Vedantic Sadhana
O FRIEND! Why dost thou weep?
Thou hast neither birth nor old age nor death. Thou hast neither passion nor
craving. Thou hast neither gross nor subtle body. Thou hast neither mind nor
Prana. Thou art the eternal, unchanging, all-pervading Self. Feel this and be
free.
O friend! Why dost thou
grieve? Thou hast neither name nor form. Thou hast neither caste nor age. Thou
hast neither gender nor Indriyas. Thou art neither strong nor weak. Thou hast
neither father nor mother. Thou art ever free, pure, eternal immortal. Realise
this and be free.
Find out the real inner man.
The real man is bodiless and formless. Do not identify the man with the outer
food-sheath—Annamaya Kosha—or the physical body. The gross physical body is
like the shell of a cocoanut. The real man is the Immortal Spirit, which cannot
be annihilated. Man in essence is the Imperishable Atman. He is the silent
witness of the three states, viz., Jagrat, Svapna and Sushupti (waking,
dreaming and deep-sleep states).
Just as a rope is mistaken for
a snake in the darkness, a post for a man, so also this impure body is mistaken
for the pure Self through Avidya or ignorance. If you bring a light, the
illusory snake in the rope will disappear. Even so, if you attain knowledge of
the Self, the illusory identification with the body will vanish. The essential
qualities of the man are not actually transferred to the post, nor the
essential qualities of the post actually transferred to the man. Even so,
consciousness does not belong to the body and the attributes of the body, such
as decay and death, pleasure and pain, do not belong to the Self or
Consciousness.
If you have direct knowledge
of the Supreme Self or Brahman through meditation, you will attain Immortality.
There is no other way to reach the goal. If you know the Self you have gained
the true end of life. You will be afraid of nothing.
That Vastu or something which
has neither beginning nor end is the Imperishable Brahman (Akshara). Akshara
only is unchanging, infinite, eternal, self-luminous, indivisible, pure,
perfect, ever free and independent. Akshara is your Immortal Soul.
The fields or bodies are
different but the knower of the field is one. Jivatmas are different but
Paramatman is one. Wherever there is mind, there are Prana, egoism and
Jiva-Chaitanya or reflected intelligence or Abhasa Chaitanya side by side. He
who has the sense of duality (Dvaita Bhava) will take births again and again.
This delusion of duality (Bheda Bhranti) can only be removed by the knowledge
of identity of Jiva and Brahman. ‘Aham Sukhi—I am happy’, ‘Aham Duhkhi—I am
miserable’, ‘Aham Karta—I am the doer’, ‘Aham Bhokta—I am the enjoyer’ is the
experience of all human beings. Therefore the Jivatma is a Samsarin and is
subject to pleasure and pain. Jivatmas are different in different bodies,
whereas Paramatman is free from pleasure and pain. He is Asamsarin. He is
eternally free. He is one.
Jivatma in essence is
identical with Para-Brahman. Fields are different, bodies are different, minds
are different and Jivatmas or individual souls are different. But the knower or
Paramatman in all these fields or bodies is one.
The Self is not affected by
pleasure and pain, virtue and vice. He is the silent witness only. Pleasure and
pain are the Dharmas of the mind only. They are ascribed to the Self through
Avidya or ignorance. The ignorant man only regards the physical body as the
Self. He is swayed by the two currents of Raga Dvesha and does virtuous and
vicious actions, reaps the fruits of these actions, viz., pleasure and pain and
takes births again and again. But the sage who knows that the Self is distinct
from the body is not swayed by Raga Dvesha. He identifies himself with the pure
eternal Brahman and is always happy and actionless, though he performs actions
for the welfare of the humanity.
The disease Timira
which causes perception of what is contrary to truth pertains to the eye but
not to the man who perceives. If the Timira is removed by proper
treatment, he perceives things in their true light. Even so, ignorance, doubt,
pleasure and pain, virtue and vice, Raga Dvesha, false perception,
non-perception of truth as well as their cause belong to the instrument, viz.,
mind, but not to the silent witness.
The wheel of Samsara or the
world’s process rotates on account of Avidya. It exists only for the ignorant
man who perceives the world as it appears to him. There is no Samsara for a
liberated sage. Any disease of the eye cannot in any way affect the sun. The
breaking of the pot will not in any way affect the pot-ether. The water in the
mirage cannot render the earth moist. Even so, Avidya and its effects cannot in
the least affect the pure, subtle, attributeless, formless, limbless, partless
and self-luminous Self. Avidya can do nothing to the Self.
Avidya or ignorance born of
Tamas acts as a veil and prevents man from knowing his essential
Sat-Chit-Ananda Brahmic nature. It causes perception of what is quite the
contrary of truth, or causes doubt or non-perception of truth. As soon as
knowledge of the Self dawns, the three forms of Avidya vanish in toto.
Therefore the three forms of Avidya are not attributes of the Self. They belong
to the mind, the organ or the instrument. Mind is only an effect or product of
Avidya.
In the state of liberation
wherein there is annihilation of mind (Manonasa) there is no Avidya, there is
no play of the two currents, Raga Dvesha. If false perception, ignorance,
pleasure, pain, doubt, bondage, delusion, sorrow, etc., were essential
properties of the Self, just as heat is an essential property of fire, they
cannot be got rid of at any time. But there had been liberated sages in the
past like Sankara, Dattatreya, Jada Bharata, Yajnavalkya, who possessed
extraordinary super-sensual or intuitional knowledge, who were free from false
perception, doubt, fear, delusion, sorrow, etc. They were not conscious of
Samsara but they had perfect awareness of their own Svaroopa or essential
Sat-Chit-Ananda Brahmic nature.
Therefore we will have to
conclude that the Self is free, pure, perfect, eternal and the Avidya inheres
in the mind-instrument but not in the Self.
The liberated sage who is
freed from selfishness, egoism, anger and fear roams about happily. He has
shaken off everything. Avidya and its modifications cannot affect him. He is
the Yati. He is the Sannyasin. He is the Yogi. He is the Paramahamsa. He is the
Avadhuta. He is Brahman himself. He is the Lord of lords. He is the Emperor of
emperors. He is fit to be worshipped.
May his blessings be upon you
all! May you all attain liberation in this very birth!
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