Nirguna Brahman aspect essential for liberation in the Upanishads.

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shriadishakti , jagbir singh

<adishakti_org> wrote:

>

> Incarnations are always conscious of their own divinity. They know

> it from the moment of their birth. They assume human form and

> human limitations for a particular period of time in order to

> teach us. In reality they are never limited. They are ever free

> but appear to be limited to the eyes of ordinary human beings.

>

> From their very birth, the Avatars are knowers of Brahman, the

> Divine Mother. It should be noted that there is no difference at

> all between Brahman and the knower of Brahman, " He who knows the

> Brahman becomes the Brahman " - Mundaka Upanisad. The Atman or

> Brahman cannot be known by the mind because it is itself the

> knower. Therefore, man's relative knowledge reaches only up to

> Avatars, who are always established in Atman or Brahman. The

> highest ideal of Adhiparasakthi that the human mind can perceive

> or grasp is the Avatar. Beyond this there is no relative

> knowledge. Such knowers of Adhiparasakthi or Brahman are rarely

> born in the world and very few people can identify and understand

> them. Attainment of knowledge of Adhiparasakthi is the highest

> object of life. By deep devotion to the Avatars, who are world

> teachers, that knowledge will manifest itself in time.

>

> Those who have deep faith and conviction of the Great Event

> ordained for all humanity will eventually cease having any fear of

> death. The reasoning behind such detachment is perhaps not that we

> have attained the knowledge of Adhiparasakthi within, but because

> She has emerged from the Sahasrara and taken physical form for the

> first time in the history of this universe. If the Adi Shakti is

> before you in person, what did you do in your previous lives to

> deserve attainment Brahman, the highest object of life?

>

>

 

Brahman and Atman, the transcendent and the immanent

 

The Upanishads (Lit. 'sitting by the side'), a monistic approach to

knowledge, are a class of philosophical works (forming the last part

of Veda) exposing the secret doctrine. The literal significance

refers to the secret knowledge acquired by sitting near a spiritual

master. The whole philosophy of Upanishads can be summarized by the

four great sayings (Mahavakyas), i.e. Tat Tvam Asi ('that you are'),

Aham Brahmasmi ('I am Brahma'), Prajnanam Brahma ('the ultimate

truth is consciousness'), Ayamatma Brahma ('the extension of the

Self is Brahma') which are all related to the same ontological

concept. As per the fourth Mahavakyas implies, Brahma (as

terminology used in the Upanishads) has to be seen as the extension

of the Self (Brahman), although Brahman, as the Self, is the

causality behind.

 

The extension of the Self however becomes a central idea in the

Upanishads as the ontological concept of nature of Brahman (Supreme

Soul or Self) and Atman (Individual Soul) becomes fundamental.

Brahman is elaborately described in many of the Upanishads. " The

Self is one, motionless, faster than the mind, beyond the reach of

the senses " (Ish., 4). Furthermore in Ish., 5 the Self encompasses

both the Macrocosm and Microcosm (vide infra), it is both

transcendent and immanent: " It moves and It moves not. It is far and

It is near. It is within all this, and It is also outside all this " .

In describing Brahman it is taken into consideration the attributes

or lack of attributes from points of view of time, space and

causality. On these lines, Brahman has two aspects, one which is

without attributes known as Nirguna Brahman and the other one having

attributes known as Saguna Brahman. Nirguna Brahman is seen as the

causal aspect of the manifestation that is of Saguna nature, and it

is thus beyond reach but it is the Nirguna Brahman aspect that is

essential for liberation in the Upanishads.

 

This class of philosophical works is a natural development of

previous parts of the Veda-s. During the Samhita period, the

sacrifice (Yajna) was a specific kind of ritual in order to obtain

awareness. Gradually from the Rig Veda Samhita onwards the emphasis

goes from the external approach to sacrifice (Yajna) in the external

world, towards the sacrifice into the microcosmic world which is

none other but the human body. The theophany is thus internalised.

The most reveling is perhaps the case of God Prajapati. Prajapati

(Lit. 'lord of creatures'), a god having a predominant position in

the Veda-s, is the embodiment of sacrifice. In Br., 1.2.7 Prajapati

desired " May this body of mine be fit for sacrifice " in order to

create the world. Prajapati identifies himself with the causal,

subtle as well as the gross bodies of the universe, in other words

the total creation. On this approach, the Pancagni Sadhana practice

(vide supra) will be better understood, as the issue is to what

extend we can participate in the divine creation and what will be

the divine-human relationship.

 

Divine and Human

 

It is a fundamental development in the Veda that the Devas (gods)

gradually become homologous with the psycho-physiological functions

of the human body, and thus the hierophany descends within the human

body. The human psycho-physiological instrumentality is used to

discover Atman. A few of these analogies can be cited: " The organ of

speech (Vak) (of the sacrificer) is looked upon as Agni (fire) "

(B4., 3.1.3), " the eye (Cakshus) of the sacrificer is Aditya (sun) "

(Br., 3.1.4) , " the vital force (Prana) (of the sacrificer) is

looked upon as Vayu (air) " (B4., 3.1.5), " the mind (Manas) of the

sacrificer is Candra (moon) " (Br., 3.1.6). Thus, the sacrificer

taking the role of imago mundi is indeed the practitioner performing

a rite of passage, as was the case of the Sadhu form India presented

above. The analogy goes on, the internal world is also reflected in

the external world as " the organ of speech (Vak) itself is the

earth, the mind (Manas) is the sky and the vital force (Prana) is

heaven " (Br., 1.5.4), which are the first three worlds (Lokas) as

levels of awareness. In the Yoga based Indian gnosis, it is

ultimately breath that unites the Microcosm to the Macrocosm (White

D. G., 1996, p. 46). The Self which is of nature of Hiranyagarbha

('the golden egg') is identified in Br., 2.1.17 as being in the

heart. This is how the analogy Brahman - Atman is acknowledged, the

body representing the Microcosm and all the gods, thus liberation

can be attained only by starting from the body. (Eliade M, 1975, pp.

179-80).

 

Macrocosm and Microcosm

 

The Macrocosm - Microcosm parallel in the Upanishads becomes

essential to understanding the Brahman (Supreme Soul) and Atman

(Individual Soul) relationship. The Self itself has to manifest in

the matter and " returns to the body along the seventy-two thousand

nerves called Hita, which branch of from the heart to all parts of

the body and stays in it " (Br., 2.1.19). It is therefore a diffusion

into the human body of the causal reality and its effects, the

Brahman in all aspects as gross, subtle and causal to be manifested

as Atman. By using the instrumentality of the new templum the axis

mundi is now within the human body. To obtain this downloading,

various psycho--physiological techniques are employed to acquire an

inner heat of Tapas nature (Eliade, 1992, Vol 1, p. 244), thus being

able to create the transformation.

 

The experience of becoming like Brahman is therefore a pantheistic

experience. The enlightened person known as Jivanmukta

(Lit. 'liberated while still alive') is described in Ish., 6 as " the

wise man who perceives all beings as not distinct from his own Self

at all, and his own Self as the Self of every being ... " . This Sloka

is no less (in practical terms) but the Anthropo-cosmic experience

of a Jivanmukta. It can be said that the issue is to redesign

ourselves completely, by employing various rituals and techniques in

order to obtain the superior knowledge and rise above the ordinary

existence.

 

The knowledge (Jnana) of Atman and the realization of the

identification as Tat Tvam Asi expresses in the Upanishads, doesn't

come without great efforts. In Ka. 1,2,24 it says: " One who has not

kept himself aloof from doing sinful acts, nor controlled his

senses, and has not a peaceful and one-pointed mind, can never

attain the Atman through knowledge " . Furthermore in Ke. 1,2 the wise

aspirant attains success " when he abandons the Ego and rises above

the senses, he achieves immortality " . " The Atman, subtler than the

subtlest and greater than the greatest, dwells in the heart of every

living being. One who is without desire and free from anxiety

realizes the glorious Atman through the purity of senses and mind

and becomes free from sorrow " (Ka., 1,2,20). It can be seen that

such an aspirant has to adopt a code of behaviour, employ certain

yogic techniques, control the mind beyond the ordinary (conscious or

unconscious) mental manifestations. The Jivanmukti (Lit. 'liberation

while still alive') state is seen as high indeed, certainly not

easily available, but after persistent efforts to make sacred the

body. Such an accomplished practitioner (Sadhaka) is described in

Ai., 3,1,4 as " One who has experienced Atman in this way, having

gone beyond this world and having fulfilled all his desires in the

world of bliss, attains immortality. " This is the accomplishment of

the goal of unity, the aspiration to know the Deva-s (gods) and

become one with them or be like them (imitatio dei). Upanishads are

consistent to offer a practical approach to attain such a goal

through an available instrumentality.

 

The instrumentality to knowing the gods and therefore to a

soteriological goal has become thus accessible by using own body in

a new cosmogonical approach. This approach is radically different on

the path of salvation in many other traditions. It is a potentiality

always at hand in every human being. No external ritual is necessary

(once the knowledge is acquire) to making the aspirant to come

closer to the divine. The divine is present already in the body,

only the veil has to be removed by the right knowledge (Jnana) and

the illusion (Maya) be uncovered, so the cyclical life of birth and

death (Samsara) comes to an end. The aspirant in own practice pays

much attention to the purity of senses and the mind. In order to

accomplish these, various yogic practices and meditation are

recommended to make the perception acute. The aspirant also strives

to become without desire as Brahman is described to be. This gradual

process of transformation of personality is seen to create proximity

between the aspirant and the divine, the aspirant obtains therefore

divine qualities. It is a kind of religious experience which might

be called 'encounter with the numinous' (Trompf G., 1990, p. 75). In

so doing, the spiritual door is opened to access the causes of

manifestations. The ordinary perception is by far overcome, the

accomplished Sadhaka is not an ordinary person anymore. The Sadhaka

obtains a multilevel perception of space and is able to have a deep

communion with the whole environment of human, animal or vegetarian

kinds, a typical pantheistic credo and a soteriological approach to

downloading of consciousness. Brahman is thus internalised (White D.

G., 1996, p. 212) in a practical analogy.

 

Kali Yuga, Rites of Passage and Modern Science

by Octavian Sarbatoare