Selected Sutras Part II (Swami Nityananda)

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Selected Sutras, Part II

These sutras were selected from The Sky of the Heart: Jewels of

Wisdom from Nityananda, published by Rudra Press, the publishing

division of Nityananda Institute. The accompanying commentaries are

by Swami Chetanananda.

 

SUTRA 29

The Self is not perceived by the physical eye

But by the mind;

It is not something with form or properties.

Those who identify with the physical body

Find it difficult to see the Self.

Turn your attention from the visible and

Intensify your awareness of the invisible.

As long as the mind dwells on the visible world,

It will see both pain and pleasure.

But the invisible world holds

Neither pain nor pleasure.

 

 

SUTRA 33

Once you attain perfect inner peace, there is

No need to travel anywhere.

No need to see anything.

No need for pilgrimages to holy places.

All can be seen within.

 

Coming and going are simply the mind's delusions.

True peace, true liberation is attained

When the one Self in all is seen.

This is liberation from bondage,

This is desirelessness.

If you are looking for the object held in

Your hand,

Look in your hand—not elsewhere!

So with all things:

Test them within.

 

 

SUTRA 42

The search for truth,

Where the subtle merges with the gross,

Requires subtle discrimination.

The seat of such discrimination is in

The sky of the heart.

When the kundalini rises

To this place in the head,

Then the breath is single

And the universe is in one's Self.

 

All is in the Self—creation, dissolution,

All forms, all events.

And all are seen in the One.

To see separateness is hell;

To see unity is liberation.

Absolute love and devotion are liberation

And complete, endless peace is the goal—

Yogananda, Paramananda, the highest bliss!

 

The ocean is greater than all the rivers;

It has no limits,

And its water cannot be measured.

It is not possible to cultivate love and

Devotion by giving up the cycle

Of wordly existence.

Instead, remain in the world and attain liberation

By being " this thing " and doing " that thing. "

 

Desire is worldly existence! Samsara!

Desirelessness is liberation!

Eternal bliss, the joy of being and knowledge,

The Self, God, the One—

All are the same.

The highest state is boundless peace.

Liberation is eternal bliss.

Love and devotion are the state of

Being-Consciousness-Bliss!

 

Commentary:

When you raise desire to its highest level (that is, if you focus

desire on the Divine), then you automatically cultivate love and

devotion and subsequently gain release from the pain and suffering of

the cycles of birth, death and rebirth. It is a conscious process.

When your energy is scattered about in the form of many different

desires, little can be accomplished. Weave together all these small,

petty desires and bind them into one very high, powerful desire to

see God. This convergence of energy requires that you be filled with

love and devotion. Then that love and devotion will slowly reveal to

you the vision of the Lord. Love and devotion are totally important.

 

The most important thing in spiritual growth is the connection

between you and the Divine. It is never one thing or the other, it is

always what is in the middle. That is true one hundred percent of the

time. If you ask is it this or is it that, is it samsara or is it

liberation, the answer is always: " Neither. " It is what is in the

middle.

 

 

SUTRA 49

A person who knows the Self has no mind—

Seeing all things equally;

Being beyond the three states of

Sleep, dream and deep sleep;

Experiencing neither sunrise nor sunset.

 

The soot-covered glass chimney of a lamp

Reflects light poorly and

Must be kept clean.

Likewise, removing the soot of ignorance

From the mind allows it to clearly reflect

The light of the Self within.

 

Commentary:

According to the Upanishads, the three states are waking, dream and

deep sleep. Yet in this sutra Nityananda lists sleep as the first

state. The reference is to being asleep to the soul. That is, we may

be constitutionally awake, but if we are not aware of our real Self,

we are spiritually asleep. Hence the exhortation in the Katha

Upanishad: " Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached. "

 

In the state of " no-mind, " sensations, ideas and time have ceased.

The jnani is described in the Bhagavad Gita as having his mind dead

to the touch of the external and alive to the bliss of the eternal

Absolute. To see all things equally is to see the Self in all things

and all things within the Self; to be able to see the common factor,

the soul or essence, through the multiplicity of forms:

 

The recollected mind is awake

In the knowledge of the Atman,

Which is dark night to the ignorant.

The ignorant are awake in their sense-life

Which they think is day-light;

To the seer it is darkness.

Being always " awake in the knowledge of the Atman, " the jnani is not

affected by the phenomenal sunrise and sunset.

 

 

SUTRA 67

Freedom from doubt is the path to

One-pointedness of mind.

The intelligence of doubters dwindles

Because wherever they look,

They see only doubt. After all,

We are each subject to our own nature;

There is no reason to find qualities

Not there!

 

Just as you cannot see your reflection in

Agitated water,

Fickle-minded people cannot see their

Real nature.

Those with steady minds, however,

See the One, the Indivisible,

Everywhere they look.

They see themselves in others.

 

Through red glasses,

Things appear red—not green!

We each see according to our thinking.

 

 

SUTRA 74

Perfect concentration is the means by which

The higher mind increases its power

Of understanding.

It is a path to liberation,

A path to the highest.

 

Perfect concentration is a means to steady the

Breath of Life—

For when it is steady, the mind becomes steady.

When the vital breath turns upward,

Divine wisdom enters every nerve and

Peace is the result.

 

Then, nature and the subtle are separate.

Then, the higher mind can experience yoga-power,

Peace, forgiveness and contentment.

By practicing perfect concentration,

You find the whole world within.

The mind so steadied enjoys eternal bliss!

 

The Self is beyond all karma.

True karma is work done

Without attachment to its fruits.

True karma is work done in the

Knowledge of the Self,

Actionless and passionless.

There is no sin without the sense of doing.

 

 

SUTRA 81

As camphor is consumed in fire,

So the mind must be consumed in the Self.

 

The moment camphor catches fire,

It is transformed

And burns itself out of existence, leaving no trace.

 

When the mind merges in the Self,

No trace of ego remains.

 

 

SUTRA 85

It is the mind that observes the vow of silence—

Not the tongue.

Whatever is done when intelligence and wisdom

Are united in the Self is not karma.

Silence is native to the mind—

Not the tongue.

Spiritual practice, the pursuit of an ideal,

Is achieved through silence.

 

A yogi unites intelligence and wisdom,

Placing the mind in and under the control of

The higher mind.

The three primary channels through which

Conscious creative energy circulates

In the subtle body are

The ida, the pingala, and the sushumna.

Sushumna is the seat of kundalini.

The discipline of silence is really the

Brahmarandhra,

The sahasrara chakra at the top of the head,

The junction of the three channels.

 

Commentary:

Quieting the mind is not the real silence. Real silence consists of

stilling all thought and immersing the mind in Self-knowledge.

Concentrating the mind in the sushumna, at the meeting place of the

ida and pingala nadis, is the correct practice of silence. It is only

through such silence that one can practice yoga and obtain results.

 

Selected Sutras Part II

www.nityananda.us/sutras2.htm