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by
Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL
No. 72
February: 2007
MULTIDIMENTIONAL CREATION and ON THE CONCEPT OF HEAVENS AND HELLS.
Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty
In September and October 2006 we spent some time trying to understand the multi-dimensionality of our existence. This question of many dimensions at the same time- that is so original and unique in sanatan philosophy, extends to everything that is this creation. The very creation itself, the cosmos expressed and unexpressed is perceived from different levels, depending upon the level of our understanding and Brahman consciousness.
Most cosmologists generally confine themselves to a physical view of the universe around us. When the talk of the origin, character and the possible dead end, all that are on the physical level – the so called scientific approach, it revolves around that which can be verified physically. Sanatan philosophy has long discarded this as narrow and too limited and has deduced that one can not form any understanding of the creation purely from one level.
On one hand, a physical entity is identified with grossness- the sthulata or jadata as we have understood in our previous discussions. A gross entity does not demonstrate any inherent intelligence. This is where the sanatan philosophy differs.
The cosmos, or universe or creation what ever we may call it is an inseparable derivative of Brahman. It is the Brahman who has become the universe. Brahman by definition is the ultimate conscient entity. Therefore every part of the creation which He is, is endowed with consciousness . There may be levels of consciousness depending upon the conditionalities that is associated, but nothing is inconscient. Consciousness is inherent in degrees and degrees.
Since conscious intelligence is present everywhere, it also has to have a purpose. The simple fact is that the universe around us is there with a very specific purpose. It is neither conceived out of whim nor it functions whimsically.
At the core of this belief, is the fact that the very purpose of the creation, the cosmos is a continuous process of development and evolution to that highest level of perfection- the satchidananda. Man himself looks at God or satchidananda as an integral element of this process, convinced that satchidananda is his only aim. Starting from him, everything else around him is also part of this evolution and engaged in its search for that perfection.
Sri Aurobindo explained this in his article ‘The ego and the dualities’, that “Man, because he has acquired reason and still more because he has indulged his power of imagination and intuition, is able to conceive an existence higher than his own and even to envisage his personal elevation beyond his present state into that existence. …….. His dream of God and heaven is really a dream of his own perfection.”
It is this urge and inbuilt nature pervading the entire universe to develop and evolve, is the cause of its very sustenance. Take away this urge to evolve, and everything disintegrates and vanishes, including the concept of God Himself.
The use of words like ‘dream’, ‘imagination’ etc should not be misconstrued as intellectual exercises or mere scholarly pursuits. There is solid faith and unshakable conviction that satchidananda is and will always remain as a definite possibility. It is not within the powers of man to abandon the Divine.
We have discussed that if man has to reach out for perfection it has to be in every level of his existence- physical, mental and more importantly spiritual or psychic. ( Please refer to ‘Dimensions of our existence’ AHWAN September and October 2006 issues). We have also stated that the entire creation is conceived as the processing environment through which every development towards perfection takes place. As a homogenous, interconnected and matrix entity, everything including the man himself, is in this perfection attainment mode. The cosmos is a self-graded evolution out of the superconscient satchidananda said Sri Aurobindo explaining ‘The order of the worlds’.
It is not difficult to imagine that this interconnectivity and holistic character makes it inevitable that the interaction takes place at all levels and all dimensions and can not be at one level. Perceptions at different levels have to be different. The understanding and effectiveness of this interacting influence is different at different stages of man’s consciousness level. Every one does not see the creation the same way, as in a classroom every student does not understand the lesson the same way.
In a practical sense, this is visible in the way human beings conduct themselves in the world around us. In a sense dictated physical level we are all engaged in acquiring and cornering every material comfort and benefits for ourselves and ourselves alone. We never cease to desire and grab a thing if we perceive the possibility of pleasure and sense gratification with unabated greed. That is the negative behaviour characterized by base level understanding – a myopic perception that the creation is there to be milked to provide our needs. It is a gross misinterpretation of the kAmadhenu (milch cow) concept of The Bhagavad Gita.
As we raise ourselves to a higher dimension, say from physical to mental, we see the wisdom in ‘all for one and one for all’. That compels us to curb our greed and remain contented with what ever comes our way. Concepts like ‘tena tyaktena bhunjithA mA grdhah kasyasvid dhanam’ – what is rightfully apportioned is to be consumed, covet not what belongs to others – makes sense to a higher developed mind.
But when we raise ourselves to a spiritual mind frame – and this can only be achieved by humans – we become positively active in this entire process of development and perfection attainment. We intelligently participate in the process. We become nimittas or agents in this divine process. When you realize to be agents of God, you help, you guide and dedicate yourself for the upliftment of everything around you, including yourself. The yoga finds its true meaning. The concept of universalisation and oneness is the highest level of Yoga.
When we start interacting at different levels, the creation or universe around us, which provides the environment for our interaction, produces conducive inputs as per the need. Or, one may say we discover different dimensions of the same universe and see with new light the beneficial inputs that it provides.
That is why, it is said, each man sees the world and God in his own way depending upon from which dimension of his, he is looking at. Each man has his own world and his own picture of God. A mudha or ignorant, and a jnani or knowledgeable can not have the same perception. If they had, there would be no need for the ascent of man- no development, no evolution.
The developmental process- contrary to common belief – is not exactly synonymous with or confined to what is described as the ‘ascent of man’. It is a simultaneous interaction of the ascent of soul and the descent of the divine. It is what Sri Aurobindo writes about evolution hand in hand with involution. For nothing what so ever can be possible without the intervention and grace of the Divine. The compassionate omnipotent grace with its power first flows down to the hapless to rekindle its dormant desire. The fire reaches out to the sky only after the lightening from above sends down the spark to ignite it.
As we constantly reach out for higher and higher, the mind discovers greater and greater levels of satisfaction. Satisfaction brings happiness and degrees of bliss or Ananda. That is our heaven that the mind creates for itself. And when at the clouded or deluded mental consciousness, man degrades himself into unhappiness and misery, that is the hell that the mind has created. It is worth repeating that the bliss or lack of it, is commensurate with the spiritual consciousness of the mind.
The man realizes that he has to raise himself towards his goal. With progressive ascent to higher and higher domains he saw for himself definite betterment- physical, mental as well as spiritual, with its accompanying bliss or ananda.
Each domain as he raises himself is a state of mind of increasing happiness. Similarly any degradation of state exposes him to unhappiness and misery. Heaven is where happiness is. Hell’s definition is unhappiness and misery.
Whether they are bhur, bhuvah and svar or the series of lokas as described in our purAnas and other scriptures, they make logical sense.
The Taitiriya Upanishad describes it a little more colourfully for the common man to comprehend in chapter II.VIII. From manusyaloka, to gandharvaloka, pitriloka, devaloka, indraloka, mahatloka going all the way to hiranyagarbha or brahmaloka all signify increasing levels of bliss and happiness, the path in the ascent of man, and the degrees of satisfaction the mind acquires. Shatam devAnAm AnandAh.. sa ekah indrasya Anandah. …. Shatam indrasya AnandAh.. sa ekah prajApateh Anandah…. . Shatam prajApateh AnandAh.. sa ekah brahmana Anandah.etc etc.
Many similar descriptions are available from the scriptures all underlying the concept of the ascent of jiva or soul and gaining tranquility, bliss and happiness as he goes along.
Swami Gambhirananda of Adveita Ashram explains the progress of that tranquility as “progressive expression of bliss” and “the proportion to the betterment of tranquility on the succeeding planes as compared with that on preceeding ones, the excellence of bliss also progresses a hundredfold.”
This is what shapes man’s undying endevour to rise, to develop, to evolve from the inferior to the perfect, from tamashA (darkness) to jyoti (enlightenment), from his condition-influenced shackled existence to freedom of satchidananda.
Is it achievable? How should man achieve this? The answer is also there. The success is shrotriyasya ca akAmahatasya as the Taitiriya Upanishad declares again and again. By knowledge ofcourse and by severing the desire to hold on to the shackles of the lower world man achieves these stages or planes. By ‘knowledge’ we mean the absolute knowledge- the shrutijnAna, the knowledge of Brahman- knowing which everything else becomes known and clear ( yasmin nu vijnAte sarvamidam vijnAtam bhavati). Knowledge alone creates heavenly existence for the soul and the lack of it brings hellish misery. The knower (gnAni) knows it and goes after knowledge. The ignorant (mudha) keeps searching for the heavens here and there and never finds it.
These higher planes or heavens are there and in our subconscious state and every one is aware of their presence. Our nature and desire to rise always to higher and better makes it easier for these higher planes to wield their influence over our minds in a subliminal way, a psychic way. However, because of the grip of the physical world and our limited reception - as again Sri Aurobindo explains- we keep missing it. But even in fleeting moments and short experiences, when we manage to rise above our mundane existence we get the mental glimpse and are drawn towards it. It changes the very outlook. That is how we find, many people inspite of living in abject worldly discomfort and almost subhuman surroundings display a great degree of tranquility and mental equipoise. That is them and the creation around interacting at their higher dimension, in a higher plane. That is Divine grace in action and the taste of a higher heaven.
What is the practical implication of this concept on our day today existence?
Firstly, the heavens are very much within the possibility of every sadhaka nay, every jiva.
Secondly, as one proceeds with the sadhana, the benefits are experienced in increasing grades and spurs the sadhaka more and more.
Thirdly, and this is important, these benefits of intermediary stages are all temporary lest the sadhaka after gaining a certain degree of happiness holds on to that and there and abandons his further onward progress. Such a state will be a halt in the evolutionary process and therefore unacceptable. Therefore the happiness of each stage gets soon depleted and the jiva falls back to the lower states. As The Bhagavad Gita explains:
PrApya punyakritAm lokAnushitvA…… Te tam bhuktvA swargalokam vishAlam
Ksheene punye martyalokam vishanti;
Having attained the heavenly worlds by the merits they had earned, and having enjoyed the happiness for a definite period, when their merits are exhausted, they return to the lower worlds. This is true right upto the final brahmaloka.
AbrahmabhuvanAlokAh punarAvartino’rjuna;
All the worlds, upto the world of Brahman, are subject to return again, the Lord tells Arjuna. Only after reaching the final destination the return cycle ends.
MAmupetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na vidyate.
So we come to the fourth implication which is obvious. All that is expected for the jiva to do is to remain continuously engaged in acquiring merits in all his life times.
How does one acquire merits? - by dharma alone. We follow what the Taitiriya Upanishad says. Be after ‘knowledge’ and do not create attachments to the present at the cost of the future. Remain always on the move in the path of progress. Be a shrotriya and akAmahata. With deeper and deeper realization of the spiritual knowledge (adhyAtma jnAna) as explained in the scriptures and with intelligent detachment as your protection, heavenly bliss and happiness fills your antahkarana in increasing measures. Discover it for yourself.
Man conceives his heaven and constantly moves towards it as the river runs to the ocean. There is no other alternative. All jivas (individual souls) are programmed that way.
