Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the
words and theory of Advaita Vedanta
SAADHANA PANCHAKAM.
FIVE VERSES ON SPIRITUAL PRACTICE. Written by Sri Adi
Shankaraachaarya. Please click on the relevant label and ensure to review the
posts till date.
We come to the fifth shloka. In these final eight steps of spiritual
advice, Bhashyakaara is addressing the sanyaasi, one who has resolved to live
only for spiritual purpose and desirous of gaining मोक्ष/moksha, the total unity
with Aatman. We, as beginners on this journey, must have these steps to think
upon and to encourage our efforts. Understand that, whilst at the moment they
may look idealistic and unreachable, these are in fact the actions of countless
advanced seekers throughout history and 'realisation' has been proven as a
result. From where we are now, if we follow the formulae laid out in Shaastra
(texts) and we too may come to know that life is but a dream and Reality is
Unity with our own true Self.
एकान्ते सुखमास्यतां परतरे चेतः समाधीयतां
पूर्णत्मा सुसमीक्ष्यतां जगदिदं तद्बाधितं दृश्यताम्।
प्राक्कर्म प्रविलाप्यतां चितिबलान्नाप्युत्तरैः स्लिष्यतां
प्रारब्धं त्विह भुज्यतामथ परब्रह्मात्मना स्थीयताम्॥ ॥५॥
ekaante
sukhamaasyatAM paratare cetaH samaadhIyatAM
pUrNatmaa
susamIxyatAM jagadidaM tadbaadhitaM dR^ishyatAm.
praakkarma
pravilaapyatAM citibalaannaapyuttaraiH sliSyatAM
praarabdhaM
tviha bhujyataamatha parabrahmaatmanaa sthiiyatAm.. ..5..
In solitude live joyously
Quieten our mind in the Supreme Lord
Realise and see the all-pervading Self every where
Recognize that the finite universe is a projection of the Self
Conquer the effects of the deeds done in earlier lives by the
present right action
Through wisdom, become detached from future actions
Experience and exhaust praarabdha
Thereafter, live absorbed in the bhaava "I am Brahman"
Sloka Five. Paada One.
In solitude live joyously. There is a quote of Gurudev, Swami
Chinmayananda, which pertains nicely to this. "If you cannot enjoy your own company, do not inflict
it upon others!" This is given not to criticize but to encourage.
Whilst this step has its place in the extreme end of spiritual practice -
instructing sadhaks to take up the life of sadhu (solitary existence,
traditionally going to the forest or the caves) - Gurudev is reminding all of
us that even at social level, we must learn to live with ourselves. Even if we
live in family groups, we must learn about our own personality and come to
understand ourselves. To look at ourselves objectively. Are we someone whose
company we would enjoy? This is not
asked from the ego standpoint, but from the holistic view - check out the
'substance' of you. Are you someone who finds all sorts of ways to divert
yourself from true contemplation on the Higher and who can bear silence with a
lift in your heart? Or must there always
be something or someone around to break into the silence, to keep you from
sitting within yourself and your communion with nature and with the Lord?
Radio, television, pets, reading… all such things can keep us from
ourselves.
It is not that these things should not form part of life - but
become aware of yourself and your connection to them. Find time without any of
these things. Sit with yourself and practice the early steps of saadhana. Learn
inner silence. In doing this you will begin to find your 'inner cave' which
allows you to remain in 'solitude' within the crowd. Thus, at the level given
here by Bhashyakaara, we can find that true solitude is freedom from our ego
selves, absence of the tides of emotion which distract us from our spiritual
goal. Such contained solitude is joy indeed.
Paada Two.
Quieten the mind in the Supreme Lord.
To attain the solitude of the step before this, we must learn to keep our mind
under control. We must build inner dams
to stem the flow of this 'river of thoughts'. Any of you who have walked around
a resevoire will know how tranquil it can be compared to a flowing river. With
a dam we can control the water and with appropriate inner restraint we can
control our thoughts. Using the 'dam' wisely gives us space to contemplate upon
the Higher. Think of the area which drops below the dam walls you have walked
over. Can you recall the sensation of space and tantalising silence there? This
is the space you must learn to create within. Space for the Supreme to be. The
Supreme which is there awaiting your choice to become empty. The mind which has
dammed all thoughts is no longer mind.
It is Divine.
Paada Three.
Realise and 'see' the all-pervading
Self everywhere. If step 34 (paada two of this shloka) is achieved and
contact with that empty space is obtained, one enters the state of samaadhi -
fullest meditation; there is not only the quietness but also an alertness. This
alertness, or awareness, is not thought but Consciousness. This is the
Divinity, in which lies union with all. There is no dimension as such (time or
space) and Self is the only presence.
Now the sadhak is exhorted to surrender to the completeness of Knowledge,
to accept that this Divinity that is now felt within, is also without. That
everything, absolutely everything, which manifests outside this space is also
that Divinity - that Self with the capital 'ess' - the entire expression of
things and beings outside this level of Consciousness is this Self. Only when
one can walk and interact with the world when not in samaadhi as if one is
actually still there, can it be said that one has "Realised'. True mastery
is the sadhak's then.
Paada Four.
Recognize that the finite world is a
projection of the Self. Given the
statement just prior, then this is a logical step. This is realisation.
Consciousness alone is. All else arises from it and is therefore illusion
(maya). Consciousness (aatman) is the cause, all else is effect. Just as we at
our current level can allow our minds to take paths of incredible
inventiveness, so it is that the One Self has projected all this which we call
world. As we progress in our study of Vedanta, many analogies will come to
describe this phenomenon; one is given in the CM pamphlet of Saadhana Panchakam
thus; "The world of matter is but an extension of the Consciousness
Supreme, as waves, bubbles froth and foam are all nothing but the ocean and its
expressions."
Here, then, you glimpse something of what can be learned. Here also
is the tease which ties this philosophy to the rising science of quantum
physics. Does this not excite you? Does this not entice you to follow the path?
A knowledge awaits which is so astounding, yet can only be gained by making the
researches oneself. Reading about science does not make of you a scientist.
Reading philosophy does not make of you a philosopher. Participation,
application and experience of results alone can do this.
