Monday, 28 June 2021

कितने अभिन्न!

कविता : 28-06-2021

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निजता

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सत् और चित्, अस्तित्व और भान, 

परस्पर अभिन्न, कितने अविच्छिन्न! 

अस्तित्व यदि नहीं, तो भान कहाँ!

भान यदि नहीं, तो अस्तित्व क्या!

वैसे ही परस्पर जैसे, मैं-संसार!

मैं यदि नहीं, तो कहाँ संसार कोई, 

संसार यदि नहीं, तो मैं भी कहाँ!

फिर भी है जो, सनातन, चिरंतन,

आत्मा, जीव, ईश्वर, जड-चेतन,

जिसमें होता है, काल-स्थान,

अविनश्वर अस्तित्व, जो भान,

निजता की, अमिट पहचान!

***

 

Friday, 25 June 2021

श्री जगन्नाथ माहात्म्य

स्कन्द-पुराण से 

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वैष्णवखण्ड-उत्कलखण्ड / पुरुषोत्तमक्षेत्र माहात्म्य

नारायणं नमस्कृत्यं नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्। 

देवीं सरस्वतीं व्यासः ततो जयमुदीरयेत् ।।

'भगवान् नारायण, नरश्रेष्ठ नर, देवी सरस्वती तथा महर्षि वेदव्यास को नमस्कार करके तत्पश्चात् भगवान् की विजय-कथा से परिपूर्ण इतिहास-कथादि का कीर्तन (पठन, वाचन, श्रवण) करे।'

मुनयः ऊचुः 

मुनि बोले -- भगवन्! आप सब शास्त्रों के तत्वज्ञ तथा सब तीर्थों के महत्व को जाननेवाले हैं। 

भगवन्! 

पुरुषोत्तम-क्षेत्र परम पावन है, जहाँ भगवान् लक्ष्मीपति विष्णु मानवलीला के अनुसार काष्ठमय विग्रह धारण करके विराजमान हैं, जो दर्शनमात्र से ही सबको मोक्ष देनेवाले और सब तीर्थों का फल प्रदान करनेवाले हैं, उनकी महिमा का हमसे विस्तारपूर्वक हमसे वर्णन कीजिए। 

जैमिनी ने कहा :

मुनियों!  यह अत्यन्त गूढ रहस्य है,  सुनो।  

यद्यपि ये भगवान् जगन्नाथ सर्वत्र व्यापक और सबको उत्पन्न करनेवाले हैं तथापि यह परम उत्तम पुरुषोत्तम-क्षेत्र इन महात्मा जगदीश्वर का साक्षात् स्वरूप है। वहाँ वे स्वयं ही शरीर धारण करके निवास करते हैं। इसीलिए उस क्षेत्र को भगवान् ने अपने नाम से प्रसिद्ध किया। वह क्षेत्र दस योजन के विस्तार में है। उसका प्रादुर्भाव तीर्थराज समुद्र के जल से हुआ है तथा वह सब ओर बालुका-राशि से व्याप्त है। उसके मध्यभाग में महान् नील-गिरि उस तीर्थ की शोभा बढ़ता है। पूर्वकाल में वराहरूप-धारी भगवान् ने इस पृथ्वी को समुद्र से निकालकर जब सब ओर से बराबर करके स्थापित किया और पर्वतों द्वारा सुस्थिर कर दिया, तब ब्रह्माजी ने पहले की भाँति समस्त चराचर जगत् की सृष्टि करके तीर्थों, सरिताओं, नदियों और क्षेत्रों को यथा-स्थान स्थापित किया। तत्पश्चात् सृष्टि के भार से पीड़ित होकर वे सोचने लगे। आध्यात्मिक, आधिदैविक और अधिभौतिक -- इन तीन प्रकार के तापों से पीड़ित होनेवाले संसार के जीव इनसे किस प्रकार मुक्त होंगे। इस प्रकार विचार करते हुए ब्रह्माजी के मन में यह भाव आया कि मैं मुक्ति के एकमात्र कारण परमेश्वर श्रीविष्णु का स्तवन करूँ। 

तब ब्रह्माजी बोले --

शंख,  चक्र और गदा धारण करनेवाले जगदाधार! आपको नमस्कार है। सम्पूर्ण विश्व की सृष्टि करनेवाला मैं ब्रह्मा आपके नाभिकमल से उत्पन्न हुआ हूँ। अतः जगन्मय! अपने यथार्थ स्वरूप को आप ही जानते हैं। जिनकी माया से महत्तत्व आदि सम्पूर्ण जगत् रचा गया है, और जिनके निःश्वास से प्रकट हुआ शब्दब्रह्म (वेद) ऋक्, साम और यजु -- इन तीन भेदों में अभिव्यक्त हुआ है, जिसका सहारा लेकर मैंने सम्पूर्ण भुवनों की सृष्टि की है, उन्हीं आप परमात्मा से भिन्न स्थूल-सूक्ष्म, ह्रस्व-दीर्घ आदि कोई भी वस्तु नहीं है। भगवन्!  तीनों गुणों के विभाग-पूर्वक भिन्न-भिन्न कार्यों के रूप में आप ही यह चराचर जगत् हैं - ठीक उसी तरह जैसे सुवर्ण ही कंकण,  कुण्डल आदि के रूपों में विभासित होता है। प्रभो!  आप ही सृष्टिकर्त्ता और सृज्य पदार्थ हैं तथा आप ही पोषक और पोष्य जगत् हैं। परमेश्वर! आप ही आधार, आधेय और उन दोनों को धारण करनेवाले हैं। मनुष्य आपकी ही प्रेरणा से कर्म करता है, और आप ही के द्वारा की हुई व्यवस्था से वह कर्मानुसार गति प्राप्त करता है। परमेश्वर!  आप ही इस जगत् की गति, भर्ता और साक्षी हैं। आप अखिल जीव-स्वरूप हैं। दयामय जगन्नाथ! मैं सदा आपकी शरण में हूँ,  आप मुझपर प्रसन्न होइये!

ब्रह्माजी के इस प्रकार स्तुति करने पर मेघ के समान श्याम,  शंख,  चक्र आदि चिह्नों से उपलक्षित भगवान् विष्णु गरुड़ पर आरुढ़ हो वहाँ प्रकट हुए। उनका मुखकमल पूर्णतः प्रकाशमान था। उन्होंने ब्रह्माजी से कहा :

"ब्रह्मन्!  तुम जिस कार्य के लिए मेरी स्तुति करते हो, वह सम्भव नहीं जान पड़ता। तथापि यदि इसके लिए तुम्हारा उद्योग है, तो जिस क्रम से यह सिद्ध होता है, वह तुम्हें बतला रहा हूँ। ब्रह्मन!  मैं तुम हो, और तुम मैं हूँ। सम्पूर्ण जगत् मुझसे व्याप्त (विष्णु-मय) है। जहाँ तुम्हारी रुचि है, वहाँ मेरी है । अतः तुम्हारी मनो-वांछा की सिद्धि का उपाय बतलाता हूँ -- समुद्र के उत्तर तट पर महानदी के दक्षिण भाग में जो प्रदेश है,  वह इस भूतल पर सब तीर्थों का फल देनेवाला है। वहाँ जो उत्तम बुद्धिवाले मनुष्य निवास करते हैं, वे अन्य जन्मों में किए हुए पुण्य का फल भोगते हैं। ब्रह्मन्!  समुद्र के किनारे जो नीलपर्वत सुशोभित हो रहा है,  वह पग-पग पर अत्यन्त श्रेष्ठ और परम पावन है। वह स्थान इस पृथ्वी पर गुप्त है। वहाँ से प्रकार के संगों से दूर रहनेवाला मैं देह धारण करके निवास करता हूँ और क्षर तथा अक्षर दोनों से ऊपर उठकर पुरुषोत्तम-स्वरूप में विद्यमान हूँ। मेरा वह पुरुषोत्तम-क्षेत्र सृष्टि और प्रलय से आक्रान्त नहीं होता । 

ब्रह्मन्!  चक्र आदि चिह्नों से युक्त मेरा जैसा स्वरूप यहाँ देखते हो, वैसा ही वहाँ जाकर भी देखोगे । नीलाचल के भीतर की भूमि में कल्पों तक रहनेवाले अक्षयवट की जड़ के समीप, पश्चिम दिशा में जो रौहिण नाम से विख्यात कुण्ड है, उसके किनारे निवास करते हुए मुझ पुरुषोत्तम को जो चर्म-चक्षुओं से देखते हैं, वे उसके जल से क्षीणपाप होकर मेरे सायुज्य को प्राप्त कर लेते हैं। 

महाभाग! 

वहाँ जाओ। उस तीर्थ में मेरा दर्शन करते समय तुम्हारे समक्ष पुरुषोत्तम-क्षेत्र की श्रेष्ठ महिमा स्वतः प्रकाश में आ जायगी। वह क्षेत्र श्रुतियों,  स्मृतियों, इतिहासों  और पुराणों में गुप्त है। 

मेरी माया से वह किसी को ज्ञात नहीं होता। मेरी ही कृपा से अब वह प्रकाश में आयगा और सबको प्रत्यक्ष उपलब्ध होगा। व्रत,  तीर्थ, यज्ञ और दान का जो पुण्य बताया गया है, वह सब यहाँ एक दिन के निवास से ही प्राप्त हो जाता है और एक निःश्वास भर निवास करने से अश्वमेध यज्ञ का फल मिलता है।"

ब्राह्मणों! इस प्रकार ब्रह्माजी को आदेश देकर भगवान् पुरुषोत्तम सबके देखते-देखते वहीं अन्तर्धान हो गए। 

***



Thursday, 24 June 2021

षण्मुख-स्कंद

The Six Faces of The Reality. 
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 षण्मुख or षडानन, स्कन्द, 
- The Six-faced God Skanda is the Unique Reality Who is also Rudra and the rest of the matrix of आधिदैविक / the Divine Sphere.
(we may refer to श्रीदेवी अथर्वशीर्ष  which deals with this matrix of the letters or this वर्ण-मातृका ) 
This finds place in :
शिवाथर्वशीर्षम्
Shiva Atharva SheerSham in detail :
यो वै रुद्रः स भगवान् यश्च स्कन्दस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः।। ३
What are the six faces of This Skanda? 
Presently we shall try to see. 
1. Cognitive,
2. Descriptive,
3. Symbolic,
4. Figurative, 
5. Mystic / Esoteric / Mythical / Cryptic, 
6. Relative.
The Cognitive face / aspect is the Realization of the Reality where :
The distinction between the observer and the observed ceases to exist. 
The same is called extinction of (the assumed ego or the ignorance of the Reality). 
"darshana" is The single word in Sanskrit to denote this face / aspect of the Unique Reality.
(This reminds of :
"The observer is the observed"
There is yet another dictum / aphorism :
दृग्दृश्यभेदात्किमयं द्विधात्मा 
स्वात्मैकतायां हि धियां न भेदाः।। ३५
-- सद्दर्शनम् - श्री रमण महर्षि 
Who-so-ever might have said that, presently let us not drift away from the topic.)
The second face / aspect of the God Skanda is Descriptive that has been narrated through the texts such as Veda, Purana and Itihaasa :
-The Ramayana and The Mahabharata.
The third face / aspect of the God Skanda is Symbolic, that is depicted in Tantra-Shastra,
Where a triangle 🔺 has been placed above an inverted triangle,  thus forming the symbolic form of the God Skanda.
One can see a symbol similar to this, into the icon / insignia of Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
I think the one of the Jew is also similar which is quite conspicuous as an emblem on the flag of Israel.
The History of the exit of the Prophet Moses from Egypt suggests something deeper about the same. 
(I have tried to decipher all these things in my earlier posts in this very blog in much detail.
How Israel is related to Al-Isra, and how Isra is Ishwar or Lord Shiva)
The Fourth face / aspect of the God Skanda is figurative that is the foundation-stone of all the "Religions" and various cults born of them.
As such, we should not get confused and misled into believing that the "Religion" and "Dharma" is one and the same.
To me,
Religion is Reality relegated to custom and rituals.
A cult on the other hand is only further division of 'a' religion.
As soon as a religion comes into existence, as we see and often say "founded by", the division begins.
The verb-root, the word-root "खिल्" in Sanskrit is used to denote breaking-up or split. This again is also indicative of play or sport.
The word 'अखिल' is the antonym of "खिल्" and is indicative of "total", "un-split" or undivided. 
The Arabic(?) word "ख़िलाफ", "खिलाफ़त" may be a cognate / सज्ञात / सजाति / derivative of this word "खिल्" .
Philologist and linguists might tell how far my conjecture is correct.
So a cult is formed owing to, and following the religion and the local customs and ethos affect the same greatly. 
I don't want to go in detail, but if interested, one can go through my old posts, as I have already written there to my heart's content.
The same thing happened to Vaidika Dharma or the Sanatana Vaidika Dharma also, and though most of the cults not only in India but all over the globe follow the Sanatana Dharma, they have wandered far away from the same to such an extent beyond recognition.
This is how the Esoteric, Mystic, Occult and the  Mythical practices evolved in time.
Let us see :
'Esoteric' is cognate सज्ञात / सजात  of the Sanskrit word :
अव सतो ऋष्. 
'Mystic' is cognate of मिष् ति कः .
'Occult' is cognate of अव कुलतः .
'Mythical' is cognate of  मिथिकलः / मिथकलः .
The only logic is :
The Sanskrit words and verb-roots connote to the exact meaning / sense of the word also.
The sixth and the last is Relative, that is the apparently accepted way of life and life-style that keeps changing from time to time, place to place and circumstances.

***








Wednesday, 23 June 2021

Thought and Consciousness

Conscious Awareness.

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The evolution of human implied the evolution of the faculty of mind in man. The animal and the biological evolution was a movement at the physical level and because of freedom to move about gave the animals the faculty of attention that was not available to the plant kingdom.

However, this attention helped the animals in finding the food, shelter and self-defense, and at the same time of a short-span because of the constantly changing surroundings.

In the case of man, he discovered the language of thought which further developed to a great extent because of the memory and associating the experience and objects with these spoken words, expressive of his experiences. 

Again there was the experience in the form of feeling, while the reaction to it in the form of emotion. The feeling and emotion together were his sentiments, while the physical experience is in the form of pleasure, pain, disturbance and comfort was something really not of the mind, but mixed up with the sentiments.

The development of spoken language enabled him in thinking in terms of imagination and he could distinguish between the assumed past and the imagined future.

This way he was trapped into the past based upon his memory and the anticipated, future in his imagination.

Language arranged this past and future in terms of time projected by his mind.

(शिव-अथर्वशीर्ष points out to this in the following words:

अक्षरात्संजायते कालो कालाद् व्यापकः उच्यते। 

That is, how Time-Space, are though experienced, assume no reality whatsoever.) 

Besides the feelings, emotions (sentiments) he could now also relate in 'time' the events, that seemed to occur in time.

This whole process was but natural evolution of mind in man.

Language was a turning point. 

The parallels in Sanskrit words that describe the same process is in terms of :

चिन्तनं and मननं .

Thus the 'चिन्तनं' is the action of the senses when drawn towards the objects, while the 'मननं' is the reflection upon the feelings or experiences that takes place in the mind. 

With the help of the thought and the language, one had kind of the way of reflecting upon his feeling and experience.

So begins the thinking. 

Thinking could take place in the following three modes :

The Voluntary, 

The Involuntary, and

The Attentive.

So when you have to solve a mathematical problem, your thinking follows the way of the Voluntary. The same thing happens when we converse or discuss, even debate.

But when you are all alone, and nothing to do,  the thoughts stored in memory keep on coming into and fading away from continuously in your consciousness. If you are interested in any way, -say because of hope or fear, they simply haunt you and you are caught in their grip. Then you say :

"Oh! I'm utterly confused, don't know how to put them to rest!"

If you are really tired and sleepy, the nature helps you and you are rid of them. Otherwise you have to engage yourself in some apparently meaning-ful or not so meaning-ful an activity available to you or of your choice.

If you are really very attentive to this whole thing, you can also see that there is this thinking mode of mind, and in the background there is another thought lurking behind, not really a thought but an understanding and the sense of just being, which thought translates into the words : 

"I AM".

If you can detect that this sense prevails over and in all thinking, you at once transcend the  thought and realize what is attention indeed.

Having discovered what exactly is "attention" you could then think attentively and the thought, or the thinking mode of the mind remains in abeyance. This is what we can call the sub-conscious mind.

The word 'निदिध्यासनं' in Sanskrit points out to this state of mind. The same is called "अवधानं", in what Sri Shankaracharya refers to in His lyrical work:

"Bhaj Govindam... "

"कुरु अवधानं महदवधानं...."

In contrast,  there is also a Sanskrit word :

"अनवधानं",

Which is equivalent of 'in-attention' synonymous with 'absentmindedly'.

During waking state, one may be either attentive in-attentive, or just absentmindedly. 

During deep dreamless sleep however, one is quite aware of oneself, though he is really the individual and not apart of his world, he is also conscious of just being and enjoying that bliss as well.

This is the gift of the nature irrespective of who--so-ever or what-so-ever you in you worldly state. 

Then what is "meditation"?

Is meditation an activity a 'karma', or "attention" only?

In comparison, attention is never an activity, but a state in-herent to the mind, which is somehow in oblivion and is not given attention to.

When the attention from the outward objects is withdrawn, and is brought upon the core sense of "I AM", ध्यानं / meditation is spontaneous and natural, where no effort is needed, and even an obstruction to this natural way of being. 

***


Monday, 21 June 2021

एक दाँव!

पाँचवाँ स्तम्भ

---------©--------

इसी 12 जून 2021 को 'अहंकार' शीर्षक से एक पोस्ट अंग्रेजी और हिंदी में लिखा था। एक पाठक से, जो कि केवल हिंदी ही अधिक अच्छी तरह जानते हैं, हिंदी में इस पोस्ट का कथ्य कभी कहा था, जिसके अनुसार अहंकार रूपी भवन की नींव जिन चार स्तम्भों पर खड़ी होती है, उन्हें क्रमशः :

कर्तृत्व, भोक्तृत्व, ज्ञातृत्व और स्वामित्व

का नाम दिया जा सकता है। 

अभी दो मिनट पहले जब वे अपने भतीजे को यह जानकारी दे रहे थे तो उन्हें 'भोक्तृत्व' याद नहीं आया। तो उन्होंने फ़ोन कर पूछा ।

मैंने उनसे कहा यह जानकारी अधूरी है। 

वे बोले 'क्यों?'

मैंने कहा :

"कुश्ती सिखानेवाला गुरु भी वक्त बेवक्त के लिए एक दाँव चेले से छिपाकर रखता है।

वे बोले :

"कब बताएँगे?"

मैंने कहा :

"आप खुद पता लगा लीजिए, अगर पता नहीं लगा पाए, तो ज़रूर पूछ लीजिए।"

और यह कहकर मैंने फ़ोन काट दिया।

***

Saturday, 19 June 2021

Truth Unraveled.

The Mediate, 

The Immediate, 

and 

The Inter-mediate.

--

There is a text of 

Sri Shankaracharya, 

with the title :

Aparokshanubhuti.

The Sanskrit word 

"Aparokshanubhuti" is a word synonymous with the English equivalent 

"Direct Perception".

"Perception" implies consciousness. 

Where there is an object, perceived in a subject, that is consciousness.

This trinity is always there whenever there is consciousness. 

Conversely,

Existence of consciousness implies, there exists such a trinity.

The object is,  what is perceived.

The subject is, where the perception takes place.

The awareness of the object within the perception of the subject is what is meant by consciousness.

The subject is conscious of the object. 

We just don't know for sure if the object exists independently of the subject.

However we do know beyond doubt that the subject and the consciousness do exist without  and independently of the object.

Could we perhaps ask :

Is the subject and the consciousness one and the same, unique and identical ?

Could the subject be other than the consciousness?

Could the consciousness be other than the subject?

Then exactly who or what is the person?

Is the person one, who is conscious of the  consciousness and oneself as well, and at the same time?

 Consciousness has two aspects :

One is knowledge,

Another is Wisdom.

Knowledge could be stored in a proper format that is what is called the memory. 

A computer too has a memory in terms of KB, MB, GB, TB.

Still it is confined in certain formats.

A computer could be taught to work on itself through its memory and a certain algorithm provided to it for the same.

Maybe, this could be something what they call the AI. 

Is all this mechanisation or a fraction of this could be called Wisdom?

We would perhaps agree that the computer is after all a machine only and an insentient one as well.

So,  what makes a system a conscious or an object without consciousness?

A living Organism on the other hand is given with sentience.

Another pertinent aspect of a living organism is the progeny. 

A machine or a computer, a robot or animated machine may he possibly do create its own replica. 

But do they possess sentience?

But do they possess the consciousness? 

Again, What about a living organism?

Does it possess the consciousness? 

Or, is it possessed by the consciousness? 

Exactly Who is the possessed,

and Who is the possessor?

We could conclude that consciousness (the subjective reality) is an abstraction while the objective reality is a fact.

Whatever be the truth, the consciousness is never a material object any.

Could we see What is Wisdom? 

Isn't the Wisdom the direct perception only?

Isn't the Wisdom something very alive and at the same time beyond the reach of thought, the algorithm?

Wisdom is the source and end of thought but is beyond thought as well.

Wisdom could not he made into an object or an objective. 

Wisdom is not confined within the periphery of the consciousness as well.

Wisdom is a Sovereign movement in its own way. 

Though the material existence and the mind (consciousness) are known in this Wisdom,  thus knowing is different than :

The knowledge Mediate,  that is about the objects perceived in consciousness, and

The knowledge Intermediate, that is in the form of thought, intellect, memory, the information acquired about the world, people and events, and the phenomenal.

Other than the above two, there is perception of the very ground where consciousness keeps repeatedly arising and submerging.

This ground is the Wisdom steady,  unwavering, which is the Perception Immediate. 

This Im-mediate awakening of Reality is the true Intelligence.

The same is what is pointed out by the word :

Aparokshanubhuti. 

अपरोक्षानुभूति 

***

 

Tuesday, 15 June 2021

कल के क्रम में

(13-06-2021 के बाद)

--

कविता  : 16-06-2021

---------------©--------------

चेतना करुणामयी!

--

भय-भ्रम कितना रूढ है, 

रहस्य कितना व्यूढ है, 

मर्म कितना गूढ है, 

मनुष्य कितना मूढ है!

शुक्ति में है रजत या, 

रजत में भी शुक्ति ही है, 

सीप में मुक्ता है सच पर, 

मुक्ता में क्या भुक्ति है!

भोग में सुख है क्या,

या सुख में है भोग,

भोग में है योग क्या,

या कि भोग में है रोग! 

नित्य में है अनित्य क्या,  

या अनित्य में भी है नित्य, 

नित्य-अनित्य से परे फिर,

क्या है फिर जो है सत्य! 

काल के ही दो मुख दोनों,

जो हैं, नित्य और अनित्य,

काल स्वयं तम-मोह है, 

न नित्य है, न है अनित्य!

मोह जिसको व्यापता है,

क्या वह मन है या शरीर,

मन है जिसको भासता,

वह चित्त है या है बुद्धि!

बुद्धि का भी स्वामी जो,

बुद्धि की भी जो प्रेरणा,

भावना है या भाव कोई,

या वह है निज-चेतना! 

चेतना वह नित अभिन्न,

भान-बोध अविच्छिन्न,

नित्य प्रकट, अप्रच्छन्न,

चित्, सत् से वह अनन्य!

***








Saturday, 12 June 2021

So What?

कविता : 13-06-2021

--

कर्म कितना कठिन है, 

धर्म कितना जटिल है,

संसार कितना कुटिल है, 

मन कितना चंचल है !

ज्ञान कितना सुलभ है, 

विवेक कितना दुर्लभ है, 

मोह कितना प्रबल है,

राग कितना विकल है !

चित्त कितना अस्थिर है,

संबंध कितना क्षणिक है,

द्वेष कितना कठोर है,

काम कितना मोहक है !

अर्थ कितना व्यर्थ है,

अज्ञान कितना क्रूर है !

वैराग्य कितना दुर्बल है,

सत्य कितना दूर है !

शास्त्र कितना निष्फल है,

गुरु कितना असहाय है,

और शिष्य के लिए, 

पंथ कितना दुर्गम है!

और कोई दूसरा क्या,  

तुमको तार सकता है, 

कोई दूसरा और क्या, 

तुमको उबार सकता है !

पहले तो तुम यही जानो,

संबंध ही तो है बंधन, 

और जो है बँधा हुआ, 

वह भी है कल्पित स्वयं !

यह स्वयं कैसे मिटेगा,

मिटा सकेगा क्या स्वयं को,

यह स्वयं की स्वयं प्रतीति,

नित्य प्रकट-अप्रकट स्मृति ! 

स्मृति ही तो है इसका परिचय,

परिचय ही तो है इसकी स्मृति !

यह चक्र ही तो है बंधन,

यह चक्र ही है माया भी, 

जैसे प्रकाश के साथ साथ, 

हुआ करती है छाया भी !

आकाश जो है अछूता,

प्रकाश छाया से अस्पर्शित,

न साक्षी है, न है तटस्थ,

किन्तु फिर भी अन्तःस्थ ! 

साक्षित्व में भी द्वैत है, 

तटस्थता में भी संबंध, 

बोध जो कि है अद्वैत,

नित्य चित् सत् अनिर्बन्ध !

***








Friday, 11 June 2021

Yogasutra 1:39

यथाभिमतध्यानाद्वा ।। ३९

*****************

(पातञ्जल योगसूत्र, समाधिपाद)

In the last post the significance of ego was dealt with.

While referring to that aphorism, a next namely :

ईश्वरप्रणिधानाद्वा ।। २३

Going through the next lines,  came upon this :

Like a Rishi in the Sanatana Vedika tradition, Maharshi Patanjali never imposes an idea, He only puts forward a view which may help the aspirant according to his earnestness, sincerity disposition and keen enthusiasm.

Maharshi Patanjali does not explain or surmise if there is or isn't a God or a Supreme Authority that might creativity,  maintain and dissolve this manifest existence.

He leaves the notion of God upon the inclination, orientation and assumption he might have got through his upbringing and surrounding.

यथाभिमत means whatever and how-so-ever one thinks of the God, when one contemplates of such a God, one may come upon Him, the God  accordingly, and attain samAdhi (enraptured state of mind).

This is a very secular approach in terms of the meaning of the word. 

'secular', in contrast and comparison to 'spiritual', means the mundane.

The conflict between the Abrahamic and the Vedika Sanatana Dharma lies in the fact that at a stage in the spiritual evolution of man, one may think of the Lord as a different and superior entity while assuming oneself as only a slave, or an instrument in His hands.

In the state of perfect enrapture however, the aspirant may come to a realization that the Lord (God) is the only Reality.

एकमेवाद्वितीयः

He (the aspirant) can then accommodate his understanding (of whatever he might have realized) in words and express the same in his own language.

Maharshi suggests to the disciple (who follows the discipline of yoga), having attained such a state (samAdhi) one could ultimately surrender to the Lord and therefrom his own separate ego  is no more.

In this acceptance of the Lord as the only Truth, the ego is just extinct.

***





Thursday, 10 June 2021

अहंकार (The Ego)

How to annihilate the ego? 
--
The very concept of ego is alien / foreign to the Abrahmic religions, while in psychology, it refers to the psyche, the individual consciousness, and the personal identity.
However in Veda, Vedanta and the related texts, it is defined very clearly, and the removal of ego is equated with the liberation, enlightenment and dissolution of ignorance. The annihilation of ego in the Buddhist texts is 'nirvana'.
We can see the same 'nirvana' finds place in Gita also and is referred to as 'Brahma-nirvana'.
We may also note that historically the birth of  Buddha was much later than Krishna, and the war of MAHABHARATA, where-in is the Gita narrated.
Tirthankar Bhagavan Mahavira is contemporary of Buddha and while in the Jain-texts, the self (Atman) is immortal reality, the Atman, which is attainment of Moksh of the self.
Jain however insist that every individual has to work for one's own Moksh / liberation, attain the (state of) Atman, which is freedom eternal from  the cycle of repeated births and deaths.  
Whatever be the different rationales, the three religions of the East agree that the ego is the only obstacle in the way to realization.
If the ego is / has a hypothetical existence only,  a notion only, how it becomes such a formidable obstacle to Realization or the Supreme wisdom, (which is just another name of this enlighten-ment, and is not a state of the individual mind), and here arises a legitimate question :
Exactly "who" is caught in the trap of this ego?
Is the individual, -the 'self' is yet another entity which is being neither the ego nor the Atman? 
Let us see what is ego. 
Ego is a confederation of the four functions of the mind, and this mind is not one or many but a quality of consciousness only, not to be viewed in terms of one or many. We can liken this with the example of water which is kept in different vessels. As such water couldn't be said to be as one or many. As water it is the same, though appears in many vessels.
Exactly so, the mind that is consciousness only, when is thought of being associated with a living being (say a human), appears to be the individual mind. 
Again this individual mind comprises of the four major traits, and could be named / enumerated according to their respective roles as under:
1.The (sense of) doer-ship, the assumption 'I do' or 'I don't do', associated with the idea that I am an independent entity  --thus associating oneself with, and defining oneself in terms of ego. 
2.The (sense of) enjoyment, the assumption 'I experience' -- variously different kinds of many  pleasures and pains.
3.The (sense of) ownership, the assumption 'I am the owner of so many things' 
--either of the material kind, or in the form of abstract notion. 
So I possess these things in this way. 
No doubt this is only a thought and not a reality that could be verified physically. 
Like saying : 
"I am the owner of this house, car or money, land, property, ..."
This is really and solely supported by and depends on conventions only.
4.The (sense of) knowledge --
"I know this and that"
All this knowledge is but stored in the memory, and the memory itself keeps removing part of the old, and adding on new knowledge, moment to moment.
These four are the very foundational blocks or the pillars upon which this building, the edifice, the ego, stands proudly.
As such, really there is no such an entity which may exist as ego. Understanding this whole network of thought results in the realization  at once, that this assumed ego is but a false notion acquired in the mind because of in-attention.
The 'attention' on the other hand, is verily the consciousness itself and conversely the consciousness itself is attention. 
The two can't exist apart from one-another.
Awakening to this fact is the only clue to end this trap, "in-attention".
This is how this conceptual ego is eradicated.
***
अहंकार, अहंवृत्ति अर्थात् अहं-प्रत्यय है। 
विवेक-चूडामणि :
अस्ति कश्चित् स्वयं नित्यं अहं-प्रत्ययलम्बनः।
अवस्थात्रयसाक्षी सन् पञ्चकोष विलक्षणः ।।१२५
के अनुसार अहंकार, अहं-प्रत्यय या अहंवृत्ति वृत्ति ही है और वृत्तिमात्र चित्तवृत्ति ही होती है। 
"योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः"
इसी का द्योतक है कि दृष्टा के स्वरूप में अवस्थित होने हेतु वृत्तिमात्र का निरोध हो जाना आवश्यक है। 
निरोध और निरसन का तात्पर्य भिन्न भिन्न है। 
निरोध एक निश्चित और सीमित समय के लिए होता अथवा किया जा सकता है, जबकि निरसन का अर्थ है, वृत्तिमात्र का नष्ट हो जाना। मनोलय और मनोनाश का क्रमशः यही तात्पर्य है।
वायुरोधनाल्लीयते मनः।
जालपक्षिवद्रोधसाधनम्।। ११
प्राण और चित्त एक ही शक्ति (चेतना) के वैसे ही दो प्रकार हैं,
जैसे किसी एक ही वृक्ष की दो शाखाएँ होती हैं।
चित्तवायव श्चित्क्रियायुताः।
शाखयोर्द्वयी शक्तिमूलका।। १२
लयविनाशने उभयरोधने।
लयगतं पुनर्भवति नो मृतम्।। १३
प्राणबन्धनाल्लीन मानसम्।
एकचिन्तनान्नाशमेत्यदः।। १४
(श्रीरमण महर्षि विरचित 'उपदेश-सार')
यह एकचिन्तन पुनः ईश्वर के प्रति समर्पण के अर्थ में हो सकता है,  जैसा कि :
ईश्वरप्रणिधानाद्वा ।। २३
(पातञ्जल योगसूत्र समाधिपाद)
इस प्रकार ईश्वर के ध्यान, भक्ति अथवा स्मरण-चिन्तन आदि से भी समाधिलाभ हो सकता है किन्तु इसके बाद भी यह समाधि यदि मनोलय मात्र है तो अहंकार, अहं-प्रत्यय या अहं-वृत्ति का तात्कालिक लय / निरोध मात्र है, न कि अहंकार का निरसन। 
इसलिए अहंकार का नाश अर्थात् मनोनाश, ईश्वर की मान्यता रखते हुए या ऐसी मान्यता से रहित मनुष्य की स्थिति में उसके लिए भी संभव है।
***  




Thursday, 3 June 2021

विचार, संबंध और चेतना

Thought, Relation-ship,

and Conscious-ness. 

--------------------©------------------

I have deliberately and intentionally put a hyphen between the words : 

Relation and ship, 

and between the words :

Conscious and ness.

This is because the two aspects of the word :

'relation', 

and the two aspects of the word :

'Conscious'.

Normally 'thought' is the only connecting link that relates a conscious being with any thing, that one comes across.

This objective reality that is connected to the mind is the very thing one thinks of.

But the point is :

What is thought in relation to the mind / consciousness ?

How one when associated with thought,  assumes oneself in terms of a 'thinker'? 

Isn't this assumption 'I think' again a thought only?

Exactly "Who" is there that says :

"I think",

Is it not the underlying consciousness where-in thought arises / appears and soon disappeared too? But does this consciousness utters a single word? 

Is this consciousness the very 'thinker', that is, because of the inherent in-attention only, given an assumed reality and is taken to be real one,  independent of, and a separate entity existing apart from the consciousness?

This may need not be stressed that conscious-ness as the word suggests, is the awareness, (of) being only. Consciousness is thus only the light where-in thought plays its role and is seen / known in this very consciousness only, but in fact, there is no such an entity that voluntarily performs this role. 

So this 'thinker' is again an idea, a thought only. Once this is understood, there could not be any  relation whatsoever between the activity of thought and the assumed entity that appears and disappeares and is given reality because of in-attention of this whole movement of thought  within the field of consciousness.

Once the thought is revealed / realized in terms of an activity, a happening, the assumed 'thinker' is no more.

***

किसी भी वस्तु से संबंधित होने के लिए उसका विचार ही वह माध्यम होता है जो उससे इस संबंध को परिभाषित और तय करता है। 

किन्तु वह क्या है जो मन को विचार से संबंधित करता है?

क्या विचार के अभाव में मन नहीं होता? 

क्या समस्त 'ज्ञात' विचार पर ही अवलंबित नहीं होता? 

स्पष्ट है कि 'ज्ञाता' नामक सत्ता भी इसी 'ज्ञात' की पृष्ठभूमि में अस्तित्व ग्रहण करती रहती है और विलीन भी होती रहती है ।

इस प्रकार यह 'ज्ञाता' भी पुनः विचार से ही सृजित होता है, और स्मृति के सातत्य (निरन्तरता) से सत्य प्रतीत होता हुआ, स्वतंत्र सत्ता का रूप ले लेता है ।

इस पूरी गतिविधि में चेतना / बोध पृष्ठभूमि में विद्यमान होते हुए भी न तो ज्ञाता और न वह विचार है, किन्तु इस संपूर्ण गतिविधि का अधिष्ठान मात्र है। 

इस अधिष्ठान का भान निष्कर्षात्मक विवेचना (deductive approach) से, और / या केवल जागरूकता रूपी अवधान (conscious attention) से भी हो सकता है। 

पहले का उपयोग सैद्धान्तिक आधार की दृष्टि से हो सकता है,  जबकि दूसरा कोई निष्कर्ष नहीं, बल्कि प्रत्यक्ष एवं साक्षात्-बोध (अपरोक्ष-बोध) ही है।

***