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THE MYSTERY BEYOND THE TRINITY

The work originally in Sanskrit is widely known in India and has been translated into a number of local languages, but I do not know of any previous translation in English. It is regarded as one of the chief text-books on Advaita, the reading of which alone is sufficient for Salvation. The esteem in which the work is held for its sanctity may be gauged from an account of it given in the Preface to the Maahaatmya Khanda. Mahaadeeva originally taught the Highest Truth to Vishnu who in turn taught Brahma in the Celestial regions. Later Vishnu incarnated on Earth as Sri Dattaatreya, the Lord of the Avadhuutas (the naked sages), and taught it to Parasuraama with the added injunction that it should be communicated to Haritaayana who would later seek the Truth from him. Parasurama thus realised the Self by the guidance of Sri Datta and dwelt on the Malaya Hill in South India.

As for its philosophy, there is no real reason to distinguish it from Vedanta. Scholars however call this system the Taantri or the Saakta, and point out some apparent differences between this and Advaita Veedaanta. This system teaches that the Supreme Reality is no other than Abstract Intelligence. “Intelligence” signifies Self-luminosity and ‘Abstraction’ denotes its unlimited nature. No other agent can be admitted to exist apart from It in order to reveal It. The apparent variety is only due to Vimarsa, the gross aspect of Its absolute freedom known as Svatantra which at times unfolds the Pure Self as the Cosmos and at others withdraws Itself and remains unmanifest. Abstraction and manifestation are inherent in the Pure Self; these two aspects are given the names Siva and Sakti, respectively. There cannot be manifestation beyond the Supreme Intelligence; therefore Cosmos and the Self are only the same, but different modes of Reality. Realisation of the Truth is thus quite simple, requiring only constant remembrance on these lines (anusandhaanam) that Reality is not incompatible with the world and its phenomena, and that the apparent ignorance of his Truth is itself the outcome of Reality so that there is nothing but Reality.

Arguably the best book on ‘Advaita’ philosophy i’ve ever read.

The two Epics and the Prasthana thraya—the triple foundation of the Vedanta school of philosophical and spiritual system, namely the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras (Vedanta Sutras) and the Bhagavad-Gita—are the perennial sources of ethical and spiritual knowledge and wisdom, inspiring thousands of earnest seekers of truth. The great Sankaracharya’s Viveka Chudamani (The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom) belongs to this category of great works.It is verily the cream of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita and to the sincere and deep student of Viveka Chudamani no other help is needed to lead him to a spiritual life and self-realization through self-improvement.

Viveka Chudamani consists of 580 verses in Sanskrit, but unlike other scriptures, it is not divided into chapters and sections. However, it has the dialogue form of the Gita—here, between the Master and the disciple. The subject is dealt with in a direct, lucid and incisive way. It is comprehensible in its scope and covers a variety of subjects, viz, preparation to fit oneself, learning to discern the real from the false, controlling the personality to liberate oneself, and final union with the One.

Viveka Chudamani is considered to be the masterpiece of Advaita Vedanta, of which Sankara (510-478 B.C.) is the greatest exponent. H.P.B. speaks of him as “the greatest of the esoteric masters of India,” and “one of the greatest minds that appeared on earth.” (S.D., I, 86 and 522)

Advaita means non-dual—”Ekameva Adwitiyam” or One without a second. The system recognizes Parabrahman or Paramatman as the only Reality. Everything other than that, including the phenomenal world, is maya or illusion.

Sankara postulates that the spirit of man is identical with the Supreme Spirit and our sufferings and errors are the result of the failure to realize this identity. He asserts that the realization of the oneness with the supreme can liberate us from the bonds of the cycle of births and deaths. The central teaching is that “Jivatma” is none other than “Paramatma,” i.e., self alone is real and not-self is appearance. The false identification of self with the not-self is the cause of bondage. This bondage is because of the ignorance of the real nature of the self and freedom is attained as soon as the ignorance disappears at the dawn of self-realization.

As Theosophy points out, the greatest impediment to this freedom is our preoccupation with the objective world and personal life, which inevitably leads to conflict of interest, jealousy, revenge and moral depravity, raising barriers between man and man. The only remedy lies in detachment and practice of virtues which alone can liberate the mind.

In Viveka Chudamani, discrimination, wisdom, and discipline are prescribed for the purpose of spiritual knowledge and its realization, i.e., uniting one’s self with the Supreme Self.

Sankara says, “For beings a human birth is hard to win, then manhood and holiness, then excellence in the path of wise law; hardest of all to win is wisdom” (Verse 2). The same idea was given by the Enlightened One in the Dhammapada: “Difficult it is to obtain birth as a human being. Difficult it is to live the life of a man. Difficult it is to get to hear the True Law. Difficult it is to attain to Enlightenment” (Verse 182). The Tamil saint “Avvaiyar” uttered 2100 years ago the same teaching, when she said, “Rare, rare indeed is to be born as a human being.”

Thus, it is difficult to obtain human birth and difficult to live as a human being so that the natural qualities of a human being, viz, kindness, absence of every ill feeling or selfishness, charity, good will to all beings can manifest. When we really live as a human being, it is difficult to know the doctrine. When we know the doctrine, it is then difficult to reach to wisdom. Sri Krishna says in the Gita: “Among thousands of mortals a single one perhaps strives for perfection, and among those so striving perhaps a single one knows me as I am.” (Chapter 7)

Further, Sankara says that after being born as a human being and after obtaining the knowledge of the teaching, if one does not strive for Freedom he is a fool. Therefore “let the wise one strive after Freedom, giving up all longing for sensual self-indulgence; approaching the good, great Teacher (the Higher Self), with the soul intent on the object of the teaching.” “Let him by the Self raise the self, sunk in the ocean of the world, following the path of union through complete recognition of oneness.” (Verses 8 and 9)

We have the same idea expressed in the Dhammapada and the Gita. Thus:

“He should raise the self by the Self; let him not suffer the Self to be lowered, for the Self is the friend of self, and, in like manner, self is its own enemy” (Gita, chapter 6).

“Rouse your self by your Self, examine your self by your Self. Thus self-guarded and mindful you will live happily, O Bhikkhu.” (Dhammapada)

Again Sankara says: “Therefore mind is the cause of man’s bondage, and in turn of his liberation; when darkened by the powers of passion it is the cause of bondage, and when pure of passion and darkness it is the cause of liberation.” (Verse 175)

All the above verses speak about the dual aspect of Manas—the lower and the higher. Although man is an emanation of Manasaputra, the ray of the higher Manas cannot act on this plane except through its alter ego, the lower manas. The lower manas, though one in essence with the higher Manas, forgets its divine parentage as soon as it is embodied in a vehicle of astral substance. The lower manas, identifying itself with the personality, in which it incarnates, is caught in the web of Kama. Hence, it is said that Manas is crucified between two thieves, one ever pulling Manas to the lower animal level and the other with high and noble aspirations ever encouraging Manas to look within to its parent—Atma-Buddhi-Manas. The moment we try to free Manas from the clutches of Kama, it can become an organ of free will in man and help him to ascend to heavenly heights. For this, one has to practise dispassion.

One of the prime conditions for detachment is moral purity. To achieve that purity the following steps are necessary:

1. To distinguish between the immortal soul and evanescent personality.
2. Our thoughts, feelings and words to fall in line with our Higher Self.
3. Freeing the mind from the desires of the personality which influence our thoughts.
4. To constantly dwell on noble, high aspiring themes with purity of motive.
5. To practise inselfishness and altruism.
6. To give noetic impulse to various lives in our body instead of psychic impulses.
7. To give up the life of personality in order to live the life in Spirit.

If our ideas of morality are rooted in our Immortal Self, then as Sri Krishna says in the Gita, we can reach the stage when our desires will be regulated by moral fitness.

Viveka means wisdom or discrimination and Chudamani is a jewel worn on the head. Appropriately, Sankara has likened it to a jewel in the head.

Sankara addresses our moral sense and understanding. He appeals to our reason in a unique way. For clearness and simplicity it is unparalleled. The aim is, freedom from the bondage of the world. It wakes up every human being who is asleep, appeals to the universal ideal of common humanity.

Sankara says that it is not enough to listen to his words. “Freedom from bondage of the world” demands something more. “Sickness is not cured by saying ‘Medicine,’ but by drinking it. So a man is not set free by the name of the Eternal without discerning the Eternal” (Verse 64). In other words, the Teaching must become part of our life and character if it is to bear fruit; it is futile to contemplate the virtue of freedom in the abstract, without living the higher life.

The same idea occurs in Chandogya Upanishad. It is not the knowledge of the scriptures but the realization of the Self that brings liberation to the spirit of man. There is an episode in Chandogya Upanishad in which Narada goes to Sanatkumara and tells him that he knows all the scriptures and all the sciences and arts of his time, yet has no knowledge of the Self. In the Gita we find: “I will instruct thee fully in this knowledge and in its realization, which, having learned, there remains nothing else to be known.” (Chapter 7)

Mr. Judge tells us that “realization comes from dwelling on the thought to be realized,” i.e., when one has acquired spiritual knowledge he has to make it part of his life by living it.

Often criticism is levelled against the doctrine of liberation, i.e., freedom from bondage of the world. But the very life and teaching of Sankara belie this. He talks of freedom from bondage of matter and desire which will enable one to work with the aim of Nature and Soul, including all souls of all men.

This is brought out in verses 39 and 40: “The great good ones dwell in peace, bringing joy to the world like the return of spring. Having crossed the ocean of the world, they ever help others to cross over.” “For this is the very nature of the great-souled ones (Mahatmas)—their swiftness to take away the weariness of others. So the soft-rayed moon of itself soothes the earth, burned by the fierce sun’s heat.”

Lal Kitab is a mystery in itself. It is written in ancient Urdu without the element of punctuation and sounds Greek to a layman. Poetical verses interpolated with philosophy and hidden nuances of destiny form the core ‘farmaans’ of the book. The authorship is unknown. It is said that the solutions & remedies given by Lal Kitab are infallible. Some of them may look pretty weird especially in these modern times, but that is the way our religion is, inexplicable, occult yet overawing just by sheer magnitude of its diversity. That it has rightly been termed as ” The Wonder Book ” of Astrology.

The science of palmistry too has been explained in such an exquisite manner that each of the 42 divisions of the human brain have been related to the different houses of a man’s birth chart in such a scientific manner that the sketch of the human brain reflects accurately on the lines of the palm. On the basis of these lines of the palm one can draw the actual horoscope of an individual and can do the placement of planets in various houses of the birth chart. The date of birth and the birth ascendant can be found out by reading the lines and mounts of the palm, which means that an individual’s accurate birth chart can be drawn by seeing the lines of his palm. Similarly, by studying the different aspects of a man’s residential house his birth chart can be accurately prepared on the basis of the sutras explained in the Lal Kitab book.

In addition to the above, Lal Kitab has announced unique remedial measures to solve chronic and critical human problems in day-to-day life. These measures do not require the practice of ordeals, complicated and expensive rituals, which prove more troublesome for persons who are already in trouble because of the evil effects of certain planets. These measures are again different from Mantras and Tantras, which give various adverse effects if not followed rigorously in all their minute details. The measures suggested in Lal Kitab are electrically effective in solving all kinds of human troubles and tensions, without inflicting harm on anybody i.e. these remedies are completely self defensive against the evils created by the planets without causing injury in anyway to anyone concerned.

Vidura’s advice to King Dritarashtra

In Vidura Neeti, which occurs in the Udyoga Parva of Mahabharata, Vidura expounds, for the benefit of King Dhritarashtra, the basic principles of morality conducive to happiness here and hereafter. The intelligent man who shuns hypocrisy and delusion, slander and sinful acts, enmity with the many and disputation with the drunken, the insane and the wicked is pre-eminent among men. The King is depicted as Blind man and his wife too follows him by blinding herself.
His 100 sons are misled by uncle and friends and Blind King is unable to see his son’s mistakes and tries to cover him up every time.

Vidura, the advisor of king explains how he became blind in his son’s love and is now supporting all his senseless decisions.
These decisions lead to war between cousins and ultimately the king’s 100 sons are killed for their wrong deeds.

But the advices of vidura remain and are still applicable for everyone to be an ideal person in the society.

Here are some of them :

Vidura said: Five types of people cannot sleep – one who lusts after another man’s wife, a thief, one who has lost or thinks he would lose all his wealth, an unsuccessful man, an oppressed man. Surely avarice and greed are not to be found in you!

Dhritarashtra wrenched at the insight and unusual cynicism in his brother’s voice. Again, he asked him to help him sleep. Vidura said: You have not been able to sleep for so many years! Right from when the Pandavas were sent to the forest, nay right from Duryodhana’s birth when you knew that he was not destined to rule. Jealousy has been the prime occupant in your heart. You ask me how you can sleep. Right now, if you return to the Pandavas what is theirs by right, you can sleep like a child. You are not wise; you are foolish!

Dhritarashtra asked: Dear brother, tell me the qualities of a wise and a foolish man.

Vidura said: Listen carefully. A wise king should use the ONE to discriminate the TWO; control the THREE using the FOUR; conquer the FIVE; know the SIX; abstain from the SEVEN.

ONE means the intellect; TWO stands for right and wrong; THREE means friend, enemy and stranger; FOUR means gift, appeasement, estrangement and severity; FIVE are the senses; SIX are the different relationships between kingdoms – war, treaty etc.; SEVEN are the greatest vices – women, dice, hunting, harsh speech, drinking, severe punitive acts and wasting wealth.

A king can then be happy. Poison and weapon can kill only one man but wicked counsel destroys a whole kingdom. The highest good is RIGHTEOUSNESS; the supreme peace is FORGIVENESS; supreme contentment is KNOWLEDGE; supreme happiness is BENEVOLENCE.

A king can become great by doing two things – refraining from harsh speech and avoiding the wicked.

Three crimes are considered terrible – theft, wrath of another man’s wife, breaking the trust of friendship. Three things destroy the soul – lust, anger and covetousness. Three are essential and should be protected – a follower, one seeking protection and one that has come to your abode.

A king should ever avoid these four – men of small sense, men that procrastinate, indolent men and flatterers.

Contents: Preface; 1. Mundane astrology; 2. Astrology’s role in national affairs; 3. Traffic accidents: in astrological study; 4. Rail accidents: an astrological study; 5. Impact of eclipses; 6. Saturn-Jupiter nexus in mundane astrology; 7. A peep through the cyclic scope; 8. Future of New Delhi; 9. Does Saturn in Leo destroy fortresses in Delhi?; 10. Future of Kashmir; 11. Will India disintegrate?; 12. Natural zodiacal sign for India; 13. No world war in 2000 AD; 14. Astro-meteorology in folklore; 15. On earthquakes.

Comments : This is a collection of essays, in sum, an original work, rare in this field. Some interesting new techniques. One of them, the 180 year cycle, which is 15 cycles of Jupiter, 6 cycles of Saturn, and ten cycles of Rahu-Ketu. (I believe that 180 years is the minimum necessary to bring these three into one cycle.) Much of this book is a running commentary on contemporary Indian history, from the 1980’s to the present. From an essay published in 1991, he considers that New Delhi may not always be the capital of India, an interesting idea. Reacting to B.V. Raman’s prediction of a major world war in 2000, Pathak says that Raman is flatly wrong. For the mundane astrologer, some interesting reading.

A rare work attributed to Kali Dasa. It provides an exhaustive list of the significations of houses and planets. It offers new avenues for the yoga karakas for each Lagna and for the solar return charts. There are remarkable guidelines regarding the major and minor periods of Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, Mars and the like. It is a precious work not to be missed. The text is based on Parasara and Jaimini and it is substantiated by the author?s own experience.

The text emphasizes more on ‘Kaarak’ planet and ‘Kaarakamsa’ in Navamsa chart.
He clearly describes few yogas such as ‘Budhaditya Yoga’ as to exist only in 1,3,8 houses and also when both sun and mercury are not afflicted by evil planets.

Also other major yogas, their peak timings, marriage, children, diseases, wealth,death and after death are also discussed.

Must read for those who study vedic astrology but this book expects reader to have sound knowledge beforehand.

How to know GOD

This great book on Yoga & its methods has 4 major parts.
1. Part 1 – on Contemplations & union
2. Part 2 – on Spiritual Disciplines
3. Part 3 – on Divine Powers
4. Part 3 – on Realizations
The foundation of all later Schools of Yoga go back to Patanjali. The word Yoga automatically calls to mind Sage “Patanjali” the founder and father of Yoga. He lived around three? centuries before Christ, and was a great philosopher and grammarian. He was also a physician and a medical work is attributed to him. However this work is now lost in the pages of time.
His best known work is Patanjali Yoga Sutras of Aphorisms on Yoga. The path outlined is called Raja Yoga or the sovereign path. It is so called because of the regal, noble method by which the self is united with the overself.

Patanjali’s Yoga has essentially to do with the mind and its modifications. It deals with the training of the mind to achieve oneness with the Universe. Incidental to this objective are the acquisition of siddhis or powers.

The aim of Patanjali Yoga is to set man free from the cage of matter. Mind is the highest form of matter and man freed from this dragnet of Chitta or Ahankara (mind or ego) becomes a pure being.

The mind or Chitta is said to operate at two levels-intellectual and emotional. Both these levels of operation must be removed and a dispassionate outlook replace them. Constant Vichara (enquiry) and Viveka (discrimination between the pleasant and the good) are the two means to slay the ego enmeshed in the intellect and emotions. Vairagya or dispassion is said to free one from the pain of opposites love and hate, pleasure and pain, honour and ignominy, happiness and sorrow.

The easiest path to reach this state of dispassion and undisturbed tranquillity is the path of Bhakti or love. Here, man surrenders his all-mind, soul, ego-to the Divine Being and is only led on by the Divine will. Self-surrender the Diving Name. Such repetition must not be mechanical but one-pointed and full of favor. For this, concentration is necessary. concentration can be there only if man has practiced to fix his attention on a particular object without letting it dwell on anything else.
Concentration also calls for regulation of conduct if Bhakti must develop. Good cheer, compassion, absence of jealousy, complacence towards the virtuous and consideration towards the wicked must be consciously cultivated.

There are also methods of regulated breathing which help reach concentration.

Yoga is an art and takes into purview the mind, the body and the soul of the man in its aim of reaching Divinity. The body must be purified and strengthened through various practices. The mind must be cleansed of all gross and the soul should turn inwards if a man should become a yogic adept. Study purifies the mind and surrender takes the soul towards God.

The human mind is subject to certain weaknesses which are universal. avidya-wrong notions of the external world, asmita-wrong notions of the external world, asmita-wrong notions of oneself, raga-longing and attachment for sensory objects and affections, dweshad is like and hatred for objects and persons, and abinivesha or the love of life are the five defects of the mind that must be removed. Constant meditation and introspection eradicate these mental flaws.

The human body is a vehicle for journeying this life. It must be kept in proper form if the mind should function well. For this, there are practices too, but Patanjali does not elucidate on them.

Once reaching advanced stages, the reader should go ahead only under the supervision of an experienced Guru(Trainer)

mystical experiences of the Self

The Astavakra Gita is a unique text among the world’s contemplative classics dealing systematically with the mystical experiences of the Self on its way to transcendence, peace and bliss. There are few ancient treatises in East or West which evince such profound all lively concern with the Supreme Self as the ultimate reality, embodied in mystical insight and experience, and written with such spiritual imagination and poetic fervour.

The Classical text of Atmadvaita by Astavakra with an Introductory Essay, Sanskrit Text, English Translation, Annotation and Glossarial Index.
It all starts with King Janaka & his Queen asking ashatvakra to reveal them the secrets of their past life.
When the king realizes that the queen was his mother is past life, he’s left shocked ! and seeks wisdom from the sage ‘Ashtavakra’.

It presents in twenty chapters the substance of Astavakra’s teaching in respect of the Cosmic Self in the form of his dialogue with Janaka, the seer-king of Videha. The teaching is based on the Upanisadic creed of Absolute monism (Advaitavada) that identifies the Self with the non-dual Ultimate Reality.

This text presents the substance of Astavakra’s teaching in respect to the Cosmic Self in the form of his dialogue with Janaka, the seer-king of Videha. His teaching identifies the Self with the non-dual Ultimate Reality, while introducing the emotional element of mystical feeling as the means to realizing the non-dual nature of the Self.

THE ESSENCE OF YOGA VASISHTA

This indeed was a revolutionary writing in ancient india.
Yoga Vasishta or Vasishta Ramayana or Vasishta Geetha deals with the philosophy of Advaita(non-duality) of god & human soul.
The entire content of the book is described in many short stories.
This vast work was abridged some centuries ago by Abhinanda
Pandita, a Kashmiri scholar, into 6,000 couplets, which go
by the name of Laghu Yoga Vasishta. This is a masterpiece in
itself, like the original one.
A further condensation of this work was made long
ago, by an unknown author, into about 230 couplets,
divided into ten chapters, as Yoga Vasishta Saara (Essence
of Yoga Vasishta)

The book starts off with discussion between two persons about Dispassion and Unreality of this world.
As soon as the next doubt arises in reader’s mind, a new story unfolds which discusses about this doubt.
The series continues untill all doubts are cleared and the Guru frames out the set of rules (Bharadwajanusasan) for humans to follow in order to break free from all bonds of life and let their souls free.

This is indeed a goldmine fit for repeated reading and meditation.

A detailed practical guide for chanting mantras to help people with their development. The benefits of mantra chanting are physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Examples of those benefits are illustrated in personal stories told by the author and her students.
A connection is made between mantra and hatha yoga – if a mantra is chanted during a hatha yoga pose one can penetrate the deeper levels of the pose and experience its mystical meaning. Swami Radha has brought the ancient wisdom tought to her by her Guru from Rishikish and made this wisdom accessible to the western mind. She shows us how it works within the context of the western experience and she is constantly encouraging us to know from our own explorations of the Mantra. She is indeed a very powerful and enlightened writer who by example shows us the power of speech and the power of the ancient chants.

Sivananda Radha has explained the way the mantra works and has gone into the intricacies of this difficult spiritual discipline in a simple and clearcut way. Her list of mantra goes beyond individual religions and includes buddhist, christian and Hindu mantra that are easy to learn.