(Apr 21,2014) Spiritual Message for the Day – Madhu-Vidya by Swami Krishnananda

 Madhu-Vidya

Divine Life Society Publication: - Chapter 2 The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

Knowledge of the Interconnectedness of things

The Knowledge of the interconnectedness of things, imparted by sage  Dadhyaṅṅ Ātharvaṇa is known as Madhu-Vidya. Usually, consciousness and object are regarded as exclusive of each other. The perceiver is conscious, and the object is what is experienced by consciousness. The two are categorized as two distinct characters in the field of experience. The object cannot be the subject and the subject cannot be the object; consciousness cannot be matter and matter cannot be consciousness. This is our usual notice of things and our practical experience, too. But the Madhu-Vidyā gives us a revolutionary idea in respect of what we usually regard as a field of the duality of subject and object.

Insight into the nature of things – subject and the object

The Madhu-Vidyā is an insight into the nature of things, which reveals that there are no such things as subjects or objects. They are only notional conclusions of individual subjects from their own particular points of view, the one regarding the other as the object, so that there is a vast world of objects to a single individual perceiver, and this is the case with every other perceiver, also. The fact of experience itself is a repudiation of the phenomenal notion that subjects are cut off from objects, as if the one has no connection with the other. If there has been a gulf of difference, unbridgeable, between the experiencing consciousness and the object outside, there would be no such thing as experience at all. 

Adhyatma, Adhibhuta and Adhidaiva

The great revelation of the sage Dadhyaṅṅ Ātharvaṇa is that the Adhyātma and the Adhibhūta are linked together by the Adhidaiva, and a transcendent Divine Presence connects the phenomenal subject and the phenomenal object, through an invisible force, so that we have a universe of interrelated particulars, one entering the other, one merging into the other, one coalescing with the other like the waves in the ocean, and not the universe we see with our eyes, as a house divided against itself.

Madhu-Vidya

This experience is the revelation of the sage Dadhyaṅṅ a knowledge Madhu-Vidyā, which is supposed to have been imparted to Indra and to the Asvins, and to the other sages through them. The significance of the word 'Madhu' in the term, Madhu-Vidyā, is that everything is the 'essence' of everything. 'Madhu' is honey, which symbolizes the quintessential essence of everything. The basic reality of all things is called Madhu in this Vidyā. The essence of everything is, thus, the essence of everything else, also. Whatever is the basic quality, the reality, the fundamental being of anything, is also the fundamental being of everything else. 

Correlativity of everything in the universality of being

There is no superior, qualitative excellence in any object or any subject. It is only a point of view that is called a subject, or an object. So, if the isolated points of view are lifted to a universal point of view, there would be neither subjects nor objects. In a universal expanse of experience, a particular aspect of the total reality is called an individual subject, to which everything else stands in the position of an object. But this is not a correct point of view, because it is an abstraction from the total. 

So, the Madhu-Vidyā reveals to us the truth of the immanence of the Reality that is universal in every particular, so that there can neither be an ultimate cause nor an ultimate effect in a world of mutual dependence and correlativity of things. Madhu-Vidyā is the knowledge of the correlativity of the subject and the object in such a way that they merge one into the other, cancelling the subjectness and the objectness of each, embracing each other in a union of their particularities, and revealing their inner essence called the Madhu. This applies to everything that is outside in the world called Adhibhūta, everything that is inside called Adhyātma, and everything that is transcendent called Adhidaiva. So, from three points of view the sage describes the correlativity of everything in the universality of being. 

Excerpts from:

Madhu-Vidya - Chapter 2 The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

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(Apr 4,2014) Spiritual Message for the Day – Sense-Control by Swami Krishnananda

 Sense-Control

Divine Life Society Publication: - Essays on the Upanishad - Kathopanishad by Sri Swami Krishnananda

“Meditation is the way to perfection, knowledge, power and bliss”

The Subject and the Object

The senses are always projected outward to their respective objects. Therefore, no individual has consciousness of the Self. By aspiring for immortality and turning the consciousness to itself within, the Atman is beheld. It is not possible to have at the same time the consciousness of both the subject and the object. The subject can know itself only when it does not know the object. When the object is known fully, the subject is entirely forgotten. Because true bliss is found in the subject alone, this bliss is, never experienced as long as the subject is not known, i.e., as long as there is consciousness of an object. The whole universe is not an object of the Subject that is Consciousness. Self-realization, therefore, is the absorption of the consciousness, of objectivity into Simple Consciousness not infected by thought or affected by any object. The doors of the senses and the intellect have to be closed if the light is to be beheld within. The light of the Self is dissipated ordinarily because of external consciousness. These rays of consciousness should be collected and centered in one thought or one idea of one nature. This practice puts an end to external awareness and makes the mind break its boundaries and expand itself beyond the limitations of causation. Further, when concentration is practiced, all rajas is put an end to, and there is the revelation of sattva through which the bliss of Truth is reflected. Bliss always comes after knowledge, and knowledge is always accompanied by power. This means that meditation is the way to perfect, knowledge, power and bliss, which know no decay.

Sense-knowledge and Self-knowledge

Since it is evident that worldly consciousness and Divine Consciousness do not co-exist, it is also clear that sensuality is the opposite of Self-knowledge. Sense knowledge is natural to the individual, whereas Self-knowledge is extra-ordinary. This is the reason why everyone is by force made to experience the Anatman or something objective. They are children who follow the course of the objects of the senses. They fall into the widespread net of destruction. Those who have consciousness of the Immortal do not ever seek it among things impermanent. Since all desires are connected with their respective objects and not with the entire existence, it is not possible for one who desires, to escape death. Death is the process of the extension of one’s consciousness by casting off the obstructing factors, viz., limited experiences. The spiritual heroes do not find Reality among shadows, because the Infinite Subject, viz., the Atman, never becomes an object of itself. This Self does neither increase by good action nor decrease by bad action. Its glory is eternal, because it is independent of all externals. The wise ones, therefore, have no desire for anything at all, for they do not find anything as valuable as their own essential consciousness. They experience every objective condition as an intense opposition to what is absolutely Real, and cast it off as pain. In short, absorption into the Self is the same as absence of sense-experience and the negation of thought in pure awareness.

Self is absolutely Perfect

The Self has the knowledge of every kind of existence. This knowledge, however, is not the pain-giving temporary knowledge acquired through contact, but the knowledge of every fiber of being, in essence. Every constituent of existence is known by it in the most perfect manner, because all these constituents are parts of itself alone. Its knowledge is knowledge of itself, and is not separative knowledge that is possible only in terms of space, time and causation. Hence the Self is omniscient and, therefore, absolutely perfect.

Experiences and Desires

Whatever is here is there, and whatever is there is here. He goes from death to death, who perceives diversity here. The substance of immediate existence is the same as that of remote existence. Persons move from place to place in search of things, because of the ignorance of the fact that everything can be found everywhere. The different forms of experience do not mean that they are really different. These differences belong to the cognitive organs or the modes of knowledge, and not to the objects of knowledge. 

The whole universe of creation is a gradual unfoldment of one substance alone. Through meditation on this Reality of oneness of substance, it is possible for one to actualize or make manifest anything, at any place, in any form. Truly, there is no diversity here. Those who perceive diversity due to the defects of the inner organs experience birth and death, as they have to conform to what they believe in. What one intensely believes in, that one experiences, because every belief pertains to an aspect of reality. But because individual beliefs are partial, the experiences corresponding to these, too, are partial. This is the reason, why desirers or perceivers of quality and multiplicity do not have absolute experience, but are caught in the meshes of the effects of their own desires. Meditation should, therefore, be practiced in the form of the affirmation of the divisionless being which is full, and which includes everything. This is the same as meditation on one’s own Self.

The Absolute Self as One whole being

Even as water that is dropped by rain on the top of a mountain runs here and there, and is wasted, one who perceives manifoldness and follows different paths runs to waste with them. But, even as pure water poured into pure water becomes pure water alone, the sage who knows the Self as one whole being becomes the whole being itself, without dissipating his energy. Whenever there is thought of something, at once energy is sent, to that thing, whereby the energy is spent out. Weakness and distraction are caused by spending out energy in contemplation of external objects and states. But, true withdrawal of thinking of externals means complete conservation of energy and the dissolution of itself in Self-consciousness. The mind should not be allowed to follow diverse methods of practice, as, thereby, it distracts itself and attains nothing substantially. But, when it follows one method of practice, concerned with one goal, and concentrates itself completely on this goal, it integrates itself and becomes identical with the Absolute.

The Atman - The Self of all

A person does not live by prana or apana, but he lives by something on which prana and apana, also, depend. A person lives by the conscious Spirit within. The pranas move the senses, because they themselves are moved by the internal consciousness. This means that all life belongs to the Atman, and all values also belong to it. Even as fire which has got only one form appears in form corresponding to the media through which it burns, this Atman, which is one, appears in form corresponding to the form through which it manifests. Even as the sun who is the eye of all is not sullied by the defects of the eye, the one Atman, the Self of all, is not sullied by the defects of the world, because it is transcendental and unconnected with objective experiences. The Atman, the controller of all, the Self of all, is really the essence of all the diverse forms of existence. Happiness belongs to those who realize the Self within themselves, not to anybody else, who is busy with the externals. The peace belonging to those is eternal, who realize the Self within, the eternal among all impermanent beings, the one consciousness beyond all ordinary consciousness, and the one goal of all aspirations and desires. Peace does not belong to anyone else. The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars; these lightnings, too do not shine; what to speak of this fire! Everything shines after Him who shines. This whole universe is illuminated by His Light. 

Excerpts from:

Sense-Control - Essays on the Upanishad - Kathopanishad by Sri Swami Krishnananda

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If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at: 

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(Mar 9,2014) Spiritual Message for the Day – The Psychology of Yoga by Swami Krishnananda

The Psychology of Yoga

Divine Life Society Publication: - True Spiritual Living by Swami Krishnananda

What is the connection between thought and reality? 

As far as we are concerned, reality is the whole universe, the world outside. There is a feeling in the mind of man that the secrets of nature are outside, and to discover these secrets we require externalized instruments such as microscope, telescope, etc. There is not the least idea in anyone that these secrets are hidden in our own selves. Yoga being a discipline of the mental processes, there must be some secret relevance of this internal process called yoga to the vast reality of the external cosmos. This is a discovery of yoga psychology. 

We were under the notion that all the troubles come from people outside, from the world external to us. There are no such things as problems. The ultimate cause discovered by yoga is a peculiar maladjustment of the subject with the object – the drashta with the drisya, – the seer with the seen. “I, as the seer, the observer, the subject, find it difficult to adjust myself suitably with what I see outside – the drisya, the object world, including everything, every person. 

In our apparent external life of the waking consciousness we appear to be in harmony with others, but there is a conflict, if we go deep into the matter. What is maladjusted with the world outside is not merely our conscious mind, but our total personality and this has to be set right, which is the purpose of yoga. 

No one can know one’s own self, because we mistake knowing for merely a conscious activity of the mind. The knowledge process is identified with what we call a conscious activity of the mind. When I am aware of an object, I am under the impression, wrongly, that my entire personality is tuned to that object in this act of knowing, but what is tuned is merely a part of the mind – the conscious mind, working through the sense organs. Consciously we repress many of our feelings and motives. 

What is my present purpose?

The mind, when it is conscious of an object or deals with a particular object, takes out from its resources only those aspects and features of its structure which are necessary for the fulfillment of a chosen purpose at that given moment of time.  So, while we are deep-seatedly disharmonious with everything, we openly and overtly appear to be harmonious with all things. Therefore, there seems to be a sort of satisfaction and a success in outward life, while there is an inward dissatisfaction and disharmony inside. This latency for disharmony that is within us pursues us even after death. This is the cause of rebirth. We are reborn into embodiment in successive lives because we carry with us, in spite of shedding the physical body, the potentiality of which we are made – the psychological stuff which we really are. And rebirth, the transmigratory process, cannot be put an end to as long as the deep-rooted, the deep-seated potentialities are not brought to the conscious level and made a part of our conscious nature.

Then, what is the solution? 

Like psychoanalysis, yoga prescribes various methods of sublimating these deeper impulses, not by repressing or suppressing them, or even substituting something else for them, but by sublimating them by a very slow growing process. 

Like the nucleus of an atom, the affirmation of the ego, this centralizing principle within us, draws sustenance from the constituents of nature outside, pulls particles of matter from the five elements towards itself, arranges them in a particular pattern into what is called this body; and this process will continue endlessly as long as this centralizing principle, the ego, continues to exist. So, the purpose of yoga is to break this fortress of ego.

The very sensation or feeling 'I am' is called the asmita or ego, in yoga psychology. Asmi in Sanskrit means 'I am', and asmita means 'I am'-ness. This is the cause, ultimately, of isolating us from all creation outside, making it falsely appear that we are disconnected from things outside and that all the problems and difficulties are in the outside world and not in us. You cannot understand the connection with others because the connection is internal rather than external, and the internal connection cannot be known because the asmita, the ego, works only through the senses, which can act only externally. But relations are really internal, and the external relationship is only a temporary shape or form taken by this internal set of relations. To solve the problems of life, therefore, we have to deal with the internal relations, and not merely the outer aspects of these.

Know Thyself

The need for control of the mind, or chittavrtti nirodhah, arises because of our entire personality being involved with everything in the world, and because of this ego principle within us being the seed form of all the future projected activities, including all thought processes, etc. Therefore, when we know ourselves, we have known everything, because the entire past, present and future is hidden inside us. Even the unimaginable past and the remotest future possibilities are all potentially present in ourselves. So, to know one's own self is, in other words, to become omniscient, to know the whole creation; and to know one's own real difficulties is to know everyone's difficulties.

Thus comes about the need for controlling the mind. As we have already observed, this psychological process of controlling ourselves, harmonizing ourselves through the yoga techniques, is not merely a so-called internal activity of ours because, though for the purpose of expressing ourselves, we may talk of yoga as an internal process, it is really a cosmic process. It is so because this so-called internality of ours, this apparent individuality of ours, is really connected with all things everywhere. 

The world 'outside' and we 'within' are only ways of expression. There is neither a 'within' nor a 'without'. And so, while we speak of the subject in relation to an object 'outside', we are speaking in the language of the ego; otherwise, there is no subject and there is no object. To think a thought is to think an object simultaneously, and to think an object is to at once imply all the relations of this object with everything anywhere. Therefore, while rightly directed thoughts can bring about immediate miraculous success, wrongly directly thoughts can bring about a reverse consequence. They can create a hell or a heaven at once, with the power of our thinking. This capacity, this potentiality, this power, this latency hidden within an individual, is discovered by the psychology of yoga; and this has to be unfolded, brought to the surface of consciousness, and made a reality of day-to-day experience.

Excerpts from:

The Psychology of Yoga - True Spiritual Living by Swami Krishnananda 

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