Dhyana Yoga 2 – Bliss, problem and promise

Gita essays – 10

 

Lord Krishna describes a Dhyana Yogi thus in verse 6-18:

यदा विनियतं चित्तमात्मन्येवावतिष्ठते। (Yadaa viniyatam chittamaatmanyevaavatishthate)

निःस्पृहः सर्वकामेभ्यो युक्त इत्युच्यते तदा।।(Nihsprihah sarvakaamebhyo yukta ityuchyate tadaa)

That person who has become free from longing for all desirable objects and whose mind is well-controlled and rests in the Self only is said to be established in Dhyana Yoga. 

An uncontrolled mind is one which wanders in search of fulfilment among the sense objects.  A controlled mind is one free from agitations that can concentrate on the Self that is Brahman which is infinite and unfettered.  Resting in Self happens when mind is filled with thoughts contemplating the Self and Self only, replacing the normal thoughts concerning worldly objects and relations.  Lord then goes on to describe the state of mind of such a Yogi.  Human mind normally is vacillating, fluctuating among hundreds of thoughts. This is compared to the flickering flame of a lamp exposed to wind.  When the wandering thoughts are arrested and fixed firmly in the Self, as in a Yogi’s mind, the single pointed mind is compared to the bright and steady flame of the lamp kept in a windless spot. The mental bliss experienced by the Yogi with such a mind is described by the Lord in the next four verses (20-23).  Translated in English, Lord’s words read as:

20). When the mind, restrained by the practice of Yoga, attains quietude, and when, seeing the Self by the Self, he is satisfied in his own Self,

21). When he (the Yogi) feels that Infinite bliss, which can be grasped by the (pure) intellect and which transcends the senses, and is established therein, he does not slip from his real nature.

22). Having obtained which, one thinks there is no other gain superior to it; wherein established, one is not moved even by the heaviest of sorrows.

23). Let that be known as Yoga which is a state of severance from the contact with pain. This Yoga should be practiced with perseverance and with an undaunted mind.

All these four Verses taken together explain the stages that a Yogi, whose mind has become single pointed in meditation, passes through .  The goal of the meditator is attaining quietude of mind and this is achieved when his mind is completely restrained.  Then he gains an experience of Brahman not as an entity separate from himself but as his own true Self.   When ego's identification with body, mind and intellect is replaced by the principle of Divine Consciousness the meditator feels the infinite bliss of the Brahman.  In fact through discovery of his Real Self, he becomes conscious of the infinite bliss of Brahman that is his svarupa.  This results in his disassociation from the ego-self which is prone to pain and sorrow.   Attaining that natural state of highest happiness, he does not slip from it even while engaged in worldly transactions and even heaviest sorrows cannot trouble him thereafter.  This state of disassociation with pain and sorrow that results from Realisation is termed Yoga and this Yogic state may not be achieved straightaway and one has to keep on working for it with great determination and patience, without any despair or despondency.

Lord Krishna also discusses various stages in this process.   The meditator has to subdue the faculty of imagination of the mind to arrest the thoughts of fancy that it gives rise to. Secondly he has to keep in check the wandering mind from roaming among the sense-objects.  Thirdly he has to pursue his goal with patience and perseverance, slowly and steadily, keeping his mind firm in the contemplation of the Self and Self only with the help of the intellect.   Whenever the mind, out of past vasanas, strays into other thoughts, patiently he must bring it back to contemplate on Self.  The means of bringing under control the restless wandering mind is through the knowledge of the mithyatvam of sense-objects and the association of pain and sorrow with samsara which helps to cultivate indifference to them. Through persistent practice of discrimination and detachment the mind gradually settles into steady contemplation of Self.

The greatest benefit from successful Dhyana Yoga is sarvatra sama darsana, seeing the Self in every being and every being in the Self.  This frees him totally from raga-dveṣha  and this freedom from raga-dvesha is samathvam, equanimity.  Isavasya Upanishad says in Mantra 6 & 7 – “He, who sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings, feels no hatred for any being.(Mantra 6);  What delusion can there be to one who realizes all beings as his own Self?  (Mantra 7)”.   He is neither attached to any worldly thing passionately nor does he hate anything intensely.  He might have preferences in life, but no compelling likes and dislikes. He is not a slave of any object, situation or person.  As Swami Chinmayananda says “He never acts like a body passionately, as a mind egoistically, or as an intellect arrogantly -------- He is FREE, He is WHOLE, He is FULL”.   In short, he is a Jivan muktha, attaining Liberation in the present life itself, while alive. 

Arjuna now raises a doubt.  Perfect equanimity, a mind free from restlessness in all conditions and circumstances appears nearly impossible to Arjuna, as he feels the mind by its very nature is strong, turbulent, restless and unyielding.  So he interrupts Lord Krishna to remonstrate that trying to control the mind is as difficult as trying to tame the wind.  And Lord Krishna agrees with Arjuna only to point out that though control of mind appears an uphill task, it can be achieved with continuous repeated efforts and detachment of mind, Abhyasa and Vairagya.  Patanjali Yoga sutras that defines Yoga as control of thoughts also states in sutra 1-12; अभ्यासवैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः(abhyasa vairagyaabhyam tan nirodhaḥ), “That (controlling the thoughts in mind) can be achieved by repeated practice and detachment”.  Lord Krishna further states that this Yoga is not possible for one who has not achieved self-control through other means like the practice of Karma Yoga that helps to cultivate the power of self-withdrawal from the attraction of objects-emotions –thoughts.  Now Arjuna raises another doubt.  He wonders openly as to what will happen to the meditator who though full of faith and sincere in his effort, fails to achieve success due to mind’s wandering, extrovert nature.  Such a person has not tasted the sensory pleasures of the material world and now the unfettered Bliss of Yoga is also lost to him. So will not such a person’s life become a wash-out like the drift and collapse of a scattered cloud, he asks the Lord.

Lord then promises that the sincere seeker who does not achieve perfection in Yoga in this birth will not come to grief, either in this world or thereafter, due to this failure.  He says that the one who was not able to attain the goal of infinite bliss in spite of his best efforts due to past vasanas or the one who achieved some progress in Yoga but had not reached the final state of permanent bliss due to present deficiencies like lack of sufficient dispassion or inability to control totally the turbulent senses, attains the worlds of happiness inhabited by those pious souls who performed great religious sacrifices while living on this earth. So for such a person, who is Yoga bhrashta, a person fallen from the path of Yoga, “a minimum phalam of Svarga is assured even if maximum phalam of Moksha is missed” in the words of Swami Paramarthananda..  Further after enjoying the pleasures of Svarga as long as the punya of the past spiritual life lasts, he is born again in the house of spiritual and religious minded people where he will continue his spiritual journey from the point where he had left in the previous birth, due to the vasanas of the present spiritual sadhanas which will have their influence on the future life. When he is born again the vasanas of his sadhanas in the present birth will energize him to continue his spiritual sadhanas from where he left.  Whatever progress a person makes in present birth, he retains and no effort in the practice of Yoga goes waste. One need not despair or feel any anxiety regarding failure to achieve the goal in present birth itself  as long as he tries with shraddah and vairagyam.   In the next birth with the added advantage of purva janma vasana, his spiritual journey will start earlier and not only will it start earlier, it will be faster and will continue until he attains jnanam and mokṣha and therefore there is no reason to be pessimistic but to continue the spiritual journey with faith and vigour taking heart from the lives of spiritual geniuses like Ramana Maharishi and Swami Vivekananda who apparently started from where they left as Yoga bhrashtas  in their previous birth and became Jivan Mukthas.  Lord concludes his  advice on Dhyana Yoga glorifying Dhyana Yogi as more closer to Liberation than those spiritual people engaged in penance, rituals and Vedic studies and remarking that those Yogis who meditate on the Lord with single-minded devotion are the closest to the Lord.

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Bhakthi and Upasana

Upadesa Saara – verses 4,5&6

Verse no.4 of Upadesa saara reads as:
कायवाङमनः कार्यमुत्तमम् |   (Kaaya Vaang manah kaaryam uttamam)

पूजनं जपस्चिंतनम क्रमात् ||  (Pujanam japah chittanam kramaath)

Action of worship can be done with the body, words and mind. The action done with body is Puja, the action done with words is chanting and action done with the mind is meditation. Each is superior to the other in ascending order. (The action done with words is superior to action done with the body. The action done with the mind is superior to action done with the words.) 

In this verse Ramana Maharishi elaborates about Ishta Devata Bhakthi, Bhakthi in respect of one’s chosen Deity of worship. Bhakthi  is defined normally as reverential devotion to a superior - object, person or ideal.  Here we are referring to Bhakthi as a religious action, reverential devotion to God, the Cosmic Supreme.  This action can be divided into kayikam (physical), vachikam (verbal), and manasam (mental).  Physical action is doing Puja, by offering flowers. lighting a lamp, chanting slokas or Mantras etc., to one’s Ishta devata or visiting the temple and participating in the worship there or going on a pilgrimage to holy places.  Here all the three instruments of body, mind and speech are employed and this is called here Poojanam.  Verbal action consists of singing Lord's glory, reciting slokas in praise of the Lord, reading of religious texts containing the glory of the Lord, including Ithihasas and Puranas and repeated chanting of His Name or a Mantra, regularly.  Here mind and speech only are involved and so this requires more mental concentration than physical action.  This is referred to as Japa.  Mental action is meditation on Lord and this is called Chinthanam.  Manasa puja is also called Upasana. This requires a high mental discipline, much greater than that of physical puja and verbal worship.  All the three actions qualify as Yoga when action is done selflessly surrendering the ego in respect of a single Devata, adopted as one’s Ishta Devata.  It is this Bhakthi that transforms Karma as Karma Yoga. And when this Bhakthi is done for Bhakthi’s sake alone it becomes Bhakthi Yoga. In Bhakthi Yoga  reverential devotion yields place to unqualifed Love of the Lord to whom one surrenders one’s total will and ego.

As Bhakthi matures, the Love expands to embrace the whole creation as Bhaktha sees Lord in all and all as the Lord.  This is called Viswarupa Bhakthi.   Maharishi talks of this Viswarupa Bhakthi in the next verse, verse no.5.

जगत इशधीयुक्तसेवनम् | (Jagada Ishadee yukta sevanam)
अष्टमूर्तिभ्रिददेवापूजनं ||  (Astha murthy brid deva poojanam)

Service of the world is service of God having eight-fold form, with the idea that everything is God alone.

The eight-fold form of God consists of the five elements; space, air, fire, water and earth, the sun (representing all stars), the moon (representing all planets and satellites), and the Jivas (all living beings).  In verse 9 of Sri Dakshinamurthy stotram Sri Sankara describes specifically the Viswa Rupa of Lord Dakshinamurthy in the same way as eightfold form i.e. comprising the earth, water, fire, air, space, sun, moon and Jiva; the manifested Universe of all movable and immovable objects.  Sri Krishna also talks of His eight-fold Prakriti in Gita  (7 – 4), “This Prakrti of Mine is divided eight-fold thus: earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and also egoism.”  Further the very first nama of Vishnu Sahasranamam  is “Vishwam” – which means one who has entered into all beings, inert and sentient, movable and immovable -“Vishathi ithi Vishwam”.  Again Isavasya Upanishad also in the very first line states “Whatever is here in this world, everything is pervaded or covered by God”

Understanding Universe itself as nothing but a form of God is the essence of this Bhakthi.  Initially, the understanding was that God as creator is only the intelligent cause for the Universe.  As one’s knowledge of God grows, understanding expands and one has the knowledge that God is both intelligent cause and material cause of this Universe. As material cause of Universe, God pervades all objects of creation, both movable and immovable, just as gold pervades all ornaments of gold.  A Viswa-rupa Bhaktha sees God in all and all as God.  From Viswa rupa Bhakthi, with expansion of vision and maturity of understanding one grows to appreciate Abhedha-Bhavana and gain Advaitic Jnanam, which Maharishi will discuss later.

In verse no.6 Maharishi elaborates on verbal worship.

उत्तमस्तवादुच्चमंदतः |    (Uttama stavaat uccha mandathah)
चित्तजं जप ध्यानमुत्तमम् || (Chittajam japa dhyaanam uttamam)

Singing of Lord’s glories is good, but better than that is loud chanting in japa, while superior to loud chanting is soft chanting in japa. However, best of all is silent, mental japa.

Japa means repetition of a mantra or Lord’s name.  In Japa one should always focus on the mantra or the nama. Focus on the deity is done before the japa begins, as an invocation, and not during the chanting.  Japa produces a vibration which is supposed to be beneficial. The importance of Japa as a sadhana can be seen from Sri Krishna’s words in Gita (10-25) “Among the Yajnas, I am Japa Yajna”.  Japa can be done in a loud voice or in a soft voice or mentally.  The most effective chanting is mental and least effective is loud chanting.  Mental chanting is as good as meditation and so is a form of Upasana.  So Maharishi calls it as Dhyana Japa. 

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Karma and Karma Yoga

Upadesa Saara - 2

Sri Ramana Maharishi discusses Karma and Karma-Yoga in the first three verses of Upadesa Saara.  In the first verse he refutes the philosophy of Purva Mimamsakas. They believe that:

1.    World and Vedas are eternal and not created by God,  as they don’t believe in God but accept the Vedas

2.    They believe that Karma by itself gives Karmaphala as they don’t believe in a Karmaphala dhata

3.    Vedic rituals by itself gives all benefits during and after life as well as get Moksha

They do not attach any importance to the Jnana Kanda portion of the Vedas.  They are referred to as Karmakandis and the Rishis of Taruka Vana were Karmakandis. So in the opening verse Maharishi states that Karmaphaladhata must be a sentient entity, as not mere Karma but motives are also to be taken into account in determining Karmaphala and Karma being non-sentient cannot fulfil this role. He further makes a positive assertion for the existence of God by emphasising that it is as only as per His dictates one’s Karmaphala is determined. The first verse:

कर्तुराज्ञया प्राप्यते फलं |    (Karthurajnayaa prapyathe phalam)
कर्म किं परं कर्म तज्जडम || (Karma Kim Param Karma Tad jadam)

The fruits of all actions are attained and controlled by God (Creator). Then how Karma can be superior? Karma is just an insentient entity only.

From the first line it can be inferred that there is a Higher entity, God, which is the srishti stithi laya karanam of this world and God, who is Sarvajna, only determines through His sankalpa the Karmaphala for different types of Karma i.e. whether papa or punya, when to take effect and in what measure?, taking into account not only the action but also the motive.  Karma being insentient cannot play this role and so it cannot be the ultimate authority.  It is only subordinate to the Supreme, God, whom we can refer to as Iswara.  

In the second verse Maharishi refutes the Karmakandis’ philosophy that Karma itself can grant all purusharthas, including Moksha.  Maharishi points out that mere Karma becomes the cause for bondage and even a barrier in the spiritual path as it arises out of desire.  The second verse:

कृति महोदधौ पतनकाराणम |  (Krithi mahodhadhau pathana kaaranam)

फलमशाश्वतं गतिनिरोधकम ||  (Phalam asasvatham gathi nirodhakam}

The big ocean of action is the cause of fall down. The fruits of actions are not permanent and they obstruct the progress of a spiritual seeker.

Every action of a human being is prompted by a desire and there is no end to desire. It keeps multiplying trapping one in it making Karma a big ocean of Samsara. Each desire is responsible for a number of Karmas which in turn promotes more desires. This vicious circle of Karma and desire, i.e. Karma Kama cycle, is a cause for stress and anxiety which can lead to one’s spiritual downfall.  Further one cannot get the eternal purushartha of Moksha through rituals alone and all other fruits of Karma including Swarga are only transient and impermanent. This Sri Krishna points out in Gita (9-21) where he states “After having enjoyed that vast heavenly world (Swarga), they return to the human world on the exhaustion of their punyaphala. Thus, those who follow the rituals and duties prescribed in the three Vedas and desirous of pleasures, attain the state of going and returning (between earth and Swarga)".

Though Karma has these limitations one cannot refrain from doing Karma. As Sri Krishna points out in Gita (3-5):” No one ever remains even for a moment without doing work. For all are made to work under compulsion by the Gunas born of Prakrithi.”Maharishi in the next verse gives the prescription for taking the sting out of Karma and making it a vehicle for attaining Moksha.  This verse gives the essence of Karma Yoga. The third verse:

ईश्वरार्पितं नेच्छया कृतम |  (Ishwara arpitam na icchayaa kritam)

चित्तशोधकम मुक्तिसाधकम || (Chitta shodhakam mukti sadhakam)

Work which is performed as an offering to the Almighty and done without any expectation for the fruits, helps in purification of mind & thereby leads one to Liberation or realisation.

Maharishi says “ Do perform action, only change the motive. Let it be performed with a worshipful attitude dedicating it to God”.  Sri Krishna also says the same in Gita (3-9):” This world becomes bound by any action other than that action meant as worship (Yajna).  So without being attached, O Arjuna, you perform actions for Him.”  This process can be described as doing work as Yoga.

Since work is dedicated to God one should accept with equanimity whatever result comes, be it favourable or not as the result depends not only on one’s efforts but also on God’s Grace and prarabdha.   Sri Krishna also emphasises this point when He declares in Gita(2-47) “Your right is for action alone, never for the results’. In Kathopanishad work is classified as Preyas and Sreyas.  Preyas is work for sense-pleasures linked with the body-mind complex and Sreyas, work for spiritual growth.  While Preyas binds, bringing pain and sorrow in its wake, Sreyas liberates bringing eternal joy.  But even Preyas when done with Iswra Arpana Buddhi, with no attachment to results can lead to purification of mind without causing sorrow or pain.  

This attitude of ‘Iswararpitham’ (dedication to Iswara) and ‘Nechchaya kritham’  (not prompted by desire) will help us in neutralising our likes and dislikes converting them to preferences from needs. This leads to ‘Chitta sodakam”(purification of mind) which becomes ‘Mukthi sadhakam’ (aid to Liberation).

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Upadesa Saara - 1

Introduction

Upadesa Saara is a short text of 30 verses written by Ramana Maharishi in simple Sanskrit, which was originally written by him in Tamil under the name “Upadesa Undhiyar”. Maharishi wrote this text originally in Tamil in response to the request of his disciple Muruganar. The request was made under these circumstances. Muruganar was writing a puranic story in Tamil. There occurs a situation in the story which can be described as follows: 

In the forest known as Taruka Vanam there lived a few grihastha rishis who were staunch karma-kandis. They believed that the world and the Vedas are eternal and that karmas give karma phala by themselves.  According to them Vedic rituals give all the benefits during and after life and they by themselves are sufficient to get Moksha, the eternal, infinite Bliss of Liberation.  They did not attach any importance to Jnana Kanda portion of Vedas. But they were men of pure minds as they were focused sincerely on rituals. Once they were assembled for performing a Vedic ritual.  Lord Siva felt compassion for them. He wanted to reform their outlook and make them realise that Karma alone cannot confer the eternal infinite happiness of Moksha as mere actions do not remove ignorance of one’s own nature and it is only through Jnanam, that a person can get rid of all sorrow and sufferings. Lord Siva came to the forest as a young handsome Brahmachari seeking bhiksha. Lord Vishnu also came to His assistance as Mohini, a beautiful damsel. The assembled rishis were distracted by the Mohini and as she started moving away from them they followed her forgetting the purpose for which they had assembled. Suddenly the Mohini vanished and the rishis ashamed of their distraction went back, only to find their wives following the young Brahmachari almost in a trance. The Rishis became angry and tried to destroy the Brahmachari employing all the mantras and rituals they knew. When they failed, they realized that the young person is not an ordinary one but Lord Himself and they surrendered to Him praying that He remove their weakness. Then Lord Siva appeared in his true form, praised their devotion to rituals and then told them that the real purpose of his Leela was to make them understand the inadequacy of rituals alone to confer Moksha and the limitations of Karma and to make their Jnanam complete by imparting them the true knowledge of their Real Self, which alone can liberate them from Samsara and lead to Moksha.

Muruganar who had been writing the story felt at this stage that Maharishi is the fit person to write that portion of Lord Siva’s teaching extolling the path of Jnanam to the rishis and so made the request to Maharishi to write this portion.  First Maharishi wrote in Tamil under the title “Upadesa Undiyar” and then at the request of other devotees rewrote it himself in Sanskrit, Telugu and Malayalam. This work “Upadesa Saara” can be taken as a sequel to the study of Tattva Bodha, that was discussed in eight blogs earlier, starting from SadhanaChathushtayam. This is a book that deals with both Vedantic teaching and sadhanas and so can be be classed as a Prakarana Grantha, a descriptive text.  This work deals with Karma yoga, Bhakthiyoga including Upasana yoga, Ashtanga yoga and Jnana Yoga, but the main emphasis here is on Athma Jnanam.  In the first 15 verses, Maharishi has laid down the paths of selfless Karma, Bhakti and Yoga, while the remaining 15 verses (Verses 16 to 30) are devoted to the path of Self-Inquiry.

Here all paths, including the puja and japa part of worship to a personal God, pranayama, etc., are dealt with as they all help in purifying the mind and makes it fit to pursue Self-enquiry.   As Swami Paramathmananda usually emphasises, Karma yoga, Upasana yoga & Ashtanga yoga give Jnana yogyatha, preparing the mind for Self-knowledge and Jnana yoga enlightens a person through this knowledge. 

Even though Maharishi always emphasised the path of Self-Inquiry, which is a direct path to Self-Realization, he knew that it wasn’t an easy method and that it required maturity of understanding. This is why he talked about other paths. He clearly stated on one occasion to his disciple: “If, however, the aspirant is not temperamentally suited to Vichara Marga, he must develop bhakti to an ideal – may it be God, Guru, humanity in general, ethical laws, or even the idea of beauty. When one of these takes possession of the individual, other attachments grow weaker, i.e. dispassion  develops....  In the absence of enquiry and devotion, the natural sedative pranayama may be tried. This is known as Yoga Marga... If an aspirant be unsuited temperamentally for the first two methods --- he must try the Karma Marga. His nobler instincts become more evident and he derives impersonal pleasure. His smaller self is less assertive and has a chance of expanding its good side...” 

Upadesa Saara, was chanted before Maharishi daily together with the Vedas and continues to be chanted before his shrine even now.

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