Satsang Bhavan Lectures, Message 3
Satsang Bhavan Lectures of Swami Sivananda
CHAPTER I: THE SUPREME TRUTH
4. Nature of God and Proof for His Existence / 5. Non-Dual Consciousness
4. NATURE OF GOD AND PROOF FOR HIS EXISTENCE
God is swayam bhu, self-existent. He does not depend upon others for His existence. He is swayam prakas or swayam-jyoti, self-luminous. He does not want any light to reveal him. He reveals himself by his own Light. God is swata-siddha, self-proved. He does not want any proof, because he is the basis for the act or process of proving. God is paripoorna, self-contained. He contains everything in himself. The entire universe is in him. God is swasamveda. He knows by himself.
God is so subtle that he cannot be seen with our physical eyes. Our inability to perceive him with our physical eyes does not mean that he does not exist. There are many things that we are not able to see, but which do exist.
In the day light we cannot see the stars, nor the sun at night, thought they exist all the time. When there is ash covering it, we cannot see the fire. Remove the ash, the fire again blazes forth. Similarly, remove the veil of ignorance that hides Brahman, Brahman shines forth, revealing itself.
We cannot see butter in milk. That does not mean that there is no butter in milk. Convert the milk into curd and churn it. You will get butter. Even so, through the churning of meditation, we can behold the self.
We cannot see the prana, nor the mind. But it is on account of prana the body functions, and it is on account of mind that we are able to think. The red corpuscles exist in our body, though we cannot see them. There is vapour in the air, though we cannot see it. We cannot see the bacteria with our naked eyes, but that does not imply that they do not exist, for they are perceived through microscope. The virus that caused jaundice in Delhi on an epidemic scale is so subtle that it cannot be seen even through a microscope, but can be seen only with the help of an ultra-microscope.
Beat a man and ask him to show you his pain. He will not be able to show you the pain, though he experiences it. Similarly God also has to be experienced, and cannot be seen with our physical eyes. Hunger, thirst, etc. have to be experienced, but cannot be perceived through the fleshy eyes.
He who develops the eye of intuition, jnana-chakshu, through perfect purity of heart and deep concentration will be able to realise God.
5. NON-DUAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Today I will talk to you on non-dual Consciousness. This is the consciousness of suddha satchidananda Parabrahman. It is above cosmic consciousness. Arjuna had cosmic consciousness. Hiranyagarbha has cosmic consciousness. But this non-dual consciousness is above cosmic consciousness. It is nirvikalapa samadhi of vedantins. It is asam-prajnata samadhi of raja yogins. In this samadhi there is no triputi, the triad, seer-sight-seen, knower-knowledge-knowable, meditator-meditation-meditated or what the object of meditation. There is nothing here. There is no triputi. It is Christ consciousness. There are no names and forms. There is no sound or colour. There is neither matter nor energy. It is pure absolute consciousness. Consciousness per se. Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is within you." It is the non-dual consciousness, wherein the mind, senses and the intellect cease functioning. It is the realm of intuition.
In the deep sleep also there are no names and forms. It is like a glimpse of the non-dual consciousness, but there is ignorance, avidya, karana sareera, anandamaya kosha.
In vedanta, there are two kinds of samadhis—adwaita bhavanarupa samadhi. The aspirant meditates on the formula 'Aham Brahmasmi, or 'Tatwamasi', the great mahavakyas of the Upanishads. In the beginning stage it is called adwaita bhavanarupa stage. He tries to identify himself with the non-dual consciousness, but later on through deep meditation and constant nidhidhyasan when he is established in his own satchidanandaswaroopa, it is called adwaita avastharupa samadhi. He is fully established in the non-dual consciousness. There are no names and forms, no matter and energy. The thing in itself, the transcendent, alone remains. Sri Sankara and Dattatreya had this experience.
Madalasa had this experience. She sang, suddhosi, budhosi niranjanosi, samsara-maya parivarjidosi to her children in the cradle and made them jivanmuktas, liberated sages. Suddhosi—you are pure, O children. Buddhosi—you are full of Knowledge. Niranjanosi—you are spotless, no lust, no greed, no asubha vasanas.
Samsaramayaparivar jitosi—not touched by maya. This maya cannot touch you, avidya cannot touch you. You are pure, eternal, immortal Atman. Yajnavalkya had this experience. Even when he was dwelling in the womb of his mother, he attained Illumination. Chudalai had this experience. She was a sage and yogi. She had powers. She walked in the sky and appeared before her husband. She stood above the ground and taught him Brahma vidya. Sulabha also was a sage and jnani. She approached Janaka and entered his body through her yogic power. He did not like dandi swamis. She was a dandi swami. She wanted to teach him a lesson. Through her yogic power, she entered in his astral body, and he charged that Sulabha, as a sanyasini, should not have entered the body of a male. She taught him a lesson. "You still have the consciousness of sex, male and female. You have not attained the highest illumination." Uddalaka had this experience of non-dual consciousness. He taught his disciple Swetaketu in different ways, the knowledge of Brahman. Ashtavakra was a great sage of illumination. He has written Ashtavakra Gita, which is soul-elevating. It raises you to the supreme height of Brahmic splendour. Vyasa, Vasistha, Sukadev, Gowdapada, Govindapada, Sanak, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Sanatsujata. Hastamalaka, Padmapada, Trotakacharya, Sureswaracharya, Pattinattar, Appaya Deekshit, Neelakhanta Deekshit, Sankarananda, Vidyaranya, Sadasiva Brahmendra, Jada Barada, Akalkot Swami—all of them had the experience of non-dual consciousness.
There are various kinds of vakyas given in the Upanishads: 'Prajnanam Brahma', 'Aham Brahmasmi', 'Tatwamasi', 'Ayamatma Brahma'. The first is lakshanabodha vakya of Brahman. What is this Brahman? It is pure consciousness.
Then comes 'Tatwamasi' upadesavakya. The teacher instructs the student, 'Thou art That'. "You are not the body and mind. You are beyond avidya and all illusory names and forms. If you subjugate avidya and maya, remove evil vrittis and give up body-identification, you rest in your own swaroopa." Then the student begins to meditate on 'Aham Brahmasmi' formula. This is anusandana vakya. Then comes 'Ayamatma Brahma'—This Atman is identical with Parabrahman. This is anubhava vakya.
There is another kind of vakya in the Upanishad. It is called avantara vakya. In the plantain tree before you get the fruits, you utilise the leaves, the stem and the flower. This is called 'avantra'—'in the interval', before you get the fruits, you utilise the leaves, flower and the stem. Even so, before you attain the fullest Illumination, you meditate on 'satchidananda', aatyam, jnanam, anantam brahma. Brahman is 'existence absolute-knowledge absolute-bliss absolute.' Satyam—truth, jnanam—wisdom, anantam—infinity.
Then there are abedabodha vakyas, the great sentences which treat of the identity of the individual soul and the supreme soul. Dattatreya says in his Avadhoota Gita: vedantasarasarvaswam jnanam vijnanameva cha, ahamatma nirakarah sarvavyapi swabhavatah—'I am the all-pervading, formless self. This is the essence of Vedanta'. Ahamatma nirakarah sarvavyapi swabhavatah—you can meditate on this formula. There are various abhedabodha vakyas and each aspirant may like one formula or the other.
Bhooma, sadasiva, chaitanya. Chaitanya is that which knows itself and knows others also. Jada is that which does not know itself and does not know others also. 'Aham sakshi'—I am the silent witness of the mind, intellect and the senses. 'Avasthatrayasakshi'—I am the witness of the three states. This is another beautiful formula: sivoham, sivoham, siva kevaloham. 'Siva' here means Parabrahman only, and not the Siva with trident. Soham—'I am He'. This is another beautiful formula. 'I am He, He am I'—hamsa soham, soham hamsa. There is greater force when we repeat a formula in its original order and in its reverse order, just as 'God is love, love is God', 'God is truth, truth is God'. There was a sage, a contemporary of Sri Ramana Maharshi—seshadri swami. He liked this formula: hamsa soham, soham hamsa.
I sing the formula:
sivoham, sivoham, sivoham soham,
sat-chit-ananda swaroopoham
This is a very beautiful formula. Any formula you can select for constant nidhidhyasana and meditation. 'Sat-Chit-Ananda' is a prop for the mind to lean upon.
There are four fundamental vital verses in the Avadhoota Gita of Dattatreya. He gives in it his own experience. It will be very useful for vedantic students to meditate on those formulas.
These verses are:
janma mrityurna chittam
bandhamokshaw subhasubhow
katham rodishi re vatsa
nama rupam na te na me.
Why do you weep, my child? There are no names and forms in you. There is neither bondage nor liberation, neither good nor evil. Stand up. Gird up your loins. Fight with the mind and the senses and rest in your own satchidananda swaroopa. There are no names and forms. The world is not in you. It is only a sankalpa.
ahamevavyayonantah suddhavijnanavigrahah,
sukham dukham na janami katham kasyapi vartate.
I am avyaya—imperishable, ananta—infinite, sudha vijnana vigraha—mass of pure consciousness, prajnana jnana, ananda jnana. A mountain is not so solid as the mass of knowledge. The physical mountain appears as solid, but this wisdom, knowledge of atma, is more solid, huge, than the Himalayas. So it is called prajnanajnana, ananda jnana, vijnanajnana, chitjnana. I do not know what is pleasure and what is pain.
na manasam karma subhasubham me
na reachikam karma subhasubham me
na kayikam karma subhasubham me
jnanamirtam suddhamatindriyoham
Meditate on this third verse. You will free yourself from the bondage of karmas. The mental actions are not in you.
The actions of the body are not in you. The actions of the speech are not in you. Purity, nectar, beyond the reach of the senses-this is your divine, essential, Brahmic nature.
Then he denies the whole world. He who is established in his own swaroopa, to him the names and forms of the world vanish.
mahadadi jagatsarvam na kinchit pratibhati me
brahmaiva kevalam sarvam katham varnashramastitih.
Mahat is the first manifestation of the Absolute. Then sprang up the mind, the senses, the tanmatras, the five elements. The quintuplication of the elements gave rise to the world. Where is varna, where are the ashrama, the four kinds of orders? Everything is Brahman. There is no world. This is the highest experience of sage or a jnani.
Therefore, let us try to enter into this non-dual consciousness through equipping ourselves with the four means of salvation, by hearing the Srutis, reflection and meditation. Let us practise constant nidhidhyasana and meditation on these formulas and attain the state of jivanmukti and highest Illumination and rest in our swaroopa and radiate joy and peace and bliss to all those who come in contact with us, and radiate peace and joy and bliss to the different corners of the whole world.
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Satsang Bhavan Lectures of Swami Sivananda
CHAPTER I: THE SUPREME TRUTH
4. Nature of God and Proof for His Existence / 5. Non-Dual Consciousness
4. NATURE OF GOD AND PROOF FOR HIS EXISTENCE
God is swayam bhu, self-existent. He does not depend upon others for His existence. He is swayam prakas or swayam-jyoti, self-luminous. He does not want any light to reveal him. He reveals himself by his own Light. God is swata-siddha, self-proved. He does not want any proof, because he is the basis for the act or process of proving. God is paripoorna, self-contained. He contains everything in himself. The entire universe is in him. God is swasamveda. He knows by himself.
God is so subtle that he cannot be seen with our physical eyes. Our inability to perceive him with our physical eyes does not mean that he does not exist. There are many things that we are not able to see, but which do exist.
In the day light we cannot see the stars, nor the sun at night, thought they exist all the time. When there is ash covering it, we cannot see the fire. Remove the ash, the fire again blazes forth. Similarly, remove the veil of ignorance that hides Brahman, Brahman shines forth, revealing itself.
We cannot see butter in milk. That does not mean that there is no butter in milk. Convert the milk into curd and churn it. You will get butter. Even so, through the churning of meditation, we can behold the self.
We cannot see the prana, nor the mind. But it is on account of prana the body functions, and it is on account of mind that we are able to think. The red corpuscles exist in our body, though we cannot see them. There is vapour in the air, though we cannot see it. We cannot see the bacteria with our naked eyes, but that does not imply that they do not exist, for they are perceived through microscope. The virus that caused jaundice in Delhi on an epidemic scale is so subtle that it cannot be seen even through a microscope, but can be seen only with the help of an ultra-microscope.
Beat a man and ask him to show you his pain. He will not be able to show you the pain, though he experiences it. Similarly God also has to be experienced, and cannot be seen with our physical eyes. Hunger, thirst, etc. have to be experienced, but cannot be perceived through the fleshy eyes.
He who develops the eye of intuition, jnana-chakshu, through perfect purity of heart and deep concentration will be able to realise God.
5. NON-DUAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Today I will talk to you on non-dual Consciousness. This is the consciousness of suddha satchidananda Parabrahman. It is above cosmic consciousness. Arjuna had cosmic consciousness. Hiranyagarbha has cosmic consciousness. But this non-dual consciousness is above cosmic consciousness. It is nirvikalapa samadhi of vedantins. It is asam-prajnata samadhi of raja yogins. In this samadhi there is no triputi, the triad, seer-sight-seen, knower-knowledge-knowable, meditator-meditation-meditated or what the object of meditation. There is nothing here. There is no triputi. It is Christ consciousness. There are no names and forms. There is no sound or colour. There is neither matter nor energy. It is pure absolute consciousness. Consciousness per se. Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is within you." It is the non-dual consciousness, wherein the mind, senses and the intellect cease functioning. It is the realm of intuition.
In the deep sleep also there are no names and forms. It is like a glimpse of the non-dual consciousness, but there is ignorance, avidya, karana sareera, anandamaya kosha.
In vedanta, there are two kinds of samadhis—adwaita bhavanarupa samadhi. The aspirant meditates on the formula 'Aham Brahmasmi, or 'Tatwamasi', the great mahavakyas of the Upanishads. In the beginning stage it is called adwaita bhavanarupa stage. He tries to identify himself with the non-dual consciousness, but later on through deep meditation and constant nidhidhyasan when he is established in his own satchidanandaswaroopa, it is called adwaita avastharupa samadhi. He is fully established in the non-dual consciousness. There are no names and forms, no matter and energy. The thing in itself, the transcendent, alone remains. Sri Sankara and Dattatreya had this experience.
Madalasa had this experience. She sang, suddhosi, budhosi niranjanosi, samsara-maya parivarjidosi to her children in the cradle and made them jivanmuktas, liberated sages. Suddhosi—you are pure, O children. Buddhosi—you are full of Knowledge. Niranjanosi—you are spotless, no lust, no greed, no asubha vasanas.
Samsaramayaparivar jitosi—not touched by maya. This maya cannot touch you, avidya cannot touch you. You are pure, eternal, immortal Atman. Yajnavalkya had this experience. Even when he was dwelling in the womb of his mother, he attained Illumination. Chudalai had this experience. She was a sage and yogi. She had powers. She walked in the sky and appeared before her husband. She stood above the ground and taught him Brahma vidya. Sulabha also was a sage and jnani. She approached Janaka and entered his body through her yogic power. He did not like dandi swamis. She was a dandi swami. She wanted to teach him a lesson. Through her yogic power, she entered in his astral body, and he charged that Sulabha, as a sanyasini, should not have entered the body of a male. She taught him a lesson. "You still have the consciousness of sex, male and female. You have not attained the highest illumination." Uddalaka had this experience of non-dual consciousness. He taught his disciple Swetaketu in different ways, the knowledge of Brahman. Ashtavakra was a great sage of illumination. He has written Ashtavakra Gita, which is soul-elevating. It raises you to the supreme height of Brahmic splendour. Vyasa, Vasistha, Sukadev, Gowdapada, Govindapada, Sanak, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Sanatsujata. Hastamalaka, Padmapada, Trotakacharya, Sureswaracharya, Pattinattar, Appaya Deekshit, Neelakhanta Deekshit, Sankarananda, Vidyaranya, Sadasiva Brahmendra, Jada Barada, Akalkot Swami—all of them had the experience of non-dual consciousness.
There are various kinds of vakyas given in the Upanishads: 'Prajnanam Brahma', 'Aham Brahmasmi', 'Tatwamasi', 'Ayamatma Brahma'. The first is lakshanabodha vakya of Brahman. What is this Brahman? It is pure consciousness.
Then comes 'Tatwamasi' upadesavakya. The teacher instructs the student, 'Thou art That'. "You are not the body and mind. You are beyond avidya and all illusory names and forms. If you subjugate avidya and maya, remove evil vrittis and give up body-identification, you rest in your own swaroopa." Then the student begins to meditate on 'Aham Brahmasmi' formula. This is anusandana vakya. Then comes 'Ayamatma Brahma'—This Atman is identical with Parabrahman. This is anubhava vakya.
There is another kind of vakya in the Upanishad. It is called avantara vakya. In the plantain tree before you get the fruits, you utilise the leaves, the stem and the flower. This is called 'avantra'—'in the interval', before you get the fruits, you utilise the leaves, flower and the stem. Even so, before you attain the fullest Illumination, you meditate on 'satchidananda', aatyam, jnanam, anantam brahma. Brahman is 'existence absolute-knowledge absolute-bliss absolute.' Satyam—truth, jnanam—wisdom, anantam—infinity.
Then there are abedabodha vakyas, the great sentences which treat of the identity of the individual soul and the supreme soul. Dattatreya says in his Avadhoota Gita: vedantasarasarvaswam jnanam vijnanameva cha, ahamatma nirakarah sarvavyapi swabhavatah—'I am the all-pervading, formless self. This is the essence of Vedanta'. Ahamatma nirakarah sarvavyapi swabhavatah—you can meditate on this formula. There are various abhedabodha vakyas and each aspirant may like one formula or the other.
Bhooma, sadasiva, chaitanya. Chaitanya is that which knows itself and knows others also. Jada is that which does not know itself and does not know others also. 'Aham sakshi'—I am the silent witness of the mind, intellect and the senses. 'Avasthatrayasakshi'—I am the witness of the three states. This is another beautiful formula: sivoham, sivoham, siva kevaloham. 'Siva' here means Parabrahman only, and not the Siva with trident. Soham—'I am He'. This is another beautiful formula. 'I am He, He am I'—hamsa soham, soham hamsa. There is greater force when we repeat a formula in its original order and in its reverse order, just as 'God is love, love is God', 'God is truth, truth is God'. There was a sage, a contemporary of Sri Ramana Maharshi—seshadri swami. He liked this formula: hamsa soham, soham hamsa.
I sing the formula:
sivoham, sivoham, sivoham soham,
sat-chit-ananda swaroopoham
This is a very beautiful formula. Any formula you can select for constant nidhidhyasana and meditation. 'Sat-Chit-Ananda' is a prop for the mind to lean upon.
There are four fundamental vital verses in the Avadhoota Gita of Dattatreya. He gives in it his own experience. It will be very useful for vedantic students to meditate on those formulas.
These verses are:
janma mrityurna chittam
bandhamokshaw subhasubhow
katham rodishi re vatsa
nama rupam na te na me.
Why do you weep, my child? There are no names and forms in you. There is neither bondage nor liberation, neither good nor evil. Stand up. Gird up your loins. Fight with the mind and the senses and rest in your own satchidananda swaroopa. There are no names and forms. The world is not in you. It is only a sankalpa.
ahamevavyayonantah suddhavijnanavigrahah,
sukham dukham na janami katham kasyapi vartate.
I am avyaya—imperishable, ananta—infinite, sudha vijnana vigraha—mass of pure consciousness, prajnana jnana, ananda jnana. A mountain is not so solid as the mass of knowledge. The physical mountain appears as solid, but this wisdom, knowledge of atma, is more solid, huge, than the Himalayas. So it is called prajnanajnana, ananda jnana, vijnanajnana, chitjnana. I do not know what is pleasure and what is pain.
na manasam karma subhasubham me
na reachikam karma subhasubham me
na kayikam karma subhasubham me
jnanamirtam suddhamatindriyoham
Meditate on this third verse. You will free yourself from the bondage of karmas. The mental actions are not in you.
The actions of the body are not in you. The actions of the speech are not in you. Purity, nectar, beyond the reach of the senses-this is your divine, essential, Brahmic nature.
Then he denies the whole world. He who is established in his own swaroopa, to him the names and forms of the world vanish.
mahadadi jagatsarvam na kinchit pratibhati me
brahmaiva kevalam sarvam katham varnashramastitih.
Mahat is the first manifestation of the Absolute. Then sprang up the mind, the senses, the tanmatras, the five elements. The quintuplication of the elements gave rise to the world. Where is varna, where are the ashrama, the four kinds of orders? Everything is Brahman. There is no world. This is the highest experience of sage or a jnani.
Therefore, let us try to enter into this non-dual consciousness through equipping ourselves with the four means of salvation, by hearing the Srutis, reflection and meditation. Let us practise constant nidhidhyasana and meditation on these formulas and attain the state of jivanmukti and highest Illumination and rest in our swaroopa and radiate joy and peace and bliss to all those who come in contact with us, and radiate peace and joy and bliss to the different corners of the whole world.
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