Prakriyas – the Basic Concepts of Vedanta
Prakriyas are the basic categories of Vedanta, regardless of what particular type of Vedanta a person adheres to: siddha-advaita, pratyaksha-advaita, vishishta-dvaita, or any other variety of it. These are fundamental concepts that underlie Vedanta—of course, Advaita and the Advaita of the Siddhas—and are intertwined with Tantric currents.
Often, when we explain the teaching to others or engage in philosophical debates, we need to have a semantic conceptual foundation, certain common fundamental bases, because if there are no common fundamental bases, it is difficult to explain anything or conduct a debate.
For example, you believe that there are five bodies (five koshas), while another person believes that there is a physical body, a spirit, and a soul—that is, a trinity—so it is unlikely that you can conduct a dialogue with him and move further in clarifying the truth.
The basic categories of Vedantic philosophy—prakriyas—are such fundamental principles that allow one to say precisely that you are following the teaching of Vedanta. This is, of course, not a Creed, but it is a certain categorical conceptual apparatus that makes it possible to understand exactly that this teaching is indeed Vedanta.
Shankaracharya said that one should first master sadhana and study the basic categories (prakriyas), and then ascend to the highest states. Usually the traditional path of studying Vedanta is precisely like this, in contrast to the Tantric path of sahaja, which Laya Yoga follows. We say approximately this: “It is not so important for us to know the prakriyas; we need to experience direct introduction. And then, as our practice progresses, we will study the terms, concepts, and everything else.” This is the most important thing we are trying to clarify. It is very important for us. That is, the approach of the Siddhas is different, since it is based on non-conceptual knowledge. Of course, one can become fully awakened even without knowing the philosophical categories (prakriyas), and then you will be an awakened one who does not know the philosophical categories, but this will not in the least prevent you from being happy, immortal, and independent. Still, it is useful to study them not only for general development, but also in order to see the entire structure of the teaching as a whole.
24 Tattvas – Principles of Primordial Matter
So, first there are the 24 tattvas, as the first of the prakriyas, or the principles of the primordial matter of our universe. Unlike Kashmir Shaivism, which considers 36 tattvas, all of Vedanta and Sankhya Yoga adhere to the classifications of 24 tattvas.
The Five Tanmatras – the Primordial Principles of the Primary Elements
What are these tattvas? They are the five tanmatras—the primordial principles of the primary elements (a tanmatra is the seed of an element): shabda (sound), sparsha (touch), rupa (color-form), rasa (taste), and gandha (smell).
All experiences of sound are contained in the tanmatra; they are in a seed state in the subtle body as a form of sound consciousness. When we practice nada yoga, we touch these seed sounds.
All experiences arising from touch—pain from a prick, bliss, any other sensations—all of them have their root in the tanmatra called sparsha. That is, we have a certain part of consciousness where all the seeds of tactile consciousness are constantly stored.
All objects of visible consciousness are stored as a subtle seed form called rupa. For example, when you practice jyoti yoga, first impure visions arise, resembling dreams or hallucinations. Then these visions become more subtle, purer, divine. You come into contact with the tanmatras of all visions, with the primordial source of all visions.
In the same way, the seeds of taste and smell (rasa and gandha) are present in our astral body as prototypes. When we taste something, the external object is a secondary cause that unfolds the taste from the tanmatra and our subtle body, and therefore we experience taste. When we smell something, the external object is a secondary cause that initiates the unfolding of smell from the tanmatra and our subtle body. In other words, a certain shift occurs in the subtle body, the combination of tanmatras changes, and we experience sensations. But it cannot be said that an object in itself is endowed with taste, or that it in itself is endowed with smell, and so on. All of this takes place in our consciousness and unfolds as the principles of the tanmatras.
Perhaps we have not thought about this thoroughly and think that the smell of perfume is in the perfume. No, it is in our mind. And the taste of an apple is not in the apple; it is in our taste consciousness as rasa-tanmatra.
And how can this be proven?
Suppose a hypnotist can hypnotize a person and then, showing him an onion, give him the suggestion: “This is an apple.” The person will gnaw on the onion with great enjoyment. And if he is asked, “Is the apple tasty?”, he will say, “Yes, such a delightful, juicy apple! It must be some special variety.” And what does the hypnotist do? He simply enters the person’s subconscious and changes the combination of tanmatras by the power of sankalpa, implanting his own sankalpa of “apple taste.” One can eat an onion but perceive the taste of an apple, because the taste of an apple is not in the apple; it is within our consciousness, it exists thanks to the tanmatras.
The five jnana-indriyas – the sense organs
The next category after the five tanmatras, which are included in the 24 tattvas (primordial principles), is the five jnana-indriyas (sense organs): shrotra (ear), tvak (skin), chakshu (eye), jihva (tongue), and ghrana (nose). If the tanmatras are located deep within us in the subtle body in the form of subtle embryos which, like seeds, are capable of initiating auditory, sound, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile consciousness—that is, they cause vibration, generate vrittis that create further illusions in our consciousness—then the sense organs are a kind of communication channel between external reality and internal reality. The tanmatras by themselves will not be aroused and generate different experiences; they need a certain intermediary, and the sense organs are such intermediaries with external reality. They transmit to the tanmatras the influence of secondary causes from the external material world. In this way, internal and external reality are connected.
There is no light in the lamp itself; that is only an illusion. There is a certain energy in the lamp which, through the sense organ, that is, chakshu (the eye), affects the tanmatra, and this tanmatra initiates the vision of light within us.
When we hear a sound, that sound is not outside us, not in the birds. Perhaps we will never know exactly how birds sing or whether they sing at all. They emit a certain energy (vibration); this energy reaches our ear and is interpreted by it, that is, by the jnana-indriya shrotra, and the corresponding experience arises in consciousness.
Thus, the jnana-indriyas are a kind of window to the external world, conductive devices that connect the external world and inner reality.
The five karma-indriyas – the organs of action
The five karma-indriyas, or organs of action, are: vag (speech), pani (hand), pada (foot), upastha (genitals), and payu (anus). The organs of action are the means through which spanda manifests—the primary impulse of the Absolute, refracted through ahamkara. The karma-indriyas are constantly active because spanda is constantly vibrating. Refracted through the prism of ahamkara, it continuously unfolds through our body.
And here everything is simple: the actions of the jnana-indriyas and karma-indriyas can either be self-liberated, and then this is sahaja-spanda, a pure manifestation; or they can be obscured, and then this will be klesha-spanda, that is, an ordinary worldly, impure manifestation that creates new karma (agami karma). Whether spanda is liberated or not, whether it is sahaja-spanda or klesha-spanda, depends on the extent to which we integrate experiences or actions with the natural state.
Suppose that, if I hear a bird, a thought arises in me: “How wonderful! What a melodious bird! Just listen to how beautifully it sings. But where is it sitting?” On the subtle level, my imagination and my visual consciousness immediately switch on; images of birds appear, and so on, and a certain fixation arises. If these images are not self-liberated, but fixation occurs and grows ever stronger, then this is, of course, a karmic action, and this is agami karma. If one thinks like this for a long time, one may even be reborn as a bird in the next life and satisfy one’s desire to know how it sings. This is klesha-spanda. That is, a vibration and an image (vikalpa) were generated, but the vikalpa was not self-liberated in sahaja; it did not dissolve into the empty state and manifested in an impure way.
Sahajya-spanda is when I still do not leave presence, no matter how interesting the bird may be to me. Most of my consciousness is in presence, but since there are energies, the body and pranas respond, I hear the bird. Perhaps the mind interprets this in some way, but all interpretations immediately self-liberate; moreover, they do not merely self-liberate, but the external energy perceives the bird in pure vision. What does “in pure vision” mean? It does not mean that I think: “Oh, this is definitely a peacock from Indra’s heavens, singing mantras.” I do not think anything of the kind. Everything is deeper. That is, there is a bhava that instantly already perceives this bird fully in a pure state. And then these reflections do not force me to leave brahma-aham-bhava, to exit the natural state. This is sahajya-spanda, that is, there is vibration, but there are no false constructions (vikalpas) and impure manifestations in the subtle layers of the mind.
There is a teaching on the nine self-liberations, which is precisely what makes it possible to liberate the five jnana-indriyas and the five karma-indriyas. If you unite all peaceful, neutral, and wrathful actions of body, speech, and mind—that is, nine in total—and they are all purified in you simply by the light of the natural state, like by a philosopher’s stone, then this means that the five jnana-indriyas and the five karma-indriyas are pure and liberated; that is, you do not create new karma through them. Whatever you touch, whatever you look at, whatever you hear, whatever action you perform—all of it is blessed, divine, pure, enlightened, and unconditioned. Then it is said that this is play, sahajya-spanda, when the five karma-indriyas and the five jnana-indriyas act without separating from the natural state.
The Five Pranas — Vital Forces
The 24 tattvas also include the five pranas—vital forces: prana, apana, samana, udana, and vyana. The generation of viveka means beginning to feel these pranas in one’s body and purifying them. How can they be felt? If you sit in padmasana and feel that the wind is streaming through your legs, that impure nadis are opening and being cleansed, you feel apana, which becomes upward-flowing. And if you feel pressure in the ajna chakra, in the sahasrara chakra, and you are lifted slightly upward, then this is the action of udana-vayu. Or you feel prana moving in the area of the anahata chakra. All of this is the recognition of the five winds. And these winds move weakly while the chakras are not purified, but when the chakras are purified, they manifest more powerfully.
The yogin’s task is to give rise to viveka-vidya also in relation to the pranas and to learn to unite with them.
It is usually said that the pranas must be brought into the sushumna nadi. This is understandable. But if one only tries to bring them into the sushumna nadi through wind practices, through kumbhakas, then they can still be brought there only for a certain time (while the kumbhakas last, prana enters the sushumna nadi, and as soon as the kumbhakas cease, prana also stops entering the sushumna nadi). The true introduction of the pranas into the central channel is possible when the clarity of the natural state unites with the elements. That is why I often say: “You need to unite shambhavi mudra with the elements. You need to learn to do this.”
Antahkarana — The Inner Instrument
The next category is the fourfold antahkarana, or inner instrument. These are our subtlest principles. Antahkarana includes manas (the conceptual mind), buddhi (the intellect, or intuitive consciousness), chitta (memory and the subconscious), and ahamkara (the ego). These are the subtle layers of our “I,” each of which functions in its own way.
For example, buddhi is very important for us. Some translate it as reason, intellect. But I tend to define it precisely as intuitive consciousness. It is intuitive consciousness that contains our basic semantic codes, our basic settings in general, the very vision of reality as such, our values, our meanings—that is, deep archetypes in the highest sense of the word. For example, all of us have faith, values, a certain strategy of action, certain abstract categories that we adhere to or by which we describe the world—all of this is the work of intuitive consciousness (buddhi). With the help of buddhi, we also engage in contemplation. Therefore, Laya Yoga is also buddhi yoga.
Yoga of awareness, sankalpas, maintaining awareness—all of this is purely the category of buddhi; it is entirely a practice specifically of buddhi. And manas (the conceptual mind) is operational thinking that accepts, rejects, holds on to ordinary goals, and gives commands for action. Manas and buddhi are two instruments that contain meanings, values, goals, and actions. Manas in itself is mechanistic; it catches subtle impulses from buddhi and then translates them into understandable categories. For example, I am speaking now, but it is manas (the conceptual mind) that is acting; that is, we operate with concepts and clearly arrange different categories. But buddhi is simply the light of clarity, which does not really say anything directly; it simply radiates a certain clarity. And when manas and buddhi unite, perception and understanding of categories occur.
There is also chitta in the inner instrument. Chitta is the storehouse of past tendencies and the entire realm of the subconscious. It contains the so-called astral Akashic records, all memories of past incarnations, all memories of your experiences.
For example, what happens to a person when he dies and becomes a spirit, that is, when he has not yet been reborn but is in purgatory, in certain regions of the intermediate state? At that time he contemplates the realms of his memory. For many, purgatory is a constant immersion in the memories of their subconscious, when they see how wrongly they lived their life, what mistakes they made. They see all this very vividly, and therefore experience pangs of conscience and a strong sense of guilt. It is not that souls are deliberately tormented in hell. They suffer by themselves, immersing themselves in their memories, because the conceptual mind and surface consciousness are not yet present; there is only the unpurified subconscious, in which various complexes, phobias, fears, attachments, certain aparadhas, and impure vision have become fixed. And why do we engage in repentance, purification, pure vision, and samaya? Not simply in order to maintain harmony in relationships, so that it would somehow be more convenient for us to communicate with one another.
All of this is precisely so that our subconscious may be pure, so that there are no phobias there, no complexes, no attachments, no painful memories, no “scars on the soul.” And if such “scars on the soul” remain, if we have not reached them through contemplation, repentance, opening our thoughts to the guru, samaya, pure vision, or the single “taste,” then you will see all of this when you enter the subconscious. You can hide it from others, you can put on a mask: “I am so pure, I am so good,” but if it is present in the subconscious, then these realms still exist. It is like certain film frames that you would not want to see. But they are there, and you will certainly see them, because they have not been erased.
Practitioners usually see them while still alive, when they practice seriously (for example, in a long retreat or in a dark retreat). Ananda Lila can tell many stories on this subject. That is, you simply encounter everything that you have inside.
But spirits in the intermediate state encounter this after death, and they begin to react to all of it. They see it and cannot tear themselves away from it; it goes on and on, and they already grow tired of it. And then they think: “Something must be done. I need to incarnate in order to get away from this nightmare.” The nightmare of pangs of conscience, the nightmare of guilt, the nightmare of the inferiority complex—all of this continues there constantly if it has not been self-liberated. But if everything has been purified and self-liberated, then this does not happen, since the mind is pure during life. That is why it is important to observe samayas, cultivate pure vision, and practice repentance until everything is truly purified. And all of this is the function of chitta. It is the storehouse of such mental tendencies. Chitta is like a large database.
If a yogin is devoted to pure vision, to brahma-aham-bhava, then this question is resolved for him, because he has already very deeply purified the inner data and his tendencies; in principle, he no longer has anything like that. If, after gestation, the stage of birth has been attained, then all of this is liberated, all of this is seen as “the horns of a hare,” as illusions. The yogin laughs at himself and at all the data of chitta, understanding that there is no need to be offended, no need to take everything seriously when your ego is insulted, rebels, or becomes attached. It is better to show humility, to self-liberate, and simply to laugh inwardly at your own data, because all of it is unreal. And the faster you do this, the less you depend on this data.
Such are the categories of the 24 tattvas. This is the first prakriya of Vedanta.
In total, we will examine fifty-five such prakriyas. These are the main prakriyas of Vedanta, thanks to which you will form a clear conceptual categorical apparatus of Vedanta, which can be operated with when studying the teaching.
