Thursday, December 18, 2008

Story 51 – Story of Narakaasura Vadha (killing) - 09

Bhoomidevi continued her praise

O Lord! You who reside in the various bodies which are like towns with many entrances, I prostrate unto you.

Explanation


The reality behind the dual world filled with differences between each and everything is the non-dual reality of Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. This reality pervades the entire illusory world in and out even as the dreamer pervades the entire dream world. A person goes to sleep and he gets a dream – he finds himself in a beautiful world filled with sensual pleasures, damsels and other enjoyments. He does quite a lot of activities in the world. He marries, begets children who then give him grandchildren. Thus days pass by and all of a sudden he wakes up. He realizes that the entire dream was only an illusion and that he himself became the entire dream world. Even as the dream world is nothing but an illusion of names and forms in the dreamer (the dreamer becomes the various names and forms or objects of the dream world), similarly this entire world is but names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord.

Thus the Lord is the underlying essence of the world filled with names and forms even as gold is the essence of various gold ornaments (which are just names and forms in gold). Thus the Lord resides in the various names and forms as the substratum-essence of the names and forms. It is this concept that is beautifully explained by Bhoomi Devi today. It is this same concept that the Lord proclaims to Arjuna in many places as “I reside in the heart of all beings”.

The beings in the world but living and non-living have bodies of their own. The body of a human being is different from the body of an animal which in turn is different from the body of a tree or a rock. It is the ultimate reality of Lord who is the essence of both living and non-living beings (even as the dreamer is the essence of a rock and human beings seen in the dream world). Thus the Lord resides in all the bodies. The body of a human being (in particular) has been considered as a town filled with nine holes (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth, organ of excretion and organ of reproduction).

It is the light inside the body (the light of Consciousness which is the ultimate reality of Lord) that makes everything including the body and other objects of the world existing. Without Consciousness, there is no light in the world and hence the entire world will cease to exist.

When a seeker tries to find out the ultimate reality of Lord, he realizes that the body is just an inert entity which appears to be conscious because of the Conscious principle of Lord residing in the body. Thus the body is negated from the Lord – thereby a seeker doesn’t give too much emphasis or importance to the body. Instead he tries to overcome the attachment to the body through the knowledge that the indwelling Consciousness that pulsates as “I-exist, I-exist” is in fact the non-dual reality of Lord in which the illusion of body and the entire world appears. This knowledge ever remaining in the intellect of a seeker can help the seeker overcome all bondages in the world. But when the seeker realizes, he realizes that there never was any body – the body was just an illusion even as water seen in desert never really exists – thus he realizes that there is only the ultimate reality of Lord existing here, one without a second.

It is this state of realization that we have to achieve by distinguishing the ultimate reality of Lord from the various names and forms. The moment a seeker differentiates the Lord from names-forms, he always contemplates that the names-forms are also the ultimate reality of Lord but temporarily illusions appearing to be existing and different from the Lord. Thus dual notions vanish from such a seeker’s mind wherein the seeker doesn’t enter into attachment or aversion – thereby spending each and every moment remembering that the entire world is pervaded by the ultimate reality of Lord and thus ever rejoicing in bliss.

Bhoomidevi continued:

I prostrate unto you who are the first cause (supreme cause) and poorna bodha (full consciousness) in nature.

Explanation


The concept of finding the unknown cause from the known effect is something that we apply for everything. This same concept is also used in Vedanta to trace back from the known world to the unknown cause of the world.

Why do we need to trace back from the known world to the unknown cause?
This is because the world is characterized by “anityam” and “asukham”. Anityam means it is temporary and constantly changing. That which is constantly changing is subject to the six modifications of birth, existence, growth, disease, decay and death. That which takes birth and dies will not give us long-lasting happiness (eternal bliss). It is long-lasting happiness that we are constantly seeking in the external world. It is this thirst for eternal bliss that makes us to do things over and over in this and many other births. Until we achieve eternal bliss there will be no contentment, no satisfaction and no happiness.

Since the entire world is temporary and cannot give us eternal bliss, therefore the one and only way to get eternal bliss is by seeking that entity which is eternal. It is this eternal entity that is termed in the scriptures as Brahman or Ishwara or Paramatman or Atman. The nature of this Brahman is Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute (we will see as to how a little later).

Any changing entity needs a changeless substratum. We are walking in the road and see a car moving – we say that the car is moving considering ourselves as stationary (which is obviously not the case as we are part of Earth which is moving but we have to assume a stationary entity to perceive movement). A variable in mathematics is only an illusion in a constant – a variable at any point of time is a constant. Thus changes require a changeless substratum. The changing world also therefore needs a changeless substratum.

In order to find the changeless substratum, we have to find out the cause of the world (that cause from which the world came). Any entity that we see in the world needs a cause – nothing happens without a cause. Thus the world also requires a cause. This cause has to be the first or supreme cause (that cause which is not caused by anything else but which is ever-existing). If the cause itself has another cause, then this will lead to an infinite regression. This supreme cause has to be a sentient entity as an insentient rock cannot create something (only sentient entities can create things). The supreme cause thus is a sentient one – sentience means it is Consciousness in nature. Since it is the first cause (uncaused cause), therefore it is also Existence in nature. That which is ever-existing and Consciousness in nature (which means it can never cease to exist) is eternal bliss in nature (as bliss is when something is eternal and complete). The supreme cause is perfect in all aspects as it is not limited – this is because it is non-dual. We cannot assume that there were two causes because then we have to assume a relation between both which in turn would suggest another cause that creates these two causes. Thus the supreme cause is non-dual Existence, Consciousness and Bliss in nature.

If the supreme cause created the world out of itself, then the entire world has to be nothing different from the cause. Thus the entire world is only an illusion of names and forms in the supreme cause even as the effect of pot is only an illusion of names and forms in the cause of mud. But when we perceive the name and form, we will not be able to apprehend the supreme cause.

The moment we realize that names and forms are mere illusions, then we will realize that we are not different but one with the blissful Lord – this will thus give us eternal bliss that we have been continuously seeking.

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