Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the
words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
We are now studying Aatmabodha. As
always, with each week, you are encouraged to review the previous teachings and
spend some time in contemplation of the meanings as the affect your life.
Please do consider purchasing the text. Remember, also, to recite the mangala charana before each study and
review the lessons before each new one.
We
are seeing the use of familiar examples to draw analogy with advanced Advaitic
concepts. Using this technique the masters of the philosophy are acknowledging
the intelligence of their students whilst also taking into account the need to
take 'baby' steps so as to lift the seeker gently. It is a teaching methodology
used for centuries and in all arenas of study, whereby the tutor aids the
student's learning by using something familiar which illustrates key points.
Last shloka we learned that there is a substratum upon which all of creation
appears and one of the names for That is Brahman; changeless, beginningless and
endless. The hint is that what sits atop the substratum emerges from That and
does not stand separate at all. This is taken a stage further now in shloka
nine.
siCcdaTmNynuSyUte
inTye iv:[aE àkiLpta>,
Vy´yae
ivivxa> svaR haqke kqkaidvt!.9.
Sacchidaatmanyanusyuute
nitye vishnau prakalpitaaH, vyaktayo vividhaaH sarvaa haatake katakaadivat
||9||
The entire world of things and beings is only a mental
projection upon the substratum which is the Eternal All-pervading Vishnu, whose
nature is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss; just as all the different ornaments
are made out of the same gold.
The
other thing with examples, is that all students can be addressed and brought
along with the theories and principles. Never for a moment get impatient with
apparent repetition, for even if you think you
'got it', other's may not - and there is always the opportunity to deepen what
it is you 'got'. This is particularly pertinent with the subtleties of Vedanta.
Bearing
in mind that this is a variation on the theme of the preceding shloka, let us
again understand that in any creative process there are three parts. The
material cause - being the substance which changes its form and name; the
instrumental cause - that which facilitates the alteration; and the efficient
cause - the origin of the idea, the intelligence which sparks the process of
creation. In all creations from our current perspective, these appear to be
entirely separate from each other. We need a potter, we need a wheel and, most
of all, we need the base material which is to be transformed. We then say we
have a pot. We acknowledge a potter and we acknowledge the process, the
potting.'
However,
this shloka tell us that when it comes to the entire Universe which we refer to
as Creation, all three are one thing. Brahman, is the material, the
instrumental and the efficient cause. Likened to gold, we are informed that all
objects, including ourselves, are derived from that base because the base
itself generated it.
In
another example, we see the waves of the ocean rise from the energy of the
ocean itself and dropping back into that very same ocean. At no time do the
waves have a separate existence from the water which is the ocean and the water
which is them; it is appearance only. So it is with the external world we
perceive; the physical, mental and intellectual experiences arise from, exist
in and return to that substratum of Brahman - the supreme Awareness. It is this
Awareness which is the commonality we find in everything and everyone, provided
we open ourselves to it. We are all gold.
To
demonstrate gold here, the verse uses the term 'of Vishnu'. Not to be taken as
the four-armed god personality, but as the Universal Architect which manifests
its designs in the way we manifest dreams. When those dreams disappear back
into our mental recesses, we remain. In the same way, the Architect is
unchanged and is ever the source of all Creation. The natural state is given a
quality here; it is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.
SAADHANA
Ponder
on the common thread of life, look beyond differences.
