Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj
Talk 1
From AmrutlayaTALK 2
TALK 3
TALK 4
TALK 5
TALK 6
TALK 7
Biography
``When the objective knowledge comes to an end, the Seer does not survive as a Seer. At that moment, the pride of the `I' (ego) just melts away". [Dasbodh, Chapter 6, Section 10.]As long as objects are taken to truly exist, until then only the seer remains. As the being is conceptual, so also is the seer. If you call this city `Bombay', it appears as Bombay; if you call it earth, it will appear as earth. It all depends upon the seer's concept. If you call an object a chair, it is a chair; if you call it wood, it is wood. If you call the all as Brahman, then the all is Brahman. If you call it the world, it is the world. All objects depend on the concept of the seer. But Brahman is beyond concept and no concept can conceive it.
There is a woman whom one man calls her his `wife', the other calls her `sister', the third one calls her `daughter'. Actually she is nothing but a lump of flesh and bones. Whatever you say happens. All is conceptual and depends upon the concept of the seer. The world and the beings in it are conceptual. The `seer' who calls the manifestation as truth is the ego and that ego has to be eradicated. If the ego goes away, then only Brahman remains.
King Dhrutarashtra of Mahabharata was blind. He gave birth to a hundred sons called Kauravas and had pride in them. The one who embraces the body as oneself is the blind Dhrutarashtra. He is also the one who is called Ravana, a demon in the mythological book Ramayana. One should have a feeling that all the objects are untrue and Brahman alone exists. All objects are demons and because you give them the status of the demons, you are King Ravana. Ravana is not the rightful king. He is not the Lord. Because you consider the objects as being true, you become Ravana. You have to get rid of this Ravana `I'. The I does not exist. Getting rid of the `I' can be called a wishful death. In the Ramayana it is stated that Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and on the request of Ravana, Shiva gave him a boon of wishful death. Ravana rules over fourteen regencies, i.e., the fourteen senses: five each of knowledge and action, mind, intellect, consciousness and the ego. When God rules over the earth, the demons go to the lower regions, and when the demons rule over the earth, God goes away and performs penance. If the objects are taken to be true, it means that the demons are ruling and God is not there. There is no trace of Him. But when God becomes victorious (i.e. when the determination or the feeling comes that all these objects are untrue), then the demon `I' also disappears. When the ego is destroyed, then all is Brahman. One has to practice that the I and all objects are untrue. A realized person feels all is Brahman. The food, the wooden plank on which one sits while taking meals, for him or her the spouse and water are all expressions of Brahman. All is Brahman. Your subject of study should be as above. Then it will be God's kingdom. Brahman is not color, it is not yellow or black, it is not music, etc. The ghee (purified butter) which is liquid and the ghee which is solid are the same just as water and ice is the same. When the earth meets earth it is all consciousness. All that you see and perceive is nothing but the reality (Brahman). What you see is only the qualified consciousness just as you see that bangles or armlets are both made out of gold.
Stop insisting that good alone should happen to this body. You have become the gross body because only one body is the object of your concept. The servants and the attendants should be considered as God. There is no other Brahman with or without quality. All is Govinda (God). Because we categorize all objects, there is the ego (jeeva). You perceive the wife as wife, the daughter as daughter, the horse as horse or the dog as dog. They are all Brahman only. There is no need to change the form of the objects. Only the attitude of the seer must change. Brahma is the same even when it is in a state with attributes. You should see Brahma in whatever state He exists. Even the atoms and molecules of a chair are all Lord Krishna (Brahman). Once this attitude is taken, then he himself is Brahma. Even though one sleeps, awakens, or goes about, one has not slept, awakened, gone about or taken a meal. When all is Brahman who is eating and sleeping? The one who is without quality and the one who is speaking (i.e. with quality) are both God. Whether a king is sitting on the throne or hunting, he is always a king. The one who is walking and talking is the idol of consciousness. One is a devotee when one gives names to different objects as well as to him or herself and is a saint (sadhu) or Paramatman when one looks upon the creation as Parabrahman. To forget Paramatman and eat food is just turning the food into faeces. The silkworms are better, as the silkwear made from their cocoons are used by priests while worshipping God. Those who eat faeces can digest faeces. The gods and demons are right here. The gods and the demons together churned the ocean of the world which produced nectar and wine. Lord Vishnu gave the nectar to the gods and the wine to the demons. To say "Vishnu did this" means the inner sense-consciousness did this. Both nectar and wine are right here. It is within our own hand to drink the nectar and to become immortal. One who "awakes" will achieve this. All is God. Let all be happy. If you practice this and take it to heart, then [the realization will be] all is Brahman. One has to water a plant until it gets its roots. Then it will grow by itself. You should persist in your practice until you achieve this.
An aspirant invariably faces the question "Shall we continue to run our household or shall we leave it altogether?" Whether one runs a household or leave it, it accounts to nothing. There is no use in wearing a Holi bail leaf (Tulsi) garland around the neck and yet have a rush of anger in the heart. If one is not attentive to one's inner self, what is the use of the saffron colored robe? Alright, the trees, the tigers, the beasts and the birds do not run a household; does this means that they have become saints? What is the use if one is not attentive to one's inner self? One should be alert. The objective knowledge should prove to be untrue. All the affairs we are conducting in the world should prove themselves to be untrue and that which has been taken as untrue should be experienced as Truth.
What is the use if one is not detached internally? The attitude must change. To know that all this (moving manifest mundane existence) is false is an act of great bravery. One should be detached within oneself. Once one learns how not to get involved or how to renounce, one then gets the experience. In whatever circumstances or state one is in, one should be detached. Live as you like but renounce internally.
Objects are untrue. One must turn the attitude of the mind away from them and cultivate the attitude that the Self is Brahman. Even if we consider the existing body of five elements as benign, still we know that they are dangerous. Even when one thinks that it is only the Self that can bring happiness, the great illusion (Maya) tempts one and brings him or her back to the former condition. It is only when one becomes steady in Brahman with body, speech and mind can one achieve this knowledge. One can do anything, adorn oneself with gold, wear expensive garments, but the Guru's grace comes to him alone who considers all this as untrue. If one is not truly renounced, all the efforts become futile.
One may wear gold, silver, a wire of brass or very expensive garments, yet there is no hope of getting joy from this life. A human being can never get peace. The Self only talks of the Truth and behaves the same way with its body, speech and mind. If one thinks "I am the body", then he will talk of the body alone. As is the flower, so is it's fragrance. Even when you are in this world, you should be as if you are not there. For Brahman all are equal, whether it is a mundane existence or a forest. When you are not, how can the mundane existence be there? Live as you please but change your attitude. Then all is over. A true devotee of Lord Krishna named Chokamela was a butcher and used to live with a bone in his hand. You may eat good purified food, but what are you going to do with your mental modifications? You must become Brahman and feel that all objects are untrue; your ego should not be there. Then truly you have become Brahman.
There is nothing
else than Brahman. Only one's attitude has to change. This is an
indication of renunciation. In sleep when there is no world, a king and
a pauper are equal. When you leave the world at night as in sleep, how
much do you feel happy. On that side, you do not need a world, a house,
a job or a wife. When alone, one is all bliss. When you think that you
have a lot of thing to do, you become miserable. When we have nothing to
do, what is there to worry about? So, be happy. One who has a duty to
perform is a
labourer. Even if he is a king or a god he has to labor.
Saints must show
compassion. One who is desireless is the God of all gods. Be desireless
at least once. This can happen only when you ridicule this world and
feel that it is untrue. Take your mind off this world and fix it on the
Self. The objects are untrue and
Brahman is the Truth. When you make this attitude your own, you are
through. Then you are at liberty to live as you will. One who
cannot dance finds the ground uneven, but one who wants the knowledge of
the Self will somehow get it. Prahlada, a great devotee of
Lord Narayana, was ordered not to take the name of God by his father.
Prahlada told his father, "you may be the owner of my body,
yet you have no control over my mind". If you are very busy, identify
your mind with Brahman and perform the duty. Then the duty also becomes
Brahman. The intellect has to metamorphose. Mentally say, "I am Ram
(consciousness)". Then whatever you do becomes Ram (consciousness).
Leave the idea `I am so and so' and become the pervader of the whole
universe.
He was
Paramatman, without qualities. He acquired qualities and had become
miserable. He was released from birth and death after
reaching Him to His original place, state. He was identified as He was
originally. To honour that Paramatman for whom all that effort,
scriptures and Paramartha were practised, all those methods became full
of meaning. By God's grace a birth in human species was acquired. If a
man acts he can become God. That came to bear fruit (be successful)
today. One's own nature was attained. A golden
day dawned. He was satiated with the drink of the nectar of immortality.
Today I reached my own home. All that labour was
successful. We met ourselves after many, many years. We had missed each
other. I was serving someone else taking him to be Myself. For millions
of births we had missed ourselves. We were deluded. That delusion has
gone away and He became Paramatman.
He was giving service and behaving as a
donkey in the form of a body. Taking the body for Self he was nursing
it. In this way he
wasted his whole birth. This is night in the form of ignorance -- which
is to labour for the donkey in the form of a body for the whole
life and then get born in the other various species. This ignorance is
responsible for not allowing us to be aware and this human birth is to
get rid of such ignorance. Poor fellow he does not get any time during
the `night'. This is itself the forgetting of one's own nature. Call it
night or ignorance, that is the source of our misery.
For example, some friends of a retarded
man made him drink a lot of liquor and seeing him completely intoxicated
the other friends,
according to what they had decided before, started crying aloud and
spoke to the intoxicated man thus:
"What can we do
when we see your condition, we feel so sad. Just a few minutes back we
had gone to your house when we saw that your wife has become a widow."
As soon as he heard this the drunken man started howling and crying, and
when other people asked him, he said his wife had become a widow. "A
mountain of misery has come down crushing me." Then they explained to
him, "Oh man! how can your wife become a widow while you are alive? You
being alive and your wife becoming a widow, are these two not
contradictory things?" The drunkard, however, said, "No, no, you people
do not understand anything. My friends recently had gone to my house,
and they saw with their own eyes that my wife has become a widow."
Then all his friends had a good laugh at his stupidity. This ridiculous scene is not presented only in the case of the drunkard but such a blatant mistake is made by every human being. Without making use of their brain they look through the other people's eyes. Let others say any thing. My Self is pure and changeless, it is the light of all lights. It is impossible that it perishes at any time. He is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness, Bliss, and is a Witness of all. Yet, even if this is so, we say "how can we achieve happiness" in such a pitiable way! And we pray for God's mercy thinking that we are caught up in a big calamity. We rub our nose before God and slap our own face. We even blurt out the words "We are mean insects."
Yet this sort of
situation is not at all proper. Find out the goal of your life and try
to experience your Self. Take out that wrong feeling that you are
mortal, which you have created for yourself because you are intoxicated
due to the drink called `ignorance' and stand up with confidence in
Self. Turn within. Do not entertain fear about anything. Eradicate
completely the mental modification which goes out.
Actually, if one thinks of one's nature (who am I, or what am I) there
is no one as great as you are. Have self-confidence. Make that thought
"I am Paramatman" steady within yourself. You will surely never fail to
cross the ocean of this mundane existence. See only
through the sight of Self. Do not look through other people's eyes. All
the relations are ready to fool you. Never mind the body while
practising this, one may also have to climb on a pike (going to the
gallows). "I am a witness of this body." Let the body stay or go, my
heart is at the `Feet of Panduranga (Master).' Go on contemplating on
this and intuitive perception is sure to come. When one is
practising this there are many obstacles in this way. For example. There
are seventeen hundred difficulties if a girl with a flat nose has to get
married.
Ignorant corpses are only moving about in
the whole world. Life in ignorance is like death. Who is eating? All
this service for whom?
You do not know. He serves six ghosts (5 elements and ego). This body
was given all various kinds of service till its death and the
whole life was wasted. After death according to Hindu customs the body
and bones burn as a collection of wood, the hair burn as a
bundle of grass. Those who were looking started weeping. This (dead one)
man says, "Are you free from this (fate) ? Because you
behave as I did." Even if the toilet is cleaned thoroughly it is still a
toilet. World means living corpses. There is no idea of one's own
nature. They serve this body, and take along with them a bundle of sins
and virtue. This is worldly existence of an ignorance person.
But when he knows Himself, and leaves off the pride that he is the body,
then, immediately he meets Himself. Then all his actions have
borne fruit.
According to the Hindus, the ancestors
keep waiting. The last of the seventy two generations has achieved, so
they are happy. These
mean thirty six ancestral generations of mother and thirty six of the
father. One who has redeemed them was born to be one who knew
his Self. That is the reason why, when a son is born they distribute
sweets. It is impossible to describe the glory of Self-knowledge.
Human life is meaningful because it is given with a purpose to achieve
Self-knowledge. When that has been achieved it has indeed
become fully meaningful. Its purpose has been served. For example, there
are nine hundred thousand stars but it is only the moon that
shines brightly. The sun rises, the rain falls, because there is only
one who knows Brahman. It is for the sake of that knower --
therefore, there is no limit to his merit. Along with the position of
the Immortal One he also gets a throne of Almighty.
Now let that happen which happens. Let
whatever was going, go, the last doubt is eradicated. We have to live a
few days. Let us pass
the days playfully in joy, then let this body die on a bed or on ground.
Because wherever the diamond is placed it is sure to shine, may be on
the hand, in the neck, in the eye (?). This Paramatman in the form of
Brahman will likewise remain happy whatever the situation. The
conviction should not shake. "If the conviction is steadfast on Truth,
then even on the path of knowledge, strength can be gained."
That body, which has the knowledge of
Self in it, will perforce emit light. But there should be that one
strong conviction `I am the Lord (who exists), I am the Lord (who
pervades).' All that ought to have been achieved He has achieved.
"One who is qualityless, is recognised as
such. One who was meaningful, got His own meaning. After many days He
met himself."
[Dasabodh Chapter 8, Section 8, verse 65]
One who is Qualityless was recognised in
his nature which is without quality. The One who was meaningful got His
own meaning.
Whatever ought to have been achieved was achieved; for achieving this
they stood on their legs for years together. Sage Vishwamitra performed
austerities for sixty thousand years but was unable to become Final
Reality. He who attained the knowledge -- praise be to Him who attained
that status of `BrahmaVetta ' (realised person). His parents also
deserve to be praised because the family was saved, as such as son was
born in it. What is the use of children like the hundred Kauravas
described in the Mahabharat. There are many people who have studied
millions of sciences, B.A, M.A. They are all for filling the stomach.
The dogs, cats also fill their stomachs. There is no rule for them. In
short: as many Jeevas (gross bodies) came , they all learnt fourteen
Vidyas, 64 arts (all the
worldly knowledge) -- but they should be understood as perverse arts.
Others came out of a hole, cried and passed away.
Only those who make the Meaningful gets
Its own meaning deserve praise. They lifted themselves and showed the
path to next
generations. After ten million years we met ourselves. The curtain the
form of duality was taken away. The curtain of countless number of
births vanished at last. The sight became divine which saw all is
Brahman (Oneness). All is Lord Krishna. He alone -- One form -- has got
all these mouths (faces) of elephants, monkeys, all beings, countless
number of hands, feet, etc.. That is called the Dnyana Drishti (looking
as a knowledgeable one) -- is that I reside everywhere (in all). That is
the sight which shows that he has realised. The same is called the `Eye
of Knowledge' or the `Third Eye of Lord Shiva.' Not to see as separate,
to see all as Existence. There is nothing except that intuitive
perception (Chaitanya). `He is One. There is no duality. The Jeeva
(gross body) went back to his nature from where he had come. Because he
has now no consciousness of the body (as separate). One who has
consciousness of the body is bound. When duality ends, there is no sin
or merit. There is no difficulty if our spit is kept in our own mouth.
There is no sin or virtue if we swallow it because it is our own. No one
calls it used up. Whatever belongs to us is all good. There is no sin
nor virtue about it. We ourselves are all this, then why should there be
any sin or virtue, heaven or hell?
No impurity can accrue to a man who has a
understood Brahma (Oneness) thoroughly. All differences, duality
vanished. The Master
sent off all the six ghosts (five elements and ego) away. They were
ghosts. They became gods. Water, earth, heat, air, sky and sixth ego
also vanished.
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LECTURE 27 "One who was qualityless is recognised
as such. After many days He met himself. " [Dasabodh Chapter 8,
Section 8, verse 65]
One who was sans quality is actually
myself. I am sans quality. The Meaningful got His meaning. We met
ourselves after many many
years. All these days, I suffered many miseries, because of having
believed the outer actor as myself and having suffered millions of
bondages. Though he was a king he was engrossed in begging and took
pleasure in it. He thought he served his own Self, while he
served a stranger. He did not know that he himself was Paramatman
(Supreme Self) and he should serve Himself.
They worship a strange man. The world is a
(businesslike) practical entity. That former one became untrue when he
met himself after
many many years. He was taking his body as himself. All the forms in the
world is in our own Nature. He is Paramatman
(Supreme Self). He is imminent in all, so he
does not have the idea of difference. The curtain of (difference)
duality was pulled away. Once he became the
servant at his Master's Feet. To him, the world appears as `Soham' (I am
that). And to others it appears as `Who am I.'
The world is as one looks at it. One who identified himself with Brahman (Divine Self) found all as Brahman. If one becomes a Jeeva (gross body) he finds the world accordingly. "For one who is good, the world is (also) good." The ignorant one finds the world full of different entities (Forms). For the realised person "It is all One. There is no duality."
The rise of the physical eyes happens due to two (people). Therefore, duality is seen. Oneness appears to the Master's sons because they are born from One. The Master gives the third eye, `The Eye of Knowledge.' Duality moved away. The veil of Maya (illusion) was pulled away on one side. Nothing appears as anything but One. The vision could see no difference. The state of being became sans difference. All that entered inside (from outside) created difference. But whatever is Truth is without difference. The five ghosts (elements) ran away. The ghost was exorcised. The bad period of seven and a half years (due to wrong position of saturn) has passed away. All the nine planets have also gone away. All ran away to their respective homes. Jeevajipant (gross body) himself vanished. A veil of dirt had come over him due to delusion. "I am the body, mean, a brahmin (upper caste)", these ideas deluded him. Then he realised himself as Paramatman, the Supreme Self.
This monkey (who acts according to his mind) was eating fruits and flowers in the jungle. But when he met Rama, means Master, he became Maruti (God). He got that which belonged to him due to his Master's advice. All is Brahman (Divine Self). One who saw Himself, his birth and death vanished. One who sports in the senses is Rama. Concentrate on Rama -- the vital Spirit. 8.4 millions bonds of births will be cut off. If Rama knew who Rama was then why did he humble himself before Sage Vasishtha?
To see God in all beings is the bhajan
(worship song for God). One who is in the heart of all is God.
Otherwise, some people were caught up in
customs of purity and impurity, or a rosary or repeating mantra. Thus
Saint Kabir says, "Worship the ever existing God,
then 8.4 million births are evaded."
Lord Rama's brother Laxman drew up a line for Rama's wife Seeta, and told her not to transgress that line. Otherwise she would be taken away by this ten faced Demon Ravana. The mind threw away the mountains of ignorance. Grossness had come which vanished when the mind thought about it and this body became `I am that.' Due to meanness, the ignorant being had become the gross body. He transgressed over the line and became one with Paramatman. It was all Bliss.
"The worldly illusion, Samsara, is a dream
within a dream. Having understood this, indeed you have thought of what
is the Real
Truth and what is not"[Dasabodh, Chapter 6,
Section 10].
One who is never born went off to sleep. He has no old age. He is one who has no death. How is it that a dream was seen during a dream? That is, ` he slept and dreamt' means He is deluded. `He slept' means he has become Jeeva [ignorant] and thinks `I am the body. I am so and so'.
The state of Brahman was covered with ignorance and in that delusion there is again delusion, which is this mundane existence. It is a dream during a dream. The worldly illusion appears true. He was all pervading, He became small. Then he considered the worldly existence as true. In that very dream, he discriminated between Guru and disciple, merit and sin, and what is true and what is untrue. Other people pass away in this dream.
It is a piece of great fortune to think of what is true and what is untrue during this long dream.
"Even a dog does not eat a thing which belongs to a sinner'. Renunciation of wealth, feeling of detachment and respect for a saint is the result of former merit and good fortune. He alone starts thinking of a sadhu. It is extraordinary to have such an intellect in the dream within a dream. To be conscious to be fully on senses, inspite of taking a doze of brandy shows that though money brings demonic pride, he still is on his senses. This is his good fortune. He is in a dream within a dream. But on account of his virtuous intellect he went to a Guru and discriminated between the true and untrue. He got the experience that everything else is false and `I am Brahman [final reality]'. This means that he has woken up from one dream. When in this dream he deliberated again he came to the further conclusion that even saying `I am Brahman' is false -- the whole world and words are illusion. As a result he became tranquil by staying in his own blissful state. Truth was revealed.
He fully realised `I am Brahman'. This
condition means `I am fully awake'. Not only the delusion but also ` I
have experienced' vanished. For if one says that he has experienced the
self means that he has taken himself to be different from the self. The
real test is when the self has no sense of self `I'. If the mango
says, "I found myself sweet", then it is not a mango. If you say `you
got an experience', that means your `I', ego is still
there. The idea `I got an experience' is a delusion. The `I' in `I have
become knowledgeable' or `I have become
Brahman' is ego. The former `I' should disappear. Whatever was before
naturally is Brahman. The thorn `I' has to be
extracted; then you are through. When you become all pervading, you
become Brahman. `I am Brahman', this ego comes,
but it also disappears afterwards. It is `One' only and there is nothing
else than that.
To go beyond nothing is to be in Thoughtless Reality, Parabrahman.
``Brahman is sans quality and sans shape.
Brahman is unattached, Brahma is without change. It has no limits, that
is what the
sages say'' [Dasabodh, Chapter 7, Section 2].
How is Brahman?
It has no shape. It is the natural state that remains when all the four
bodies (the physical, the subtle, the causal, i.e.,
complete ignorance, and the supra causal, i.e.,
knowledge `I am') are set aside. One who knows his beingness is called
`Ishwara'-God.
Whatever remains prior to the `beingness' or
knowledge is reality. After transgressing the four built in bodies
whatever remains is
shapeless, detached, in its own natural state
and is steady. It never goes anywhere nor does it come from anywhere.
That is
Parabrahman, the Antahkarana (i.e. the
innermost).
The seer, the
witness, the one who sees and the one who sleeps is `Ishwara', God. He
is a concept conceived through intelligence.
When he sleeps he is quiet. One who experiences
the state of awakeness does not disappear when experiencing the state of
unconsciousness or sleep. Why can't we express
the joy in sleep? Because the mind and the intellect are not there. Only
when one
awakes, one can express the experience.
A woman's
nose-ring fell into the water. She told one man to find it and inform
her as soon as it is found. The man found the ring deep
inside the water but obviously could not inform
her instantly as he was completely under the water. As the water and
fire are enemical
to each other the power of the deity of fire
was absent when he was immersed in the water. Thus he could inform the
lady that the
nose-ring is found only when he came out of the
water. Just like this one can not express anything in sleep, for during
sleep there are no
instruments that are required for expression.
The mind does not take the touch of anything and so cannot say anything.
A man climbed
up the stairs but if his mind did not touch the
question of how many stairs he climbed then he would not be able to tell
the number. But
the self knows on the whole that he climbed the
stairs.
He (self) was
there during sleep, during awakeness, and during samadhi. Who is
experiencing sleep and samadhi? He alone. If he were
not there, who would get sleep? So self is
`Consciousness' and of the nature of `knowingness' and prior to that is
Parabrahman. The
Antaratman (the innermost Self) is the `I'. He
is God and always His nature is consciousness. They may be beasts,
birds, deities,
demons, Ram, Krishna, He resides in the heart
of all. If He is not there, the objects become dead like log of wood.
When He
disappears, the ears, eyes, nose etc. are all
useless. When He disappears all objects become immovable. Because of
Him, is all the
grandeur. If He goes then all is perishable. It
is due to Him, that there is worldly activity, as well as spiritual
understanding. All this is
due to His Existence.
Till such time
that He is there, Gods, demons, customs, etc. are there. But if He
leaves, people do not touch the body. It is the Inner
Self that gives the status of God to the body.
One who calls the body God is none else than this Self. The one who
writes the Vedas is
also the Inner Self. So long as this Inner Self
keeps interests in the worldly ideas, till then He is Jeeva (Gross
body). If he starts talking
of knowledge He is Shiva. When Jeeva and Shiva
both disappear, what remains is Parabrahman.
The same man who
does manual labour is a peon. If he works as an officer, he is an
officer; if he works as a judge, he is a judge; but
when he retires from everything he is
Parabrahman. There is nothing (i.e., emptiness or ignorance) and beyond
that is the fourth body
which is of the nature of God. When a man
worships a multitude of Gods and Godesses like Keshava (one name of Lord
Vishnu), that
worship goes straight to the Inner Self only,
because this Keshava (Ke means only knowledge and shava means corpse) is
in the form
of knowledge in the body (which is a corpse
without the knowledge) that is both his name and his place of residence.
After worship the
offering of food is shown to that God and
consumed by ourselves only. If this Lord, the Innerself, makes that God
(worldly idol God )
stand, he stands for a life time.
But for the Inner
God, this would not do. First this God, the Inner Self has to have a
bath, and then sandalwood paste and clothes etc.
and only afterwards everything is offered to
the idol God. Each being, knowingly or unknowingly worships and the
Inner Self alone.
But he does so without understanding. Therefore
he is a Jeeva or ignorant being. If he worships with the full
understanding that he is
God he becomes Shiva or one with knowledge.
All these gross
bodies are actually the walking and talking temples. Due to ignorance
the children enjoy themselves by putting up a
make belief house out of stones. Like this,
they will take a small rock which would serve as a utensil for drinking
water, another stone
will do for a bowl and then some stone is put
up as God. In the same way ignorant people worship by creating idols.
The real God has
consciousness, knowingness. This idol has no
consciousness. The fool worships an idol. Fool means an ignorant person.
Those who
have yet no knowledge of self have to worship
an idol. But if they recognise whose idols they are, how wonderful it
would be! The one
who recognises this is the man of knowledge
[Dynani].
The ignorant man
makes a make belief God and worships him, the `knower' recognises the
God of Gods (that is, his own Self) and
then offers his worship. Shankaracharya called
that Inner Self, the fourth body, ``the original Illusion''. The God may
have infinite
number of names yet the Truth is only one. For
example if a child calls his own father `uncle', does it mean that the
man loses his
fatherhood?
Through the
medium of this God one will understand the natural state of the
Absolute- Parameshwar. If this God becomes steady, one
will understand Parabrahman. This God
(consciousness) is in the form of the power of knowing, the will power
and the power of
matter. Hence he is constantly moving. If this
mundane existence is ignored, then he will remain in His natural state.
Lord Vishnu
(Consciousness) took incarnation ten times
means that he started playing through all the ten senses. To do
something means to take an
incarnation.
When he becomes
God he realises his ignorance. God is unsteady while Parabrahman is
steady. To know the nature of both the steady
and the unsteady is ``knowledge''. The
intellect of the students of Vedas gets puzzled while thinking of this
subject.
The source of all
this universe is this Inner Self, yet the true source of this world is
this phase of `sprouting of knowingness', which has
no head or tail. On one side the world is
created and the other side everything vanishes. If ones nature is known,
the Inner Self
disappears. The steady nature is always there
and the unsteady one perishes.
The steady admits
of no change but the unsteady or the self admits change. The self which
is unsteady has passions, changes, desire,
anger, greed, pride, etc. If some one calls him
(i.e. the inner self) good, he swells with pride and if another calls
him bad, he becomes
sad; that means the Inner self is subject to
change. One who calls the changeless and the changing as the same, is a
beggar. It means
that he is caught in the realm of the five
elements. Beyond the body are Maya, principles of five elements, etc.
The essence of
Vedas is : `` You are that Principle''. The Self is beyond the four
bodies. There are various stages for explaining the
Vedas. Brahman and Parabrahman are proved after
debating and battling a billion times. Yoga means union or a device.
That is the
Paramatma- oneself encased in the five sheaths
(Koshas).
The cover of food: The outside covering, which may be called a coat. It
is worn from out side to protect the self. This is the
body consisting
of blood, flesh, bones, hair etc. produced out of food.
The cover of
vital airs: The Self is covered with five vital airs (Pranas).
The cover of the
mind: The cover of mind along with concepts.
The cover of the
intellect: The cover of intellect with the concepts like sin or virtue,
that one is so and so (Brahmana, Kshatriya
etc.).
The cover of
happiness: Rest, sleep etc. One is happy as one has forgotten everything
that produces unhappiness.
If one forgets
everything, then all the bliss. One is happy because one has forgotten
all sorrows. Where does the Jeeva (Ego) find
happiness? The answer is `in forgetfulness'.
Unknowingly he enjoys happiness in the sleep. Narada (name of a saint in
the Indian
mythology) is our mind. He goes round all the
three worlds namely the gross, the subtle and the causal worlds. This
mind sings praises
of the Lord and also enters into argument and
quarrels. He always has a begging bowl under his arm. The begging bowl
is his stomach.
When one goes to the office or to a place where
devotional songs are sung, it is sure that Mr. Mind will take the
begging bowl along
with him.
Self is beyond
all the states. Recognise the five sheaths explained above. Three
hundred and thirty million deities are on the summit. All
are for the sake of the body. Twenty five
principles, five sheaths of the jeeva and the three qualities (satva,
rajas and tama) make up
these three hundred and thirty million deities
who live in the city of Kashi (the body). After transgressing the five
sheaths, Vishwanath,
the ruling deity of this city can be contacted.
Then, here
itself, it is Kashi (holy place) for you. Whatever is in the microcosm
is also in the macrocosm. Thus then we have to put
forward infinite number of arguments as
Parabrahman has to be proved. The Jeeva (Gross body) is one who can be
talked about, or
indicated and whatever is expressed through
Jeeva's Speech is in words.
Which is the real
nature of God and which is the unreal? The answer is Virat - the Big one
made up of five elements. The subtle (Virat)
is the three hundred and thirty millions of
Gods - -- Brahma-Vishnu Mahesh. This subtle is called HiranyaGarbha.
Then His causal
body- is the Avyakrut- Unmanifest i.e. this is
the state of Primorchal Prakriti-before any change occurred. This is
Existence,
Consciousness Bliss- This is the indication of
the status of God.
Jeeva Ego has
four bodies namely the gross, the subtle, the causal and the supracausal
body . The first three can be described. The
supra causal body is the goal to be achieved.
From the earth comes the body. Macrocosm-Virat- You may say the body is
a part of
Him. The air outside and in the body are one
and the same. Then how to call this air as belonging to you or me. For
example if the
property is one, how can there be two owners
for that property? Air is only one.
Desire and senses
make up the mind. The deity is the Moon. Mind (moon) is treacherous to
the Guru (sun). It does not go to Him. The
moon is accused of treachery to the Guru, that
is, it does not want to get self knowledge from the sun because it will
die in the process.
The senses may be
termed as Lord Indra. Rain means desire to drink. To perform a sacrifice
means to prepare a good meal and eat it
- - then it rains, that is, one has a desire to
drink. Then man grows, his senses are appeased . Just like the earth
grows when it rains.
Saint Gautam means best among senses (Go
senses, Uttam best). The elegant Ahilya (his wife) is the body. Both
have the
same expression and also the same goal.
Therefore, Jeeva and Shiva are one- Jeeva is none else than Brahman.
Jeeva has four bodies,
Shiva has four bodies. The eighth body or
Primordial Maya is steady.
That is His
Primordial nature. Whatever is Parabrahman is what cannot be expressed
in words. The God of the transitory is Ishwara,
and that God's devotee is also transitory. Both
of them are false, perishable, therefore Jeeva and Shiva are Ignorances.
Do not get
tempted by these. All these are perishable and
false. One who knows or recognises leaving them alone (The Truth) is a
Dnyani- the
knower.
"Thought of Liberation and bondage is
present only during the state of Ignorance. The Original Nature is
self-evident. It is
neither bound nor liberated." [Dasbodh, Chapter
7, Section 6, Verse 52].
Thought of
Liberation and bondage are present only during the state of ignorance.
The original nature is self-evident. It is neither bound
nor liberated. The problem of bondage and
liberation arises only because man, enveloped in ignorance, takes the
body as his self and
also takes the `doership' of all his actions to
himself.
Is
self-realisation means remaining actionless? In that case when formerly
King Janaka ruled a kingdom even after self-realisation was
everything lost? Shuka (a great saint) and
others had also realised the self. Then how did they write mythological
books? Suppose we
accept to mean `Mukta'or `being free' means
remaining motionless. If remaining motionless like a log of woord means
being Brahman,
then Shuka and Vamadeva would be like dead
bodies. Then how could Shuka tell Bhagwat to King Parikshita? It is
necessary to put
forward various versions and say things clearly
when one (the Master) gives sermons. If that is so, then how can this
work be done if
one is motionless.
Because one gives
sermons does it mean he is not realised? How can you say he has not not
reached Final Reality? To be motionless
does not mean becoming a realised person.
Knowledge of final reality is obtained through the teaching of the
Master. If a realised
person becomes motionless then who will give
the knowledge?
Realised ones
have done utmost efforts in order to save the world. In the category of
libration there are three compartments, namely,
(1) Jeevan Mukta
(2) Videha Mukta
(3) Nitya Mukta.
Jeevan mukta
refers to those persons who are fully conscious as to what they are and
yet perform their worldly duties. Videha mukta
means those that have understood and have
indentified with Brahman and just remain as they are. They do not care
about what they
eat or drink. Apart from thes two there is
Nitya mukta, the Absolute.
If some one gets
the "experience" (of Self) all of a sudden then he becomes quiet. To be
motionless or to be unconscious is to do with
the body. It has nothing to do with Brahman.
When the consciousness stirs back then again he comes to body
consciousness.
He understands
"This is the self - I am Brahman" and stays thus. Atman is beyond
bondage or liberation. If one continues to remain in
body consciousness, one will never be
liberated. Even God Brahma or other gods will never become liberated, if
they remain in body
consciousness. "He is free for a moment and
gets bound the next moment", means he has not understood at all, what is
Brahman.
Those who talk
about bondage and liberation are only talking about Prakriti (nature of
illusion). The Truth or the nature of self is
self-evident. Bondage and liberation have no
meaning there. One, who says he is bound, is a fish in the ocean of this
mundane
existence, and one, who says he is liberated,
is a crocodile. One who has bound himself with the stone in the form of
an idea that he is
liberated will go to Patal(hell), the lowest
region. One who says, "Till now I have committed a number of sins, and
actions, and
therefore I was bound, but now I am free" goes
to the very base of the ocean of worldly transmigration. He is in great
danger .
The Real
knowledgeble ones- the Dnyanis have considered them as fools. Even at
the time of committing a sin he was the Self, but he
did not know that. So what great thing has
happened if he says he now knows him. He is still searching as he always
was, as the duality
is still present.
But that one is
free, who is free of the concept of `I' and `you'. Rahu and Ketu mean
`hu'i.e. `I' and Tu i.e. `you'. If this concept
remains intact, he is still eclipsed. One who
has drunk half protion of the nector is half Dnyani or partly realised.
Those, who know their
own nature, are the ones who have know they are
beyond the body. The rest of them keep up the contact with the body.
That which
gets into bondage is the body. Where is the
bondage if one knows that he is not the body?
One who has got
the purest knowledge of the `Truth' thinks that being `bound and free'
is all a joke. Where Prakriti (Illusion) moves
away or ends with the name and form, there all
the words become silent. Then how can any thing like `liberation' remain
there? What is
the meaning of "liberated". That is only a way,
in which people talk. All the bondage is for him, who says he is the
body. One who is a
Dnyani (Realised) is free from the sense of
`I'. For him `bound and liberated' is only a delusion. `Bound' and
`liberated' are only
concepts expressed. A concept is never true.
One who has understood Maya (Illusion) is free from all fear. The one
who says, "I will
practise yoga after I become Brahman- then I
will do something" is like the one going in search of water in a mirage.
It means that such
people are simply going backward and forward in
a mirage. One who considers mirage as true, gets bound by it. For the
man who is
awake, the dream disappears. In the same way
Dnyani finds this mirage which is in the form of Illusion disappear.
So far as one's
own nature is concerned, the relationship of the body itself is untrue.
"Trying to contemplate on one who admits of no
contemplation," is not possible. As far as
Brahman is concerned, no contemplation is possible. But man has a habit
of seeing and
contemplating something. If one cannot see or
think about Self, then what can one do? If one contemplates on a thing
then that thing
can be known. By the nature of self, even if
you want to pull it down to your mind, it can not come to the mind also.
It is also not
possible to discard the nature of
`Knowingness'. It cannot be understood through the senses also. Then
what can one do?
The Truth
(Brahman) is beyond concept. When one starts meditating the trinity (of
seer, seen and process of seeing) is produced. All
other objects and senses are alien to us but
because we ourselves are the Truth, contemplation on ourself is not
possible. If
contemplation is given up, great doubts
overpower us. But if one thinks and deliberates upon what is everlasting
and what is transient,
what is self and what is not self, the Truth is
revealed. We are not any of the things that exist in this world. We are
also not the body.
The Vedas, the scriptures, the moon, the sun --
we are none of these. We must sincerely find out who we are.
"You are That".
So you must understand who `you' are. The word `I' comes from `within',
so you must be some where `within' only.
Where there is nothing, that is called the
`causal body', It is also called ignorance. There is more happiness in
the subtle body than in
the gross body. There is of course, happiness
in the causal body. If everything is left off, then only the one who
leaves off everything,
remains. One who `leaves off' is the Witness.
Then it means that only the `Knowingness' (power to know) remains- just
an idol of
`Knowingness' remains. That is
`Existence-Knowledge- Bliss' (Sat-chit-ananda). Who was the one that
experienced or saw during
sleep, that there is nothing there? The answer
is `I'. So You had the experience that there was nothing there.
Existence-Knowledge-Bliss is the fourth body. He is God. That `there is
nothing' is known without the help of the mind. Leave alone
even that `I am', then the modification of the
mind which says `I' am also remains motionless in peace. It is not even
necessary to see
how that modification is. If one forgets the
causal body, only then one has to remember it. It is not possible to
forget it, so no
contemplation is to be practised. One should
meditate as advised without any concept. Nothing is to be brought to the
mind, and
nothing to be known there, because then there
appear two, one the mind and the other which is brought to the mind. So
there appears
duality. To know this, there is no necessity of
applying any collyrium (instrument) to improve vision (knowledge).
If without
discriminating one tries to understand, then duality ensues. The sense
of beingness, means "I am the one remaining"; this also
has to be left alone.
There is nothing
like non-self- but it is talked of as non-self, for understanding it.
Unless the `I' dies off Heaven can not be seen.
Parabrahmam is non-dualistic- means we
ourselves are `That'. Therefore we have to be `That' in order to know
`That'. This does not
require any other means- or an instrument. If
we have to experience some other object, we have to see it. But because
we are `That',
we are by nature `That alone'. If we give up
the consciousness of all the rest, then we are as we are. We have never
forgotten our
nature. So it is not necessary to remember it.
Only if it is forgotten, then it has to be remembered. Therefore, our
Nature is beyond
remembering and forgetting.
What is death ?
It is just like sleep at night. When something comes to memory after
remembering it,- that is prone to death. This
Vedanta (the tenet), the fourteenth jewel, has
been extracted after churning, by virtue of getting yoked to the body,
and through the
body and the Knowledge (`I am') -this is the
nectar.
Parabrahman is
the natural state, means, it exists right from the begining without
doing or thinking anything. It is in the natural state .
This is self-evident. In that natural state,
there is neither happiness nor misery. Happiness is pervaded by misery
both at the back and
the front. First comes the misery and in that
misery there is a little happiness.
"As soon as a
concept comes, there arises dualism". Because we ourselves are the
Truth, we become two as soon as we imagine
something. When you were playing marbles in
childhood, whatever knowingness (power of knowing) you had is the same
as you have
it now. You do not have to remember (think) how
it is. To "forget all" is only to remember. It is well done if you
forget that `I am
Brahman' also. `Experience it without
experiencing'. During sleep we have an experience of ourselves. But if
we try to get such an
experience, it cannot be had even with effort.
It will not leave, even if it is left off, because you are that; then
who will leave whom? If
one tries to see, it recedes far back, it is
distant. We have got to sleep to know sleep. And "not to do any effort"
is to know Him.
Eating, taking a meal etc. are obstructions in
the way of knowing Him. They are not the methods.
If you say, "I am
doing something, because `I am' "- it means to modify the mind to the
effect that `I am'. This is ruinous. If mind goes
to bring it, it disappears there itself. You
have to leave the `I'ness after knowing the `I am'ness. Till now you
were told that " the
impulse of knowledge" is "I". But now you leave
that. One who uses this method of "I am not, you are not, there is
nothing"- is indeed
fortunate. Nothing is to be done. Think, listen
and contemplate, then the Nature of the self is exposed, because this
knowledge of
(one's own) Nature has to sustain. Otherwise
concept of Maya presents itself there.
That `I am
Brahman' is also a concept. We should not be the one that imagines or
conceives- this means, we should not also be what is
conceived. The knower should absorb in final
Reality. This is the basis of the knowledge of Brahman. You become the
stage- do not
become the scene or sets of the scene. This you
have to do without moving away from your Nature. Then do your Sadhana
(efforts),
deliberation, contemplation- do whatever you
feel. You yourself become the goal and then do some Sadhana-efforts (if
you feel).