A Morning Nidhidhyasana

Dedicated To My Gurus – Pujya Swami Dayananda, Pujya Swami Viditatmananda, Pujya Swami Avdheshananda

Nirvishesham -  simple changless consciousness that is ever-present and infinite – boundaryless – free of all visheshas – all roles – which are illumined in whose ever-presence eating, drinking, sleeping, any action, any thought, any feeling, any function takes place (as though)  by sva-shakti alone – that is the divinity – infinite knowledge, infinite power, all pervading and free – totally free. … free of punya – free of paapa.

What shines as "I" is ever-present, self-existent, self-revealing, changeless consciousness, in whose ever-presence roles of disciple, teacher, daughter, mother, friend, sadhaka, sanyasi, citizen are illumined …. in whose presence the thoughts, feelings, actions pertaining to these roles takes place effortlessly by the Divine Grace, from whom the roles and their counter-parts and indeed the rest of the universe has no independent existence whatsoever. Om Harih Om Tat Sat

 All roles are visheshas – they pertain to the identification with the body. One is disciple in relationship to the body. One is teacher in relationship to the body. One is daughter in relationship to the body. One is whatever one projects in relatinship to the body.

These roles have their being and shine only in the presence of the ever-present, self-revealing, infinite, changless  all knowing, all powerful, all-pervading consciousness that is the only changless truth of myself. The counterpart of these roles like Guru, mother, child etc have their being and shine in the ever=presence of the changless, all-knowing, all-powerful, all pervading infinite consciousness that is the very truth of myself – that alone shines as 'I', that alone shines are the changless truth of the counterpart. Om Harih Om Tat Sat

The ever-present infinite all-knowing, all-powerful, all-pervading consciousness that alone shines as the changeless "I", certainly has the saamarthya to reduce to ashes the kashaya of old notions and samskaras. Om Harih Om Tat Sat

 Simply be … in simply 'being' without identification with any upadhi being taken to be real,  one is ever-present, self-revealing, self-existing infinite changless, all-illuminating consciousness … effortlessly all-knowing, all-powerful and all-peravading . Om Harih Om Tat Sat. All that is illumined has no separate being, no independent existence. Om Harih Om Tat Sat

 

 

Biggest Sadhana

Now that we know that the nature of truth of ourselves is Brahman in reality, or Bhagavan is the truth about ourself and of others what can be our biggest sadhana?

Namaskara…the attitude of samatva buddhi – the graceful acceptance of all that we face, pleasant and unpleasant knowing that:-

• Over-reaction is a waste of our time and energy – because the verily the truth of ourself is Bhagavan's svarupa - uneffected caitanyam
  
• There is DIVINE JUSTICE because Bhagavan is the IMPARTIAL karma-phala-daata… so everything is as it should be. I simply accept the situation as it is knowing that Bhagavan is behind it. Even when I have been a victim in severe cases of abuse of free will … the truth is the other will have to pay … DIVINE JUSTICE is very much there. So let me leave that to Bhagavan and let me take Lord's name at all times.
  

  
   

Mahatmas will always say "See the God in each person. You must accept everyone and see in them the Lord"

"The best form is to worship God in every form"

 

"All is God's Will, but Maya prevents you from knowing it's all God's Will. "

 

So KEEP GOD IN YOUR HEART LIKE YOU KEEP MONEY IN A SAFE.

Maya’s shakti

Self-evident, self-revealing consciousness simply IS … I AM …and everything else is dependent on this I…. to exist and reveal itself…. ATMA SATYAM – ANYAT SARVAM MITHYA …. like water is satyam and all the waves are mithya … so too the DRG is satyam …. changless and limitless …. and everything else is mithya …. having no existence apart from the DRG.

There is a whole theraphy of non-resistance which can be based on this understanding….. even when there is sadness, don't resist the sadness … you will feel it somewhere in your body … it is simply energy … allow yourself to feel it, don't resist it or try to get away from it knowing that it is revealed in the presence of I, who is ever-shanta, unchanged and unaffected by it …. even as the sun is unaffected by what is revealed in its presence.

Simply namah to pain, namah to discomfort which one cannot do anything about. In that vast, stillness, and peace of the self … it arises and subsides in that silence, in that stillness. Where the pain is, there is Ishvara's niyati and there the stillness and silence of atma is … changeless, self-revealing atma is satyam and the pain is mithya. Where the love is, there the stillness and silence that is atma IS …. where the happiness is, there the stillness and silence that is atma IS. Where any vritti is … there the peace, stillness and silence that is atma IS. Simply don't resist … and let your attention go to atma in whose presence the mind's modifications, the body's modifications, the world's modifications are revealed….. as ever non-separate being ISNESS and BEING all the way.

This is the vision of the Shastra …. and it is the truth. To make us understand this changless truth … Shastra goes through great lengths to make us understand. Without undergoing any change, consciousness appears as all the changes. How? Because of the inexplicable Maya Shakti ….. Om Aim Hrim Klim Chaamundayai Vicche …. so we pray to all-powerful Devi … who is Saraswati … all-knowledge, who is Mahalakshmi, all-wealth, who is Mahakaali, the slayer of anger and passion and the giver of happiness… May You, Great Goddess cut away the knots of ignorance … and reveal my true nature of sat-cit-ananda

Maya shakti…. Maha Maya … She is eternally united with her Lord …. and without Her, He simply is ISNESS, BEING, LIMITLESS, CHANGELESS AWARENESS …. PURNA and SHANTA … and She being united with HIM always – KRISHNA and RADHA are one alone – SHIVA_SHAKTYAIKA NAMAH, …. Being eternally united with HIM, is endowed with two formidable shaktis – vikshepa shakti and aavarna shakti. Her Vikshepa shakti is endless exquisite creativity …. making HIM ALONE apppear as the whole universe, the whole BRAHMANDA of change …. all that is drshya, is changing all the time, is anitya … is HIM ALONE …. and yet she fools each being with her AVARNA SHAKTI …. ….. making each one imagine that he or she is different from the other, separate from HIM.

Maha Maya … she is responsible for creating the distinction of drg and drshya … as well as for veiling it. And at the level of the cosmos, she is responsible for creating the distinction between Brahman and the Jagat … as well as for hiding the distinction. Brahman, the all-pervasive, pure consciousness principle is SELF-EXISTENT … totally independent of the creation of endless names and forms. Brahman is changless …. and the creation is changing and totally dependent on Brahman being ISNESS alone.

Yet that truth is covered as it were because of the AVARNA shakti … because of the AVARNA, the basis, the adhistana is not recognized.

Not knowing a rope as a rope in dim light ….. it is mistaken for a snake. A crystal is colourless. When placed near a blue cloth it appears blue … the problem will go only when the true nature of the basis or the adhistana takes place.

Brahman is changless and totally free of the names and forms, even as water is totally free of the wave … there being nothing else other than water. Yet the names and forms are taken as satyam … when in reality they are mithya. Brahman is permanent … the jagat is not …. and yet the permanence of Brahman is given (in ignorance) to the jagat and one sees the creation as permanent when it is not.

This is how Maya Maya becomes the cause of samsara …. through her avarna shakti.

Being The Changeless Self - Vichara

If I want to simply recognize the truth of being sat-cit-ananda, the changeless, without any projections - then I must examine the notions constituting 'who am I' - and see what is totally untrue, what is true with reference to the changing and what is true with reference to the changeless and recognize that the changeless is what is I that is ever-free.

 
 

So let us symbolize that each false notion is a brick which constitutes the wall of avaranam which is the ego. We want to knock down this avaranam wall which as though hides our truth, our freedom.

 
 

The rule we use to decide what is a false notion is 'whatever is objectifiable or objectified is not -I, because what is I is the one who objectifies who is different from what is objectified or known'.

 
 

Whatever is considered as 'mine' or 'my' is objectifiable - known, experienced and hence is not I. My house, my car, my dog, my friends, my job, my employer, my clothes, my family, …. All these are bricks that constitute the false wall of the ahankara… that hides my truth, my freedom. Knock them off with hammer of discrimination.

 
 

How to knock them off? By not giving all these undue importance… don't let them be such a huge reality to you that, the state of affairs with reference to any of these interfere with your peace of mind. With reference to each one of them, we need to have an attitude born of recognition, that they are all God-given …. Meaning they all part of the all intelligent order that pervades this jagat. Within that Order, I have power to change some things and I do what I can and I leave the rest to that very same Order. Within that Order, there are also certain things I cannot change … with reference to what I cannot change, my namah … my surrender to the Will of the Lord who pervades in the form all intelligent Order.

 
 

The feeling of helplessness, fear, anxiety, tension, stress, anger, hurt arise when these things that I consider as 'mine' become more real to me than the God who pervades all of them … in the form of the all-intelligent Order. The attitude to these things that I consider as 'mine' … is 'this is how they are…. I do what I can…. And I leave the rest to God in acceptance'. This attitude is surrender.

 

Shiva Shambho Shiva Shambho Shiva Shambho Shiva Shambho Shiva Shambho Shiva Shambho Shiva Shankara

 
 

Now let's come home. What are the immediate notions that constitute the wall of ahankara. They are the 'I am this or that' notions, and 'I have this or that' notions. Each of these notions is objectifiable or knowable or known … so they cannot be I who is one who knows these thoughts … different from these.

 
 

'I am the body' ( and the conditions of the body…. Like pain, disease, health)

' I am the prana' ( physiological functions like respiration, circulation,

'I am feelings' (anger, hurt, guilt, fear, anxious, helpless, isolated, needy, love, compassion, pride, likes, dislikes, prestige, needy child…. Etc.)

'I am decision, thoughts, ignorance...'

 
 

'I have brains, feelings, memories, ignorance' etc.

 
 

Knock of each of these notions of being "I". How? Spend time on each of these … understand well, intimately, how they cannot be the 'I' in whose presence these are known or knowable. Contemplate on

1. How each of these have no independent presence … they can exist and do exist only because of the presence of the changeless light of consciousness who is their very truth - even as water is the truth of the wave
   
2. How each of these is changing all the time … and these changes are possible and ever revealed only in the presence of the ever-present changeless light of consciousness that is satyam.
   

    
    

   Contemplate on how the body is changing all the time … it is dying and being reborn all the time … there is constant change in the body governed by the all intelligent Order … and these changes are illumined in the presence of the changeless light of consciousness that is verily the truth of I. The body itself is possible only because of the presence of that unchanging light of consciousness… God.
   

    
    

   What about prana? All-pervading Prana is changing all the time. Changes in the prana are being revealed in ever-present changless formless light of consciousness that is the truth of 'I'. The changes in the prana are also governed by the all Intelligent Order. As an individual, I can learn to tap that Order and gain control over prana … yet the changes in prana are possible only because of the that ever present Light of Consciousness.
   

    
    

   We all have deep-rooted feelings of 'I am helpless', I am frightened, I am anxious, I am hurt, I am guilty, I am alone. For many of us these are deep samskaras that constitute one's core sense of identity.
   

   Shiva Shambho Shiva Shambho Shiva Shambho Shiva Shambho Shiva Shambho Shiva Shambho Shiva Shankara
   

    
    

   We need to see the truth here … these feelings arose in the past … in childhood, when I took myself to be the body only. When the body is in danger, and there is deep identification of taking oneself to be the body only, there will be fear, there will be anxiety, there will be the feeling of helplessness and hurt. It is natural.
   

    
    

   Yet there is no rule, that it is the truth of oneself. Changes to the body, changes in the body, factors affecting the body-mind-sense complex …. Are possible because of the presence of the changless light of consciousness… and they are revealed only because of the presence of a changeless truth … sat-cit-ananda …. The light of consciousness.
   

    
    

   Without the presence of the changeless light of consciousness, none of the changes affecting the body-mind-sense complex would be revealed or even possible. The ever- presence of the changeless light of consciousness is the only truth about oneself that does not change - ever. This is the truth of 'I' … the Great Secret … one must be alive to this fact … by knocking off the notions that one is the body-mind-sense complex.
   

    
    

   Not knowing that this Changeless God, the light of Consciousness exists as the ever-presence in whose changeless presence alone, the existence of the body-mind-sense complex is possible, and in whose presence alone the existence of the body-mind-sense complex is illumined, who is the very truth of myself, I take the body-mind-sense complex to be the truth …. And then suffer when there are unpleasant changes affecting the body-mind-sense complex.
   

    
    

   Then there is helplessness, anxiety, fear, hurt, anger, isolation. Let us knock of these false notions. I am that changeless light of consciousness in whose ever-presence, this body exists as non-separate …. I am free of the body …. Whereas body is not independent of Me. All that is objectified is non-separate from sat … the ever-presence that is I. 'I am sat-cit-ananda' is knowledge… not 'I am helpless'. 'I am helpless' is a false notion revealed in the presence of I, sat-cit-ananda.
   

    
    

   If the thought that "I am body" is too real for me, then 'I am helpless' feeling will also be too real for me… then let there be the sadhana of recognizing that the ever-present Light of consciousness in the form of Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent Lord is ever with me … as my suhrd, as Divine Father, Divine Mother …. As the one in whose presence I surrender in acceptance of the unpleasant changes that affect this body-mind-sense complex that I consider as 'I'. We cannot by-pass that surrender to that All Intelligent Order and recognize our freedom. Let us be ready to surrender … let there be non-resistence to that Order.
   

    
    

   This is where upasana has so much meaning. Upasana … meditate on that ever-present changeless Light of Consciousness in the form of Ishta devata in the heart … as Divine Father and Mother who is Suhrd and Divine Protector … who is in the form of the Divine, All Intelligent Order … and slowly allow oneself to let go of one's resistance and accept what is unpleasant and one cannot change as the Divine Will. In that acceptance … there is freedom … freedom to recognize that truth about oneself that is never affected by change.
   

    
    

   This changeless Truth exists … it is the only Truth that is ever-present and ever-free … it our birth-right to recognize this truth … let recognize this Truth and Be free.
   

    
    

   Om Tat Sat
   

God in This World - An Appointment With Ones 'Self' – Pearl Richards

One sees fragrant flowers emerge under sunlit spring skys,
First baby's smile bringing sweet gentle mother's tears of love.
Who can deny serenity of a molten sunrise
Or the mind's rest when day passes into dusk's quietude ?
Humanity steps into roles and accepts its applause
For peaceful and frightful dramas played out in this jagat.
Who has written varied scripts for casted countless actors ?
How can these, seen, be refuted as Isvara's Order ?
When thoughtfully withdrawn from life's panarama of dreams,
When the mind is stilled by the hush of nature's lullabye,
One steps into Bhagavan's expanse of pure Consciousness.
This simple moment can be an appointment with ones 'Self'.
Here, in the sanctum of the mind, is Siva's mangalam.

Prapancham Engum – Song by Mata Amritanandamayi

O Maya filling the entire Universe, O Radiance, won't Thou dawn in my mind and stay there shedding Thy Light forever?

I will surfeit myself drinking Thy love and motherly affection. Coming near Thee and sinking in Thy Divine Effulgence, all my mental distress will flee.

Since how many days I am wandering in search of Thee who art the underlying Core of everything.

O my Mother, won't Thou come before me and grant me the ananda of the Self, O won't Thou come?

Paurnami Raavil – Song by Mata Amritanandamayi

Aren't Thou the splendor of the moonlight that shines forth in the sky on a full moon night?

Aren't Thou the spring night that arrives in a lovely, fragrant, flowery palanquin?

O Mother, aren't Thou the beautiful sound that awakens in the gentle strings of the tambura?

Aren't Thou the lyrical poems in which the imagination of the poet is sporting (swinging)?

Aren't Thou that One in which the seven colours and the seven notes have merged? Aren't Thou the fragrance of the flower, the beuty of the rainbow and the colours of the breeze?