Sampradaya and dimensions of Consciousness

In my blog “Dimensions of Consciousness” I had tried to relate the views of Burt Harding and Deepak Chopra, modern advaita philosophers of west, who had defined the dimensions of Consciousness in terms of growth in awareness of one’s true Self, to different stages of purification of mind in the path of discovery of one’s real Self.  I had received comments from well-meaning friends that talking of dimensions in the case of Consciousness is not sampradaya.  Since somebody else may be feeling that way without recording, I thought, I may record my views as a matter of clarification. 

Yes, it is not strictly sampradaya but it is not totally new as well.  We can find instances in Sruthi and Smrithi where waking consciousness, dream consciousness and deep sleep consciousness are defined separately and given particular names.  In Mandukya Upanishad, Athma which is the pure Consciousness is said to have four padas.  First pada is the consciousness associated with the waking state called Viswa, the second pada is consciousness associated with dream state which is called Taijasa, and the third pada is the consciousness associated with deep sleep state which is called Prajna.  In Vedanta Sara , Sri Sadananda Yogindra Saraswathi terms Viswa as Consciousness associated with gross body (Sthula sareera), Taijasa as consciousness associated with subtle body(Sukshma sareera) and Prajna as consciousness associated with causal body(Karana sareera).  What can be associated with one of the three states(avasthas) or one of the three bodies(sareeras)  can only be the individual Consciousness, the Consciousness that manifests in individual mind and makes it sentient.

The fourth pada is the pure Consciousness which is present as unassociated witness in all the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep and is called the Fourth in Mandukya Upanishad and as Turiyam in Vedanta Sara and in Karika.  Turiyam is also not associated with the three bodies being asanga, as per Vedanta Sara.  Turiyam is nothing but Brahman, the cosmic Supreme. One who realizes Turiyam as one’s real Self, and stays in that state of realisation all the time, even while interacting with the external world is aware of the unity of all living beings as Turiyam and in Turiyam, and has attained the highest  state  of realisation. This highest state of realisation was called as the state of Unity Consciousness by Deepak Chopra and this is the seventh and the highest dimension.  For that person who has evolved to the seventh dimension, there is only life of being and not of becoming.  In that state of realisation, one lives and interacts with the external world, with the inner realisation that he is not in the body but the body is in him.

As for the first three dimensions and the final seventh dimension only the name differs and not description of the state as compared to sampradaya.  Further the path to Self Realisation is marked by the following stages sadhana-wise in scriptures:  

1.  achieving purification of mind (chitta suddhi) through karma yoga
2. achieving one pointedness of thoughts ( chitta ekagratha) through upasana yoga
3. getting doubt-free Self-knowledge (Athma jnanam)  through sravanam and mananam

These sadhana-wise stages can be also described as dimension 4,5 &6 of Consciousness.  In my blog I have chosen to define knowledge-wise stages as dimensions as they correspond well with the names used by Deepak Chopra for the different dimensions.   So here only the idiom is different, but import is the same.  Whether it is in defining dimensions of conscience or in describing human being as a mix of mortal human and immortal, infinite Being, substance is not sacrificed , only presentation differs. 

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Being – the Oneness

In the earlier blog “Human Being” we saw Burt Harding’s view of human being as a mix of human and Being; Being, the real Self and human, the ego self associated with a particular body. This Being is defined in several ways by Burt. One of them is Oneness, which Isavasya Upanishad speaks of as Ekatvam (एकत्वम्). What it means is Being is the only real one and It only is and It is all the human beings individually including you and all things collectively including the universe and beyond. But by Itself It is no thing because It cannot be defined directly as concept or an object, but can only be referred to in paradoxes or indirectly with reference to something else. Whatever word by which It is referred to whether it is Oneness, Brahman, Consciousness etc., the words are only pointers to the one formless, nameless, indescribable, eternal, infinite Truth/Reality.

Scientifically speaking It is the unified field of infinite energy, with infinite intelligence, encompassing and transcending all the energy fields of the Universe and beyond and it is holographic.  Being holographic in every bit there is the prototype of the whole.  Every bit contains the miniature of the whole. Human, universe and Being are like the wave, ocean and water. Waves are of various sizes and exist for different durations, but they all rise and fall in the ocean that appears comparatively vast and eternal, but both waves and ocean are pervaded by water only, and water is the essence of waves and ocean. This we can reword as the oneness of waves with each other and with the ocean and all of their oneness with water.

The person who has realized internally the Oneness, as one’s Self, is a spiritually wise person who is called jnani (ज्ञानिः), dheera (धीरः) panditha (पण्डितः) etc., in the Upanishads and Bhagavat Gita. The realized person is one who not only has this knowledge but lives it at all times and in all places.  To such a person the knowledge does not desert him at any time, more so in crisis or when challenged.  And only to this realized person there is no sense of separation, no fear, no anger, no sorrow, no jealousy, no hatred, no depression, but the fulfilled sense of complete peace and total bliss born of this sense of Oneness, always, as  pointed out in verses 6 and 7 of Isavasyopanishad, which was quoted in the blog “Human Being”. 

A person may wonder how one can have the awareness of oneness of all, all the time and still function in the world as any transaction is possible only if you recognize some other thing or some other person beside yourself!  Yes, all transactions in the world require something more than one person and the basis of all external transactions is me and the other. The spiritually realized person recognises the otherness in action, while remembering the Oneness in all in the mind and applies the knowledge of oneness of all and Oneness in all, in his reactions to events and persons. So criticism does not provoke him to counter-criticism or some such similar action nor complaints ruffle him. Because he sees Oneness in other selves as well, he rather looks upon his critics with compassion rather than anger. Since he does not take offence by any action or remark, forgiveness comes naturally to him; in fact he feels there is nothing to forgive.  Let me illustrate it with an incident from the life of Sant Ekanath. 

Sant Ekanath was a great devotee of Lord Panduranga of Pandharpur.  He lived in a place called Paithan in Maharashtra. One day among a group of people who were gambling one called another a cheat and a quarrel started.  As the quarrel heated up with more name-callings and abuses and a fight was about to break out, one onlooker intervened and asked them not to get angry and fight among themselves. Then one of the gamblers shouted back saying that he is no Ekanath to stay calm and not to get angry.  Then the talk turned on Ekanath, and one of them wagered that he will bet the entire money he had then with him that he would make Ekanath get angry.  The bet was accepted and the next day he waited for Ekanath and as he was returning from river Godavari after bath, spat upon him. Ekanath looked at him calmly, returned to the river, had his bath once again and came back. The person waited for him to return and spat on him a second time. Ekanath did not speak a word, turned back, bathed again and returned. This routine of being spat upon and taking bath was going on for some time, when the person got tired and next time he confronted Ekanath and asked “I spat upon you and made you take bath so many times.  Why you are just accepting it and not getting angry with me even once?”  Ekanath replied “I am taking bath to clean my body before performing Puja.  If I were to get angry, my mind also would become dirty.  While water can clean my body no amount of water can clean my mind.  So I cannot afford to get angry”.  The person was moved and pleaded for forgiveness.  Ekanath told him “What is there to forgive?  I should really thank you for providing me an opportunity to bathe in the holy river so many times today which I have never done before”.  The person fell at his feet and from that day became a changed man and joined Ekanath in his satsanghs.

To forgive is human, but not to see the offence in the first place and so feel there is nothing to forgive is divine. And that is what a spiritually wise man is. This point is another one frequently made by Burt Harding in his satsanghs, quoting “A course in Miracles”

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