic of the cosmos.
In the beginning, there was the Atman that asserted, I Am and became the
I. Then it felt lonely and was afraid, as fear would arise from loneliness. It wondered
why It was afraid and wanted an other. Then It became the two - man and woman.
Men were born of them. The state of love is the Unmanifest (avyakta). The
Unmanifest becomes the manifest world. The Atman is the same as the Brahman. He
who realizes I am the Brahman becomes the Brahman.
The world consists of the three - name given by speech, form seen by the eye
and action originating in the atman, and is full of the Brahman. All the three
constitute the Being. It teaches the doctrine that the atman is found in deep sleep.
Nobody wants an object of pleasure for the sake of the object, but for the sake of the
atman. We are, therefore, to know what the atman is. By knowing it, everything
becomes known. Everything is the Atman (idam sarvam yadayam atma). When it is
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realized that everything is the Atman, one realizes that there is no difference between
the knower and the known. This Atman is the Brahman (ayam atma brahma).
This Upanisad records the debate between Yajnavalkya and other enquirers
after Truth. Yajnavalkya says that, after death, the senses and mind of man become
one with their respective deities who are their sources. But his actions - karma (merit
and demerit) accompany him to another life. The atman lives through the life
principle and works through all the life functions. None can see the seer; none can
hear the hearer and none can know the knower. It is not an object of any form of
consciousness. The atman is present inwardly in everything (antaryamin) and knows
everything, but nothing knows it. It is the ultimate seer, hearer, thinker and knower.
The atman is neither subtle nor gross, neither the senses nor the life principle, neither
inwards nor outwards. It is imperishable. It commands the sun and the moon, the
elements and time to perform their functions. Everything is founded in it. It is the
same as the Brahman. The Brahman is Knowledge and Bliss (vijnanam anandam
brahma).
Yajnavalkya also teaches that the atman is the guiding light of man. What
light guides man? By the light of the sun is the answer. What is the mans light when
the sun sets? The answer is the light of the moon. What is the light when the moon
sets? The answer is that it can then be the light of fire. What can be the light when the
fire goes out? The answer is that another mans voice may then guide. What can be
the light when there is no such voice? The answer is the light that guides in a dream.
What is the light that guides in a dream? The answer is it is the light of the atman. It is
through the light of the dream that one can transcend the forms of death or other
perishable forms. That light is itself imperishable.
This Upanisad also teaches that when the I is embraced by the atman as
prajna in deep sleep, it becomes filled with bliss and knows nothing else.
Svetasvatara Upanisad is considered to be a theistic Upanisad as it speaks of
the Brahman as a personal being. It enumerates some contemporary doctrines of the
origin of the world, then in vogue. According to it, the origin was time, nature,
necessity, chance, elements, cosmic womb, Purusa, the finite self (atman). There are
two atmans - the perishable and the imperishable. Man is a combination of the two.
The perishable is the manifest, meant to act and enjoy the fruit of actions. The
imperishable is the Atman as the cosmos, the Lord. The perishable is the pradhana
(prakrti). It is maya. The pradhana is the primary state of the whole world of
becoming. Prakrti is the original state of the world of becoming. Maya is the
appearance of something as being, although it is only becoming. It is neither being nor
non-being and so becoming. As becoming appears as being, it is called maya.
Everything that belongs to maya is perishable. Man overcomes maya by knowing the
imperishable.
The atman is present in the body like oil in the oil-seed or butter in milk The
Brahman is the Purusa Himself. This Upanisad mentions the names of the Saiva
religious sects. It treats Siva as the Brahman Itself. It repeats the Mundaka passage
about the two atmans as the two birds, the lower one merging with the higher.

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It compares the Lord to the magician and calls His power magicmaya. The
Atman is neither male nor female. The Lord presides over our ethical conduct, but is
accessible to men who have risen above action. This Upanisad carries the ideas of
grace and devotion. It mentions the name of Svetasvatara who obtained divine
knowledge through penance and the grace of God. One who is absolutely devoted to
God and likewise to his teachers can only know the divine truths. Theism is clearly
emphasized in this Upanisad.

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Glossary of Important
Sanskrit Words
A
adharma:

demerit; sin; crime

advaita:

non-dual, non-duality, non-dualism; one, monism

ahamdhi:

I-consciousness, to be differentiated from ahankara or ego.

ahankara:

ego as different from ahamdhi.

akasa:

space; sky; either; room; the word does not mean necessarily
physical space, but also mental, intellectual and spiritual
space. Even maya is called akasa in the sense of avyakta, the
unmanifest, for the manifest is that which has acquire a
shape, a contour. The unmanifest is the opposite. The word
has associations with both sound and room or space.

antahkarana:

inner instrument, inner sense consisting of reason (buddhi),

ego (ahankara) and mind (manas). Even apperception is
considered part of the inner instrument for its nature of
universalizing the cognitions.

antaryamin:

inner controller, the higher spirit within.

anumana:

inference; syllogism; that which comes after the first

perception.

anupalabdhi:

non-cognition, non-apprehension, non-perception; name of

one of the of valid ways of cognition;

apurva:

the extra-ordinary; merit in the form or state of latency or

potency;

artha:

meaning; object; wealth; purpose, aim.

arthapatti:

presumption, presupposition; one of the valid means of

knowledge.

asat:

non-being, non-existence; the non-existent, the unreal; false,

untrue.

asrama:

a stage of life such as that of a student, a house holder, a

forest dweller or a sanyasin.

atman :

spirit; self; soul; if it is identical with the Brahman, it means

the Brahman, also called the Paramatman, the Supreme
Being, the Supreme spirit; atman and jiva are used as
synonyms, but jiva means necessarily the soul as an ethical
personality; atman is also used in the sense of mind.

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avidya :

ajnana; karma also according to Ramanuja; a veil or screen

making the soul forget its relationship with the Brahman,
according to Madhva.

avyakta:

unmanifest; the Unmanifest; used as synonym for prakrti and

Maya also; in the Bhagavad-Gita it is the name of God before
He manifests the world.

B
bhakti:

devotion; love (not sexual)

The Brahman:

the ever - growing, the ever - expanding; the Absolute; the

Supreme Spirit.

buddhi:

reason; mind; knowledge, cognition, consciousness; concept,

idea; in the Vedanta it has ontological significance, as in the
philosophy of Plato.

C
chit:

consciousness.

chitta:

apperception, apperceptive reason; that which gathers and

integrates all knowledge in man and constitutes his
apperceptive mind; in the Advaita, it is the apperceptive
function of the antahkarana; that which makes a thing
conscious.

D
darsana:

perception; view; vision; philosophy; system.

dharma :

that which supports; nature; the law of nature; virtue; ethical

law; the ought; merit; the potency of ethical actions; the
right action; the law in, or the body of doctrines of any faith;
quality; characteristic; the law of the universe; reality ;
element; category;

dik:

space; direction;

G
guna:

quality; property; attribute.

H
hiranyagarbha:

the golden womb; the fetus which is golden or conscious; the

first appearance of the life of conscious. It is also called
Sutratman, the atman cosmic in significance playing the role
of the thread passing through all the beads of a necklace, that

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is, interconnecting all the souls through their life-principle

(prana)
I
indriya:

sense; organ

J
jada:

the insentient; the inorganic; matter.

jiva:

soul as the ethical personality.

jnana:

consciousness; knowledge; cognition.

K
kala:

time

kama:

desire, love; pleasure; enjoyment; passion.

karanam :

instrument; the main instrument; the main cause; cause;

reason; ground; support; occasion .

karma:

action; activity; process; the result of potency created by

ethical action; rite; past actions in their potential forms or
states.

koshas:

sheaths; collections.

M
manas:

mind, to be distinguished from mind as understood in Anglo

American psychology; sometimes used in the very wide sense
of antahkarana.

maya:

illusion; a synonym for prakrti, avyakta, pradhana, avidya,

ajnana; the measured; the determined.

mimamsa:

discussion; debate; criticism; critical interpretation; name of

the school of Jaimini based on the first two parts of the Veda.

moksa:

liberation, salvation, emancipation.

N
nirguna:

without qualities, without characteristics, without attributes.

nirvana:

peace; salvation; the un-agitated

nirvikalpa:

indeterminate, formless, absolutely direct cognition;

according to Vedanta, it is absolutely true in the case of
cognition of the Brahman.

nivrtti:

withdrawal from outward activity; turning inwards.

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P
paramatman:

the Supreme Spirit.

parinama:

change, transformation; transformation in which the being of

the material cause is changed into something else and cannot
be regained.

pradhana:

the primary, the important, the basic; a synonym for prakrti.

prajna:

a synonym for buddhi, intense knowledge, intense

consciousness; intense self-consciousness; consciousness;
knowledge.

prakrti:

synonym for pradhana, maya etc; literally means the original;

personified will of the Supreme Spirit.

pramana:

means of valid cognition like perception and inference.

pramanya:

validity of knowledge.

prameya:

the knowable; object of cognition or knowledge.

prana:

life, vital principle;

pravrtti:

activity directed towards external objects; the life of action;

opposed to nivrtti.

purusa:

atman; person; man; man as distinct from woman; spirit;

soul.

R
rajas:

one of the attributes of prakrti, called the active; the world of

action, movement, process.

S
saguna:

with qualities or characteristics.

sakshi-chaitanya:

witness consciousness;

samadhi:

trance, ecstasy; intense concentration of ones being; the final

stage in yoga.

sat:

being, existence, reality; a being, an existent, a real; virtuous.

satkaranavada:

the doctrine that only the material cause, but not the effect, is
real; the doctrine that Being is real, but its forms and shapes
are not real;

satta:

Being, Existence ; power, force.

sattva:

an attribute of prakrti and is called the Transparent; a being; a

synonym for buddhi or mahat that makes the self- affirmation
of I-am.
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sabda:

sound; word.

sakti:

energy, power, force; potency; the energy aspect of the

Godhead.

samskaras:

instinctive forces, impressions, urges, habit forming

impressions, psychological archetypes. The word is also
interpreted as karma, thus relating it to the Mimamsa doctrine
of ethical potency. It has a very inclusive meaning
encompassing cosmic, collective or individual categories,
either separately or together at once.

spanda:

vibration, pulsation, activity, movement.

sutratman :

one of the stages of the Logos at which the Logos acts like
the thread in a necklace of beads in tying or binding together
all the souls in their dream states, although each soul has its
own dreams.

T
tamas:

one of the attributes of prakrti called the Darkness. In the

Advaita it has greater significance as positive Non-being or
Being as the unconscious (avidya)

tanmatras:

subtle elements; ultimately specific sense qualities as

potential fields of sense cognition.

U
upadhi:

condition; conditionality

upamana:

similarity; comparison; cognition of similarity.

V
vairagya:

detachment ; withdrawal from the world.

vijnana:

consciousness; determinate consciousness; knowledge of

empirical arts and sciences; a synonym for buddhi.

vivarta:

transformation; transformation in which the nature of the

material cause is not affected; distinguished from parinama.

Y
yoga:

etymologically, it means yoking , binding, tying; a way

of realization of the Brahman.

The above are only indicative of what the

Sanskrit words mean in the context of the present work

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