The fourth chapter is called dvaita viveka or discrimination of duality. Duality is of two kinds. One belongs to Ishvara and the other belongs to the soul. The world seen through the eyes is the duality of Ishvara. With regards to this duality, souls create various types of mental thoughts according to their nature. This is the duality of the soul.
Whatever objects are made by Ishvara are made in his form alone. Just by his making them, they do not become useful to souls. They become useful to us when we receive some knowledge about them, when we meditate upon them, when we accept them as joy giving or sorrow giving, and we begin actions to acquire them or dropping them. This is the reason why, in the universe of infinite objects created by Ishvara, only a few come within the realm of our enjoyment. These are the ones we mediate upon since they are seated in our mind, or those that we act to acquire or drop.
Typically, Ishvara creates the world and souls enjoy it through their knowledge and action. When Ishvara creates a will called maayaa thought flow, this world is created. Since we are extremely extroverted, our power to will is destroyed. A tortoise mother cares for her children through mere will alone. Where other animals act by feeding milk to their children, she does so just by mere will alone.
By constantly maintaining restraint or saiyama, people's will regains the power of action. The power of action comes from willing alone. Both action and will of an essence knower have power. Ishvara does not have to perform any action at all. He only has to will. Action happens all by itself. He creates the world by will alone.
When the soul creates a will called "thought flow" and drives it towards the objects of this Ishvara-created world, this world becomes a means of enjoyment for him, otherwise it does not. Ishvara creates only one type of pearl. One who gets it is joyful. One who does not get it is sad. There are some who are neither happy to get it nor sad to not get it.
So in one pearl, three shapes are proven, one is "dear", other is "hated", third is "indifferent". All three shapes come forth due to the different intellects of people. Ishvara does not have a hand in creating these shapes. The same body of a woman is differentiated in various relationships such as mother, wife, sister, daughter and so on. The flesh filled body created by Ishvara remains one and the same. But there are different "mental women" projected on the same body. This is because the enjoyers' minds are different.
During the time of misapprehension, fanciful thinking and memory, we deal with mental objects alone. In these states, there are no objects created by Ishvara whatsoever. In the state of waking also, only through mental objects do transactions happen. But the mental objects created in the waking state should be understood carefully. When our mind sees any object, it takes the shape of that object. As soon as we close our eyes and meditate, that very form appears in front of our eyes.
In fact, when we see an object during waking, there really are two objects, one is the pot made of clay, and the other is the pot in the mind. The clay pot is known to us by sensory evidence, pramaanaa. But our mental pot is not seen through sensory evidence. It is illumined by the witness self. We are put in bondage due to this mental object notion. If this is present, joys and sorrow arise, if it is not present, they they do not arise. Even when external objects are absent, like in a dream etc., souls become happy or sad. Due to association with a woman in a dream, there could be a direct physical impact.
In samaadhi, sleep or unconsciousness, the external objects remain as they are, but due to the absence of these mental objects, souls do not experience joy or sorrow. Even if the child is alive and well in a foreign country, the parents weep when they hear incorrect news about the child's demise, because it is their mental child that has died. Conversely, when the child has actually died but the parents do not know about it, they do not cry, since the mental object is still alive. So it is clear that the mental world alone binds.
There is two ways to destroy this mental duality. One is yoga, the other is knowledge. In yoga, one has to restrain the mind. This does cause the mental world to stop being created, but that world remains dormant in a seed form. As soon as mental restraint is stopped, the mental duality instantly stands in front of us and will cause us to get bound. The way to permanently destroy mental duality is the knowledge of the brahman essence, of our pervasive self essence.
The duality of Ishvara continues to remain in front of our eyes, but by understanding that it is illusory, that it can be negated, one can realize the supreme non-duality. When the supreme non-duality is realized, then the creation of the mental world stops once and for all.
When the dissolution of the universe happens, when the teachers and scripture that reveal the non-dual knowledge no longer remain, and when there is no duality to counter knowledge of non-duality, then the non-dual essence cannot be understood. The non-dual essence can be understood only when its opposite, duality is in front of us. If duality is ot seen, there remains no means of understanding such a deep topic like non-duality.
So the duality of Ishvara is not an obstacle but actually is a means to realize non-duality. To remove the real will of Ishvara is not within the reach of limited power souls. Some seekers assume that they will be free once their wife and children die. They should understand that the wife and children that have come out of Ishvara's will can only die when Ishvara's will for them ends. All that needs to be done is this: Stop accepting them as "mine". It is only our mental relationship with them that binds us. Not addressing that relationship but instead addressing Ishvara's will is ludicrous.
We need to create our path of non-duality in the midst of Ishvara's duality. It is not appropriate to hate it. Just like attraction to mental duality causes bondage, aversion to Ishvara's duality causes bondage.
There are two kinds of soul duality, one is scriptural, the other is non-scriptural. The contemplation of self and brahman is the scriptural mental world. Non-scriptural duality is of two kinds, one is attraction aversion etc., the other is fanciful thinking. If these continue, knowledge of the essence will not occur. Any temporary means of attaining knowledge will result in temporary unstable knowledge. After knowledge of the essence, the state of living liberation must arrive. The divine wealth indicated in the Gita must arrive.
That person who is engaged in attraction aversion etc. does not have real knowledge. It will not result in the fruit of liberation. It is blank or unproductive knowledge. If knowledge arises and attraction aversion etc. are not dropped, if there is no purity in transactions, if the self is still considered as the body, then the knowledge is as useless as taking medicines without the proper diet. If someone still has desire for sensory pleasures, and claims to have knowledge, it cannot break the chain of life and death. The knower who continues to hold on to attraction etc. falls really low.
He falls because the fear ignorant people harbour towards Ishvara or the laws of action still enters into the knower. Such a knower falls really low. Mental faults trouble a person prior to the advent of knowledge, but such a blank knower becomes the object of ridicule in this world. Ignorance is much better than this dry knowledge.
At a minimum, knowledge of the essence should result in the lifestyle, the speech, the transactions of the knower becoming a model worthy of worship by others. Along with faults such as attraction, fanciful thinking also should be stopped. To do so, nirvikalpa samaadhi should be practiced. By practicing savikalpa samaadhi, nirvikalpa samaadhi also is entered into. In this state, there is no more any mind or thinking. One who knows the essence, who lives alone, whose mental faults have gone, can stop fanciful thinking by chanting long Omkaaraas.
When fanciful thinking is conquered, then the thought flow less state of the seeker's mind becomes like that of the mute person. Just like a mute person does not speak anything, there is no more creation of thought flows in the mute mind. The knowledge broom of "there is no seen" is used to sweep the temple of the mind in order to get rid of trash called the seen. This results in infinite liberation joy swelling inside. When attraction and other states are destroyed, when the deep silent state of no habitual desires or vaasanaas arises, there is no better state than this.
Even people who have attained this state are subject to some agitation due to enjoyment and action. But the force of their practice does not allow agitation to linger. Their intellect immediately becomes focused. Those great people whose mind has completely stopped being agitated are not fit even to be called brahman knowers. Exalted sages say that such people have become brahman essence themselves.
When a being completely drops the duality created by a soul, he will be able to attain the most highest state of living liberation. Keeping this notion in mind, we have separated the duality of Ishvara from the duality of the soul, for the benefit of seekers.
Translated from the Commentary by Pandit Raamaavataara Vidyaabhaaskara, a student of Achyuta Muni
In fact, when we see an object during waking, there really are two objects, one is the pot made of clay, and the other is the pot in the mind. The clay pot is known to us by sensory evidence, pramaanaa. But our mental pot is not seen through sensory evidence. It is illumined by the witness self. We are put in bondage due to this mental object notion. If this is present, joys and sorrow arise, if it is not present, they they do not arise. Even when external objects are absent, like in a dream etc., souls become happy or sad. Due to association with a woman in a dream, there could be a direct physical impact.
In samaadhi, sleep or unconsciousness, the external objects remain as they are, but due to the absence of these mental objects, souls do not experience joy or sorrow. Even if the child is alive and well in a foreign country, the parents weep when they hear incorrect news about the child's demise, because it is their mental child that has died. Conversely, when the child has actually died but the parents do not know about it, they do not cry, since the mental object is still alive. So it is clear that the mental world alone binds.
There is two ways to destroy this mental duality. One is yoga, the other is knowledge. In yoga, one has to restrain the mind. This does cause the mental world to stop being created, but that world remains dormant in a seed form. As soon as mental restraint is stopped, the mental duality instantly stands in front of us and will cause us to get bound. The way to permanently destroy mental duality is the knowledge of the brahman essence, of our pervasive self essence.
The duality of Ishvara continues to remain in front of our eyes, but by understanding that it is illusory, that it can be negated, one can realize the supreme non-duality. When the supreme non-duality is realized, then the creation of the mental world stops once and for all.
When the dissolution of the universe happens, when the teachers and scripture that reveal the non-dual knowledge no longer remain, and when there is no duality to counter knowledge of non-duality, then the non-dual essence cannot be understood. The non-dual essence can be understood only when its opposite, duality is in front of us. If duality is ot seen, there remains no means of understanding such a deep topic like non-duality.
So the duality of Ishvara is not an obstacle but actually is a means to realize non-duality. To remove the real will of Ishvara is not within the reach of limited power souls. Some seekers assume that they will be free once their wife and children die. They should understand that the wife and children that have come out of Ishvara's will can only die when Ishvara's will for them ends. All that needs to be done is this: Stop accepting them as "mine". It is only our mental relationship with them that binds us. Not addressing that relationship but instead addressing Ishvara's will is ludicrous.
We need to create our path of non-duality in the midst of Ishvara's duality. It is not appropriate to hate it. Just like attraction to mental duality causes bondage, aversion to Ishvara's duality causes bondage.
There are two kinds of soul duality, one is scriptural, the other is non-scriptural. The contemplation of self and brahman is the scriptural mental world. Non-scriptural duality is of two kinds, one is attraction aversion etc., the other is fanciful thinking. If these continue, knowledge of the essence will not occur. Any temporary means of attaining knowledge will result in temporary unstable knowledge. After knowledge of the essence, the state of living liberation must arrive. The divine wealth indicated in the Gita must arrive.
That person who is engaged in attraction aversion etc. does not have real knowledge. It will not result in the fruit of liberation. It is blank or unproductive knowledge. If knowledge arises and attraction aversion etc. are not dropped, if there is no purity in transactions, if the self is still considered as the body, then the knowledge is as useless as taking medicines without the proper diet. If someone still has desire for sensory pleasures, and claims to have knowledge, it cannot break the chain of life and death. The knower who continues to hold on to attraction etc. falls really low.
He falls because the fear ignorant people harbour towards Ishvara or the laws of action still enters into the knower. Such a knower falls really low. Mental faults trouble a person prior to the advent of knowledge, but such a blank knower becomes the object of ridicule in this world. Ignorance is much better than this dry knowledge.
At a minimum, knowledge of the essence should result in the lifestyle, the speech, the transactions of the knower becoming a model worthy of worship by others. Along with faults such as attraction, fanciful thinking also should be stopped. To do so, nirvikalpa samaadhi should be practiced. By practicing savikalpa samaadhi, nirvikalpa samaadhi also is entered into. In this state, there is no more any mind or thinking. One who knows the essence, who lives alone, whose mental faults have gone, can stop fanciful thinking by chanting long Omkaaraas.
When fanciful thinking is conquered, then the thought flow less state of the seeker's mind becomes like that of the mute person. Just like a mute person does not speak anything, there is no more creation of thought flows in the mute mind. The knowledge broom of "there is no seen" is used to sweep the temple of the mind in order to get rid of trash called the seen. This results in infinite liberation joy swelling inside. When attraction and other states are destroyed, when the deep silent state of no habitual desires or vaasanaas arises, there is no better state than this.
Even people who have attained this state are subject to some agitation due to enjoyment and action. But the force of their practice does not allow agitation to linger. Their intellect immediately becomes focused. Those great people whose mind has completely stopped being agitated are not fit even to be called brahman knowers. Exalted sages say that such people have become brahman essence themselves.
When a being completely drops the duality created by a soul, he will be able to attain the most highest state of living liberation. Keeping this notion in mind, we have separated the duality of Ishvara from the duality of the soul, for the benefit of seekers.
Translated from the Commentary by Pandit Raamaavataara Vidyaabhaaskara, a student of Achyuta Muni
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