Yoga Methods in Christian Mysticism
Yoga Methods in Christian Mysticism
IN THE CHRISTIAN tradition the spiritual life has been classically divided into
three stages, called by the saints and mystics the stage of purgation, the stage
of illumination and the stage of union. When one reads the writings of the
Christian mystics it is clear what they mean by these three stages. The first
concerns the purification of the soul, to render it fit for the spiritual path,
the second is concerned with the training of the mind in recollection and
contemplation and its progress towards a knowledge of God, and the third
describes that state, sometimes called the unitive life, which the greatest of
the mystics have attained in this life, where the fullest spiritual perfection
which can be achieved while in the body has been attained.
In Yoga exactly the same three elements in the spiritual path are distinguished,
but it is important not to be confused by the different terminology, in
particular the use of the word 'illumination'. The word 'illumination' is used
in the Christian tradition to describe the second stage of the path, the stage
particularly concerned with the practice of recollection and contemplation, i.e.
meditation. The same word, 'illumination', in the Yoga tradition is used to
describe the third or culminating stage of Self-knowledge or God-realisation -
what in the Christian tradition corresponds to union or the unitive life. For
the yogi, the stage of purgation, the refinement and purification of the mind,
corresponds to the stage of the arurukshu, which means 'the one attempting to
climb to the steps of Yoga', the second stage of illumination corresponds to the
stage of the yunjana, 'the one who is actually engaged in the practice of Yoga',
while the third stage of union can be said to correspond to the yogarudha, 'the
one who has already reached the highest stages of Yoga'. Different means and
methods are enjoined for aspirants at each of these stages. In this short
outline it is impossible to cover all this ground, but an attempt will be made
to give examples of the close parallels between the teachings of the mystics of
both the Christian and yogic traditions in regard to the object of each stage of
the spiritual path and some of the key individual practices recommended.
It is at once apparent that both paths insist on the need for purification and
refinement of the mind and heart - in other words of the thought and feelings -
as a necessary prior qualification for the practice of the inner enquiry into
spiritual reality through the higher meditation. In Yoga this is called the
acquisition of 'sattva-shuddhi', purity of the mind. And it is acquired through
the practice of Karma Yoga (see, for example, Shankara's commentary on the Gita
3.20), benevolent and enlightened action and the acquisition of the sixfold
spiritual wealth.
As the Gita says:
Work is said to be the means for the 'arurukshu', the (wise) man who wishes to
attain to Yoga; when he has attained to Yoga and become a 'yogarudha', serenity
is said to be the means. (6.3)
It is no good thinking that one can dispense with this moral preparation for the
spiritual path, because it is an essential pre-requisite. As the Katha Upanishad
says:
This true Self cannot be reached through right knowledge by one who has not
desisted from evil ways, nor by him who has not a concentrated mind, nor even by
one whose mind is not composed. (I.2.24)
Karma Yoga, the practice of benevolent and disinterested action, and the
unselfish sacrifice of time and energy for the good of others and as an offering
to the Lord, is an important element in the spiritual path. It is part of what
is called 'purgation' in the Christian tradition.
The American Cistercian monk Thomas Merton writes in his Seeds of Contemplation:
One of the greatest paradoxes of the mystical life is this: that a man cannot
enter into the deepest centre of himself and pass through that centre to God,
unless he is able to pass entirely out of himself and empty himself and give
himself to other people in the purity of a selfless love.
In the Bhagavad Gita, the sovereign secret, by which one can be liberated from
evil, is given to Prince Arjuna by Shri Krishna in the ninth chapter. He speaks
of it as the supreme purifier, very easy to perform. And it is clearly a
particularly potent and effective way of performing Karma Yoga, based on the
recognition that, as the Lord explains: 'By Me all this world is pervaded...all
beings dwell in Me' (9.4). The Lord goes on to say: 'The Mahatmas...worship Me
with mind turned to no other, knowing Me as the imperishable source of all
beings' (9.13). And one is reminded at once of the first commandment to the
Christian: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as
thyself.' (Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27). The words 'with mind turned to no other'
exactly parallel this thought. Perhaps few Christians stop to think what the
words 'with all thy heart and with all thy mind' actually mean. Note that the
love of the Lord is not to be separated from the love of our fellow-men:
'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto me.' (Matthew 25:40) Who is our neighbour? Not necessarily the
person who lives next door or our near acquaintances. The Good Samaritan was a
stranger to the man who had fallen among thieves, but he treated him as he would
have wished to be treated himself. (Luke 10:29-37)
The sovereign remedy for man's ills, which the Lord gives in the Gita, is
contained in the simple advice:
Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou sacrificest, whatever
thou givest, in whatever austerity thou engagest, do it as an offering to Me.
When one offers to Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, that I
accept, offered with devotion by the pure-minded. (9.27 and 26)
And the fruit of this simple but all-embracing practice of offering what we do
to the Lord, promised in the next verse, is:
Thus shalt thou be liberated from the bonds of action which are productive of
good and evil results; equipped in mind with the Yoga of renunciation, and
liberated, thou shalt come to Me. (9.28)
If one of even very evil life worships Me, resorting to none else, he must
indeed be deemed righteous, for he is rightly resolved. Soon he becomes
righteous and attains eternal peace; do thou, O son of Kunti, proclaim that my
devotee never perishes. (9.30-31)
Having reached this transient joyless world, do thou worship Me. Fix thy mind on
Me, be devoted to Me, sacrifice to Me, bow down to Me. Thus steadied, with Me as
thy Supreme Goal, thou shalt reach Myself, the Self. (9.33-34)
This is the central message of the Bhagavad Gita with regard to the practice of
Karma Yoga and it follows closely the injunction laid down in the first
commandment in the Gospel.
Perhaps one of the best examples of this practice, applied in the midst of
practical life in exactly the way in which the Gita advocates, is given by the
teachings of Brother Lawrence. A lay brother who served in the kitchen of the
Carmelite monastery in Paris during the seventeenth century, he made his whole
spiritual practice depend on this sovereign secret. He says:
That practice which is alike the most holy, the most general, and the most
needful in the spiritual life is the practice of the presence of God. It is the
schooling of the soul to find joy in His divine companionship...
We search for stated ways and methods of learning how to love God, and to come
at last to that love we disquiet our minds by I know not how many devices; we
give ourselves a world of trouble and pursue a multitude of practices to attain
to a sense of the presence of God. And yet it is so simple. How very much
shorter it is and easier to do our common business purely for the love of God,
to set His consecrating mark on all we lay our hands to, and thereby to foster
the sense of His abiding presence by communion of our heart with His. There is
no need of either art or science; just as we are, we can go to Him, simply and
with a single heart.* (* From the Practice of the Presence of God.)
Here in Brother Lawrence's teaching we find the same message as in the Lord's
words in the Gita:
When someone offers to Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water -
that I accept, offered with devotion by the pure-minded.
As Brother Lawrence says, it is not needful that we should have great things to
do. The secret of Karma Yoga is to do the actions that we have to do,
unselfishly as an offering for the good of all, without concern for the
consequences.
George Herbert, who was a seventeenth century parish priest in Wiltshire, makes
the same point as Brother Lawrence in his poem 'The Elixir', a title which
refers to the mythical elixir sought by the alchemists which had the power of
changing all to gold:
Teach me, my God and King,
In all things Thee to see,
And what I do in any thing
To do it as for Thee...
A man that looks on glasse,
On it may stay his eye;
Or if he pleaseth, through it passe,
And then the heav'n espie.
All may of Thee partake:
Nothing can be so mean,
Which with his tincture, 'for Thy sake'
Will not grow bright and clean.
A servant with this clause
Makes drudgerie divine;
Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws,
Makes that and th'action fine.
This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold;
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for lesse be told.
With regard to the key practice leading to the purification of the mind,
therefore - the first stage of purgation spoken of by the Christians - the
sovereign secret prescribed by both the Christian mystics and the yogis is the
same. Not to refrain from one's duties in life, but to act in an entirely
different way from one's ordinary way of acting. To rob the action of its
selfish and individualistic object by doing it as an offering for the good of
all. Of course, in both traditions, it is accepted that the individual must
desist from evil action. No action is too trivial to be offered and sanctified
in this way, but it must be a good action and inspired by love.
Perhaps enough has now been said about the main teachings of both traditions on
transforming the outer active life or the practice of Karma Yoga. Let us now
look very briefly at some comparable aspects of the inner practice of mind
control and meditation. Again we have to be careful not to be misled by the
different terms used in the two traditions. For instance, the word 'prayer' in
the writings of the Christian mystics is an all-embracing term, covering
virtually all the practices of the inner life, including all the stages of
meditation, both lower and higher, as well as the introductory practices leading
to the control of the mind. It is in precisely this sense that one finds St.
Teresa, for instance, speaking of the four degrees of prayer. Nonetheless there
are fairly precise terms used in the Christian tradition for particular
practices. And it is worth giving some examples of these in order to bring out
the parallels with the methods of Yoga.
Let us start with one of the most simple, called by the Western spiritual
writers 'vocal prayer'. It involves the constant repetition of a spiritual
thought again and again, and it is very comparable to the repetition of the
'mantram' prescribed by the Eastern mystics. In both traditions one finds it
recommended that the repetitions should be done with a rosary, so that the
number of repetitions of the prayer are counted. One of the best examples of
this in the Western tradition is the Jesus Prayer or the Prayer of the Heart,
practised in the Russian Orthodox Church. Here the aspirant is told to repeat
the formula 'Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me', saying it aloud with the lips,
although quietly, and repeating this many thousands of times until the prayer
becomes continuous. As with the mantram in the Yoga tradition, the object is
said to be that the prayer will become automatic and will eventually continue
even at a time when it is not being consciously said. While at the outset it is
recommended that it should be said with the lips, when it has become established
through practice over some time, it can be said silently in the heart.
One of the best accounts of this practice is given in the little book The Way of
a Pilgrim, the manuscript of which was found in one of the monasteries on Mount
Athos. It was written by a member of the Russian Orthodox Church who describes
setting out to find out how to obey the injunction of St. Paul to the
Thessalonians: 'Pray without ceasing.' He was led first to the teachings of St.
Dmitri who wrote: 'The words of the Apostle "pray without ceasing" should be
understood as referring to the creative prayer of the understanding. The
understanding can always be reaching out towards God, and pray to Him
unceasingly.'
But he did not fully understand from these words what the method is by which the
understanding can always be turned towards God. How can it never be disturbed
and pray without ceasing? With the burning desire to answer this question, he
went to a monastery and consulted the elderly abbot about his problem. He was
told by him that the main task is to learn how to pray:
The continuous interior Prayer of Jesus is a constant uninterrupted calling upon
the divine name of Jesus with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart, while
forming a mental picture of His constant presence, and imploring His grace,
during every occupation, at all times, in all places, even during sleep.
In this passage one is reminded at once of the verses in the eighteenth chapter
of the Bhagavad Gita:
Fly unto Him for refuge with all thy being, O Bharata; by His grace shalt thou
obtain supreme peace and the eternal resting-place... Abandoning all [dependence
on] righteous deeds, seek Me as thy sole refuge; I will liberate thee from all
sins; do thou not grieve. (18.62,66)
The thought is the same, but still the actual practical method has to be learnt.
The abbot drew the attention of his enquirer to the instruction by St. Simeon:
Sit down alone and in silence... shut your eyes, breathe out gently and imagine
yourself looking into your own heart. Carry your mind, i.e. your thoughts, from
your head to your heart. As you breathe out, say: 'Lord Jesus Christ have mercy
on me.' Say it moving your lips gently, or simply say it in your mind. Try to
put all other thoughts aside. Be calm, be patient, and repeat the process very
frequently.
Here we have a practice which could be found in the yogic classics themselves.
In the same way the individual who is setting out on the yogic path is given the
mantram to repeat inwardly. Many of these mantras express the most beautiful
spiritual thoughts. For instance, one mantram means in translation: 'Wherever my
mind goes, there I find Thee. Wherever my head goes, it is there at Thy feet.'
The Russian pilgrim in his account describes how he learned to say the prayer of
the heart and of the way in which it transformed his life. In one passage he
says: 'Sometimes, by calling upon the name of Jesus, I was overwhelmed with
bliss, and now I know the meaning of the words: "The kingdom of God is within
you".'
So much for vocal prayer and the repetition of the inner prayer of the heart.
But this is only one of the preliminary practices of the inner life. An even
greater importance in both Eastern and Western traditions is given to the
practice of meditation. This too can be divided into a stage of preparation and
a stage of practice. In the Christian tradition the stage of preparation is
called the practice of recollection, while the stage of the practice of higher
meditation is called contemplation. Recollection has been defined by a Christian
writer, Evelyn Underhill, as 'no more than the subjection of the attention to
the control of the will'. In other words it corresponds exactly to that
preliminary stage of meditation described by the yogis which consists in the
restraint and control of the functions of the mind. This is part of the
conscious living, of which the Yoga speaks - to actively take charge of the mind
and transform it into an ally and an instrument of spiritual progress. The most
characteristic thing about the mind when it is uncontrolled is its rapidly
shifting focus of attention. And it is only when it has been controlled and
focused that it can attend effectively to the practice of meditation.
In the Bhagavad Gita the mind is likened to the flame of a lamp and, remembering
the time at which this classic was written, it is no doubt an oil lamp which the
author had in mind. Like a flickering flame, the thoughts of the irresolute,
those who have not controlled and restrained their minds, are said to be
many-branched and endless. In other words the flame flickers, caught in every
draught of wind raised by the roving senses. In this flickering light one cannot
see clearly. It is only in a steady bright light, with undistracted gaze, that
one really begins to see clearly what is there. In the same way, say the yogis,
two things are necessary in preparing the mind for meditation. Firstly the
quality of the mind-stuff, which is to say its thought content, has to be
refined and purified. The wick must be clean and trimmed, the oil pure.
Otherwise the flame is smoky and dim and the lamp becomes blackened by deposits
of soot. And, secondly, the mind must be brought under control and focused, like
the flame of a lamp in a windless spot. Then it provides what the Gita calls
steady knowledge, 'stitha-prajna'.
The Christian mystics speak of the same two processes, the refining of the mind
being what they call purgation, which we have already mentioned, and the control
and restraint of the mind being what they call the practice of recollection,
'the subjection of the attention to the control of the will'. If you read what
the Christian mystic, Evelyn Underhill, has said on this simple practice, you
will appreciate how closely it corresponds to the techniques described by the
yogis. Indeed Miss Waterhouse, in her book Training the Mind through Yoga, gives
an almost identical account of the process. But here is what Evelyn Underhill
writes. She speaks first of choosing any topic or thought from the ordinary
furniture of the mind. It does not matter what:
But the choice once made, it must be held and defended during the time of
meditation against all invasions from without, however insidious their
encroachments, however spiritual their disguise. It must be brooded upon, gazed
at, seized again and again, as distractions seem to snatch it from your grasp.
A restless boredom, a dreary conviction of your own incapacity, will presently
attack you. This too, must be resisted at sword point. Never before has the
stream flowed so slowly, or fifteen minutes taken so long to pass. The first
quarter of an hour thus spent in attempted meditation, will be, indeed, a time
of warfare; which should at least convince you how unruly, how ill-educated is
your attention, how miserably ineffective your will, how far away you are from
the captaincy of your own soul.
This is the process of getting control of the mind which the Christians call the
practice of recollection and the yogis, the practice of 'yama' and 'niyama',
control of the senses and control of the mind. As the Gita says:
The dangerous senses forcibly carry away the mind of a wise man, even while
striving to control them. Restraining them all, a man should remain steadfast,
intent on Me, the Lord. His knowledge is steady whose senses are under control.
(2.60-61)
It is not possible in this paper to go on to consider the most advanced stages
of meditation, or, as the Christians call it, contemplation. Suffice it to say
that in the early stages the practice of meditation is a matter of the
application of the will to control and direct the mind in the way in which it is
desired to go. Later, the higher meditation transcends this stage and the will
is no longer the controller. But that is the stage only attained after
considerable mastery in Yoga. In St. Teresa's famous simile, the garden of the
soul has in the first stage of prayer to be watered by laboriously lifting the
water from a well, a process requiring much effort and bringing little reward in
return. But as progress is made and the second stage of prayer is entered, the
watering process becomes like that to be found in the Spain of her time, where
the water was often raised by a string of many buckets mounted on a wheel.
Effort is still needed to raise it, but it is very much more effective. A much
greater volume of water is raised for the same expenditure of will-power, time
and energy. This is the stage, says St. Teresa, when the soul begins to be
recollected, in other words when some degree of control and restraint of the
mind has been achieved by the earlier practice.
In a yet more advanced stage of meditation, which St. Teresa calls the third
degree of prayer, the watering process becomes analogous, she says, to the
watering of the garden by a stream. Here the stream flows spontaneously and
continuously and the only effort needed from the will is to direct the water
towards the part of the garden which it is desired to cultivate. The will is
becoming less important and the process easier, because of the degree of mastery
of the mind which the individual has attained. And the culmination of the
meditation process is in that fourth stage of prayer of which St. Teresa speaks,
where the garden is watered by the downpour of rain. It is the most effective
way of watering the garden and the one which most clearly ensures its fertility
and prosperity, and it is completely independent of the will of the meditator.
This is the state of the illumined mind, receiving its spiritual light and
nourishment from the Lord Himself, seated within the mind. This is the state
which in Yoga is called 'samadhi'. As it says in Panchadashi:
At the time of samadhi the will is not applied to the process of meditation on
the Self. The mind achieves the state of 'samadhi' as a result of the effort...
of will made prior to its achievement. (Panchadashi 1.57)
And the same author almost echoes the simile of St. Teresa when he writes:
The experts in the science of Yoga call 'samadhi' a rain-cloud of dharma because
it showers forth countless streams of the water of immortality. (1.60)
Let me end with the words of another Christian thinker, Kierkegaard:
The present condition of the world is diseased. If I were a doctor and was asked
for my advice I should answer, create silence, bring men to silence - the word
of God cannot be heard in the world today. And if it is blazoned forth with
noise so that it can be heard even in the midst of all other noise, then it is
no longer the word of God. Therefore create silence.
A.M. Halliday: Freedom through Self-Realisation
A Shanti Sadan Publication - London
ISBN 0-85424-040-3
Pgs. 195-208
"Chopra: Deep stuff or New Age fluff?
ST. PETERSBURG
Motivational guru Deepak Chopra believes he provides answers for a new age, teaching his international body of followers that the key to solving problems is to seek God within. Chopra's philosophy, zealously marketed through books, seminars and tapes, has won him legions of fans...
“There is no guilt in his system. There is no need for remorse or anything like that. It is not like you have to stop sinning (or) you have to clean up your act. There are no commandments,” John Morreall, professor of religious studies at USF, said of Chopra's teachings. “People want easy, digestible stuff that doesn't require them to change their life, and any way you can package that will be successful,” Morreall added.
In fact, a sell-out crowd is expected Monday when Chopra makes an appearance at the Mahaffey Theater, said the Rev. Joan Pinkston, minister at the Center for Positive Living, which is sponsoring his visit.
She said this is the third time her church, at 5200 29th Ave. N, has brought Chopra to Tampa Bay.
“He is so popular and he does bring a universal message of truth for those who are ready to hear it,” Pinkston said. “He brings it to the masses who are unchurched and who may never capture that message other than through the secular community.”
In a telephone interview, Chopra, who was born in India, said he prefers to be thought of as spiritual rather than religious. “The founders of religion were universal beings,” he said. “But at some point it developed dogma and ideology and unfortunately we have had more anguish and more war and more hatred and more bigotry and more suffering in the name of religion than in every other name. . . . I like to think of myself as seeking spirituality, which is the basis of religion. God gave humans the truth, and the devil came and he said, 'Let's give it a name and call it religion.' ”
Chopra, whose teachings are based in part on the Vedantas, the sacred writings that are the root of Hinduism, added that it often is said that God created man in his own image. “I think it is the other way. Man created God in his own image,” he said. “The image of God is usually a dead white man in the sky. That is just an image. It is not satisfactory. Why can't God be black or a woman? . . . All the conflict in the world is because we have different images of God. God is beyond image. As soon as you create an image about God, you limit God.” But, he said, that is what defines most religion.
Spirituality is different, giving one the ability to love and have compassion, added Chopra, author of 22 books, including best-sellers Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and The Pathway to Love. “It is the capacity to experience joy and spread it to others,” he said. “It is the security of knowing that your life has meaning and purpose. It is a sense of connection to the creative power of the universe. This creative power of the universe is by various religions called God. “In my experience, it is infinite. It is unbounded. It's immanent and transcendent. It is timeless. It expresses itself in the infinite organization of the universe and in the infinite intelligence of the universe.”
And to find God, those caught up in the search must get in touch with what Chopra refers to as “the essence” of their own being. That essence, he explained, is God. And it is within every person, said Chopra, quoting Jesus in the book of John...
And it seems to sell particularly well among intellectuals, Morreall said. For those trying to cope with stressful conditions, Chopra's message finds a ready welcome.
“What Chopra offers is the promise that you will be able to quiet down the noise and you will be able to control your world. And that is immensely appealing,” Morreall said.
To members of the Center for Positive Living, part of the Spokane, Wash.-based Religious Science organization, Chopra reaffirms a familiar philosophy.
“With what we teach, we believe in one power and it doesn't matter what you call it, whether it is God, spirit, nature, life,” Pinkston said. “It is the ultimate one power. What we believe is true about God is also true about us. The one thing that may separate us from other mainline, traditional religions is that we truly believe that this power that created us is within us and is not something that is outside and separate from us and that it is, yes, greater than we are and that we can use it and we are using it every moment.” Chopra's popularity, she said, is based on his universal message.
“Here is a medical doctor who has taught at Tufts University, and he is very well-read. I believe that people are really hungry for the message . . . that the soul responds to — that we are divine beings,” added Pinkston, a former Baptist who began searching for a new path about 30 years ago.
“We teach the metaphysical, the inner message of Jesus the Christ,” Pinkston said. “(Chopra) is teaching the same message. The way he is teaching is that love can renew, heal. Love can make us safe. Love can inspire us and bring us closer to God and that is what we are all searching for, the union of the self and the spirit.”...
What morsels of wisdom will he leave with his audience Monday?
“I only want to achieve one thing in that when they leave they will say to themselves there is a lot to think about,” he said. “And in some of them it will start a new journey which will radically affect the way they live their life.” "
Kitty Bennett, Times researcher, UMI Company 1998
PARAA VIDHYAA
THE NOUMENAL STATE OF MAN
In the last chapter, we looked into the phenomenal state of man, as considered by Shankara. This chapter attempts to study the noumenal state of man. According to Shankara, man's ultimate destiny does not consist in being caught up in the phenomenal existence; rather, man is called to live at a depth at which he must experience the source of the universe within himself. The task of man is not to search for his ultimate destiny outside, but to move into himself and discovering the ultimate in the cave of his heart. It is not a new knowledge, but a realization of what one really is. Paraa vidhyaa, therefore, is nothing else but a self-realization in which one experiences Brahman (Brahmaanubhava) as one's own indwelling spirit (Aatman). This chapter deals with the goal, nature and characteristics of para vidhya.
2.1.1. THE GOAL OF PARAA VIDHYAA
The goal of para vidhya is Brahman, the ultimate universal spirit behind the universe and Aatman, the ultimate principle in the individual. Only when one has true knowledge about both Brahman and Aatman, can one begin to experience the oneness between these two. In this section, we will clarify these two notions, in preparation for the analysis of the nature of para vidhya.
2.1.1. BRAHMAN
The word `Brahman'[1] is derived from the Sanskrit root `brih' which literally means `to gush forth', `to grow', `to be great', and `to increase'. The suffix `man' added to the root `brih' signifies the absence of limitation. Thus, the term `Brahman' etymologically means that which is absolutely the greatest.[2] So `Brahman' denotes "that first … reality from which the entire universe of our experience has sprung up."[3] In the words of the Vedaanta-Suutras, "Brahman is that omniscient, omnipotent cause from which proceeds the origin of the world."[4] Thus, the term `Brahman' signifies the absolute and ultimate reality which is the substratum and the foundation of the world we know, and on which everything depends for its existence. Brahman is self-sufficient and does not depend on anything else for its existence. Hence it must be spiritual entity, since matter is not self-sufficient, limited and subject to change. George Thibault, in his introduction to the Vedaanta-Suutraas, says that whatever exists is in reality one, and this one universal being is called Brahman. This being is absolutely homogeneous in nature; it is pure Being, Intelligence and Thought. Intelligence or thought is not predicated of Brahman as its attribute, but constitutes its substance. Brahman is not a thinking being, but thought itself. It is absolutely destitute of qualities and whatever qualities or attributes are conceivable can only be denied of it.[5] Thus, Brahman is without qualities (nirguna), beyond the order of our empirical and worldly experience. We cannot grasp Brahman with our empirical experiences, since the being of Brahman is necessary for anything to exist, and even for the possibility of empirical experience. In other words, Brahman is a priori and cannot be grasped by a posteriori or limited experience.
Because of our inability to grasp the true nature of Brahman, whatever positive description is developed about Brahman will remain in the level of phenomenal experience, and Brahman is beyond all phenomena. That is why we find contrary characteristics attributed to Brahman. In Brhadaaranyaka Upanishad, we read that Brahman is "light and not light, desire and absence of desire, anger and absence of anger, righteousness and absence of righteousness."[6] Kaatha Upanishad speaks of Brahman as "smaller than the small, greater than the great, sitting yet moving, lying and yet going everywhere."[7] Brahman is light and not light, in the sense that it is only because there is Brahman that there is light and darkness. Again there exist small and the greater only because Brahman exists.
At the same time the word `existence' cannot be attributed to Brahman and to the empirical world in the same way, for Brahman's existence is different in nature. The existence of Brahman is opposed to all empirical existence, so that in comparison with this it can just as well be considered as non-existence. Brahman is the being of all beings.[8] The nature of Brahman is so transcendent, that it cannot be compared with anything in the world we know. At the same time, Brahman is present in all its manifestations, for without the Being of Brahman nothing can exist. Yet the empirical experience of Brahman is not possible. Thus, Brahman is that unalterable and absolute Being which remains identical with itself in all its manifestations. It is the basis and ground of all experience, and is different from the space-time-cause world. Brahman has nothing similar to it, nothing different from it, and no internal differentiation, for all these are empirical distinctions. It is non-empirical, non-objective, wholly other, but it is not non-being.[9]
Shankara repeatedly speaks of, and strongly defends, the absolute, unchangeable, attributeless nature of Brahman, alluding to many texts in the scripture which points to the nirgunaa Brahman.[10] Commenting on the Upanishadic text, "as a lump of salt is without interior or exterior, entire and purely saline taste, even so is the self (Brahman) without exterior or interior, entire and pure intelligence only,[11] Shankara points to the oneness of Brahman. In the lump of salt there is nothing other than salt, so too Brahman is nothing other than itself. It is the absolute being without a second.[12] Shankara also uses the example of the sun reflecting in water and appearing as many, in order to bring home the same truth. He says that just as the reflection of the sun in water increases with the increase of water, and decreases with its reduction, it moves when the water moves, and it differs as the water differs, so is the self. The sun seem to conform to the characteristics of water, but in reality the sun never has these increasing or decreasing qualities. So also Brahman, which from the highest point of view always retains its sameness, seems to conform to such characteristics as increase and decrease of the limiting adjunct owing to its entry into such an adjunct as a body.[13]
For Shankara, therefore, Brahman is a principle of utter simplicity. There is no duality in Brahman, for no qualities are found in his concept of Brahman. It is also simple in the sense that it is not subject to inner contradictions, which would make it changeable and transitory. Though Shankara uses logic and arguments to understand the nature of Brahman and to speak of Brahman, still for him in its reality Brahman is not a metaphysical postulate that can be proved logically, but must be experienced in silence.[14] Thus, Brahman is one: It is not a `He', a personal being; nor is it an `It', an impersonal concept. It is that state which comes about when all subject-object distinctions are obliterated. Ultimately, Brahman is a name for the experience of the timeless plenitude of Being.[15]
2.1.2. AATMAN
The term `Aatman' comes from the Sanskrit root `an' which etymologically means `to breathe'. It is often rendered as `soul' or `self', and signifies the most fundamental being of the individual. There is no one who can deny the existence of the self for it is the basis of all individual actions. Everyone is conscious of the existence of his self and never thinks that he is not.[16] To doubt the existence of the self would be a contradiction in terms because then one would doubt the existence of the very doubter who engages in the doubt. The doubter of the self is often compared by Advaitins to a person who searches for the necklace while wearing it; or to a person who wears the spectacles on his face and at the same time looks for them elsewhere. Without the existence of the self, it is impossible for us to entertain the idea even of its being capable of refutation. For the knowledge of the self is not established through the so-called means of right knowledge, but it is self-established.[17] Thus, the very existence of understanding and its functions presuppose an intelligence known as the self which is different from them, which is self-established and which they subserve. [18] The very possibility of knowledge and the means of knowledge (pramaanas) have relevance if there exists the self which is the source of all knowledge. Therefore, Aatman is beyond all doubt, "for it is the essential nature of him who denies it." [19] Therefore, Shankara believed that it was the nature of the self and not its reality, which is to be proved. "The self must seek itself in order to find what it is, not that it is." [20]
Having established the existence of the self, we can turn now to the discussion of the nature of the Aatman. Aatman is the deathless, birthless, eternal and real substance in every individual soul. It is the unchanging reality behind the changing body, sense organs, mind and ego. It is the spirit, which is pure consciousness and in unaffected by time, space and causality. It is limitless and without a second. [21] Vedantins speak of three states of consciousness, namely the waking state (vishwa), the dream state (taijasa), and the state of dreamless sleep (pragna). The basic underlying principle which witnesses all these three states of one's existence is the pure consciousness (chaitanyam), the self. It is because of the presence of this ultimate substratum, that the body, the senses, the mind and the intellect function properly. At the same time it is not identified with these, nor affected by the changes that take place in the body, in the other sense or intellectual functions. Thus, Aatman.is the "unrelated witness of the experiences of the three stages, which include a man's diverse activities." [22]
Shankara gives a number of illustrations to clarify the nature of the self, especially in its role of being a witness (saakshin) to all activities of body, mind, senses, and intellect. Firstly, Shankara gives the analogy of a king's court. In the court, the king sits in his high throne as the observer of the activities of his ministers, councilors and all the others present. But because of his majesty as the king, he is unique and different from all. So too the self which is pure consciousness dwells in the body as a witness to the functions of the body, mind and other faculties, while at the same time it is different from them by its natural light. Thus, the witness is the absolute consciousness, the unchanging intelligence that underlies the finer and grosser bodies. It is neither Iishvara nor jiva, but it is Aatman which is untouched by the distinction of Iishvara and jiva. [23]
To those who come with the objection that the self is not only a mere observer or witness, but also participates in the activities of the body, Shankara replies using the analogy of the moon and the clouds. The movement of the clouds on a moonlight night suggests that the moon is moving, whereas in fact it is the clouds that move. Likewise, the activities of the mind and senses create the illusion that the self is active. [24] To the one who would say that activity belongs to the senses or other faculties and considers them the self, Shankara gives the following illustrations. Just as the iron filings become active at the presence of the magnet, so also it is the presence of the self that makes the body, the senses and all the other faculties active. It is fire which makes the iron ball red-hot. So also neither can the mind, the intellect or the body combined make the self. It is the self which is the source of all their activities. Just as a man who works with the help of the light that in inherent in the sun does so without ever affecting the sun, so too the mind, the body, the intellect, and the senses, engage in their respective activities with the help of the self, but without exerting any influence on the self. [25] All these illustrations point to the basic and absolute nature of the Aatman. The following Upanishadic statement bear witness to this reality. "That the imperishable is the unseen seer, the unheard hearer, the unthought thinker, the ununderstood understander. Other than It, there is naught that hears, other than It, there is naught that thinks; other than It, there is naught that understands. [26]
The terms `Brahman' and `Aatman', both basically denote one and the same underlying principle: the former stands for the underlying and unchanging principle of the universe; while the latter refers to the unchanging reality in the individuals. Both of these terms are used in the Upanishads and by the interpreters as synonyms they do interchange these two terms in the same sentence. Commenting on the Upanishadic statement: "Who is an Aatman? What is Brahman?", [27] Shankara remarks: "By Brahman, the limitations implied in the Aatman are removed, and by the Aatman the conception of Brahman as a divinity to be worshipped is condemned."[28] These two terms fundamentally refer to one and the same reality, which is the ground of everything. In other words, these two terms stand for two different descriptions of the same ultimate reality, from the point of view of the universe and the individual. The ultimate reality represented by these two terms is the goal of paraa vidhya or Brahmaanubhava.
2.2. NATURE OF PARAA VIDHYAA
We have analyzed the goal of paraa vidhya, in the preceding section. Here, we must attempt to clarify the nature of paraa vidhya, in which the Brahman-realization is attained by the seeker. We elaborate the nature of paraa vidhya, by looking into its meaning and clarifying the identity between Brahman and Aatman.
2.2.1. MEANING
Paraa Vidhya or Brahmaanubhava is the ultimate and monumental state of man. The term `Bramaanubhava' is a compound word, which consists of two Sanskrit words, viz. `Brahman' (absolute reality) and `anubhava' (intuitive experience or knowledge). The term `anubhava' means not a mere theoretical or intellectual knowledge, but the knowledge obtained through an integral experience. Anubhava is not the immediacy of an uninterrupted sensation, where the existence and the content of what is apprehended are separated. It is related to artistic insight rather than to animal instinct; it is an immediate knowledge.[29] Thus, literally the term `Brahmaanubhava' means the integral and intuitive experience of the absolute reality. When we speak of the intuitive experience of Brahman, from the Advaitic point of view there arise many basic questions as to the nature of Brahmaanubhava. How is it possible to have an experience if there is no subject to experience and no object to be experienced? Besides, if there is no duality in an experience, can it be described? If Brahmaanubhava is an experience, and if it has no duality in itself as an experience, then what is the nature of the experience involved in Brahmaanubhava? These questions stem from the fact that the Advaita philosophy of Shankara does not permit the possibility of duality in this fundamental experience.
Possession of intellectual knowledge about the nature of Brahman and that of Brahmaanubhava is the first step towards the attainment of Brahmaanubhava. Obtaining intellectual knowledge by the study of the Scriptures, especially by understanding the meaning and the import of the Vedantic statements like `That art Thou', is necessary for Brahmaanubhava. In knowing the nature of Brahman intellectually, one can work towards the attainment of Brahmaanubhava. When we speak of the attainment of Brahmaanubhava, we use the term attainment' (labdha) in a figurative sense (upacara). [30] In an empirical experience we attain some new knowledge, i.e., knowledge which had not been previously existed as far as we were concerned. In Brahmaanubhava, however, we do not attain anything new, but only realize what we are, i.e., our true nature, the identity with Brahman. According to Shankara, we are Brahman, and Brahmaanubhava is that experience by which we recognize our own real nature.
Many texts in Shankara's works point to the fact that the attainment of Brahmaanubhava consists in the recognition and the realization that one's real and true nature is Brahman. "The state of being Brahman is the same as the realization of the self." [31] "Perfect knowledge … is the realization of the Aatman as one with Brahman."[32] "When a man knows the Aatman, and sees it inwardly and outwardly as the ground of all things animate and inanimate he has indeed reached liberation." [33] "No man who knows Brahman to be different from himself is a knower of truth." [34] "My self is pure consciousness, free from all distinctions and sufferings." [35] Thus, Brahmaanubhava which is the experience of identity with Brahman, is an attainment only from the point of view of the aspirant or the seeker of truth. From the absolute of paramaartha point of view there is no attainment of Brahman.
2.2.2. IDENTITY OF BRAHMAN AND AATMAN
From what has been said about the nature of Brahmaanubhava, so far, there arises the question, how, at all, can we know or have any kind of knowledge about this experience called Brahmaanubhava? No empirical means of knowledge (pramaana) can help us in this regard, except scriptural knowledge. Though scriptural knowledge is limited to the level of duality, still it provides knowledge about the reality of Brahman and enables us to have an intellectual understanding of Brahman.
Shankara holds the authority of the scriptural testimony in our intellectual understanding of Brahman. Nothing else on earth, except the scriptures, can reveal to us the nature of Brahman and of Brahmaanubhava. In this regard Shankara is very clear; he does not substitute any pramaana than the scriptural testimony, for the attainment of the intellectual knowledge about Brahman. He does make use of other pramaanas, but only to elucidate, clarify and demonstrate what he accepts on the basis of scriptural authority about Brahman and Brahmaanubhava. He says, "The fact of everything having its self in Brahman cannot be grasped [intellectually], without the aid of scriptural passage "That art Thou'.[36]
The word `upanishad' (scripture) derives its meaning from its capacity to lead to the truth those who, having been thoroughly dissatisfied with the things seen and unseen, seek liberation from ignorance, which is the source of bondage and suffering. The Upanishads are capable of accomplishing all these, for in them the highest end of life is embodied.[37]
Authentic human destiny: the paths of Shankara and Heidegger
Vensus A. George, Council for Research in Values & (August 1998), pp. 47-54
NOTES [1] The word `Brahman' appears for the first time in the Rig Veda as related various sacred utterances, which were believed to have magical powers. So, initially it meant `spell' or `prayer', which can be used for the attainment of one's wishes and desires. In the Brahmanas, it began to signify that which stands behind God as their ground and basis. Finally, in the Upanishads, this terms came to stand for the unitary principle of all beings, the knowledge of which frees one from finitude. Cf. Eliot Deutsch, p. 9.
[2] Cf. BSB, I, i, 1, pp. 11-12.
[3] Ramkant A Sinari, p. 67.
[4] Swami Virswarananda (trans.), Brahma-Suutra (Mayavata, Almor, Himalayas: Advaita Ashrama, (1948), I, i, 2, p. 26 (hereafter: BSB, Virsawarananda).
[5] George Thibaut (trans.), Brahma-Sutras, vol. XXIV, Introduction, pp. xxiv-xxv (hereafter: BSB, Thibaut).
[6] S. Radhakrishnan (ed.), The Principal Upanishads (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1953), p. 272.
[7] Ibid., p. 617.
[8] Cf. Paul Deussen, The System of Vedanta, trans. Charles Johnson (Chicago: Open Court Publishing Co., 1912), pp. 211-212. Cf. also BUB, II, i, 20.
[9] S. Radhakrishnan and C. A. Moore (eds.), A Source Book in Indian Philosophy, 5th printing (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1973), p. 507. [10] In interpreting the Upanishadic text, Shankara is of the opinion that one must accept only those texts which speak of Brahman without qualities and forms. "But other texts speaking of Brahman with form", he says, "have the injunctions about meditation as their main objectives. So long as they do not lead to some contradictions, their apparent meaning should be accepted. But, when they involve contradictions, the principle to be followed for deciding one or the other is that those that have the formless Brahman as their main purport are more authoritative than the others which have not that as their main purpose. It is according to this that one is driven to the conclusion that Brahman is formless and not its opposite". Cf. BSB, III, ii, 14, p. 612.
[11] "Brihadaaranayaka Upanishad", IV, v, 13, R. E. Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, 2nd revised ed. (New York: Princeton University Press, 1973), p. 147 (hereafter: BU., Hume).
[12] Cf. BSB, III, ii, 16, pp. 615-617.
[13] CF. ibid., III, ii, 18-20, pp. 615-617.
[14] Baskali asked Bhava three times about the nature of Brahman. The latter remained silent all three times, but finally he replied, "I have already spoken, but you cannot comprehend that the self is silence". ibid., III, ii, 17, p. 614.
[15] Cf. Eliot Detsch, p. 9.
[16] Cf. BSB, I, i, 1, p. 12.
[17] Cf. ibid., II, iii, 7, p. 455.
[18] Cf. ibid., p. 456.
[19] Ibid., p. 457.
[20] Organ Troy Wilson, The Self in Indian Philosophy (London: Mounton & Co., 1964), p. 104.
[21] Cf. AB, p. 118.
[22] Ibid., p. 133.
[23] Cf. ibid., p. 136, Cf. Mahendranath Sircar, The System of Vedaantic Thought and Culture, pp. 156-157.
[24] Cf. ibid., pp. 136-137.
[25] Cf. ibid., pp. 137-138.
[26] BU., III, viii, 1, Hume, p. 118.
[27] "Chaanduukhya Upanishad", V, ix, 1, Hume, p. 234 (hereafter: Ch. U., Hume).
[28] Paul Deussen, The Philosophy of the Upanishads (New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1996), pp. 86-87.
[29] Radhakrishnan S., Indian Philosophy, vol. II, p. 513.
[30] BUB, VI, v, 6, pp. 500-501.
[31] Shankara, Gaudapaadakaarika Bhaasya and Maanduukya Upanishad Bhaasya, trans. Swami Nihilananda (Mysore: Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, 1955), IV, 85 (hereafter: GKB).
[32] VC, p. 65.
[33] Ibid., p. 89.
[34] Shankara, Upadeshasaahasrii, trans. Swami Jagadaananda, 6th ed. (Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1979), II, xvi, 70, p. 189 (hereafter: UI).
[35] BSB, IV, i, 2, p. 815.
[36] Ibid., I, i, 2, p. 815.
[37] Cf. A. Ramamuarthi, p. 116.
"Self-realization involves an identity-experience, wherein one realizes his oneness with the ultimate Brahman"
"4.1.2. Incommunicability of Self-realization
The self-realization involves an identity-experience, wherein one realizes his oneness with the ultimate Brahman. Therefore, self- realization is of the nature of Brahman, i.e., without subject-object duality, eternal and uncaused, immediate and direct, besides being incomprehensible, indescribable and trans-empirical. Brahmaanubhava is not available to the empirical experience, as the scope of the former goes far beyond that of the latter. The words and languages we use refer to the phenomenal world and relative realities. As Brahman is beyond the phenomenal, Brhamaamubhava cannot be described in ordinary language. Therefore, one can speak of self-realization only by way of negation, by denying the qualities of the empirical experience superimposed on it. For instance, the qualities that are attributed to Brahman, such as reality (satyam), knowledge (jnaanam) and infinitude (aanandam) are not positive descriptions of Brahman, but are mere negations of qualities superimposed on Brahman, such as unreality, ignorance and finitude. Thus, all statements we make about Brahman, Brahmaamubhava and Brahmajnaani are mere approximations in the light of the phenomenal knowledge. Such a philosophical position makes self-realization, for all practical purposes, incommunicable. Since, Brahmaanbhava is unknowable and indescribable, it cannot be communicated by the Brahmajnaani to any one in the realm of phenomenal existence. Since Brahman-experience cannot be passed on to the other in any form of communication, it would always remain the subjective experience of the Brahmajnaani. Any attempt to communicate it, using phenomenal language, would be nothing else but a mere phenomenal approximation of the transcendental experience. Such approximations would never take one to the core of self-realization, as it is incommunicable.
4.1.3. Insignificance of the Other's Role in Brahmaajijnaasa
Shankarite path to self-realization, viz., the movement from ignorance to knowledge, is a way that is basically walked by the aspirant alone. The only involvement of the other, on the aspirant's effort to attain the goal of Brahmaanubhava, is the Guru. He is a detached guide, who helps the student to understand the true import of the Vedaantic statements, especially at the hearing (sravana) state of Brahmaajijnaasa. The relationship that exists between the aspirant and the Guru is that of a teacher and a student. In this relationship, the aspirant is totally obedient to the Guru, does personal service to him, looks after the daily chores in the ashram and listens to the teachings of the Guru by sitting at his feet. It is not a one to one, I ƒ² Thou relationship, in which one enters into the life of the other as an equal partner. Other than the teacher, the aspirant does not have any significant relationship with any other person. This is clear from what the aspirant does in the three stages of Brahmaajijnaasa, viz., sravana, manaana and nididhyaasana. In these three stages of Brahmaajijnaasa the aspirant firstly, hears the instructions of the teacher personally. Secondly he reflects on the content of the Guru's teachings in solitude, so as to remove the apparent contradictions and to be intellectually convinced of the true import of the scriptural aphorisms. Thirdly, he meditates in silence on the truths he achieved through hearing and reflection. The various stages of Brahmaajijnaasa in the jnaana path are so centered on the individual seeker and his personal effort the presence of the other in the process is seen as an interference that would distract him from the goal of self-realization. So the seeker is basically all alone through out the process of Brahmaajijnaasa. Even after the seeker has attained self-realization, he does not need to have any relationship with the other or to a community of others, because all such relationships would be irrelevant and unreal to the Brahmajnaani. Thus, Shankara's path to self-realization does not give any significance to the I-Thou relationship that is genuine and inter- subjective communion of hearts between human persons...
From what has been said, it is clear that Shankara by his doctrine of Brahmaanubhava and the self's absolute oneness with Brahman, does not speak of a dissolution of the world. At the attainment of Brahmaanubhava, the external world is not destroyed or annihilated. But, the Brahmajnaani views the world no longer from the phenomenal point of view. He sees everything in terms of oneness, which is characteristic of Brahmaanubhava. Thus, from the point of view of the liberated man the phenomenal world is real in the relative sense, because the state he is in, i.e., his absolute identity with Brahman is that which is really real. As long as one tries to understand Shankara's Advaita philosophy purely from the phenomenal point of view, he will always meet with contradictions, for what is absolutely true is the transcendental and trans-empirical.
4.2.2. Advaita Vedaanta as Pantheism
Many consider Advaita Vedaanta to be pantheistic, because self- realization consists in the identity of the self and Brahman. Those who hold this view cite the mahaavaakya `That art Thou' in their support.9 In interpreting the above mentioned Vedaantic aphorism, we say that it cannot be interpreted in the direct meaning of `That' and `Thou', viz., Iishvara and jiiva, since such a union between the supreme Lord and the limited soul is not possible. It its implied meaning `That' refers to Brahman and `Thou' refers to Aatman. Brahman is the absolute and eternal reality in the universe and Aatman is the pure consciousness, the eternal reality behind the individual self. Brahman and Aatman are eternally identical. In Brahmaanubhava, as we know, there is not experiencer and the experienced. What really happens in Brahmaanubhava is that the self, removed of all ignorance and its effects, realizes its eternal identity with Brahman. Thus, Brahmaanubhava cannot be considered as involving an identity between supreme Lord and the soul. Besides, the terms, `union' and `identity', are used figuratively because there is not new identity reached in Brahmaanubhava, but only the existing eternal identity between Brahman and Aatman is realized. Again there is no notion of God (as a theist would understand) in Shankara's thought. He does not consider Brahman as a deity to be worshipped or to be devoted to, but as the absolute ontological reality behind all the phenomena, which is identical with the self, the pure consciousness. So, for Shankara Brahman is not to be worshipped, but to be realized. If Brahman is viewed as a deity to be worshipped, and such a deity is seen as being identical with everything in the universe, then we have a pantheistic world-view. Since Shankara does not consider Brahman as deity who is identical with the universe, it seems clear that in Shankara's Advaita there is no trace of pantheism. Advaita goes beyond the distinction of theism, atheism and pantheism, as the question of God is not at all an issue in Advaita Vedaanta. Therefore, Shankarite thought does not involve any form of `isms' that views the absolute reality in terms of Godhead. But rather it is a mystical philosophy that aims at making everyone aware of his true ontological nature, i.e., Brahman and move towards attaining it."
Vensus A. George, Self-realization (Brahmaanubhava)
Council for Research in Values & (January 2001), pp. 23-31
Shri Sadashiva said:
So long as a man has not real knowledge, he does not attain final liberation, even though he be in the constant practice of religious acts and a hundred austerities (111).
The knowledge of the wise from whom the darkness of ignorance is removed, and whose souls are pure, arises from the performance of duty without expectation of fruit or reward, and by constant meditation on the Brahman (112).
He who knows that all which is in this universe from Brahma to a blade of grass is but the result of Maya, and that the Brahman is the one and supreme Truth, has this (113).
That man is released from the bonds of action who, renouncing name and form, has attained to complete knowledge of the essence of the eternal and immutable Brahman (114).
Liberation does not come from japa, homa, or a hundred fasts; man becomes liberated by the knowledge that he himself is Brahman (115).
Final liberation is attained by the knowledge that the Atma (Soul) is the witness, is the Truth, is omnipresent, is one, free from all illuding distractions of self and not-self, the supreme, and, though abiding in the body, is not in the body (116).
All imagination of name-form and the like are but the play of a child. He who put away all this sets himself in firm attachment to the Brahman, is, without doubt, liberated (117).
If the image imagined by the (human) mind were to lead to liberation, then undoubtedly men would be Kings by virtue of such kingdoms as they gain in their dreams (118).
Those who believe that Ishvara is in images made of clay, or stone, or metal, or wood, merely trouble themselves by their tapas. They can never attain liberation without knowledge (119).
Can men attain final liberation by restriction in food, be they ever so thin thereby, or by uncontrolled indulgence, be they ever so gross therefrom, unless they possess the knowledge of Brahman? (120).
If by observance of Vrata to live on air, leaves of trees, bits of grain, or water, final liberation may be attained, then snakes, cattle, birds, and aquatic animals should all be able to attain final liberation (121).
Brahma-sad-bhava is the highest state of mind; dhyana-bhava is middling; stuti and japa is the last; and external worship is the lowest of all (122).
Yoga is the union of the embodied soul and the Supreme Soul, Puja is the union of the worshipper and the worshipped; but he who realizes that all things are Brahman for him there is neither Yoga nor Puja (123).
For him who possesses the knowledge of Brahman, the supreme knowledge, of what use are japa, yajna, tapas, niyama, and vrata? (124).
He who sees the Brahman, Who is Truth, Knowledge, Bliss, and the One, is by his very nature one with the Brahman. Of what use to him are puja, dhyana, and dharana? (125).
For him who knows that all is Brahman there is neither sin nor virtue, neither heaven nor future birth. There is none to meditate upon, nor one who meditates (126).
The soul which is detached from all things is ever liberated; what can bind it? From what do fools desire to be liberated? (127).
He abides in this Universe, the creation of His powers of illusion, which even the Devas cannot pierce. He is seemingly in the Universe, but not in it (128).
The Spirit, the eternal witness, is in its own nature like the void which exists both outside and inside all things, and which has neither birth nor childhood, nor youth nor old age, but is the eternal intelligence which is ever the same, knowing no change or decay (129-130).
It is the body which is born, matures, and decays. Men enthralled by illusion, seeing this, understand it not (131).
As the Sun (though one and the same) when reflected in different platters of water appears to be many, so by illusion the one soul appears to be many in the different bodies in which it abides (132).
As when water is disturbed the Moon which is reflected in it appears to be disturbed, so when the intelligence is disturbed ignorant men think that it is the soul which is disturbed (133).
As the void inside a jar remains the same ever after the jar is broken, so the Soul remains the same after the body is destroyed (134).
The knowledge of the Spirit, O Devi! is the one means of attaining final liberation; and he who possesses it is verily, yea, verily, liberated in this world, even yet whilst living, there is no doubt of that (135).
Neither by acts, nor by begetting offspring, nor by wealth is man liberated; it is by the knowledge of the Spirit, by the Spirit that man is liberated (136).
It is the Spirit that is dear to all; there is nothing dearer than the Spirit; O Shive! it is by the unity of Spirit that men become dear to one another (137).
Knowledge, Object of knowledge, the knower appear by illusion to be three different things; but if careful discrimination is made, Spirit is found to be the sole residuum (138).
Knowledge is Spirit in the form of intelligence, the object of knowledge is Spirit whose substance is intelligence, the Knower is the Spirit Itself. He who knows this knows the Spirit (139).
I have now spoken of knowledge which is the true cause of final liberation. This is the most precious possession of the four classes of Avadhutas (140).
Arthur Avalon, Mahanirvana Tantra of the Great Liberation
Kessinger Publishing (June 30, 2004)
When we come to Sahaja Yoga the Tantra is damaged and impure and the heart 'catches.' There is nothing to be upset in that. One should settle down silently and work to undo the 'catches,' gradually and slowly. The whole Library of Divine Knowledge is at one's hand and if the heart's desire to evolve the being and achieve the Absolute is pure, the solution to every problem will occur automatically, effortlessly and spontaneously — Sahaj.
The ultimate act against the Spirit is to worship that which has no Spirit — gross matter or raksasas. Shri Muhammad inveighed against both.... The Atma and its expression is the sole Reality in the Universe. Identification with anything else causes the heart to 'catch.' "
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
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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)
