FW: [Shaivism] Sutra 3

[Guest guest]

Harsha List,

I thought it might be of value to forward a couple of my last post,

which deal with certain aspects and principles of the most recent material.

here is the first.

 

 

Gemini [currwamp]

Wednesday, February 03, 1999 6:09 PM

Shaivism

[shaivism] Re: Sutra 3

 

 

"Gemini" <currwamp

 

Shaivism List,

I would like to add this to Martin's very encompassing and intelligent

summary. I feel that it is important to look at the overall concept of

unmesa--manifestation, and nimesa--absorption or withdrawel. Both Unmesa and

Nimesa are brought about by Svatantrya--Siva's absolute freedom of Iccha, or

free will.

I would like to quote Jaideva Singh from pp.21-21 of the Spanda Karika,

The Divine Creative Pulsation:

"Both unmesa and mimesa, that is, manifestation and absorption

simultaneously denote the Iccha of the Divine. They are not two mutually

opposed principles. What from one point of view is nimesa is at the same

time unmesa from another point of view. For instance, the disappearance

'nimesa' of the world, that is, the disappearance of the idea that the world

is something different from Siva, set over against Him as another,

constitutes at the same time the unmesa of appearance of the essential

nature of Siva. Similarly, the nimesa, or the concealment of the essential

nature of Siva is at the same time the unmesa of appearance of the world as

something diffetrent from Siva." To paraphrase, nimesa and unmesa point to

another important concept of saiva philosophy, the philosophy of evolution.

I would like to quote from page 22 of the Spanda Karikas again:

"Evolution has two aspects--the arc of descent or avarohakrama(nimesa)

from the Divine down to the empirical individual--from councsiousness down

to matter, and the arc of ascent or aroha-krama(unmesa) from the empirical

individual upto Siva-prmata and from inconscient matter upto samvid or the

divine consciousness.

p63 Ksobha or perturbation is due to primal ignorance owing to which

the limited individual considers the not-self(ego), as self, and Self(Shiva)

as not self.

Finally, I would like to add thoughts from page 64.

"As the experient is engaged in all sorts of good and bad acts, these leave

behind their impressions in his mind which act as a strong force fraggin him

down to material existence of further experiences. This is karma Mala."

As a speaker of personal experience, Karma mala is a very powerful form

of maya. Once the individual experiences his or her true Self, the

realization of this very powerful of mayas becomes the beginning of knowing

what was never not-known, the beginning of the veil of maya being lifted.

In Truth

Marcus

 

 

HMT [hyper]

Wednesday, February 03, 1999 4:17 PM

shaivism

[shaivism] Sutra 3

 

 

hyper (HMT)

 

Summary of sutras 1 & 2:

 

Sutra 1- Caitanyamatma

 

Summary-

 

"Characteristic of Atman; Atma is foundational consciousness characterized

by absolute freedom of knowledge and action."

 

 

Sutra 2- Jnanam Bandhah

 

Summary:

 

"The bondage of the empirical individual is due to an innate limiting

condition, known as anavamala which, in fact, is the ignorance of our

essential nature."

 

 

********

 

Q.- Is anava mala the only cause of bondage?

 

 

Sutra 3 Yonivargah kalasariram

 

Summary:

 

"There are two other limiting conditions, viz., Mayiya and karma mala which

contribute to the bondage of the individual"

 

*********

 

translation:

 

 

Yonivargah = "maya and her brood i.e. the class of elements to which she

gives rise and which thus constitute the source of this world."

 

kalasariram = "activity through which worldly life is carried out".

 

 

Yonivargah would be mayiya mala and kalasariram would be karma mala.

 

 

So... in addition to anava mala, mentioned in the second sutra, (the

ignorance of the essential nature) there are also mayiya mala and karma

mala which bind the individual. That makes 3 ways of binding and

contracting consciousness into individuality.

 

Here's a nice piece from Svacchanda:

 

"Caitanaya (Freedom of the Self to know and do everything) is suppressed

by mala (i.e., anava mala) and provided with kala (accent over the last

'a') and vidya, is tainted by raga, limited in repect of kala (time)

(accent over the first 'a'), restrained by niyati, magnified by the sense

of being a Purusa (an empirical self), furnished with the disposition of

Prakrati, endowed with the three gunas (rajas, tamas, and sattva), buddhi,

ahamkara, and manas, jnanendriyas (organs of sense) and karmendriyas

(organs of action, tanmatras, and the gross elements" (1)

>From the Isvara-pratyabhijna:

 

"when there is ignorance of real Self, then Anava mala being present, there

arise mayiya mala which brings about a sense of difference in respect of

every object, and karma mala which brings about birth and experience of

pleasure and pain (bhoga). All three malas are brought about by the Maya

Sakti of Siva" (2)

 

 

1. This gives the details of mayiya mala.

 

2. Maya Sakti is the inherent power of Siva by which He appears in

different forms. Maya Sakti is different from Maya tattva (the material

origin of the various objects in the universe).

 

 

It is summed up quite well in the exposition:

 

"the second sutra says that an individual is in a state of bondage, because

of his innate anava mala. The third sutra says that it is not only the

anava mala which is responsible for the individual's bondage. Attached to

anava mala as a base, there are two more malas, mayiya and karma. They also

bring about bondage of the individual. Mayiya mala provides the individual

with the physical and psychic vehicles in which he is 'cabined, caged and

confined', and Karma mala makes him commit motivated actions. These and

their residual traces are not airy nothing. They are karmika forces that

drag the individual to earth-life again and again."

 

 

Yow!

 

 

That means 3 malas or ipediments to remove to regain establishment of the

original understanding.

 

Removal of malas is actually the reversal of the malas back into their

original energies.

 

Can anyone guess what the 3 malas are called when they are reversed back

towards their source?

 

Hint: Understanding and application of the energies of the reversed malas

unbinds and liberates the individual as surely as the malas bind

him.

 

 

Turning binders into liberators. This is some fine Shaivism here. Really it

is.

 

Shaivism does say that the immanent can be as liberating as the

transcendent.

 

So it must be for all things intermediary as well, I would think.

 

 

Comments on sutra 3? Or anything else?

 

 

Memorize the malas. We use them in later study.

 

 

warmest,

 

martin

 

 

 

 

 

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select the User Center link from the menu bar on the left.

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"Om. That is perfect. This is perfect. From the perfect springs the perfect.

If the perfect is taken from the perfect, the perfect remains."