Svadyaya - "Purushartha, The Self-Effort" - Swami Chidananda

Purushartha, The Self-Effort

Svadyaya page for February 16,2013

 

Purushartha is a word that is used in two senses in Indian Philosophy. In one sense, it means certain values and goals to be striven for as our aims in life. In another sense, it means the dynamic effort and endeavour that enable one to achieve worthwhile goals, as well as the supreme values that are to be kept before our vision.

 

The word Purushartha ultimately brings home one truth: ‘Ends are obtained by endeavour.’ Worthwhile attainments and goals are the fruits – note that I am not using the work ‘result’ – of endeavour. They are the fruits of efforts, Gurudev said; “Do real sadhana.” Doing sadhana means action, dynamism. It means well-directed intelligence, purposeful rajas that does not direct you, but is directed by you.

 

All the eighteen Puranans contain stories of sustained effort. The whole narrative is filled with action, action, action, every type of efforts and repeated efforts, which ultimately grant the desired fruit, victory. No matter how much knowledge you may have, unless it is backed up by effort, it will only be a liability, not an asset. It will make your problem more complex, rather than simplifying it or bringing a solution. To know is perhaps better than not to know. But to know is not at all sufficient unless it is applied and actively translated into dynamic, sustained and systematic effort in order to reach the great Goal. Then only the journey is completed, the destination is reached.

 

Isavasya Upanishad says, “That one who follows avidya (lack of learning) goes into darkness and bondage. Then immediately it says that one who follows vidya (knowledge) goes into greater darkness and bondage.” [Isa. Up. 9] At first sight, it seems to be paradoxical and confusing. Here, vidya means knowledge of the scriptures and all that is studied, learned and stored. If it is not followed by the requisite effort, it becomes only a burden, a liability, sterile. Perhaps it complicates the issue by making one more egoistic. It can enmesh you more than you were enmeshed before. Shabari had no schooling. Kabir was not a university man. Janabai was a maidservant. But all of them did great effort. Therefore, Purushartha is the key to Realisation. You may know only a little but put it into practice. More important than tons of knowledge is an ounce of practice, action, Purushartha. Being and doing have precedence over knowing. Be engaged in right endeavour.

 

God Bless You!

Swami Chidananda

Tri-gunas (Rajas, Tamas and Sattva) and their influence on mind

“Those whose understanding (vision) is fully unveiled as soon as illusion ceases and the Self is realized, they (the wise) shine free from misery”.

The Self, which is the Essential Nature of the seeker, is not realized by him only because of his ego and its illusion in him.  As an ego, he is pre-occupied with his own miseries and his understanding is clouded by Tamas and shattered by Rajas.  When these two moods-of-the mind are sublimated, contemplative-ness increases in the mind, and the contemplative mind, during moments of its meditation, cannot avoid discovering its own illusions and the Eternal Reality behind them all.  Such perfect students shine in inner glory of their directly experienced Spiritual Essence. (AG 18.6)

In the liberated one, his mind is completely dissolved.  Not even Sattva expresses through it; Rajas that creates delusion and dreams has departed; Tamas that veils the intellect from the perception of Reality has been pulled down.

The inertia (Tamas) veils the intellect and then the mind becomes agitated (Rajas) with its projections and imaginations.  Pure “Non-apprehension” of the Reality is created by Tamas and the “Mis-apprehension” are produced by the Rajas.  When these two factors are controlled through Sadhana, the Sattva predominates in the mind and makes it more and more contemplative.

In the zenith of meditation, when even the last traces of Rajas and Tamas are ended, there the pure Sattvic-mind transcends itself and merges with the Infinite Consciousness.  Maya is crossed here.  Avidya is ended. In pure wisdom revels the Wise-man. (A.G18.20)

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About this, Swami Krishnananda (Sivananda Ashram) says that even though we regard Sattva guna as a very desirable one, “Sattva too is a subtle medium of obstruction”.  Because “It acts in a double form – as complacency or satisfaction with what has been achieved and an ignorance of what is beyond”.

He explains this through an example:

“We always praise Sattva and regard it as a very desirable thing. But it is like a transparent glass that is placed between us and the Truth. You can see through it, but you cannot go beyond it because though the glass is transparent, it can obstruct your movement. It is not like a brick wall, completely preventing your vision, as Tamas does; it is not like a blowing wind which simply tosses you here and there, as Rajas does; it is a plain glass, through which you can have vision of Reality, but you cannot contact Reality nevertheless”.

Swamiji also explains that these two aspects of Sattva have to be “dispelled by the power of higher wisdom”.

“Action, contemplation and knowledge are the three stages through which we have to pierce through the veil of Prakriti, or the three Gunas.” 

All this is a total movement and there is an internal interconnection of beings, like every thread in a cloth being connected with every other thread. That is why salvation is universal, it is not individual. When you attain to the Supreme Being, you become the Universal Being.

The spiritual practice of a Sadhaka is, therefore, to attain God-Realization, by confronting the three forces of Tamas, Rajas and Sattva, gradually, stage by stage, in their cosmic significance, always keeping in mind that we are not ‘islands’ and are connected with everything”.

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Note: When we proceed further and the senses are brought under control, all the three gunas are dissolved and a meditative mind rises above to a thoughtless state (Savikalpa Samadhi).

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Additional reading

Astavakra Gita -Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda

http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/fest/fest_14a.html

Self-realization and non-duality through Rubin's vase

What do you see? Do you see the faces or the vase?

 

This is the famous optical illusion image devised by the Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin often used to illustrate the concept of figure ground. When two fields have a common border, one is seen as figure and the other as ground. You can see the image as either a central vase, or two faces that are looking at each other. This image is popularly called the Rubin's vase (sometimes known as the Rubin face or the figure–ground vase).

The spiritual truth: We see an article. The act of seeing has both an object (the particular article seen) as well as the subject (one who does the act of seeing). These two states (object and subject) are separate and distinct from one another. The body is seen, so it is the object. Atma (soul) sees, so it is the subject. This analogy can be extended to other acts such as perception or consciousness. The body is perceived, so it is the object. Atma (soul) does the act of perceiving . so it is the subject. Thus the body and the soul are separate from one another. He who considers the soul as that which is seen (that is, confuses the object for the subject) can only be termed as an aggyani (ignorant of reality/truth).

The spiritual seeker eventually acquires the intuitive wisdom of direct perception and understands the Eternal Truth and solves the mystery of how the Brahman (divine) is seen at the same time as both manifested in (immanent) and encompassing of the material world (transcendent). He realizes his oneness with God and understands that he himself is a microcosm of immanence and transcendence (Non-duality).

Shankara’s realization expressed through Manishaa Panchakam

Adi Shankara Acharya, spiritual guru who spread the Advaita philosophy once encountered a Chandala (person born in a caste other than a brahmin) in his path and asked him to move away from his path.  The chandala enquired Shankara, if he sees his body different from the Shankara’s body. He also asked if Shankara wanted his body or his consciousness to move away from Shankara’s body or his consciousness.  “What do you want me to move?”  Shankara’s illusion of how he perceived the subject and object was shattered and fell at the Chandala’s feet. There is no two object.  The subject and the object is the same. The Brahman within you is the same in all things and there is no difference. He truly realized the concept of Advaitam (non-duality) and composed the Manishaa Panchakam.

Do you see a face or faces?

The album cover artwork for Pink Floyd's The Division Bell is an example of a Rubin-vase-like construction. The two metal heads in profile facing each other form the image of a third face looking directly at the viewer.

The Bhagavad Gita (9-2): Self-realization is the yoga or “oneness” with the ultimate truth. Based on all valid religious experiences, the Gnani or the seeker, understands through his body (senses), mind and soul, that we are one with the omnipresence of God.

Acknowledgements:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubin_vase

http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/manishhaa5.pdf

http://mesosyn.com/mental8-8.html

http://www.yogananda.com.au/pyr/pyr_self-realization.html

Guru - Jiddu Krishnamurthi

J. Krishnamurthi was an enlightened soul, a writer and philosopher whose mission was to bring about a positive change in human personality.

Jiddu Krishnamurthi was born on May 11, 1895 in Madanapalle, Andra Pradesh state and is from a family of telugu speaking Brahmins.  He was at most times assumed to be mentally retarded and punished by his parents and teachers for revealing his psychic experiences. 

Through his association with the theosophical society, he was able to bloom into a true spiritual guru. He believed that everyone should meditate and  have a more spiritual approach to living. He respected humanity and nature and wanted everyone to treat themselves well and preserve Earth.  

He did not encourage intellectual pursuits.  He believed that the ultimate truth can be realized only through each seeker’s awareness to his own experience, understanding and observation leading to involution (inward growth).

Later he said, “I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or coerce people along a particular path. ... This is no magnificent deed, because I do not want followers, and I mean this. The moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth”. 

He compared himself to Thomas Edison, meaning that the seeker has to just flick the switch as all the hard work had been done by him through his process of self-realization. He wanted seekers to simply live the teachings laid out by him, in order to attain the higher consciousness. 

He attained liberation through his own personal experiences and observations and died on February 17, 1986.

Quotes of J.Krishnamurti

If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem.

In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.

Religion is the frozen thought of man out of which they build temples.

The end is the beginning of all things, Suppressed and hidden, Awaiting to be released through the rhythm Of pain and pleasure.

The flowering of love is meditation.

There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.

Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay.

We all want to be famous people, and the moment we want to be something we are no longer free.

What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear,not how to escape from it.

Ultimate truth and desire

A spiritual seeker will have to ultimately realize that the spiritual understanding comes through realization and can only be experienced.  This is an out of world phenomenon which cannot be explained by man made words.  It is like trying to explain the beauty of nature through words and pictures.  We will be only seeing through the eyes of the author and we will not have the same experience.

  

Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna the knowledge of liberation, as the ultimate truth, which will relieve a person from bondage from this material existence.  Every person who has taken birth has to take countless births to dissolve the karmas created by his actions due to material desires. 

Buddha says: Desire is the root cause of all evil.  Desire and attachment to objects gives rise to emotions and anger.  From anger delusion is caused which in turn leads to unsteady mind, which destroys the intellect.  So a seeker of true spiritual knowledge has to control his body, mind and senses to be free of ego “I” and “mine” to attain final liberation.  

In chapter 2, verse 72, Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna - there is no delusion even at the moment of death , for one who has gained (realized) the ultimate truth and thus this ultimate truth relieves a person from bondage from this material existence. 

Esa brahmi sthitih partha nainam prapya vimuhyati

Sthitvasyam anta-kale pi brahma-nirvanam rcchati

This state is possible by a  spiritual seeker only when he relinquishes all desires of the mind through determination caused by the awareness (Jagruti) caused by consciousness. He is of steady mind only when he casts off the delusion and is satisfied in the Self through his Self alone. The intellectual knowledge is only established when mind withdraws the perceptions caused by the material objects.