Sat-Chit-Ananda - a calculus of bliss

Being complete; Being the whole; is what is contained in the expression
Ananda; it is non-different from the term anantam in that sense; and so
sat-chit-ananda and satyam-jnanam-anantam are corollary expressions, which are
pointers to the One, Non-dual, Brahman.

Use of terms such as happiness, or bliss, or ecstasy conjures up a concept of
an experience, mystic, and indescribable and perhaps conditioned by our own
current concepts of what is bliss or ecstasy, and by default these are always in
the construct of a subject-object relationship. Its very hard for us to think of
ourselves as being the very "stuff" that constitutes ananda!

The only sorrow in the world is our own sense of limitation, of want. We crave
what is pleasant and we ascribe the joy experienced as a result thereof to be a
quality of that thing or situation.
Only upon enquiry do we realize the futility of this approach and the depths
of our delusional thinking.

Lord Yama congratulates Nachiketas with these immortal words in their famous
dialogue contained in the Katha Upanishad
Yama said: The good is one thing; the pleasant, another. Both of these,
serving different needs, bind a man. It goes well with him who, of the two,
takes the good; but he who chooses the pleasant misses the end.
2 Both the good and the pleasant present themselves to a man. The calm
soul examines them well and discriminates. Yea, he prefers the good to the
pleasant; but the fool chooses the pleasant out of greed and avarice.
3 O Nachiketas, after pondering well the pleasures that are or seem to be
delightful, you have renounced them all. You have not taken the road abounding
in wealth, where many men sink.

Later in the same Upanishad Lord Yama tells Nachiketas the true route to
ananda, which is beyond sukha and dukha - joy and sorrow,
11 The fulfillment of desires, the foundation of the universe, the rewards
of sacrifices, the shore where there is no fear, that which adorable and great,
the wide abode and the goal all this you have seen; and being wise, you have
with firm resolve discarded everything.
12 The wise man who, by means of concentration on the Self, realizes that
ancient, effulgent One, who is hard to be seen, unmanifest, hidden and who
dwells in the buddhi and rests in the body he, indeed, leaves joy and sorrow far
behind.
13 The mortal who has heard this and comprehended it well, who has
separated that Atman, the very soul of dharma, from all physical objects and has
realized the subtle essence, rejoices because he has obtained that which is the
source of joy. The Abode of Brahman, I believe, is open for Nachiketas.

After all joy and sorrow stem are two sides of the same coin
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled
with your tears. And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the
potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed
with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only
that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in
truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, Joy is greater than sorrow, and others say, Nay, sorrow is
the greater.
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember
that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced. (Gibran)

Let us examine the issue a little more closely. Our innate nature is of
fullness. The I-sense or ahankara is born out of a beginning-less sense of
limitation, from which stems a irrepressible notion of want or "desire" Every
want or need reflects an innate sense of fullness which I am unable to abide in a satisfied need creates a very temporally limited joy in the mind because
this wanting I is temporarily resolved. But as my self-nature is not realized,
another want almost instantaneously fills up the vacuum so created. And so the
cycle goes on more desires and more futile works to fulfill those desires and
so on and on and on over millions of cycles of births and deaths punarapi
jananam punarapi maranam punarapi jananii jathare shayanam An eternal hide and
seek with sorrow and joy peeping through and unfortunately as it turns out
more sorrow than joy for the most part. And we are never content with anything
less than poornatvam because poornam is who
we are.

What then is the real ananda?
What is happiness?

The Taittriya Up gives us an eternally true calculus of happiness
Yuva syat sadhu yuvadhyayakah asistho drdhistho balisthah, tasyeyam prthivi
sarva vittasya purna syat, sa eko manusa anandah te ye satam manusa anandah, sa
eko manusya-gandharvanam anandah, srotriyasya cakamahatasya;
Now this is an inquiry regarding the Bliss.
Suppose there is a young man a noble young man versed, the best of rulers,
firm in body and strong and possesses the whole world, full of wealth, is his:
that is one measure of human bliss.

So we paint the picture of the ultimate in human happiness someone who is
young,
Not only young, but also wise how? By being a follower of dharma, by
enjoying a conflict-free mind.
Not only that, enjoys great health and vigor. And very wealthy in fact so
wealthy, that forget being on the Forbes list of richest people, he IS the list he owns the entire earth!
How can such a person exist but Ma Shruti says let us just suppose that such
be a one then his measure of happiness can be taken as one solitary unit! (Put
this in perspective with our petty pursuance of a few dollars and pounds, a few
hundred extra-square feet of living space!)
Next the shruti goes on to talk about more evolved beings, with inner
equipments more refined and hence more capable of finer and more lasting
enjoyments such as gandharvas, pitrs, and devas, including the King or Lord of
the devas Indra, as well as the Guru of the devas Brhaspati. Even a higher
quotient of bliss is enjoyed by Lord Prajapati.

Te ye satam manusya gandharvanam anandah sa eko deva-gandharvanam anandah,
srotriyssya cakamahatasya;
Te ye satam deva-gandharvanam anandah sa ekah pitrnam cira-loka-lokanam
anandah, srotriyasya cakamahatasya;
Te ye satam pitrnam cira-loka-lokanam anandah, sa eka ajanajanam devanam
anandah, srotriyasya cakamahatasya;
Te ye satam ajanajanam devanam anandah. sa ekah karmadevanam devanam anandah
ye karmana devan apiyanti, srotriyasya cakamahasya;
Te ye satam karma-devanam devanam anandah, sa eko devanam anandah, srotriyssya
cakamahatasya;
Te ye satam devanam anandah, sa eka Indrasyanandah, srotiyssya cakamahatasya;
Te ye satam Indrasyanandah, sa eko Brhaspater anandah, srotriyasya
cakamahatasya;
Te ye satam Brhaspater anandah, sa ekah Prajapater anandah, srotriyasya
cakamahatasya;

This human bliss, multiplied on hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of
the human gandharvas, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from
desires.
This bliss of the human gandharvas, multiplied one hundred times, is one
measure of the bliss of the celestial gandharvas, as also of a man versed in the
Vedas and free from desires.
This bliss of the celestial gandharvas, multiplied one hundred times, is one
measure of the bliss of the Manes, who dwell in the long enduring world, as also
of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.
This bliss of the Manes who dwell in the long enduring world, multiplied on
hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of the gods born in the Ajana heaven,
as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.
The bliss of the gods born in the Ajana heaven, multiplied one hundred times,
is one measure of the bliss of the sacrificial gods who have attained to
divinity by means of sacrifices, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free
from desires.
The bliss of the sacrificial gods, multiplied one hundred times, is one
measure of the bliss of the gods, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free
from desires.
The bliss of the gods, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the
bliss of Indra, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.
The bliss of Indra, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the bliss
of Brihaspati, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.
The bliss of Brihaspati, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the
bliss of Prajapati, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

Te ye satam Prajapater anandah, sa eko Brahmana anandah, srotriyasya
cakamahatasya;
The bliss of Prajapati, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the
bliss of Hiranyagarbha (Virat), as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free
from desires.

Beyond Hiranyagarbha or the Virat there is nothing why? Because there is no
further desire for hiranyagarbha It verily Is Everything It is the Whole.
While everyone upto Prajapati including the devas,Indra,etc may have a
wish-list of sorts the Virat, or Ishwara, represents the Entirety and there
being nothing other than the Entirety there is nothing for Him to covet or seek
or desire.

What a stupendous gradation in an experiential happiness? Just to give a
perspective to where we stand? Where does it begin and Where does it end? And
yet repeated over and over again, is the key to this entire section
akamahatasya free from wants free from desires. In other words vairagya.
We think of vairagya as something that involves giving up giving up money.
Giving up family, giving up on comforts and conveniences we hold so dear to us.
But truly is vairagya the key to happiness. Vairagya is a mature outlook to what
all these things are worth and signify. From True vairagya is born tyaga and
tyaga is the only gateway to eternity - as the Kaivalya Up asserts and boldly
affirms
Na karmana na prajaya dhanena Tyagenaike amrtatvam anasuh
One can achieve immortality in association with the Lord, not by ones own
pious deeds, nor by the pious deeds of ones sons, nor by the accumulation of
wealth, but only by renunciation of all enjoyment for oneself and offering
everything to the Supreme Lord.

So if there is a man, lets say sitting under a tree or by the riverbanks, with
true and abiding dispassion, born out of a understanding of His nature, and who
wants nothing, who is not lacking in anything, then his happiness is of the
nature of Brahman; He is happy out of HimSelf; He verily is the source of Joy to
everyone in the world. His Happiness is Ishwara's there being no separation,
as furthermore the Upanisad clarifies

Sa yascayam puruse, yas casavaditye sa ekah, sa ya evamvit asmallokat pretya,
etam annamayam Atmanam upasamkramati, etam pranamayam Atmanan upasamkramati,
etam anandamayam Atmanam upasamkramati
Tadapi esa sloko bhavati

He who is here in man and he who is in yonder sun both are one! He who knows
this, after dying to this world, attains the self which consists of food,
attains the self which consist of the vital breath, attains the self which
consists of the mind, attains the self which consists of intellect, attains the
self which consists of bliss.

He has realized himself to be the Self. His notional separation from the Whole
has ended. He abides in Being. He is Being and hence Ananda, there is no
question of him being happy or unhappy. Why again? Because there is no fear of
any sort, including the Ultimate fear of all fears the fear of mortality.
Whence can there be happiness where lurks fear?

The enlightened man is not afraid of anything after realising that Bliss of
Brahman, failing to reach which, words turn back along with the mind.

So coming back to the question of Ananda. It is not an attribute or a quality
of Brahman it does not mean Brahman is blissful. Brahman is One Non-dual
Entirety, the Whole, Poornamadam Poornamidam and hence alone Anantam that
has to be conveyed to the seeker and it is beautifully conveyed by the term
Ananda. Everyone and everything is held dear not for their sake but for the sake
of resolving the notional wanting self ever so temporarily so that a glimpse of
the Self seeps through. And because it is Anantam it transcends time and space
and hence alone is changeless hence Satyam. Only That which is the Entirety
can be the changless and can serve as the substratum or satta for this changing
manifest Universe we call srshti, and hence alone is srshti mithya, lacking in
anything substantive or satyam other than the substratum the vastu. And moreover
it is of the nature of knowledge or consciousness. Not in the sense of knowing
something or being conscious of something
but in being the very illumining principle which enlightens and enlivens.
Thus are the words satyam jnanam anantam or sat chit ananda words which point
to the indescribable, the One nonDual vastu.

Hari Om
Shri Gurubhyo namah
Shyam

Grace

The concept of "God" as a individual person - either a very old man in white robes beyond the pearly gates, or a Kaislash-pati, or a shankha- chakra-gada-wielding Lord of Vaikuntha - is perhaps what may be considered on a superficial level to be alien to Advaita, and perhaps this concept is what some people feel gets "sublated". Advaita considers Ishwara to be non-different from His Order. There is a Divine Perfect Order in play in manifest Srshti. One aspect of this Order is that one begets the fruits of one's karma, one's actions. This Order that faithfully bestows this karmaphala itself is Ishwara. So every karmaphala is His Grace. Lets take a simple example I play with fire - karma - my hand gets scorched - karmaphala - in other words, Ishwara. What was the anugraha - I learn not to play with fire again. I learn, I mature, I evolve. The culmination of all learning, all maturity, all evolution - is moksha - I learn about my nonseparateness from Him. Once this is clear, then every knock in life which we face as a karma- phala is nothing but Ishwara's anugraha. So we look upon Ishwara not as a person who is watching a live telecast about "His creation" and then deciding when and on whom to bestow Grace but as the very Intelligence, the Chaitanyam that is immanent in and through every pore of manifest srshti. And it is this Intelligence delivers the goods, the Grace. When I pray, I tap into that Grace. The Grace is ever present in potential form. My prayer is a karma that helps me invoke It for my benefit. What more Grace can even the Paramtman bestow than to help me reap the fruits of my actions. And can anything He bestows be considered anything other than Grace. He is powerless to bestow on anyone anything but His Grace. Take the mahamrtyunjaya mantra OM Tryambakam Yajamahe Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam Urvarukamiva Bandhanam Mrityor Mukshiya Mamritat We worship the three-eyed Lord (Siva) who is full of sweet fragrance and nourishes us human beings. May he deliver me from bondage into immortality, even as the cucumber is severed from the vine. What is beautiful in this example is that as the cucumber is ripened the creeper itself lets go of it -with no effort to break away from the cucumber..the cucumber (unlike other fruits) doesnt fall - it stays where it is!....maya or avidya lets go of you when with a supremely purified mind the words of the mahavakyas are understood by you - this is the meaning. And whose Grace does the cucumber need to grow and obtain nourishment so it matures - the gardener - "pushtivardanam" - Ishwara! How beautiful! Through Grace alone, does the jiva mature, and through Grace alone does he ultimately attain the Self of Being. I may said this before - Ishwara as Paramatman never gets sublated - it is not a conceptual crutch that an unprepared seeker holds onto only to discard it when his mind is more prepared - that is never what advaita is about - what happens when the seeker matures is that the "seeking" gets sublated, the "phantom ego" which was involved in the "search" realizes that what Is real about him is only the Is-ness and that Is-ness is the only thing real about Ishwara as well. "Ishwar Satya Hai, Satya Hi Shiv Hai, Shiv Hi Sundar Hai, Jaago Uthkar Dekho, Ye Jeevan Jyot Ujaagar Hai" "Ishwara is the only thing that is True, and What is True is what is Auspicious, what is Blissful, Wake up O Mind and see that Life is nothing but Living Consciousness." If there is any "imagination" involved it may simply be in a name and form that this phantom jeeva projects onto the Whole, the Divine. And for Him who is beyond Forms, and for Him who is beyond Names, any name and any form that i, the ignorant mind, wants to project to have an altar to worship, to have an "entity" i want to relate it, is perfectly fine. I cannot exactly talk to the very vastu that enables speech, I cannot see that by vitue of which sight is, but I can certainly relate to a Ganesha or a Shiva or a Jesus or a Divine Mother - and of all the other ephemereal relationships that i the ignoramus persist in fostering and nurturing, this is the one relationship I know is as Real as I know I am Real.

And in this cognition there is freedom - a space which is safe and sacred - where the mind can rest and ponder on the Real, the Whole, and on me, and on how i relate to the Real, the Whole.

What this process culminates in is not a sublation of the Whole, who Is always Real,
.............but in a sublation of me, who was never Real.

Then Being Is.

Hari Om
Shri Gurubhyo namah
Shyam

Does Advaita consider Ishwara real or unreal?

Our concepts of real and unreal are unfortunately a bit warped. What is unreal
for us is something like mirage water - it seems to be there but if you look
closely it is not. Or perhaps like a man's horns - it is a nonexistent entity -
but lets say a Mount Everest is very much real.
However, as you very well know in Vedanta, "Real" has a technically precise
definition - which is that which is unchanged in time, the vastu, which is
Brahman. Everything else is mithya - but mithya does not mean unreal, in any of
the sense that we just saw.

Mithya is what is Real, but appears to be other than so.
What is Real is One, but seemingly appears to be many.
Mithya is very much included in the Real.

So anything I see is a mix of Real and something which is mithya. What is
mithya is the name and form, which is purely a subjective notion or perspective.

I see a piece of wood standing on four legs. It is a table. This "table" is
mithya - not that the table is not "Real", but the particular concept of a
table, separate from the wood that it consists of is unreal. Take the wood away
and poof- the table is gone as well. Put this table sideways and now it is wood
- it is no longer a "table" Not that the table disappeared, but now the
table-ness is no longer present from the standpoint of the subject. So the
"table" was always never "out there" but "in here" in me the witnessing
subject's mind/intellect.

Now when I perceive the world, the wonderful manifest srshti, I find
everything has a name and form - standing on the seashore one beautiful morning,
I feel the water kissing my feet, the wind blowing through my hair, the eyes
witnessing the Glorious sunrise. All these are names and forms - they are
objectively Real in the sense that what I am witnessing IS, it is not fiction,
it is not a illusion, but the "Sun" the "Sea" the "Wind" are all nama-roopa -
they are "in here" as my subjective concepts, and seemingly their Real nature of
being Brahman, of being the substratum, seems to be unrecognized.

Hence the Shruti tells us - This Sun that you see is not just a Sun, it is
indeed Brahman - understand this, realize this.

Now with regards to Ishwara, He is the Totality, the Sum of All and then Some.
He is not an illusion - He is the Total. He is Real plus the Power of Maya -
and then again, Maya is not separate from Him - without Ishwara there is no Maya
and without Maya there is no Ishwara. Maya is His intrinsic power.

What is an illusion, is your notion of separation from the Total, the Virat.
This separation comes naturally to you because of avidya.

What needs to end is this sense of separation. How will it end? By His Grace
Alone, by helping you understand that you do not exist separate from Him. One
useful way of thinking about this is rather than thinking of Ishwara is in me as
an Antaryami, I think of myself being in Ishwara - then this infinitesmal i
becomes irrelevant. what exists is only Ishwara.

Ishwara can never have a locus, a separate mind/intellect, a separate
anything. He is the Entirety - there is nothing that limits Him. There is
nothing that is ever separate from Him at any time, at any place. Time and Space
themselves are in Him alone.
Now because He is the Whole, you can invoke Him in any form, in any manner, -
and He responds - not because He wants to respond, but because He Has to respond
- this response itself being the Order which again is Him Alone.

So Grace is not something that He passes along willy-nilly depending on His
liking, but something which is very much part of the Order as a karmaphala.

It is like two seekers vehemently arguing in the dream about the Reality of
the Sleeper - why? - because they have intellectually realized, thanks to the
Sleeper's own Grace, that this dreamworld they are living in as dreampeople is
mithya, and in reality they alongwith their entire dreamworld are all nothing
but the Sleeper alone! And again, this Sleeper pervades their dreamworld but is
never attached to it.

Finally, Advaita is not about accomodating Ishwara but about understanding
Ishwara.
Prayer comes from being wise and not from being weak.

Ch12:karmayoga-response to a query

Q.

12.10 prescribes performance of actions for the Lord's sake. 12.11 suggests
renouncing the fruits of actions *if 12.10 cannot be practiced*.
That conditional clause in ** is a little baffling, which gives an
impression that 12.10 and 12.11 are two distinct prescriptions for
the same samsArik malady.

A doubt can, therefore, be expressed that, if an aspirant performs
all actions for the Lord's sake (12.10), can he/she still continue to
entertain adhikAra over the results? Will that help? You seemed to
imply that even the sense of adhikAra will wane in due course. Am I
right?

You have very kindly elaborated on 12.11 saying that what is meant in
it is prasAda buddhi. On similar lines, can't we then interpret
12.10 as relinquishment of agency in actions?

A.
In my understanding there is a subtle but crucial difference between the 12.10
and 12.11.
Which is why, Bhagwan says "if you are unable to do even this then...."

To begin with karma in a vedantic or vedic sense is different from the word
action - in a vedantic sense the term karma is intimately related to the motive.

Let us take the example of an action - stabbing a person in the chest.
A person is stabbing a person in the chest to rob him off his money in the
night
A soldier is stabbing an enemy soldier in the battlefield to safeguard Kargil.
A rapist is stabbing an attacker who is about to outrage her modesty
A doctor is "stabbing" a dying patient's chest to remove the blood collection
around his heart to save his life.

In all the instances the action is the same - insertion of a sharp metallic
knife into the other person's chest - but none of these karmas are the same and
each of these karmas have different connotations as far as karmaphalas go.
The robber certainly will incur a grave papa, the soldier actually a grave
punya, and also perhaps the physician.
And this is because what constitutes that particular karma has to do with the
notion of doer-ship or kartrtvam, or aham-kAra, and by the same token, as well
as its motive.(BG 18:14)

Now let us consider 12.10 with this brief background, and go back to the
example of the teacher.
If this teacher goes through her job everyday viewing it as her duty towards
society and in turn towards the Order which is Ishwara, in other words has a
consistent and persistent ishwara-arpanabuddhi, then her work itself is her
worship. The results are immaterial. If her student succeeds and goes on to
become the President of India and sends her a thank you note - OK. If he turns
out to be a gangster - also OK. Her success or failure is unrelated to the
success or failure of her job - her motive in doing this job is not for the sake
of anything else besides her way of worshipping or devoting or relating to
Ishwara. And in so doing the results become secondary - there is really speaking
no ownership over the result because the basic motivation for the work itself
has already been fulfilled. Every day of work is a pleasure, a chance to delight
in devotion.

Now if this teacher is not so virtuous, and is still very much under the hold
of her human raga-dveshas, and is not able to have this kind of absorption in
the Lord as even she does her works - what then? She is worried about how her
students are going to fare in their test, and whether she will be judged by
their grades as a success or a failure, she is envious of the teacher in the
other class who always gets more praise, she starts taking some private tutions
to some rich kids, so as to make more money, and be more comfortable, she is
anxious about a hundred different things, then how is such a person to begin to
evolve? Bhagwan the Master Marketer knows his audience only too well!! So, to
this the benevolent Bhagawan says no problem - in 12.11 - continue being this
way, continue your ego-centric motive-driven, ahankara-filled mode of conduct,
but how about making a small gesture towards Me - by all means be anxious about
the best teacher award, by all means don't
think of me for a second while you did your job, BUT at the time you reap your
reward, say you receive the best teacher award at the end of the year, or
perhaps even when you get your paycheck at the end of the month, or when you see
your student doing well at the end of the day, or you are able to make a student
understand something at the end of the class, then for that small instant -
think of Me - and dedicate that fruit - that karmaphala - to Me. Let your mind
not labor under the misconception that "i" this wonderful person did something
remarkable, but let my ego bow down to Him if only for a moment, who gave me the
intellect, the mind, the body, the environment, the education, the opportunity
to be of service, etc and let my heart beat in gratitude in this moment of
recognition, and let my mind remain cheerful, and accepting.

If this attitude is allowed to mature it will surely metamorphose from this
prasabuddhi into the more sublime ishwara-arpanabuddhi - "kAyena vAchA
manaseindriyair vA buddhyAtmanA vA prakrte svabhAvat karomi yad yad sakalam
parasmai nArAyanAyEti samarpayami"


Hari OM
Shri Gurubhyoh namah
Shyam

Ch 12 :levels of devotion - pt1

In this particular chapter we see Bhagwan Krishna at his benevolent best,
coming down to the level of even the most mundane of us seekers, and giving us
as much latitude or as many concessions as could possibly be given, while we
mature and evolve as aspirants.

The section involving slokas 10,11 grades bhaktas into sakaama bhaktas and
nishkama bhaktas.
Those who are the devoted to the Lord for some gain, and those who are devoted
to the Lord with no motive. The latter or Parabhaktas or Jnanis or Gunateetas
and for them the devotion is as spontaneous as any other bodily function, and
these "devotees" the Lord terms as the ones most dear to him.
tulya-ninda-stutir mauni santusto yena kenacit aniketah sthira-matir bhaktiman
me priyo narah

Those individuals who are not parabhaktas and are endowed with bhakti with a
motive, there are again two grades - motives being materialistic, and motives
being spiritual.

When the motive is spiritual - to achieve sadhanachatushtaya sampatti - then
such a devotee is a jijnasu. He does not care for any material wealth - his
overwhelming aim is spiritual growth, and a desire for "self"-knowledge or a
desire for one-ness with the Supreme Self - Ishwara - and as we know - they both
amount to the same thing.

When the motive is materialistic that too the Lord accepts as a valid bhakti -
it results in a build-up of faith that hopefully will evolve into the two higher
forms of bhakti.

Now with specific references to the two verses you mentioned

abhyase 'py asamartho 'si mat-karma-paramo bhava
mad-artham api karmani kurvan siddhim avapsyasi

athaitad apy asakto 'si kartum mad-yogam asritah
sarva-karma-phala-tyagam tatah kuru yatatmavan

If thou art unable to practise even this Abhyasa Yoga, be thou intent on doing
actions for My sake; even by doing actions for My sake, thou shalt attain
perfection.

If thou art unable to do even this, then, resorting to union with Me, renounce
the fruits of all actions with the self controlled.

The issue of nitya-naimittika karmas in today's day and age can be replaced by
the concept of looking at one's work as one's duty.
Let us take an example of a teacher.

Now Ishwara has imparted to him or her skills that enable this person to
impart education to some young minds in his school.
His duty is to do the best job he possibly can.

So what the Lord means by saying do works for my sake is this:
Recognize that you are in this place in time by His Grace. Whatever you do is
for His sake alone. Do your best - be the best you can be. Do not be slack in
your work. Do not be disinterested in your work. Do not be neglectful of your
work. Why? Not because you want a promotion, not because you want to win the
best teacher award at the annual ceremony, not because you want a monetary
reward from a rich child's parent, but because you are doing this to please the
Lord of All. This action of yours, this role that you are playing - you will
play because this is what is your best way thank Him for all that He has
equipped you with, and endowed you with.
And this can be of true of ANY job. Each one of us is engaged in something
where we are contributing our bit to society, to the Order. And in return we are
rewarded with certain comforts and rewards we ought not to take for granted. It
is His Grace alone that has given us some mediocre abilities to do certain
things that soceity values or requires and repays us accordingly. It is my duty
that I do with diligence as my token of appreciation to the Lord this action.

This then is what is meant by "do actions for My sake" What is the benefit of
this frame of mind? The benefit is mani-fold.
The most important benefit for me as a jijnasu is antahkaranashuddhi - my mind
does not entertain too many conflicts. If my work is appreciated it is OK, if it
is not, then that is also OK. If I make a profit or not, I am concerned not with
anything else other than doing the best job I can and devoting it to my dear
Ishwara.

The next benefit is - I become a more efficient worker - "yogah karmasu
kausalam". By removing my mind about unnecessary anxieties and worries about my
work I focus on the job at hand. My entire mind-intellect-body is fully attuned
to and fixedly converged on the job at hand. If i am sachin tendulkar, i am not
worried about how i have failed two matches in a row, or how much endorsement
money i can make if i make a century, or whether they will make me captain if i
succeed or anything else - my entire inner equipment is directed at this moment
simply at facing the ball and scoring the run. Because my aim is to do this as a
token of offering.

The third benefit is as my sense of kartrtvam decreases, so does my sense of
bhoktrtvam.

Now let us say I at the stage of maturity and development I now am in, I am
not able to do this. Yes, it is all very nice to say that I want to do this work
for Ishwara's sake, but if my boss does not give me a raise this year, I am
going to get angry. If someone else gets promoted I am going to be in a
unpleasant frame of mind. I am doing this job, because i want to make a lot of
money, be able to afford good cars, a palatial house, good education for my
children, etc etc. For this level of a seeker, Bhagwan Krishna comes down one
notch further. He says "OK, no problem. Just do me a favor(!), whatever you gain
with your desire-prompted actions, accept it not as a result of your actions,
but as my Grace!!" - How inclusive is this philosophy!!! In other words, develop
"prasadha-buddhi".
At the time I engaged in a particular transaction, of course it was self-ishly
motivated - i did it to gain something materialistic - but now that i have
obtained the result - let me look at the result not as a result of my
accomplishment, but as a "gift" from the Lord.

Before I would pat myself on the back when i made money and puff up with pride
and arrogance, now i touch it to my eyes and say "O Lord, this is nothing but
Your Grace, and I accept it humbly as your child." just as a baby would lovingly
accept something from his mother.

How does this help? It makes me a accepting person. And a accepting mind is a
more mature mind, a mind less in conflict, a mind less in turmoil, and such a
mind lends itself to spiritual growth, to enquiry, to meditation, etc.

It is important to also note that while prasadabuddhi is useful when we gain
something good, it also is useful when the result is a loss, or worse we gain
something bad.
In that case also, relinquishing "ownership" of the fruits of our action, and
accepting the result as the Lord's offering, helps us accomodate and accept - i
did what i did with such-and-such in mind, but this is what i got, this is what
was the result. Such is His Will, and I accept it knowing that this being His
prasada is what is in my benefit. I may not be able to see it or recognize it
now, but in someways known only to Him, this will help me grow as a person, as a
individual."

What if I cannot do that also? Then, as Swami Paramarthananda-ji would say so
nicely, all that even Bhagawan can say is "best of luck in the next human
janma!"


Humble pranams
Hari OM
Shri Gurubhyoh namah
Shyam

The tale of the three states - what is deep sleep?

The model Shruti uses to analyze the jiva, breaks it down, as is well-
known - into 5 koshas and 3 shareeras - gross,subtleand causal. Of
this the problem-child, the I-sense, the Ego-sense is primarily the
vijanamaya kosha.
It is this vijnanamaya kosha who is the Mr.X, who thinks he is poor,
is in pain, has guilt, is getting old, fears death, dislikes karela,
loves his child etc

Now in the waking state Mr.X is experiencing Ishwara's world. He uses
his sensory apparatus and conceives of a world that is as though "out
there", but in reality, consists of vrrtis that are "in here"

In the dream state Mr.X is experiencing his own private world - where-
in the primary faculty that is operational is memory and projections
thereof which create a world which is fully "in here"

Now in deep sleep or sushupti, Mr.X is no longer in the picture.
The vijnanamaya kosha and all other so-called "outer" koshas are all
temporarily resolved.
What is left is the karana shareera or the anandamaya kosha. The
anandamaya kosha itself consists of tamas, and reflects the Bliss of
Brahman. So deep sleep is blissful, because the jiva exists in the
very sourcepool of bliss in the vyavaharic level - it is where Maya-
devi allows the weary jiva to suckle the bliss of Brahman as it
were..every other experiential bliss in the world is this bliss alone -
only it needs the external duality-based circumstances to
permit....for that matter - even in a state of self-forgetfulness -
such as when i am listening to a wonderful raaga -and i simply lose my-
"self" in the process - only to come out of that state and realize "i
had a blissful experience" - at those times what is responsible for
that is the anadamayakosha alone.

What is the jiva's experience in this state - one of total
blankness. "Bliss-"ful" ignorance"

Brhadaranyaka Upanishad IV.iii.23 to 30 � " That It does not see,
smell, taste, speak, hear, think. touch, or know is because although
seeing, smelling, tasting, speaking, hearing, thinking, touching and
knowing then it does not see, smell, taste, speak, hear, think, touch
or know (the vijnanamaya kosha is dormant - there is no experience of
an external world of objects or an internal dream world.); for the
vision of the witness can never be lost, because it is imperishable".

The Kaivalya UP.(13) further clarifies in a similair vein

Sushuptikaale sakale vileene
tamobhibhaati sukharoopameti

In dreamless sleep when everything is absorbed, the
jiva, overpowered by ignorance, attains the state of
happiness.

In other words, the jiva does as though attain kaivalyam but being
overpowered by Maya's avaranashakti ( or the veiling power) is not
conscious of it.

Also Ch. Up 6.8.1 as you would be well familiair with

Uddalaka the son of Aruna said to his son Svetaketu:
"Learn from me, my dear, the true nature of sleep.
When a person has entered into deep sleep, as it is
called, then, my dear, he becomes united with Pure
Being (Sat), he has gone to his own Self. That is why
they say he is in deep sleep (svapiti); it is because
he has gone (apita) to his own (svam).

[While the Sanskrit term used here is Svapnaantam (dream), Shankara
clarifies that it is referring to its core or deep sleep alone.]

This beautiful verse also explains that in deep sleep
there is a reverting back on the part of the jiva or a merging back as
it were into its Source for a temporary blissful
state.
Bhagwan Shankara: "Just as the reflection of a person in a mirror
attains the person himself(!!) when the mirror is removed, in a
similair way indeed, there is in deep sleep, when the mind etc cease
functioning, the Supreme Deity, which, in the form of a conscious
individual soul as Its reflection, had entered into the mind for the
manifestation of name and form, attains its true nature, by giving up
Its appearance as the individual soul, called the mind... ...
In deep sleep a person becomes identified with Existence, i.e. he
becomed united with the Deity under discussion referred to by the
words Existence. Having discarded the nature of the individual soul
which has entered into the mind and which is produced from contact
with the mind etc he attains his own self, his nature as Existence,
which is the Ultimate Reality."

So in deep sleep, with only the karana shareera being active, there is
no "i"-ego which is there to register anything. The bliss that is
processed at the level of the anandamayakosha is remembered by the
memory function of the sookshma shareera and the vijnanamaya kosha
then remembers "I was in blissful sleep"

But this is from the frame of reference of the waking state ALONE.
If you analyze sushupti purely by itself, then one must remember that
there is no vijnanamayakosha, consequently there is no "i" sense which
is active. So if this state is analyzed from the standpoint of
Brahman - from a paramrthic standpoint - there is only Brahman with
every "other" thing being only in potential form - being temporarily
resolved.

Why is there avidya in deep sleep? Because the ONLY thing opposed to
avidya which is jnanam has not occurred - avidya cannot be knocked off
by temporarily suspending the instruments.

But in the state itself - the entity to which avidya applies -i.e. the
vijnanamaya kosha weary traveller - well - since he is literally at
rest, and so, for that period of time, he does not deal with the
duality; which is nothing but the handiwork of avidya.
Chandog Up VIII
"So it is, Indra," replied Prajapati. "I shall explain the Self
further to you. Live with me another thirty�two years." He lived with
Prajapati another thirty�two years. Then Prajapati said to Indra:
1. "When a man is asleep, with senses withdrawn and serene and sees
no dream�that is the Self. This is immortal, fearless. This is
Brahman." Then Indra went away satisfied in heart. But even before he
had reached the gods, he saw this difficulty: "In truth it (i.e. the
self in dreamless sleep) does not know itself as `I am it,' nor
these other creatures. It has therefore reached in dreamless sleep
utter annihilation, as it were. I do not see any good in this."
2. He returned with fuel in hand. To him Prajapati said: "Well,
Indra, you went away satisfied in heart; now for what purpose have
you come back?" He (Indra) said: "Venerable Sir, in truth it (i.e.
the self in dreamless sleep) does not know itself as `I am it,' nor
these other creatures. It has therefore reached utter annihilation,
as it were. I do not see any good in this."

In this context it is important to also recognize and remember that
the jnanam of satyam-jnanam-anantam Brahman is not a janaati but a
jnaaptih - it is not a knower as in an act of knowing, but a knowing
principle which is nothing but awareness - simple awareness,
choiceless, objectless, witnessing, awareness. This knowing is that by
which one sees, hears, tastes,
So what persists in deep sleep, the "who" IS or "what" IS in sushupti,
is the very knowing, which acts as the substratum for all
other "knowing" as in the act of knowing to happen.
I see a flower - the knowing that makes me see this flower, the
knowing that envelops the flower, the antahkaranam that sees it, and
the very act of seeing and allows this entire transaction to take
place - that knowing is Jnanam - and it is this knowing that continues
in deep sleep as well - and it is this basic continuity of knowing
that helps me arrive at the very crux of what the sole objective of
this prakriya is - which is to understand mySelf to be the very
knowing. In that sense really speaking there is no knowing Brahman, or
knowing of Brahman, but a cognitive understanding of the undeniable
fact of my very nature ever-being this very Knowing.
And without there being this knowing - my true self - being both
active and changeless in all three planes or modes of existence, their
existence on a relative plane itself is rendered impossible.

Which then of course is extended to all the planes of existence with
the bold declaration - that in Me alone do these three states Exist,
and unto me alone they all resolve, I am verily susbtratum which lends
support and consciousness to all these three worlds.