(Nov 22,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – The Characteristics of a Perfected Person by Swami Krishnananda

The Characteristics of a Perfected Person

Divine Life Society Publication: Discoure 12 - Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

Yogayukto visuddhatma vijitatma jitendriyah, sarvabhutatmabhutatma kurvannapi na lipyate (5.7). In this verse, the characteristics of a yogi, a perfected person, are described. A person who is united in yoga is yogayukta. Such a person is also visuddhatma – his lower self has been purified in order to reflect the higher self in itself. He is also vijitatma – a person who is perfectly under control of himself; jitendriya – whose sense organs have been restrained; sarvabhutatmabhutatma – whose self has pervaded all beings, and the self of all beings are in his own self. These are the qualities of a sage which are mentioned in this interesting yoga.

In the beginning, the effort is to restrain the senses; and when the senses are restrained, the person becomes a jitendriya. When a person is jitendriya on account of the restraint exercised over the senses, he becomes a vijitatma – one who has conquered himself. The conquest of one’s own self is actually the conquest over the sense organs, because it is due to the activity of the sense organs that one’s own self moves in the direction of a not-self. We find that our interest is in outside things; the world seems to be more interesting than our own selves. This happens on account of the self moving away from itself, through the avenues of the senses, towards the direction of the world of objects; but a person who has restrained the senses does not allow the consciousness to pervade and penetrate through the senses towards the direction of things outside. Such a person has also restrained himself. It is an exercise for restraining the self. It is a restraint over the sense organs; and incidentally, it is at the same time a restraint exercised on the self itself – the lower self. A jitendriya is also a vijitatma.

Such a person is a visuddhatma – whose self is pure sattva, free from rajas and tamas. The entire reality is reflected through the sattva guna, as a mirror can clearly reflect the face of a person. Turbid or shaky waters do not reflect anything adequately. Turbidity is tamas, and shakiness is rajas. The sun is reflected on the waters of a lake or a river. If the lake is muddy, and it is thick and turbid on account of dirt in the water, there will be no reflection of the sun in that water; but even if the dirt is not there, even if it is clean water but it is shaking violently, then also there will not be a correct and wholesome reflection of the sun. Similarly, we may be disturbed and find ourselves incapable of reflecting the higher self in our own personality either because of the tamas that is prevailing in us or due to the rajas prevailing in us. Either we are tamasic – lethargic and dark – in our mental operations; or the mind is distracted in a hundred ways, so then also there is no reflection. Free from both these defects of the mind is a visuddhatma who is purely sattvic, untarnished by rajas and tamas. Such a person is united with all things at the same time; he is a yogayukta. The words used in this verse are in a descending order, whereas I have explained it in an ascending order. Yogayukta is the highest state, which is attained by the visuddhatma, which is attained again by the vijitatma, which state also is attained by the jitendriya. Such a person becomes a wonder in this world.

He will find himself reflected in the self of all beings in the universe, and he will find the selves of all beings reflected in his own self. Sarvabhutatmabhutatma means one who has become the self of all beings, and also one in whom all the selves of all beings find their abode. This is a grand description of the highest state of perfection achieved by union through yoga.

The high and low look equal to the harmonized vision of the sage. If he sees a learned person or sees a fool, it makes no difference to him. He sees the same underlying reality, just as a goldsmith sees only the quality and the weight of gold in an ornament. Just as the ironsmith sees only iron and the goldsmith sees only gold, the great sage sees only consciousness everywhere. Those who are learned in spiritual lore, who are endowed with the insight into the reality of things, see oneness everywhere.

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The Characteristics of a Perfected Person - Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda
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(Nov 13,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – What does the Bhagavadgita Teach? by Swami Krishnananda

What does the Bhagavadgita Teach?

Divine Life Society Publication: Discourse 1 Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

 

What does the Gita teach? The commentaries on the Gita say that it teaches karma yoga or raja yoga, bhakti yoga or jnana yoga, a synthesis of yoga, the art of living, and whatnot. But the Gita itself tells us what it teaches by a colophon, which is in three words only: brahma-vidyayam yoga-sastre sri-krishnarjuna-samvade. Actually, these three words mean theory, practice, and realization.

Brahma-vidya is the science of the Absolute – that system of thinking which is able to comprehend within itself at any time the total structure of things. To conceive the Absolute is to at once take into consideration, in our processes of thought, all things connected with the object of thought – not only the inner constituents of the object as such, but also the relations that the object bears to other objects. The reality of a particular thing is not only in itself. It is also in that which determines it, restricts it, influences it, conditions it, defines it, and makes it what it is.

Every individual is an entity by itself; but this ‘being an entity by itself’ is not so simple a matter as it appears on the surface. As human individuals, we appear to be totally isolated persons, and we stand by ourselves unrelated to other things outside. Even if we are alone in our rooms, we do not forget that our individuality is conditioned by the presence of the laws of society, of government, of physical nature, of the thoughts of people in general.

There is a relation of ‘A’ to ‘B’. If ‘A’ is not related to ‘B’, we would not be conscious that ‘A’ is independent of ‘B’. If there is only redness everywhere, we would not be able to perceive the redness of things. There is a distinction in the characteristic of a particular object which is red. That distinction lies in the fact that it is red and it is not what is not red. The not-ness is a negative influence exerted on this object.

The existences that are outside us are not actually outside us. They influence us. Brahma-vidya is the art and the science of educating oneself in the manner of correctly perceiving the world as such, including one’s own self in the totality of relations.

In a total perception of things, we are not in ourselves; we have transcended ourselves. Nor are we in the object; we have transcended the object. We are in the middle as a blend – a blending consciousness which brings about a harmony between the seer and the seen, or between any two faces of reality. In all situations, there are two aspects: the cause – the causative factor – and the effect upon which the cause seems to have an impact. It is very difficult for us to see the relation between cause and effect because mostly we see the cause as one thing, and the effect as another.

Brahma-vidya is an intricate subject. It is not just repeating some words of the Upanishads or the Brahma Sutras or even the Gita. It is the entry of the consciousness into the very import of the teaching. The Total has eyes everywhere, has feet everywhere, has hands everywhere because It is neither a subject, nor an object. In the total perception of things, we are not ourselves, nor are we other than what we are. We are something beyond what we are, and what is other than what we are. This is the final import, as it were, of the Brahma-vidya aspect of the Bhagavadgita.

But, as I mentioned, theoretical physics has to lead to applied physics. What is the use of merely knowing things? This knowledge has to be applied in practical life. In a similar manner, this Brahma-vidya that is the knowledge of the integrality of things has to be put into daily implementation in our angry gestures, in our prejudices, in our desires, in our attractions, in our repulsions; in every situation, this Brahma-vidya has to be there. We have to be total and whole persons always. We cannot be whole only at some time, and a fraction at some other time. We are whole everywhere, but if we behave in different ways at different times and convert ourselves into fractions of human personality, as it were, we are not living a wholesome life. It is not a holistic approach to things.

Brahma-vidya is to be applied in Yoga Shastra, which is the daily application of our consciousness, our minds, our attitudes, to anything in the world in terms of the lesson that we have learnt through Brahma-vidya. What is the purpose of this practice of yoga in terms of the wisdom that we gain through Brahma-vidya? It is sri-krishnarjuna-samvade – the conversation of the soul with the Absolute. Arjuna’s envisaging the mighty Krishna is symbolic of the soul envisaging the Cosmic Being in its daily life.

Who can encounter the Absolute? The wavelength of our individuality and the wavelength of God are in such a contrast that there is no mingling of these two factors. The Yoga Shastra, or the practice of yoga, is nothing but the tuning of the wavelength of our receiving sets to the wavelength of the message that comes from God’s broadcasting station.

The purpose of Yoga Shastra is to contact God directly. There is no use of thinking God and praying to God and feeling God and imagining that one day we will realize God. It is necessary to confront Him every day. In every atom He is vibrating, as the sun is vibrating in the solar system. God is a here and a now, and not an afterwards or a somewhere or a someone. He is without these limitations of the concept of space and time. Contact with God is contact with timelessness, with eternity, with justness, now-ness and here-ness. Such is the import of the final teaching of the Bhagavadgita, where the soul communes with God in its realization of the perfection that it has to achieve finally through the Yoga Shastra. This is the practice of the discipline necessary in this world in the light of the knowledge of Brahma-vidya, which is the theoretical education that we receive of how the world is made, finally.

First we have to know, then we have to do, and then we have to realize. It is not enough if we merely see and know, but we have to enter into it. It is necessary for us to enter into God in our daily life.

The entry into God’s existence every day is the living of the divine life, and we should not think that this is a very hard thing. Who can enter into God every day? Where is God? Is He in some unimaginable infinity? It is nothing of the kind. Outside God nothing exists. If that is the case, what is the distance between us and God? Distance is abolished. It is a distance-less, timeless contact. That is possible for us, provided that we open the gates of our personality, open the windows to the sunshine of the Supreme Being that is illuminating us perpetually, and melt our egos which affirm that “I also exist together with God”.

The biblical fall of Satan is nothing but the story of the affirmation of the ego in the presence of God: “If you are there, I am also there.” The devotee says, “God Thou art, but I am also there to contemplate you.” That devotee should not be there at all. Let that devotee melt, and God possesses him; the ocean enters into the rivers, and the world melts into the consciousness which is a now and a here.

The Bhagavadgita is a Brahma-vidya, a Yoga Shastra, sri-krishnarjuna-samvade – theoretical understanding of the structure of the cosmos, practice of yoga, and daily contact with God in our practical affairs, which is true divine life.

Excerpts from:

A Colophon of the Bhagavadgita - Discourse 1 Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda
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(Oct 15,2013) Spiritual Message for the Day –Distinction between Purusha and Prakriti

Distinction between Purusha and Prakriti

Divine Life Society Publication: Discourse 3 – Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

 

We look at the world only with our eyes, and judge things according to the report that is provided through the medium of the senses. Every perception is a movement of the self towards an object. Our conclusion that we know the world or we know a thing is conditioned:  firstly, by it having to pass through the mentation, the psychic organ, the antahkarana; secondly, by the mind having to think only through the sense organs; thirdly, by the sense organs having to visualize things as located in space and time. So there is a threefold defect in human perception which includes social relations and everything that we regard as ours, or not ours.

The world is not as it appears to the eyes; it is a whitewash that we see, as the inside bricks and the cement are not visible to the outer perception.

We are essentially consciousness. This consciousness is the chaitanya shakti or the chaitanya purusha, which is indivisibly present and not divisible under any circumstance. Consciousness has to be there even between the two parts, which is to say that consciousness is everywhere.

Sankhya calls the objective character of perception as prakriti, and the subjective consciousness which perceives is called purusha. So the Sankhya divides reality into two phases or blocks of power – consciousness and matter, subject and object, purusha and prakriti. Experience is supposed to be engendered by a contact of consciousness with prakriti; purusha comes in contact with prakriti. Consciousness is never an object; prakriti is never a subject.  How does the mind or the individual consciousness experience that a given thing is there or the world is there?

Consciousness appears to perceive as if there is some object.  For instance, if a red flower is brought near a colorless pure crystal, it will appear as if the whole crystal is red. The world is never correctly known at any time, just as there is always a dissimilarity between the colored flower and the crystal, notwithstanding the fact that the crystal has apparently assumed the character (redness) of the object. A red-hot iron rod looks like fire, not like iron. It is glowing, white heat, yet that glow which is white heat is the fire; and there is something there which is not the fire – namely, the iron rod. The impact of the heat on the iron rod is such that the rod has ceased to be there, practically, though it is there really. In a similar manner, objects assume a reality, as it were, though there is no reality in them; they are pure transitoriness.

Prakriti continuously changes its characteristics. It is a continuity that is a flow, consisting of three strands – namely, sattva, rajas and tamas. Like a wheel that moves when the car moves, there is a cyclic movement of prakriti through the gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas.  Prakriti is not a solid object. There is no such thing as solid objects in this world; there is only fluxation. A person may appear on a screen, while the person is not really there at all. Thousands of small frames of film have moved with such rapidity that the movement could not be caught by the eye.

Likewise, we see that we are solid objects. But the apparent solidity is just like the solidity of a person on the screen, while the person is not really there. It is a continuous rapid movement of frames that gives the illusion of a solid person standing there, the illusion arising on account of the incapacity of the eyes to catch the movement. The television waves and high-frequency radio waves are dashing upon us just now, we can see nothing and  hear nothing. Therefore, the world of perception as a solid thing is a total illusion.

Prakriti, which is the objectivity of the purusha, i.e. consciousness, is constituted of three properties, called sattva, rajas and tamas. Tamas is inertia, pure inactivity; rajas is dynamism, distraction and action; and sattva is balance and harmony. The permutation and combination of these three gunas are the very substance of prakriti. The redness of a flower is a quality of the flower, but the redness itself is not the flower.  The three gunas – sattva, rajas and tamas – are the very substance of prakriti, and they are the very essence of movement in this world. These three gunas, by permutation and combination, create a situation of transparency in the cosmos, and the indivisible consciousness gets reflected, as it were, in this transparency, which is suddha tattva. It is the beginning of the process of the creation of the universe. It is a dream condition, as it were, where sketches of the future creation are drawn on the canvas of the mind itself. Thus, from the point of view of Vedanta terminology, there is a coming down of consciousness, which is Absolute, to the state of Isvara, Hiranyagarbha and Virat, or in the language of Sankhya, prakriti becomes mahat, and mahat becomes ahankara.

The one indivisible ahankara, or Virat, gets divided into a three-partite state, as it were – the object, the subject, and the connecting link between the object and subject. These are known as the adhibhuta, adhyatma and adhidaiva. Thus, we see there is a world outside on account of the division that has taken place, and we are set aside as subjects perceiving the object outside, not being aware that there is a connecting link, which is called the adhidaiva, between the object and the subject. Then there is a continuous solidification of this objectivity into tanmatras, called sabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa, gandha –  prithvi, ap, teja, vayu, akasha – the five elements; and we have come down into the solidity which is this earth. 

The individual, who is the perceiver of this so-called external world, is also constituted only of the three gunas. The bricks out of which the world is made are the very bricks that also make our body. So there is an organic connection between the subject and the object; therefore, our judgments about things will not be finally tenable if we do not take into consideration our own involvement in the process of judgment. The mind of the judge plays an important role in making judgments.

The people in the world are not only those outside. You are also one of the persons in this world. Hence, your judgment of people in the world also includes judgment of yourself, which you are not doing. You think the world is constituted of people who are totally cut off from you – as in the story of ten people crossing a river.

The movement of prakriti within itself in the form of the sense organs and the mind on the one hand, and the objects on the other hand, is taken by us as two different activities taking place. Actually, one wave is dashing against another wave in the ocean, and two persons are not actually involved there. All action is cosmic action, as the very concept of individuality is ruled out in the light of this predicament of all perception being only a collision of the subjective side of prakriti with its objective side.

The world is not the maker of troubles. The world is defective on account of our not being able to isolate and identify ourselves with the world structure. There is no harmony between ourselves and the world of objects.

The premise has to be Universality, and from there we can deduce particularity. But we cannot rise from particularity to Universality, because particulars cannot tell us that there is a Universal.

The fundamental reality has to be ascertained first, and that is possible only by an investigation of the investigator himself. As Ramana Maharshi was fond of saying, “Whenever you put a question, tell me who is questioning.”

Therefore, go deep into yourself.

Continue to Read:

Sankhya Yoga – Distinction between Purusha and Prakriti:  Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

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(Sep 19,2013) Spiritual Message for the Day – Who is a good seeker?

Who is a good seeker?

Divine Life Society Publication: Discourse 38 (Chapter 13) Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

Amanitvam adambhitvam ahimsa kshantir arjavam, acharyopasanam saucham sthairyam atma-vinigrahah (13.7).
Indriyartheshu vairagyamanahankara eva cha, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-doshanudarsanam (13.8).
Asaktir anabhishvangah putra-dara-grhadishu, nityam cha sama-chittatvam ishtanishtopapattishu (13.9).
Mayi chananya yogena bhaktir avyabhicharini, vivikta-desa-sevitvam aratir jana-samsadi (13.10).
Adhyatma-jnana-nityatvam tattva-jnanartha-darsanam, etaj jnanam iti proktam ajnanam yad-ato’nyatha (13.11).

All these things mentioned here in these verses are called knowledge. “I consider these virtues I have mentioned as real knowledge.” “Whatever is the opposite of what I have said here, is ignorance.”

A student of yoga, a spiritual seeker, is humble. He does not expect respect from anybody, but offers respect to everyone.  If grass is trampled on, it simply bends; it doesn’t resist. We should consider being humbler than a blade of grass. Even if we cut off large part of the tree, it again shoots up tendrils and leaves. It is very tolerant. Thus, the devotee should be as tolerant as a tree and as humble as a blade of grass, giving respect to everybody and wanting respect from nobody.

A spiritual seeker  never demonstrates himself as a seeker of God, a lover of God, a spiritual seeker. He looks like anybody else in the world. There is nothing special or anything particular that we can cognize in that person. He hides his knowledge and his sadhana. It is said the sadhana that we perform, the mantra that we chant, and the Guru whom we worship should not be revealed to anyone. Adambhitvam means there is no demonstration of ahankara.

Ahimsa, non-violence, is something well known to us. All beings should feel fearlessness towards us.

Kshantih is forgiveness. If somebody does something wrong to us, we should not do the same to them. We forgive them because, after all, everybody is susceptible to making some mistake or the other. We should be honest and straightforward, and not hide anything. We should not think one thing, say another thing, and do something else.

Kayena vacha manasa: There should be harmony; otherwise, there will be non-alignment of personality.

Acharyopasanam: We should always be humble and worshipful before our teacher, who imparts knowledge to us. We should not show our greatness or our ego before the teacher or the Guru. Let him be worshipped as the veritable manifestation of God Himself. Saucham means physical purity, both inwardly as well as outwardly. Sthairyam is the decision that we have taken to achieve God-realization in this birth, and not in a future birth. Atma-vinigrahah is self-restraint, the control of the senses and the mind.

Distaste for the objects of sense. There is nothing in this world which can delight us. Therefore, we should be rid of longing for the objects of sense.

We should not project our ego in any way whatsoever, nor go on thinking how we were born into this world, how we have grown up, how we will become old and leave this body one day. Is this world – where everything decays, decomposes, and turns to dust – a haven of pleasure and joy? How can anyone pat himself on the back and say that he is well off in this world?

We should think of the way in which we were born into this world – a very, very unpleasant way indeed in which we were born. The process of dying, the going from this world, is also very unpleasant indeed. Old age is unpleasant, sickness is unpleasant, all kinds of sorrow which we have to encounter daily, and the defects of sense objects – these truths in life, are to be contemplated upon every day.

There is defect in every sense object. It looks honey-coated and tasty, but inside there is a poison which will kill us. Ordinary poison cannot be considered as dangerous as the poison of sense objects, because ordinary poison – scorpion or even snake venom – will destroy us only once; but the contemplation of sense objects, will kill us in several births. Therefore, these kinds of sorrows should be borne in mind, and we should not be entangled in them.

Therefore, we should be detached from things, and live an individual life. If we are householders, we have some duty to perform as a trustee of an institution, not attaching oneself to anything, but doing one's duty very, very meticulously. We may live at home, but we should detach ourselves, knowing well that one day or the other we will leave this, and also knowing that one day or the other they will leave us. Hence, attachment is unfounded and unwarranted.

Whether pleasant things or unpleasant things come – whether good news comes that makes us feel happy, or there is something which makes us very unhappy – we should keep our mind in a state of balance and not be tilted either to this side or that.  

Finally, we should resort to God only. Ekabhakti, means wanting only one, and not wanting anything else.

As far as possible, we should try to live in ekantavas, have ekantavas, and be satisfied in ourselves and not require anybody else with us. If there is a crowd of people, we should leave that place and go somewhere else – sit under a tree. We should not have any kind of taste for organisations, crowds, and the noise of human society. We should be alone to ourselves.

Our daily routine should be working for the acquisition of adhyatma jnana, the knowledge of the Self. We should work for it day and night. We should aspire for the vision of Truth, and ask for nothing else. If we have these qualities, we have knowledge. If we do not have these qualities, we are ignorant. It is said that we should aspire for knowledge of Truth.

What is Truth? (13.12): "I shall now tell you what Truth is. That Supreme Brahman is the Ultimate Truth, after knowing which there is attainment of immortality." It has no beginning and no end. It cannot be designated either as existing or not existing. It cannot be called existing because whenever we think of any existing thing, we want to see it with our eyes or consider it as some object of some sense organ. As it is not the object of any sense organ, we do not consider it to be existing; but neither is it not non-existing – because, ultimately, it is the only existence. Na sat tan nasad uchyate: Therefore, it cannot be regarded as sat, and it cannot be regarded as asat either.

Excerpts from:

Discourse 38 (Chapter 13) Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

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(Sep 14,2013) Spiritual Message for the Day – Three Types of Charity

Three Types of Charity

Divine Life Society Publication: Discourse 46 Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

"There are three kinds of charity, or philanthropy, which are also classifiable into sattvic, rajasic and tamasic."

Sattvica, Rajasica and Tamasica

When we do charity, we should give to that person from whom we expect nothing, or rather from whom we cannot expect anything. If we help a person from whom we cannot expect any kind of recompense – we may not get even a word of thanks from that person, yet we help that person – that is pratyupakarartha rahitam, expecting no recompense to follow from the good deed that we perform. We should not expect our charity to bring us something visible. We will be blessed by the divinities that rule the world. That will be enough for us. Unless we do that, it will not be real charity. We must give in charity because it is necessary under that condition. We feel for the suffering of another because that person is deprived of physical, mental or social needs. If a person is deprived of even minimum needs and does have access to even the minimum needs of life, and we are in a position to help that person merely because it is good to be of assistance to people of that kind, that would be sattvic charity; and again anupakarine – we should not expect anything from that person.

It has to be given in the proper place, proper time, and to the proper person. Three conditions are there in order that charity may be sattvic. We should not give charity at a wrong place where it will be disturbing either to ourselves or to others; it has to be given at the proper time, and not when the person is not in the proper mood to receive it; and he must be a really deserving person, and not a person who does not need our gesture of goodwill. So dese kale cha patre cha – if all these conditions are fulfilled, we give a charity or express a gesture of goodwill because it is to be done in the case of a person who needs it, in the proper place, proper time, and to proper person – that charity, that gesture of goodwill of ours, that kindness, mercy that we show is sattvic in its nature.

If we give in charity because something will come out of it, because if we give something a double benefit will follow – that cannot be regarded as real charity, because we expect something from the good that we do. It cannot be called really a good deed. Phalam uddisya va punah: Because we always concentrate on what follows from this little sacrifice that we have performed, it is not real sacrifice. Diyate cha pariklishtam: If we give charity with great difficulty, reluctantly, niggardly, throw it as the face of a man and say "Go! Don't come again!", it is not charity. Diyate cha pariklishtam is when we give charity with great reluctance and sorrow inside. "Hey, the wretchedest thing has come. Here. Go!" We must offer help with delight in our heart, with satisfaction in our mind, seeing divinity in things, as God manifests in that person who is requiring assistance from us. The kind of charity that is done with an eye on fruit or what we expect from somebody else, and we do it with reluctance, is rajasic charity.

If we offer something in a wrong place, at a wrong time and to a wrong person, without understanding the pros and cons of it, if it is totally out of place and unwarranted – that kind of gesture on our part, the work that we do, the charity, whatever we do which is blunderous in its effect, should be considered as tamasic. That is the worst kind of charity.

Excerpts from:

Discourse 13 Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

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(Sep 12,2013) Spiritual Message for the Day – Being Established in Brahman

Being established in Brahman

Divine Life Society Publication: Discourse 13 Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

The great sage who is established in Brahman neither rejoices on acquiring pleasant things, nor grieves when coming in contact with unpleasant things because he sees with an equal eye the substances that are the components of pleasant things as well unpleasant things.



Credit: Diagram from www. peakusability.com.au

The pleasant and the unpleasant are actually not things; they are reactions set up by our personality in respect of certain compositions of things. Thus, things are actually neither good nor bad, neither beautiful nor ugly, neither pleasant nor unpleasant.

When we are detached totally from connection with the objects of sense, when the senses do not see any meaning in the objects outside and therefore do not pull the consciousness out in the direction of objects, the energy of the person increases and the Self realizes Itself. Even the perception of an object without any element of love or hatred is called a wrong perception from the point of view of yoga because all perceptions, even if they are so-called right perceptions, are partial. For instance, this is a building and it is really a right perception; we do not say it is an elephant. To say that it is a building and not an elephant is indeed a right perception, but it is not a right perception from another point of view because the limited operation of the mind of an individual characterizes certain shapes as ‘a building’, while actually, internally, we will find that which is in one thing is also in another thing.

Therefore, one who is totally unattached to things outside – bahya-sparseshv asaktatma – he rejoices in himself and enjoys a bliss which is Brahman itself. The universal Brahman is in the Atman of every individual. Space is universal; but the same universal space, when we see the space only inside the vessel, may appear to be limited to a little vessel. The space inside the vessel is called pot-ether – ghatakash. The pot-ether looks very small because it is limited by the walls of the pot, and the bigger space – which is mahakasa – seems to be larger than the little space inside the pot. Thus, there appears to be a difference between the universal akasa, or universal ether, and the individual ether that in the pot – but really there is no such difference. The space has not been divided into two parts inside and outside the pot . The same consciousness is within us and also outside us.

Thus the within-ness of ours, the selfhood that we enjoy, the bliss that comes out of the detachment of consciousness from objects of sense, is the same as the bliss of Brahman – the Universal Reality emanating, rising up from our so-called little-self. The Universal Reality rises up into action the moment the so-called little-self in us withdraws itself from contact with things and does not concern itself with anything that is external.

 

Any joy that comes through contact of one thing with another thing cannot be regarded as real joy. There are five types of contact with external things: contact through the eye, contact through the ear, contact through the nose, contact through the skin, and contact through the tongue. The joy that we get by this kind of contact is an unreliable joy. It is a deceptive experience that we are passing through, and we wrongly come to the conclusion that we are experiencing happiness because this kind of contact appears to be pleasant in the beginning and breeds sorrow later on.

Even at the time of the enjoyment of a sense object, we are under an illusion, and it is not a real joy that we are experiencing. Why do we feel happy when we come in contact with a mango or a cup of delicious kheer or any pleasant object? The reason is that when the mind is not in contact with any sense object, it is restless in itself, and it goes out in search of its own food in the form of objects. The mind that is not in contact with objects moves out in search of those objects which it finds pleasant to contact. When the mind moves in that way, the consciousness of the Atman, or the Self, also moves together with the mind – just as electricity flows through a wire. Wherever the wire is, there is also electricity. Wherever the mind is, the Atman also goes, as it were, due to the attachment between the mind and consciousness that is caused by karma; and when the contact takes place with the consciousness, the mind feels that there is no further necessity to move outside in search of an object because the object has already come into possession. The mind ceases to move outside and comes in contact with the self inside. Immediately there is a joy. The joy, therefore, has come from within us. It has not come from the object, yet foolishly we think that the object is painted with bliss and we are the abodes of sorrow, which is not true. The reverse is the case. That which has a beginning will also have an end because our pleasures, which are contact born, begin with the contact itself. Therefore, they shall end when the contact ceases.

Our relationship with this world is fragile. The Mahabharata tells us that just as two logs floating on the surface of the ocean may come in contact with each other due to the prevailing wind, we come in contact with each other and become  relatives,  friends,  a community; but if the wind blows in a different direction, the logs move away from each other, as if they  have no connection.

The coming in contact of beings, the friendship that we have, the community that we establish humanly, are all false in the sense that they are conditioned by the winds of cosmic powers which breed contact; and when these winds blow in a different direction we are separated, and then we say that somebody died. Hence, contact with objects has a beginning and it also has an end. Therefore, all joys that are born of contact are poison in the end, though they look like honey in the beginning. Wise people do not rejoice in objects of sense.

We cannot be free from the desire for external things unless we are united with the Universal Being. Unless we have an element of Universality in our experience, it is not possible for the mind to be free from the objects of desire.

We would not mind losing the whole world through sense contact if the Absolute is realized in our conscious experience. Only a person who has realized his universality can be free from desire and anger; nobody else. Blessed is that person who is able to restrain himself from desire and anger.

When we have the ocean itself within us, we do not run after a cup of water. Who is blessed in his own self, who delights in his own self, who rejoices in his own self, who takes rest in his own self, who finds life in his own self – such a person has attained Brahman.

Yogis who are self-restrained persons, who are free from kama and krodha – whose minds are united with the Self, to such people Brahman is here and not in some distant place. It is just here and now.

The Lord says, “Realizing that ultimately I am the enjoyer and the actor, all sacrifices are directed towards Me, all activity in this world is motivated by Me. All austerities, all tapas is possible only on account of My grace because I am the Lord of the three worlds and the Lord of all the fourteen worlds.  I am the dearest friend of all people living in any realm of existence.” Nobody except God can be called a friend. Knowing this truth, one attains peace.

Excerpts from:

Discourse 13 Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

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(Aug 23,2013) Spiritual Message for the Day – Consciouness and Matter

Consciousness and Matter

Divine Life Society Publication: Discourse 37: Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

There is a belief among commentators of the Gita that the great Upanishadic statement tat tvam asi has something to do with the threefold classification of the chapters of the Gita. The individual is tvam – 'thou'. This 'thou', or individual, is taken up for an intensified form of study in the first six chapters. Tat means 'That' – the Supreme. The nature of 'That' is taken up for study in the next six chapters. Asi means 'art'; 'That thou art'. The unification of the 'thou' and the 'That', the methodology of attaining the unity between the individual and the Universal, in all its detail, is explained in the last six chapters.

Sri Krishna Himself starts speaking, without any question from Arjuna. Idam sariram kaunteya kshetram ity abhidiyate (13.1): "This body, this physical embodiment of the human being, is technically called kshetra or the field where some activity takes place. A field is an area where something happens.

While this body, which is physical in nature, is a field of operation, there must be somebody who carries on this operation in the field. The field is the body; but the knower of this body is the operator behind it. This body is, no doubt, the vehicle of action; but there is somebody who is conscious that there is a body which is to be used for the purpose of some activity. This body is an instrument of action in this world, but this body cannot act by itself. It is inert, constituted of the five inert elements – earth, water, fire, air and ether. Inert instruments cannot act by themselves. Even a car cannot move unless there is a driver. So is the case with this body. Unless there is prana and an intelligence that drives the prana in respect of the bodily limbs, there can be no activity.

So while this body may be called kshetra or field, the one who knows this field is conscious of it, and operates through it – lives in it, indwells it, and handles it in a different manner – such a principle is called kshetrajna. Jna means knower, and kshetra is, of course, field, so kshetrajna means 'the knower of the field'. Hence, this body is the kshetra, the field, and the one who knows this field is kshetrajna.

Consciousness and matter constitute the subject of this chapter. The so-called field – this body or anything that is material – is an unconscious presentation that is usually called matter. That which knows matter is consciousness. How do we connect consciousness with matter?

The knower of the field knows the field. Consciousness has no characteristic of matter, and matter does not have the characteristic of consciousness. Consciousness does not move, whereas matter is always in a state of flux and agitation. Therefore, they are dissimilar in their character. Objectivity is the character of the body and matter, whereas subjectivity is the nature of consciousness. They are totally opposed to each other. So how can that which is pure subject come in contact with that which is pure object? How would we solve this great issue of what the relationship between two terrible contraries is? They cannot have any kind of connection. Yet they seem to be working together in some way for the purpose of effecting some aim, which seems to be the very process of evolution.

"Arjuna, I am the knower of the field." The Lord says, "I am the Pure Consciousness that knows all things and operates these material forces; and I am not merely in one body. When I refer to the body, you may be thinking of some particular body – this body or that body – and there is a consciousness in each body. That may be so – that consciousness is inherently present in every body, within each person – but that is not the point. "I am present as the kshetrajna, or the knower of the field, in all the fields. That is, all individuals whatsoever – right from Brahma, the creator, down to the atom – are indwelt by Me, and I know all things as the Omniscient Knower."

In a sense, it means that the kshetra is the entire physical universe. The whole of creation can be considered as the kshetra or the field of action, and Omniscient Intelligence that is operating in terms of this material manifestation is kshetrajna. Therefore, the question of the relationship between God and creation, consciousness and matter, kshetrajna and kshetra, purusha and prakriti – all mean finally one and the same thing.

"This is real knowledge. I consider this to be supreme and real knowledge." What is that knowledge? It is the knowledge of kshetra and kshetrajna. If we can know the actual relationship between God and the world, soul and body, consciousness and matter, knower and the known – if this can be clear to us – we have known everything. This knowledge is the highest knowledge. 

Excerpts from:

Commentary on the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

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http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?

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