LAMP OF NON-DUAL KNOWLEDGE-8

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ADVAITA BODHA DEEPIKA

[LAMP OF NON-DUAL KNOWLEDGE]

 

SADHANA CHAPTER III: THE MEANS OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

 

1. To the question " How can there be samsara for the Supreme Self of

Being-Knowledge-Bliss? " , the sages answer " When unmanifest, the

power of the Self is called Maya, and when manifest, the same is

mind. This mode of Maya, the inscrutable Mind, is the sprout of

samsara for the self " .

D.: Who has said that mind is indescribable?

2-3. M.: Vasishta has said to Rama. In the non-dual Consciousness

the bhava which, different from knowledge that is real and different

from insentience that is unreal, tending to create, projects the

latencies as this thing and that thing, mixes together the conscious

and unconscious, and makes them appear under the categories, " the

sentient " and " the insentient " , itself of the nature of both the

sentient and insentient; always vacillating and changeful is mind.

Therefore it is indescribable.

4. Though itself unchanging, the Supreme Self associated with the

wrongly superimposed mind, appears to be changeful.

D.: How is that?

M.: Just as a Brahmin who is drunk, behaves strangely when in the

power of liquors, so too the Self though unchanged by nature,

associated now with mind, appears changed as the jiva wallowing in

this samsara. Hence, the Self 's samsara is not other than mind. The

srutis say so.

5. Mind being the samsara, must be investigated. Associated with

mind which according to its modes assumes the shapes of objects, the

man seems to undergo the same changes. This eternal secret is

disclosed in the Maitryiniya Upanishad. This also is confirmed by

our experience and by positive and negative induction.

6-7. D.: How is it confirmed by our experience?

M.: When in deep sleep the mind lies quiescent, the Self remains

without change and without samsara. When in dream and waking, the

mind manifests, the Self seems changed and caught up in the samsara.

Everyone knows it by experience. It is evident from sruti, smriti,

logic and experience that this samsara is nothing but mind itself.

How can any one dispute this point which is so obvious?

8-9. D.: How does association with mind entangle the Self in samsara?

M.: Mind whose nature is always to be thinking of this and that,

functions in the two modes — the `I' mode and `this' mode, as

already mentioned in Chapter I on Superimposition. Of these two, the

I-mode has always the single concept `I', whereas the this-mode

varies according to the quality operating at the time, satva, rajas

or tamas, i.e., clearness, activity or dullness.

D.: Who has said so before?

10-11. M.: Sri Vidyaranyaswami has said that the mind has these

qualities, satva, rajas and tamas and changes accordingly. In satva,

dispassion, peace, beneficence, etc., manifest; in rajas, desire,

anger, greed, fear, efforts, etc., manifest; in tamas, sloth,

confusion, dullness, etc.

12-14. Unchanged Pure Knowledge by nature, the Supreme Self when

associated with the mind changing according to the operative

qualities, becomes identified with it.

D.: How can that be?

M.: You see how water is of itself cold and tasteless. Yet by

association, it can be hot, sweet, bitter, sour, etc. Similarly the

Self, by nature Being-Knowledge-Bliss, when associated with the I-

mode, appears as the ego. Just as cold water in union with heat

becomes hot, so also the Blissful Self in union with the `I'- mode

becomes the misery-laden ego. Just as water, originally tasteless,

becomes sweet, bitter or sour according to its associations, so also

the Self of Pure Knowledge appears dispassionate, peaceful,

beneficent, or passionate, angry, greedy, or dull and indolent,

according to the quality of the this-mode at the moment.

15. The sruti says that the Self associated with prana, etc.,

appears respectively as prana, mind, intellect, the earth and the

other elements, desire, anger, dispassion, etc.

16. Accordingly associated with the mind, the Self seems changed to

jiva, sunk in the misery of endless samsara, being deluded by

innumerable illusions, like I, you, it, mine, yours, etc.

17. D.: Now that samsara has fallen to the lot of the Self, how can

it be got rid of?

M.: With complete stillness of mind, samsara will disappear root and

branch. Otherwise there will be no end to samsara, even in millions

of aeons (Kalpakotikala).

18. D.: Cannot samsara be got rid of by any means other than making

the mind still?

M.: Absolutely by no other means; neither the Vedas, nor the

shastras nor austerities, nor karma, nor vows, nor gifts, nor

recital of scriptures of mystic formulae (mantras), nor worship, nor

anything else, can undo the samsara. Only stillness of mind can

accomplish the end and nothing else.

19. D.: The scriptures declare that only Knowledge can do it. How

then do you say that stillness of the mind puts an end to samsara?

M.: What is variously described as Knowledge, Liberation, etc., in

the scriptures, is but stillness of mind. D.: Has any one said so

before?

20-27. M.: Sri Vasishta had said: When by practice the mind stands

still, all illusions of samsara disappear, root and branch. Just as

when the ocean of milk was churned for its nectar, it was all rough,

but became still and clear after the churn (viz., mount Mandara) was

taken out, so also the mind becoming still, the samsara falls to

eternal rest.

D.: How can the mind be brought to stillness?

M.: By dispassion, abandoning all that is dear to oneself, one can

by one's efforts accomplish the task with ease. Without this peace

of mind, Liberation is impossible. Only when the whole objective

world is wiped out clean by a mind disillusioned as a consequence of

discerning knowledge that all that is not Brahman is objective and

unreal, the Supreme Bliss will result. Otherwise in the absence of

peace of mind, however much an ignorant man may struggle and creep

on in the deep abyss of the shastras, he cannot gain Liberation.

Only that mind which by practice of yoga, having lost all its

latencies, has become pure and still like a lamp in a dome well

protected from breeze, is said to be dead. This death of mind is the

highest fulfilment. The final conclusion of all the Vedas is that

Liberation is nothing but mind stilled. For Liberation nothing can

avail, not wealth, relatives, friends, karma consisting of movements

of the limbs, pilgrimage to sacred places, baths in sacred waters,

life in celestial regions, austerities however severe, or anything

but a still mind. In similar strain many sacred books teach that

Liberation consists in doing away with the mind. In several passages

in the Yoga Vasishta, the same idea is repeated, that the Bliss of

Liberation can be reached only by wiping out the mind, which is the

root cause of samsara, and thus of all misery.

28. In this way to kill the mind by a knowledge of the sacred

teaching, reasoning and one's own experience, is to undo the

samsara. How else can the miserable round of births and deaths be

brought to a standstill? And how can freedom result from it? Never.

Unless the dreamer awakes, the dream does not come to an end nor the

fright of being face to face with a tiger in the dream. Similarly

unless the mind is disillusioned, the agony of samsara will not

cease. Only the mind must be made still. This is the fulfilment of

life.

29-30. D.: How can the mind be made still?

M.: Only by Sankhya. Sankhya is the process of enquiry coupled with

knowledge. The realised sages declare that the mind has its root in

non-enquiry and perishes by an informed enquiry.

D.: Please explain this process.

M.: This consists of sravana, manana, nididhyasana and samadhi,

i.e., hearing, reasoning, meditation and Blissful Peace, as

mentioned in the scriptures. Only this can make the mind still.

31-32. There is also an alternative. It is said to be yoga.

D.: What is yoga?

M.: Meditation on Pure Being free from qualities.

D.: Where is this alternative mentioned and how?

M.: In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Sri Bhagavan Krishna has said: What

is gained by Sankhya can also be gained by yoga. Only he who knows

that the result of the two processes is the same, can be called a

realised sage.

 

33-34. D.: How can the two results be identical?

M.: The final limit is the same for both because both of them end in

stillness of mind. This is samadhi or Blissful Peace. The fruit of

samadhi is Supreme Knowledge; this remains the same by whichever

process gained.

D.: If the fruit is the same for both, the final purpose can be

served by only one of them. Why should two processes be mentioned

instead of only one?

M.: In the world, seekers of truth are of different grades of

development. Out of consideration for them, Sri Bhagavan has

mentioned these two in order to offer a choice.

35. D.: Who is fit for the path of enquiry (Sankhya)?

M.: Only a fully qualified seeker is fit, for he can succeed in it

and not others.

36-37. D.: What are the sadhanas or requisites for this process?

M.: The knowers say that the sadhanas consist of an ability to

discern the real from the unreal, no desire for pleasures here or

hereafter, cessation of activities (karma) and a keen desire to be

liberated. Not qualified with all these four qualities, however hard

one may try, one cannot succeed in enquiry. Therefore this fourfold

sadhana is the sine qua non for enquiry.

38. To begin with, a knowledge of the distinctive characteristics of

these sadhanas is necessary. As already pointed out, these

distinctive characteristics are of the categories cause, nature,

effect, limit and fruit. These are now described.

39-44. Discernment (viveka) can arise only in a purified mind.

Its `nature' is the conviction gained by the help of sacred

teachings that only Brahman is real and all else false. Always to

remember this truth is its `effect'. Its end (avadhi) is to be

settled unwavering in the truth that only Brahman is and all else is

unreal. Desirelessness (vairagya) is the result of the outlook that

the world is essentially faulty. Its `nature' is to renounce the

world and have no desire for anything in it. Its `effect' is to turn

away in disgust from all enjoyments as from vomit. It ends (avadhi)

in treatment with contempt of all pleasures, earthly or heavenly, as

if they were vomit or burning fire or hell.

Cessation of activities (uparati) can be the outcome of the eight

fold yoga (astangayoga), namely, yama, niyama, asana, pranayama,

pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi, i.e., self restraint,

discipline, steady posture, control of breath, control of senses,

mind collected to truth, meditation and peace. Its `nature' consists

in restraining the mind. Its `effect' is to cease from worldly

activities. It ends (avadhi) in forgetfulness of the world as if in

sleep, owing to the ending of activities. Desire to be liberated

(mumukshutva) begins with the association with realised sages.

Its `nature' is the yearning for liberation. Its `effect' is to stay

with one's master. It ends (avadhi) in giving up all study of

shastras and performance of religious rites. When these have

reached their limits as mentioned above, the sadhanas are said to be

perfect.

 

45-47. Should only one or more of these sadhanas be perfect but not

all of them, the person will after Death gain celestial regions. If

all of them are perfect, they together quickly make the person

thoroughly capable of enquiry into the Self.

Only when all the sadhanas are perfect is enquiry possible;

otherwise, not. Even if one of them remains undeveloped, it

obstructs enquiry. With this we shall deal presently.

48-49. Dispassion, etc., remaining undeveloped, discernment, though

perfect, cannot by itself remove the obstacles, to enquiry into the

Self. You see how many are well read in Vedanta Shastra. They must

all possess this virtue, but they have not cultivated the others,

dispassion etc. Therefore they cannot undertake the enquiry into the

Self. This fact makes it plain that discernment unattended by

dispassion etc., cannot avail.