The Ascent to the Godhead - Part 4

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

We concluded Part 3 with the following:

 

(P.183) " The conclusion of this in the Svetasvatara Upanishad is, " When by means

of the real nature of his self he sees as by a lamp the real nature of Brahman,

then, having known the unborn, eternal God who is beyond all natures, he is

freed from all fetters. " [10] Here we have another description of this final

state. In that state first of all one realises oneself, 'atmavidya', one has

knowledge of the self. By means of the real nature of this self one enters into

one's true being, beyond mind, beyond intellect, into the inner self. Then, as

by a lamp, one sees the real nature of 'brahman'. Instead of seeing a mere

appearance of sense objects around one, or of mental objects, one sees the

Reality. And the Reality within and the Reality without are the same. One

realises the non-dual Reality. "

 

[10]Svetasvatara Upanishad 2:15

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and

Christian Faith), Pg.183

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0

 

Here now is Part 4.

 

Enjoy!

 

violet

 

 

The Ascent to the Godhead - Part 4

 

(P.183) There is a further stage here. " Having known the unborn, eternal God

(deva). " This brings us to the third aspect, that this Reality is not only

'brahman' behind the universe, and not only 'atman' the self within, but is also

recognised as God, as personal being. This is a new stage, that the one Reality

is the transcendent mystery of being and the transcendent consciousness, but

also, and for that very reason, a person, because a person is a conscious being.

Ultimately person is fully conscious being. So here this third element is

introduced into the experience of the one reality. The text says a little later,

" That person is 'purusha', not larger than a thumb, dwelling within, always

dwelling in the heart of man. " [11] This is another way of expressing it. Beyond

the outer senses, beyond the mind, beyond the intellect, in that inner centre,

the heart, is this 'purusha'. When he is said to be the size of a thumb it means

he has no dimensions, he does not belong to this world of space and time.

(P.184) " He is perceived by the heart, the thought and the mind. " [12] The terms

in Sanskrit are 'hrdaya', the heart, 'manisha', the thought, and 'manasa', the

mind. These terms become more precise later on, and although here they are used

in a general sense there is the recognition of this faculty by which we can know

the self within, the true person, the God within.

 

Finally at the end of the Svetasvatara Upanishad it says, " through the power of

his 'tapas' and through the grace of God, the wise Svetasvatara truly proclaimed

Brahman. " [13] One of the means by which 'brahman' is attained is by 'tapas',

which originally meant " heat " . It is the inner heat which is generated in yoga

and meditation, and so it comes to mean all disciplined yogic activity. It is

through one's own effort, 'tapas', and through the grace of God, that one comes

to know Brahman. This conception of grace occurs also in the Katha Upanishad

where it says, " Not by much learning, not by the Vedas, not by understanding, is

this Atman known. He whom the Atman chooses, he knows the Atman. " [14] So it is

not only through the power of one's own 'tapas' and 'sadhana', efforts and

discipline, that the 'atman' is attained, but one encounters the grace of the

'atman' coming from above, which draws us to itself. So that is the witness of

the Svetasvatara Upanishad.

 

Now we come to the 'Bhagavad Gita', and here a further great advance is made.

The Bhagavad Gita recognises a three-fold yoga, 'karma', 'bhakti' and 'jnana'.

In the earlier tradition, which we have looked at so far, the yoga was 'jnana'

yoga, where knowledge and consciousness were being sought. The discipline was

concerned with how to awaken the higher levels of consciousness and come to the

Supreme. But the Bhagavad Gita recognises that there are other ways to the one

Reality, and the first is 'karma'. Karma is basically " work " , and in the earlier

traditions it was said that work cannot enable one to reach the Supreme. But

'karma' has several different meanings and the first one is ritual action.

(P.185) That was the original meaning of 'karma' in the Vedas. The point that

the seers of the Upanishads made was that one cannot reach this level of

consciousness by ritual action. This was the basis of the teaching of

Shankaracharya when he said that it is not by ritual (karma) but by knowledge

(jnana) that one knows the One. So it is necessary to go beyond ritual. But the

Bhagavad Gita gives a wider sense to 'karma'; it is not only ritual action but

also social action and moral action.

 

The situation in the Bhagavad Gita is that Arjuna, who represents the human

self, is seated in a chariot facing the battle and Krishna, the Lord, comes to

counsel him. Here the chariot represents the body, Arjuna is the mind and

Krishna is the spirit within, the Lord who has come to counsel him. What Krishna

says to Arjuna is that he must fight the battle. He must face life and do his

work in the world. This was a very important development because at an earlier

stage it had been said that one should separate from the world, separate from

all activity and meditate in silence and solitude, and then one attains the

Supreme. That is one path, the way of the ascetic, the 'sannyasi', and that path

is also recognised by the 'Gita', but it now opens another path which is a way

for the householder, the ordinary person living his ordinary daily life, if the

work is done in the spirit of yoga. There are several conditions for doing one's

work in the spirit of yoga. Attachment is what the Buddha called 'tanha' or

'trishna', clinging to people, clinging to things. This attachment is really the

attachment of the ego in the self-centred person. There is a true self which is

open to God and to others, and there is a false self which clings to itself and,

centring on itself, sees everything in the context of itself. That is the great

obstacle to all meditation and to all transcendent experience.

 

[11] Svetasvatara Upanishad 3:13

[12] Svetasvatara Upanishad 3:13

[13] Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:21

[14] Katha Upanishad 2:23

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and

Christian Faith), Pg.183-185

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0