which one treats the excreta of a crow such an indifference to all objects of enjoyment from the realm of Brahma

a to this world (in view of their Click to edit Master subtitle style perishable nature), is verily called pure Vairagya.
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Abandonment of desires at all times is called Shama and restraint of the external functions of the organs is called Dama. Turning away completely from all senseobjects is the height of Uparati, and patient endurance of all sorrow or pain is known as Titiksha which is conducive to happiness. Implicit faith in the words of the Vedas and the teachers (who interpret them) is known as Shraddha, and concentration of the mind on the only object Sat (i.e., Brahman) is regarded as Samadhana

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The worship of divine mother as Kali opens the doors of the soul to the infinite almost instantly. The worship of Kali is the acceptance that the good, bad and ugly energies of this creation come from one source, are manifested in the One and also merge in to the One. The day the ego fully accepts this truth, all the knowledge and awareness of the ego will be lost into the infinite ocean of 5/21/12 bliss and Oneness.

When and how shall I, O Lord, be free from the bonds of this world (i.e., births and deaths) such a burning desire is called Mumukshuta. Only that person who is in possession of the said qualification (as means to Knowledge) should constantly reflect with a view to attaining Knowledge, desiring his own good. 5/21/12

Knowledge is not brought about by any other means than Vichara, just as an object is nowhere perceived (seen) without the help of light. Who am I ? How is this (world) created ? Who is its creator ? Of what material is this (world) made ? This is the way of that Vichara (enquiry). I am neither the body, a combination of the (five) elements (of matter), nor am I an aggregate of the senses; I am something different from these. This is the way of that Vichara. Everything is produced by ignorance, and dissolves in the wake of Knowledge. The various thoughts (modifications of Antahkarana) must be the creator. Such is this Vichara. The material (cause) of these two (i.e., ignorance and thought) is the One (without a second), subtle (not apprehended by the senses) and unchanging Sat (Existence), just as the earth is the material (cause) of the pot and the like. This is the way of that Vichara. As I am also the One, the Subtle, the Knower, the Witness, the Ever-Existent, and the Unchanging, so there is no doubt that I am That (i.e., Brahman). Such is this enquiry 5/21/12

Was it not the sense of I am that came first? Some seed consciousness must be existing even during sleep, or swoon. On waking up the experience runs: I am-the body- in the world. It may appear to arise in succession but in fact it is all simultaneous, a single idea of having a body in a world. Can there be the sense of I am without being somebody or other? Go deep into the sense of I am and you will find. How do you find a thing you have mislaid or forgotten? You keep it in your mind until you recall it. The sense of being, of I am is the first to emerge. Ask yourself whence it comes or just watch it quietly. When the mind stays in the I am, without moving, you enter a state, which cannot be verbalized, but which can be experienced. All you need to do is to try and try again. After all the sense of I am is always with you, only you have attached all kinds of things to it- body, feelings, thoughts, ideas, possessions and so on. All these selfidentifications are misleading, because of these you take yourself to be what you are not. 5/21/12

The aspirants after Brahman should not remain a single moment without the thought of Brahman, just like Brahma, Sanaka, Suka and others. Purity of the mind, again, is speedily accessible to those who are devoted to the teacher and the Deity
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7. There is no hope of immortality by means of riches such indeed is the declaration of the Vedas. Hence it is clear that works cannot be the cause of Liberation. 8. Therefore the man of learning should strive his best for Liberation, having renounced his desire for pleasures from external objects, duly approaching a good and generous preceptor, and fixing his mind on the truth inculcated by him. 9. Having attained the Yogarudha state, one should recover oneself, immersed in the sea of birth and death by means of devotion to right discrimination. 10. Let the wise and erudite man, having commenced the practice of the realisation of the Atman give up all works and try to cut loose the bonds of birth and death. 11. Work leads to purification of the mind, not to perception of the Reality. The realisation of Truth is brought about by discrimination and not in the least by ten 5/21/12 million of acts.

12. By adequate reasoning the conviction of the reality about the rope is gained, which puts an end to the great fear and misery caused by the snake worked up in the deluded mind. 13. The conviction of the Truth is seen to proceed from reasoning upon the salutary counsel of the wise, and not by bathing in the sacred waters, nor by gifts, nor by a hundred Pranayamas (control of the vital force). 14. Success depends essentially on a qualified aspirant; time, place and other such means are but auxiliaries in this regard. 15. Hence the seeker after the Reality of the Atman should take to reasoning, after duly approaching the Guru who should be the best of the knowers of Brahman, and an ocean of mercy. 16. An intelligent and learned man skilled in arguing in favour of the Scriptures and in refuting counter-arguments against them one who has got the above characteristics is the fit recipient of the knowledge of the Atman. 17. The man who discriminates between the Real and the unreal, whose mind is turned away from the unreal, who possesses calmness and the allied virtues, and who is longing for Liberation, is alone considered qualified to enquire after Brahman.
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18. Regarding this, sages have spoken of four means of attainment, which alone being present, the devotion to Brahman succeeds, and in the absence of which, it fails. 19. First is enumerated discrimination between the Real and the unreal; next comes aversion to the enjoyment of fruits (of ones actions) here and hereafter; (next is) the group of six attributes, viz. calmness and the rest; and (last) is clearly the yearning for Liberation. 20. A firm conviction of the mind to the effect that Brahman is real and the universe unreal, is designated as discrimination (Viveka) between the Real and the unreal. 21. Vairagya or renunciation is the desire to give up all transitory enjoyments (ranging) from those of an (animate) body to those of Brahmahood (having already known their defects) from observation, instruction and so forth. 22. The resting of the mind steadfastly on its Goal (viz. Brahman) after having detached itself from manifold sense-objects by continually observing their defects, is called Shama or calmness. 23. Turning both kinds of sense-organs away from sense-objects and placing them in their respective centres, is called Dama or self-control. The best Uparati or self-withdrawal consists in the mind-function 5/21/12 ceasing to be affected by external objects.

28. Even though torpid or mediocre, this yearning for Freedom, through the grace of the Guru, may bear fruit (being developed) by means of Vairagya (renunciation), Shama (calmness), and so on. 29. In his case, verily, whose renunciation and yearning for Freedom are intense, calmness and the other practices have (really) their meaning and bear fruit. 30. Where (however) this renunciation and yearning for Freedom are torpid, there calmness and the other practices are as mere appearances, like water in a desert. 31. Among things conducive to Liberation, devotion (Bhakti) holds the supreme place. The seeking after ones real nature is designated as devotion. 32. Others maintain that the inquiry into the truth of ones own self is devotion. The inquirer about the truth of the Atman who is possessed of the above-mentioned means of attainment should approach a wise preceptor, who confers emancipation from bondage. 33. Who is versed in the Vedas, sinless, unsmitten by desire and a knower of Brahman par excellence, who has withdrawn himself into Brahman; who is calm, like fire that has consumed its fuel, who is a boundless reservoir of mercy that knows no reason, and a friend of all 5/21/12 good people who prostrate themselves before him.

68. Listen attentively, O learned one, to what I am going to say. By listening to it thou shalt be instantly free from the bondage of Samsara. 69. The first step to Liberation is the extreme aversion to all perishable things, then follow calmness, self-control, forbearance, and the utter relinquishment of all work enjoined in the Scriptures. 70. Then come hearing, reflection on that, and long, constant and unbroken meditation on the Truth for the Muni. After that the learned seeker attains the supreme Nirvikalpa state and realises the bliss of Nirvana even in this life.
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100. Now, for the attainment of the aforesaid (knowledge), I shall expound the fifteen steps by the help of which one should practice profound meditation at all times. 101. The Atman that is absolute existence and knowledge cannot be realized without constant practice. So one seeking after knowledge should long meditate upon Brahman for the attainment of the desired goal. 102-103. The steps, in order, are described as follows: the control of the senses, the control of the mind, renunciation, silence, space, time, posture, the restraining root (Mulabandha), the equipoise of the body, the firmness of vision, the control of the vital forces, the withdrawal of the mind, concentration, selfcontemplation and complete absorption. 104. The restraint of all the senses by means of such knowledge as All this is Brahman is rightly called Yama, which should be practiced again and again. 105. The continuous flow of only one kind of thought to the exclusion of all other thoughts, is called Niyama, which is verily the supreme bliss and is regularly practiced by the wise. 106. The abandonment of the illusory universe by realizing it as the allconscious Atman is the real renunciation honored by the great, since it is of the nature of immediate liberation. 107. The wise should always be one with that silence wherefrom words together with the mind turn back without reaching it, but which is attainable by the Yogins. 108-109. Who can describe That (i.e., Brahman) whence words turn away ? (So 5/21/12 silence is inevitable while describing Brahman). Or if the phenomenal world

110. That solitude is known as space, wherein the universe does not exist in the beginning, end or middle, but whereby it is pervaded at all times. 111. The non-dual (Brahman) that is bliss indivisible is denoted by the word time, since it brings into existence, in the twinkling of an eye all beings from Brahman downwards. 112. One should know that as real posture in which the meditation on Brahman flows spontaneously and unceasingly, and not any other that destroys ones happiness. 113. That which is well known as the origin of all beings and the support of the whole universe, which is immutable and in which the enlightened are completely merged that alone is known as Siddhasana (eternal Brahman). 114. That (Brahman) which is the root of all existence and on which the restraint of the mind is based is called the restraining root (Mulabandha) which should always be adopted since it is fit for Raja-yogins. 115. Absorption in the uniform Brahman should be known as the equipoise of the limbs (Dehasamya). Otherwise mere straightening of the body like that of a dried-up tree is no equipoise. 116. Converting the ordinary vision into one of knowledge one should view the world as Brahman itself. That is the noblest vision, and not that which is directed to the tip of the nose. 117. Or, one should direct ones vision to That alone where all distinction of the seer, sight, and the seen ceases and not to the tip of the nose. 118. The restraint of all modifications of the mind by regarding all mental states like the Chitta as Brahman alone, is called Pranayama. 119-120. The negation of the phenomenal world is known as Rechaka (breathing out), the thought, I am verily Brahman, is called Puraka (breathing in), and the steadiness of that thought thereafter is called Kumbhaka (restraining the breath). This is the real course of Pranayama for the enlightened, whereas the ignorant only torture the nose.

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121. The absorption of the mind in the Supreme Consciousness by realizing Atman in all objects is known as Pratyahara (withdrawal of the mind) which should be practiced by the seekers after liberation. 122. The steadiness of the mind through realization of Brahman wherever the mind goes, is known as the supreme Dharana (concentration). 123. Remaining independent of everything as a result of the unassailable thought, I am verily Brahman, is well known by the word Dhyana (meditation), and is productive of supreme bliss. 124. The complete forgetfulness of all thought by first making it changeless and then identifying it with Brahman is called Samadhi known also as knowledge. 125. The aspirant should carefully practice this (meditation) that reveals his natural bliss until, being under his full control, it arises spontaneously, in an instant when called into action. 126. Then he, the best among Yogis having attained to perfection, becomes free from all practices. The real nature of such a man never becomes an object of the mind or speech. 127-128. While practicing Samadhi there appear unavoidably many obstacles, such as lack of inquiry, idleness, desire for sense-pleasure, sleep, dullness, distraction, tasting of joy, and the sense of blankness. One desiring the knowledge of Brahman should slowly get rid of such innumerable obstacles. 129. While thinking of an object the mind verily identifies itself with that, and while thinking of a void it really becomes blank, whereas by the thought of Brahman it attains to perfection. So one should constantly think of (Brahman to attain) perfection. 130. Those who give up this supremely purifying thought of Brahman, live in vain and are on the same level with beasts.

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148. One who is passionately devoted to the authority of the Shrutis acquires steadiness in his Svadharma, which alone conduces to the purity of his mind. The man of pure mind realises the Supreme Self, and by this alone Samsara with its root is destroyed. 153. He indeed is free who discriminates between all sense-objects and the indwelling, unattached and inactive Self as one separates a stalk of grass from its enveloping sheath and merging everything in It, remains in a state of identity with That. 154. This body of ours is the product of food and comprises the material sheath; it lives on food and dies without it; it is a mass of skin, flesh, blood, bones and filth, and can never be the eternally pure, self-existent Atman. 155. It does not exist prior to inception or posterior to dissolution, but lasts only for a short (intervening) period; its virtues are transient, and it is changeful by nature; it is manifold, inert, and is a senseobject, like a jar; how can it be ones own Self, the Witness of changes in all things ? 156. The body, consisting of arms, legs, etc., cannot be the Atman, for one continues to live even when particular limbs are gone, and the different functions of the organism also remain intact. The body 5/21/12 which is subject to anothers rule cannot be the Self which is the

160. The stupid man thinks he is the body, the book-learned man identifies himself with the mixture of body and soul, while the sage possessed of realization due to discrimination looks upon the eternal Atman as his Self, and thinks, "I am Brahman". 161. O foolish person, cease to identify thyself with this bundle of 5/21/12 skin, flesh, fat, bones and filth, and

169. There is no Ignorance (Avidya) outside the mind. The mind alone is Avidya, the cause of the bondage of transmigration. When that is destroyed, all else is destroyed, and when it is manifested, everything else is manifested. 170. In dreams, when there is no actual contact with the external world, the mind alone creates the whole universe consisting of the experiencer etc. Similarly in the waking state also; there is no difference. Therefore all this (phenomenal universe) is the projection of the mind. 171. In dreamless sleep, when the mind is reduced to its causal state, there exists nothing (for the person asleep), as is evident from universal experience. Hence mans relative existence is simply the creation of his mind, and has no objective reality. 172. Clouds are brought in by the wind and again driven away by the same agency. Similarly, mans bondage is caused by the mind, and Liberation too is caused by that alone. 173. It (first) creates an attachment in man for the body and all other sense-objects, and binds him through that attachment like a beast by means of ropes. Afterwards, the selfsame mind creates in the individual an utter distaste for these sense-objects as if they were poison, and frees him from the bondage. 174.5/21/12 Therefore the mind is the only cause that brings about mans bondage or Liberation: when tainted by the effects of Rajas it leads to

In the Upanishads we find a scientific and psychological presentation of what is the greatest obstacle to Selfrealisation. They classify this under three distinct heads: Desire for progeny; Desire for wealth; Desire for world. Brih. Up., III. 5. The first is one of the two vital urges of life, the other being the instinct of self-preservation. It is the expression of the creative impulse said to have been set at work ever since the original creative will of the Universal Being was let loose. Variety is the meaning of manifestation. Every individual force is a copy of the cosmic creative force in a state of riotous degeneration and uncontrollable activity. It is not easy to direct this selfmultiplying nature (Avidya) unless one starts to work against it with the help of the higher self-integrating Nature (Vidya). The seeker of Truth goes to the very root of this self-reproductive energy and compels it to diffuse itself in the Ground-Noumenon. One who lets go the flow of the creative force gets entangled in the endless process of 5/21/12 diversifying and multiplying existence and ever remains

Brahmanas, having known that Self, rise above the desire for progeny, desire for wealth, desire for world, and live the life of mendicants.- Brih. Up., III. 5 Love that wants an object is not perfect. True love is never expressed. It simply melts in experience. It is transient affection and defective faith that pour themselves out on objects of sense. Love is spilt on ashes and not ennobled when it is directed to fleeting appearances. True love is self-integrating and not the medium of the interaction of the subject and the object. All energy is creative, but we have to direct it away from diversifying. creativity to the unifying one
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Desire for wealth is the desire for possessions the greed for material gain, which is the effect of the instinctive love for life, the self-preservative impulse of the individual nature. As being is more real than becoming, the desire for self-preservation is a more powerful instinct than self- reproduction. The two are intimately connected with each other. They function mainly through the senses having the water-principle as their source of energy, which are the working channels of the desire for phenomenal existence and formative action. The whole business of ordinary gross life is essentially the one play of the twofold individual nature of protecting and increasing individuality. These positively harmful impulses have their negative phase in indolence and sleep, which is a temporary winding up and an adjournment of the preservative and the creative action, when the senses at work are tired, or when they are denied their objective demands from the external nature. Talkativeness and physical activity are two others of the dynamic forms of the vital creative impulse which takes recourse to violent methods of self-expression when it is not allowed to do its normal function of creation. The stubborn and 5/21/12 unsubdued lower creative nature flows out impetuously in a

The desire to live as an individual and diversity with relative connections with one another is the whole scene of the worldly life kept up by this mighty process of the disintegrating nature. When such a process is forcedly stopped, there is a general negative reaction of the active forces in the form of bringing forgetfulness of everything by inducing deep sleep in the individual. Sometimes they react with a bursting activity. The task of the aspirant lies, therefore. in a double guarding of himself against positive action and negative inertia. 5/21/12

Desire for world is the desire for ones own name, fame, power, lordship and enjoyment in this world or in a heavenly world. The first two are born of the high estimation of the greatness of ones individual being, whereby the hankering for advertising and proclaiming oneself to other individuals and for receiving high praise, honour and exaltation from other individuals is strengthened. This reception of worship of ones ego is given a further elevated push by the desire to domineer over other individuals and stand above them all, distinctly recognised as great in knowledge and power. This process of egoistic relation with external beings which is used to harden the sense of individual reality is the outcome of the great conceit born of the double misfortune of forgetting the Real and catching the unreal. The height of selfish nature is reached in the craving for great name, wide fame and enormous power, which block the ego-consciousness away from expanding itself into Infinite Consciousness. The original universal momentum of creation and preservation somehow gets perverted and spoilt when it begins to work in the individual which falls too short of the Real. The perversion of Truth actually starts, in one sense, with Ishvara himself, though he remains unfettered through his immense proximity to the Absolute, and especially because of his having no being second to himself, which he may relate himself to. The shedding of tears, however, starts when duality and multiplicity begin to play havoc, and through an extreme of passion and darkness the individual is rendered incapable of knowing what actually is Truth and what its relation is to the world and its contents. The omnipotence of the Absolute Nature degrades itself in the individual in the craving for self5/21/12 exaltation and supremacy over others, which is the effect of the

Infatuated love is the unconscious blind movement along the wrong path of the one bond of integral love that connects beings of the universe into a one w hole being of Self-Bliss. The Self-Love of the Universal Being gets degenerated into relational attachments among its individual parts. Selfishness End egoism are the crude rotten forms of the instinct of Eternal Self-Existence misrepresented by the action of the concealing and the distracting power of Reality. The whole drama of phenomenal life is a blind struggle of the disintegrated consciousness to find itself in the truth of the absolute nature of Reality. Lifes struggle cannot cease as long as Absolute Consciousness is not realised, for the eternal nature of Reality will not cease to assert itself in the individual even for a single moment. But the absolute urge appears to be incapable of being answered in the individual so long as it is unable to know the true meaning of the involuntary calls and the 5/21/12

The individuals ignorance of the facts of experience is due to the presence of forces of intense clouding and self-dividing of consciousness, respectively known as Avidya or Tamas and Kama or Rajas. The absence of the knowledge of ones relation to the Absolute Self-Identity of all individuals is the cause of lifes distresses. There is a foolishness in every individual which makes it believe in the manifoldness of the individuals, and thus reap the bitter fruit of transmigratory existence with its dreadful concomitant laws of action and reaction, cause and effect, etc., which turn ceaselessly the endless cycle of the birth and the death of individual states of consciousness. The breaking of this dissipated relation of worldendurance can be affected only through the higher knowledge which soars above the relations of space, time, cause and effect. Without transcending the sway of these phenomenal relations one cannot hope to achieve success in acquiring Pure Knowledge or practising Meditation on God. Truly, there is no other relation among individuals than the fullness of the being of a conscious identity of itself. There should be no attitude of an individual towards other individuals except of the awareness of the SelfIdentity of Complete Being. There is no ignorance and sorrow as long as the individual is at least an absolute individual, Ishvara, where there is no subject-object-opposition, but misery shows its head the moment dualityconsciousness dawns, and multiplicity-consciousness makes matters worse. The evils that are bred by individual thought-relations act as the Mala or the dirt that covers the pure consciousness of the Self. The 5/21/12 relations themselves are the Vikshepa or the tossing force, and the

Ethics The Upanishads lay down that an aspirant after the Absolute should be endowed with tranquillity of mind, self-control, cessation from activity, fortitude, faith and concentration of thought.Brih. Up., IV. 4. 23. Selfpurification, self-discipline and austere penances consist in the negation of individual relations through total self-abnegation and refusal to indulge in subject-objectrelationship. The difficulty of this achievement is well warned-about: A sharpened edge of a razor, hard to tread, a difficult path is this: and therefore we are advised: Arise! Awake! Obtaining men of wisdom, know (it). Katha Up. III. 14. And further, To them belongs that unblemished Abode of Brahman, in whom there 5/21/12

The Upanishads are never tired of emphasising that truth (Satya) and selfrestraint (Brahmacharya) are the most important of the accessories to Purity and Knowledge. We find them almost everywhere suggesting that Brahman is reached through Brahmacharya. Prajapatis instructions to gods, men and demons, who, by nature, have an excess of passion, greed and anger in them respectively, lay down self-restraint (continence), charity and compassion as the remedies for these three propensities (Brih. Up., V. 2). Complete world-renunciation also is suggested in the statements: Brahmanas who know the Self wander as mendicants, and practise penance in forests, living on alms. The scholar is asked to become disgusted with learning and desire to live as a child, and then to get disgusted even with the childlike state and become a sage, and then, again, to transcend the states of both sagehood and non-sage-hood and become a Brahmana (Knower of Brahman). Everything is dear for the love of the Self, and hence, towards all that is seen and heard a total indifference should be developed. In the Infinite, nothing else is seen, nothing else is heard, nothing else is known. When the self is emptied, the Absolute shall fill it with itself. All the desires that are lodged in the heart should be plucked out and the five senses of 5/21/12 knowledge should cease together with the mind, and the intellect

Once you subside into the consciousness, the factual state of Reality shall be revealed to you with the knowledge that will emanate out of you intuitively, like spring water. This will enable you to discern not what is real and unreal, but, most importantly, to realize what I am. And who could be that one? Surely not an individual who is trapped in the mind-shell, but that one is the knowledge I am the consciousness.

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Do nothing, absolutely nothing! Just be, be the knowledge I am only and abide there. To imbibe this meditate on beingness only. Catch hold of the knowledge I am in meditation. In this process, the realization occurs that I the Absolute am not the guna I am; therefore in meditation nothing is to be retained in memory. Nevertheless something will appear on the memory screen, but be unconcerned, just be, do nothing. Refrain from grasping anything in meditation; the moment you do, otherness begins, and so does duality. Nothing is to be done. Then all your riddles will be solved and dissolved. Moolmaya that is, the primary illusion will release her stranglehold on you and will get lost.

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The indwelling principle which is the knowledge I am has no color or dimension, just like the vital breath and mind. It is

merely a sense of presence a feeling of effulgence. And mind

functions like its vehicle or medium for executing worldly activities.
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When the meditator forgets himself totally in meditation, it is vishranti which means complete relaxation ending total forgetfulness. This is the blissful state, where there is no need for words, concepts or even the sense of I am. The state does not know it is and is beyond happiness and suffering and altogether beyond words; it is called the Parabrahman a nonexperiential state.

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The word-free and thoughtfree state is the atman.

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Yoga

is not merely an abstract thinking. It is a stirring up of forces in the universe, which will protect us at all times. Divine forces are roused into action by the practice of yoga, and these forces will act like milch cows which will yield the necessary sustenance for us. Nobody can take care of us with such complete and comprehensive caution as the powers roused in the practice of yoga. These powers are not merely persons, though these persons in this world can be used as instruments by these forces. Ultimately, we will realise there are no persons in this world; there are only forces. Even these persons seated before me are only forces. They are not persons. We have a wrong notion that persons are in front of us. There is no such thing as a person or a thing in this world. Everything is a centre of energy and it is these energies, these centres of force that we are trying to rouse up into a comprehensive action by an5/21/12 all-round technique that we adopt in the practice of