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by
Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL
No.100
June: 2009
OUR LIFE AND OUR DREAMS.
Based on lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty
For last few discussions we have been exposing ourselves to some serious philosophical truths that the sanatan philosophy has given to the world at large. These are end products of collective wisdom borne out of the experience of many enlightened minds and are certainly not easy to comprehend without intensive austerity or tapasya. But even a general awareness of these truths gives us great practical benefits.
In the first place, it is the exposure to knowledge- the jnana – the summum bonum of Brahman the God. It does not matter if very little of this knowledge seeps unto you. Once in, it always grows and as it grows it starts molding the very life we live, in physical, mental and psychic levels. We inevitably turn to become a better and still better person. Watch yourself sincerely and you will know by your own personal experience.
And as you understand more and more, you will be amazed at the profundity and depth of jnana our ancient philosophers possessed. Cynics do not try to understand often and extend derogative criticisms. But no such feeling affects a true sAdhaka or a seeker of knowledge (jijyansu). He only has the bliss of humility that only exposure to true knowledge brings.
The truth as expounded in our scriptures is undeniable. That is why later day philosophical streams have openly reflected many of these knowledge ideas of sanatan philosophy in their own thought process, enriching the overall human reservoir of knowledge – the human heritage.
Life is and ought to be a continuous endevour to acquire knowledge and more knowledge.
Many of us have already spent a good many years of our present life. Many are indeed at the verge of a new life hereafter. Does it call for a little reflection at times?
All our achievements of life lie before us. If we are proud of a developed conscience, all of us must have often reflected on our achievements and failures some time or other.
Some have raised a good family of progenies and proud of them. Some perhaps have not. Now you reflect and ask – ‘Is the happiness of a great family or lack of it was my life’s goal for which I came to this world?’
Some have acquired great wealth, a successful business empire, lording over many people. Some have spent perhaps the entire life running after two square meals? You pause and ask ‘Is that all that Brahman the Lord gave me this life for?
Some have gained great social status in statesmanship, or in public service, or in the fields of culture, education, sports, science, physical and material achievements etc. and have gained enviable positions. Some have struggled in life to even gain an identity. A time comes, when your conscience urges you to ask – ‘Was that your ordained goal of life?’
What all these have given you? A place in history books, a satisfying epitaph, a monument, a periodic remembrance in society?
Is that what we worked and spent our life and then melt away in time?
Brahman the Lord sent us here with the precious gift of a life. What did we spent it for?
The great question of life is “Did I understand life?”
Some of the pursuits of life were indeed necessary for maintenance of life itself. But did we ever think beyond that? Did we honestly pursue the purpose of life itself? Did we give a thought to the Divine purpose of life?
Spiritual sadhana essentially urges us to contemplate on these thoughts. In simple words, if I came to this world to work my way through to evolve into a being nearer to Brahman do my achievements or my efforts in life, indeed helped me to evolve?
Arguments and counter arguments will always be there in plenty. But our conscience, the presence of the Lord within us will never let us forget this?
Lest we misinterpret this turmoil within, and sink into despondency, the sanatan philosophy strongly emphasises that this turmoil should be a part of our evolutionary process. If my purpose of climbing the ladder of lives after lives is to raise myself from an inferior ‘beingness’ to a superior ‘beingness’, then I am always standing at the juncture of my ‘behind’ and my ‘ahead’- my ‘inferior’ and my ‘better’ - between my aparArdha and my parArdha.
By that only I can chart my course. What the world thinks of me and will remember me by, is of insignificant importance. If I have done good for the world, the world will always benefit from it. On the other hand, I should be aware that by my bad actions I have already brought harm to the world and to myself. My practical concern now is always my steps ahead of me.
Standing at the juncture – which the individual soul is always at – we all are possessed by this profound thought. Every intelligent and spiritually conscious soul is capable of this power of introspection and forward looking. We are all inherently programmed to chart our progress to our goal.
The great Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, arguably the greatest treatise on philosophy of life and its aspirations, has a text which is ofcourse (and understandably) interpreted many ways by many but urges us towards this reflection.
Tasya va etasya purushasya dve eva sthAne bhavatah- idam ca paralokasthAnam ca; sandhyam tritiyam swapnasthAnam; tasminsandhye sthAne tisthan ete ubhe sthAne pasyati- idam ca paralokasthAnam ca.
Atha yathA Akramah ayam paralokasthAne bhavati tam Akramam Akramya ubhayat pApmana AnandAsca pasyati;
(That man indeed is identified with two worlds, this world and the world hereafter. Between them in the juncture is the third unreal world like the dream state between the waking state and the deep sleep state. Standing at that juncture he surveys both, this and the hereafter. With the experience gathered here, its joys and its heartbreaks as the means, he sees what lies in the next.)
To further understand the implication we should go back to our explanation of the three states of jagrati( waking state), swapna (dream state) and susupti (deep sleep state), through which we alternate. Please refer to ‘Attempts to describe Brahman – Part 8’ in AHWAN December 2003 issue.
The three stages mentioned signify our quality of consciousness with Brahman and thereby the quality of our engagement with the life we live.
The jagrati state is the world of our physical senses, when all our sense organs are functioning. This is the state when all our physical actions take place. Here our performing ego is most dominant. All actions that lead to our so-called achievements of life are produced in our jagrati state. They relate to the physically manifested world around us. To a limited understanding that is the world of ours. ‘We’ or ‘I’ is the controller here. Everything here is predominantly ego driven or ‘I’ driven.
Different to this is the deep sleep or susupti state, where all physical, ego driven activities cease to exist. It is the state when we are no more conscious of the world around us and when we are closeted with only a deep consciousness of our soul’s proximity with Brahman the supreme soul.
In the jagrati state, we live with our ignorance, our doubts, our deficiencies etc. Since none of us has achieved perfection yet, we can see that we are under the influence of our underdeveloped ‘inferior self’. On the other hand in the susupti state, having surrendered our ego, physical and mental faculties to Brahman, we are under the influence of our ‘superior self’ making us realize our shortcomings and giving us glimpses of a better and higher state of existence.
The sloka ‘….Justam yadA pasyati anyam isham asya mahimAnam iti pasyati vitashokah’ and the analogy of the two birds from our Upanishads (Mundaka and Svetasvatara), best explain this condition. (Please revisit ‘UNDERSTANDING THE TATTVAS- The essential truths of creation’in the December 2008 issue, as well as Listening to Inner voice’ in May 2001 issue). The tainted influence of an imperfect ego is no more there and we are under the protective control of our superior self (justam). We experience what this superior self lets us experience.If our consciousness is sufficiently aroused, in ‘sleep’, free from the control of our ego we get a glimpse of what an ego-less and God-controlled world is like.
We keep alternating between these two states throughout our life and lives after lives until total understanding of both worlds are acquired.
Between these two states is the junction (or sandhi) which is the dream state. It has great significance for the sAdhaka and this is what the text in BrhadAranyaka Upanishad tries to explain to us.
From ‘wakefulness’, one passes through dream and goes to ‘deep sleep.’ While dreaming one is aware of his experiences of the waking state and is also given to experience what is the desirable state to where he should proceed.
In the broader perspective of our total existence, when the sAdhaka, who has sensitized himself through yoga, often stands in such a juncture to not only view and review his life so far, but also sees his future destination – his true goal.
Some people do not dream and feel happy. But not dreaming at all is not natural and not a healthy sign. Dreaming is the character of a sensitive mind. In our day to day life we often analyse our dreams and indulge ourselves in the frivolous exercise of predicting some future events. But the dream state being only a reflection of the physical life we have lived, our achievements and failures and aspirations, it is also a state for assessment. A sensitized soul, sensitized by practice of yoga, recognizes its full importance and utilizes this dream state as part of his sAdhanA process. One should always intelligently analyse his dreams. Analysis of dreams during the dream state is as important as analysis of one’s actions during the waking stage. The quality of our dreams reflect the quality of our thoughts, or the true state of our mind. A sAdhaka uses his analysis to purify his thoughts and his sAdhanA.
One can aspire for mundane achievements of little intrinsic value (preyas) or break away towards real quality of achievement (shreyas), while standing at this juncture where both the worlds – the ihaloka and paraloka – the ‘behind’ and the ‘front’- both sides lie revealed to him. The choice belongs to the sAdhaka.
This is a wonderful Divine arrangement by which the sAdhaka makes his assessment of life’s achievements to decide whether he is on the right path or not.
It takes great efforts to come to this stage of yoga where one can become capable of making his assessments. To be able to see dispassionately one’s virtues and vices (pApa and Ananda as the Upanishad says) is difficult indeed. But the scripture implies that every soul can reach that state through yogic practice.
The experiences gathered so far, their impressions as sanskAras, become our means (Akrama) by which we can take our decisions for the future journey.
What a wonderful concept! The soul never rests in peace, lies dormant waiting for a final deliverance or judgement. It is constantly in motion, working its way through for its own emancipation where satchidananda awaits him. This is where the sanatan philosophy stands out compared to most religious thought processes. The ‘soul’ is continuously on sadgati or on move towards its own perfection. It therefore leaves no justification for wrong doing at any stage. TapasyA is jiva’s dharma.
People often wonder. How does one see his own future? Is it truly possible or a purely imaginative conjecture?
The answer to this we get from the next part of the text of the Aranyaka. It says;
Sah yatra prasvapiti, asya lokasya sarvAvatah mAtrAm apAdAya svayam vihatya, svayam nirmAya, svena bhAsA, svena jyotishA prasvapiti; atra ayam purushah svayam jyotirbhavati.
In his dream state, by the assistance of some of his impressions of his waking state (actions performed in life), he himself standing aside, creates his own desired conditions. Through his own mental projection he sees the conditions as per his wish. His mind sees it all as it were, through its own light of understanding. He sees clearly what his future ought to be.
Take a cue from our day to day dealings to understand this. Whenever we are confronted with a problem in life, one of the most effective ways to find a solution is to sit down and calmly think about it. We dream of our freedom from our predicament. By utilizing our experiences from life as our support, we deeply concentrate on the problem and work out a solution in the mind. We then act accordingly.
Mind has this awesome power. When sensitized and strengthened through yogic meditation, mind’s power to extend beyond the limited and obvious problem and work out a solution for itself is acquired. We have all experienced this power of contemplative meditation of mind in our own lives. We have solved many difficulties by thinking deeply.
When by yogasAdhanA we have enhanced this power, we see the future world of ours as clearly as we see our past lives. Depending upon the mental refinement and knowledge acquired by us we extend the zone of our cognizance covering both the life lived and the desired life hereafter.
Experienced yogis vouch for this power of mind. Sri Aurobindo expressed similar thoughts when he said “…it is possible for us in certain conditions of our being to be aware of several different states of consciousness at the same time. There is a state of being experienced in yoga in which we become a double consciousness, one on the surface, small active, ignorant, swayed by thoughts and feelings, grief and joy and all kinds of reactions, the other within calm, vast, equal, observing the surface being with an immovable detachment or indulgence or, it may be, acting upon its agitation to quiet, enlarge, transform it.” (ref ‘Brahman, Purusha, Ishwara in The life divine.)
That is what happens when you venture to dream. With detachment (svayam vihatya), the yogi sees both the back and the front.
The knowledge, acquired through experience provides us the light to see clearly. The knowledge is our light. With that light of ours - svena bhAsA- we see. When we are one with that knowledge we say ‘I am the light’ or ‘I have become the light’. Atra ayam purushah svayam jyotirbhavati.
No fatalistic resignation is this. It is neither cessation of efforts. Dreaming is part of the divine action plan to create a blue print of life – now and hereafter.
When sincerely done, we indeed evaluate our own life, our own achievements, our acquirements, our boasts and our vanity.
Then perhaps an intelligent man pauses to think. Are these all that I came for or have I missed a point? What worth are my gains so far?
That is dharma in practice. That is the spiritual approach to life.
