samkhya darshana a complete translation-2

[Guest guest]

he

mother's spiritual awareness gives much nourishment to the growing

baby. Her ignorance gives much pain. The choice is according to what

the soul is! Having

settled in the uterus within the placenta, he stays folded. He finds no

place to move his hands, legs or head. Though capable of movement he is

bound hand and foot within the womb and feels the imprisonment. He

lives like a bird within a tight cage. During

those hours, the God-given knowledge dawns on him. The memory of the

past unfolds. The misdeeds done are recollected. Since the Mind carries

on time-sense during the stay in the womb the misdeeds present

themselves directly to him. He feels the fear and the shock of them. He

feels depressed and suffers utter discomfort. In

the seventh month the objective mind forms and recognises the

surroundings. He suffers the uncleanly placement alongwith the excreta.

The urge to get out of the womb arises and he keeps moving. These

movements are observed by the-mother as initial pains. The movements

are highly restrictive and the soul remains with folded hands and legs

down near the stomach. In that helpless state he worships the Lord of Creation. "I bow down at the feet of the Lord, the One who creates and protects. I shall fear not hereafter". "The

five elements I have are not I Am. I Am that I Am. I am however

enveloped in the layers of the five elements while I am unbound by the

triple qualities; the qualities are weaved around me. I am beyond the

five and the three". "The

Lord himself is present as I Am, as the three qualities and the five

elements. I am the Truth. The formations around me are illusions. The

Lord allows the illusory manifestation and agrees its enveloping around

the Self. He seems apparently conditioned by that which is born out of

him. But in truth he is not. But as a Soul, due to my separative

consciousness, I feel the conditioning of the enveloper and suffer

therefrom. He, the Lord remains uninvolved, while I am involved. He is

the ideal for my contemplation. His knowledge suffers no loopholes. His

being is one of tranquility. He is the spirit, he is the matter and he

is the source of the two. I salute him to alleviate me from this hell

and bestow peace and tranquility upon me". "Who

shall deliver me from this prison of the womb? May the Lord, the

Protector of the weak and meek rescue me from this situation. What can

I do for him in return for this act of help and protection? At the

moment I can offer with folded hands my salutations to Him. I shall

learn hereafter harmlessness and protective attitude thereby

enlightening myself to visualise the Lord. This is how I shall repay my

debt and remain grateful to Him". "I

cannot deliver myself from this cauldron. Even when I am delivered out,

the wheel of illusion bewilders me in the objectivity. May the Lord

therefore deliver me out and guide me to walk through. I accept Him as

my Guide for the life hereafter. Enlightened by His presence I shall

progress on the Path". "I

therefore contemplate upon the all-pervading Lord. I have no other. The

unbearable pain within this womb is reality to me when I forget Him.

Forgetfulness therefore is the root cause for all my sorrows and

discomforts. I therefore take refuge at the feet of the Lord". Praying

thus, the Soul completes nine months. In the tenth month turning upside

down, the wombed one is excreted out amidst blood like an insect, yet

to breathe. He cries out and the breathing commences. The cry is due to

the loss of knowledge of the Lord which he carried for a while in the

womb. The

ones that nourish him carry no knowledge of his thoughts. They start

doing for him what they like, instead of doing what he craves for. He

cannot express his needs nor can he take care of himself with his own

hands and legs. He cannot scratch to satiate the itch of the skin, he

cannot rise and he cannot sit. He can only cry in helplessness and

desperation. As

the child grows and gains five years of age, he fairly operates with

the sense apparatus and starts experiencing the objectivity. He thereby

incurs responsibility to work with the senses. In the meanwhile, he

encounters education which turns out to be a burden, than a key to

living. In the youth, being virulent he entangles in ventures and

adventures burning away time, energy and resources. In the fivefold

body, he often experiences pride, prejudice, malice, hatred-love,

desire-aversion, jealousy-possesiveness etc. He entangles in actions

that bind him - the entanglement is due to lack of education as to how

to do, how not to do, what to do, what not to do, when to do and when

not to do. He thus paves way once again for self-destruction through

time. Lack

of knowledge relating to action, when coupled with the emotional

attachment to sex, quickens the process of decay. Man should therefore

necessarily educate himself of his operation through body in the

objective. Sex is the death-trap to those who do not carry its purpose

and meaning. Craving

for feminine companionship, man is reborn. The animal (magnetic)

attraction between man and woman paves the way for many illusive goals

and objectives binding each other unto death. The

personality identity gets developed strongly. The attachment to one's

(given) name, form, fame, property and relations is the personality

attachment. All that one remembers about himself is his personality

body. It

is the source of all causes, because of consequent actions. Until this

body exists, man is bound to move through the wheel of birth and death.

Man is not inclined to put an end to his individualistic memory and the

memory brings him back to birth. The memory grows into actions in life

and conducts a series of births and deaths. The death of the personality is the real death. The death of the physical body is not the end of things - is not the real death. HEAVEN - THE TEMPORARY ABODE There

are people who build the triangular life activity with proper

understanding of the law, the desire and the natural wealth. They

conduct well, in tune with the Natural Law, gain natural wealth and

fulfil their desires. They

worship the intelligences in Nature as various deities and conduct

rituals, sacrifices and activities of service. They gain name and fame

in the society and are recognised as men of goodwill. They embark upon

the lunar path to experience the splendours of Mind - individual and

universal (heaven). They spend away their fruits of good acts and

return to Earth. The aforesaid triangular activity is not faulty or

forbidden. But it has the cyclical limitation of ascent and descent

through time. The desire for happiness dominates their actions. It is

this desire that motivates them into good actions for good results. It

is the path that leads to personality growth - the name, fame, family,

wealth and property - bulge, to condition the being. And the being

starts functioning to maintain them. He

has to carry out acts of goodwill according to the social expectations.

He has to mould his speech, actions, movements and even attire

according to the social expectations. The society has moulds developed

from the past memory of men of goodwill, and the man walks into the

trap' to be recognised as a good man or even as a God-man!. The

happiness is lost as the freedom is lost. Life is no more a 'free-style

dance' but becomes a dance according to the tunes of the audience. The

path to heaven leads to hell in terms of one's own happiness. The

loophole in this path is - working and living according to other's

expectations to gain their appreciation. It is the path of pleasing

others. One

cannot please always and all the time. It is a painful and impractical

functioning. There are others who follow the path of pleasing

themselves regardless of others' views. They are the bulls that trample

upon others' territories and incur penalties. The path is therefore

neither pleasing oneself nor pleasing the others, but be pleasant to

life in Nature at all times, gaining the knowledge of the Laws of

Nature. Carrying out acts of goodwill without expectation holds the key

to this middle path. When you do not lock up in expectation of others'

appreciation, you have the freewill to conduct the acts. Your acts are

not bound by other's appreciations and expectations. For the ignorant,

others' appreciation satiate him. But the knowledgeable one is the one,

who is satiated by his own actions and is unconcerned of others'

appreciation. Carrying

out acts of goodwill in total surrender to the life around with no

expectations, leads man from the cyclic path of heaven-hell to the

spirallic path of liberation from limitations. This path of liberation

is the solar path, in contrast to the lunar path described above. The

lunar path is one of smoke (of the fire) while the solar path is one of

light (of the flame). The fire exists in the candle, in the smoke and

in the flame. Fire as candle is the physical state. Fire as smoke is

the mental state. Fire as flame is the state of self, I Am. When the

candle is inflamed, the flame glows, while the candle wanes. The self

remains and the physical recedes. Any

material when burnt ascends from gross to subtle. The centripetal and

centrifugal movement of the souls, from the universal soul into the

creation and to the universal soul is the work of fire that happens

continuously. There

is no such thing as cessation of this movement. It is ever continuous

and eternal. The self only develops all that is around from out of it.

Verily the creation is an integral part of the self and is the fabric

of the self. The self periodically releases the potentials and absorbs

them into itself. The release of its potentials is the path of

involution. The absorption is the path of evolution. The fire, the

flame and the light represent the ascending / evolving path. The smoke

and the candle represent the descending / involving path. Likewise, the

day, the ascending moon-phases, the Northern coursing of Sun represent

the upward movement, while the night, the descending moon-phases, the

Southern coursing of Sun represent the downward movement. Through the

descending / downward movement the self descends as souls through

Nature. Through the ascending / upward movement the souls are traced

back to the self. The one that realises the wheel of upward and

downward movement liberates from birth and death anchoring to the

centre of the moving wheel. The up and the down are at the

circumference but not at the centre. The

Moon (the principle and not only the planet) presides over the lunar

path. The pritris - the procreating intelligences - function through

the Moon (the mind), through the female, through the germinative and

procreating processes, forming the envelopes (bodies) subtle and gross. Attraction

and repulsion is the law through which formations are made. Attraction

carries in it the seed principle 'desire' and repulsion also carries in

it the principle of desire but negatively. Wanting is positive desire.

Not wanting is also desire not to have. One is to have. The other is

not to have. Life entangled in it is conditioned by the pair of yes and

no. The lunar path, the path of desire is indeed a path of creation

through the pair. In the lunar path, the wealth is that which is

desired or not desired. In the solar path, the wealth is "to be", with

or without the wealth. The wealth surrounds the being of the solar

path. The being surrounds the wealth in the lunar path. Who is orbiting

whom is the difference. Moon orbits Earth, while Earth orbits Sun. Sun

does not orbit around the planets. The

Sun is pure fire like the self. The Moon is the reflecting principle

that reflects the Sun through its causal body. In us, the self reflects

through the mind and mind's causal body. There

is a cause in mind in respect of all our actions. Hence each time the

self reflects through mind, the self is coloured by the cause. In other

words, the self expresses through the causal body. The self's

expression is not allowed to shine forth. Instead it is utilised by the

causal body of the mind. That is how every act of the human being has a

because. In so far as the cause and the because exist, the self is

distorted in its expression and permeation. The

Moon has periodicities of waxing and waning, while the Sun has not. The

lunar path is endowed by heaven and hell. The solar path has neither.

It is to be a being amidst all the hubbub of lunar activity.

 

 

 

VII. THE PATH

 

The

body we hold is the product of the Nature with its three qualities

(inertia, dynamism and poise). We function through the body of triple

nature. It is our work instrument; our form to function through. The

body is an aggregate of principles of Nature and force described in the

previous chapter. It is not an item by itself. Just like the factory

that carries out a process is an aggregate of items which are different

to each other, the body is an arrangement of forces and matter in a

state of equilibrium to function through. The

person who functions through the body that dwells in the body is not

attached to the experiences of the body namely, the pairs of comfort /

discomfort, pain / sorrow and profit / loss. They belong to the Nature

but not to the person. The person is immutable while the Nature mutates

in his presence. The only characteristic of the person is that he

remains in all at all times and remains without all. He has no

transformations like the Nature. He has no triple qualities. He

remains, immutable while in his presence everything mutates. The Sun in

the sky while reflected in waters remains stable. According to the

movement of waters, the reflected Sun seems to be undergoing mutations.

They are mutations of water only while apparently the Sun seems to be

moving, changing shapes. The planet moves around Sun, white it appears

to us that the Sun rises and sets. Just like everything in the Solar

System moves around Sun, the forces and matter of the body move around

the person, the central, neutral energy of the body, whose very

presence enables the former to move. When

the person associates with the triangular forces of Nature, he gets

temporarily illusioned and feels his separative existence. This is the

primary illusion, which causes successive chain actions, making one

feel that he is the doer, while in fact the Nature is the doer and he

is the witness as a being. This primary illusion causes the culturing

of the Original. This culturing leads to actions. Actions lead to

further actions, varieties of actions, causing the birth of the Divine,

the Diabolic, the Human, the Animal, the Plant and the Mineral

Kingdoms. The birth inaugurates the death too. Thus culturing of the

Nature causes the involution of the Original. Conditioned

by the culture, the soul involves into separative thoughts and

sensations illusioning that he is profiting by all actions that are

carried out through him. The action is carried through him by Nature.

But the individualised soul feels he is acting. The Nature works out

its plan through the beings. But the beings, ignorant of the crafty

work of Nature feel that they are working out their individual plans.

Verily the Nature's plan only works through. Working for result. for

profit, for comfort and for success become common objectives, causing

further motives to achieve results. The process is one of incessant

brewing leading to complicated thinking and complex actions. The causes

and the results get mixed up. A hotchpotch activity is the result of

all this involution. Man lives more in dreams than in reality. To

arrest this involution which is called 'downfall' in the sacred

scriptures is to recollect and remain as the original. Repeat to

recollect that "I am stable, immutable eternal One. Everything within

and outside move around me, with me as its basis. I exist as I am in

all that is". This causes regaining the original status through

practice. To

repeatedly recollect the original status, the practice of Yoga and the

attitude of devotion (dedication but not emotion) are suggested by the

seers. The eightfold path of Yoga coupled with devotion form the two

wings of the soul to soar from the involved state to that of liberated

state. Yoga

without devotion arrests man in the intellect. Devotion without Yoga

leaves man unscientific in his approach. Either way the flight is

impaired, for the two wings are not functional. They should not only be

functional, but should also be cooperating and co-ordinating with each

other for safe flying. Devotion coupled with Yoga practice brings in

the fruition - the experience. Yoga coupled with devotion brings in the

stability. The

recollection of "I Am' in all leads to liberation. The desire for

liberation, on the contrary, conditions one in desire. Liberation is a

natural happening when man recollects and remains. Desire for

liberation leads to unnatural state and suspends the practice of

recollection. The eightfold path of Yoga practice scientifically leads

to the successive states of liberation, when well blended with

devotional activity. If the blend is biased towards practice than

activity, the reach for the state of liberation remains obstructed. The

external obstructions are too many for men leading them through series

of incarnations. Lack of requirements for livelihood, enmity around,

opposition through persons, places and time, changing of places and

persons, conflict in vocational and domestic circle etc. The

obstructions are internal too, which generate as pride, lack of respect

for others, urge for fame and name, desire, internal craving to be

recognised as Guru, attachment to the so-called devotees (with a bias

to the lady devotees!), the glamour to save the planet, the humanity

etc., the glamour for spiritual movements, for building ashrams of

brick and mortar and the urge to possess people. The Yoga practitioner

is thus left in the lurch and becomes a prisoner of his own glamour of

Yoga. Hence, the need for .devotional approach while in practice of

Yoga. The

devotion here is the attentiveness in recollecting 'I Am' in all, at

all times. It is not the foolish emotion exhibited by many in the name

of devotion. It is dedication and surrender to the thought of ' I Am',

the Omnipresent. It causes the necessary detachment with the hub of

Nature's activity and releases from the hubbub of illusion. It is

therefore safer when the scientific practice of Yoga is associated with

devotional attitude. Attentiveness

(Sraddha) is the foremost tool in the practice of Yoga. One has to be

as attentive, alert and enthusiastic throughout as he was on the day

one of the practice. The freshness in approach to the practice on a

daily basis is the keynote of progress through practice. Even after

decades, the freshness in approach to practice should remain the same. This

leads to linking the practice and the anticipatory mind gradually

disappears. Functioning becomes more lively as mind is detached from

anticipating the results of action. The freshness in action settles

down as a natural habit and leads to the understanding that as 'I Am'

one is ever fresh. The

thought settles in 'I Am' - in recollection of 'I Am'. The thought as

"I Am" remains to be the truth - the only truth of self- existence.

Other thoughts are, recognised as arising, developing and dissolving

upon the basis of this truth. Disturbances to this state are considered

transitory. 'I Am as God and God as I Am' is understood as one's own

realisation. The immensity of one's own recognition is thereby found

immeasurable. The Truth of Existence is realised and the belief in God

gets substituted by realisation of God as 'I Am'. Attentiveness

towards the thought of self-existence as 'I Am' leads further to

recognise the existence of self in the surrounding forms. The

equanimity of thoughts is thereby reached. This equanimity of thought

is what we see in great Initiates like Buddha, Christ, Rama and Krishna

and a host of others. Friendliness

towards all beings is naturally generated. To such a one, there are no

enemies, while others may hold enmity towards -towards him. Let

not others' opinions hinder your practice of Yoga living. Yoga living

is application of Yoga practice in daily life with devotion and

attentiveness. The Yoga living concerns you, your culturing of mind to

reflect that which 'Is'. Let others hold their own view of your

practice. You should not hold opinions about others and engage in the

practice. Learn to be skilful in not getting into arguments and

discussions and silently pursue the practice. Silence and secrecy are

the two keywords of practice till fruition. See how silently Nature

conducts the fruition through gradual transformation. The seed becoming

a sprout, the sprout into a plant, the plant into a tree and the tree

bearing the fruit is a gradual, silent and secret happening. Learn the

lessons from Nature and be natural in all events. To

live, to move and to be in One consciousness, 'I Am', is the sole

practice that remains in the background of all actions. It is opportune

to pick up this practice at the early age, so that man is not pulled

unnecessarily into the activity of senses and sex. At a later age,

there is the difficulty in withdrawing from sensations and

sensuousness. The ability to project through senses when required and

also the ability to withdraw from senses - the two way movement -

enables free flow of the being through the human mechanism. Inability

to withdraw causes an unnatural state of desiring for sense objects in

their absence, which is painful. Even while the sense objects are

available the projection is according to requirement. It is not

according to availability. Eating and mating on the basis of

availability is the activity of sensuous society. It is not in tune

with the Laws of Nature. The Laws of Nature are better realised and

practised when man adopts to the hints given heretofore. Silence

enables recollection of timely action and inaction. Silence is mental

but not vocal. Vocal silence with mental action leads to imaginations.

Cooperation of the vocal with unregulated mental leads to speeches

unrequired. Mental silence and vocal speech (with the cooperation of

the mental), with requirement as basis is another step that is

realised. The urge to speak causes purge of thoughts and the purging

thoughts leads to further urge to speak. The phenomena leads to

unrequired externalisation of the being, causing energy loss. Retiring

to loneliness periodically and observation of thoughts that spring from

within gradually leads to silence. Meditation is the other name for

this practice. It enables to remain alone even while within a group.

"To be alone is not to be lonely." It is a state of being One in all.

To identify with the One in all and remain so, is called as the state

of being Alone. Recollection of 'I Am' as the daily practice enables

realisation of this step too. The

practice of Yoga coupled with devotion and attentiveness thus leads man

from step to step. Equanimity, friendship, lack of sensuousness,

secrecy, silence, contentment, lack of jealousy, balance in thought and

action are gained effortlessly. The will turns away from sense objects

and turns inward and remains in association with I Am as I Am. The

outer ceases to distort and the One is realised inside and outside.

Even while one projects through mind, senses and body, the unity is

retained in the background. The

involution and the evolution of the will into objectivity and

subjectivity are well realised. The formations within and outside with

I Am as background is visualised as the incessant happening of images

upon the background. The variety of the images too is understood as no

other. The One in all, the One as all and the One without all is

experienced. The difference between the unitary existence and universal

existence disappears. The universal existence is perceived as clearly

as the eye sights the Sun. The belief that the One has a body also

drops off. The body as support to oneself is realised as myth. He

realises himself as the body too. The container, the content and the

observer disappear into One and the solo existence remains, with no

more body consciousness, no seeing or perceiving consciousness, since

there is no other to see or perceive. The body is the product of the

seven tissues. The seven tissues are born out of the triple force in

interaction with root matter. The force and the matter have the nature

to interact with each other incessantly. They are like the two wives of

the One - their source the Essence. The two, their interaction and the

consequent states of creation are also understood as the One. This

understanding is not a mental comprehension but is a realisation. This

realisation makes the One fulfilled through permeation of all that is.

It is the fulfilled state. The Poornam -the Zero state. The experience

of this state is called splendourous. The soul remains with its

undetachable splendour like the light remains with its inevitable

illumination. It is the self that is luminous. It is self-luminous. A

state of inseparability. THE ESSENTIAL TEACHINGS OF KAPILA 1.

The mind holds the master key for either liberation or conditioning.

When you desire, it causes conditioning. It is so even when you desire

liberation. Desiring liberation is also a desire. When you align mind

with the universal consciousness, the liberation is the result. 2.

Food, when taken in, gets assimilated into the system, losing its

separate identity and helps energising the body. Likewise the

individual soul, through discipleship can be assimilated into the

universal soul, losing separative, selfish existence. The One in all is

realised and there is no other. 3.

The one who seeks liberation should forget desiring it. Acting as wife,

the child, the co-born, the friend, the husband, the disciple, the

Master, one should identify with the One in all and align with the One.

When thus aligned, the liberated state of being is the reality. When

not identified and aligned, the conditioning is the reality. The

one who attempts to escape from the worldly relation to find liberation

is the one who is tricked and is hopelessly caught. He is like the one

persuing the oasis for water. 4.

The creation, its process, the emergence of the cosmic, solar,

planetary systems, the birth, the death, the stages of life (as child

in the womb, child, youth, adult, old age) are the details of a grand

play emerging from an idea - just like an idea from us manifests into a

creation of our own. An idea to marry for instance! 5.

The scenes and the characters in the dream seem different from the

dreamer. As one wakes up from the dream, the scenes and the characters

disappear into him. Only he remains as the One. Likewise through proper

comprehension of wisdom, the existence as One (with no other) is

experienced, where the concept of the other disappears. 6.

The rivers flow with separative identity. But when they flow into the

ocean, rivers cease to exist and ocean remains. The one aligned with

the One is released from separativity and lives as a unit form of

universal consciousness. P.S.: Please

note, it is different from unit consciousness. It is a unit form with

limitless consciousness functioning through. Such is the Son of God or

the Master of Wisdom. 7.

The events in the dream are real experience while in dream. They are

unreal as we wake up. So also, to the One that wakes up in the

universal consciousness, the pairs of life cease to be real. 8. Amidst the limbs of the body, the senses, the feelings, man lives as one. So the Yogi lives as One amidst the Universe. 9.

The Lord should be visualised within and without as well. The feeling

that the Lord without form is greater than the Lord with the form is

ignorance. The gold within the ring and the gold without the ring is

gold only. Realise the One by visualising the One in form. 10. To realise the Lord in form, one has to practice compassion and virtues such as helping the co-beings and serving them. 11.

Look to the One in the one that looks to you. Look to the light in all.

Transact with light while transacting with the beings. This is the sure

way to grow nearer to the Lord and to experience Him. 12.

Remember that the growth and movement of all in the creation is the

administration of the Lord. No one can transcend the Law of

Administration within the creation. The Law of Administration is no

different from the Lord. Knowledge is to visualise the laws, the

commandments and the rules of creation as the Lord. 13.

Some of those who studied the Vedas conduct acts of goodwill for

personal benefit (seeking salvation). They are conditioned by their own

personality. The others conduct acts of Goodwill realising the Lord

therein. They are liberated. APPROACH TO DISCIPLESHIP According to the motives and goals set, the approach to discipleship is threefold: 1.

The one dominated by inertia, harms others in the name of discipleship.

He demonstrates pride, jealousy and vengeful attitude. He is analytical

and over critical. Animal sacrifice in the name of God falls in this

category. He threatens or frightens others with his pow3r, draws money

from others, conducts spiritual festivals, congregations and

conferences at others' cost. He conducts horrible fasts, gets beaten up

by chains / ropes, inflicts pain upon himself by inserting needles or

nails, walks on fire or on the edges of the knife. He seeks publicity

for his works and is concerned of the following and its number. He

laments that others are not recognising him and his spiritual prowess

and that there is not enough splendour around him. He assesses others

by the material value they carry, while he lectures on spiritual value.

He conducts activities with competitive attitude and cannot accept if

any of his contemporaries are more spiritual than him. He feels himself

to be a Guru and indulges in criticising other paths and Gurus. He also

tries in vain to convince that his path and his Guru is the best and

that others are immersed in illusion and hence are not able to see

better. The birth of cults, religions and isms is due to those, who are

overwhelmed by the quality, inertia. 2.

The second category of disciples care for skills, capacities, riches

and power and worship them in the name of God. These make efforts to

prevent ageing, to attract people around, to hypnotise, to draw near

women, to demonstrate miracles and to possess suptly, people and their

properties. They demonstrate splendour around, wastefully spending

riches and power. They gather costliest things around and their rituals

and worships happen with money flowing as water. 3.

The third category are the poised ones who carry out discipleship to

neutralise their sins, to develop their usefulness to others, to serve

others with humility. They conduct acts of goodwill in silence. The

evolution in discipleship is from one to two and two to the third

category. It is a process of ripening in discipleship that settles one

in the third category. The ripening is time's aspect. When one ripens

into the third category, there is instant stimulation into the

inexplicable sweetness of experience, whenever acts of divine are

called forth. They visualise the good qualities in others as the

God-presence and instantly praise them. Such qualities inspire them

while for others they are sources of jealousy and suspicion.

Experiencing the good present around through their poised attitude,

they are drawn nearer and nearer to 'Me' (the self). Their inspiration

for all that is good is ceaseless and is thus natural. Their life

purposes are 'gradually fulfilled. Their deficiencies make up and get

rounded up. They grow more and more into 'I Am' consciousness, which is

felt by others as God-presence in them. They

ripen to the state where there is no cognisance of personal needs and

desires. Their acts carry no expectations. Happiness is their

experience in all acts. The corpse of expectations is not their lot. To

them all acts done are service to God only, for all their interaction

is with the God-consciousness. Their simple, normal and natural work

results in serving the World. Thus, they transform into the World

Disciples - the Bhagavathas. The

two angles of the triangular qualities (inertia, dynamism and poise)

are absorbed in them into the One-the poise and the poise is absorbed

into the 'state of being' which substitutes, the hitherto existing

state of doing. Effort ceases. The Plan divine flows through. He has no

more personality and personal work. He walks on Earth as a living God!

To systematically ascend into this state of being, the following are

recommended: 1.

Attentiveness to daily ordained duties - domestic, economic and social.

Worship of deities with indifference to daily duties causes no

progress. Unless one is alert and attentive one's own duties are not

recollected well. Worship of deities help keeping up the alert and

attentive attitude. The lack of attentiveness is demonstrated by

forgetfulness, indifference, carelessness, negligence and laziness. 2.

Worship of the forms in creation as God-forms. This enables

recollection of God-presence while engaged in the objective world. This

is an advanced step to worship of deities. The limitations to forms is

overcome by this practice. In truth there is no non-God-form in

creation. It is only our refusal to see in other forms that causes to

us the absence of God in other forms. To a Yogi, every form is

God-form. Every name is God's name. He thus ascends from the primary

illusion of name and form in creation. This practice leads to extended

worship in daily life. Worship is not limited to a few minutes, to a

few forms, to a few names or few places. The worship expands in all the

four dimensions - name, form, place and time. This worship is called

worship of Vishnu. 3.

To live in present duties and not to recollect the glory or ignominy of

the past deeds. The Lord approaches us through the present as our own

duties. Recollection of the past disables us from attending to the

present. The wise ones do not brood over what has happened a moment

before. Nor do they project into the future through anticipations and

expectations. The past and the future culminate to them in the

presence. Their functioning effortlessly includes the planning.

Planning is not projecting into the future. It is working for the

present according to given plan. For example, if we are to travel next

week or next month, according to the need of the travel, there are

certain acts to be done in the present. In so far as you are alert,

those acts are done timely. Purchase of ticket, reservation, purchase

of articles for travel are the present acts for future travel. That

which is present duty relating to future actions happen naturally and

instinctively for those who work with the present. The present has the

ability to draw forth the past experience and also draw back the future

probability. This is what is known as visualisation through the present. People live on past good and lament on past failures. This is a hindrance to living and the experience relating thereto. 4.

Engage the mind in what is to be done. Do not allow it to graze upon

the future results or even upon the current results. What needs to be

done is to be done regardless of results. Results cannot decide duties.

Comfort or lack of it also cannot decide duties. Duties are such that

they need to be done regardless of comfort, profit or success. 5.

Draw near men of goodwill and also drive near to them. This enables

strengthening of goodwill in you. Be compassionate to the weak-willed

ones. Frequently, weakness in others is mistaken as evil. Compassionate

approach enables overcoming such mistakes. Where evil is cognised,

better it is ignored than confronted. Confrontation at the same time

should not be avoided when found inevitable. 6.

Be friendly among equals. Respect elders and be generous to youngsters.

These relations should not be mixed up. The elders stand for those who

carry more wisdom, strength, love and silence. The youngsters stand for

less love, wisdom, strength and silence. The equals to one should be

friends. Equals are friends. But the converse is not true. 7. Practice Yoga (the Eightfold-Yoga) daily with yama and niyarna. Yama includes (1)

Harmlessness (2) Truthfulness (3) Freedom from thieving instinct (4)

Purity of sex relationship and (5) Lack of possessive instinct. Niyama includes (1) Contentment (2) Fiery aspiration (3) Self study of scriptures (4) Purity and (5) Surrender to I Am in all. Accomplishment of these virtues enables mastery of senses and sense organs and thereby the mind. 8. Teaching those who seek, that which is understood and realised in daily practice. 9.

Experience the presence of Lord in the virtues of others. The presence

of virtue is the presence of the Lord only. It is his splendour -

vibhuti. Do not meditate, recollect and lament upon others' vices. They

stimulate the vices in you. Keep them as information for action but do

not get affected by them. Respect

the virtuous. Pleased by such respect, the Lord within bestows harmony

and poise. It also neutralises the pride in you. Cooperate with them.

Lend support to their acts. Associate with them. This establishes poise

in you. 10. These instructions when followed implicitly, the mind gets purified and establishes in goodwill. 11.

Look to the self in all that is within and outside in all your actions.

The virtues of the self reach you and surround you, just like the air

brings the fragrance of the flower. 12.

In all acts of Worship, ritual and prayers forget not 'Me' (the self -1

Am). These acts carry no meaning and purpose, if 'I Am' (the self) is

forgotten. 'I Am' present in all beings. If service to the beings and

worship of idols is carried out with fervour and without recollecting

'Me', it leads to hypocrisy. Many theists are hypocrites. They are the

cause for the birth of atheism. Such worships are worthless and are even insult to the Lord. 13.

The Lord is the indweller of all beings as 'I Am'. The ones who see a

difference between 'Me' and the beings are thieves! They cannot

coordinate with the beings. They classify the beings as 'ours' and

'others'. This classification is the root cause of conflict. Keeping

such conflict at heart they conduct worship according to the life's

needs. If the needs are heavy, the ritual is elaborate. If the needs

are usual, the worship is usual. At times of no need, there is no

worship! Such worships are only deceitful and do not please the self.

Instead, worship the beings primarily and worship the Lord thereby.

This leads to harmony. Harmony enables experiencing the rituals. 14.

The one who does not cognise God in others, cannot experience what

friendship is. They keep changing their friends fast. The friends of

yesterday are the enemies of today and the friends of today are the

enemies of the future. They have the knack of making enemies. They have no real friends. Hence they have no real peace. 15.

Among the symbols (idols) we worship, there is variety. From stones to

Masters of Wisdom all are God-forms only. Among them, the wooden idols

stand in preference to the stone idols. The wood carries the sensation

of touch. Better than wood are the forms of animals for worship, for

they carry not only the sense of touch but also the sense of taste and

other senses too. Among animals the dogs carry better sense of hearing.

The two-legged beings are better for worship than the four-legged

beings. Among the two-legged beings the man of wisdom stands in highest

priority for worship. For the Lord's presence is complete in him. 16.

The Lord is in the form of beings around. Observation of the Lord as

the beings around definitely leads to self-realisation. This practice

is inevitable, be it the path of Yoga or the path of devotion. The form

of the Lord is twofold. It is manifest and is unmanifest too. It is and

is not and both. When the Lord in form (and as form) is visualised, the

actions cease to be consequential. Karma gets neutralised and the

proximity to the Lord is gained. The process remains sweet and

effortless throughout. 17.

The behaviour of the beings is manifold. There are beings with horrible

behaviour and there are beings with harmonised behaviour. In all these

variety, the behaving principle is one. Learn to look to and identify

with the behaving principle and learn not to identify with the

behaviour. The behaviour difference is due to the admixture of the

three qualities in matter. The blend of inertia, dynamism and poise.

But the central force functioning through the triangular forces is to

be realised as the behaving principle. The Lord as behaving principle

is understood as the Indweller (Vasudeva). The Indweller is one. The

behaviours are many. This Indweller of beings moves the beings

according to a time plan. Through time, the beings are born, are grown

and are consumed. Each being is consumed by the other. One is food for

the other. The Lord is the "all-consuming" sacrifice / ritual. He

sacrifices Himself as the beings, their behaving principles, gathers

forms to them, puts the created system into a type of fire ritual where

one consumes the other. This sacrifice is called 'Sarvahuta Yagna'. To

Him there are no relations like friends, relatives and enemies. He

regulates the creation and the beings. I n the play, there are

opponents to the players and team mates too. But they do not exist to

the umpire. To the umpire there is neither an opposing team nor a

supporting team. He is equidistant to both. He is the neutral factor

for the conduct of the play. He interferes when the play is not in

order. Likewise, the Lord too presides as an umpire over the play of

creation. He oversees and regulates. He is in the play but is not

involved in the play. The one in play in this manner is the Lord as

Indweller. In

us too the Indweller participates as behaving principle. But the

actions / behaviour do not bind him. He conducts the play and yet

stands beyond the play. The fruits of actions are to the beings. Not to

Him. He accommodates all in the play and regulates them. The whole

action from Devas to mortals is emanating from Him. Yet He does not

act. The message of the Lord is "perceive inaction in action and action

in inaction." DISCIPLESHIP The requirements of the disciple are:

 

 

 

1.

 

To

be cheerful regardless of the circumstances. To be cheerful is a

disposition to be positive and to make light of the situation which

seems heavy.

 

 

2.

 

To be serviceable to the beings and to be friendly.

 

 

3.

 

To be poised and balanced and to be peaceful in and out.

 

 

4.

 

To be compassionate to the beings.

 

 

5.

 

To surrender the fruits of action and keep acting.

 

 

6.

 

To surrender the distinction of "my people" and "others".

 

 

7.

 

To associate with persons who accomplished the aforesaid six qualities. It enables self-release with ease.

 

 

8.

 

To

study the scriptures that describe the stories of the Lord in the form

of "the Law of God". The stories of the realised ones hold the key to

lift up the awareness of the disciple.

 

 

9.

 

Act. Act not for profit, for comfort, for success. Act when you have to act. It is called duty.

 

 

10.

 

Keep

the motives pure in all actions. Dissolve the opinions and feelings

relating to others' default. Also, dissolve recollection of your own

past difficulties and successes.

THE YOGA SCIENCE Mind

is the middle principle. It should be kept clean at all times. The Yoga

practice enables to keep the mind's screen clean to reflect that which

is. However wise one is, the regular (daily) practice of Yoga is

essential to maintain the state of mind clean and neat for reflection.

The whole process of creation is one of combustion. The by-products of

carbon keep emerging due to the very process. Hence the need to remove

them on a daily basis. The Yoga practice is the daily cleaning process

that enables Yogic living. Hence the importance of Yoga. Such Yoga

shall have to be practiced with constant and consistent awareness of "I

Am' in all. THE STEPS The steps for practice of the Eightfold path of Yoga are 1.

The Yoga student should remain in life activity conducting his duties

and responsibilities towards his family and to the society. The one

that escapes from economic, domestic and social responsibilities is

unfit for Yoga. 2.

The actions forbidden by the scriptures should be avoided. Do what is

recommended by the scriptures. Till one intuitively knows what is right

and what is wrong in a given situation, the scriptures are the guiding

signals. They enable reaching right decisions. 3.

The practice of vocation shall have to be understood as a social

responsibility but not as a means for amassing material wealth and

property. Therefore the income arising from vocational practice shall

have to be understood as God-given for proper discharge of such

responsibilities. The

purity of the income decides the purity of life. The purity in

discharge of vocational responsibilities decides the purity of income.

Ill-gotten money through foul play upon the society leads man to

miserable states of mind-The litmus test relating to one's economic

activity is the contentment or lack of it. The one that looks at the

vocation as social responsibility and conducts it well and thereby

earns income is the one that carries contentment. If contentment is

absent, it means there is foul play. 4.

The Yoga practitioner should learn to respect, venerate, serve and be

useful to the world disciples - the yogis, the saints and the sages.

Never be critical about them. Do not engage in discussions about their

behavior. 5. The general behavior should necessarily exclude bohemian, contemptuous, immoral and unmannerly acts.

 

 

 

a)

 

Lack of concern for others and lack of sensitivity is called bohemian.

 

 

b)

 

Unchaste speech, quarrels, use of abusive language, emotional outbursts and overcritical speeches are considered contemptuous.

 

 

c)

 

Unkind

attitude towards dependants and servants, licentious attitude,

indulgence in alcoholic drinks, deceit and misrepresentation are called

immoral acts.

 

 

d)

 

To be odd in matters of food, clothing and in social behaviour is called unmannerly.

6.

Be inclined, in accordance to sanctions of time, to visit sacred men

and sacred places. Participate in sacred works, rituals and worships. 7. Keep up purity in matters of intake (water and food) in relation to time, place, material and its preparation. 8.

Choose to live in places serene, calm and quiet. Avoid densely

populated, highly commercial and noisy places. Till consolidated in

equanimity and poise, avoid crowdy situations. 9.

Practice harmlessness, that enables development of poise, completed

point of view and divine understanding. Clandestine activities and

aspiring for others' properties and fortunes are prohibitive. They

hinder progress in Yoga. 10.

Accept as much as is needed. Do not accept more than what is required.

Learn to distribute accumulations to keep free from material gathering

and its consequent conditioning. 11.

Contemplate upon the unitary existence, the self, as 'I Am' at all

times, maintain purity in thought, speech and action (as also keep

purity of surroundings). Study on a daily basis World scriptures at

least for 15 minutes and prepare notes thereon, hold fiery aspiration

althrough. 12. Let the daily routine include a few minutes for worship and for maintaining silence. 13. Maintain ease at mind and cheer on the face. 14.

Practise withdrawal from sense objects, from mind's thoughts into

heart. This is called absorption. This can be practised in between two

actions to start with. Gradually the practice can be extended even

while in action. 15.

In that withdrawn state (i.e., withdrawal into the heart) contemplate

upon the six centres within the vertebral column. These are the etheric

centres within:

 

 

 

i.

 

The base centre. It is the centre for regulation of solid matter- the earth in us.

 

 

ii.

 

The spleen centre - It regulates the heat in the body.

 

 

iii.

 

The solar plexus - It regulates the water in the body.

 

 

iv.

 

Heart centre - It regulates air, respiration and pulsation of prana in the body.

 

 

v.

 

Throat centre - It regulates the ether and the speech.

 

 

vi.

 

Eyebrow centre - It regulates the mind, the one beyond the five elements.

The six centres are linked to the spinal system. The seventh centre is linked with the cerebral system, the abode of the spirit. 16. Meditation Call

back the objective mind to subjectivity by applying the mind upon

respiration. Trace the source of respiration and reach the heart. Learn

to remain at the heart. Thereafter,

contemplate upon the base centre in the heart. Establish the link

between the two in contemplation. Likewise establish link with all the

centres with heart as their meeting point. By such practice the

awareness distributed in all centres converge in heart and the activity

of the centres becomes subservient to the heart. The

respiration shall have to be kept in poise during the daily activity to

progressively work out the aforesaid state of being in the heart. The

absorption and contemplation thus lead one to meditation. Thereby the

mind gains at-one-ment. 17.

By practising slow-soft, deep and uniform breathing and eliminating

conflicting thoughts and actions, one can gain poise in respiration.

Gaining poise in respiration is called pranayama. (It is not any

exercise of respiration. Holding the breath and holding breathless etc.

are acrobatics of respiration not recommended by Kapila or even by

Patanjali). Proper

inhalation eliminates the need for exhalation. And proper exhalation

eliminates the need for inhalation. One gradually consumes the other

and establishes the one in Samana or poise. 18.

Learn the secret of time. In the form of time, the Lord remains in the

created being (the soul). In the form of time, he reflects upon the

mind and pushes one into the daily action. Keeping awareness of time,

one functions daily in life. While he is aware of time in terms of

hours, days, months and years, he does not know that time is the

inversion of awareness as time. Due to this inversion the man (the

soul) is bound by time. The

time not only descends as awareness through mind, but also descends as

the pulsating activity that causes respiration, heart beat and

circulation. The pulsations and the respirations create the units of

time relating to the being. The units of time are disturbed causing

disturbance to respiration and pulsation due to mind's involvement

through actions in fear, sorrow, anger, jealousy, malice, anxiety etc.

The poetical and the metrical functioning of the breath is disturbed.

In course of time, such disturbance establishes through habit and paves

way for death. The

mind's awareness of time also weakens when the breath is weakened. The

daily life's rhythm is lost, meaning the mind's order is lost. Disorder

prevails in the respiratory system and in the intelligent activity of

mind. Practising

of breathing in such a state is futile. The daily rhythm therefore

forms the basis for Yoga practice. How can one think of working with

breathing with a mind that is in disorder? The breathing and the mind

are at disagreement with each other. Hence the preceding steps shall

have to be well established as a habit by the Yoga student before he

can propose to meditate to bring together the mind's activity and the

heart's activity. The

daily activity should be elevated from routine to rhythm. Then the mind

will be able to apply itself upon the breathing, respiration and

pulsations. Then the two gather into one. Then one understands that he

himself is descending in the two-way path of life activity and mind's

activity. He is the undercurrent of the both. As one, he is time, he is

consciousness. As two he is his life and his activity which in fact is

his triple state (He, his life and his activity). When

the mind and the respiration start aligning with each other, cessation

of inhalation or exhalation (state of breathless poise) happens. Such

happenings cleanse the physical, the vital, the mental and the buddhic

layers of the student. The bliss thereby descends and permeates into

the four layers. Man establishes in poise and experiences peace. 19.

The fiery aspiration continues throughout the practice, culminating in

the emergence of light due to interaction of the fire of aspiration

with the air of the breathing. The emanation of light enables

equilibrium between the forces of inertia and dynamism. The absorption

of mind with senses and respiration into pulsation and subtle pulsation

culminates in to the state of being. The effort ends. The being

remains. It is called the Samadhi. The

Yoga student holds his own views and viewpoints during the practice.

But as he starts living in Yoga, the views and viewpoints disappear and

the vision remains. Vision is completed viewpoint. It has no loopholes

in it. This vision leads to bliss within and happiness outside. The man

in God slowly thus transforms into the God in man. NIRVANA The

transformed man has no non-God situation. In all the four dimensions,

he visualises God / Self /I Am only. The form, the name, the place and

the time do not illusion and condition him. There is no other. Even the

body is experienced as that' or self. Unity is gained in totality. This

is called 'Nirvana'. The light of lower candle-power is absorbed by the

light of higher candle-power. Only one illumination remains. Likewise,

the thought relating to body also dissolves in God's presence. The

clay is made into a pot. The pot is understood in two portions, i.e.,

the pot and the clay in the pot. The name 'pot' and the 'form' of pot

are attributed to the clay by us. They do not exist to the clay.

Likewise the self in creation is looked as self and non-self. The

non-self is what we see out of our attributed nature. To the clay there

is no name consciousness as 'pot' or form consciousness as the form of

pot. To the self also there is no name consciousness or form

consciousness. It is just consciousness without feeling. As clay, it

exists with or without the pot. When the pot is broken, the clay

remains. When the pot is made, clay remains as clay in the pot. Either

way, clay remains as clay. So is the self with or without form. As long

as clay is available, the pot availability is there. As long as self

is, the creational possibility is there. The self is eternal and hence

the creation too is continuously eternal, with its series of

periodicities. The creation is of self, from self and is held by self.

Hence only the self is constant, immutable, stable and fixed. All its

transformations are transitory. SANKHYA The one who realises this self, remains identified by the self as 'I Am' in all that is. This

knowledge of creational process, the relation between the self, the

nature and the force, the order of its manifestation and evolution and

its series of expansion and contraction through Time, has an order. The

knowledge of this order is called 'Sankhya'.

 

 

 

VIII. SURRENDER - THE BLISSFUL WAY

 

Contemplate

upon the self, the centre of creation which exists in you as your

being. Submit all your knowledge, your actions and their fruits at the

feet of the self within and without. You shall stand delinked and

detached by such contemplation. Poise steps in through such linking to

self. The mind stands aside. Actions happen, causes cease. Since the

mind stands aside, there is no causal body carrying out the illusion of

separativity, of attraction and of repulsion. The sole attraction to

the soul universal remains in all happenings in and around. The self

reveals through all that surrounds and that which is beyond the

surrounding. The

self reveals as the centre of all the beings. The ever-continuous

humming sound of the self is listened through sound and silence. The

sight gives way to vision that pierces through the form and the

formations and directly meets the self in the objective forms. The

Masters of Wisdom, the Kumaras, the Devas worship this self as Om. They

visualise all the creational activity as His play. They play their role

too in tune with the play. The Cosmic Person is no different from the

self, the self within - your very being! Visualise your being in and

around. That is the real Yoga, the union with the One. Study

of spiritual sciences, conduct of sacrifices, pilgrimage to sacred

places, contemplation upon mantra, meditation, study of scriptures,

practice of yoga, service and sacrifice, do not by themselves give the

vision of the Lord. The Yoga living enables vision of the Lord in daily

life. Yoga living is living in union With the Lord (self) while in

interaction with the form and the name through time and place.

Experiencing the Lord in all these four dimensions leads to fulfilment. This

sacred doctrine called Sankhya, shall be given only to those who are

attentive and alert, who are compassionate to the fellow beings, who

are inclined more to duty than to their rights and privileges, who are

unaffected by malice and who are unpolluted by sex and desire. To them

the doctrine paves the way for realisation.

[Guest guest]

dear sunil Bhattacharjya ji I posted this samkhya darshana and jain yuga time concepts because i find some one who claims to b trained in some traditional way using avasarpini and utsarpini yugas ( Utsarpiṇī or ascending time cycle and Avasarpiṇī, the descending time cycle,) and he says it is how we can see population patttern in every yuga and he also presented some story and the maximum numbr of population is limited to a purticular number ( also said present methods of population followed by leading countries is faulty and based on random sampling only to support his theory ) and he strted boasting abt sankhya darshan has approval frm Bhagavat gita and also his model hence is vedic ,so my mail was indirect hint to the memebrs of net forums that that fellow who is also using saura paksha is mixing concepts so as to achieve some aims which i dont know the aim behind it is total destruction of astrology even .later i find he is using cooked up theoreys and mixing every thing and leading all memebrs to more ignorence without any working models now back to ur post and here is my findings on it ./////The

doctrine of wisdom emerging from Kapila is the ancient most of the

teachings of wisdom. Its study and practice liberates beings from

conditioned living - conditioning by thoughts, opinions, desires and

sensations and by environs. It is considered parallel in its depths to

most sacred scriptures such as Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Brahma Sutras

and even the Vedas. The

wisdom teaching of Kapila is even comprehensible to the lay/fresh

reader. It has no technicalities in its concepts and complexities in

communication. The

wisdom flowing from Kapila is recorded as catechism between Kapila (as

the Master) and Devahuti (as the disciple). Devahuti is the mother and

Kapila is the son and Kardama is the father. It is the son who speaks

of the wisdom to the mother at the instance of the father. Kapila's wisdom appears in the Bhagavatha Purana, III canto, written by Veda Vyasa,//so what u r mentioning is also true rgrds sunil nair , Sunil Bhattacharjya <sunil_bhattacharjya wrote:>> Dear Sunil Nairji,> > Thanks for sending this good translation on Sankhya. One thing seems to have been be left out. That is also told by Kapila muni to his mother Devahuti. It is regarding how a woman is born.> > Regards,> > Sunil K. Bhattacharjya> > --- On Wed, 5/13/09, sunil nair astro_tellerkerala wrote:> > > sunil nair astro_tellerkerala Re: samkhya darshana a complete translation-2> > Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 9:57 PM> > > > > > > > > > he mother's spiritual awareness gives much nourishment to the growing baby. Her ignorance gives much pain. The choice is according to what the soul is! > Having settled in the uterus within the placenta, he stays folded. He finds no place to move his hands, legs or head. Though capable of movement he is bound hand and foot within the womb and feels the imprisonment. He lives like a bird within a tight cage. > During those hours, the God-given knowledge dawns on him. The memory of the past unfolds. The misdeeds done are recollected. Since the Mind carries on time-sense during the stay in the womb the misdeeds present themselves directly to him. He feels the fear and the shock of them. He feels depressed and suffers utter discomfort. > In the seventh month the objective mind forms and recognises the surroundings. He suffers the uncleanly placement alongwith the excreta. The urge to get out of the womb arises and he keeps moving. These movements are observed by the-mother as initial pains. The movements are highly restrictive and the soul remains with folded hands and legs down near the stomach. > In that helpless state he worships the Lord of Creation. > "I bow down at the feet of the Lord, the One who creates and protects. I shall fear not hereafter". > "The five elements I have are not I Am. I Am that I Am. I am however enveloped in the layers of the five elements while I am unbound by the triple qualities; the qualities are weaved around me. I am beyond the five and the three". > "The Lord himself is present as I Am, as the three qualities and the five elements. I am the Truth. The formations around me are illusions. The Lord allows the illusory manifestation and agrees its enveloping around the Self. He seems apparently conditioned by that which is born out of him. But in truth he is not. But as a Soul, due to my separative consciousness, I feel the conditioning of the enveloper and suffer therefrom. He, the Lord remains uninvolved, while I am involved. He is the ideal for my contemplation. His knowledge suffers no loopholes. His being is one of tranquility. He is the spirit, he is the matter and he is the source of the two. I salute him to alleviate me from this hell and bestow peace and tranquility upon me". > "Who shall deliver me from this prison of the womb? May the Lord, the Protector of the weak and meek rescue me from this situation. What can I do for him in return for this act of help and protection? At the moment I can offer with folded hands my salutations to Him. I shall learn hereafter harmlessness and protective attitude thereby enlightening myself to visualise the Lord. This is how I shall repay my debt and remain grateful to Him". > "I cannot deliver myself from this cauldron. Even when I am delivered out, the wheel of illusion bewilders me in the objectivity. May the Lord therefore deliver me out and guide me to walk through. I accept Him as my Guide for the life hereafter. Enlightened by His presence I shall progress on the Path". > "I therefore contemplate upon the all-pervading Lord. I have no other. The unbearable pain within this womb is reality to me when I forget Him. Forgetfulness therefore is the root cause for all my sorrows and discomforts. I therefore take refuge at the feet of the Lord". > Praying thus, the Soul completes nine months. In the tenth month turning upside down, the wombed one is excreted out amidst blood like an insect, yet to breathe. He cries out and the breathing commences. The cry is due to the loss of knowledge of the Lord which he carried for a while in the womb. > The ones that nourish him carry no knowledge of his thoughts. They start doing for him what they like, instead of doing what he craves for. He cannot express his needs nor can he take care of himself with his own hands and legs. He cannot scratch to satiate the itch of the skin, he cannot rise and he cannot sit. He can only cry in helplessness and desperation. > As the child grows and gains five years of age, he fairly operates with the sense apparatus and starts experiencing the objectivity. He thereby incurs responsibility to work with the senses. In the meanwhile, he encounters education which turns out to be a burden, than a key to living. In the youth, being virulent he entangles in ventures and adventures burning away time, energy and resources. In the fivefold body, he often experiences pride, prejudice, malice, hatred-love, desire-aversion, jealousy-possesiven ess etc. He entangles in actions that bind him - the entanglement is due to lack of education as to how to do, how not to do, what to do, what not to do, when to do and when not to do. He thus paves way once again for self-destruction through time. > Lack of knowledge relating to action, when coupled with the emotional attachment to sex, quickens the process of decay. Man should therefore necessarily educate himself of his operation through body in the objective. Sex is the death-trap to those who do not carry its purpose and meaning. > Craving for feminine companionship, man is reborn. The animal (magnetic) attraction between man and woman paves the way for many illusive goals and objectives binding each other unto death. > The personality identity gets developed strongly. The attachment to one's (given) name, form, fame, property and relations is the personality attachment. All that one remembers about himself is his personality body. > It is the source of all causes, because of consequent actions. Until this body exists, man is bound to move through the wheel of birth and death. Man is not inclined to put an end to his individualistic memory and the memory brings him back to birth. The memory grows into actions in life and conducts a series of births and deaths. > The death of the personality is the real death. The death of the physical body is not the end of things - is not the real death. > HEAVEN - THE TEMPORARY ABODE > There are people who build the triangular life activity with proper understanding of the law, the desire and the natural wealth. They conduct well, in tune with the Natural Law, gain natural wealth and fulfil their desires. > They worship the intelligences in Nature as various deities and conduct rituals, sacrifices and activities of service. They gain name and fame in the society and are recognised as men of goodwill. They embark upon the lunar path to experience the splendours of Mind - individual and universal (heaven). They spend away their fruits of good acts and return to Earth. The aforesaid triangular activity is not faulty or forbidden. But it has the cyclical limitation of ascent and descent through time. The desire for happiness dominates their actions. It is this desire that motivates them into good actions for good results. It is the path that leads to personality growth - the name, fame, family, wealth and property - bulge, to condition the being. And the being starts functioning to maintain them. > He has to carry out acts of goodwill according to the social expectations. He has to mould his speech, actions, movements and even attire according to the social expectations. The society has moulds developed from the past memory of men of goodwill, and the man walks into the trap' to be recognised as a good man or even as a God-man!. The happiness is lost as the freedom is lost. Life is no more a 'free-style dance' but becomes a dance according to the tunes of the audience. The path to heaven leads to hell in terms of one's own happiness. > The loophole in this path is - working and living according to other's expectations to gain their appreciation. It is the path of pleasing others. > One cannot please always and all the time. It is a painful and impractical functioning. There are others who follow the path of pleasing themselves regardless of others' views. They are the bulls that trample upon others' territories and incur penalties. The path is therefore neither pleasing oneself nor pleasing the others, but be pleasant to life in Nature at all times, gaining the knowledge of the Laws of Nature. Carrying out acts of goodwill without expectation holds the key to this middle path. When you do not lock up in expectation of others' appreciation, you have the freewill to conduct the acts. Your acts are not bound by other's appreciations and expectations. For the ignorant, others' appreciation satiate him. But the knowledgeable one is the one, who is satiated by his own actions and is unconcerned of others' appreciation. > Carrying out acts of goodwill in total surrender to the life around with no expectations, leads man from the cyclic path of heaven-hell to the spirallic path of liberation from limitations. This path of liberation is the solar path, in contrast to the lunar path described above. The lunar path is one of smoke (of the fire) while the solar path is one of light (of the flame). The fire exists in the candle, in the smoke and in the flame. Fire as candle is the physical state. Fire as smoke is the mental state. Fire as flame is the state of self, I Am. When the candle is inflamed, the flame glows, while the candle wanes. The self remains and the physical recedes. > Any material when burnt ascends from gross to subtle. The centripetal and centrifugal movement of the souls, from the universal soul into the creation and to the universal soul is the work of fire that happens continuously. > There is no such thing as cessation of this movement. It is ever continuous and eternal. The self only develops all that is around from out of it. Verily the creation is an integral part of the self and is the fabric of the self. The self periodically releases the potentials and absorbs them into itself. The release of its potentials is the path of involution. The absorption is the path of evolution. The fire, the flame and the light represent the ascending / evolving path. The smoke and the candle represent the descending / involving path. Likewise, the day, the ascending moon-phases, the Northern coursing of Sun represent the upward movement, while the night, the descending moon-phases, the Southern coursing of Sun represent the downward movement. Through the descending / downward movement the self descends as souls through Nature. Through the ascending / upward movement the souls are traced back to the self. The one that realises the wheel of upward> and downward movement liberates from birth and death anchoring to the centre of the moving wheel. The up and the down are at the circumference but not at the centre. > The Moon (the principle and not only the planet) presides over the lunar path. The pritris - the procreating intelligences - function through the Moon (the mind), through the female, through the germinative and procreating processes, forming the envelopes (bodies) subtle and gross. > Attraction and repulsion is the law through which formations are made. Attraction carries in it the seed principle 'desire' and repulsion also carries in it the principle of desire but negatively. Wanting is positive desire. Not wanting is also desire not to have. One is to have. The other is not to have. Life entangled in it is conditioned by the pair of yes and no. The lunar path, the path of desire is indeed a path of creation through the pair. In the lunar path, the wealth is that which is desired or not desired. In the solar path, the wealth is "to be", with or without the wealth. The wealth surrounds the being of the solar path. The being surrounds the wealth in the lunar path. Who is orbiting whom is the difference. Moon orbits Earth, while Earth orbits Sun. Sun does not orbit around the planets. > The Sun is pure fire like the self. The Moon is the reflecting principle that reflects the Sun through its causal body. In us, the self reflects through the mind and mind's causal body. > There is a cause in mind in respect of all our actions. Hence each time the self reflects through mind, the self is coloured by the cause. In other words, the self expresses through the causal body. The self's expression is not allowed to shine forth. Instead it is utilised by the causal body of the mind. That is how every act of the human being has a because. In so far as the cause and the because exist, the self is distorted in its expression and permeation. > The Moon has periodicities of waxing and waning, while the Sun has not. The lunar path is endowed by heaven and hell. The solar path has neither. It is to be a being amidst all the hubbub of lunar activity. > > > > > > > > > VII. THE PATH > > The body we hold is the product of the Nature with its three qualities (inertia, dynamism and poise). We function through the body of triple nature. It is our work instrument; our form to function through. The body is an aggregate of principles of Nature and force described in the previous chapter. It is not an item by itself. Just like the factory that carries out a process is an aggregate of items which are different to each other, the body is an arrangement of forces and matter in a state of equilibrium to function through. > The person who functions through the body that dwells in the body is not attached to the experiences of the body namely, the pairs of comfort / discomfort, pain / sorrow and profit / loss. They belong to the Nature but not to the person. The person is immutable while the Nature mutates in his presence. The only characteristic of the person is that he remains in all at all times and remains without all. He has no transformations like the Nature. He has no triple qualities. He remains, immutable while in his presence everything mutates. The Sun in the sky while reflected in waters remains stable. According to the movement of waters, the reflected Sun seems to be undergoing mutations. They are mutations of water only while apparently the Sun seems to be moving, changing shapes. The planet moves around Sun, white it appears to us that the Sun rises and sets. Just like everything in the Solar System moves around Sun, the forces and matter of the body move> around the person, the central, neutral energy of the body, whose very presence enables the former to move. > When the person associates with the triangular forces of Nature, he gets temporarily illusioned and feels his separative existence. This is the primary illusion, which causes successive chain actions, making one feel that he is the doer, while in fact the Nature is the doer and he is the witness as a being. This primary illusion causes the culturing of the Original. This culturing leads to actions. Actions lead to further actions, varieties of actions, causing the birth of the Divine, the Diabolic, the Human, the Animal, the Plant and the Mineral Kingdoms. The birth inaugurates the death too. Thus culturing of the Nature causes the involution of the Original. > Conditioned by the culture, the soul involves into separative thoughts and sensations illusioning that he is profiting by all actions that are carried out through him. The action is carried through him by Nature. But the individualised soul feels he is acting. The Nature works out its plan through the beings. But the beings, ignorant of the crafty work of Nature feel that they are working out their individual plans. Verily the Nature's plan only works through. Working for result. for profit, for comfort and for success become common objectives, causing further motives to achieve results. The process is one of incessant brewing leading to complicated thinking and complex actions. The causes and the results get mixed up. A hotchpotch activity is the result of all this involution. Man lives more in dreams than in reality. > To arrest this involution which is called 'downfall' in the sacred scriptures is to recollect and remain as the original. Repeat to recollect that "I am stable, immutable eternal One. Everything within and outside move around me, with me as its basis. I exist as I am in all that is". This causes regaining the original status through practice. > To repeatedly recollect the original status, the practice of Yoga and the attitude of devotion (dedication but not emotion) are suggested by the seers. The eightfold path of Yoga coupled with devotion form the two wings of the soul to soar from the involved state to that of liberated state. > Yoga without devotion arrests man in the intellect. Devotion without Yoga leaves man unscientific in his approach. Either way the flight is impaired, for the two wings are not functional. They should not only be functional, but should also be cooperating and co-ordinating with each other for safe flying. Devotion coupled with Yoga practice brings in the fruition - the experience. Yoga coupled with devotion brings in the stability. > The recollection of "I Am' in all leads to liberation. The desire for liberation, on the contrary, conditions one in desire. Liberation is a natural happening when man recollects and remains. Desire for liberation leads to unnatural state and suspends the practice of recollection. The eightfold path of Yoga practice scientifically leads to the successive states of liberation, when well blended with devotional activity. If the blend is biased towards practice than activity, the reach for the state of liberation remains obstructed. The external obstructions are too many for men leading them through series of incarnations. Lack of requirements for livelihood, enmity around, opposition through persons, places and time, changing of places and persons, conflict in vocational and domestic circle etc. The obstructions are internal too, which generate as pride, lack of respect for others, urge for fame and name, desire, internal craving to be recognised as Guru,> attachment to the so-called devotees (with a bias to the lady devotees!), the glamour to save the planet, the humanity etc., the glamour for spiritual movements, for building ashrams of brick and mortar and the urge to possess people. The Yoga practitioner is thus left in the lurch and becomes a prisoner of his own glamour of Yoga. Hence, the need for .devotional approach while in practice of Yoga. > The devotion here is the attentiveness in recollecting 'I Am' in all, at all times. It is not the foolish emotion exhibited by many in the name of devotion. It is dedication and surrender to the thought of ' I Am', the Omnipresent. It causes the necessary detachment with the hub of Nature's activity and releases from the hubbub of illusion. It is therefore safer when the scientific practice of Yoga is associated with devotional attitude. > Attentiveness (Sraddha) is the foremost tool in the practice of Yoga. One has to be as attentive, alert and enthusiastic throughout as he was on the day one of the practice. The freshness in approach to the practice on a daily basis is the keynote of progress through practice. Even after decades, the freshness in approach to practice should remain the same. > This leads to linking the practice and the anticipatory mind gradually disappears. Functioning becomes more lively as mind is detached from anticipating the results of action. The freshness in action settles down as a natural habit and leads to the understanding that as 'I Am' one is ever fresh. > The thought settles in 'I Am' - in recollection of 'I Am'. The thought as "I Am" remains to be the truth - the only truth of self- existence. Other thoughts are, recognised as arising, developing and dissolving upon the basis of this truth. Disturbances to this state are considered transitory. 'I Am as God and God as I Am' is understood as one's own realisation. The immensity of one's own recognition is thereby found immeasurable. The Truth of Existence is realised and the belief in God gets substituted by realisation of God as 'I Am'. > Attentiveness towards the thought of self-existence as 'I Am' leads further to recognise the existence of self in the surrounding forms. The equanimity of thoughts is thereby reached. This equanimity of thought is what we see in great Initiates like Buddha, Christ, Rama and Krishna and a host of others. > Friendliness towards all beings is naturally generated. To such a one, there are no enemies, while others may hold enmity towards -towards him. > Let not others' opinions hinder your practice of Yoga living. Yoga living is application of Yoga practice in daily life with devotion and attentiveness. The Yoga living concerns you, your culturing of mind to reflect that which 'Is'. Let others hold their own view of your practice. You should not hold opinions about others and engage in the practice. Learn to be skilful in not getting into arguments and discussions and silently pursue the practice. Silence and secrecy are the two keywords of practice till fruition. See how silently Nature conducts the fruition through gradual transformation. The seed becoming a sprout, the sprout into a plant, the plant into a tree and the tree bearing the fruit is a gradual, silent and secret happening. Learn the lessons from Nature and be natural in all events. > To live, to move and to be in One consciousness, 'I Am', is the sole practice that remains in the background of all actions. It is opportune to pick up this practice at the early age, so that man is not pulled unnecessarily into the activity of senses and sex. At a later age, there is the difficulty in withdrawing from sensations and sensuousness. The ability to project through senses when required and also the ability to withdraw from senses - the two way movement - enables free flow of the being through the human mechanism. Inability to withdraw causes an unnatural state of desiring for sense objects in their absence, which is painful. Even while the sense objects are available the projection is according to requirement. It is not according to availability. Eating and mating on the basis of availability is the activity of sensuous society. It is not in tune with the Laws of Nature. The Laws of Nature are better realised and practised when man adopts to> the hints given heretofore. > Silence enables recollection of timely action and inaction. Silence is mental but not vocal. Vocal silence with mental action leads to imaginations. Cooperation of the vocal with unregulated mental leads to speeches unrequired. Mental silence and vocal speech (with the cooperation of the mental), with requirement as basis is another step that is realised. The urge to speak causes purge of thoughts and the purging thoughts leads to further urge to speak. The phenomena leads to unrequired externalisation of the being, causing energy loss. Retiring to loneliness periodically and observation of thoughts that spring from within gradually leads to silence. Meditation is the other name for this practice. It enables to remain alone even while within a group. "To be alone is not to be lonely." It is a state of being One in all. To identify with the One in all and remain so, is called as the state of being Alone. Recollection of 'I Am' as the daily practice> enables realisation of this step too. > The practice of Yoga coupled with devotion and attentiveness thus leads man from step to step. Equanimity, friendship, lack of sensuousness, secrecy, silence, contentment, lack of jealousy, balance in thought and action are gained effortlessly. The will turns away from sense objects and turns inward and remains in association with I Am as I Am. The outer ceases to distort and the One is realised inside and outside. Even while one projects through mind, senses and body, the unity is retained in the background. > The involution and the evolution of the will into objectivity and subjectivity are well realised. The formations within and outside with I Am as background is visualised as the incessant happening of images upon the background. The variety of the images too is understood as no other. The One in all, the One as all and the One without all is experienced. The difference between the unitary existence and universal existence disappears. The universal existence is perceived as clearly as the eye sights the Sun. The belief that the One has a body also drops off. The body as support to oneself is realised as myth. He realises himself as the body too. The container, the content and the observer disappear into One and the solo existence remains, with no more body consciousness, no seeing or perceiving consciousness, since there is no other to see or perceive. The body is the product of the seven tissues. The seven tissues are born out of the triple force in> interaction with root matter. The force and the matter have the nature to interact with each other incessantly. They are like the two wives of the One - their source the Essence. The two, their interaction and the consequent states of creation are also understood as the One. This understanding is not a mental comprehension but is a realisation. This realisation makes the One fulfilled through permeation of all that is. It is the fulfilled state. The Poornam -the Zero state. The experience of this state is called splendourous. The soul remains with its undetachable splendour like the light remains with its inevitable illumination. It is the self that is luminous. It is self-luminous. A state of inseparability. > THE ESSENTIAL TEACHINGS OF KAPILA > 1. The mind holds the master key for either liberation or conditioning. When you desire, it causes conditioning. It is so even when you desire liberation. Desiring liberation is also a desire. When you align mind with the universal consciousness, the liberation is the result. > 2. Food, when taken in, gets assimilated into the system, losing its separate identity and helps energising the body. Likewise the individual soul, through discipleship can be assimilated into the universal soul, losing separative, selfish existence. The One in all is realised and there is no other. > 3. The one who seeks liberation should forget desiring it. Acting as wife, the child, the co-born, the friend, the husband, the disciple, the Master, one should identify with the One in all and align with the One. When thus aligned, the liberated state of being is the reality. When not identified and aligned, the conditioning is the reality. > The one who attempts to escape from the worldly relation to find liberation is the one who is tricked and is hopelessly caught. He is like the one persuing the oasis for water. > 4. The creation, its process, the emergence of the cosmic, solar, planetary systems, the birth, the death, the stages of life (as child in the womb, child, youth, adult, old age) are the details of a grand play emerging from an idea - just like an idea from us manifests into a creation of our own. An idea to marry for instance! > 5. The scenes and the characters in the dream seem different from the dreamer. As one wakes up from the dream, the scenes and the characters disappear into him. Only he remains as the One. Likewise through proper comprehension of wisdom, the existence as One (with no other) is experienced, where the concept of the other disappears. > 6. The rivers flow with separative identity. But when they flow into the ocean, rivers cease to exist and ocean remains. The one aligned with the One is released from separativity and lives as a unit form of universal consciousness. > P.S.: Please note, it is different from unit consciousness. It is a unit form with limitless consciousness functioning through. Such is the Son of God or the Master of Wisdom. > 7. The events in the dream are real experience while in dream. They are unreal as we wake up. So also, to the One that wakes up in the universal consciousness, the pairs of life cease to be real. > 8. Amidst the limbs of the body, the senses, the feelings, man lives as one. So the Yogi lives as One amidst the Universe. > 9. The Lord should be visualised within and without as well. The feeling that the Lord without form is greater than the Lord with the form is ignorance. The gold within the ring and the gold without the ring is gold only. Realise the One by visualising the One in form. > 10. To realise the Lord in form, one has to practice compassion and virtues such as helping the co-beings and serving them. > 11. Look to the One in the one that looks to you. Look to the light in all. Transact with light while transacting with the beings. This is the sure way to grow nearer to the Lord and to experience Him. > 12. Remember that the growth and movement of all in the creation is the administration of the Lord. No one can transcend the Law of Administration within the creation. The Law of Administration is no different from the Lord. Knowledge is to visualise the laws, the commandments and the rules of creation as the Lord. > 13. Some of those who studied the Vedas conduct acts of goodwill for personal benefit (seeking salvation). They are conditioned by their own personality. The others conduct acts of Goodwill realising the Lord therein. They are liberated. > APPROACH TO DISCIPLESHIP > According to the motives and goals set, the approach to discipleship is threefold: > 1. The one dominated by inertia, harms others in the name of discipleship. He demonstrates pride, jealousy and vengeful attitude. He is analytical and over critical. Animal sacrifice in the name of God falls in this category. He threatens or frightens others with his pow3r, draws money from others, conducts spiritual festivals, congregations and conferences at others' cost. He conducts horrible fasts, gets beaten up by chains / ropes, inflicts pain upon himself by inserting needles or nails, walks on fire or on the edges of the knife. He seeks publicity for his works and is concerned of the following and its number. He laments that others are not recognising him and his spiritual prowess and that there is not enough splendour around him. He assesses others by the material value they carry, while he lectures on spiritual value. He conducts activities with competitive attitude and cannot accept if any of his contemporaries are more spiritual than him. He> feels himself to be a Guru and indulges in criticising other paths and Gurus. He also tries in vain to convince that his path and his Guru is the best and that others are immersed in illusion and hence are not able to see better. The birth of cults, religions and isms is due to those, who are overwhelmed by the quality, inertia. > 2. The second category of disciples care for skills, capacities, riches and power and worship them in the name of God. These make efforts to prevent ageing, to attract people around, to hypnotise, to draw near women, to demonstrate miracles and to possess suptly, people and their properties. They demonstrate splendour around, wastefully spending riches and power. They gather costliest things around and their rituals and worships happen with money flowing as water. > 3. The third category are the poised ones who carry out discipleship to neutralise their sins, to develop their usefulness to others, to serve others with humility. They conduct acts of goodwill in silence. The evolution in discipleship is from one to two and two to the third category. It is a process of ripening in discipleship that settles one in the third category. The ripening is time's aspect. When one ripens into the third category, there is instant stimulation into the inexplicable sweetness of experience, whenever acts of divine are called forth. They visualise the good qualities in others as the God-presence and instantly praise them. Such qualities inspire them while for others they are sources of jealousy and suspicion. Experiencing the good present around through their poised attitude, they are drawn nearer and nearer to 'Me' (the self). Their inspiration for all that is good is ceaseless and is thus natural. Their life purposes are> 'gradually fulfilled. Their deficiencies make up and get rounded up. They grow more and more into 'I Am' consciousness, which is felt by others as God-presence in them. > They ripen to the state where there is no cognisance of personal needs and desires. Their acts carry no expectations. Happiness is their experience in all acts. The corpse of expectations is not their lot. > To them all acts done are service to God only, for all their interaction is with the God-consciousness. Their simple, normal and natural work results in serving the World. Thus, they transform into the World Disciples - the Bhagavathas. > The two angles of the triangular qualities (inertia, dynamism and poise) are absorbed in them into the One-the poise and the poise is absorbed into the 'state of being' which substitutes, the hitherto existing state of doing. Effort ceases. The Plan divine flows through. He has no more personality and personal work. He walks on Earth as a living God! To systematically ascend into this state of being, the following are recommended: > 1. Attentiveness to daily ordained duties - domestic, economic and social. Worship of deities with indifference to daily duties causes no progress. Unless one is alert and attentive one's own duties are not recollected well. Worship of deities help keeping up the alert and attentive attitude. The lack of attentiveness is demonstrated by forgetfulness, indifference, carelessness, negligence and laziness. > 2. Worship of the forms in creation as God-forms. This enables recollection of God-presence while engaged in the objective world. This is an advanced step to worship of deities. The limitations to forms is overcome by this practice. In truth there is no non-God-form in creation. It is only our refusal to see in other forms that causes to us the absence of God in other forms. To a Yogi, every form is God-form. Every name is God's name. He thus ascends from the primary illusion of name and form in creation. This practice leads to extended worship in daily life. Worship is not limited to a few minutes, to a few forms, to a few names or few places. The worship expands in all the four dimensions - name, form, place and time. This worship is called worship of Vishnu. > 3. To live in present duties and not to recollect the glory or ignominy of the past deeds. The Lord approaches us through the present as our own duties. Recollection of the past disables us from attending to the present. The wise ones do not brood over what has happened a moment before. Nor do they project into the future through anticipations and expectations. The past and the future culminate to them in the presence. Their functioning effortlessly includes the planning. Planning is not projecting into the future. It is working for the present according to given plan. For example, if we are to travel next week or next month, according to the need of the travel, there are certain acts to be done in the present. In so far as you are alert, those acts are done timely. Purchase of ticket, reservation, purchase of articles for travel are the present acts for future travel. That which is present duty relating to future actions happen naturally and> instinctively for those who work with the present. The present has the ability to draw forth the past experience and also draw back the future probability. This is what is known as visualisation through the present. > People live on past good and lament on past failures. This is a hindrance to living and the experience relating thereto. > 4. Engage the mind in what is to be done. Do not allow it to graze upon the future results or even upon the current results. What needs to be done is to be done regardless of results. Results cannot decide duties. Comfort or lack of it also cannot decide duties. Duties are such that they need to be done regardless of comfort, profit or success. > 5. Draw near men of goodwill and also drive near to them. This enables strengthening of goodwill in you. Be compassionate to the weak-willed ones. Frequently, weakness in others is mistaken as evil. Compassionate approach enables overcoming such mistakes. Where evil is cognised, better it is ignored than confronted. Confrontation at the same time should not be avoided when found inevitable. > 6. Be friendly among equals. Respect elders and be generous to youngsters. These relations should not be mixed up. The elders stand for those who carry more wisdom, strength, love and silence. The youngsters stand for less love, wisdom, strength and silence. The equals to one should be friends. Equals are friends. But the converse is not true. > 7. Practice Yoga (the Eightfold-Yoga) daily with yama and niyarna. > Yama includes > (1) Harmlessness (2) Truthfulness (3) Freedom from thieving instinct (4) Purity of sex relationship and (5) Lack of possessive instinct. > Niyama includes > (1) Contentment (2) Fiery aspiration (3) Self study of scriptures (4) Purity and (5) Surrender to I Am in all. > Accomplishment of these virtues enables mastery of senses and sense organs and thereby the mind. > 8. Teaching those who seek, that which is understood and realised in daily practice. > 9. Experience the presence of Lord in the virtues of others. The presence of virtue is the presence of the Lord only. It is his splendour - vibhuti. Do not meditate, recollect and lament upon others' vices. They stimulate the vices in you. Keep them as information for action but do not get affected by them. > Respect the virtuous. Pleased by such respect, the Lord within bestows harmony and poise. It also neutralises the pride in you. Cooperate with them. Lend support to their acts. Associate with them. This establishes poise in you. > 10. These instructions when followed implicitly, the mind gets purified and establishes in goodwill. > 11. Look to the self in all that is within and outside in all your actions. The virtues of the self reach you and surround you, just like the air brings the fragrance of the flower. > 12. In all acts of Worship, ritual and prayers forget not 'Me' (the self -1 Am). These acts carry no meaning and purpose, if 'I Am' (the self) is forgotten. 'I Am' present in all beings. If service to the beings and worship of idols is carried out with fervour and without recollecting 'Me', it leads to hypocrisy. Many theists are hypocrites. They are the cause for the birth of atheism. > Such worships are worthless and are even insult to the Lord. > 13. The Lord is the indweller of all beings as 'I Am'. The ones who see a difference between 'Me' and the beings are thieves! They cannot coordinate with the beings. They classify the beings as 'ours' and 'others'. This classification is the root cause of conflict. Keeping such conflict at heart they conduct worship according to the life's needs. If the needs are heavy, the ritual is elaborate. If the needs are usual, the worship is usual. At times of no need, there is no worship! Such worships are only deceitful and do not please the self. Instead, worship the beings primarily and worship the Lord thereby. This leads to harmony. Harmony enables experiencing the rituals. > 14. The one who does not cognise God in others, cannot experience what friendship is. They keep changing their friends fast. The friends of yesterday are the enemies of today and the friends of today are the enemies of the future. They have the knack of making enemies. > They have no real friends. Hence they have no real peace. > 15. Among the symbols (idols) we worship, there is variety. From stones to Masters of Wisdom all are God-forms only. Among them, the wooden idols stand in preference to the stone idols. The wood carries the sensation of touch. Better than wood are the forms of animals for worship, for they carry not only the sense of touch but also the sense of taste and other senses too. Among animals the dogs carry better sense of hearing. The two-legged beings are better for worship than the four-legged beings. Among the two-legged beings the man of wisdom stands in highest priority for worship. For the Lord's presence is complete in him. > 16. The Lord is in the form of beings around. Observation of the Lord as the beings around definitely leads to self-realisation. This practice is inevitable, be it the path of Yoga or the path of devotion. The form of the Lord is twofold. It is manifest and is unmanifest too. It is and is not and both. When the Lord in form (and as form) is visualised, the actions cease to be consequential. Karma gets neutralised and the proximity to the Lord is gained. The process remains sweet and effortless throughout. > 17. The behaviour of the beings is manifold. There are beings with horrible behaviour and there are beings with harmonised behaviour. In all these variety, the behaving principle is one. Learn to look to and identify with the behaving principle and learn not to identify with the behaviour. The behaviour difference is due to the admixture of the three qualities in matter. The blend of inertia, dynamism and poise. But the central force functioning through the triangular forces is to be realised as the behaving principle. The Lord as behaving principle is understood as the Indweller (Vasudeva). The Indweller is one. The behaviours are many. This Indweller of beings moves the beings according to a time plan. Through time, the beings are born, are grown and are consumed. Each being is consumed by the other. One is food for the other. The Lord is the "all-consuming" sacrifice / ritual. He sacrifices Himself as the beings, their behaving principles, gathers> forms to them, puts the created system into a type of fire ritual where one consumes the other. This sacrifice is called 'Sarvahuta Yagna'. To Him there are no relations like friends, relatives and enemies. He regulates the creation and the beings. I n the play, there are opponents to the players and team mates too. But they do not exist to the umpire. To the umpire there is neither an opposing team nor a supporting team. He is equidistant to both. He is the neutral factor for the conduct of the play. He interferes when the play is not in order. Likewise, the Lord too presides as an umpire over the play of creation. He oversees and regulates. He is in the play but is not involved in the play. The one in play in this manner is the Lord as Indweller. > In us too the Indweller participates as behaving principle. But the actions / behaviour do not bind him. He conducts the play and yet stands beyond the play. The fruits of actions are to the beings. Not to Him. He accommodates all in the play and regulates them. The whole action from Devas to mortals is emanating from Him. Yet He does not act. The message of the Lord is "perceive inaction in action and action in inaction." > DISCIPLESHIP > The requirements of the disciple are: > > > > > 1. > > To be cheerful regardless of the circumstances. To be cheerful is a disposition to be positive and to make light of the situation which seems heavy. > > > 2. > > To be serviceable to the beings and to be friendly. > > > 3. > > To be poised and balanced and to be peaceful in and out. > > > 4. > > To be compassionate to the beings. > > > 5. > > To surrender the fruits of action and keep acting. > > > 6. > > To surrender the distinction of "my people" and "others". > > > 7. > > To associate with persons who accomplished the aforesaid six > qualities. It enables self-release with ease. > > > 8. > > To study the scriptures that describe the stories of the Lord in the form of "the Law of God". The stories of the realised ones hold the key to lift up the awareness of the disciple. > > > 9. > > Act. Act not for profit, for comfort, for success. Act when you have to act. It is called duty. > > > 10. > > Keep the motives pure in all actions. Dissolve the opinions and feelings relating to others' default. Also, dissolve recollection of your own past difficulties and successes. > THE YOGA SCIENCE > Mind is the middle principle. It should be kept clean at all times. The Yoga practice enables to keep the mind's screen clean to reflect that which is. However wise one is, the regular (daily) practice of Yoga is essential to maintain the state of mind clean and neat for reflection. The whole process of creation is one of combustion. The by-products of carbon keep emerging due to the very process. Hence the need to remove them on a daily basis. The Yoga practice is the daily cleaning process that enables Yogic living. Hence the importance of Yoga. Such Yoga shall have to be practiced with constant and consistent awareness of "I Am' in all. > THE STEPS > The steps for practice of the Eightfold path of Yoga are > 1. The Yoga student should remain in life activity conducting his duties and responsibilities towards his family and to the society. The one that escapes from economic, domestic and social responsibilities is unfit for Yoga. > 2. The actions forbidden by the scriptures should be avoided. Do what is recommended by the scriptures. Till one intuitively knows what is right and what is wrong in a given situation, the scriptures are the guiding signals. They enable reaching right decisions. > 3. The practice of vocation shall have to be understood as a social responsibility but not as a means for amassing material wealth and property. Therefore the income arising from vocational practice shall have to be understood as God-given for proper discharge of such responsibilities. > The purity of the income decides the purity of life. The purity in discharge of vocational responsibilities decides the purity of income. Ill-gotten money through foul play upon the society leads man to miserable states of mind-The litmus test relating to one's economic activity is the contentment or lack of it. The one that looks at the vocation as social responsibility and conducts it well and thereby earns income is the one that carries contentment. If contentment is absent, it means there is foul play. > 4. The Yoga practitioner should learn to respect, venerate, serve and be useful to the world disciples - the yogis, the saints and the sages. Never be critical about them. Do not engage in discussions about their behavior. > 5. The general behavior should necessarily exclude bohemian, contemptuous, immoral and unmannerly acts. > > > > > a) > > Lack of concern for others and lack of sensitivity is called bohemian. > > > b) > > Unchaste speech, quarrels, use of abusive language, emotional outbursts and overcritical speeches are considered contemptuous. > > > c) > > Unkind attitude towards dependants and servants, licentious attitude, indulgence in alcoholic drinks, deceit and misrepresentation are called immoral acts. > > > d) > > To be odd in matters of food, clothing and in social behaviour is called unmannerly. > 6. Be inclined, in accordance to sanctions of time, to visit sacred men and sacred places. Participate in sacred works, rituals and worships. > 7. Keep up purity in matters of intake (water and food) in relation to time, place, material and its preparation. > 8. Choose to live in places serene, calm and quiet. Avoid densely populated, highly commercial and noisy places. Till consolidated in equanimity and poise, avoid crowdy situations. > 9. Practice harmlessness, that enables development of poise, completed point of view and divine understanding. Clandestine activities and aspiring for others' properties and fortunes are prohibitive. They hinder progress in Yoga. > 10. Accept as much as is needed. Do not accept more than what is required. Learn to distribute accumulations to keep free from material gathering and its consequent conditioning. > 11. Contemplate upon the unitary existence, the self, as 'I Am' at all times, maintain purity in thought, speech and action (as also keep purity of surroundings) . Study on a daily basis World scriptures at least for 15 minutes and prepare notes thereon, hold fiery aspiration althrough. > 12. Let the daily routine include a few minutes for worship and for maintaining silence. > 13. Maintain ease at mind and cheer on the face. > 14. Practise withdrawal from sense objects, from mind's thoughts into heart. This is called absorption. This can be practised in between two actions to start with. Gradually the practice can be extended even while in action. > 15. In that withdrawn state (i.e., withdrawal into the heart) contemplate upon the six centres within the vertebral column. These are the etheric centres within: > > > > > i. > > The base centre. It is the centre for regulation of solid matter- the earth in us. > > > ii. > > The spleen centre - It regulates the heat in the body. > > > iii. > > The solar plexus - It regulates the water in the body. > > > iv. > > Heart centre - It regulates air, respiration and pulsation of prana in the body. > > > v. > > Throat centre - It regulates the ether and the speech. > > > vi. > > Eyebrow centre - It regulates the mind, the one beyond the five elements. > The six centres are linked to the spinal system. The seventh centre is linked with the cerebral system, the abode of the spirit. > 16. Meditation > Call back the objective mind to subjectivity by applying the mind upon respiration. Trace the source of respiration and reach the heart. Learn to remain at the heart. > Thereafter, contemplate upon the base centre in the heart. Establish the link between the two in contemplation. Likewise establish link with all the centres with heart as their meeting point. By such practice the awareness distributed in all centres converge in heart and the activity of the centres becomes subservient to the heart. > The respiration shall have to be kept in poise during the daily activity to progressively work out the aforesaid state of being in the heart. The absorption and contemplation thus lead one to meditation. Thereby the mind gains at-one-ment. > 17. By practising slow-soft, deep and uniform breathing and eliminating conflicting thoughts and actions, one can gain poise in respiration. Gaining poise in respiration is called pranayama. (It is not any exercise of respiration. Holding the breath and holding breathless etc. are acrobatics of respiration not recommended by Kapila or even by Patanjali). > Proper inhalation eliminates the need for exhalation. And proper exhalation eliminates the need for inhalation. One gradually consumes the other and establishes the one in Samana or poise. > 18. Learn the secret of time. In the form of time, the Lord remains in the created being (the soul). In the form of time, he reflects upon the mind and pushes one into the daily action. Keeping awareness of time, one functions daily in life. While he is aware of time in terms of hours, days, months and years, he does not know that time is the inversion of awareness as time. Due to this inversion the man (the soul) is bound by time. > The time not only descends as awareness through mind, but also descends as the pulsating activity that causes respiration, heart beat and circulation. The pulsations and the respirations create the units of time relating to the being. The units of time are disturbed causing disturbance to respiration and pulsation due to mind's involvement through actions in fear, sorrow, anger, jealousy, malice, anxiety etc. The poetical and the metrical functioning of the breath is disturbed. In course of time, such disturbance establishes through habit and paves way for death. > The mind's awareness of time also weakens when the breath is weakened. The daily life's rhythm is lost, meaning the mind's order is lost. Disorder prevails in the respiratory system and in the intelligent activity of mind. > Practising of breathing in such a state is futile. The daily rhythm therefore forms the basis for Yoga practice. How can one think of working with breathing with a mind that is in disorder? The breathing and the mind are at disagreement with each other. Hence the preceding steps shall have to be well established as a habit by the Yoga student before he can propose to meditate to bring together the mind's activity and the heart's activity. > The daily activity should be elevated from routine to rhythm. Then the mind will be able to apply itself upon the breathing, respiration and pulsations. Then the two gather into one. Then one understands that he himself is descending in the two-way path of life activity and mind's activity. He is the undercurrent of the both. As one, he is time, he is consciousness. As two he is his life and his activity which in fact is his triple state (He, his life and his activity). > When the mind and the respiration start aligning with each other, cessation of inhalation or exhalation (state of breathless poise) happens. Such happenings cleanse the physical, the vital, the mental and the buddhic layers of the student. The bliss thereby descends and permeates into the four layers. Man establishes in poise and experiences peace. > 19. The fiery aspiration continues throughout the practice, culminating in the emergence of light due to interaction of the fire of aspiration with the air of the breathing. The emanation of light enables equilibrium between the forces of inertia and dynamism. The absorption of mind with senses and respiration into pulsation and subtle pulsation culminates in to the state of being. The effort ends. The being remains. It is called the Samadhi. > The Yoga student holds his own views and viewpoints during the practice. But as he starts living in Yoga, the views and viewpoints disappear and the vision remains. Vision is completed viewpoint. It has no loopholes in it. This vision leads to bliss within and happiness outside. The man in God slowly thus transforms into the God in man. > NIRVANA > The transformed man has no non-God situation. In all the four dimensions, he visualises God / Self /I Am only. The form, the name, the place and the time do not illusion and condition him. There is no other. Even the body is experienced as that' or self. Unity is gained in totality. This is called 'Nirvana'. The light of lower candle-power is absorbed by the light of higher candle-power. Only one illumination remains. Likewise, the thought relating to body also dissolves in God's presence. > The clay is made into a pot. The pot is understood in two portions, i.e., the pot and the clay in the pot. The name 'pot' and the 'form' of pot are attributed to the clay by us. They do not exist to the clay. Likewise the self in creation is looked as self and non-self. The non-self is what we see out of our attributed nature. To the clay there is no name consciousness as 'pot' or form consciousness as the form of pot. To the self also there is no name consciousness or form consciousness. It is just consciousness without feeling. As clay, it exists with or without the pot. When the pot is broken, the clay remains. When the pot is made, clay remains as clay in the pot. Either way, clay remains as clay. So is the self with or without form. As long as clay is available, the pot availability is there. As long as self is, the creational possibility is there. The self is eternal and hence the creation too is continuously eternal, with its series of> periodicities. The creation is of self, from self and is held by self. Hence only the self is constant, immutable, stable and fixed. All its transformations are transitory. > SANKHYA > The one who realises this self, remains identified by the self as 'I Am' in all that is. > This knowledge of creational process, the relation between the self, the nature and the force, the order of its manifestation and evolution and its series of expansion and contraction through Time, has an order. The knowledge of this order is called 'Sankhya'. > > > > > > > > > VIII. SURRENDER - THE BLISSFUL WAY > > Contemplate upon the self, the centre of creation which exists in you as your being. Submit all your knowledge, your actions and their fruits at the feet of the self within and without. You shall stand delinked and detached by such contemplation. Poise steps in through such linking to self. The mind stands aside. Actions happen, causes cease. Since the mind stands aside, there is no causal body carrying out the illusion of separativity, of attraction and of repulsion. The sole attraction to the soul universal remains in all happenings in and around. The self reveals through all that surrounds and that which is beyond the surrounding. > The self reveals as the centre of all the beings. The ever-continuous humming sound of the self is listened through sound and silence. The sight gives way to vision that pierces through the form and the formations and directly meets the self in the objective forms. The Masters of Wisdom, the Kumaras, the Devas worship this self as Om. They visualise all the creational activity as His play. They play their role too in tune with the play. The Cosmic Person is no different from the self, the self within - your very being! Visualise your being in and around. That is the real Yoga, the union with the One. > Study of spiritual sciences, conduct of sacrifices, pilgrimage to sacred places, contemplation upon mantra, meditation, study of scriptures, practice of yoga, service and sacrifice, do not by themselves give the vision of the Lord. The Yoga living enables vision of the Lord in daily life. Yoga living is living in union With the Lord (self) while in interaction with the form and the name through time and place. Experiencing the Lord in all these four dimensions leads to fulfilment. > This sacred doctrine called Sankhya, shall be given only to those who are attentive and alert, who are compassionate to the fellow beings, who are inclined more to duty than to their rights and privileges, who are unaffected by malice and who are unpolluted by sex and desire. To them the doctrine paves the way for realisation. > >