Guest guest Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Obstacles for Self-Realization -6. We are discussing about the madhyama adhikaari, who has sufficient four-fold qualifications, saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti, to have clear understanding of Vedanta, but not sufficient enough to have the jnaana phalam or the fruits of the knowledge. Most of us fall into this category. Thus he has jnaanam but not jnaana phalam to be a jiivan mukta. The mind is still habitually entangled in the changing diversities of the world. To change continuously is the nature of the world. To expect the changing world to remain conducive all the time to ones likes and dislikes is inherently faulty. Not to be affected by the changing world requires a disciplined frame of mind that can witness the events happening in the world objectively, without emotions getting on the way. Even though jnaani understands he is pure existence-consciousness-limitless, due to lingering vaasanaas or habitual notions due to praarabda, emotional transformation of the mind is incomplete. In effect, the emotional mind does not abide in the knowledge of the intellect or the habitual notions come in between the mind and the intellect. For such a person only nidhidhyaasana is prescribed by Vedanta. Hence nidhidhyaasana is not for gaining any new knowledge but for making the emotional mind to abide in the knowledge that has already been gained through shravana and manana. Nidhidhyaasana is not for manda adhikaari. For manda adhikaari who has saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti at the lowest level, karma and upaasana yoga are prescribed. Nidhidhyaasana is not needed for uttama adhikaari since he gets both jnaana and jnaana phalam by shravana and manana, since his mind has already been purified by saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti. Hence Nidhidhyaasana is required for madhyama adhikaari who has half-baked with four-fold qualifications. He gains the knowledge but not the fruits of knowledge due to lingering vaasanaas. How do I know that I have jnaanam but not jnaana nishTa. After the study of Vedanta under a competent teacher and understood the essence of Vedanta without an iota of doubt then I have learned what needs to be learned. In principle, that is all what is needed. However for many of us, the mind seems to get agitated whenever we are transacting with the world. This is due to emotional involvement with the world due to attachments to things and people. This implies that the saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti needed is incomplete. Hence nidhidhyaasana is prescribed by the scriptures to internalize the learning that has already been taken place. It is like current switch is on and the bulb is in good condition, but still no light is coming. The brighter and brighter light will start beaming forth as one starts rotating the rheostat switch slowly. Thus knowledge is there but for it to express in all its glory, the obstructive emotional attachments or raaga dveshas have to be reduced further. What is to be done in Nidhidhyaasana? Nidhidhyaasana is defined as dwelling upon the teaching that has been gained via shravana and manana, by remaining in the teaching, as often as possible, as intensely as possible, as long as possible, as repeatedly as possible. It is essentially living in the teaching itself. This dwelling on the teaching can be done by selecting any or all of the methods listed here. These include: 1. Repeated listening to scriptures – shravana – mind to dwell on the teachings. 2. Repeated reading of the Shaastras or reading the notes prepared. 3. Repeated writing, while the mind dwells upon the teaching 4. Discussions of the Shaastras with those who have shraddhaa on the teaching (advaita-list-serve comes in handy in this regard) 5. Teaching of the Shaastras to others, if one can manage to get some one to listen to. 6. Contemplating on the teaching in a secluded place (essentially meditation on the teaching). In all these saadhanas, mind is essentially dwelling on the Vedanta teaching. Since the teaching is centered on the self-itself as Brahman or the totality, whatever is not aatma (which then is anaatma) is slowly reduced to mithyaa that includes the likes and dislikes. In the nidhidhyaasana, the physical posture is of secondary consideration as it is predominately a mano vRitti, i.e., a contemplation using the mind. Therefore mind should be awake and available without getting high jacked by any other thought. Any physical posture that keeps the mind conducive for contemplation on the teaching without falling asleep is the right posture. In essence, the posture should be such that mind should not be dwelling on the posture or become conscious of it during contemplation. In this regard, one can also employ aShTaanga yoga meditation stages to keep the mind alert and contemplative. Shankara discusses the application of the ashTanga yoga steps for self knowledge in his anubhuutiprakaashika text. Here chitta nirodha involves only withdrawing the mind from the extroverted pursuits and investing in the teaching of mahaavaakya gained through Shravana and manana or enquiry of the nature of the self. Therefore, nidhidhyaasana is not silencing the mind, but involves mental inquiry or vichaara on the essence of the advaitic teaching – Brahman satyam- jagat mithyaa and jiivaH bhramaa eva na aparaH, Brahman alone is real and the world is just apparent projection on Brahman and jiiva is none other than Brahman. To abide in this understanding, any or all of the above methods can be practiced at the seat of meditation. One can even meditate on anaatma that is a worldly object with name and form to see the truth behind that object. When I meditate on anaatma, I have to see the mithyaa aspect of the name and form and shift my attention to the Brahman or pure existence as the reality that lends existence to the object. The next question is how one should meditate? Bhagavaan Ramana gives illustrative examples. He says in Upadeshasaara- aajyadhaarayaa srotasaa samam, sarala chintanam virala tatparam. He says the contemplation should be – like a flow of ghee or flow of river. The ghee example is to illustrate sneha bhaava or love for the goal, just as ghee sticks to the fingers, the mind has to stick to the goal. The river example is given to emphasize the persistence to reach the goal, in spite of small or large obstacles that invariably come on the way. For small obstacles the river joyfully jumps over with gurgling joyful noise, and for large obstacles she gracefully goes around, even taking few steps backward, without loosing sight of the ultimate goal to reach, namely, the ocean where its identity with name and form gets dissolved. The mind should be constantly dwelling in the understanding of the truth, in spite of any incidental obstacles that arise. Hence Bhagavaan Ramana says it should be continuous flow of thoughts (sarala chintanam) rather than with starts and stops (virala chintanam). Initially it will be of the later type but as the mind gets absorbed more and more it becomes continuous flow of thoughts. Abhyaasa (constant practice) and vairaagya (withdrawal from attachments) that Shree Krishna emphasizes again and again are the essential ingredients - abhyaasenatu kounteya vairaagyena ca gRihyate. Obstacles do arise, since the nature of the world is to change. Changing set-ups will never be all the time conducive to ones mental liking. However their impact is reduced by understanding that they are all mithyaa or have no absolute validity. This recognition becomes increasingly factual as the mind start abiding in the knowledge of the self. Thus by recognizing the higher nature of oneself and recognizing the lower nature or the falsity of the worldly objects and people, one slowly transcends the emotional attachments so that the mind does not get affected by these local interactions as it becomes immune to them. It is similar to how one regards the incidents in the dream after one is awake. The effect of this mental modification is whatever that comes in the course of the time is intrinsically accepted as part of either praarabda or Iswara prasaada. Externally the jnaani’s BMI will act as required but internally one gets established as saakshii for all the external happenings. Emotional involvement will decrease leaving intellectual or objective actions needed for the changing circumstances. This is an evolution rather than a revolution, just as a flower-bud slowly blossoms into a beautiful fragrant flower with all its glory. In nature every beautiful creation evolves into perfection. Therefore, it is not like I become jnaani on one day and jiivan mukta on the other day. I discover my real nature and abide in that knowledge as the mind slowly evolves until I discover that all are in me but I am not in them. We recognize that nidhidhyaasana does not give any new knowledge or new experience. It removes the obstacles in the mind arising from deficiency in the saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti so that jnaanam that is acquired will give rise to jnaana phalam. Moksha is not a result of any meditation – it is our very swaruupam or intrinsic nature. Knowledge is nothing but recognizing and owning my nature. Nidhidhyaasana is not for expectation of moksha, but to remove any expectations of moksha. Vedanta is very clear that knowledge can be gained by only through 6 sources of knowledge. Meditation is not a pramANa or a means of knowledge. The source of knowledge is guru-shastra upadesha shravaNam. If shravaNam so far has not given knowledge – then continue some more shravaNam until doubt free knowledge takes place. If this does not happen in this life nothing is lost, since shravaNam will continue in the next birth. Once I am exposed to Vedanta, that knowledge can never get lost. Therefore, samaadhi abhyaasa or practice of meditation is not meant for giving any extra experience confirming Vedantic teaching. The people think that there is some kind of advaita anubhava or experience to be gained after study and some aachaaryas seem to endorse or encourage such an idea. There is no experience which is going to validate this knowledge. Meditation is not meant for extra knowledge. Patanjali, the master of nirvikalpaka samaadhi, did not seem to have gained the knowledge, since in the end he d to dvaita as reality. Therefore nirvikalpaka samaadhi is not a proof for advaita. Every one, including the stanch dvaitins, experience advaita during the deep-sleep state, but no body gets up from sleep as jnaani. In fact after experiencing advaita in deep sleep state, a dvaitin vehemently argues in the waking state that the truth is not advaita. Therefore, the purpose of nidhidhyaasana is to firmly abide in the advaita jnaanam that is gained by shravana and manana, so that mind is under control without any distractions due to emotions. As the mind dwells on the teaching more and more, the teaching get absorbed to the core and expresses itself in terms of jnaana phalam. Q. Is it necessary for a jnaani to take sanyaasa for Nidhidhyaasana? Shankara provides exhaustive discussion of sanyaasa in his introduction to 5th chapter. This chapter entitled karma sanyaasa yoga starts with the Arjuna’s question - which of the two, karma yoga or sanyaasa, is better. This question follows after Krishna’s discussion in Ch. 4 of vidvat sanyaasa that a jnaani can take. Karma yoga being a pre-requisite for jnaanam, an objector says the choice between vidvat sanyaasa and karma yoga is redundant. Shankara agreeing with the objection says that therefore the choice is not for jnaani to have vidvat sanyaasa or karma yoga. The choice is only for ajnaani or ignorant person between vividhiShaa sanyaasa vs karma yoga. ajnaani is the manda adhikaari discussed above. For such ajnaani, Krishna says karma yoga is better in terms of its efficacy to gain the saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti. We will discuss the attitude or bhaavana of a karmayogi separately; but from the point for our discussion, the question therefore pertains to, is vidvat sanyaasa necessary for jnaani for embarking nidhidhyaasana. Interestingly this is the topic of discussion during the last Friday Bhashyam class of Swami Paramarthanandaji. What I am reporting here is with his permission. Swamiji says, according to tradition, the vidvat sanyaasa is necessary for nidhidhyaasana. The pramaaNa for this is Br. Up. wherein Yagnyavalkya proposes to take sanyaasa for nidhidhyaasana, even though he is a jnaani, and is able to impart that knowledge to his wife, Maitreyi. Implication here is that what is good for Yagnavalkya should be good for everybody else. With two wives at home, he might have felt more urgent need to take up sanyaasa for nidhidhyaasana. Whatever is the reason, it forms a pramANa for the traditional view. The fact is traditional sanyaasa system itself is not there any more. Discussing purely on the basis of the issue, Nidhidhyaasana involves manovRitti or mentally regurgitating the teaching that is already received to get firmly established in that understanding. Hence what is needed is a conducive environment to facilitate the process. From that perspective, while external sanyaasa will be helpful, but what is needed is internal sanyaasa or reduction of what Swamiji calls as PORT, possession, obligations, relations and transactions. There is a change in the bhaavana or attitude towards the world and transactions with the world, as one firmly gets established in the knowledge. This he calls as shifting from triangular format involving jiiva, jagat and Iswara to binary format of aatma and anaatma, where everything other than aatma is anaatma, which is understood as mithyaa. Whatever problems that arise during the course of the remnant life are reduced to anaatma or mithyaa, and therefore they have no lasting value. Alternately the jnaani understands that the pleasures and pains come and go due to praarabda, and they are taken as vibhuuti of the Lord. Praarabda is what one experiences and where one does not have any control. Conversely whatever circumstances or events that one face during ones life where one does not have any choice (that covers all the past and all the future), can be taken as praarabda. Due to this, BMI will undergo the pains and pleasures that come and go because it is part of the prakRiti, but jnaani can stand apart and watch the drama of life. Hence Krishana says – duHkheShu anudvigna maanaH, sukheShu vigataspRihaH, viita raaga bhaya kRodhaH, sthitadhiiH muniruchyate-, ups and downs at the body level will not affect the jnaani. It is taken as bhagavat prasaada or vibhuuti of the Lord. All prakRiti is His maayaa only. Hence there are no emotional reactions other than wonder at the beauty that permeates in all. Such a jnaani, who firmly abides in that knowledge, Krishna says, is His greatest Bhakta. That is the very fulfillment of life itself. Next we will discuss the obstacles in the Nidhidhyaasana as discussed by GouDapaada. . Hari Om! 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