Isha Upanishad
Prabesh Lohani
"The Self is everywhere. Bright is he, bodiless, without scar of imperfection, without bone, without flesh, pure, untouched by evil. The Seer, the Thinker, the One who is above all, the Self-Existent—he it is that has established perfect order among objects and beings from beginningless time." (Isha Upanishad verses 7, 8)
(So far, we have discussed "The Self is everywhere", "Bright is he", "Bodiless", "Without scar of imperfection", "Without bone, without flesh", "Pure", "Untouched by evil", "The Seer" and "The Thinker")
“The One who is above all”
There is nothing higher than the self, nothing beyond the self. What about God? God and the self being one, even God should not be thought of as beyond or above it. Further, Brahman is not a “thing” in a hierarchal chain of being that It could possibly be said to be “above” or “below” anything whatsoever.
This statement is extremely practical, for it is impossible to conduct a spiritual life without the correct perspective: the spirit is supreme. Not only is everything lesser that the spirit, in truth everything else is nothing in comparison. Those who do not hold this conviction really have no spiritual life in the truest sense. God First. God Alone. This is the only correct perspective.
“Devotees seek to know him by study, by sacrifice, by continence, by austerity, by detachment. To know him is to become a seer. Desiring to know him, and him alone, monks renounce the world. Realizing the glory of the Self, the sages of old craved not sons nor daughters. “What have we to do with sons and daughters,” they asked, “we who have known the Self, we who have achieved the supreme goal of existence?” No longer desiring progeny, nor wealth, nor life in other worlds, they entered upon the path of complete renunciation.” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4:4:22)
“The Self-Existent”
The spirit never had a beginning. It always was. Again, this does not mean that the atman is separate from Brahman, or in any way independent of Brahman. Brahman being self-existent and eternal, so also is the self. It is necessary for us to realize that NOTHING conditions or really affects the self–that it is absolutely independent of all objects, places, or conditions. Otherwise we fall into the labyrinth of confusion and false identities.
“He it is that has established perfect order among objects and beings from beginningless time”
Once again, the unity-identity of the individual self and the Supreme Self cause the Upanishadic rishi to make a statement that applies to both, although we are used to thinking only in terms of the Absolute Self. Really, hardly any of us–being conditioned by Western religion–actually believe that there is “perfect order among objects and beings from beginningless time” or at the present moment. This reminds me of an incident in the life of Sri Ma Anandamayi. One of those ever-present I Am Going To Make The World A Better Place types once remarked to her that he wanted to attain realization so he could work to make the world a perfect entity. Mother instantly replied: “Why do you think that it is not perfect right now?” And of course it is. It is a mess because we are entities that at the moment need to work our way through a mess! When we come to the point where order is what we need, we will be transferred to an orderly world. This one will remain as it is for those students of life who also need to find themselves in the midst of a mess. The world is a mirror of our mind.
“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” (Luke 18:11) We may like to be Pharisees who think we are not as those around us–but we are. Everything we see in this world is in our mind to some degree, otherwise we would not be here. If we do not like what we see, then we should change ourselves. (Remember the powerpoint presentation on The Window by Lisa Ji? We need to clean our view to see a better world) There is no other remedy, and there certainly is no escape from the necessity for change.
So it is we ourselves that have brought us into this world and provided for ourselves everything we need to evolve through reacting to and solving the problems set before us. A person who whines and pities himself does not learn and therefore is continually faced with the same situations. Have you ever known the kind of person that perpetually complains about being “let down” by others, or those that have a list of people or situations that “hurt” or cheated them? They are simply slow learners that deserve no pity, for they are doing it all to themselves. Every day Theravada Buddhists monks recite verses of wisdom, some of which say: “I have nothing but my actions; I shall never have anything but my actions.” There it is. Being lazy, cowardly, and egotistical, we hate these truths. But they are the truth and until we face them we will keep on whirling and whining, blaming God, the universe, and everybody else but the real culprit: ourselves. (Note I say “ourselves,” not “our selves.”) Cosmic Destiny is determined by each one of us. God simply has nothing to do with it except for providing us the environment in which we can work out our will. We can see from this that a lot of petitionary prayer and “surrender to the divine will” is idiotic and gets us nowhere. The day we start taking full–and exclusive–responsibility for our past, present, and future is the day we will begin moving toward real perfection.
(… to be continued)
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ध्यायतो विषयान् पुंसः संगस्तेषूपजायते । संगात्सञ्जायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥
क्रोधाद् भवति सम्मोहः सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः । स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति ॥
ध्यायत ईश्वरं पुंसः संगस्तेषूपजायते । संगात्सञ्जायते प्रेमः प्रेमात्करुणोपजायते ॥
करुणाद्भवति निर्मोहोनिर्मोहात्स्मृतिरागमः । स्मृतिवृध्याद्बुद्धिशुद्धिः धीशुध्याद् विमुच्यते ॥
Prabesh Lohani
Perspective on Life
The Full (Purna) picture
“To darkness are they doomed who devote themselves only to life in the world, and to a greater darkness they who devote themselves only to meditation. Life in the world alone leads to one result, meditation alone leads to another. So have we heard from the wise. They who devote themselves both to life in the world and to meditation, by life in the world overcome death, and by meditation achieve immortality.” (Isha Upanishad verses 9-11)
Wise teachers have pointed out that even though non-duality is the actual state of things, in our present condition of being netted in Maya we need to know that all is one but live as though duality is also real. The world may not be ultimately real, but we need to work through the puzzles presented to us by relative experience. Two serious errors can be committed by the thoughtful aspirant: 1) the conclusion that since “none of it is real” nothing really matters and there is no need for spiritual endeavor; and 2) the conclusion that since only the spiritual is real we should ignore the external and the material aspects of life and put all our attention on the inner spiritual side of life. But right there the error is uncovered, for the spiritual is only a “side” of life–as is the material–and together they make the two-sided whole. Or we can look at it in an even better and truer way: the material is the spiritual and therefore demands and deserves our full attention as well as the obviously spiritual aspects of life. This is the meaning of the Vedic verse beginning purnamadah purnamidam:
That is the Full, this is the Full.
The Full has come out of the Full.
If we take the Full from the Full
It is the Full that yet remains.
The two are really–and always–the One. To reject or turn from one is to reject and turn from the All. It cannot be without meaning that the bases of Sanatana Dharma–the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Brahma Sutras–were written by sages who lived fully in the world with families and their attendant responsibilities, including that of making a livelihood. Of course it was the Satya Yuga then, and earthly life was very different from life in our present age. Nevertheless, those who like to excuse themselves from striving for self-realization by citing their involvement in “the world” and worldly responsibilities should consider the historical facts. (And anyway, where exactly do they think the monastics are living?)
From darkness to greater darkness
“To darkness are they doomed who devote themselves only to life in the world, and to a greater darkness they who devote themselves only to meditation.”
The Purna, the Full (it also means the Complete) is one, yet it is dual. This makes no sense, but considering the limitation of our intellects that should be no surprise. It is our intuition that must come into function when we begin dealing with these higher spheres of reality. We, too, are dual, being image-replicas of the Divine Archetype. Just as God is both relative and absolute, both immanent and transcendent, so are we on a miniature scale. We, too, then, must learn to function fully in both spheres, for since they are essentially one, if we do not so function we will be partial, incomplete, and therefore faulty rather than perfect–which originally meant to be complete rather than without fault. (“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Mathew 5:48)
One of the fundamental errors of dualistic religion–Christianity in particular–is its setting of the material against the spiritual and thereby insisting that the material must be rejected and the spiritual alone embraced. This produces deep spiritual psychosis, for it is simply impossible to do and also involves a rejection of an eternal part of ourselves (and God). Sanatana Dharma in contrast makes it clear that the two are really one and must both be cultivated–according to the principles of dharma, of course–for us to attain the consciousness of perfect unity in ourselves and in God. Those who “devote themselves only to life in the world” become sunk in the limitations of materiality and addicted to its vagaries. Egoism and intense selfishness and exploitation of both the world and those living in it with us can be the sole result of such a limited focus. Having only a perspective of mortality, the higher nature of the individual is suppressed to give free rein to the “dog-eat-dog, every-man-for-himself” attitude that must arise from preoccupation with external existence. Having no idea of the true nature of either the world, ourselves, or our fellow human beings, only chaos and destruction can come to us.
On the other hand, those “who devote themselves only to meditation” or abstract philosophizing to the exclusion of material considerations and practical living, come to a worse result: complete psychological disintegration (literally) and alienation from any form of reality. Hypocrisy also results, because to even eat and drink is to admit the necessity of physicality, and that food must come from somewhere, so dependence on “the ignorant and astray” becomes necessary. It reminds me of a cartoon I saw years ago in an emigre Russian newspaper just after the United States had supplied the Soviet Union with incredibly huge amounts of grain and saved their economy and the life of millions. Two old ladies were sweeping the street in Red Square. One was saying to the other: “It is good we did not kill all the Capitalists; otherwise we would have starved to death.” How can a person justify living off those whose earthly involvement they despise and condemn? The Bhagavad Gita discusses this matter thoroughly and points out the folly of the “spirituals” who pretend to have transcended worldly concerns.
We must function in both matter and spirit. Both elements must be integrated through the following of dharma to complete the picture and solve the evolutionary puzzle. The material must be spiritualized and the spiritual must be materialized in the sense of making both practical and beneficial to one another. In this endeavor the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita are indispensable, for: “Life in the world alone leads to one result, meditation alone leads to another. So have we heard from the wise.” (Isha Upanishad verse 10)
Prabesh Lohani
(... continued)
From death to immortality
“They who devote themselves both to life in the world and to meditation, by life in the world overcome death, and by meditation achieve immortality.” (Isha Upanishad verse 11)
Life is not just some maze to be somehow gotten through, or a Monopoly board with random advances and regressions–and there is certainly no Get Out of Jail Free! Rather, life demands the fullest exercise of the two faculties that mark human beings out from the rest of earthly life-forms: developed reason and intuition. Intelligence of the highest order is necessary. This does not mean that the aspirant needs to be an “intellectual,” but he must be intelligent. Stupid people simply do not make it–mostly because stupid people never seek it. Nor can the seeker’s intelligence be kept on the shelf for only occasional use and amusement. At all times the yogi must be keenly aware of what is going on in his life sphere and ever seeking to understand and work out the mystery. As already said, he needs highly developed intuition as well. Both these are only produced by meditation. This is because both intelligence and intuition (direct knowledge) are divine attributes. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna declares himself to be intelligence (7:10; 10:34) and the knowledge of the mystic (9:12). In the Katha Upanishad Brahman is said to be the “intelligence of the intelligent,” and in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad the sage Gargya says: “The being who dwells in the heart as intelligence–him I meditate upon as Brahman.” I am not speaking of cunning or cleverness or “savvy;” many stupid–and most evil–people possess them. I am speaking of the intelligence which only arises in those who are of highly evolved consciousness.
It is those who possess right intelligence and right intuition that can live both the inner and outer lives simultaneously–not first one and then the other in alternating cycles–in a spiritually productive (i.e., evolutionary) manner. By doing so they will accomplish two things. One: they will come to understand the real meaning and purpose of all they experience and do and thereby learn the lessons for which they came into relative existence. Two: they will come to experience (not just intellectually think) that the two are really one, manifestations of the One. Having seen the One in all, they have attained immortality even in this mortal life.
A final point. Notice that the Upanishadic sage speak of being devoted to the outer and inner lives. This means steadiness and regularity in practice as well as adamant adherence to the required disciplines such as yama and niyama. But most important it means wanting, even loving, to lead the outer and inner lives according to the precepts of dharma. There is no place here for grudging admittance of necessity, of stingy eking out of the barest minimum that is required, grumbling and resenting and wishing it need not be so. Such persons should not even try. They are not just losers, they are losses.
See the perspective of a Christ! Crucifixion was the most horrible of deaths, yet according to Saint Paul: “Jesus… for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.” (Hebrews 12:2) What a different perspective from the morbid and sentimental carryings-on over the passion of Jesus that Christians engage in.
Loving the world and the body that links them to the world, nothing seems to them more painful or tragic than the torture and death of that idol. But Jesus hastened to the mockery, the scourging, and the crucifixion for the joy that was set before him. Not wonder he has been misunderstood and rejected through the ages by those who bear his name.
Reinforcing the idea
“To darkness are they doomed who worship only the body, and to greater darkness they who worship only the spirit. Worship of the body alone leads to one result, worship of the spirit leads to another. So have we heard from the wise. They who worship both the body and the spirit, by the body overcome death, and by the spirit achieve immortality.” (Isha Upanishad verse 12-14)
The basic idea of these verses has already been covered, but we should notice the use of the word “worship.” We are used to thinking of worship only in relation to God, but it comes from an older form, worthship, which meant to acknowledge the value and significance of something. Therefore Swami Prabhavananda was wise in selecting this word for his translation.
The lesson here is the need to value both body and spirit. I know that Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other,” (Matthew 6:24) but we are striving to be not men but gods, so we are going to have to manage it. And anyhow, we are not interesting in serving the body or the spirit but in mastering them.
The body is the instrument of evolution, so to despise and neglect it under the guise of spirituality is foolish. Any machine that malfunctions should be repaired, not despised and tossed away, the body included. Also, hidden within the body are many doorways to higher consciousness. Therefore the body must be worked on to become the evolutionary device it is intended to be. The first step is purification, and that includes two major factors: celibacy and vegetarian diet. There is no getting around it.
Just take a look at those who are not purifying themselves in these two ways and you will have proof enough. All the rationalizing and mind-gaming in the world cannot contravene the truth: brahmacharya (continence) and ahimsa (non-killing), are absolute essentials for those who seek higher consciousness. Let us take a look at what the Chandogya Upanishad tells us about food.
“Food when eaten becomes threefold. What is coarsest in it becomes faeces, what is medium becomes flesh and what is subtlest becomes mind. Water when drunk becomes threefold. What is coarsest in it becomes urine, what is medium becomes blood and what is subtlest becomes prana. The mind, my dear, consists of food, the prana of water.” (Chandogya Upanishad 5:5:1, 2, 4)
“That, my dear, which is the subtlest part of curds rises, when they are churned and becomes butter. In the same manner, my dear, that which is the subtlest part of the food that is eaten rises and becomes mind. The subtlest part of the water that is drunk rises and becomes prana. Thus, my dear, the mind consists of food, the prana consists of water.” (Chandogya Upanishad 6:6:1-3, 5)
Body and mind come from the food we eat. Thus our food must be both as pure as possible and also blessed by being offered to God. And the conduct of the body must be as pure as possible and its deeds worthy of being offered to God. Action and thought determine the quality of body and mind. Ethics and good thoughts are also essential, but purity of body and mind is the crown jewel. Through these means both body and spirit are truly worshipped and immortality is gained.
Prabesh Lohani
Seeing Beyond the Sun
Upanishadic tradition
The final four verses of the Isha Upanishad are recited at the cremation of bodies in India, and are a prayer for ascension to the higher realms that are beyond the compulsion of rebirth in this world. These deal mainly with the sun. Throughout history and throughout the world the sun has been worshipped or considered a symbol of divinity. The full comprehension of the spiritual nature of the sun was discovered in India untold ages ago and embodied in the Upanishads.
Light beyond the light
“The face of truth is hidden by thy golden orb, O Sun. That do thou remove, in order that I who am devoted to truth may behold its glory.” (Isha Upanishad verse 15)
The sun illumines us and shows us what we assume to be reality. But actually that “seeing” veils the Truth (Reality) behind that veil. Therefore we seek to pierce beyond it. However, the sun actually is that Reality, and we must approach it and petition for the removal of its outer light in order that we may behold its inner Light. (More on this later.)
The golden orb
The “golden orb” has more than one meaning, all of which are significant.
1) The most obvious meaning of the golden orb is the sun itself. All plant, animal, and human life on this planet depend upon the sun. It is the subtle powers of sunlight which stimulate growth and evolution. Sunlight particularly stimulates the activity of the higher centers in the brain, especially that of the pineal gland. Even in the depths of the earth a sensitive man can tell when the sun rises and sets above him. The sun appears to illuminate us, but it is a light that covers the Light in order to lead us to the Light. We must use it to go beyond it.
2) All things have an inner and outer life, and that includes the sun. We may say that there is the outer sun of the material universe, and there is also the metaphysical sun of the psychic universe. They operate simultaneously, being the same thing. The sun truly awakens us in the deepest sense. As the germinating seed struggles upward toward the sun and out into its life-giving rays, so all higher forms of life reach out for the sun, which acts as a metaphysical magnet, drawing them upward and outward toward ever-expanding consciousness. The Chandogya Upanishad discusses it in this way: “Even as a great extending highway runs between two villages, this one and that yonder, even so the rays of the sun go to both these worlds, this one and that yonder. They start from the yonder sun and enter into the nadis. They start from the nadis and enter into the yonder sun.…When a man departs from this body, then he goes upwards by these very rays or he goes up with the thought of Om. As his mind is failing, he goes to the sun. That, verily, is the gateway of the world, an entering in for the knowers, a shutting out for the non-knowers.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8.6.2, 5)
The solar rays do not just flow into this world, they also draw upward through the sun and beyond. In the human body the process of exhalation and inhalation is related to solar energy, and much of the solar power on which we subsist is drawn into the body through our breathing. The solar rays do not just strike the surface of our body, but actually penetrate into the physical nerves (nadis). The nadis are also the channels in the astral body that correspond to the physical nerves. Just as the electrical impulses flow through the physical nerves, the subtle life force, or prana, flows through the subtle nadis and keeps us alive and functioning. The prana, then, is a vehicle for the solar energies that produce evolution.
When the individual comes into manifestation on this earth he passes from the astral world into the material plane by means of the sun, which is a mass of exploding astral energies, not mere flaming gases. And when the individual has completed his course of evolution within this plane, upon the death of his body he rises upward in his subtle body and passes through the sun into the higher worlds, there to evolve even higher or to pass directly into the depths of the transcendent Brahman.
3) The golden orb is also the entire creation, the means by which through experience the individual spirits can evolve to perfect conscious union with God. Without it we would be unable to attain that union. Yet, just as we use a ladder or stair to ascend and then step beyond it, in the same way the creation is meant to be eventually transcended. We must therefore keep both these aspects in mind while living in this world.
4) The golden orb is also our own mind–that which perceives the world around us and the intelligence which comprehends what is going on and directs our lives accordingly. Potential is not enough; there must be actualization. It is our mind alone that can lead us beyond the mind, our intelligence alone that can lead us onward to intuition. At all stages the mind and intelligence are “golden,” but if we allow ourselves to become stagnated at any point they rapidly “tarnish” and turn from beneficial to harmful. Immersed in this creation, we are like the fish that must keep perpetually moving for they will die of suffocation if they come to a standstill. If we do not move forward we shall move backward–and often mistake it for progress. We must Get On and Get Beyond.
5) Our own self (atman) is also the golden orb. We must come to know our self–our true self–and delight in the self and wonder at its nature. But that is not enough. We must then pass onward to experience the Self of our self, the Paramatman. In a sense we transcend the self–but of course we do not, since the Supreme Self and our individual self are one. This transcendence must ever be kept in mind, for out of ignorance and even laziness a lot of people like the idea that we need only enter into the experience of our self and that is the end. The same wrong-headed view abrogates the need for our evolution and assumes that if we must smash the machine we will get the picture–or even worse, that there is no picture to see or even a seer to see it. However cleverly this view may be worded or how sophisticated it appears, it is nihilism of the deadliest sort, a ruinous pitfall.
6) The golden orb is also the evolutionary impulse within all things which, though life itself to the evolving spirit, yet urges us to continual transcendence of its various stages until we transcend it as well. It is a golden stair that urges us onward to the heights where it cannot come.
(to be continued...)
Prabesh Lohani
The Supreme Sun
The ultimate Golden Orb is the Supreme Self. That is what we are striving toward by the five means just cited. Being transcendent, how shall we reach it? By means of Its immanence within the world in the form of the sacred syllable Om, the Pranava, the Life-giver.
“That which glows [i.e., the sun] is Om,” says the ancient Aitareya-Brahmana (5.32). The life-producing energies of the sun are the energies of Om. Om is the sun of body, mind, and spirit, the Life-Giver of all. All plant, animal, and human life on this planet depends upon the sun. It is the subtle powers of sunlight which stimulate growth and evolution, awakening us in the deepest sense. Sunlight is the radiant form of Om. The sun initiates the entire solar system into Om. Human beings are solar creatures, therefore to intone Om is the most natural thing they can do.
“Now, verily, what is the udgitha is the Om. What is Om is the udgitha. And so verily, the udgitha is the yonder sun and the Om, for the sun is continually sounding ‘Om.’” (Chandogya Upanishad 1.5.1) The most significant part of this verse is the statement that “the sun is continually sounding ‘Om,’” indicating that the evolutionary energy of the sun is a manifestation of Om. Our life depends on the light of the sun, thus our life is also a manifestation of the power of Om. The japa and meditation of Om aligns us with the solar powers that are Om and thereby greatly increase our life force and the evolution of all the levels of our being.
“Even as a great extending highway runs between two villages, this one and that yonder, even so the rays of the sun go to both these worlds, this one and that yonder. They start from the yonder sun and enter into the nadis [astral “nerves”]. They start from the nadis and enter into the yonder sun.…When a man departs from this body, then he goes upwards by these very rays or he goes up with the thought of Om. As his mind is failing, he goes to the sun. That, verily, is the gateway of the world, an entering in for the knowers, a shutting out for the non-knowers.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8.6.2,5) We have already cited this, but there are more meanings for us to explore. The prana, the breath, is a vehicle for the solar energies that produce evolution, and so we join Om to our breathing and merge it into the pranic flow. This practice conditions our subtle levels so that at the time of death we will be oriented toward the solar powers and can ascend upon them–especially if we continue our intonations of Om even after the body has been dropped. Those intonations will guarantee our ascent into the solar world. Those who have imbued themselves with the Pranavic vibrations will enter through the solar gate, whereas those who have not done so will be shut out by it and compelled to return to earthly rebirth.
“By means of Om he [the meditating yogi] sees the way, the way along which his prana goes; therefore one should always repeat It so that he goes along the right way: through the heart-gate, the air-gate, the gate which leads upward, and the opening of the gate of liberation which is known as the open orb [the sun.].” (Amritabindu Upanishad 25, 26) Those who continually invoke and meditate upon Om during their lifetime will remember Om at the time of death, and by means of Om will ascend to the sun and beyond into the real Beyond.
“‘It is said: ‘Indeed the sun is this Om;’ therefore one should meditate and make himself ready to unite himself with it.” (Maitrayana Upanishad 6:3) Sunlight is the radiant form of Om. The sun initiates the entire solar system into Om. Human beings are solar creatures, therefore to intone Om is the most natural things they can do.
“At the time of departure from this world, remember Om, the Lord, the Protector” says the Yajur Veda (40:15). Krishna states in the Bhagavad Gita: “At the hour of death, when a man leaves his body, he must depart with his consciousness absorbed in Me. Then he will be united with Me. Be certain of that. Whatever a man remembers at the last, when he is leaving the body, will be realized by him in the hereafter; because that will be what his mind has most constantly dwelt on, during this life. Therefore you must remember Me at all times, and do your duty. If your mind and heart are set upon Me constantly, you will come to Me. Never doubt this. Make a habit of practicing meditation, and do not let your mind be distracted. In this way you will come finally to the Lord, Who is the light-giver, the highest of the high.” (Bhagavad Gita 8:5-10) Whatever we think of most during life we will think of at the time of our death, and that will determine our subsequent state. Those who continually invoke and meditate upon Om during their lifetime will remember Om at the time of death, and by means of Om will ascend to the sun and beyond into the real Beyond.
Prabesh Lohani
(... continued)
Qualified seers
Simply wanting a thing does not make it happen or come to us. In the same way, spiritual daydreaming is fruitless. Therefore, he who petitions for the removal of the golden orb describes himself as “I who am devoted to truth.” He is one who wishes to pass from the unreal to the Real, to no longer live in the magic of Maya, but to move onward to the Reality behind all appearance. And he does not just seek truth or think about it–he is devoted to truth. Only those “may behold its glory.”
Stop! so I may Go
“O nourisher, only seer, controller of all—O illumining Sun, fountain of life for all creatures–withhold thy light, gather together thy rays. May I behold through thy grace thy most blessed form. The Being that dwells therein even that Being am I.” (Isha Upanishad verse 16)
In Indian philosophy God is often thought of as Mother. This verse bears that out, speaking of the divine as the Nourisher of all beings, the Fountain of Life. God the Mother is frequently addressed in Sanskrit hymns as Jagata Janani, Jagata Palani–the Birthgiver and Nourisher of the world (jagat). In Eastern Christianity, one title given to the Virgin Mother Mary is “Life-giving Spring.” God is also the Seer of All, the Ruler of All, as this verse indicates.
The petitioner then makes an interesting request: “Withhold thy light, gather together thy rays.” How is this? Why does he not ask that the light should flood down upon him? Because the “light” he is speaking of is not the Absolute Light, but the light of relative existence which by its nature veils that Ultimate Light. He asks, then, that God withdraw the light of temporality in order that he might behold and enter into the Light of Eternity.
This has a yogic aspect, as well. We must withdraw all the scattered “rays” of our energies and awareness and unite them to our inmost consciousness. We must gather up that which is dispersed and fragmented and restore our original state of unity. Meditation is the only way this can be accomplished.
The vision
“May I behold through thy grace thy most blessed form.” Two questions arise (or should arise) at these words. What is the grace of God? What is the form of God?
The grace of God is not some kind of favor or “goodie” dropped into our lap by God. Nor is grace something occasionally dispensed by God as a special token to the chosen. All that exists–either relatively or absolutely–is the grace of God. There is nothing that is not the grace of God. If we like, we may say that the grace of God is the Divine Plan for our liberation. And the creation, gross and subtle, is the means for the realization of that Plan, and is itself Grace Divine. So to petition God for grace is as silly as fish in the ocean praying for water. It is inseparable from us! The grace through which we behold God is the great onward movement initiated by God at the inception of the cosmos.
The Form of God is not a form such as that experienced in relative existence, but is the Substance, the Light, from which all forms arise. It can be said to be formless, and yet all forms exist within it eternally. As Sri Ma Anandamayi frequently said: “Nothing is lost There.” The Form “of” God IS God.
When we see God we also see ourselves in God and can then declare: “The Being that dwells therein even that Being am I.”
“Then Satyakama, son of Shibi, asked him [the Rishi Pippalada]: ‘Venerable Sir, what world does he who meditates on Om until the end of his life, win by That?’ To him, he said: ‘That which is the sound Om, O Satyakama, is verily the higher and the lower Brahman. Therefore, with this support alone does the wise man reach the one or the other.’…If he meditates on the Supreme Being [Parampurusha] with the Syllable Om, he becomes one with the Light, the Sun. He is led to the world of Brahman. He sees the Person that dwells in the body, Who is higher than the highest life.…That the wise one attains, even by the mere sound Om as support, That Which is tranquil, unaging, immortal, fearless, and supreme.” (Prashna Upanishad 5:1, 2, 5, 7)
Om Namo Bhagawate Ramakrishnaya Om
Prabesh Lohani
The Final Aspiration
The poet Browning wrote of “the end of life for which the first was made.” That is a lovely expression, but very few really believe it and therefore rarely think of their life’s end. Those of us who seek liberation must from the very beginning be looking toward the end we desire. In the next to the last verse at the close of the Isha Upanishad we are given the perspective we should be living with every moment of our life if we would truly “come to a good end.”
Now
“Let my life now merge in the all-pervading life. Ashes are my body’s end. OM….O mind, remember Brahman. O mind, remember thy past deeds. Remember Brahman. Remember thy past deeds.” (Isha Upanishad verse 17)
Emily Dickenson wrote: “While others hope to go to heaven at last, I am going all along!” This is the only way for those who would succeed in spiritual life. Nothing should be delayed for the future–it is all now or not at all. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2)
There are many partially awakened people who know that God is the only real goal. Yet they delay their endeavor. “After I get this,” they say, “then I will really dig in and seek God.” But they never do, for as soon as one little short-term goal is reached another arises that seems even more demanding. I know a woman that claimed she would intensely seek God the day after her only child graduated from high school. But then it became after his graduating from college. Then after he was married and “really settled down.” Death found her anticipating still another “after which,” but it was all over. And by her foolishness she had created in her mind the habit of postponing spiritual life, a habit that will surely carry over into the next life and perhaps into others.
How often do we think that the vision of God will somehow interfere with our life– when in reality we have no life outside that vision. Silly children, we dawdle and dally until the night falls, that “night in which no man can work” (John 9:4) which Jesus warned us about. “Now or never” happens to be the simple truth (I can envision Swami Vivekananda telling this to us, with his bright, wide eyes and fingers pointed upward – “arise, awake, and realize the truth right now, there is no tomorrow”. Also remember Ravana’s advise to Laxman during the dusk of his life).
Merging in Life
Many people want to “embrace life” so they can egocentrically possess it and exploit it to the full. But they have no idea what life is. Just the opposite, for what they think is life is really death. “The all-pervading life” is the only life, for that is God. And the necessity is not to find or see God as an object (again, to possess), but to merge with God in complete unity-identity. That is, our consciousness must be completely merged in the infinite Consciousness, and irrevocably so. Just as a cup of water poured into the ocean cannot be drawn back out of the ocean, so we need to attain that state of unity which can never be reversed. Many yogis paddle their feet or go for a quick dip in the ocean of Satchidananda, but the goal is to unite with that ocean, to merge in it and become totally one with it. Consequently at every moment of our life we must be holding in mind and living out the sankalpa: “Let my life now merge in the all pervading life.”
Those who are unfit for union with God become all anxious and even fearful when they hear about merging with the Divine. “O! will I go out of existence?” they quaver (Alas, the only life worthy of living is the one that has been dedicated at the feet of the Lord) . “What will happen to me?” Over and over again they plunge headlong into the sea of rebirth, never raising such questions about relative existence, but “going for it” heedlessly. Only when confronted with God do they develop prudence and caution. Jesus has assured us, though: “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” (Luke 17:33) This is because we are truly negative–that is, we are absolutely backwards one hundred and eighty degrees. Consequently what we think will annihilate us will immortalize us, whereas what we think will make us live will destroy us.
Like the great master, Yogananda, we must pray: “Let me drown in Thine ocean and live!”
(to be continued...)
Prabesh Lohani
Understanding the destiny of the body
It is not a simple thing to rid ourselves of the conditioning of billions of lives wherein we identified completely with the body. Even when we have evolved enough to identify more with the mind and the spirit, still the body claims the majority of our attention–and attachment. It is completely reflexive with us, overriding any emotional or intellectual factors to the contrary. Therefore we must continually affirm in word, attitude, and act: “Ashes are my body’s end.” This will only seem painful or pessimistic if we are still identifying with the body. But if not, it will be as happy a statement as an affirmation that our prison is going to evaporate into dust.
We have died many times (or thought we did), but that did not free us at all. And in many lives we were no doubt cremated. Still, that accomplished nothing. Evidently there is a deeper meaning to the “ashes” that are the body’s end. It is the fire of wisdom that turns our “bodies” into ashes. Let us then be busy stoking the fires of yoga and getting on with the burning. Sadhus wear gerua, orange-red color, to remind them of the fire of discrimination and spirit-knowledge that must be perpetually burning in order to reduce all that impels us into embodiment to the ashes of freedom.
“Flying from fear, from lust and anger, he hides in me his refuge, his safety: burnt clean in the blaze of my being, in me many find home.” (Bhagavad Gita 4:10)
“The blazing fire turns wood to ashes: the fire of knowledge turns all karmas to ashes.” (Bhagavad Gita 4:37)
When the “bridges” of all bodies, subtle and gross, have been burned in the holy fires, then we will pass on into the kingdom of Infinity that is our eternal birthright.
Remember!
How to kindle the ignorance-consuming fire? The Upanishadic sage continues: “O mind, remember Brahman. O mind, remember thy past deeds. Remember Brahman. Remember thy past deeds.”
“Remember Brahman” is extremely easy to say, but how is it done? The Upanishads do not waste our time, but go straight to the mark, saying:
“I will tell you briefly of that Goal which all the Vedas with one voice propound, which all the austerities speak of, and wishing for Which people practice discipline: It is Om.” (Katha Upanishad 1. 2.15-17)
“Om is the Supreme Brahman.” (Svetasvatara Upanishad 1:7)
“God is the Syllable Om.” (Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:17)
“Om is Brahman, the Primeval Being.” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.1.1)
“That [Om] is the quintessence of the essences, the Supreme, the highest.” (Chandogya Upanishad 1.1.3)
“Om is Brahman.” (Taittiriya Upanishad 1.8.1)
After the battle of Kurukshetra, before which he had spoken the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna again spoke to Arjuna at length. In that conversation he told him: “The gods, rishis, and the nagas, and the asuras, approaching Prajapati [the Creator], said to Him: ‘Tell us the highest good.’ To them who were inquiring about the highest good, the Venerable One said, ‘Om, which is Brahman in a single Syllable.’” (Anugita XI)
“The monosyllable Om is the highest Brahman,” (Manu Smriti
2:83, 87) said the sage Manu, and Patanjali summed it all up by simply saying:
“Its repetition and meditation is the way.” (Yoga Sutras 1:28) (Is OM Brahma itself, or is it a representation? I read somewhere (I don't remember where), that OM is the closest representation of the absolute, attributeless Brahma. Please give your feedback on this.
To remember Brahman we engage in the japa and meditation of Om–simple and direct.
“One should meditate on this Syllable [Om].” (Chandogya Upanishad 1.1.1)
“This [Om] is the best means [of attainment and realization]; this means is the Higher and Lesser Brahman. Meditating on Om, one becomes worthy of worship in the world of Brahman.” (Katha Upanishad 1. 2.15-17)
“The Self [atman] is of the nature of the Syllable Om. Thus the Syllable Om is the very Self. He who knows It thus enters the Self [Supreme Spirit] with his self [individual spirit].” (Mandukya Upanishad 1.8.12)
“Taking as the bow the great weapon of the Upanishads [Om], one should place in It the arrow sharpened by meditation. Drawing It with a mind engaged in the contemplation of That [Brahman], O beloved, know that Imperishable Brahman as the target. The Syllable Om is the bow: one’s self, indeed, is the arrow. Brahman is spoken of as the target of that. It is to be hit without making a mistake. Thus one becomes united with it [Brahman] as the arrow becomes one with the target. He in Whom the sky, the earth, and the interspace are woven, as also the mind along with all the pranas, know Him alone as the one Self. Dismiss other utterances. This [Om] is the bridge to immortality. Meditate on Om as the Self. May you be successful in crossing over to the farther shore of darkness.” (Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.3-6)
“Then Satyakama, son of Shibi, asked him [the Rishi Pippalada]: ‘Venerable Sir, what world does he who meditates on Om until the end of his life, win by That?’ To him, he said: ‘If he meditates on the Supreme Being [Parampurusha] with the Syllable Om, he becomes one with the Light, the Sun. He is led to the world of Brahman. He sees the Person that dwells in the body, Who is higher than the highest life.…That the wise one attains, even by the mere sound Om as support, That Which is tranquil, unaging, immortal, fearless, and supreme.” (Prashna Upanishad 5:1,5,7)
“The knower of the real nature of Brahman that is identical with the Pranava, should cross all the formidable streams [of samsara] with the ferryboat of the Pranava.” (Svetasvatara Upanishad 2:6)
“He who utters Om with the intention ‘I shall attain Brahman’ does verily attain Brahman.” (Taittiriya Upanishad 1.8.1)
Alternating remembrance
The thorough practicality and good sense of dharma is one of its most striking features: it works. And it works very well. So it is meaningful that the Upanishads tells us to remember Brahman, then remember our own past deeds, then remember Brahman, and then remember our own past deeds in a kind of alternating current. This is to keep us from falling into two serious errors: 1) being so focused on the “spiritual” that we do not pay attention to what is really going on with us, and 2) becoming so obsessed with ourselves that we utterly leave God out of the picture. Patanjali lists swadhyaya– introspective self-study–as an essential ingredient of yoga practice. (Also Self introspection as taught by Bhagawan Raman Maharshi) Yet this self-study must be done in the greater context of divine consciousness: “In thy light shall we see light” (Psalms 36:9) Only in the divine light can we see things as they really are.
So we should meditate on Brahman through Om, and outside of meditation we should look at our past, comparing our past deeds and our past states of mind with our present deeds and mental condition. This will reveal to us whether we are truly progressing or not. I knew a woman who sincerely believed that God was appearing to her in meditation and talking to her so sweetly, making her feel so holy and pure. Then she would come out of meditation and be unspeakably cruel to her daughter, both physically and mentally. In meditation she was an angel, but outside of meditation she was a devil. Wrong meditation gives us a wrong image of ourselves, but right meditation shows us the truth about both God and ourselves.
Of course we have to have a correct memory of our past. Many people are so blinded to the truth about themselves that when they learn to meditate they start saying: “My mind used to be calm, but it has gotten so restless,” or: “I used to be a nice person, but now I am just a wreck and falling apart.” The reality is that their mind was always restless, but not being introspective they did not realize it. They were also a complete ruin, mentally and spiritually, but they had no eyes with which to see it. Now they do, and they foolishly blame meditation. On the other hand, people who are practicing a wrong form of meditation (or a right form wrongly) do become increasingly restless and increasingly negative. I know of several kinds of meditation that really do bring about the mental and spiritual disintegration of those who practice them, and often the physical degeneration, as well. But those who meditate according to the teachings of the Upanishads will have no problem.
parameswaran ramaswamy
| Dear Prabhuji/Devotees, Nameshkar, In addition to reason which you highlighted for people not constantly aiming towards the final aspiration , the following are also the reasons. People in both Seimetic religions like Christianity, Islam and non Seimetic religions like Hinduism and Buddhism abuses the Law of Karma. In Seimetic religions , since there is no re-birth concept , some people justify themselves for not aiming for final aspiration by saying that there is only one life and hence enjoy the life. Thus they justify their indulgence . In the same way, in non seimetic religion like ours, we justify ourselves by saying that since it will take janmas for us to realize the Truth, let us enjoy now. Thus we abuse by taking the Law of Karma , the continuity of birth and death, as shelter for our present indulgence. Thanks with regards, R. Parameswaran. --- On Tue, 3/10/09, Prabesh Lohani <prabes...@gmail.com> wrote: |
Bharat Churiwala
Once again you have proved that Devotees of Holy Trio is really evolved into TRULY SPIRITUAL GROUP and DEVOTEE MEMBERS OF THIS GROUP are really enlightened people.
What a wonderful explanation of LAW OF KARMA and ITS ABUSE BY PEOPLE OF ALL RELIGIONS!!!!!
I will also like to add one more point in this regard, THERE IS A CONTINOUS MUSHROOMING (recently I heard a beautiful term of BARSAATI MEDHAK "RAINY FROGS" for them) OF "SO CALLED "DHARMA GURUS" WHO ARE NOT CAPABLE TO CONVEY OR EXPLAIN THIS VEDIC (MOST ANCIENT), & UNIVERSAL LAW OF KARMA, (MAINLY BECAUSE THEY THEMSELVES DO NOT KNOW ABOUT IT!!!!!
I also remember some saintly person explaining this LAW OF KARMA by comparing it with A BANK PASS BOOK or LEDGER.
As per this simile, THERE WILL BE A CREDIT BALANCE IF YOU DEPOSIT SOMETHING AND THERE WILL BE DEBIT ENTRY IF YOU WITHDRAW SOMETHING. THIS PASS BOOK DOESNT CLOSE EVEN WITH YOUR DEATH, BUT CONTINUES ETERNALLY!!!!
I will request you and other Devotees to comment on this aspect of LAW OF KARMA.
Bharat
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Prabesh Lohani
What a simple, very well written explanation! Almost everyone I have met has the same concept about life and enjoyment. Its really funny (and painful) to see everyone desiring for material enjoyment but in reality, they are suffering so much because of it. We are indeed fortunate and blessed to have a guide holding our hands and watching us step by step in our progress.
parameswaran ramaswamy
| Dear Prabhuji/Bharathji/Devotees, Nameshkar, Thanks for catching up the contents of what Isha Upanishad says. Even when a man is moving in the path of Self realization, he may have material desire and enjoyment because of the vasanas in which he is born. But where it makes the difference is at what strength one acts on existing desire. Knowing the Absolute Truth, and regular practice fo Jnana, bakthi, karma and dharana gives tremendous inner strength. Suppose person 'A' acts on desires which has with the above strength and person 'B' acts on strength of body, mind and intellect on the same |
--- On Thu, 3/12/09, Prabesh Lohani <prabes...@gmail.com> wrote: |
From: Prabesh Lohani <prabes...@gmail.com> |
parameswaran ramaswamy
| Dear Prabhuji/Bharathji/Devotees, Nameshkar, Sorry , while typing itself by mistake the mail was delivered without my completion this mail. Hence I am sending my completed reply. Thanks for catching up the contents of what Isha Upanishad says. One may have material desires even when he moves in the path of Self realization because of one's vasanas in which he is born. But where it makes the difference is at what strength one acts on existing desire. Knowing the Absolute Truth, and regular practice fo Jnana, bakthi, karma and dharana gives tremendous inner strength. Suppose person 'A' acts on desires which has with the above strength and person 'B' acts on strength of body, mind and intellect on the same quantity of desires, both may appear as if they are acting on desires but the mental status of above two persons would be different. Person 'A' will act on the desire and at the same time enjoy the presence or absence of that object without mental agitation. Person 'B' will act on the same desire and enjoy the object depending upon its presence or absence with mental agitation. What makes the difference is the STRENGTH IN WHICH ONE ACTS. You can observe from the above what makes the difference is not the desire but the strength in which one acts. Thanks with regards, R. Parameswaran |
--- On Thu, 3/12/09, Prabesh Lohani <prabes...@gmail.com> wrote: |
From: Prabesh Lohani <prabes...@gmail.com> |
parameswaran ramaswamy
Dear Prabhuji/Bharathji/Devotees, Nameshkar, Sorry , while typing itself by mistake the mail was delivered without my completion this mail. Hence I am sending my completed reply. Thanks for catching up the contents of what Isha Upanishad says. One may have material desires even when he moves in the path of Self realization because of one's vasanas in which he is born. But where it makes the difference is at what strength one acts on existing desire. Knowing the Absolute Truth, and regular practice fo Jnana, bakthi, karma and dharana gives tremendous inner strength. Suppose person 'A' acts on desires with the above strength and person 'B' acts on strength of body, mind and intellect on the same quantity of desires, both may appear as if they are acting on desires but the mental status of above two persons would be different. Person 'A' will act on the desire and at the same time enjoy the presence or absence of that object without mental agitation. Person 'B' will act on the same desire and enjoy the object depending upon its presence or absence with mental agitation. What makes the difference is the STRENGTH IN WHICH ONE ACTS. You can observe from the above what makes the difference is not the desire but the strength in which one acts. |
Thanks with regards, R. Parameswaran --- On Thu, 3/12/09, Prabesh Lohani <prabes...@gmail.com> wrote: |
From: Prabesh Lohani <prabes...@gmail.com> |
Prabesh Lohani
The Inner Fire
Because bodies are cremated in India, the final verse of the Isha Upanishad addressed to Agni (Fire) is recited when the crematory fire is lighted. But the Upanishadic rishis had a far more profound intention when they intoned:
“O god Agni, lead us to felicity. Thou knowest all our deeds. Preserve us from the deceitful attraction of sin. To thee we offer our salutations, again and yet again!” (Isha Upanishad verse 18)
Agni
The most prevalently venerated natural force throughout the history of humanity is the sun. The next is fire, which was considered a divine gift. Fire is a mystery. Throughout my schooling, from grade school to university, I asked many teachers: WHAT is fire? Nobody gave me any answer, much less an accurate-seeming one.
A friend of mine once pointed out an interesting fact about
fire. When people– especially young boys or girls–sit around an open fire, the
subject of the supernatural in some form or other usually comes up. Ghost
stories around the campfire are a staple of campers. How is this? My friend
said that it was because fire stimulates awareness of the unseen levels of
existence. Certainly this was the opinion in India where fire was considered a
channel of communication between this world and the subtle worlds. Long before
Christians were lighting candles in church to convey their prayers to Christ
and the saints, in India people were reciting prayers in the presence of fire
and making offerings into the fire, confident that the prayers and offerings
would be transferred by the fire to their intended recipients. Consider in our
own time how much attention and meaning is attached to the Olympic Flame–really
only a shadow of the original Greek fire. (This is very interesting subject. Could anyone give their opinion on this?)
Everything has multiple layers to its existence, one of which is ideational. That is, everything that exists is a thought in the divine mind. Consequently everything is both meaningful and symbolic. To the yogis of India fire became a most significant symbol, the symbol of the will of the yogi and the transforming power of yoga itself. So much so, that yoga practice came to be called tapasya–the generation of heat. In the twentieth century, Sri Aurobindo Ghosh wrote extensively on this subject, especially in relation to the yogic symbolism of the Vedic hymns.
Fire and meditation
In Vedic religion the fire rite, the Agnihotra or Havan, is the supreme ritual act. It is emblematic of the soul’s progression to divinity, and its elements and actions can be studied to reveal many secrets of esoteric life and unfoldment. The sacred fire is kindled by the friction of two wooden sticks called aranis or drills. This is an important symbol, for it is considered that the fire is latent in the wood until the friction causes it to manifest. In the same way, enlightenment is latent in the yogi, awaiting the right conditions to be provided for its manifestation.
“As the form of fire when latent in its source is not seen and yet its seed is not destroyed, but may be seized again and again in its source by means of the drill [a pointed stick whirled to produce fire for the Vedic sacrifices], so it is in both cases. The Self has to be seized in the body by means of the Syllable Om. By making one’s body the lower friction stick and the Syllable Om the upper friction stick, by practicing the friction of meditation one may see the hidden God, as it were.” (Svetasvatara Upanishad 1:13, 14) We are the lower arani, and Om is the upper arani. When they are brought together and made to interact with one another through the japa and meditation of Om, God is revealed to the meditator both within and without. The Hidden becomes manifest, and the Unseen becomes seen through Pranava Yoga. “Through Om the Lord is met face to face.” wrote Shankara in his commentary on the Yoga Sutras.
“Having made oneself the lower arani, and the Pranava the upper arani and rubbing them together through the practice of meditation, see the Lord in His hidden reality.” (Brahma Upanishad 4)
“Making the atman the lower arani and Om the upper arani, and practising the friction of meditation, one should apply himself to the best of his strength to the resonance of the sound of Omkara.” (Dhyanabindu Upanishad 22, 23)
“By making his own inner sense [i.e., awareness] the lower arani and the Pranava the upper arani, the accomplished adept completely burns up and reduces to ashes his ignorance of the atman.” (Kaivalya Upanishad 11)
We see from these upanishadic statements that fire represents meditation, the effects of meditation, and Om, “the Word that is God.” (Bhagavad Gita 7:8) With this in mind we can unravel the intentions of the rishis when they prayed: “O god Agni, lead us to felicity. Thou knowest all our deeds. Preserve us from the deceitful attraction of sin. To thee we offer our salutations, again and yet again!”
Lead us to felicity
Spiritual practice and the will to practice must go together. Knowing what to do, but having no interest to do it will get us nowhere. At the same time, wanting to succeed and not knowing how is equally useless. But put the two together for the necessary time, and all benefit will be ours. Agni represents the radiance of our self and of God as well as that which is produced by sadhana practice. These three fires will light our way to blessedness. But their combined effect will not just show us the way, it will lead us along the way, illumining our heart and minds with the requisite wisdom for spiritual attainment. It will also draw us along the path, but only in the degree that we are actively walking the path. This is indicated in the Song of Solomon when he prays: “Draw me, we will run after thee.” (Song of Solomon 1:4) Both God and man must actively “seek” each other. It is said in India: “When someone chooses God you can know that God has chosen them.” The liberating power we call Agni is the result of these two forces meeting and combining with one another.
Thou knowest all our deeds
After one of his classes on the Narada Bhakti Sutras, Swami Prabhavananda was asked how a person could avoid spiritual pride. His answer was remarkable: You cannot develop spiritual pride if your spiritual practice is correct, for you see yourself correctly and can neither fall into pride or despair (What a beautiful thought). This is certainly true. The light of tapasya reveals all about ourselves we need to know. Self-knowledge, even if fragmentary or dim at the beginning, is an immediate fruit of right meditation, and will in time develop into the full light of spiritual “day.” The Eastern Orthodox hymn to Saint Nicholas begins: “The truth of things revealed thee….” This is profoundly true. When we begin approaching the Real, the Truth becomes revealed, both the Truth of God and the truth of us.
Preserve us from the deceitful attraction of sin
Understanding the nature and consequences of our deeds, we will learn how to truly live as Krishna outlined in the Bhagavad Gita, especially the second chapter. At the closing of the third chapter, Arjuna asks: “Krishna, what is it that makes a man do evil, even against his own will; under compulsion, as it were?” To which Krishna replies:
“The rajoguna has two faces, rage and lust [kama: desire]: the ravenous, the deadly: recognize these: they are your enemies. Smoke hides fire, dust hides a mirror, the womb hides the embryo: by lust the Atman is hidden. Lust hides the Atman in its hungry flames, the wise man’s faithful foe. Intellect, senses and mind are fuel to its fire: thus it deludes the dweller in the body, bewildering his judgment. Therefore, Arjuna, you must first control your senses, then kill this evil thing which obstructs discriminative knowledge and realization of the Atman. The senses are said to be higher than the sense-objects. The mind is higher than the senses. The intelligent will is higher than the mind. What is higher than the intelligent will? The Atman Itself. You must know Him who is above the intelligent will. Get control of the mind through spiritual discrimination. Then destroy your elusive enemy, who wears the form of lust.”
Meditation and other forms of sadhana are that which protects us from the attraction of folly and ignorance. Wherefore Krishna asks: “The uncontrolled mind does not guess that the Atman is present: how can it meditate? Without meditation, where is peace? Without peace, where is happiness?” (Bhagavad Gita 2:66)
To thee we offer our salutations, again and yet again!
There are those who think that sadhana is medicine, a “have to” that they can sigh and grouch about and grudgingly engage in. They are wrong! Their very attitude will destroy any benefits the sadhana might bestow. They should forget about spiritual practice until they get enough good sense to rejoice in it and value it above all else. That does not mean it will not be difficult and even a struggle, sometimes painful, but it is their delusion that galls the wise, not the remedy for it. Meditation should be a kind of “deity” for us by the grace of which we can worship the Divine and our own divine self. The means of meditation should also be worshipped, and so the Upanishads say:
“The Syllable Om is to be worshipped as consisting of Brahman, Who is Satchidananda.…Because it delivers [saves], Om is called the Deliverer [Saving One: Taraka]. It should be known as the saving [delivering] Brahman which should be worshipped–mark this well.” (Rama Uttara Tapiniya Upanishad)
“That which is Om is the indestructible, the supreme Brahman. That alone should be worshipped.…It is called Taraka because it enables one to cross this mundane existence [samsara]. Know that Taraka [Om] alone is Brahman and It alone should be worshipped.…He who knows this becomes immortal.” (Tarasara Upanishad)
“Omkara is the holiest of holy things.…it is holy and full of sanctifying things. One shall worship Omkara,” says the Vayu Purana.
Shankara said it even more pointedly in his commentary on the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: “Just as the image of Vishnu or any other god is regarded as identical with that god (for purposes of worship), so is Om to be treated as Brahman.” And in his commentary on the Chandogya Upanishad: “The syllable Om is the inmost essence of all essences. It is supreme because of Its being the symbol of the Supreme Self. It is competent to be worshipped as the Supreme Self. It is competent to take the place of the Supreme Self since It is to be worshipped like the Supreme Self.…The Vedic rites are meant for the worship of the very Om because It is a symbol of the Supreme Self. The worship of That [Om] is surely the worship of the supreme Self.”
“To thee we offer our salutations, again and yet again!”
OM OM OM OM OM
Bharat Churiwala
Yes, what you have said about AGNI or CAMP FIRE ( Right from vedic times THERE ARE AMPLE MENTIONS OF THINGS LIKE "HAVAN", "HOMA", "DHUNI" etc.)
More relevantly WE HAVE SYSTEM OF LIGHTING A LAMP IN FRON OF OUR DEITIES BEFORE STARTING OUR WORSHIP OR PRAYERS.
My wife has been observing ONE STRICT RULE OF LIGHTING AN "AKHAND JYOT" WHICH HAS BEEN GOING ON FROM TIME OF MY MOTHER, (atleast in my recent memory!!!!).
More later,
Bharat
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Prabesh Lohani
Prabesh Lohani
The Past is the Future
In very ancient times a man named Vajasrabasa decided to perform a rite intended to give the performer great merit. The rite entailed the giving away of all the performer’s possessions. However he had no such intention, and instead was going to give away only his cattle–and of them only the useless ones: the old, the barren, the blind, and the lame. His son, Nachiketa, observing this, came to his father and said: “Father, do not repent thy vow! Consider how it has been with those that have gone before, and how it will be with those that now live. Like corn, a man ripens and falls to the ground; like corn, he springs up again in his season.” (Katha Upanishad 1:1:6)
There is no use denying it: we all follow in the path of Vajrabasa on occasion, though some do it more exuberantly. This is especially deadly in the realm of spiritual life.
I well remember when two newly-made Indian friends from South India asked me wonderingly: “What is an ‘Indian giver’?” When I said it meant someone who promised but did not deliver, or who gave and then took back, they were really bewildered. But when I explained that it was not the Indians who were the “givers” but the deceitful white men, they understood–and to my confusion thought it was very funny. (When I told them about “Honest Injun?” and “The only good Indian is a dead Indian” they laughed till they cried, and thereafter frequently asked: “Honest Injun?” when I told them something.) It is not funny when we are “Indian givers” in spiritual life, just as double-tongued and devious with God and our own spirit as the politicians were with the Native Americans.
One of the funniest and most typical examples is found in the comic motion picture, The End. In one scene Burt Reynolds is swimming in the ocean about to drown. He starts shouting out to God how much of his income he vows to give if he survives. The percentage goes up and up to the total amount. But then he sees that there is a chance he may make it back to shore. So the percentage starts dropping in proportion to how near he gets to the land! Finally he is telling God that he will be giving nothing, and if God does not like it, that is just too bad. We are very much (often exactly) like that ourselves. When we think we are not going to have something, or will have no use for it, we generously offer it to God or renounce it. But the moment we see a need or a use for it, then we announce to ourselves that God would not expect us to hand it over or renounce it.
Many people start out spiritual life with great enthusiasm, ready to dedicate and sacrifice in order to attain liberation. But as time goes by, the sands in the hourglass of will and interest grow less and less, shifting back to the bottom level of ego and the material life until what remains is so feeble and negligible it would be better if it, too, were eliminated in honesty.
The principle that we reap only and exactly what we sow is an absolute in spiritual life. Here are Saint Paul’s words on the subject: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:7-9) Fainting is a very real possibility for all of us, and that is why these warning words of Nachiketa were written in the Upanishad: “Father, do not repent thy vow! Consider how it has been with those that have gone before, and how it will be with those that now live. Like corn, a man ripens and falls to the ground; like corn, he springs up again in his season.”
The law of reaping what has been sown–and conversely not reaping what has not been sown–is to be taken most seriously in all aspects of life, but especially in spiritual matters. Solomon cautions us: “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for…better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” (Ecclesiastes 5:4) The question here is not that of God being angry or sad at our non-payment, but the negative effect our own perfidy will have on us directly. It is not God that rewards and punishes, but our own self, and its justice is inexorable. So asking God to release us or forgive us means positively nothing–it is our own self we are dealing with and it cannot be gotten around in any degree whatsoever.
Sad to say, there are many examples of “those that have gone before” who foolishly reneged on their own selves and suffered the consequences, from simple unhappiness to abject and long-lasting misery, and even death. This latter is no exaggeration, I know of examples myself. If you will excuse me, I will not cite any examples at all, for it is simply too bleak. Just do not be one yourself! But I will tell you the principle I have seen demonstrated over and over again: Whatever a person abandons his spiritual life to keep or to gain will be (usually abruptly or even violently) taken away from him and he will never regain or restart his spiritual life in this incarnation. I have never seen an exception. Never. (I am, however, not speaking of merely risking or retarding the personal spiritual life–we all do that just from making mistakes or from silly foibles–but of the actual giving up and turning from, even rejecting of, one’s spiritual life and obligations. This is fatal.)
At every step of our spiritual life we must keep in mind the law of cause and effect and “consider how it has been with those that have gone before, and how it will be with those that now live.” And lest we think that if we escape the karmic reaction in this life we are “home free,” Nachiketa added: “Like corn, a man ripens and falls to the ground; like corn, he springs up again in his season.” So there are future lives in which our neglect can come to fruition in many forms–all inimical to our further progress.
Of course, the words of Nachiketa only have meaning to the wise. As Krishna told Arjuna: “Even a wise man acts according to the tendencies of his own nature. All living creatures follow their tendencies. What use is any external restraint? If a man keeps following my teaching with faith in his heart, and does not make mental reservations, he will be released from the bondage of his karma. But those who scorn my teaching, and do not follow it, are lost. They are without spiritual discrimination. All their knowledge is a delusion.” (Bhagavad Gita 3:33, 31, 32)