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by
Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL
No. 70
December2006
THE DWELLER IN THE INNER LOTUS AND RELATED TOPICS – Part1.
Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty
The sanatan philosophy has some unique characteristics of its own. While every philosophy and the religion that practices it, has ‘evolution and development’ of jiva or the individual soul as its overriding objective, the expanse of its domain and the depth of its enquiry varies considerably. In doing so, since the dawn of awakening of the human thought process, and enriched by the collective wisdom of many seers and thinkers, the sanatan philosophy has established some profound truths that are unique and exclusive. Thereby lies its enduring strength.
One must hasten here to add that these are universal truths and therefore are gifts of the sanatan philosophy for the entire humanity –nay the entire creation. The Sanatan dharma(casually identified as Hindu dharma) is never really bothered about a separate identity or uniqueness. Being the oldest, universal, and mother of all religions, it is happy to see its many facets reflected in other faiths, which came after it. This truth should be appreciated not with vanity but with sublime humbleness as they govern the existence and evolution of all and not restricted to the so called hindus only.
Every one believes in God in some form or other – the ultimate and absolute in everything- whether personified or not. This God or Brahman or call Him by any other name is the object of all quest in the sanatan philosophy.
Prajnanam Brahma. The knowledge absolute is Brahman.
This knowledge is the governing principle of everything in this creation. Its formation, its existence and its mutation in the process of evolution.
Om IsAvAsyamidam sarvam yat kinca jagatyAm jagat.
The Lord’s expanse and control covers everything barring nothing. That is another truth.
When I say everything, it necessarily covers ‘me’ too. All jivas or individual souls come under the cover of Isa the Lord, the Brahman.
And then comes the boldest of all discoveries (or realizations) of the sanatan philosophy. If He pervades all- my outside and my inside – then how could I be separate from Him? And if I can not be ever separated from Him, then how could I be different from Him?
Thus we recognize this oneness, in declaring to the world that ‘tat tvamasi’. ‘You are indeed Him’ or in a more personalized manner; ‘soham’ – I am Him and ‘aham Brahmasmi’- I am Brahman, who else?
The logical conclusion from here is, in case Brahman and jiva are inseparable, He must surely be within the jiva itself as otherwise that part of the jiva would be void of Brahman. That is unacceptable as it will go to negate the concept that Brahman is all encompassing and there exists nothing, which is not Brahman.
No doubt therefore that Brahman resides within everyone.
Samam sarveshu bhuteshu tishthantam parameshwaram
The Supreme Lord, exists in the same manner within all beings. He is within you, me, plants, animals and everything else.
Where within me He exactly resides? If He pervades and reaches out to everything of mine, there is to be a focal space from where his influence spreads out and reaches all of me. What kind of focal space can we conceive?
Could that be somewhere hidden within the physical frame of the jiva that one can trace back? Some say it is the jiva’s heart – meaning the physical heart where Brahman is located.
AhamAtma gudakesha sarvabhutAsayasthita
I am the soul – O Gudakesha (Arjuna), seated in the hearts of all beings- Lord Krishna says to Arjuna.
And also;
Ishwarah sarva bhutAnAm hriddeshe Arjuna tisthati, in the Bhagavad Gita.
The Lord resides within the inner sanctum of all beings.
This hriddesha or the inner sanctum is not the physical heart beating within us. This needs to be understood.
We have concluded earlier that the jiva has many dimensions of existence by which it lives simultaneously. The jiva is not only gross physical, but also vital, mental, gnostic and blissful- all states held together. That is the concept of pancakosha or the five sheaths identified with the respective levels of consciousness.
So that inner sanctum has to be deep within all levels of the jiva and not just limited to a single layer or level.
The Chandogya Upanishad gives a graphic description of this inner sanctum to facilitate our understanding. It is to be understood that all figurative descriptions that concern Brahman are only for providing a lead for our contemplation and meditation. Really speaking there is no description, however beautiful and eloquent that the human mind can conceive, which can do full justice to Brahman who is by definition beyond imagination and beyond description. Descriptions and experiences of our seers only serve as leads until Brahman Himself, sees us capable of understanding and then reveals Himself on His own.
So the Chandogya says;
Om atha yat asmin brahmapure daharam pundarikam vesma…
The entire multi-dimensional frame work of the jiva is described as the Brahmapura or dwelling of Brahman obviously. Within this Brahmapura there lies this inner sanctum.
The Upanishad describes it as a small lotus flower like space- daharam pundarikam. It is spoken as small because figuratively it has to be within the small body frame that belongs to the jiva.
The lotus flower, considered the best among all flowers, has a pre-eminent place amongst all our offerings to the Lord for many reasons not the least of which that it represents the purest manifestation evolving out of all that is discardable muck. (The pankaja or evolved out of muck)
Daharah asmin antarAkAshah tasmin yat antah
In that small lotus like dwelling there is a small ‘space’,
That indeed is our object of enquiry and realisation;
Tat anvestavyam tat vava vijijnasitavyam.
That space within is Brahman, the same space or AkAsha which is outside us and within us.
The two words ‘small’ and ‘space’ need some clarification. When we say small how and why the all pervading Brahman be conceived within a small space?
Brahman in His totality can not be described or demonstrated. We know Him to be acintya anirvacaniya- beyond mental comprehension and beyond expression. He can be assumed by some of His nature only.
What have we got in this phenomenal universe that can most nearly describe Brahman? All things in this creation are the combination of the five basic elements which are the earth, water, fire, air and space. The earth has limitations. It has limiting boundaries. It can be cleaved and devoid of mobility etc. Hence it is inadequate to explain the nature of Brahman. So is water. It can dry up and lose its existence. Fire is no better because it can be extinguished and powerless against water and other elements. Air has no constancy and can be physically moved etc. But when we come to space, this is one element that can not be made non-existent, can not be dried up, can not burnt down, can not be limited and not dependent or subservient to any other element. The Brahman is more like it. That space within the cave of our gross and subtle form within that lotus-like dwelling is most likely to contain Brahman which can be explained and understood.
The size or smallness of space is not a limitation. The space whether seen in a container or in its entirety in the universe is always the same. (Please refer to the example of ghatAkAsha – space in the pot – from Mandukya Upanishad as discussed in March and April 2006 issues of AHWAN under ‘Atma Paramatma Parts 1 & 2’).
Brahman’s characteristics are ever present even in the form of smallest of the small or largest of the large. He is anuraniyAn mahatomahiyAn.
The Chandogya Upanishad dispels this doubt by saying;
YavAnvA ayam AkAshah tAvAn eshah antarhridaya AkAsha ubhe asmin- dyAvA prithivi antareva samAhita
As with the space outside so also in the space within the entire things from heaven to earth in their essence are contained. By mentioning heaven and earth it is purported to include everything else as in Arjuna’s words in the Bhagavad gita:
DyAvAprithivyoh idam antaram hi vyAptam tvayA ekena dishasca sarvAh.
This space in between the heaven and earth in all directions is filled by you alone.
Then Chandogya Upanishad goes on to say:
Ubhau agnisca vAyusca suryacandramasau ubhau vidyut naksyatrAni yat ca iha asti yat ca nAsti sarvam tat samAhitam iti.
Whether air or fire, sun, moon, lightening heavenly bodies, whatever there are outside are inside too. What is not seen to be there even around the manifested outside, even those unseen aspects are also available within.
The last observation about seen and unseen has also a great significance.
We say that the manifested creation is verily the Brahman. When we say manifested before us we believe in the possibility that whatever is around me, I can understand and comprehend.
But vast as this creation is with endless number of universes (anantakoti Brahmanda), this is not all that Brahman is. What is manifested is only a fraction of what Brahman is.
The Lord explained in the Bhagavd Gita;
Tat tat eva avagaccha tvam mama tejah ansa sambhavam
All these glory of mine, know thou to be a mere spark of my splendour.
Vistabhya aham idam krtsnam eka-anshena sthitah jagat.
A fraction of mine only supports all these.
Hence beyond a mere fraction of Brahman, there is much more which is not manifested, not understood, not comprehended.
But that is Brahman too. Hence the presence of Brahman also implies the presence of aspects that are not seen either by physical senses, or mind or beyond mind.
There is also another beautiful interpretation. We normally see or acknowledge existence of such things which our physical faculties can reach. That is our limitation. But the logic says that things exist beyond the limiting boundaries of our physical faculties. Something may not be existing now for us to see, but if it comes to existence at a later point of time, where did it come from? The philosophy says that nothing can really come out from nothing, meaning thereby, if some thing comes to existence later it was also present or existed in some form and state all the time. The examples given in our scriptures to explain this are many. If fire came out from rubbing wood pieces, the fire in an unseen state always existed in the wood.
Or take the example of a tree and its seed. When you see the seed, you do not see the tree. But the tree eventually comes out of the seed because it existed in a different state inside the seed. It was unseen but it existed.
Likewise, the universe, which is the manifestation of Brahman, is a constantly changing dynamic process. We see something now and in the next moment something else new takes it place – navo navo bhavati. Where did it come from? It was there, unseen within the seen. So what we see of Brahman is one aspect. And what we do not see now but shall see when it manifests is also Brahman. Everything was, is and shall remain within Brahman. Both manifested (vyakta) and unmanifested (avyakta) are together two aspects of the same Brahman.
Where do all these knowledge lead us in the practical sense? That we shall discuss next.
