The State of Jivanmukti
A Jivanmukta is a sage who is
liberated from bondage even while living with a body. The perception of the
material universe as such vanishes and he beholds the One Brahman appearing as
the universe. The egoism of the Jivanmukta is like a burnt cloth which has got
the appearance of a cloth but is actually reduced to the state of ashes. The
individual consciousness of the Jivanmukta is powerful enough to maintain the
existence of his physical body, but it is not capable of bringing to him another
birth as an embodied being. His Sanchita-Karmas get fried by the fire of
Brahma-Jnana or Knowledge of the Absolute Reality. He has no Agami Karmas to
bring future births because he has no feelings of Kartritva and Bhoktritva. His
actions are cosmic movements and not the instincts of the sense of egoism. The
Prarabdha Karma which has given rise to Brahma-Jnana lasts as long as the
momentum of past desires which constitute the present Prarabdha lasts. An
illustration will make this fact very clear.
A hunter sees an animal moving
in the forest and thinking that it is a tiger he shoots an arrow at it. After
the arrow has left the bow-string he realises that the animal is not a tiger
but a cow. But this subsequent knowledge will not save the cow from being affected
by the arrow. The arrow will hit the object which lies within the sphere of its
momentum.
The Jnani realises that the
whole universe is Brahman only. But the desires which he had given rise to
during the time when he thought that the objective world is real will not cease
from demanding materialisation into effects as long as the momentum of their
craving lasts. Hence these desires keep up the physical body of the Jivanmukta
for some time even after his Self-realization. When the Prarabdha-Karma is exhausted
the body drops off by itself and the sage becomes unified with the Infinite
Brahman.
But, even while living with a
body, the Jivanmukta identifies his consciousness with Brahman and is not
affected by the pairs of opposites and the forces of nature. The whole universe
is his body for he is in tune with all the forces of Nature due to his
transcending all phenomenal relativities and resting in Brahman-Consciousness
at all times.
The Jivanmukta is the witness
of the three lower states of consciousness, namely, the waking, dreaming and
deep sleep states. He realizes the Turiya state which is peaceful, blissful and
non-dual. He lives in the seventh Bhumika of Jnana where the mind becomes
Brahman itself. The expanded consciousness soars above the five sheaths and
hails beyond the region of thought and intellect. The Jivanmukta's thoughts and
actions do not promise a future world-experience for him. He experiences the
world and individuality only apparently and not in reality.
He does not get delighted by
pleasures, nor do distresses pain him. He has nothing dear, nothing inimical.
Even violent distractions cannot make him move away from the Reality. He does
not trouble anybody, nor is he troubled by anybody even in the least. He talks
sweetly and nobly. He comes out of the net of distinctions and desires like a
lion from its cage. Fear is unknown to him, and he is never helpless or
dejected. He does not care for life, honor or death. He behaves as the occasion
of the environment requires, but is absolutely detached within. He is an
Apta-Kama. He has got nothing to obtain or avoid. He is satisfied with his own
Self. He is a Mahakarta, a Mahabhokta and a Mahatyagi.
The Jivanmukta feels the great
Unity of himself and the whole universe in the Supreme Brahman. He has an
abiding realization of the secret Oneness of Existence which is the basis of
universal love. It is the love that does not expect any reward, return or
recompense. Such people are the veritable Emperors of the universe.
The Jivanmukta is neither an
idle man not an active man. He is a transcendental actor. His behavior is not understandable
even as Brahman is inscrutable, for he is Brahman itself. Whatever he does is
righteous, moral and ideal, for his actions are the expressions of the Absolute
itself. He leads the Divine Life and moves in the free flow of the Law of
Eternal Existence. He has no war between the body and the spirit. His external
actions are just like those of the ignorant worldly man. But the greatest
difference lies between their minds, the desires and Vasanas. The one does not
know what is desire and the other is immersed in desires. The mind of a
liberated man is pure Sattwa itself, it is no mind at all. He is established in
the state of the Self unimpeded by phenomenal laws. He rejoices in the Infinite
Being and lives in the world like a happy bird, being fully illumined with
Transcendental Wisdom.
Mukti is not a thing to be
attained. It is not far away to be obtained. It is the very being itself and
hence the mere knowledge or realization of it is itself Mukti. Everything is
Brahman only in the three periods of time. There is neither bondage nor
suffering. The Consciousness of this Truth is called Liberation in empirical
language.
Logically, the highest state
of Moksha is the merging of individual consciousness in Absolute Consciousness.
Eternal Existence, Infinite Knowledge and Immortal Bliss is Moksha or Final
Emancipation.
Excerpts from:
The State of Jivanmukti - Chapter 10 Moksha Gita by Swami Krishnananda
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