Before a state is recognized as genuinely transcendental, it must pass certain tests

The Spiritual Heritage Of India, Swami Prabhavananda

"Turiya, or samadhi, is a phenomenon well known throughout the history of Indian life. Today, as well as in earliest times, it is experienced. Sri Ramakrsna, the greatest saint of modern India, though not a learned man, attained samadhi, and having realized the highest illumination spoke words of solace and wisdom to all men. The state is conceivably attainable by anyone who strives hard to free himself from the dross of worldliness. The Hindu, however, is careful not to confuse reveries, dreams, hallucinations, and hypnotic spells with transcendental experience. Before a state is recognized as genuinely transcendental, it must pass certain tests." - S. Prabhavananda

"The word darsana, which is usually translated 'philosophy', means in Sanskrit seeing or experience. From this we may gather that Indian philosophy is not merely metaphysical speculation, but has its foundation in immediate perception. God and the soul are regarded by the Hindu mind, not as concepts, speculative and problematical, as is in the case of Western philosophy, but as things directly known. They can be experienced not merely by a chosen few, but, under right conditions, by all humanity.

This insistence upon immediate perception rather than on abstract reasoning is what distinguishes the Indian philosophy of religion from philosophy as Western nations know it. Immediate perception is the source from which springs all Indian thought.

This perception, it must be made clear, is not of the senses, nor must it be confused with the operation of the intellect, nor of the emotions; it is supersensuous, transcendental—something not to be fully explained in rational terms.

The Mandukya Upanishad speaks of three states of consciousness- waking, dreaming, and dreamless sleep. These are common to all men. In addition, there is turiya (The Fourth), the transcendental state— known also as samadhi—which may be described as the ultimate consciousness. Though it is realizable by all men, they do not experience it in their spiritually ignorant condition. Indian philosophers call the transcendental state by various names, but all of the names unmistakably point to the same concept.

Turiya, or samadhi, is a phenomenon well known throughout the history of Indian life. Today, as well as in earliest times, it is experienced. Sri Ramakrsna, the greatest saint of modern India, though not a learned man, attained samadhi, and having realized the highest illumination spoke words of solace and wisdom to all men. The state is conceivably attainable by anyone who strives hard to free himself from the dross of worldliness.

The Hindu, however, is careful not to confuse reveries, dreams, hallucinations, and hypnotic spells with transcendental experience. Before a state is recognized as genuinely transcendental, it must pass certain tests.

First, the revelation it brings must be related to arthe anupalabdhe—something which is otherwise unknown and unknowable. The transcendental revelation is therefore not a revelation of things or truths normally perceived or generally known, nor of truths capable of ordinary perception or of apprehension through the ordinary instruments of knowledge. And yet it must be universally understandable in relation to human experience, and must be communicable to us in human terms.

Second, the truth it reveals must not contradict other truths. It is necessarily beyond and above reason, but it must not contradict reason.

Thus Indian religion, though having its foundation in supernatural revelation, gives a legitimate place to logic and reason, and it has never been an obstacle to the growth of philosophic thinking. In fact, no race has produced a succession of more subtle or more rigidly logical thinkers than the Hindus—and yet, without exception, they have declared that reason, unaided by transcendental experience, is blind. Those who are called orthodox philosophers accept the Vedic scriptures as recording revealed truths; and they make these scriptures the basis of their reasoning. Samkara, one of the foremost philosophers of India, has this to say concerning the limitations of reason in the investigation of truth:

'As the thoughts of man are altogether unfettered, reasoning which disregards the holy texts and rests on individual opinion only has no proper foundation. We see how arguments, which some clever men have excogitated with great pains, are shown, by people still more ingenious to be fallacious, and how the arguments of the latter again are refuted in their turn by other men; so that, on account of the diversity of men's opinions, it is impossible to accept mere reasoning as having a sure foundation.' "

The Spiritual Heritage Of India: A Clear Summary of Indian Philosophy and Religion, pp. 15-16,
Swami Prabhavananda
Vedanta Press (June 1979)
ISBN-10: 0874810353
ISBN-13: 978-0874810356

"The failure to attain direct experience of the truth ... is due to man's spiritual ignorance"

"The failure to attain direct experience of the truth, and consequently of freedom, is due to man's spiritual ignorance, which is all but universal, and which forms the chief cause of sin and suffering. It can be dispelled by direct knowledge of the ultimate truth obtained through purification of the heart, and through a constant striving for detachment of the soul from worldly desires. By transcending the limitations of the body, the mind and the senses, one may enter the superconscious state. The methods of attaining this highest state of consciousness are hearing about, reasoning about, and meditating upon the ultimate reality. One must first hear about it from the Sruti, or Vedas, and from the lips of a guru, an illumined teacher. Then one must reason about it. Finally comes the meditation upon it in order to realize the truth for oneself." - Swami Prabhavananda

"As we have intimated, the Vedas, or Srutis (revealed truths), stand as an absolute authority behind which the orthodox schools cannot go. In this sense their authority might seem to resemble that of the Holy Bible in many periods of Christian thought; but in the words of Dr S. Radhakrishnan, `The appeal to the Vedas does not evolve any reference to an extra-philosophical standard. What is dogma to the ordinary man is experience to the pure of heart.'[1] With the exception of Buddhism and Jainism, all Indian schools of thought regard the Vedas as recording the transcendental experience of the first mighty seers of India. This experience cannot and should not contradict similar experience in any age or country. Furthermore, it is accessible to all. For these reasons, all Hindus believe that the Vedas are eternal— beginningless and endless—and that in them transcendental experience has had its standard manifestation.

What then of Buddhism and Jainism? Shall we exclude them from the highest expressions of Indian thought? The fact is that they accept the authority of revealed knowledge and transcendental experience, though they deny the authority of the Vedas, particularly of the ritualistic portions, as a result of certain historical circumstances. They were born at a time when the spirit of the Vedas had been lost, when the Hindus held faithfully only to the letter of the law, and when priestcraft reigned supreme. The yearning to know the truth of the Self, or Brahman in one's own soul, which is attained only by the pure at heart, was absent. Buddha, though he denied the authority of the Vedas, actually impressed their spirit upon his followers by urging them to live the pure life in order to free themselves from the burden of sorrow. And he showed the way by himself attaining nirvana—another name for samadhi, the transcendental state.

Thus the teachings of Buddha do not contradict the spirit of the Vedas but are in entire harmony with it; and the same is true of the teachings of Mahavira, founder of Jainism...

Philosophers differ, however, with respect to the exact nature of moksa; and the differences make up the substance of Hindu thought. These are due in part to varying grades of experience in realizing the transcendental life; and of course they are due above all to the attempt to express the inexpressible.

In one thing, however, the philosophers all agree. That is, that spiritual perfection can be attained here and now. 'Man's aim', says Professor Hiriyanna, 'was no longer represented as the attainment of perfection in a hypothetical hereafter, but as a continual progress towards it within the limits of the present life.' Moksa, or the attainment of freedom from the limitations and sufferings of physical life, is the supreme aspiration of all Indian philosophy.

Samkara, speaking of the supreme goal of human life, says: 'A man is born not to desire enjoyments in the world of the senses, but to realize the bliss of jivanmukti [liberation while living].' And the Upanishads over and over again emphasize this truth: 'Blessed is he who attains illumination in this very life, for a man not to do so is his greatest calamity.' [2] But in these same scriptures it is pointed out that is a man fails to attain the supreme goal in this life he can attain it in some other life, for he will be given unlimited opportunities, by rebirths to reach the goal of perfection.

The failure to attain direct experience of the truth, and consequently of freedom, is due to man's spiritual ignorance, which is all but universal, and which forms the chief cause of sin and suffering. It can be dispelled by direct knowledge of the ultimate truth obtained through purification of the heart, and through a constant striving for detachment of the soul from worldly desires. By transcending the limitations of the body, the mind and the senses, one may enter the superconscious state.

The methods of attaining this highest state of consciousness are hearing about, reasoning about, and meditating upon the ultimate reality. One must first hear about it from the Sruti, or Vedas, and from the lips of a guru, an illumined teacher. Then one must reason about it. Finally comes the meditation upon it in order to realize the truth for oneself. Different schools offer different methods of attaining the same goal, but all agree in recommending the practice of yoga, or the exercises prescribed in the art of concentration and meditation.

To tread he path of philosophy is to seek after truth and follow a way of life. Before a man sets out on the quest after truth, he must fulfil certain conditions. Samkara sums them up as follows: First, there must be discrimination between the real and the unreal. This statement means, not that a man must posses complete knowledge of absolute reality, which is attained only after long practice of meditation, but that he must unfailingly subject the nature if things to a rigid analysis by discriminating between what is transitory and what is abiding, or between what is true and what is false. The second condition is detachment from the selfish enjoyments of life. The aspirant must learn that the highest good is realized not through worldly pleasure, but through a continuous search for the infinite, the enduring joy. This ideal of renunciation must be realized by a gradual purification of the seeker's heart and mind. A third condition is that the student must acquire tranquility of mind, self-control, patience, poise, burning faith in things of the spirit, and self-surrender. These are called the six treasures of life. The thirst for moksa, or release, is the fourth condition."

The Spiritual Heritage Of India: A Clear Summary of Indian Philosophy and Religion, pp. 17-20
Swami Prabhavananda
Vedanta Press (June 1979)
ISBN-10: 0874810353
ISBN-13: 978-0874810356

Note:
1. Indian Philosophy, vol. I, p. 51
2. Kena, II. 5

NOTE: If this page was accessed during a web search you may wish to browse the sites listed below where this topic or related issues are discussed in detail to promote global peace, religious harmony, and spiritual development of humanity:

www.adishakti.org/
www.al-qiyamah.org/
www.adi-shakti.org/  — Divine Feminine (Hinduism)
www.holyspirit-shekinah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Christianity)
www.ruach-elohim.org/  — Divine Feminine (Judaism)
www.ruh-allah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Islam)
www.tao-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Taoism)
www.prajnaaparamita.org/  — Divine Feminine (Buddhism)
www.aykaa-mayee.org/  — Divine Feminine (Sikhism)
www.great-spirit-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Native Traditions)

"Now, the principle of Mother is in every, every scripture - has to be there." Shri Mataji, Radio Interview 1983 Oct 01, Santa Cruz, USA