Article Index

Class Notes from Hawaii, Oregon, & San Francisco
January-March 2012 

Discrimination and its Culmination
In the course of the practice of discrimination between the unchanging Reality, Brahman, and the ever-changing phenomena referred to as "the world," the mind of the aspirant gets clarified and purified and moves through the following perspectives with regard to phenomena and its relation to Reality: first, phenomena is seen as an outright Illusion; then it is seen as a reflection of Reality; then a manifestation of intelligence; and finally, it is seen to be an emanation of The Word.   One's understanding then culminates in "Brahman is Real and the world is real too."  With this realization, one's mental body is philosophically sound, and one can do whatever one likes.

If the wise ever say that the world is real, they do not mean the conventional world, the world projected by collective minds laboring in ignorance.  Unlike benighted minds, the luminaries know Brahman, and that singular revelation turns everything into Brahman.  This is the secret.

Everything is a form of knowledge.  Initially, one begins to realize higher things via knowledge of one's own ignorance.

Vedanta is a very ennobling philosophy.  It is also very sobering.  The sobering part is viveka, discrimination between the eternal and the noneternal.  But after one has given up the world, and done so properly, one sees the world as God.

Whether you are a householder or monk, you have to renounce the world, why?  Because it is not real, and unreal things can never satisfy.

You will never know Who you are until you know What you are not.  You can repeat "Who am I" ad nauseum, but you should rather start with the actual practice of "I am not this, not that, etc."  When you have done this weeding of the mind garden, then you will come to know that you are the one Unchanging Principle, pure Consciousness.

Once you get qualified, philosophically and spiritually via sadhana (spiritual discipline), the Great Light cannot remain away.  You yourself pull away the veils.

Sri Krishna may be the God of Love by popular demand, but He states clearly that there is no purifier like Wisdom.  If you purify your mind with jnanam, then you will know what to love and what not to love; what is essential and what is not.

My guru, Swami Aseshananda, would say that light reflects in a dull way off a rock, but better off a leaf.  It reflects better still off a lake, and best of all off a mirror.  The rock is like the body, made of solid, inert elements.  The leaf represents our senses, which allow more of the light of consciousness to shine.  The lake signifies our dual mind, which can be either calm or rippled by thoughts.  The mirror, then, is our mind, particularly the buddhi, discriminative intelligence, which most clearly reflects the Light of Consciousness.

Just as we make a distinction between brain and mind, we have to make a distinction between intellect and intelligence.  Intellect is an upadhi, a container for Intelligence.

Now I'm going to sleep, now I'm waking up.  Nonsense!  The Soul never wakes nor sleeps.  The Soul is blessed with that unique condition called "Yogic Insomnia."

Vedanta wants all to know the relationship between the apparently individualized soul and Brahman, Absolute Reality.  This relationship is all about higher Wisdom, and ultimately the realization of "I and my Father are one."


Jnana Matra, the Intelligence Particle
Jnana matra, the Intelligent particle inherent in human minds, is like a cell; and like a cell it has a protective membrane.  What is that made of?  The power of resistance to forgetfulness, or, put another way, daiva smriti – the power of remembrance that continues after the body's death.  The curtain of nescience consisting of fear, doubt, habitual dreaming, and the brooding that accompanies it, is rent asunder by this ability.  It is developed by study and memorization of the wisdom found in the revealed scriptures and in the Guru's direct teachings.

We take words, sentences, sutras, slokas, and scriptures apart in order to study them.  Then, as we study them, we find they are inherently connected to our minds and intelligence.  This is why the highest opinion of the seers is that the revealed scriptures are eternal, rather than created by Ishvara, sages, or human beings.

The superior way to memorize something is to study it.  Then you do not have to memorize it; it simply gets naturally installed in the process.  It will even be there in your subtle memory in your next life.  This is divine memory, and is the real reason why we remember anything at all as we live our lives.

People nowadays, having fallen far from the Source, are calling the personal God a "figment of our imagination."  It is actually a product of our refined intelligence.

What is the best way to infer the presence of Brahman?  Intelligence.  It is the first compound of Consciousness.

We hear so little about prakasha shakti (revelatory power) as compared to avarana (veiling power) and vikshepa (distorting power) shaktis.  Prakasha shakti observes various objects and reveals them to be manifestations of one's own knowledge.


Sankalpa, Cosmology & the Worlds
Kalpa refers to imaginings in time.  This implies all beings imagining an infinite host of worlds.  Even the life heavens are the imaginings of the ancestors and celestial beings.  All this is calledl sankalpa. Cosmic and collective sankalpa generates the lokas (worlds).

Everything from the Trinity on down is engaged in conceptualization.

Studying the atomic particle is not going inwards; you are only seeing a further externalized version of what is outward.  Meditation, however, is true inwardness – back to the source that produced everything from cosmic mind on out to the atomic particle.

If the Seer becomes the seen, then what follows is Maya.  Suffering follows close after.  But if the seen is known to have sprung from the Seer's mental processes, then comes Lila (sport of consciousness in freedom), with bliss following close after.

Some teachers of late have been using the Vedantic/Buddhist teaching which goes something like: "The bottle is in my hand, my hand is on my arm.  My arm is on my body, my body is in this room.  The room is in a house, which is in a city, which is in a country, and all are in this world.  This world is in space.  Where is space?  Everywhere!"   But more to the point is that physical space (bhutakasha) is within the space of energy (pranakasha); and that space of energy is in the space of thought (chitakasha), which is in the space of intelligence (jnanakasha), and that is in the space of Bliss (chidakasha).  If you are going to teach, teach deeply; don't be vague.

Is space just a stretch of infinity moving outward?  No, there is an inner space that goes beyond the atomic particle in terms of subtlety.

When it is said, "In the beginning was the Word" that means that everything that has a beginning has its source in Om.  If one keeps water in the dark, nothing grows in it.  But if one opens the water to sunlight, things start to grow.  Thus, when the Light of Aum/Intelligence shines forth, the worlds effloresce.


Yogic Analysis
Most people are living a disconnected life.  They do not know that the senses are connected to the five elements.  They think the elements are separate [i.e. exist independently of the senses, what to speak of energy and mind].

The eye and its power to see is connected to the sun, and the sun is connected to yogic fire.  That fire is connected to the power to burn, which is the intelligence that brings an end to ignorance.  Thus the sun bespeaks of the Light of Intelligence in the world.

If one lives in a world of objects and fails to think of God, soon, one misses the point of objects.  What is the tree telling us?  "My desire is in my seeds; I will project more and more of myself."  The ocean is telling us that waves (jivas) are infinite and endless, and yet the depths (Brahman) are changeless.  Objects cannot fulfill you.  Give them up.  They get lost, stolen, worn out, broken, or become boring.  Ask yourself, "What is the nature of the pleasure the objects give?"

To render objects empty is to strip away name and form and sit in that emptiness until the Essence reveals itself.

Unless you know what you are not, you will never know Who you are.  So begin now listing all the objects, things, concepts, and principles that you are not.  When you have your list, don't go shopping!  Toss it in the fireplace; make an offering of it to the Fire-God.

All these changing objects, mechanisms, situations, etc – they are all to point you to the Changeless – that is their sole purpose.

Without that one asana that starts in the mind and ends in the mind, and that takes the body up in the process – without this inner asana, call it right orientation if you will – there can be no real Yoga.

Meditation is not just about quelling the vibrations of the mind, but also, and very importantly, about directing the purified thought current of the mind.  This also becomes important at the time of death, to be able to course inward along powerful currents of thought to the Source.

Everything is a meditation, but it can only become that if you know that it is.


Swami Vivekananda
In terms of spiritual striving, Swami Vivekananda has said that there are two tendencies of human beings: the first and most common is the attempt to pull Brahman down to the level of one's current understanding.  The path less traveled, though, is to raise oneself to Brahman.  The Illumined beings do this via refining their human mechanisms – mind, thought, intellect, ego, etc.

Swamiji exhibited Abhaya Pratistha, absolute fearlessness.  He was undaunted in the face of struggle, work, or adversity, and willing to take on the karma of others.  He was a direct channel of the Divine whose counsels and decisions were and still are transformative.

Swami Vivekananda's Advaita was masquerading as atheism in his youth.

Swami Vivekananda's restlessness was divine restlessness.  He was ofttimes brooding on the problems of the world, no doubt, but at a universal level, not at a personal or altruistic one -– because that is the level from which all beings can be benefitted.


Religion, Philosophy, & Spirituality
Religion, philosophy, and spirituality – Sri Ramakrishna said that any religion will do if it is followed with sincerity and fealty.  Swami Vivekananda states, "It is good to be born in a church, but not to die in a church.”  Both statements point to the need of sadhana, spiritual discipline.

The Supreme Being can be identified via the Three Om's: Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent.

There have been systems that proceed by intense renunciation.  But authentic Tantra is not like that.  Like any good Indian philosophy, it aims to transcend the world of name and form, but it proceeds by the method of deification of name and form.

Ever since Sri Krishna taught Arjuna about the birthless, deathless Atman on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, and even before when Ramchandra taught Sita and his brothers the Advaita, India has been universal due to its nondual stance.

Conventional Religion wants you to confess that you are a sinner.  General Psychology wants you to discuss your many faults.  Modern Science wants you to believe in a utopian society, a perfect world.  In contrast, Indian Philosophy wants you to affirm the change-ridden mutability of the world in space and time, as instanced in Yoga Psychology (Yoga Sutras 3:11-16).  This takes morality, guilt, and repression out of the equation and places the "blame" on the natural flow of the creation process in conjunction with one's own individual karma.  How refreshing, this Freedom!

In the West, religion is, at best, for faith; and philosophy, unfortunately, is for fame and money via powers of argumentation.  In the East, religion must be guided by higher wisdom which has three stages: dualism, qualified nondualism, and nondualism.  Understanding these three stages and applying them to people's differing levels of understanding is extremely clarifying.

Vedanta is not really known to us in the West.  It is not Hinduism, per se, but rather the nondual philosophy/realization presented by the Rishis in the early scriptures of India.

One can look at Reality as Saguna and Nirguna Brahman, just as one likes. [Brahman with attributes ("sa-guna") which implies the personal God who is Lord and Mother of the Universe, and Brahman without attributes ("nir-guna"), Ultimate Reality that is nondual, all-pervasive, pure Consciousness.]

In Vedanta, we make a distinction between salvation and liberation.  The Great Beings, Avataras, taught beings according to the level of their understanding and spiritual growth.  Those who sought salvation (Heaven/God with form) were given salvation.  But more qualified souls seek liberation, Moksha/Mukti.  Would an Avatar keep these from attaining it?  Rather, the Avatar would open the gates to formless Reality for them.  This is called "Getting to the Father through the Son."

Use your Chosen Ideal/Savior as a doorway, not a doormat.

Svetashvatar, a great Rishi, tells us that beings approach Reality through God with Form.

You get to the Impersonal through the personal.

If you study where everything is, you will find space, but where is space?  Tucked into subtle space.

Pondering on the subtle duality of form and formlessness is the bridge that qualifies one for realization.

Religious adherents find fault with each others’ paths and war with one another, but a Seer sees the beautiful truths contained in different religions.  They operate via amelioration and concrescence.

Philosophy should never have become a matter of debate; it is a way to expose the Truth.  It should not be married to money in any way either, for that cheapens it and makes it a caricature of itself.


Knowledge, Meditation, Devotion, & Action
Whether you are a dhyan yogi, karmi, or bhakta, you will have to utilize jnana.  As Sri Krishna says:

Na hi jnanena sadrsham pavitram iha vidyate
tat svayam yogasamsiddhah kalen'atmani vindati

Verily there is no purifier in this world like knowledge.
The one perfected in Yoga realizes that fact within in due time.
[dhyan = meditation, karmi = one who follows the path of selfless action; bhakta = one who follows the path of devotion; jnana = Knowledge that discerns between the Eternal and the noneternal]

Meditation and devotion will have to bow to karma.  That is, one will have to test one's realization of both in the field of action.  But action must be performed only after knowledge, jnanam, is present.  All hail King Jnanam, then!  King Prema and Queen Bhakti can only assume the throne after He has established His reign.



Brahman & Maya
In order to recognize Maya you have to have a word for it.  Otherwise its workings will constantly elude you, what to speak of its existence.  How can you ponder something you have no name for?

Covered by the five sheaths of body, energy, mind, thought, and ego, we are Brahman in hiding.

Regarding Maya's manifestation in present times, there are three trends in overall society these days: the first is towards insanity; the second is towards superficiality; and the third is towards sentimentalism.  But as the wisdom song of India sings, "Quick, sparkling soul-fish!  Vacate the surface of relative existence where death is granted his fishing grounds.  Dive deep into the ocean of God's beauty....."

Mind + Maya + Nature = Worlds; Mind + Intelligence + The Word = Brahman.

Who can find the end of trees, of clouds, seeds, bodies?  Who can find the end of Maya?  But that is what the scientists are attempting to do.  Alas, Maya draws one in, unwittingly.

Do not study maya; rather, observe it from a distance.  And always keep your witness Consciousness in hand.

View maya from a distance, but get as close as you can to Brahman.

Maya is not really the game that is afoot; the game that should always be afoot is seeing through Maya!

Infinity in the world of objects is one thing, but the Infinity of the Soul is something else entirely.  [The first is the unreal, the impermanent, and the latter is the Real, the Essence of all.]

"The knowledge of diversity constitutes Maya."  Diversity is overcome by knowing the ever-unified One who is beyond diversity.

The gods and goddesses will have to be reborn on earth as human beings to get rid of their desire for domination and lordship.  They have to learn humility so that they can become so small that they can slip through the net of maya and be free.



The Facts of (Spiritual) Life
Serious spiritual life really begins with viveka and vairagya [discrimination between the essential and the nonessential and detachment from the nonessential].  Dancing, singing, and socializing in religious circles are, at best, mere beginnings.

What is the difference between taking up morality and committing to dharma?  Dharma requires one to learn precepts and take final vows based on the search for Truth. The difference is like that between following a commandment and taking up a practice. The latter has that distinguishing quality of actually proving the validity of all commandments. Thus, is the difference between mere belief and the rock of faith.

The New Age saying has it: "You are not a physical being having spiritual experiences, but a spiritual being having physical experiences."  But no, be like Sri Ramakrishna – a spiritual being having spiritual experiences.  Why should anyone coming to earth in a human body have to remain content with the physical only?

One cannot create something out of nothing; it has to be created from something that previously existed.  This is how we know that beginnings, middles, and endings are ultimately illusory.  Vedanta's two primary principles are ajati and aparinama [nonorigination and nontransformation].  If anything that one is considering for Reality does not pass these two tests, then it is unreal.

One should not seek direct spiritual experience until one consults and imbibes the essence of the revealed scriptures through the words of the illumined soul.  It is true that direct spiritual experience is the essence, like wine in a bottle.  But without the bottle (guru), how will one bring it to one's lips?  And how will one know that it is wine and not poison without the label (scriptures)?

Knowledge gives us concentration.  Concentration gives us bliss.  Bliss leads to realization of the Supreme Bliss.

Prasad is not just food.  Prasad means clarity.  If you take impure food you will have problems.  The same is true of everything you consume (through all senses and the mind).

You can get facts and info from your digital devices, but they cannot contemplate these for you.  One has to hear these from an illumined Soul and contemplate them in one's own mind.  Only the surface meaning is given through devices and books; the inner meaning comes from an illumined being encountered via one's own consciousness.

You never get illumination from books and temples; you get it from an illumined soul.  If this were not true the West would be full of illumined beings.

There is no purifier like Wisdom.  If the practitioner removes ignorance from the mind with Knowledge, then meditation is illumined, action gets illumined, devotion becomes illumined.

Our mudra should not be the cell phone mudra – arm cocked, hand to the ear.  Otherwise we may be born in that position.  Our mudra has to be the knowledge mudra. [A mudra is traditionally a sacred hand position used for representing and transmitting a divine quality.]

If you serve people, they remain people.  But if you serve God in people, their god-like nature manifests.

Some want their own mukti, liberation, and devil take the hindmost.  But true devotees want Sarvamukti – liberation for all.  If there is one person in ignorance, then that is like a cancer cell in a body.  So this is a very high Ideal.  And before we can assume that Ideal, we need to work on Videhamukti – liberation from all bodies.  The Self is beyond manifestation and nonmanifestation, so we need to learn how to attain formlessness.  We need to transcend a narrow identification with personal individuality and assume our collective and cosmic identity.  Then we can approach and merge into the Absolute Identity.

It is good to be reborn, but not to be reborn again and again.


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