January 2012 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Yoga, Knowing the Unknown

[Srivatsa Ramaswami]

January 2012 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Yoga, Knowing the
Unknown

Warm New Year Greetings from Chennai, India. Wish you a very Happy and
Prosperous New Year 2012!

On a Sunday in early December I spoke at the Vishnumohan Foundation on
Vishnu Sahasranama. I have a recording of the chanting of this popular
work from the Mahabharata (in which the Bhagavat Gita also is found)
made in the mid 80s by a recording company, Sangeetha. I chanted a
few slokas from this work and also explained the meaning of the first
14 of the 1000 mantras. These 14 are said to give the quintessence of
Vedanta.

For 2012, I plan to teach at the following places:

Feb 25 to Mar 4 Mexico City, Mexico

Apr 14 to 16 Ridgefield, CT

Apr 20 to 22 Houston TX

Apr 27 to 29 Dallas, TX

May 6 to 11 Esalen, Big Sur,CA

May28 to Jun 3 Vancouver, Canada

Jul 6 to Aug 11 TT PROGRAM, LMU, CA
Syllabus: http://vinyasakrama.com/Syllabus_Teacher_Training_200_Hr
Impressions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8lhIKIfSk4
contact; amparo...@lmu.edu

Sep 6 to 12 Chicago, IL

Oct 5 to 14 Somerset, UK

For more details please visit the Events Page of my website

www.vinyasakrama.com/Events

*****

YOGA, KNOWING THE UNKNOWN

There is an interesting saying in Indian philosophy to indicate that
there is a purpose in every activity one deliberately undertakes.
Samkhyas and some schools of Buddhism also use this saying,
“prayojanam anuddhisya mando pi na pravartate” meaning that even a
dimwit will not do anything without an idea of what benefit one would
get out of the effort.

So what is the goal of all these systems like Yoga, Vedanta, Samkhya
and others? Yes one may want to know the ultimate goal and also the
intermediate goals before starting such endeavors.

I heard the following story from my great aunt when I was young. Even
as I read more authentic versions subsequently, I am sticking to my
grandma's tale.

The Lord created the Universe and decided to populate the Universe. He
created four young “humen” beings and asked them to populate the
Universe. He implied that the lives in the Universe would be happy
provided one would stick to Dharma. The four mind-children of the Lord
(manasa putras) did not move. They could not take their wide eyes off
the bewitching form of the Lord They could not tear themselves away
from the immensely satisfying immediate presence of the Lord, the
formless Brahman. Their countenance indicated that they were perfectly
happy. Looking at the Lord, the ultimate reality, they were brimming
with bliss. The Lord realized that neither the normal nocturnal
pleasures nor the huge heavenly happiness would anymore interest these
beings. They had Kaivalya or Moksha even before they could be in
bondage. They came to be known as nitya suris or perennial enlightened
ones.

The Lord still wanted to go ahead with his pet project of creating a
Universe with different creatures and experiences. So he created the
four-headed Brahma, one of the Indian Trinity, and bade him to create
beings including human beings. But the Lord created Brahma this time
with Brahma's back to Him so that Brahma would not see Him and attain
instant nirvana like the earlier ones. Brahma duly chanted “OM', the
pranava mantra, and created the universe and the creatures . All
beings thereafter went about their life cycles feverishly looking for
some crumbs of happiness here and there in the midst of widespread
unhappiness. There was never a chance to escape this unending cycle of
births and deaths. Since everyone from Brahma downwards had never
experienced the ultimate reality, people were looking outward for
happiness. Thus even though the Lord is said to have entered every
being and resided as pure consciousness in everyone, nobody knew what
was “behind the back” as it were. Someone had to say “Look Inward”.

The Lord decided that there should be an escape route (nivritti marga)
for some of those who were earnestly looking for liberation. He then
asked one of the Nitya suris, Sanatkumara to help the deserving human
beings to achieve moksha or liberation. Sanatkumara then was born to
Siva, the third of the Trinity, as Kumara or Skanda. Because he had
the direct experience of the Lord, the ultimate reality, he was
astonished at the complete ignorance of all the beings about the
ultimate reality. He even went up to Brahma, the creator aspect of the
Trinity, and asked about how he started creation and if he knew the
ultimate reality. Brahma said that he did it after chanting “OM” as
mentioned in the vedas. Then Kumara promptly asked him for the meaning
of “OM”, the pranava mantra and Brahma fumbled. “No, I do not know
that” said Brahma sheepishly. Kumara became angry and said that Brahma
was incompetent. Promptly Kumara imprisoned Brahma and took over
creation himself. Soon enough all those he created were like him and
quickly the original scheme of the Lord of sustainable creation was
coming to naught. Siva, the third of the Trinity and father of Kumara,
then went up to him and asked him to release Brahma and let him do his
work. But Kumara refused and said that the person who does not know
the meaning of OM, the name/mantra of the Ultimate Reality, Brahman,
is incompetent to do such an important task as creation. Siva said
that he himself did not know the meaning of OM and casually asked the
enlightened son for the meaning of Pranava. Kumara said that he would
teach him, provided his father would study under him following
strictly all the rules of a student. Siva agreed and became a disciple
of his own son. Skanda taught him the meaning of OM and Siva became
enlightened. Skanda then came to be known as 'tahappan swami” (Tamil)
or “lord/preceptor/guru of one's own father”. Brahma also learnt it
and was then released by Kumara to continue his work. Siva then
devised a method of understanding the ultimate reality, the Brahman or
Purusha. It came to be known as Yoga, a very arduous procedure which
only a few were able or willing to undertake and they came to be
called as Yogis. Siva then bade Patanjali to formulate the yogia
system which became the source book for all those who would like to
take the 'spiritual' path and realize the ultimate reality which
according to the Upanishad is Brahman.

But the desire for liberation (mumukshatva) does not come about
easily. It needs right information and a lot of persuasion and
convincing. Even the most cultured intellectual (vidusha) has a thick
veil of avidya in so far as 'spiritual' goal is concerned, the old
texts aver as in the case of even the four headed Brahma. So the old
foundation texts like the Upanishads, the Bhagavat Gita, the Yoga
Sutra, the Samkhya philosophy, several puranas like the Bhagavata
Purana, try multiple methods to wean away the disgruntled from the
mundane existence to the 'spiritual' path. One method is to lead them
from the known to the unknown.

We all know both happiness and unhappiness. So the upanishads start
from known happiness and compare it to the bliss of 'spiritual'
knowledge/experience, the unknown at the present. We all experience
limited happiness. Who is the happiest human being? The upanishad
talks of a perfect human being. Take the case of a young person, a
noble soul -a dharmic person, an exceptional scholar, a great leader
with an excellent physique, perfect and strong limbs and senses, very
rich and propertied, like an emperor. Such a person would be the
happiest human being. Let us mark it as one unit of human happiness,
the limit of human happiness. All other human beings will have less
than one unit of human happiness.

Is there more than one unit or measure of happiness? Yes, says the
upanishad.

One hundred times happier will be the Gandharvas. So also those human
beings who have known the scriptures (and the Pranava) and who have
given up all desires, say the upanishads. Gandharvas are considered to
be the lowest in the hierarchy of gods and are basically excellent
singers.

But then the leader of this divine tribe, a deva gandharva, the
celestial singer is capable of one hundred times more happiness than
the ordinary Manushya Gandharvas. So is the one who has mastered the
scriptures (and the Pranava or OM) and is absolutely not tormented by
desires.

One hundred times happier than the deva Gandharvas are the pitrus
(manes), so also the ones who have mastered the scriptures (and OM)
and are absolutely free of all desires.

One hundred times happier are the ajana devas and the ones who have
mastered the scriptures (and OM) and are free from all desires.

Then there are the gods like the fire, wind, water, etc., who are
propitiated by vedic sacrifices and who are a hundred times happier
than the previous lot; and those who are well versed in the scriptures
and free from all desires

Indra, the boss of the gods is said to be one hundred times happier
than the gods, so also those who are proficient in the vedas and
pranava and are absolute Vairagis.

Brihaspati the preceptor of the devas is said to enjoy hundred times
more happiness than Indra himself, so also those who have mastered the
vedas and remain absolutely desireless.

Prajapati, a son of Brahma, is said to be a hundred times happier than
Brihaspati along with those who have mastered the vedas and are
untouched by any kind of desire.

A hundred times happier is Brahma, the four faced creator aspect of
the Trinity, the one who we came across earlier in the story. Those
who are well versed in the scriptures and absolutely desireless with
respect to the entire creation are also as happy as Brahma.

Then the one who is able to see the in-dweller of all beings and the
one in the sun yonder as one and the same Brahman-the ultimate
reality- is happier than even four faced Brahma (catur mukha), like
the Nitya suris referred to earlier. His/Her bliss, the bliss of the
enlightened one like the nitya suris we came across in the beginning
is unsurpassed, eternal and infinite. The Upanishad from the known
facts about happiness, skillfully leads to the unsurpassed bliss of
the Brahman awareness. It emphatically states that the one who knows
the Brahman, the ultimate reality, the pure consciousness unaffected
by space (akasa) and time (avakasa), attains the highest state
(brahmavit aapnoti param).

How does Patanjali handle this, leading the yogabhyasi from what is
known to what is unknown and superior? He refers to five states or
five activities of the mind or chitta, five states we are all
familiar with. All our lives we move through these five chitta
vrittis. Some times the chitta is engaged in collecting information
and sifting the facts from that, which is known as pramana vritti.
More often the chitta from the information received misses the facts
and comes to wrong conclusions, known to yogis as viparyaya vrithis. A
lot of times the chitta imagines a number of things without any solid
base called vikalpa vrittis. Our dreams including day dreams will come
under this category. Then a lot of time is spent in deep sleep when
one forgets everything including oneself due to the dominance of
Tamas. Then there are occasions when we ruminate over the past,
remember facts stored in the mind called smriti vrittis. Our vrittis
fall into one group or the other. But the Yogi's vritti nirodha is a
state of the chitta which is none of the above. Patanjali refers to
this state of the mind called nirodha state which is none of the five
vrittis we are all familiar with. The sixth state of the mind, the
vritti nirodha state, according to Patanjali is one every chitta
potentially has, but has never experienced. It is a state of absolute
peace or irrevocable and complete satisfaction. Again here the Sutras
lead the yogi from known states to a state unknown but within
everyone's reach through Yoga. In that state of Kaivalya or chitta
vritti Nirodha the mind is in a state of absolute objectless samadhi
and the three gunas are in a state of equilibrium..

Patanjali again mentions this state as something beyond the seven
motives/ stimuli that drive us to act variously. They are the desire
to possess (prepsa), desire to rid (jihasa), desire to know
(jignyasa), desire for action (chikirsha), fear (bhaya), depression
(soka) and distraction (vikshepa). We are familiar with these states
of mind, but the state of Kaivalya/nirodha is beyond these known
states.

But how can we trust the upanishads or philosophies like Samkhya or
Yoga? Yes that is the main problem for many. These thought systems are
called Agamas or traditional authentic systems indicating that they
are given to human beings for the general good and the prima facie
view is that they are valid. The first information is gotten from
these works and that knowledge is known as paroksha or indirect,
usually highly academic. Many stop at that and excel in that
intellectual indirect experience. Then one contemplates and then
possibly gets convinced about the correctness when it is known as
anumana or inferential knowledge. And finally by deep meditation, one
pointedness (ekeagrata chitta), and Samadhi one is able to directly
experience the state that was not there to start with which these
works talk about. It is then known as pratyaksha or yougika pratyaksha
or direct perception through Yoga. Thus the old texts lead us, slowly
but surely, from the known to the superior unknown .

******

In the olden days, in India,especially in the South, women would not
say the name of the husbands as it was considered disrespectful. A
census inspector will have a difficult time getting the name of the
spouse from the wife. One has to ask the other family members the name
of one's husband. Likewise, many of the potent mantras are not
directly mentioned but only through the name of the mantra. If one
wants to say the “OM” mantra one would more likely say the pranava
mantra than just “OM” mantra, as Patanjali says in the Yoga Sutras.
The meditation or chanting of the mantra would be referred to as
pranava dhyana or pranava japa. Pranava itself is a beautiful word.
Scholars refer to it as a word derived from the root “Nam” or “nam” to
bow (Nam prahvi bhave) as used in namah or namaste. 'Prakarshena nauti
sthouti iti pranavah', meaning pranava is the highest praise or
obeisance to the highest principle, here Iswara or Brahman. Another
interesting interpretation of this word comes from deriving the word
from another root 'nav' (or nava) to begin or new like 'novo'. Since
Brahman is said to be pure consciousness and never changes it is
always new, always 'nava' and hence pranava.

There are other important mantras who have separate names. The Gayatri
mantra which is of the gayatri meter refers to the mantra starting
with 'tat savitur..' and even though there are many other mantras in
the Gayatri meter, only this particular mantra, the brain child of
Viswamitra is referred to as gayatri. Then we have another famous
mantra “namassivaya”. This namassivaya mantra is more often referred
to as 'panchakshari' or five syllable mantra even as there are scores
of other mantras which have five syllables. 'Om namo narayanaya' my
Guru's favorite mantra is known as ashtakshari as it has eight
syllables. 'Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya' is a very popular Krishna
mantra and is known as 'dwadasakshari' as there are 12 syllables in
it.

The mantras especially pranava were chanted, meditated upon and
referred to with considerable devotion and respect in the olden days.
Contemporary use of 'OM' on tea shirts, vests and other casual wares
is sometimes difficult to put up with.

But what is the meaning of the mantra “OM”? It is grist for another
article.

******

The entire Universe
Even as it is awesome
Is but a grand illusion (maya kalpita)
Like the space and objects in a mirror
Like the space and objects in a dream
Like those created by a magician
Or like the creation of a (siddha) yogi*
From Dakshinamurti Ashtaka
of Adi Sankara

*Like Sage Viswamitra who is said to have used his yogic powers to
create an illusory heaven for his disciple King Trisanku.


*****


My old news letters with several articles can be accessed by visiting
my website
www.vinyasakrama.com
and clicking on the Newsletter tab.

Thank you for reading up to here

And again, a happy new year!!


Best Wishes
Sincerely
Srivatsa Ramaswami