Ashtavakra & warnings 2

                                                                                                                    Ashtavakra "vivarta"

for a while, the following will preface all these blogs – so please skip over if seen before]

100 Billion

In order to hint at how serious this Blog is, let the author unequivocally state that the Knowledge here imparted, none of it original, none to be credited to the author, that Knowledge is THE MOST VALUABLE treasure that exists. If hypothetically offered 100 Billion dollars to forgo this Knowledge, that offer or any other would be disregarded in the blink of an eye.  Even with all the good that might be accomplished with $100B, this Knowledge is beyond the World & comes from beyond the Mind. This is no hyperbole.

Ashtavakra Gita selections

3.2 – Just as imagining "silver" [nacre], in a shell’s "mother-of-pearl" may cause desire for such "treasure, so does Ignorance of the Self lead to cause desire for objects of mistaken Perception.

3.3 – Having realized yourself as That in which the waves of the World rise & fall,

why do you run around like a suffering creature, anxious about mere things ?

3.7 – Strange that knowing lust as an enemy of knowledge, one who is weak & nearing death should still crave sensual pleasure.

3.8 – Strange is it that one who is unattached to the things of this World & the next, who can discriminate between the transient & the timeless, & who yearns for Liberation, should yet fear the dissolution of the Body & the loss of Individuality that comes with Release.

3.9 – In either praise of blame, the serene Sage abides in the Self.  He is neither pleased nor angered by what others may think or say.

3.10 – A great soul sees even his own Body in action as if it were another’s.  How can praise or blame disturb him ?

3.11 – Seeing this World as pure Illusion, having lost all interest in it, how can the strong-minded one feel fear, even at the approach of Death ?

3.13 – Why should a strong–minded person of, who sees the nothingness of objects, consider attachment to one thing & rejection of another ?

3.14 – He who is unattached, untouched by opposites [hot – cold, etc.], free of desire, experiences neither pleasure nor pain from events that come of themselves.

4.3 – He who knows That is untouched by good deeds or bad, just as the sky is not touched by smoke, even if it seems to be.

4.6 – Rare is he who knows himself as the One-without-a-Second — Lord of the Universe.  He does what seems worthwhile & no fear occurs to him who knows this.

5.1 – You are not bound or touched by anything.  What is there to renounce ?  Letting go of the complex Mind — know the Peace of dissolution into Consciousness.

5.2 – The Universe arises from you like bubbles in the Sea.  Know yourself as the One & enter the Peace of dissolution into Consciousness.

5.3 – Like an imagined Snake in a Rope, the Universe appears to exist in the stainless Self.  But it does not truly exist.  Seeing this you know: “There is nothing to dissolve.”

6.1 – I am like an infinite Space in which the phenomenal Universe is but one small jar. Know that there is no World to be either renounced, accepted. or negated.

6.2 – I am like a shoreless Ocean; the World is like a wave.  Know this & there is no World to be either renounced, accepted. or negated.

6.3 – I am like an oyster shell’s nacre, "mother-of–pearl".  The Universe is like the Illusion of "silver". Know this & there is no World to be either renounced, accepted. or negated.

6.4 – I am in all beings; all beings are in me. Know this & there is no World to be either renounced, accepted. or negated.

7.1 – In the shoreless Ocean of the Self, the Universe is like a ship wandering here & there, driven by the winds of its nature.  This has no effect on me.

7.2 – Let the wave of the World, by of its own nature rise or fall in the shoreless Ocean of the Self.  I am neither enhanced nor diminished.

Given again that the Asthavakra Gita is such a wealth of expedient, practical spiritual advice amidst transcendent proclamations, here’s a 2nd installment of  warnings found in certain Sanskrit terminology encountered in spiritual texts.  These are the "unreal" obstacles which are best addressed so long as they seem to be real.  A sample list [with simple rather than complete scholarly explanations] of some of the "obstacles" includes:

Apurva – unseen effect of a past act

Bhava – supposition, opinion (some have positive meanings too)

Bheda – differentiation

Jiva – individual soul

Kara – change

Karma – Prarabdha past, Agami current / Sanchit all past

Loka – world

Mithya – unreal (not just "myth" Greeks used the cognate)

Papa – sin

Pasu  – individual

Pasa – bondage

Varnam – caste

Vasana – re-incarnated or more recently acquired tendencies

Vikara – change in nature

Vivarta – superimposition

stula sarira – physical body – "food sheath" Anna – maya – kosa

sukshuma sarira – subtle body – Prana – maya – kosa  – "energy sheath" ; Mano – maya – kosa  – "mind sheath" ; Vijnana – maya – kosa  – "intellect sheath"

karana sarira – causal body –  Ananda – maya – kosa  – "bliss sheath"

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

Ashatavakra, Illusions, etc.

[for a while, the following will preface all these blogs – so please skip over if seen before]

100 Billion

In order to hint at how serious this Blog is, let the author unequivocally state that the Knowledge here imparted, none of it original, none to be credited to the author, that Knowledge is THE MOST VALUABLE treasure that exists. If hypothetically offered 100 Billion dollars to forgo this Knowledge, that offer or any other would be disregarded in the blink of an eye.  Even with all the good that might be accomplished with $100B, this Knowledge is beyond the World & comes from beyond the Mind. This is no hyperbole.

Ashtavakra Gita selections

1.2  –  To attain Liberation, turn away from experience of the Senses like poison.

1.6  –  Right & wrong, pleasure & pain, are modes of the Mind. They are not your concern. You independent of those modes, neither the Doer or Enjoyer [experiencer of pleasure or pain], nor do you reap Karma [consequence of actions], so you are always free.

1.7  –  You are the one Witness of all that is & always totally free. Your only Bondage is not knowing this.

1.8  –  The thought: “I am the Doer” is the bite of a poisonous snake.  Drink the antidote of knowing “I am NOT the Doer” & be happy.

1.9  –  Burn down the forest of Ignorance with the fire of the Knowledge: "I am Pure Consciousness" & be happy & free from sorrow.

1.10  –  You are unbounded Consciousness — Bliss, Supreme Bliss, in which the Universe appears like the Illusion of a Snake in a Rope, so be happy.

1.11  –  If you know your self to be free, you are free.  If you know your self to be bound, you are bound. It is like the sayings, “You are what you think” or “thinking makes it so.”

1.12 –  You are Self—the Solitary Witness, perfect, all-pervading, One. You are free, desireless, at Peace.  The Universe is but an Illusion within you.

1.13  –  Meditate on this: “I am Consciousness alone – Non-Duality itself.”  Give up the idea that you are separate, a person, that there is anything external or internal.

1.14  –  You have long been bound thinking: “I am a person.” Let the true Knowledge: “I am Consciousness alone” be the sword that frees you from Mis-identification.

1.18  –  That which has Form is not real.  Only the Formless is permanent.  Once this is known, you will not return to Illusion.

1.19 –  Just as a mirror exists both within & without the reflected image, the Supreme Self exists both within & without the Body.

2.4  –  Just as waves, foam, & bubbles are not different from water, so the Universe emanating from the Self is not different from the Self.

2.5  –  Look closely at cloth & see only threads.  Look closely at the World & see only the Self.

2.7  –  From Ignorance of the Self, the World is appears, just as from Ignorance about a Rope, it may appear to be a Snake.  In true vision, no Snake appears but only the Rope.  Likewise in true Knowledge no World appears but only the Self.

2.9  –  The Illusion of a Universe appears in me as Consciousness just as does "silver" [nacre] in a shell’s "mother-of-pearl", or a ""snake" in a "rope", or "water" in a "mirage".

2.10 – As an earthen pot returns to clay, a wave to water, a bracelet to gold, & so is the Universe resolved into Me as Consciousness.

2.15 – In Reality, Knowledge, the Knower, & what is to be Known do not exist.  I am the stainless Reality, the Self, in which they appear, only through Ignorance.

2.16 – Duality is the root of Suffering.  The only remedy is to realize that what is seen does not exist & that I am the one, stainless, blissful Reality which is Consciousness.

2.17 – I am pure Consciousness, without the attributes which are only imagined.  Continually reflecting on this, I "abide" in the Absolute beyond imagination.

2.18 – For me, neither bound nor free, there is neither Bondage nor Liberation.  Illusion has lost its basis & come to an end.  In my Self all things exist, though ultimately, they do not truly exist.

2.19 – Having seen for certain that the Universe & the Body are without form or substance I am revealed as Consciousness alone where Imagination has no place to hold on.

2.23 – On the limitless ocean of my Self, in the wind of Consciousness, there arise the myriad mind–waves of a World.

2.24 – In the limitless ocean of the Self, the wind of thought subsides & the great vessel of a World & its Individual captain both lie "ship-wrecked".

2.25 – Wondrous is it how in the limitless ocean of the Self, waves of beings arise, collide, play for a time, & then disappear according to their nature.

Given that the Asthavakra Gita is such a wealth of expedient, practical spiritual advice amidst transcendent proclamations, we might institute a first installment of  warnings found in certain Sanskrit terminology encountered in spiritual texts.  These are the "unreal" obstacles which are best addressed so long as they seem to be real.  A sample list [with simple rather than complete scholarly explanations] of some of the "obstacles" includes:

Antahkarana –  "internal organ" of perception the Mind: including Ahankara, Buddhi, Chitta, Manas

Bheda – difference

Buddhi – Antahkarana’s organ of intellect of discrimination & determination (mostly helpful)

Abhasa – projection

Abhimana – attachment

Adhasa –subjective positive illusion of individuality

Ajnana – not-knowledge, i-gnorance

Aropa – objective positive illusion of the world of objects

Avarana – veiling part of Avidya ignorance or Maya (God’s "ignorance")

Avidya – not-seeing, ignorance

Bandha – bondage

Chitta – Antahkarana’s organ of mental impressions, memory, feelings, emotion

Dosa – defect

Guna – binding “rope” or quality: Sattva, Rajas, Tamas

Kama –craving

Klesha – 5-fold vershion of the "7 deadly sins"

Manas – Antahkarana’s organ of will (sankalpa) & doubt (vikalpa), image forming mind, desire

Maya – cosmic Illusion

Moha – dense delusion

Pasa  – bondage

Rajas – restless Guna, fantasy projection & craving

Samsara – cycle of birth & death, re-incarnation, smaller cycle of non-spiritual life

Samskara – persistent tendencies, some from previous lives (serial waking state dreams)

Sankalpa – unquestioned assumption

Sattva – attachment to static order, but also harmony & balance, the best Guna

Tamas – dull Guna, attenuation of discriminative intensity

Upadhi – modification, what absolute Consciousness does NOT have

Vijnana – Buddhi

Vikalpa – doubt

Vikshepa – projecting part of Avidya ignorance Vivarta superimpose

Vritti – mental mode, wave, vibration, restless patterns of thought

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

Introduction to a new review of Vedanta Analogies & Vedanta–like Analogies

[for a while, the following will preface all these blogs – so please skip over if seen before]

100 Billion

In order to hint at how serious this Blog is, let the author unequivocally state that the Knowledge here imparted, none of it original, none to be credited to the author, that Knowledge is THE MOST VALUABLE treasure that exists. If hypothetically offered 100 Billion dollars to forgo this Knowledge, that offer or any other would be disregarded in the blink of an eye.  Even with all the good that might be accomplished with $100B, this Knowledge is beyond the World & comes from beyond the Mind. This is no hyperbole.

Some classic Vedanta Analogies in brief:

"The 10th" is about10 ignorant fools who forded a stream & on reaching the other shore counted themselves to be nine only. They grew anxious & grieved over the loss of the unknown 10th man. A wayfarer, on ascertaining the cause of their grief, counted them all & found them to be 10.  But each one of them had counted the others leaving himself out. The wayfarer gave each in succession a blow telling them to count the blows. They counted 10 & were satisfied. The moral is that the 10th man was not got anew. He was all along there, but ignorance caused grief to all.

"The Necklace" is about a woman who wore a necklace round her neck but forgot it. She began to search for it & made enquiries. A friend of hers, finding out what she was looking for, pointed out the necklace round the seeker’s neck. She felt it with her hands & was happy. Did she get the necklace anew? Here again ignorance caused grief & knowledge happiness.  [more about these & other such analogies to follow]

[Selections from Michael James’ Happiness & Art of Being]

Happiness lies deep within us, in the very core of our being. Happiness does not exist in any external object, but only in us, who are the consciousness that experiences happiness. Though we seem to derive happiness from external objects or experiences, the happiness that we thus enjoy in fact arises from within us.

Desire and fear agitate our mind, and obscure from its view the happiness that always exists within it. When a desire is satisfied, or the cause of a fear is removed, the surface agitation of our mind subsides, and in that temporary calm our mind enjoys a taste of its own innate happiness. Happiness is thus a state of being – a state in which our mind’s habitual agitation is calmed. The activity of our mind disturbs it from its calm state of just being, and causes it to lose sight of its own innermost happiness. To enjoy happiness, therefore, all our mind need do is to cease all activity, returning calmly to its natural state of inactive being, as it does daily in deep sleep.

The science of being is incredibly simple and clear. The science of being begins with observation and analysis of something that we already know but do not fully understand.  This science does not study any object of knowledge, but instead studies the very power of knowing itself – the power of consciousness that underlies the mind, the power by which all objects are known.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]