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Spiritual Realization
Spiritual Realization
This is the concluding part of this series.
The quality of meditation depends upon certain factors such as type of awareness,
intensity of awareness, experience, animate perception, duration, level of detachment,
positive outlook and the final transformation. In a determined person, all this happens
in quick succession. The transition point of being an aspirant to a yogi is very
significant. While, you were an aspirant, you used to go to the Lord as your ultimate
refuge. As a yogi, you have nobody as your refuge, as you have realized the
Brahman, and nobody is there beyond Brahman. This grand finale will not come to
you that easily. You have to come to this stage after undergoing several
transformations. In the beginning, you were engrossed in your ego. Then you
became a devotee, worshiping the Lord in His visualized forms. You were too
religious at that time. At one point of time, you thought that your religious pursuits
will liberate you. Transcending your religious state would have been extremely
painful to you, as that was the stage, where the real transformation had taken place.
During your final stages of liberation, self affirmations will be of great help to you.
While making affirmations, your mind plays a very significant role. All the
affirmations are made through mind. When affirmations are made consciously, your
mind ensures that affirmations are implemented. You cannot affirm without faith.
Absolute faith ensures that your affirmations are carried through to their logical ends.
For example, you have to repeatedly affirm that “I am the Brahman”. It is only for
becoming Brahman, you have been pursuing spiritual path. What you are
contemplating for tomorrow, affirm that now. The process of transformation will be
much easier. You have to always remember that realisation has to happen only in your
mind. When you make your mind to repeatedly affirm that you are the Brahman,
mind gets perfectly conditioned to realize that you are Brahman. Brahman is not
someone who is going to appear before you saying that He is the Lord. Brahman
always lies within you. You are only trying to know Him and always want to be with
Him.
Your third eye chakra is a very powerful tool available to you to control your mind
during meditation. Concentrate on your third eye chakra and begin to look deep
within. Your pineal gland lies behind the central point of your eye brows, deep inside
the brain. This is known as the third eye or the metaphysical eye. It is also believed
that the soul is seated here. Third eye is also known as the seat of the soul. This may
appear in contravention of the theory that soul lies in a cave in the heart chakra, but
seat of the soul in deep behind the third eye is very close scientific proof.
Pineal gland can be activated by light energy. When you focus your consciousness towards the pineal
gland, it gets activated by the energy. It secretes melanin during sleep and during deep meditative
stages. Melanin controls the aging process. Pineal gland works in coordination with hypothalamus, a
nervous organ located at the base of the brain. Together they control biorhythms and physiological
needs of the body. When your quality of meditation improves, you will be able to connect your
consciousness to higher frequencies. This happens due to the awakening of your pineal gland. The
pineal gland is awakened not only by focusing your inner energy on your third eye, but also by drawl
of cosmic energy through your crown chakra and medulla oblongata, the back head chakra.
Apart from pineal gland, pituitary gland is another gland that helps you in reaching a
higher level of consciousness. Proper concentration on your third eye during your
meditation establishes a well balanced relationship between your soul, pineal gland
and pituitary gland. If this connection is well established, the soul within begins to
illuminate. This illumination happens due to the activated power of kundalini, drawal
of cosmic energy from the cosmos through your crown and back head chakras and
internal energy produced while concentrating on your third eye.
When all these factors work in a coordinated manner, your egoism begins to dissolve
and the level of your consciousness becomes purer. This leads to a positive situation
where you gradually lose your identity with your organs of perception and action; and
faculties of cognition and action. When your sensory organs are muted, your mind
does not receive any materialistic inputs. Already your ego is dissolved. What
remains is your mind, intellect and consciousness. Mind is a necessity as realisation
of the Self takes place only through the mind. Mind is now not in a position to get
afflicted, as you have plugged the sensory inputs to the mind. However, you continue
to perform your normal activities like walking, eating and sleeping. Since you have
dissolved your ego, an evolvement from you intellect, your mind is not concerned
with your actions, as you do not have attachment to any of your actions. Your mind
has now turned serene. Intellect is required, as the intellect is the medium through
which your soul and consciousness are connected.
You have now reached a stage where you have almost removed all the sheaths
covering the soul, making it visible to your mind. Its luminosity could not be
perceived by your mind as there was darkness of ignorance beclouding your mind.
Through meditative techniques, you have now removed all the obscurities around
your soul. You are now in a condition to realise the light of your soul, its true nature.
At this stage you can feel the changes happening in you. Your concern for others
becomes more predominant. You begin to appreciate the beauty of the Nature. You
are unable to tolerate the sufferings of others. Your self love has transformed into
universal love. You truly realise your inherent values. Now you understand you are
That.
THE EPILOGUE
You have just gone through both the theoretical and practical aspect of realising the
Brahman within your own self. For many, spiritual unfoldment does not begin due to
various factors. To understand spirituality both theory and practice are necessary.
Both complement each other, very significantly. You cannot proceed to a destination
without understanding its topography. You should know the route to reach the
destination. You should have a proper transport to reach the destination. You should
have the inclination to reach the destination and finally you should make efforts to
reach the destination. Unless all these factors work together, you cannot reach the
destination. Having born as one among the vast humanity, it should be your endeavor
to stop your future births, in your own interest. Though birth does not necessarily
means pains and sufferings, majority of us undergo sufferings either through body or
mind. Undoubtedly, one also experiences traces of joy and happiness here and there.
Realising the Self or the Brahman has to happen within your mental faculty. Inherent
nature of humanity is to get associated with sensory organs. You listen to music, you
relish delicious dishes, you love beautiful scenery, you need a comfortable home, you
need a car to travel, you look for lucrative employment, you look for an excellent
spouse, you need children, etc. Your needs are not limited. If you have one thing
today, you are sure to think of something else tomorrow and yet another thing day
after tomorrow. Your mind always wanting a change, as it never gets satisfied. Your
mind is always avaricious. Your ego makes your unsatiated desires to manifest in
huge proportions. In order to fulfill your endless desires, you work beyond your
physical and mental capacities and become completely exhausted. Your routine life
revolves around only two aspects, active state and passive state. Since you are so
accustomed to shunting between these two types of lives, you presume that you do not
have time to look into your inner self, the very source of your existence. It is not that
you want to deliberately miss out the source of your existence. You miss out because
either you not have time or inclination. Even if you have both, you are not able to
understand the means by which you can realise your inner self. Everything appear
complicated to you as there are too many philosophies and jargons.
True spiritual aspiration is rare to find in the present times. Even for those who really
want to pursue the path, they are confronted with too many concepts, too many
theories, too many philosophies, too many scriptures and too many pseudo spiritual
masters. Spirituality has now turned out to be an active and affluent industry. This
book has made an attempt to explain in a simple language without resorting to usage
of complicated and incomprehensible words, driving home only the essential features
that are necessary to acquire spiritual knowledge. The second part of this book
explained how the knowledge acquired in the first part can be practiced. The book
has also tried to explain how our inner psychic organs and external sensory organs are
interrelated to each other, to prove the point of interdependence. God has ensured that
every act of the universe is counter checked and approved by another aspect of
creation. Not a single organ can function on its own, be it external or internal. For
example, your eyes cannot function independently. They have to communicate to the
mind and organs of actions wait for its instructions. Mind alone cannot decide on the
inputs received from eyes. Mind has to depend upon intellect and consciousness.
Again your consciousness is influenced by your ego and ego in influenced by
intellect. The process of interdependence is unending. Spirituality is nothing but
understanding this concept of interdependence and the role played by each of the
interdependent apparatuses. After acquiring knowledge about these apparatus, the
next step is to understand the Creator, the inner Self, the very source of your
existence, through meditatio8un.
Having now armed with complete knowledge, you have to put your first step forward
towards the Brahman, the Creator of the universe. For your last step, you do not need
any guidance and help as He Himself illuminates your path. Once you realise Him,
you do not consider yourself as someone different from Him. You repeatedly affirm
“I am That” and ultimately, you become That.
THIS SERIES ON SPIRITUAL REALIZATION IS CONCLUDED. THE NEXT
SERIES WILL BE ON “UNDERSTANDING PHILOSOPHIES”.
SPIRITUAL REALIZATION PART 9
The state of living in the present moment happens only when one makes substantial
progress in meditation. Meditation is nothing but a bundle of few techniques to
consciously focus attention leading to a conclusion by reasoning or argument rather
than intuition and to think deeply about a subject over a period of time. Capacity for
reasoning and thinking is provided by knowledge. Therefore quality of knowledge is
paramount in meditation.
Meditation is a self initiated process. As one progresses in meditation, absorption and
grasping of the inner nature of things intuitively unfold without our conscious
knowledge. This happens automatically without any effort on the part of the
meditator. The faculty or power of mental concentration through intense mental
effort, ability to discriminate between illusion and reality, and knowledge of the Spirit
(spiritual knowledge), these three combine together in the mental platform leading to
a stage of clear understanding unintentionally. But this happens only if the mind is in
a stage of total relaxation. For example, if the desired deity’s form is focused in the
mental domain with sustained attention, one becomes absorbed in the form of the
desired deity. But, over a period of time, if the focus on desired deity is withdrawn,
then one makes spiritual progress with unfolding internal experience. The change
over from focusing to unfocusing is not a difficult process, as the mind would have
been tamed by now. This transition from focusing to unfocusing is important, as one
has to become least absorbed leading to higher level of consciousness, where one
develops the skill of intuitiveness. The meditation can be said to be complete, only if
one develops various skills to make the mind serene and inward looking over a period
of time. Only in the higher level of meditation, alternate levels of consciousness can
be realized an important factor in Selfrealization. The highest level of consciousness
can be experienced only in the stages of alternative levels of consciousness. You
cannot say which one is the best in the absence of a second object.
Only a serene mind can lead to pure consciousness. In the reality of pure
consciousness, the desired deity can be visualized and realized. There is a trenchant
connection between mind, consciousness and the desired deity, the first leading to the
last. Mind is always associated with impurity, as it is directly connected to senses.
Therefore, it becomes a necessity to understand the mind better. A normal mind
perceives illusionary nature of time and space thereby causing dyads. Every object
that exists in this universe is conceived by human mind influenced by senses. When
one is able to transcend human mind that normally stands afflicted by senses, one is
able to progress towards reality. Reality means devoid of dyads. Dyads arise because
of illusionary effect caused by māyā. Pragmatism is the stage where one is able to
realize that an object does not exist as such but only appears to exist as such. What
prevails around us is the energy field, where objects constitute as corporeal that are
susceptible for destruction and decay over a period of time.
The mind that is influenced by sensory perceptions is incapable of functioning
without ego. As long as mind is affected by ego, one continues to be selfcentred
without any opportunity of realizing the Self. Ego is a major factor in māyā that plays
spoilsport in knowing the reality. Inner peace alone can lead to realisation of reality.
When peace does not prevail, the mind is subjected to innumerable digressions caused
by māyā. One of the major factors that preclude considerable progress in meditation
is lack of internal gratification. This happens due to the combined factors of ego and
desire acting in tandem with senses afflicting the mind beyond reprehension. These
adversities influence the mind making it to deviate from the causative path of
realising the eternal truth. The human mind alone is the main obstacle to our realising
the Reality. Minds of nonhuman beings are devoid of ego. It is only the human
mind that is capable of realising the Brahman and it is again the same human mind
that causes obstructions in realising the Reality. The former is knowledge and latter is
ignorance. Hence mind is considered as more powerful than nuclear energy that can
be used for both creative and destructive purposes.
To counteract the effects of ego, desire and sensory afflictions, meditation is
practiced. A proper meditation causes attentive awareness for a considerable
duration, causing certain physiological changes thereby relaxing both mind and body.
For an effective meditation, relaxation of mind and body is a prerequisite that can be
attained only by persistent practice. Practice alone makes a man perfect. Relaxation
of body is indicated by lowering of blood pressure (BP) and relaxation of mind is
reflected by internal happiness leading to ability of better focusing. This relaxation is
reflected in the face of practitioner. Two things that are required to reach this stage are
comfortable posture and total body relaxation. There are bound to be stiffness in our
body and the localisation of the stiffness largely depends upon one’s profession.
Apart from mentally removing such blocks, stretching exercises are of great help.
Generally, stiffness arises in the area of hip and neck, the starting and penultimate
points of kundalini. Yogic postures make the energy move inside the body without
facing any blocks.
Quality of meditation is directly related to our breathing. When the breathing is fast
or normal, it means mind continues to be associated with extraneous thoughts. The
spiritual quest should be more powerful than extraneous thoughts that are associated
with sensory precepts. The intense spiritual quest alone is capable of obviating
extraneous thoughts. This is the reason for attending spiritual lectures or reading
spiritual books. Breathing is the tool that connects self with the Self, by establishing a
link between the brain and the body. Medulla is the lowest part of the brain. The
level of oxygen in the blood is decided by medulla. When the level of oxygen is low,
brain sends signals through the spinal cord, which in turn makes the diaphragm to
descend thereby making the lungs expand by drawing external air. After pumping the
available oxygen into the system, the inhaled air is exhaled with lesser oxygen and
more carbon dioxide. When breath is slow and steady, adequate oxygen is supplied to
the body and when the breath is erratic and shallow, lesser amount of oxygen is
supplied making the breath faster. Abdominal breathing helps in relaxing both body
and mind and chest breathing leads to build up of tension both in body and in mind. It
would be ideal to make the breathing deeper with lesser time on inhalation and more
time on exhalation. When attention is fixed on breathing, the practitioner
automatically enters the state of nomind. The nomind state is the entry point of pure
consciousness where the brain continues to remain awake, but disengages itself from
all other thought processes. It becomes receptive, dispassionate and devoid of all
emotions.
The level of consciousness is the foremost factor in meditation. Three normal states
of consciousness are awakened state, sleep state and deep sleep state. These are the
three stages of intensity of sleep. In the same way, meditation also has different
intensities depending upon one’s ability to move his consciousness. The quality of
consciousness is the sole factor to determine the quality of meditation. Meditation
will be of no use, unless one establishes a firm contact with pure cosmic energy from
where necessary energy is provided to the universe for creation and sustenance. The
cosmic energy is the source of all energies, which is also known as the Brahman or
God. This energy in its miniscule form is known as speech, sound, vision, light, etc.
Whether one likes it or not, this cosmic energy is present in and around a person. It is
omnipresent. Attempting to understand the original source of this energy is known as
the path of spirituality. To pursue this path, one requires supreme knowledge, which
is different from the routine process of learning. This knowledge cannot be
effectively acquired from books or through lectures. This can be attained only by
exploring the inner self by inquiring who am I.
Intensive meditative practice enables a person to access the supreme level
consciousness. For example, the level of awareness in the active state and in dream
state is both external and internal. In the state of deep sleep state, the level of
awareness is only internalized. No one knows what is happening around him in deep
sleep state. In the same way, a person in the shallow stage of meditation is aware
both externally and internally. In the deep stage of meditation, he becomes
thoughtless and therefore totally fixed internally. He stands disconnected from
external influences and is able to sustain his single pointed focus. This is where the
meditation really advances to the next stage. This is the fourth level of consciousness,
the first three being awake, shallow sleep and deep sleep. The fourth level of
consciousness can be classified into two substages, shallow meditative stage and
deep meditative stage. One can easily differentiate between these two stages. In the
first stage (shallow), the preliminary effect of tranquilizing is felt which could last for
a few seconds to a few minutes. A feeling of relief is also felt. At this moment, he
does not seem to want anything in life. A sort of happiness is realized not amounting
to bliss. This is the symptom of upcoming blissful stage. Having experienced this
stage he wants to experience again and again which prompts him to spend more time
in enjoying this experience. Therefore, reaching this stage of meditation is difficult
and once this is reached, rest of the meditative process happens automatically leading
to the deep meditative stages.
As one progresses, the quality of meditation also increases finally leading to
emancipation or Selfrealization. Emancipation is enlightenment, the logical
conclusion to meditative process. The progress in meditation can be monitored with
the duration of remaining in intense awareness. Though this is not possible and also
not advisable to make such a calculation, it is possible to mentally calculate the
duration of intensive awareness from the level of relaxation and happiness. From a
few seconds in the beginning to a couple minutes now is a good progress. But this
does not mean that one should meditate for only a couple of minutes. The process is
like takeoff of an aircraft to reach higher altitudes and then to descend to land. In the
same way, in meditation the consciousness level starts from the lowest level (routine
level of awareness that is witnessed during the awakened stage), reach the highest
level, remain there for a few seconds to a few minutes and ultimately come back to
the normal stage of awareness. The quality of the meditation depends upon the time
taken to reach the highest level of consciousness and the duration of sustaining at that
level. The human brain is the main factor in managing the different level of
consciousness. Meditation is not without scientific proof, but it does not need any
scientific proof, as one undergoes personal experience. There can be no better proof
than personal experience.
SPIRITUAL REALIZATION PART 8
The process of meditation also depends upon the condition of the physical body, as
body and mind are interdependent. Meditation is a process by which the conscious
mind is rested for a certain period of time. Mind normally takes rest only during deep
sleep. In the initial stage of sleep, mind continues to be active at the subconscious
level. Dreams arise from subconscious mind. When subconscious mind is active,
conscious mind takes rest. When conscious mind is active, subconscious mind does
not act. Conscious mind is the normal objective mind. Subconscious mind is the
place where the impressions of our thoughts and actions are stored. These impressions
become important as they affect the karmic account embedded in the soul. These
impressions have to be pure. Even if the conscious mind is controlled, it is difficult
to control the subconscious mind which is stronger and deeper than the conscious
mind. It is only the subconscious mind that manifests as dreams. When our
conscious mind is controlled, we are almost there with the Divine. Mind can be
mastered or controlled only by practice. First, the sensory inputs to the mind should
be disconnected and second, the mind should be allowed to explore the source of
creation, the Brahman. The essential requirement for mastering the mind is
knowledge. Vedānta refers to six types of knowledge. They are perception,
inference, description, comparison, assumption and intuition. These types of
knowledge are like many rivers flowing into the same ocean. The source and quality
of knowledge differs like the waters of different rivers. But, ultimately they all
provide knowledge that is required to know the Brahman. Each one of these types
can quieten the mind in their own way. In spirituality, the level of one’s
consciousness is important because, only the purest level of consciousness can destroy
one’s ego and endorses the thought process to pursue spirituality. Most of us fail in
spirituality mainly because of our limited understanding of spirituality. Meditation
alone is not going to help us in achieving spiritual progress. Mediation is one of the
tools. Meditation makes an attempt to unplug the link between mind and the body, so
that the mind could function independent of the body. When the connection between
the mind and the body is snapped, sensory inputs to the mind are stopped. The first
transformation to spirituality happens here. When mind and body are delinked, the
pleasure and pain are not felt. Pleasure and pain cause afflictions only on the physical
body and realized through the mind. Sage Ramana was operated upon without
anaesthesia and he never felt the pain of surgery.
Mind is the most powerful instrument and can be compared to an atom. Both are very
subtle in nature and highly potent. Consciously resting such a mind is undoubtedly an
incomprehensible task. We are trying to achieve this with the help of meditation, the
only tool that is available to us to control the mind. If mind is to be controlled, first
thoughts are to be controlled. Thoughts arise out of desires and actions of the past,
present and future, and are related to objects. Thoughts are subtler than mind and
cannot be totally eliminated from the mind, but the mind can be made thoughtless or
stilled for a few moments. In those stilled moments, God is realized. In the
beginning stage, mind cannot be made thoughtless with ease. Instead, we have to
develop a powerful thought process, different from our mundane thoughts.
How to activate this thought process? We have to visualise a form of Divinity as
discussed earlier. In the initial stages of meditation, an image of the deity is a
necessity. The favourite image of the deity is to be repeatedly visualised and fixed in
the subconscious mind. There is no rule for visualisation. It is not necessary that one
should visualize a deity as per dhyāna verses. Visualising the deity in a human form
is the ideal way to begin. Probably a painting or a sculpture or an idol is the right
object. Focus the attention on this object repeatedly. Look (stare is the right word) at
the object for some time without winking, if possible. Winking or no winking, staring
at the object is more important. Observe the object very closely. Close the eyes now
and try to recollect the object. Recollect all the minute details of the object. Once
this is practiced, the object will get fixed into the conscious mind by persistent
practice. From the conscious mind the impressions of the object get stored in the
subconscious mind. After sometime, the object is not necessary, as the object gets
transferred from the physical plane to the mental plane. There will be a stage when
one can recollect the object whenever needed, using the conscious mind from the
hidden depths of subconscious mind. Even during sleep, one is able to retrieve this
object in the form of a dream, as the impression of the object is already stored in the
subconscious mind.
One can reminiscent the object perfectly, only if all other thoughts are subdued. When
the mind is absorbed in the object, all other thoughts are automatically subdued. This
is the process of meditation. In this process there are three constituents. One is the
person who meditates known as the meditator, second is the object on which the
meditator meditates, the form of a deity or even a symbol and the third is the process
of meditation by which the meditator tries to visualise the object of meditation. They
are known as the seer, seen and seeing or knower, known and the process of
knowing. By persistent practice, the meditator is able to visualise the exact replica of
the object in his mind, thereby driving out all other thoughts. When the mind is
totally occupied by the form of the deity, the knower, the known and the process of
knowing become one. This is the stage where you are totally engrossed in the form of
the deity, forgetting your body and the act of meditation. This is the perfect meditative
practice. In the initial stages of meditation, if one tries to meditate on the formless
form of the Brahman, he may not be able to achieve substantial progress. Spiritual
progress should be gradual and steady and requires strong meditative skills.
The favourite image that was discussed in the previous section is known as iṣṭa (ishta)
devata or desired deity or favourite deity. For progressing in spirituality, one should
develop faith, dedication and sincerity. Meditation is a process through which
commune with desired deity is established. Only after establishing a firm commune
with the desired deity, further spiritual progress takes place. Here commune does not
mean communication, but a state of intensified and intimate receptivity of the mind.
Intimate receptivity is possible only if the mind is devoid of other thought processes.
In order to focus our attention on a single object, desired deity is conceptualised,
contemplated and visualized. A sincere meditator with persistent practice meets his
desired deity face to face during the peak of his meditative session. There can be no
theological and metaphysical reasoning for such head on meeting with the form of
desired deity, but the fact is that it happens. He has conceptualised his own deity. It
would be more appropriate to say that he has created his own deity. In a way, he has
become a creator. This becomes possible only through the highest level of
consciousness.
The mind by nature is not able to distinguish between the illusion and reality or
perception and impression. Willpower is a tool that can be effectively used to
manipulate the mind and makes it to differentiate between illusion and reality. But the
question is how to manipulate the mind with willpower. Mind is highly susceptible to
influence. Whichever influences it more, mind becomes predisposed to that influence
and begins to perceive only from that angle. If it has more sensory influence, the
mind becomes susceptible to sensory perceptions. When the mind is not influenced
by senses, it conceives extra sensory perceptions also known as clairvoyance. Extra
sensory perception, popularly known as ESP, becomes possible due to the influence
of knowledge. The knowledge that is required for clairvoyance can be attained
through reasoning and selfexperiencing. Amongst the two, selfexperiencing is the
most important factor. Reasoning is a prerequisites for selfexperiencing. It is like
knowing an animal from books through narrations and descriptions, rather than
personally experiencing the animal. The direct experience of the animal gives total
picture of the animal and is different from our perception and reasoning.
Understanding the Brahman from scriptures and lectures is totally different from
personally experiencing the Brahman. Such direct experience is possible only
through meditation. In order to have perfect, complete and direct experience,
meditation on an object, such as the desired deity is advised in the initial stages of
meditation.
Your favourite deity, assuming the part of your guru will guide you, when to
transform from meditating on a form to meditating on the effulgent formless
Brahman. The deity will disappear on its own, paving way for your realisation.
Realising the formless Brahman is called Selfrealization. The commune with the
Brahman and you is gradually being established.
The direct experience happens when knowledge and reasoning matures with the
passage of time. The passage of time is not fixed as the quality of the time spent is
important rather than the quantity of the time. There are two aspects to realization,
both associated with mind. First, other thoughts are to be eradicated from the mind.
Second, mind has to focus on the object of meditation. Without getting rid of other
thoughts, focusing becomes impossible. By nature, mind is fond of wandering. It
dwells on many things at a time, be it past, present or future. Mind spends more time
either in the past or in the future than on the present. Meditation on the form is
prescribed merely to make the mind to forget about past and future and make it to
exist in the present. Knowledge with conviction is the basic requirement of
spirituality. Faith forms the basis of intuitional reasoning and abstract thought forms
the basis of intellectual reasoning. Former becomes the subject matter of philosophy
and the latter becomes the subject matter of science. Though spirituality can be
explained scientifically, science cannot address all the intricacies of spirituality. For
example, air is subtle and invisible; still we know that air exists. This is because of
knowledge and reasoning that lead to belief and final experience. It is the case with
spirituality also. Experiencing the presence of Brahman can be achieved by way of
bliss, the exploding joy.
Meditation is a process wherein effort is made to transform the agitative state of mind
into the state of spiritual concentration. The vision of the deity is secondary; but what
is important is the purification of our thoughts that happens automatically depending
upon the level of one’s consciousness. Meditation is not like mantra, where a guru
initiates his disciple. Guru can tell the disciple how to meditate, but the effect of
meditation purely depends upon individual dedication, perseverance and practice.
Without persistent practice, it is impossible to make spiritual progress.
The comfort and firmness of the sitting posture is important, as one has to sit
comfortably for a long duration. It is not important that one should sit with crossed
legs or any other specific posture. Once a posture is taken for meditation, there
should be no movement in the body during the entire period of meditation. Spine
should be erect with head slightly tilted backwards, so that kundalini can comfortably
traverse through the spine. In a good meditative stage, kundalini begins it’s ascend
automatically without any efforts. The movement of kundalini largely depends upon
purity of thoughts. One should fix his consciousness in between the eye brows,
known as clairvoyant eye or the third eye. In other words, one should visualise the
object of meditation between the eye brows. Once concentration is fixed, other things
are of no relevance. The breathing tends to become slow. In the beginning stages of
meditation, it is advisable to meditate in a place where there is no noise around.
Noise will distract one’s concentration. Any sudden sound could lead to a panic
attack. It is also essential that one should not be touched during his peak meditation.
To practice meditation, one needs to understand the intricacies of meditation such as
knowledge and skill, the fundamental requirements of spirituality. Many of the
meditators fail to achieve significant progress or achieve illusionary progress due to
lack of foundational knowledge. There is no point in practicing meditation without
achieving explicit progress. Once the required knowledge is acquired, the practice
becomes easier. Further progress depends purely on one’s perseverance and
commitment. Meditation is a process through which enlightenment can be attained
through direct, clear and deep perception rather than religious beliefs. Therefore,
religion has nothing to do with meditation and spirituality.
Attention is the focal point in meditation. Attention is different from consciousness.
Attention is the power of mental concentration. Awareness and attentiveness are the
two important constituents of foundational knowledge of meditation. The first stage
of awareness leads to the second stage of attentiveness. Substantial spiritual progress
can be achieved only through evolution of consciousness in combination with
attentiveness. The intent to be spiritual is more important than efforts. Thought
process to get enlightenment is more important than spiritual actions. Both awareness
and attentiveness are the evolutions of mind. The level of consciousness varies from
person to person. The level of consciousness depends upon mind’s natural inclination
and capacity to interpret the inputs that it has collected. Based upon this
understanding only, it has been said that one should not indulge too much in sensory
activities. Mind has the tendency to act only on the inputs provided to it through
senses. But due to its unconditioned nature, mind cannot differentiate between
perception and reality. Perception is the consequence of senses and reality is the
consequence of knowledge. But the mind in its unconditioned state which is also
known as innate state, wrongly understands perception as reality. Unconditioned state
refers to that state of mind that is devoid of spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge
is nothing but nonduality, the philosophy of advaita. This spiritual knowledge, in the
initial stages can be obtained through Holy Scriptures. Without the basic knowledge
of the Brahman, He cannot be meditated upon. Knowing the formless Brahman is the
logical conclusion of the meditative process. To reach this ultimate state, one has to
evolve from the foundational stage. The spiritual evolution is a gradual purification
process of the mind. Mind can be purified by dissociating it from too much of
sensory afflictions. It is not possible for anyone to live without senses. One should
not get addicted to sensory influences and materialistic pleasures. The word addiction
is important in classifying what is the level being classified as too much. Without
using senses, man cannot make a living. But temptations and ego are to be
conquered. They wrongly identify self as Self, due to the effect of māyā or illusion.
Temptations and ego can be conquered only by knowledge. Spiritual purity can be
attained by unstinted devotion. Thus knowledge and devotion form the foundational
state of meditation. During meditative progression, one could frequently come across
illusionary states where auto suggestions are often misconceived as divine commune.
Contact with the Cosmos in the form of subtle sound can be established only by
persistent practice. In the state of autosuggestions, the mind is not totally purified and
awareness and attentiveness are not totally achieved.
SHEATHS OF A BODY
A soul is the innermost of a human body. It is covered by three types of bodies. They
are kāraṇa or casual body, sūkṣma or subtle body and sthūla or gross body.
The gross body perishes with every incarnation of the soul. The subtle body remains
with the soul after its departure from the body for some time. It is believed that the
subtle body remains for twelve days after the death of the gross body. But the casual
body always remains with soul and transmigrates with the soul. The soul is placed
only in the casual body along with impressions of the subconscious mind.
It is also important to know the components of these bodies. Casual body is full of
bliss. Subtle body corresponds to mind, intellect and prāṇa. The gross body
corresponds to food. The true nature of the self or the soul is veiled by these bodies.
Detachment towards your body takes you towards your mind and intellect. If you are
able to transcend your mind and intellect, it takes you to the state of bliss. A little
more effort is all that is needed to realise the soul within. This is known as self
realisation or Selfrealisation. Part two of this book discusses about the necessary
practice to realise the Self within.
PART II
THE PRACTICE
True Self can be realized only through meditation. Meditation can be explained as
psychological process by which mind is trained to concentrate on an object. The
quality of concentration is more important than the object of concentration.
Meditation is a unique form of consciousness and is not merely degrees of state of
relaxation. Meditation has more to do with awareness or consciousness, as it is often
called, than with mind relaxation. It is not merely a spiritual process, but is the logical
culmination of human birth. You cannot commence meditation without acquiring
adequate spiritual knowledge and expertise. This means that you cannot proceed to
this part without familiarising with the previous part.
An object for meditation is a basic necessity in the initial stages, though in the later
stages when you develop higher form of consciousness, the object can be dispensed
with. When the knowledge becomes more profound, the level of consciousness
increases. Attainment of knowledge gets reflected not only in your mental perception,
but also in your actions. Ultimately, the level of consciousness alone that matters as
the highest form of consciousness is the Brahman Himself. Meditation is a process by
which mundane level of consciousness that exists in our day to day life is processed
by energy waves generated through meditation. A typical example can be drawn to
fire made out of logs. The quality of the flame depends upon the kind of log that is
used to conflagrate the fire. If logs are dry, it gives rise to sootless flame. If logs are
wet, the fire produces soot. In both the cases, only logs are used to produce flame and
the resultant fire is also the same, but the quality of fire is different. An ignorant man
considers both as fire, but a man with knowledge will be able to discriminate between
two types of fire, based on the quality of the flame. In the same way, the result of
meditation depends upon the quality of meditator. Quality of the meditator depends
upon one’s ability to pull all the actions of the mind to focus on an object.
In this part, the process of meditation will be discussed comprehensively. More than
the practice, knowledge about meditation and understanding its intricacies and
manoeuvring it, is of utmost importance. Practice without knowledge leads you
nowhere. Meditation has nothing to do with renunciation. Meditation is not a process
of compromising your individual identity, but is a process of redefining your identity.
Meditation process unfolds in the domain of mind. Mind is a powerful insidious tool
of mankind that is the cause for either pleasure or pain or both. Through the process
of meditation, it is not possible to blackout or still the mind. One cannot effectively
survive without a fully functional mind. If mind ceases to function one becomes
insane. An effective meditation honestly makes repeated attempts to refine the mind
from its mundane nature. A fully refined mind becomes the Creator. This refinement
does not happen immediately. It is a gradual process that depends upon your
ceaseless practice and allegiance. During the process of effective meditation, your
spiritual ignorance is removed, illusion destroyed and Ultimate Reality is understood.
Ultimate Reality is nothing but the conscious union of the meditator and the object of
meditation, through the process of meditation. Meditation is the only way to realize
the Reality, by gradual processing and seasoning of the mind.
The mind no doubt is restless and difficult to curb. But it can be brought under
control by repeated practice. Yoga, the union of Self with self, is difficult to achieve
for the one whose mind is not subdued by him. However if one has the mind under
his control and is still ceaselessly striving, it can be easily attained through practice.
There are two factors that are extremely important to make a beginning. One is the
knowledge about meditation and its process. The second one is perseverance and
faith.
In our routine life, we come across three states of consciousness. They are active,
dream and deep sleep. Awake or active is the state, where we carry out all our
activities with the help of our senses. In this stage our consciousness is fully active
and alert. Dream stage is where dreams unfold when the awareness or consciousness
of the mind is not fully rested. In the third stage of deep sleep, our mind is fully
rested and our level of consciousness is zero and this level can be explained as the
state of unconsciousness as during this stage, we are not aware of anything and the
mind is rested and becomes inactive totally. Mind is an exclusive property of
mankind and it is subtle and yet the most powerful instrument in human life.
Cognitive state is the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning,
which in simple term is known as knowledge. Consciousness is the universal energy
endowed with immense power capable of transcending the factor of time. Without
consciousness, life is not possible. Therefore, consciousness is an essential
component of existence. Meditation is a process that mainly deals with manipulating
the level of consciousness. The level of consciousness can be modified only with the
help of knowledge. In our normal life, we have only the mundane level of
consciousness. The mundane level of consciousness can be evolved to higher levels
with the help of knowledge, during the process of mediation. Meditation is a process
that happens only in the arena of the mind.
Meditation not only helps you to advance spiritually, but also plays a positive role in
your working environment. It changes your attitude towards life and removes all
negative elements in your life. Primarily, negative thoughts are responsible for
failures. Meditation transforms a pessimistic person as an optimist. Optimism gives
rise to positive attitudes and positive affirmations. If mind is bombarded with positive
thoughts and positive affirmations, mind has no option but to turn itself as a positive
influencing factor. When your mundane mind or negative mind turns into a positive
mind, everything that happens around you becomes positive. You become a highly
successful personality. It is only the mind that becomes primarily responsible for
experiencing the pleasure or pain that unfolds as per your karmic account. One cannot
get away from the influence of his karma. But, if the mind is well trained, tamed and
brought under your control, it does not feel the difference between pleasure and pain.
A well trained mind does not get influenced by the sufferings or otherwise that the
body undergoes. If the mind is able to disassociate itself from frequent sensory
influences, it signifies that the mind is being brought under control. During the
process of meditation, the mind is made thoughtless by focusing on a single object.
Focusing on an object becomes an absolute necessity in the initial stages of
meditation as the mind needs something to concentrate, otherwise mind will digress.
The first step is to make the object of meditation perfect. Conceptualising an object is
important because, as we progress in meditation, we establish a connection with that
object. Conceptualising an object is possible only with the help of our mind.
Mind is very unsteady, turbulent, retentive and powerful. As long as we are
associated with desires, it is not possible to master the mind. It is incorrect to say that
in a secluded place, mind can be controlled. As long as thoughts are associated with
the mind, no effective control can be exercised over the mind, irrespective of the
surroundings. The best way to control the mind is to get away from the desires. But
desire is our habituation, and to get away from it is a tumultuous job. Mind cannot
remain without thoughts. In the thoughtless state of mind, it remains connected to the
highest level of consciousness, in the form of light. But if the mind is trained to
concentrate on an object, it forgets other afflictions it receives through sensory
organs. To process a thought, sensory organs provide the necessary stimulations to
the mind. Perception is not possible without an object, as otherwise, the mind would
start wandering towards the stimulations received from the sensory organs. An
effective process of meditation withdraws the mind from sensory stimulations. But at
the same time, the mind cannot be made functionless. It needs to be active for its
effective functioning. Instead of making the mind to focus on diverse objects, we can
train the mind to focus and concentrate on a single object. Concentrating and
focusing the mind on a single object is known as meditation.
Logical conclusion to meditation is to realise the Selfilluminating and formless form
of the Brahman and stay connected with It. But the mind needs to be trained and
tuned gradually to focus on a formless form. All along, the mind was associated with
forms and the transformation to the formless form cannot happen that easily. It is
therefore important that the training for meditation be commenced with a
conceptualised object. The initial stage of spirituality is associated with rituals.
Rituals are surely a necessity to lay a strong foundation for spirituality. Rituals
culminate in mantra recitation, popularly known as ‘mantra japa’ or mantra
recitation. During rituals both the body and the mind are active. But in the mantra
repetition, body is rested and only the mind is active by repeating the mantra. In the
initial stages of mantra japa, one uses rosary beads, when concentration is more on the
beads than on the mantra. At one stage, the mind tells us that the beads are not
necessary and we dispense with the rosary beads and start reciting the mantra without
counting, concentrating more on the mantra. The effectiveness of the mantra begins
only at this point and till now it was only a training period for the mind to get itself
familiarized with the mantra. After sometime, mind questions the necessity of the
mantra itself as the mind finds it difficult to concentrate on the mantra as it now
becomes engrossed in conceptualising the form associated with the mantra. For every
mantra, there is a dhyāna verse, the verse that describes the personal attributes of the
deity for whose conceptualisation, the mantra is repeated. This dhyāna verse is very
important in visualising the deity. For example, the dhyāna verse says that the deity
has four arms, Her complexion is crimson, She is sitting on a lotus flower, etc. The
purpose of the dhyāna verse is to help the practitioner to visualize the deity in the
manner described in dhyāna verse. Life is infused to this form with the power of
mantra. This deity becomes the object of meditation. It is only the ability of the mind
that visualises the concerned deity, as the mind does not have previous experience of
the deity, as no such form really exists in flesh and blood. Now we have to train our
mind to concentrate and focus on this conceptualised object. While pursuing the path
of spirituality with sincerity and dedication, substantial progress is automatically
achieved. If one does not feel the progress, it is a clear indication that he is not
following the right path. The progress is to happen from the corporeal plane to the
mental plane, where mind takes over from the body.
While in the process of acquiring knowledge on meditation, let us simultaneously
begin some practice. The important factors for meditation are observation of breath
and posture. There is a definite distinction between kundalini meditation and ordinary
mediation. If one practices regular meditation, kundalini will ascend automatically,
chakra after chakra. In the initial stages of mediation, observation of breath is
important. Generally when we breathe in, our abdomen goes in and when we breathe
out our abdomen expands. Though there is no connection between abdomen and
breath, due to the movement of diaphragm, abdominal area expands and contracts.
Diaphragm is a flat muscle that separates the thoracic and abdominal cavities. It is
situated just below the lungs and supports them. When we breathe in, the lungs
expand pushing the diaphragm down. When the diaphragm moves down to
accommodate the expanded lungs, the abdominal area is expanded to accommodate
the diaphragm. During exhalation, the lungs are contracted to expel the entire air
inside. When the stomach is pulled in during exhalation, the diaphragm moves up
making the lungs to constrict, enabling them to expel the entire air. The air that we
breathe in should reach the end points of the lungs called alveoli, the primary gas
exchange units of the lungs. Oxygen is sent to the blood through the surrounding
network of capillaries of alveoli, and carbon dioxide is absorbed from the body by the
reverse route. Based upon this medical definition, deep inhalation and exhalation is
advised.
Let us now observe our normal breathing. If a palm is kept on the abdominal area, we
can observe our way of breathing. Our palm should move out while inhaling and
should move in while exhaling, synchronising with the movement of the abdominal
area. If we are not breathing as above, we have to practice the right way of
breathing, which is also known as yogic breathing or abdominal breathing. We can
take any comfortable posture, sitting, standing or even lying down in supine position.
At this point, we have to fix our consciousness only on the breathing and not on the
posture. Inhale deeply to fill the lungs. While inhaling, push the diaphragm down,
which automatically makes the abdominal area to bloat. Please do not hold the
breath. Now exhale by pushing up the diaphragm. Alternatively, the stomach can be
pulled in, which makes the diaphragm to move up. When this is practiced regularly
our normal breathing itself changes to yogic breathing. It is not necessary that deep
breathing should be practiced always. Deep breathing should be practiced only in
empty stomach, preferably in the morning or late in the evening. When someone is
tired and feels exhausted, deep breathing helps. During deep breathing, brain gets
adequate oxygen supply.
(to be continued)
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Thursday, August 23, 2012
SPIRITUAL REALIZATION PART 6
EXTERNAL SENSORY ORGANS OR ACTIVE FACULTIES
Before we proceed to understand the actual process of creation, we have to know
about our external sensory organs. Basically, the entire creation revolves around the
five basic elements ether, air, fire, water and earth. Each individual creation
functions due to the combined effect of these five principles. These five elements
proceed to control activities by breaking down from their gross forms to organs of
perception and action. The derivatives of this process are known as principles also
known as tattvas. First, they become organs of perception. They are ear, skin, eye,
tongue and nose. These are the instruments of sensory faculty and hence they are also
known as sensory organs. For Selfrealization, these sensory faculties are to be made
ineffective. Next comes the organs of action comprising of mouth, feet, hands, organ
of excretion and organ of procreation.
Five organs of perception produce five cognitive faculties. Ear gives us the power of
hearing, skin produces touch or sensation, eye gives sight, tongue produces taste and
nose feels the smell. Five organs of actions produce five action faculties. Mouth
produces speech and helps in consuming food for sustenance, feet give movements,
hands give the power of holding etc, organs of excretion causes evacuation of
undigested food from the body, and organ of procreation causes reproduction.
The following chart will explain the modification of the five elements giving rise to twenty principles
or tattvas. These are called external sensory organs as they function outwardly. Inner cognitive
faculties comprising of mind, intellect, consciousness and ego function inwardly, hence the suffix
inner. The five cognitive and five active faculties are subtle in nature and are not obvious. But their
participation can be known by their performance. The five cognitive faculties cause the individual
attitude that varies from person to person, depending upon the potency of the basic elements. These
elements are also not found in the same proportion like guṇas. Elements will not be active
Basic organs of cognitive organs of action
elements perception faculties action faculties
(knowledge)
ether Ear sound mouth speech
air Skin touch feet movement
fire Eye sight hands holding
water Tongue taste organ of evacuation
excretion
earth Nose smell organ of reproduction
procreation
in the same proportion in every individual as in the case of guṇas. The
disproportional presence of the elements and guṇas is the reason for difference in
attitude of different individuals. The faculties of action make that person to act. The
cognitive faculties cause actions to be performed in the latter, which is called as an
actor. The faculties of perception and action together form the subtle body, while
organs of perception and action form the gross body. A man functions due to the
coordinated efforts of gross body by being an actor and subtle body causing actions.
The process of creation gets its initial impetus by the bonding of inner psychic organs
and external sensory organs. When you enjoy the material world through your senses
you are known as the enjoyer. You use your cognitive faculties (sound, touch, sight,
taste and smell) to experience an object. Your experience, thus derived through an
object could be either pleasurable or painful. Whether such an experience is pleasure
or pain is decided by the inner psychic organs, mainly by the mind. Though it is the
mind that plays a major role in determining the quality of the experience such as
pleasure or pain, other factors intellect, consciousness and ego also have their own
role to play. While consciousness concentrates on an object, in complicated matters,
intellect determines the quality of the experience and your ego experiences the
experience.
You, in the process of acquiring experience have to perform certain actions, as
experience cannot be gained without action. You do not remain as a mere enjoyer, but
also become a doer. You are both a doer and also an enjoyer. You, as a doer have to
perform actions through your organs of action (mouth, feet, hands, organs evacuation
and organ of procreation). Organs of action function only if they receive command
from the mind. Mind receives inputs from the organs of perception. Thus, a man can
function only if he assumes a dual role, one as the enjoyer and another as the doer.
Thus, the interdependency of organs of perception and organs of action has been
established. In reality though, they are not interdependent, but their products viz.
faculties of perception and action are interdependent.
INTERDEPENDENCE OF PSYCHIC AND SENSORY ORGANS
Sensory organs comprising of faculties of perception are the main source of
information to inner psychic organs. It is the mind, which functions predominantly
amongst the psychic organs, receives the information through these ten faculties of
senses (cognitive and action faculties) belonging to sensory organs. This is a process
where the outer experiences are realised through the ten external sense faculties and is
processed by the mind for onward transmission to ego. Ego always remains in a state
of delusion, hence cannot take a concrete view of the experience. The ego now passes
on the experience to the intellect to take a final decision. Intellect is the most seasoned
among the four, though not as powerful as consciousness. Intellect is highly refined
form of mind where exhaustive analysis can take place based on the inputs received
from the organs of perception and action. The decision of the intellect is conveyed to
the mind, which in turn implements through organs of perception and action, the
source from which the inputs were originally received, completing a cycle. Thus, the
interdependency of inner psychic organs, organs of perception, cognitive faculties,
organs of action and action faculties is established.
Though the interdependency is established between psychic and sensory organs and
faculties, it is the mind that is more active in interacting with the sensory organs. That
is why yoga attaches greater importance to mind control. Soul is the primary source
of a life. Without soul, an existence is just not possible, as the soul alone is the cause
for all actions that unfolds due to the manifestation of karma. The illusionary effect
or māyā induces the soul to think that it is both the doer and the enjoyer. Māyā causes
this inducement through ego. Māyā never acts directly but always acts through your
ego. It is only your ego that is responsible for making your organs of perception and
action to function harmoniously, based on the principle of their interdependency.
Without the presence of ego, you cannot really exist.
Now apart from the factors of psychic and sensory organs, other factors come in to
play their due roles in creation and sustenance of man. The most important among
other factors is breath, which is also known as vital force. The air we inhale gets
converted from its gross form to five subtle types of air or prāṇa. These prāṇas, by
getting converted into vital force aid in different metabolic activities of the body.
Prakṛti or Nature is the platform in which both psychic and sensory organs begin to
function, if prakṛti gets associated with the soul. Both psychic and sensory organs
cannot manifest, unless activated by the soul. Such an activity will not happen unless
there is a proper platform available. Since such a platform is available in the form of
prakṛti, both psychic and sensory organs in conjunction with the soul begin to unfold
the first activity of creation. For example, the subtle nature of cognitive faculties such
as sound, touch, form, taste and smell get transformed into the grosser form of basic
elements such as ether, air, fire, water and earth. The finer and subtler forms of
elements get transformed into gross forms known as objects, thereby causing the
creation of the universe that is not total at this stage. The basic elements of ether, air,
fire, water and earth undergo changes in their composition, whereby the objects
become visible, completing the process of total creation.
The entire process of creation depends upon these twenty seven principles or tattvas.
The following chart will explain how these twenty principles are placed. You will
observe that there is nothing under the soul. Soul is only the source of energy for
creation. Creation manifests only in Prakṛti or Nature.
CAUSE AND EFFECT
There are four categories – cause, effect, cause effect combine and no cause – no
effect. Cause is the Brahman and effect is the Prakṛti. Cause and effect includes
intellect and ego out of inner psychic organs and five cognitive faculties viz. sound,
touch, sight, taste and smell, totaling to seven. These are classified as cause and
effect because they originated from other causes and they in turn cause other effects.
Thus, they become both cause and effect. For example, intellect is the product of
prakṛti. Intellect in turn produces ego and ego produces the five cognitive faculties.
Thus, they become both cause and effect. The next category comprises only of effects
totaling to sixteen. They do not produce anything; they are organs of perception viz.
ear, skin, eye, tongue and nose (5), organs of actions viz. mouth, feet, hands, organs
of excretion and organ of procreation (5), five basic elements viz. ether, air, fire,
water and earth (5) and the mind (1) (out of inner psychic organs) thus making a total
of sixteen. The third category is no cause and no effect. Soul alone comes under this
category, as soul cannot manifest on its own. Soul can function only if it is associated
with prakṛti. Thus from primordial matter, also known as prakṛti, the rest of twenty
four tattvas originate, thereby unfolding creation.
CREATION AND DEATH
What is universe? Uni means one, derived from the Latin word unus and verse means
to turn, again derived from another Latin word vertere. Therefore universe means
turning as one. It is good to know how the universe was created. The universe was
created through a cosmic explosion. The explosion happened in the space breaking
into galaxies and universe is one among the galaxies. The universe is continuously
expanding. It is like blowing a balloon gradually. When the balloon is blown beyond
its capacity, it bursts. In the same manner, if the universe expands beyond its
stretchable capacity, it is also prone to annihilation. The annihilation could happen
through any means, either through another cosmic explosion or through cosmic
delusion. Immediately after the big bang, creation moved at a rapid speed. In the first
few minutes of the big bang, phenomenal heat cooled down, hydrogen and other gases
were produced and later on heavy atomic elements were produced. Thus the universe
that we see came into existence. During the process of evolution, humanity was
produced in the planet earth. That is how creatures came into existence.
The reflection of pure consciousness of the Brahman is the individual soul. Individual
soul is bound by the guṇas of prakṛti, whereas the Brahman is beyond all
modifications. When an individual soul is afflicted with guṇas, though it loses its
purity, it does not undergo changes or modifications. In the process, an individual soul
loses its universality and becomes an individual entity. The pure consciousness or the
universal consciousness becomes individual consciousness and the evolution of a
being begins here. The growth or evolution happens only in prakṛti, as the soul,
though bound by guṇas does not undergo any changes. It always remains the same
soul. The only difference is, when it gets bound by prakṛti, it loses its originality. It
is like a reflective mirror getting dirty on its surface. Once the dust is cleaned, the
reflective nature of the mirror is resorted.
When a soul is bound by prakṛti, it first comes under the influence of inner psychic
organs and later by external sensory organs. It is the ego that plays a significant role
in the evolution of sensory organs and their functions. The inner psychic organs
receive inputs from the external sensory organs through their faculties. For example,
mind (inner psychic organ) receives sound (cognitive faculty) through ears (organ of
perception). Thus inner psychic organs depend upon for their inputs, both on gross
(organs of action and organs of perception) and subtle senses (active and cognitive
faculties).
Thus the interdependence between inner psychic organs and sensory organs is
established. The one without the other cannot function. All the actions are carried
out by their mutual association. The soul now believes that it is the cause for all the
actions, as it is now veiled by māyā. In reality, the soul is not the doer, but only the
ego. Ego modifies the normal consciousness of a person into “I” consciousness. This
“I” consciousness misleads the soul to consider itself as the doer. Due to this process,
you consider yourself as the doer and your ego induces you to think so. Your ego not
only misleads your soul, but also influences your mind to carry our actions through
your senses and your breath. Breath and prāṇa are not the same. The breath is
modified into five major types of prāṇas that take control of different parts of the
body. Prāṇa plays a very important role during conception, delivery, growth and
death. The prāṇa that enters the foetus leaves the body only at the time of death. It is
only the prāṇa that makes every vital organ to function. At the time of death, prāṇa
pulls the soul out of the body by means of great force, making the body dead.
When a soul is released from a body, it enters the cosmos. The soul does not traverse
alone, but takes with it, karma and subconscious mind. Depending upon the karmic
account embedded in the soul, its transmigration is decided. It is believed that when a
soul is pushed out of the body by prāṇa, it travels through a dark tunnel within the
body, to be released into the bright light of the cosmos. A soul either takes a sojourn
in the cosmos or born again immediately. This again is decided by the quality of
one’s karmic account. Good and positive thoughts alone cause good karmas.
Negative thoughts, negative feelings and negative approach cause serious erosion of
good karmic values. Thoughts are always more powerful than actions.
Death is another act of the Brahman, by which your soul is disconnected from your corporeal body.
Vital body organs stop one after another at the time of death. A rapid recap of your actions, both good
and bad pounds your mind for a few seconds. You make a quick assessment of your actions and this
assessment decides your next incarnation. It is only your consciousness at the time of death decides
your next birth. Death enables your casual body encompassing your soul to move into astral plane. It
is believed that the casual body also undergoes either pleasures or pains depending upon your karmic
imprints. Based on the theory that the casual bodies also experience the effect of karmic imprints, the
concept of heaven and hell has been put forth. Your casual body continues to live without gross body
as long as your karma permits. Yogis continue to live only in their casual bodies for a long time,
provided their karmic account permits this. The process of death is very simple. When the time
comes, prāṇa inside your body pushes your casual body out of your gross body with extreme force and
after coming out of the gross body, your casual body begins its another journey either for a cosmic
sojourn or moves towards heaven or hell.