A
Vedantic View of Life
These rivers, my dear, flow the eastern toward the east, the western toward the west.
They go just from sea to sea. They become the sea itself.
Just as these rivers while there do not know ‘I am this
one,’ ‘I am that one.’
In the same manner, my dear, all these creatures even though they have come forth from Being do not know that ‘we have come forth from Being.’
Whatever they are in the world, tiger or lion or wolf or boar, or worm or fly or gnat or mosquito that they become. That which is the subtle essence, this whole world has for its self. That is the true.
That is the self. That art thou Svetaketu.
‘Please, Venerable
Sir, instruct me still further.’
‘So be it, my dear,’ said he.
Chandogya
Upanisad
Part
I: Poetic
Musings
The
perennial teachings of Advaita Vedanta arise out of the subtle essence
of the eternal Self.
This Self of the ancient Upanisads is seen to infuse all of life.
No matter what slice of reality or perception we choose to focus
our attention upon, the Self is there hidden behind the flux of undulating
waves of being.
Look near, look far, look everywhere- the Self lies mysteriously
present to All.
Turn the mirror of personal self-reflection into the infinite gaze
of the Self’s unending abyss.
‘Thou art that!’
There can be no feelings, emotions, stirrings, wonderings or perceptions
where the divine Self is absent.
Look into pain, pleasure, love, hate and experience them all in
their depths.
What insights do they possess?
How does it feel to be depressed and lonely?
What is it like to feel insane, mad, utterly delirious in the throes
of the play of life?
Dive into the experience.
You will not be lost.
There is no place on earth or in the starry heavens where the Self
is not.
Look into the multiplicity of experience- feel the beauty of a
flower, touch the subtle muse, and play upon the harps of time- the Self
is there and ‘thou art that.’
Throw your sorrows out into the silence of life.
Cast suffering upon the arms of the infinite.
You will endure.
The Self will never die, perish, come to an end, or finalize the
miracle.
Your tells is hidden within.
Your God is under your nose, filling your lungs with the breath
of spiritual frankincense, and can never be taken away from you.
The Self is present to all and absent to none.
Propel yourself to Pluto and back- there is the Self smiling back
at you in beauty.
‘That art thou.’
What do you want to experience, my friend?
Who do you want to be?
Become the dragonfly floating across the blue skies and soaring
through the wings of change.
Your identity is as fluid as the cascading waters of mountain peaks.
Drown yourself in coral dreams and pelican smiles- the Self is
everywhere.
Look now into the endless possibilities of the imagination.
The created world will give you a few ideas and help energize your
powers of perception.
The will is capable of anything.
It flames out symbols of the infinite
For it has read and broken the wizard seals;
It has drunk of the Immortal’s wells of joy,
It has looked across the jewel bars of heaven,
It has entered the aspiring Secrecy,[1]
Human consciousness infused with union is in love with the Infinite.
There are no prison bars here.
Feast upon the Divine Gorgeousness.
She will drive you straight into the walls of bridal carriages,
mystic longings, careless flights of the fantasy- go headlong into the
impassioned Spirit and She will become your closest Friend and dearest
Lover.
What was pain can be an ecstatic crumbling of barriers- thrust
pain out into the nothingness and it will find pleasure.
Seek Love in all things and aspire to what feels highest, most
delightful, contageous, inspiring, and beautiful.
The dreams are there- eat of the yoke of God.
Emerald trees, mystic seas, flowering hues of psychedelic wanderings.
Enter through the doors of perception and the All will reveal Her
majesty.
Ecstasy unfolding through dreams of magenta, spice, fabulous caresses
of carefree delight.
The houses of the holy are tucked within your bosoms.
Fly into the Supreme.
Carry Union wherever you go.
Love the creativity of infused awareness.
As one drowns oneself in the Divine Self and carries through into
present callings, the mystery unleashes upon storybook tales.
Grasp the Infinite and All is there.
‘That art thou.’
The human personality can embrace diverse possibilities of mind,
sensation, and powers.
Feeling the crushing annihilation of Self into Self is the goal
of our musings.
Feast upon the inflaming heart of rosetta stones, whispers of yesterday,
and violet skies.
She will be there as she is everywhere.
Travel the winds of evergreen melodies and She will guide you along.
The Self carries the day.
The Infinite Bliss is here for you.
Carry all your pain, anxieties, interrupted agendas into Her and
She will grace you with what you want.
The spiritual master, Sri Aurobindo tells the tale of existence:
We have to know ourselves as the self, the spirit, the eternal; we have to exist consciously in our true being. Therefore this must be our primary, if not our first one and all-absorbing idea and effort in the path of knowledge.[2]
What
opens in the fields of love is boundless, deeply real, and significantly
meaningful. The Spirit carries effortlessly through the wings of hyperreal
dreams.
Find identity with the array of creative possibilities.
The message of Vedanta is the song of God.
Taste of the glistening stars present in the Self’s embrace and
wisdom disappears into the voids of space.
Blackholes, galaxies unseen and forgotten reveries are all present
in the Self.
The central question of our existence circles endlessly around
Love.
‘Fountain-heads and pathless groves,
Places which pale passion loves,
Moonlight walks, when all the fowls
Are safely housed, save bats and owls,
A midnight bell, a passing groan,-
These
are the wounds we feed upon.’[3]
The
Self of God is within your heart. Fields of joy, whispering willows, casual
meanderings lie in the Infinite Center.
Physical realities are created all around forever before you.
Create health, maturity, livelihood, and happiness within your
dreams.
Cast a light upon all the shadows and worry not for the morrow.
All is open to the Infinite mind.
Plunge into obscurity, drink of wisdom, and devour the Energies
open before you.
The Self is differentiated unity.
Multiplicity diversified endlessly in the quietude of faint divinity.
Dive into the vast oceans of Self, ride the surfs of tranquility.
Open the mind to the infinite possibilities and all will be revealed.
Orchid pastels unveil in the Self.
God, world, mind- they are all unified in the rich complexity of
being.
Roses unfolding, valleys carrying into bliss, majestic vistas of
unbounded peace and serenity are available for actualization.
Miraculous visions are open to the person captivated by the divine
Self who allows consciousness to inhabit diverse forms through identification.
Union and identity in the Self encompasses All.
Part
II: Philosophical Interpretations
As
one progresses forward upon the path of self-actualization in the Self,
an intimate connection with the Divine Center is activated.
In the midst of Godconsciousness, the Divine is seen to inhabit
all forms.
With this insight the triple path of works, knowledge, and devotion
becomes the nature of the upward ascent.
Morality is informed from within the vast resources of the inner
godhead as one begins to see the Self everywhere.
No longer are discriminations that are common among the masses
relevant.
The slave and master, good and evil, black and white- all dualities
are subsumed within the unified vision of the non-dual Self.
The world is seen as an interrelated whole where the multiplicities
apparent in the phenomenal world are supported and sustained within the
subtle essence of Brahman.
When Brahman is known to infuse all of existence, regular attachments
to worldly values such as money, power, and prestige begin to dissipate.
An attitude of non-attachment informs the spiritual aspirant who
no longer seeks the fulfillment of happiness in the external world.
Instead, the fullness of being is held within the individual spirit-consciousness.
Obstacles that plague the satisfaction of desires are eventually
overcome as the mind acquires a tonality of equanimity and freedom from
attachments.
Liberation is sought from the resources of the Self where happiness
and love truly resides.
The finite pleasures and temporary satisfactions can be enjoyed
with the onset of spiritual consciousness, but no longer are they held
tight within the confines of the greedy ego.
The personality of the vedantist is transformed in the light of
the omnipresent Self.
Ideas associated with the ego begin to gradually evaporate as the
individual no longer identifies herself purely with notions that categorize
persons according to age, position, tribal associations, nationality,
sex, etc.
A complete reorientation of identity is necessary for final liberation.
Vedanta recognizes that, “amongst the real devotees of God there
can exist no distinctions of community, learning, appearance, family,
wealth, activity and the like.”[4]
Upon the sincere quest to understand the nature of the question,
‘Who am I?’ the person who is beginning to recognize the truths of Advaita
Vedanta will move beyond the categories offered by the world.
Furthermore, the devotee’s sense of identity will transcend feeling
and mind states.
No longer does one identify themselves with affections such as
happiness, intelligence, neurosis, or depression.
The question of identity slowly comes in contact with Brahman realization.
Finally, the question of ‘Who am I,’ does not have to come to a
final conclusive answer
because the universe provides virtually an infinite number of valid
responses.
Who is the ‘I’ at age 30, 60, or 90 years of age?
There is a groping for the continuous ‘I’ behind all of the changes
experienced through the body and mind.
Sometimes, conditions of mind or body can come into direct conflict
with one another or contradict previous states.
For example, the loving mind can be quickly replaced by the hateful
mind or vice versa.
This creates inner tension when identity is seated in the states
of the mind.
The ‘I’ however, cannot be subject to the tossing and turnings
of the changing mind or body.
There is a divine ‘I’ in the midst of all temporary conditions
and affections.
Therefore, in Vedanta no relative response to the question of ‘Who
am I?’ can be a true identity claim.
What can Advaita Vedanta offer individuals in the midst of this
dilemma?
First, the problem of identity must be brought to consciousness.
The recognition of the question is in itself a means of grace to
the individual who seeks liberation from relative identities.
This mode of inquiry comes at the end of a long journey towards
Self-realization and after the assimilation of vast experiences.
In Vedanta, such an individual is called a mumuksu
or one that desires liberation.
There are a host of implications in asking the questions pertaining
to one’s identity- nothing is stable and free from change, every experience
comes and goes, the cycles of birth and death go on and on endlessly.
Ultimately for many people, the questions arising in the jiva
who seeks liberation arise out of a deep-seated desire to understand the
problem of happiness and sorrow.
There is the acute recognition that every fulfilled moment of bliss
or happiness soon fades away.
Desires are temporarily met and then there arises yet another desire.
Liberation seeks to break the chains of this chaotic cycle.
One wonders how the next phase of desires could come so quickly.
In this sometimes desperate context, the mind faces a challenge
of momentous implications and wonders if there is something constant in
the face of all of these diverse experiences.
There is a longing to escape the wheels of samsara-
the ever-changing, cyclical field of experience.
As the temporary states of pleasure and pain are seen to be passing
experiences, the seeds of a final release and liberation are planted whereby
a union with the inner Self is effectuated.
Wholeness no longer resides ‘outside’ in the world of objects.
A felt Reality is engendered through such practices as meditation
where communion with Self is actualized.
This inner Self is complete and always present at every moment
in time.
A profound discrimination between what is seen in the external
world and the inner seer is increasingly known in the practitioner of
Yoga through assimilation of Vedantic knowledge.
The true seer cannot be what is looked at externally.
All of the objects that are perceived in the world are not the
fundamental ‘me’ of the Self.
Vedanta is concerned with the realization of the Divine Self as
the source and energy of love.
All of one’s thoughts, moods, and experiences take place in the
silence of being that is the all-encompassing Self of both mind and creation.
The process of maturation takes place in the mind, soul and psyche
of the individual who accumulates knowledge and grows.
The Self of Vedanta blesses this process of growth throughout the
transformative stages of the transition from an immature mind to one that
is mature and Self-luminated.
This increasing of awareness leads to experiences of the Self as
love on higher and more complete levels of perspicacity.
All opposites such as pain and pleasure, more or less, higher and
lower are held within the unity of Self.
Integrating the polar opposites and moving beyond them to the higher
Self as Absolute Good allows the aspirant to embody the affections of
joy, peace, and love as their true home.
One’s quality of mind gradually changes as Self-ignorance continues
to diminish.
Consequently, many of the emotions that arise out of Self-ignorance
such as insecurity and isolation are eventually lost as identity is found
to reside completely in the Infinite Self.
The process of Vedantic unfoldment leads the devotee towards final
absorption in the Self.
There is an infused understanding of identity with Ultimate Reality
that does not come and go or subject to change.
Recognition of what already and truly is
is the goal of Vedanta devotion.
The Self is fully present in every experience and there is no longer
the problem of seeking out some profound illumination to anchor knowledge
of identity with the Self.
Instead, “having attained that highest state of love of God the
devotee sees nothing but God, hears nothing but God and thinks of nothing
else except God.”[5]
All moods, experiences, objects, and everything contained within
the cosmos is embraced in the being of God.
We are aware of our objectification of such classifications as
space and time, the body, social roles, sense organs, moods, etc.
Since we can successfully objectify these characteristics of being,
we are not truly any of them.
Our true identity is mired by all of these identity associations.
Any process of discrimination that divides Being, creates an ‘Other’
than the subject to what we commonly refer to as ‘me.’
The question finally surfaces, “how many me’s are there?”
Advaita Vedanta suggests that there is only One Self here present
in the world of multiplicity.
The individual self referred to as Atman is the wider Self of Brahman.
There is only One ‘I’.
The Self of God is the self of the individual.
On the level of Reality All is One.
The entirety of creation is the physical form of God.
The differentiation between the changeless and the changing is
a temporary stop on the ascent towards true knowledge, according to Samkara:
Although one and the same Self is hidden in all beings movable as well as immovable, yet owing to the gradual rise of excellence of the minds which form the limiting conditions (of the Self), scripture declares that the Self, although eternally unchanging and uniform, reveals itself in a graduated series of beings, and so appears in forms of various dignity and power.[6]
Samkara
recognizes the gradations of being within the harmony of Universal Self.
In the non-dual Self of Advaita Vedanta is the continuum of changing
forms of various characteristics and propensities, and yet, the eternal
and changeless Self is the ground of multiplicity.
Samkara’s non-dualism is absolute in the assertion that identity
is everywhere the same.
The apparent differences are pure illusion.
The Self is behind variations of form and is the only identity
present in the universe.
There
is debate however within vedantic circles over the interpretation of the
Upanisads as to whether plurality is real or merely an illusion.
For example, the eleventh century Vedanta scholar Ramanuja suggests
that all forms and gradations of being express differences that are real
and to some extent permanently differentiated from a personal Brahman
who supports all of life.
Consequently, there are real differences between butterflies, human
beings, and rocks even though their being is dependent upon the personal
Brahman and serve no other purpose than to fulfill divine imperatives.
Therefore, Ramanuja hopes to clarify the relationship between differentiated
particulars within a unified whole: