Page 7
APAROKSHANUBHUTI
aparokShAnubhuti:
Video 7:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlNUaV0QWlo
विषयेष्वात्मतां दृष्ट्वा मनसश्चिति मज्जनम् ।
[The absorption of the mind in the Supreme Consciousness by realizing Atman in all objects is known as the “Withdrawal of the mind” which should be practiced by the seekers after liberation.]
The fifth is ‘Taking back’ or ‘Withdrawal.’ Food is our
intake through the mouth. All the information the mind takes in is the food for
the mind. Sage Sanatakumara teaches to Sage Narada:
आहारशुद्धौ सत्त्वशुद्धिः …. | -- mantra
7.26.2, chAndogya upa.
[From purity of food (comes) purity of mind.]
Sanatkumara tells Narada that the quality of the mind depends on the type of
food one takes. If the food is pure, the quality of the mind will be sattva. Otherwise the qualities of rajas and tamas which are present in the impure food taint the mind. The rajas quality has the tendency to
project what is not there (resulting in misapprehension of things). The tamas quality veils the reality
(resulting in non-apprehension of the reality). The veiling of reality is the
reason for our being of a finite nature; otherwise we would have been Ishwara.
The tamas hides the truth and the rajas shows multiplicity. Both together
constitute our samsAra - the cycles
of birth and death.
The satvic
quality can lead one to liberation if it is in its purest state without rajas and tamas contaminating it. ‘rajas’
and ‘tamas’ are of no help.
The Indian mythologies and epics express the Vedantic truths
allegorically. Ramayana is an example for that. The three main characters of
the demonic family in the epic Ramayana represent the three qualities - sattva, rajas and tamas. They are Ravana (the villain), Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana. Ravana
represents the rajas quality. Kumbhakarna the tamas
and Vibhishana the satva.
As long as Vibhishana had an association with the other two, he had to stay
confined to the island of their kingdom. Only after Ravana
and Kumbhakarna were killed, Vibhishana was able to openly
merge with Consciousness personified as Rama in the epic story.
Therefore, it is important that we should be conscious of the
purity of the food we consume – the food for the body as well as the food for
the mind. Purification of the mind is a major exercise on the yogic path which
insists on controlling its fluctuations and its tendency to run after objects. Shankara
holds that it is not enough to arrest the object oriented mind from its outward
movement in order to obtain liberation. The mind has to be turned inward and,
more importantly, should also be dissolved in Consciousness.
Such a dissolution can be achieved by paying attention to the
“Knowingness" aspect that is behind what is known through any of the five
senses or the mind. It does not matter what is the known. It could be a sight,
sound, smell, touch, taste or a thought. They are all known. But a thing (i.e.
an object) can be known only if it is present and also is knowable. In other
words it should have Beingness and Knowingness.
Thus, it is immaterial what qualities/features are known. What is fundamental
to all that is known is the Beingness-Knowingness aspect in all of them. Even
if it is ‘emptiness’ that is the known, the emptiness has to be present and
known. Without Beingness-Knowingness, no substance can ever exist.
यस्यैव स्फुरणं सदात्मकमसत्कल्पार्थगं भासते … |
-- verse 3,
shrI dakShinAmUrti
stotra.
[Whose reality appears as the unreal
creation,…]
Going a step further, we may say that it does not matter whether
the object ‘over there’ exists or not. What is much more important is the
presence of “Me.” Neither the presence nor the knowingness of mine can ever be
denied. That “Me” Itself is the Knowledge. That ‘Me’ is Consciousness. That
‘Me’ is the Self.
In every percept of ours, we should see our own Beingness. The
mind will then surrender to us completely. Mind is nothing but an agglomeration
of the particulars. Mind does not just stop with seeing the beingness. It
assigns a name to everything that it perceives. It attributes an ID to the
object perceived. The mind “particularizes” or “objectifies.” That is a
characteristic feature of the mind.
Looking at things in their beingness is Godliness. That is Self.
Looking at things with a description of how they look engenders the world. The
reality as it naturally is, is very simple. The objectification complicates and
makes what is into a complexity. The complexity is the result of interpreting
the simple ‘seeing.’
Mind is ever fluctuating, ever changing. Its tendency is to
observe the particulars. Whatever be the particular, if our attention is focused
on the Beingness and not on the object, as Shankara says, mind cannot survive. Its
life depends on objectification. In the absence of objectification, mind disappears.
It sinks into Consciousness.
The technique of “withdrawal” taught by the yoga school gets
subsumed in the process of “Withdrawal” that Shankara asks us to adopt. While
philosophy of Yoga exhorts one to achieve or attain, and suggests methods for
becoming it, Advaita says that whatever has to be achieved or attained is
already available. We have ‘knowingly’ to be that “What-IS.”
Shankara stresses the fact that one cannot try and make an effort
to obtain what already exists. We don’t really invent any novel thing; it is
always a case of discovery only. There is nothing that can be found anew; it is
just a matter of revealing what already exists. Even a thought that appears as
something new is an abstract from what is already existing. Mind and the
thought waves in it belong to the past. Any ‘form’ perceived is something that
is put together, manufactured. Everything is about particulars. Merge the
particulars in the Universal. Then only a nameless “That” remains. That is the
Supreme Self. That is the Non-dual meditation. The point of view from the angle
of the particulars comes to an end here and the viewpoint of the Universal alone
prevails.
Summing up, pratyAhAra
is the process of dissolving the mind into Consciousness by perceiving all
things as Self with attention focused on the Universal, and without fragmenting
and objectifying the totality of ‘the seen.’ This has to
be practiced ‘knowingly’ by the seeker desiring liberation. “Knowingly” implies
a clear understanding of the attributeless brahman
at least at an intellectual level.
यत्र यत्र मनो याति ब्रह्मणस्तत्र दर्शनात् |
[The steadiness of the mind through realization of brahman wherever the mind goes, is known as the supreme focus.]
The first five steps of the aShTAnga-s are known as External steps. The remaining three are said to be the Internal steps. The internal three are much more powerful compared to the external five. PatanjaIi’s yoga also groups the eight steps into two categories in the same way -- the internal and the external. One of the yoga sUtra-s speaks about speedily attaining the goal. Shankara contends that the steps suggested by yoga go by snail’s speed as compared to the immediate delivery by the Advaitic steps.
Concentrating the mind on a spot is “dhAraNa” in the Patanjali system. Advaita asks us to focus the mind on the Universal within any object. It does not matter which ‘particular’ is witnessed because the attention itself is ever on the Universal. When the attention is on Gold, what does it matter whether the object is the necklace or bracelet or ring? Let the mind go anywhere, the attention is on gold. Patanjali’s method of focusing may cause tension. Advaita way of focusing happens in relaxation.
It is important that the theoretical foundation should be strong and the doctrine should be understood without any ambiguity. Unless the Advaitic principles are fully ingested, any amount of practice for any number of days has no value.
There can be an infinite number of ‘particulars’; but there is only One Universal. Mind may go anywhere, but the attention should always stay with the Universal Oneness. Mind will have nowhere to go because anywhere it goes, the seeker sees only the unchanging One Universal. The mind will then be automatically stabilized. The stable mind gets absorbed in Consciousness.
The muck that conceals the Consciousness is said to be the combo of rajas and tamas. Therefore, these two have to be gotten rid of like we dig away in a well the overburden of soil and rock in order to reach the water.
In the allegorical story of “Tripura rahashya” (The Secret of the Three Cities), the Goddess teaches that the mind and Self are not different. Our mind is dependent on the life-force (prANa). We depend on the mind to achieve Self-Knowledge. The thought modification (vRitti) in the form of brahman takes place in the mind. Shankara’s advice is that the vRitti (thought modification) may be used as far as it is useful and then we should transcend it. If we attach ourselves to the vRitti, it will take us back to the life-force. Therefore, once one achieves the Knowledge, one must stay put there.
A seeker should go on practicing till the natural Happiness is available at all times. Happiness is not something that is obtained with effort. It should be automatic and ever springing up. The happiness we come across and enjoy in our lives within the empirical world is temporary. It is always associated with its flip side of fear. Any amount of riches or name or fame cannot stop decay, disease aging and death. That is why Shankara exhorts in his verse:
मा कुरु धनजनयौवनगर्वं
मायामयमिदमखिलं हित्वा (var बुध्वा )
[Do not boast of wealth, friends, and youth. Each one of these are destroyed in a minute by time. Free yourself from the illusion of the world of mAyA and attain the timeless Truth.]
Do not arrogate yourself with your riches, popularity and connections. They are all illusory and can disappear in no time. They cannot save you. Therefore, knowingly capture the Self-Knowledge. It is devotion if one captures the Knowledge unknowingly. If captured knowingly, it is Knowledge.
ततः साधननिर्मुक्तः सिद्धो भवति योगिराट् ।
[Then he, the best among yogis having attained to perfection, becomes free from all practices. The real nature of such a man never becomes an object of the mind or speech.]
No more sAdhana is required after the achievement of Self-knowledge. The seeker is free of practices at the stage described in the previous verse. There is no more effort, no more becoming. It is just Being. “I am already That.” When we are already brahman, there is no more quest to become brahman. It is like the horizon where the sky and earth meet. If one runs to catch it, it keeps moving farther and farther away. Looked from a long distance, that very place where one was, looks to be the horizon. Thus there is no place which is not a horizon. We do not have to run for it. We have to realize that the horizon is wherever we are.
आश्चर्यवत्पश्यति कश्चिदेनमाश्चर्यवद्वदति तथैव चान्यः ।
आश्चर्यवच्चैनमन्यः शृणोति श्रुत्वाप्येनं वेद न चैव कश्चित्
॥
-- verse 29, Ch 2,
Bhagavad-Gita.
[One sees Him as a wonder; and so also another speaks of him as a wonder; and as a wonder another hears of Him; and though hearing, none understands Him at all.]
For an innocent child-like mind, nature is a wonder. As we grows up, we become too entangled with the world. Having been accustomed to the rat race in the world, we search for something new, different. We look for change. It is said that ‘familiarity breeds contempt.’ If we were to witness something novel, which is not familiar, we will have a surprise. People go on world travel in search of the wonders in nature. We keep chasing for newer and newer things. Even scientific research is done to discover something new.
The seeker who is settled in the Beingness is the best of Yogis. Gita says:
यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः ।
तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम
॥ -- verse 78, Ch 18,
Bhagavad-Gita.
[I deem that wherever is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, wherever is Arjuna, the archer, there fortune, victory, prosperity and polity are established.]
We are concerned with the Science of Self-Knowledge in our discussions here. One who follows certain practices on the path pf Knowledge is a seeker. The one who has already settled in the Knowledge of the Self is a supreme Yogi. One should be the supreme Yogi, but not an ordinary type who continues with some practice or the other to attain something in the future.
Advaita is about being brahman wherever one is. It is not trying to reach brahman. As the Upanishad says:
ब्रह्मैवेदममृतं पुरस्ताद्ब्रह्म पश्चाद्ब्रह्म दक्षिणतश्चोत्तरेण ।
अधश्चोर्ध्वं च प्रसृतं ब्रह्मैवेदं विश्वमिदं वरिष्ठम्
॥ -- II-ii-12, muNDaka upa.
[All this that is in the front is brahman, the immortal. brahman is at the back, as also on the right and the left. It is extended above and below, too. This world is nothing but brahman, the highest.]
It is brahman in front, brahman behind, brahman to the right and left, brahman above and below. I am also brahman. There is no scope for any movement. There is no place to go. Can there be a path to proceed on to reach brahman? When the subject Seer and the object seen is brahman, is there a need to search for brahman?
A sAdhana as a means to attain something is meaningful if there is a difference between the seer and the seen and the seeker has to find something else than what is seen. But when the seeing, the seeker and the seen are all One, that Itself is his intrinsic nature. That natural state is not an object either for speech or the mind. Adopting a process to obtain brahman implies the involvement of the mind and speech. The moment it is understood that we are already that which is to be attained, i.e., it IS right here where we are, both the speech (activity of organs) and mind (activity of thought) dissolve.
Shankara so far explicated in detail his 15-step scheme as a “non-process process” for practice to realize brahman. Now he moves on to speak about possible impediments a seeker may face during his/her practice.
समाधौ क्रियमाणे तु विघ्नान्यायान्ति वै बलात् ।
लयस्तमश्च विक्षेपो रसास्वादश्च शून्यता ।
[While practicing samAdhi there appear unavoidably many obstacles, such as lack of inquiry, idleness, desire for sense-pleasure, sleep, dullness, distraction, taste of joy, and the sense of blankness. One desiring the Knowledge of brahman should slowly get rid of all such innumerable obstacles – (127-128).]
It is a common experience that building a structure or attaining a state is often easier than maintaining the same. Several odd unexpected factors may pull down the seeker. Shankara identifies a few of such obstacles and cautions us about them.
The most usual problem a seeker may come across is an inability to have an unbroken thought on brahman. Next is indolence. Duties, responsibilities obligations, commitments etc. crop up from time to time deeply distracting the focus on brahman. Other factors which block a continuous thought on brahman are sleep, idling, disturbed mind etc.
In the empirical day to day world, we find the ‘mother’ more compassionate towards the offspring. But in the spiritual world it is the father who is more helpful to the children. The Mother of creation, symbolized as mAyA Shakti, is much more demanding and strict on our practices. Ishwara, as the Father, extends a helping hand to us all the time. Bhagavad-Gita says:
दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया ।
मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायामेतां तरन्ति ते
॥
-- verse 14, Ch 7, Bhagavad-Gita.
[Truly this Divine Illusion of Mine, made up of guNa-s, is hard to surmount. Whoever seeks Me alone, crosses over this Illusion.]
Krishna offers to help us cross this ocean of world, if we take refuge in him. The feminine is the symbol for Nature (prakRiti). The three guNa-s, satva, rajas and tamas, comprise the nature. The seeker has to transcend the three guNa-s.
Shankara is cautions that the happiness of meditation, aroused states etc. are to be avoided because they make the mind dull. To be as brahman is not sitting blissed out. brahman is beyond happiness and unhappiness. Blankness of mind is also not brahman.
All such countless experiences should be slowly dropped by the seeker aiming at Self Knowledge. IshAvAshya Upanishad too advises similarly:
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा …. | -- mantra 1, IshAvAshya upa.
[Therefore find your enjoyment in renunciation; …]
Shankara next suggests how to give up the pleasurable experiences. The hints given by him are very important for a seeker.
भाववृत्त्या हि भावत्वं शून्यवृत्त्या हि शून्यता ।
[While thinking of an object the mind verily identifies itself with that, and while thinking of a void, it really becomes blank, whereas by the thought of brahman it attains perfection. So one should constantly think of (brahman to attain) perfection.]
If a thing appears, that appearance is known because of a vRitti (thought modification). We see objects with a prior idea. For example, the mike in front is seen with the idea that it is a mike. This is called a ‘positive idea.’ If there is no mike in front here, even then there is a thought modification. It is the prior idea that there is no mike here. We are habituated to seeing either an object to be present or absent. But in both cases a prior idea of either presence of the object or the absence of the object is present.
aparokShAnubhuti:
Video 42:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/m91ar35rOV4
Either we see a world with a prior concordant idea or we do not see it keeping a prior discordant idea. We see our family and friends to be present when they are there; if they are not there, you see that they are not there. So also the case with our property, wealth, treasure and other things. All these experiences are of the empirical world.
What we are concerned here is the experiential realization of brahman and not about the experiences of the world. The Perfection of brahman has to be realized with the thought modification as brahman as already explained. This thought modification is also called the vRitti of Perfection or brahma vRitti. It is not an idea like the earlier vRitti-s. It’s a non-idea.
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥
-- -- shanti
mantra from Shukla Yajurveda.
[Om, That (Outer World) is Perfect (Complete). This (Inner
World) is also Perfect; From Perfection comes Perfection. Taking
Perfection from Perfection, Perfection indeed remains (Because Divine
Consciousness is Non-Dual and Infinite).]
The Perfection, the Completion does not depend on any ‘thing.’
Whether a ‘thing’ exists or not, It is Perfection. The
presence or absence of a thing is immaterial for the mind in the Perfect state.
The Perfect mind transcends both presence and absence and sees the Universal
within both. If a thing is present, it IS; if it is not present, its absence
IS. The presence or absence dissolve in IS-ness. That is Perfection. The
Perfection permeates both the presence and absence. Gita tells us:
… सदसच्चाहमर्जुन ॥ -- verse 19,
Ch 9, Bhagavad-Gita.
[I am … existence and non-existence, Arjuna.]
I am both present and absent. No god of any religion can make such a declaration! Only the God of the ancient Indian religion can proclaim. He says that “What you see as present and what you see to be absent is both Myself.” Both the ideas of presence and absence merge in ‘Me.’ Practice looking at things from this standpoint of Perfection.
The presence or absence of an object will not perturb one who is in such a Perfection. That is the inner meaning of the Bliss of the Knowers of brahman. We have from Gita:
योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः । -- verse 24, Ch 5, Bhagavad-Gita.
[Only that Yogi who has his joy within and his pastime within, and who has his light within, attains brahman's Bliss, himself becoming brahman.]
The seeker in Perfection has his bliss within himself; he rests within himself; he has the illumination from within. That is the vRitti with which everything is noticed.
Shankara next guides the seeker holding his hands to that vRitti of Perfection in the four verses that follow. None need to have questions on the “means” (sAdhana) anymore. If a doubt arises at any time, one may refer to this short treatise ‘aparokShAnubhUti.’
ये हि वृत्तिं जहत्येनां ब्रह्माख्यां पावनीं पराम् ।
[Those who give up this supremely purifying thought of brahman, live in vain and are at the same level as beasts.]
ये हि वृत्तिं विजानन्ति ज्ञात्वापि वर्धयन्ति ये ।
[Blessed indeed are those virtuous men who at first have this Consciousness of brahman and then develop it more and more. They are respected everywhere.]
येषां वृत्तिः समावृद्धा परिपक्वा च सा पुनः ।
[Only those in whom this Consciousness (of brahman) being ever present grows into maturity, attain to the state of ever-existent brahman; and not other who merely deal with words.]
कुशला ब्रह्मवार्तायां वृत्तिहीनाः सुरागिणः ।
[Those people who are only clever in discussing brahman but have no realization, and are very much attached to worldly pleasures, are born and die again and again as a consequence of their ignorance.]
Shankara instructs us how to hold onto the vRitti of Perfection till one is liberated either in this body (jIvanmukti) or without this body (videhamukti). It has to be done as dexterously as a snake-catcher tactfully holds the neck of the snake till yields.
Everyone speaks of vRitti of ideas – ideas of a thing being present or absent. The attention has to be on brahman and brahman only. A seeker has to be courageous to refuse to go by anything else. His focus has to be on Truth and nothing but Truth. The seeker should not be troubled by the polar pairs of opposites. He should not be concerned with ‘particulars.’ He should notice only the Universal that permeates within all the particulars. The particulars follow behind the Universal in such a viewpoint. They stay in the background.
Therefore, keep the view on the Supreme Self. Pay attention to the Supreme Self pervading the entire world. It is not ornaments that are in the view; it is Gold only. With such perception in place, it does not matter whether the vRitti is that of Truth or not.
A vRitti is an idea. Idea is a ‘means to knowledge’ (pramANa). The means capture the finite ‘object’ (prameya) and make it known. For example, let’s take the mike in front. The mike itself did not announce what it is. The body also does not detect that it was a mike. It is the knowledge that said that it is a mike. So the knowledge is the ‘means to know.’
As the seeker, I am tired of seeing the world which has many finite objects. I am now looking for a new ‘Object.’ That new Object is a non-finite immeasurable Object. The seeker must be able to see the Immeasurable ‘as though’ It is measurable. In that seeing, the vRitti should dissolve and the Immeasurable should reveal Itself experientially.
Shankara says that the seeker should drop the vRitti because it shows the object as the “seen.” The “seen” (the object) is always different from the seer. The new Object should appear to be non-different from the seer. If It is seen with a difference from the seer, It will remain as an indirect objective experience. The teaching here, however, is about direct im-mediated and direct experience. In the direct experience, everything That-is is Self. The vRitti has no importance anymore. The seeker should hold on to the vRitti till that moment of direct realization.
If one forsakes this pious vRitti of the nature of brahman in-between, s/he will be non-different from an animal. Gita also says:
न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते । -- verse 38, Ch 4, Bhagavad-Gita.
[Verily, there exists here no purifier equal to Self-Knkwledge.]
It will be a wasted life if one does not hold on to the vRitti of the nature of brahman.