by Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL No. 41
July. 2004

ATTEMPTS TO DESCRIBE BRAMHAN - Part 15

"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

To QUESTIONS FROM READERS

QUESTION 1 from SRI RISHI VASUDEV

One path to moksha is to live your life as a service to Brahman. In order to
serve Brahman sincerely though, one must be free of all desires. If one was not then his service to Brahman would only be partial since the need to satisfy his desires would also be a factor in determining his actions. How does one then go about freeing himself from the control of his desires so that he can truly live his life as a Karma Yogi and be led by Brahman onto the path of moksha? Does one just suppress his desires until with time they go away? Or does one do his service to Brahman to the best of his ability and allow the partial service to develop as he becomes less ignorant and more selfless into full service?

ANSWER: The above question relates to three vast subjects, such as the meaning of Moksha, the service to Bramhan as well as suppression of desires.

We have discussed all these in some manner in the past issues of AHWAN. Let me try to recapitulate and put them as follows:

This _expression “service to Bramhan” is often a misinterpreted _expression. People tend to think that by practicing Dharma they are serving the Lord, and that it is something like a noble act or a benevolent gesture by the individual soul towards the Lord. For most people, it is even somewhat ego driven, like giving a gift by the consent of the individual’s will. As if the Lord begged for it and I obliged him, knowing very well that it is a good thing to do and will eventually benefit me.

While this to some extent is true, the very idea that it is “I” who is serving the Lord from the position of a giver is foolishness. With this idea rooted in mind even serving the Lord becomes a chore and does not contribute well to one’s development or liberation. Under these circumstances, there is bound to be conflict of desires and friction between mind (manah) and intellect or discerning power.

But the problem becomes manageable once we look at the whole existence and actions of the jiva (individual soul) from a holistic or spiritual point of view.

As we have discussed in the pages of AHWAN earlier ( Please see June 2000 and July 2000 issues), the whole creation is like a grand cosmic design of individual and collective evolution moving naturally towards that final goal of perfection – the Satchidananda. Everything and every being is an inseparable constituent of this plan. Every action that takes place by everyone and anyone fits into this plan. All actions of ours, leading to our spiritual evolution is not out of my choice but is the essential truth about my very existence. Right actions, based on correct knowledge of this divine design, takes us a step nearer to the goal. Wrong actions borne out of desires and ignorance create setbacks until the lesson from it is learnt.

Thus even the desires of the mind make their contribution.

Often people- even the learned ones - speak that the soul's progress lies in cutting off all sense objects from the senses. They are termed as obstacles. Their view of vairagya or renunciation is a total negation of the senses. Unfortunately there is fallacy in this interpretation.

Vedantic philosophy does not advocate a forced severance of sense objects from the senses. It allows the senses to taste the objects. But it believes in keeping the senses as masters over the objects and not become their slaves. The senses and the sense objects have also their purpose to serve. The knowledge of preyas and shreyas,(former as the temporary pleasure of the senses that eventually lead to unsatiated feeling and unhappiness and the later being unpleasant to begin with, but eventually bringing benefits and happiness), can never be learnt without the interaction of senses with sense objects.

Without this realisation of the difference between preyas and shreyas our knowledge will be incomplete. The interaction of senses as mentioned, teaches us this truth. The Lord would not endow us with our senses and their instincts if they were purposeless. They are indeed great teachers, once their nature is understood and one has developed mental strength of resisting their temptations. The role of the mind as the rein and the intellect as the controller is significant here. Then what is apparently an obstacle, is seen as an aid to progress.

They say Jaireva patanam siddhih taireva. What brings disaster is also potentially capable of emancipating.

All desires, conforming to righteousness are indeed supported by the Lord. As assured by Lord Krishna:

DharmAviruddha bhutasya kamosmi bharatarsava.
When the desire relates to the aspirations of our inner self, it is sublime and divine. Our ‘self’ being essentially pure and one with the divine, its aspirations – however latent or pronounced that may be- are also essentially towards purity and perfection. The Self craves constantly to achieve that highest level of conscious perfection from which it has descended. That is SatchidAnanada – the absolute truth consciousness, its realisation and the resulting bliss that comes from the realisation. Such aspirations or desires of mind are not negative and are to be kept burning in the heart of the sadhaka. That is how indeed Moksha is obtained.

How does one do it? Yoga sadhana is all about that. As one proceeds along the eight steps of yoga, mastery over them and their actions results in measure to measure. When in Yoga one comes to the stage of surrendering to the Divine, The Lord takes care of the rest.

All desires have their seat in the mind. The mind by its nature, can dwell only on one thought at a time. It can never think two things at the same time. When the mind is indulging in sense gratification, it is dragging you, towards worldly pleasures, unhappiness, more desires and more unhappiness. However if by effort, mind switches over to the Self and its aspirations, it will drop the worldly thoughts and get fixed in the Divine SatchidAnanda. It is difficult but possible. Remaining in Yoga practices, the effort should be to remain more and more on the positive side and less and less in the negative side. Eventually the positive wins over negative. The worldly desires weaken and die. Yoga is the key.

(Please read the four articles on Preparations for Sadhana Part 1,2 3&4 in June, to October 02 issues of AHWAN)

QUESTION 2 from SRI MADAN RAHEJA

Mohanty ji Namaste, One question always confused me is: Is Atma a part of Parmatma? Or Atma and Parmatma are two different entities?

ANSWER:Firstly, as we discussed earlier, we must understand the very purpose of the creation of a jiva, and wherefrom a jiva is created. (You may read AHWAN Vol 3 July 2000 issue). Jivas are essential manifestations, and through the actions of the jivas interacting with the prakrti and its principles (gunas), the entire creation is sustained.

Bramhan or ParamAtmA, being the primary source (mahatyoni) of all created beings (bhutas), all bodies – whether human, plant, animals et all,- they all emanate from Him, get activated by Him, perform their ordained tasks, and after many cycles of birth and rebirth, finally return back to Him.

As explained in The Bhagavad Gita, all bodies or beings are made out of combination of eight elements, - five gross elements such as earth, water, fire, air and space and three subtle elements such as mind, intellect and the performing ego.

BhumirAponalo vAyuh kham mano Buddhirevacha
Ahamkara itiyam me bhinna PrakritirastadhA

However, the bhutas can only perform, when the still subtler and superior ninth element jivabhuta, enters into the bodies and activates them. The entire creation is sustained by this principle. From Bhagavad Gita again:

Apareyamitastu anyam Prakritim biddhi me Param
Jivabhutam mahAbAho yadyedam dhAryate jagat.

This jivabhuta is the soul or AtmA of the jiva, i.e. jivAtmA.

The source for all these eight elements as well as the subtle ninth element is the ParamAtmA. Hence the jivAtmA and ParamAtmA are essentially the same entity.

As Shri Adi Shankara has said:

Bramheiva Jiva na parAh ­ The Bramhan and Jiva are one and not different.

However there is an apparent differentiation between the two, which we perceive in our ignorance, which is explained this way. In the course of its actions performed in lives after lives, the jiva comes under influences of the mAyA, or inherent nature of the prakriti (prakritijaih guneih) which envelops it and determines its actions, good or bad. So the jivAtmA remains always as pure as its source – the ParamAtmA, but appears tarnished by name, form and character (nAma, rupa, sanskAra) which can only be shed through yoga sAdhanA.

When we talk of liberation, we always think of this individual soul (jivAtmA) as a separate entity which perfects itself and becomes one with the supreme self the ParamAtmA. But the esoteric meaning is like this. The soul and the universal soul being same, the separateness that we observe is only an assumed identity when we erroneously equate it with the temporary body, name and nature it has taken to perform certain specific duties for which it has been ordained. The soul within, does not require evolution or liberation as it always remains pure and perfect as the Supreme soul always is.

However in course of its peformance of the ordained tasks, the body, mind and intellect associated with this jivAtmA acquire blemishes due to their ignorance of discriminating between Preyas (sense pleasing experiences that give temporary pleasure but lead to misery when no more pleasure available) and Shreyas (experiences that may not be palatable in the beginning but bring lasting happiness). With this ignorance we commit mistakes and more mistakes. Each mistake has to be atoned by acts of purification until the lessons are learnt and all blemishes are wiped away. When this happens, and the envelope of ignorance is lifted with true knowledge, we are back to our original state and our intrinsic purity shines forth with all its glory. We are then ready to merge with the Supreme Self, as pure merges with pure. This act of atonement and process of purification is liberation, with all its connected benefits. This is achieved through Yoga.

QUESTION 3 from SRI SANJAY LULLA

Are the atman budhi ego awareness separate? what happens when the soul departs form the body where do the awareness ego and budhi go? are they part of the atman in sleeping status only to arise when in contact with sense organs?

ANSWER:(Please also see the AHWAN Vol 40, June04 issue, as well as this issue, Question and Answer section )

As we have discussed, mind, intellect and ego self are three of the separate elements that go into making what we all are. Being part of the body they are impermanent as the body is. They exist with the body and vanish when the body is destroyed. Body is their base (adhAra) and also their tool of action. The body and its constituents are activated as the soul or the jivabhuta enters into the body and all of them collapse when the jivabhuta departs for another body. (Please also see the question topic on AtmA/ paramAtmA in this issue of AHWAN)

When the mind, intellect and ego are active in this body, they influence each other and create impressions that further govern our actions. The effect of these impressions, are the basis of our sanskAras and determine our karmaphala (fruits of actions) for not only in this life but also the carried forward sanchita karma for the future lives. All activities of body, mind, intellect and ego are translated into sanskAras. Some of it get exhausted in the present life. The rest are carried forward to the next lives’ balance sheet as sanchita

When this body is destroyed, everything connected with the body is also destroyed, excepting the jivabhuta, which is indestructible. Jivabhuta, which is the extention of that supreme soul paramAtma, is the witness of all actions of the individual soul and is the record keeper of all karmaphala. It is this jivabhuta, or individual soul or jivatma which carries with it the sanskAras to interact with the body, mind, intellect and ego of the next life form and that again produces its own corresponding sanskAras. The chetanA or the Bramhan consciousness, that we gain in each life, is also carried forward in the same manner to influence our next life and lives there after.
The process goes on.