Commentary on the text “Yoga Vasistha,” Chapter 5, “On the End.”
Puja, arati are magical actions in which we establish a connection with divine luminous forces through deities, through murti. Murti is also called pratima—a device for connecting with divine energies. Divine energies, deities, divine forces are sources of energy that nourish the subtle body of a sadhu. This energy is like the brightest flash of light, like a stream of infinite bliss; therefore, after every puja, after every arati, if you are well attuned, you will feel this bliss as descending grace, truly descending grace.
Suppose you had some obstacles, felt diminished prana, and you made prostrations—as if something had been lifted from your head, and your aura became aligned, it became luminous—this is the result of a good puja, a good arati. Of course, this is not always felt; if a person is not sensitive enough, he may not feel grace for a long time. But worship (upasana) is always a connection with energy and receiving a blessing from energy. The same applies to the Guru: if a disciple has samaya with the Guru, then he will receive grace, pure vision—this is Guru Yoga.
Rama asked: “O holy one, how can both be united? Can I seek freedom from all sensations and freedom from inaction at the same time?”
In other words, Rama was concerned about how he could move toward liberation, renounce the world and all sensations, and at the same time avoid inaction. This is a major question that each sadhu resolves individually for himself in the process of practice. It is a question of the relationship between sutra, tantra, anuttara tantra, between prajna and upaya (method and wisdom), action and non-action, renunciation and total acceptance. A sadhu intuitively feels out that boundary and that line of conduct which leads him along the path of balance. There are extremes, but a middle line must be found.
Vasistha replied: “One who has no desire or hope for anything, and does not sustain the desire to remain in inaction—such a person does not exist as limited consciousness; he is not inactive, yet he does not seek sensations.”
We do not renounce actions, but we should not seek sensations, we should not seek the fulfillment of our desires. Since we live in such a world where forces and energies operate, and we have a body consisting of the ten pranas, of karma, jnana indriyas, the body of dharma, which must act, we act. We allow prana, the indriyas, the body, the antahkarana to act, but we do not identify ourselves with the doer, with the one acting; we do not have kartritva-buddhi, and we dissolve karma-mala. We do not try to appropriate the fruits and results, and we renounce authorship of our actions, attributing all authorship of our actions to God, striving to abide in contemplative non-action—this is the ideal of a sadhu, action in non-action. Then action itself ceases to bind and becomes a play, one with divine grace. Shiva Himself plays through such a yogin, and one must learn to let Shiva play through oneself during seva, during study, in fulfilling monastic dharma, in fulfilling the dharma of a karma sannyasi, in fulfilling worldly dharma.
The Art of Playing and Outplaying Samsara
To learn to play is the art of loving God in all manifestations, yet not being captured by them, and giving oneself only to God. To learn to play means to outplay samsara, to outplay the game of maya, which constantly conditions.
One person told the following story: at university, for a very long time, he studied in great detail a subject he did not particularly like; it was called the History of the CPSU. The teacher, knowing the subject perfectly, always examined the students, and he simply mocked their stupidity, their ignorance, their inability to study and concentrate; the subject was uninteresting, no one wanted to learn it, and everyone found themselves in an awkward position, including one of the students. Then this student thought: “How can I get out of this? I don’t like this subject—that is why I don’t know it,” and he decided to outplay this situation.
He began simply studying it out of boredom, just to outplay him. He began to understand the subject, and every time the teacher wanted to catch him out, to expose his ignorance, he demonstrated his knowledge of history with great understanding. He always raised his hand first, gave such reports, and something began to change. This situation began to change completely, to turn around, and he realized that this situation could not be avoided, but it could be played with, and through it he could somehow manifest himself differently. He could manifest his shakti in it. A sadhu born in samsara is similar—he is completely limited, but he can turn his limitations into a game if he approaches them creatively and with love.
For example, you are doing seva. If you do not unite with the seva, you do it simply as work, on which you merely spend your time, which is not interesting to you, but which has to be done. But if you come to love it, if you unite with it, remove the sense of doership, try to turn it into a beautiful creative process, take pleasure in it, allow Shiva to play within you—the work will turn into a playful mystery of non-doing. You will suddenly feel tremendous excitement, joy, pleasure, and saturation with energy during seva, and then you will think: “Yes, seva truly blesses, but on the condition that it must be done in the right state of mind.” This is the right state of mind, when we act without a doer, without authorship, without appropriating the fruits and results.
“He does not incline toward the sensations and perceptions of objects, although he is involved in ceaseless actions; yet he is neither passive nor in fact doing anything or experiencing anything. Objective sensations do not touch his heart at all; therefore, the one whose consciousness is not inactive is already here and now a liberated sage.”
The Seven Lands of Wisdom
The description of liberated sages, the description of realization in the Vedic tradition, is connected with the seven lands of wisdom, the seven jnana-bhumis.
The first land of wisdom is called “the desire for enlightenment,” when the aspiration for enlightenment is generated in us. This stage is called shubheccha. At this stage a person visits temples, strives to listen to saints, and somehow begins to change his life. He is seeking the path, and sometimes may even have certain experiences; he is feeling his way toward God, but he does not yet know contemplation or the natural nature of the Mind.
The second land of wisdom is called “inquiry” (vicharana). Here he is already closer to the nature of the Mind, closer to the direct perception (pratyaksha) of God, and he begins to investigate. For example, he practices satipatthana, atma-vichara, tries to meditate, to investigate awareness and God. He begins to understand that God can be understood through devotion and awareness. At this stage he may receive transmission from the Guru, a direct introduction.
The third land of wisdom is called “the refined mind” (tanu-manasa). At the stage of the third land of wisdom, the yogin receives a serious experience of self-liberation, the experience of non-duality, the experience of the subtle body leaving, the experience of contemplation beyond the mind. His mind becomes refined, he detaches from the body, the sense organs, and concepts, and enters non-conceptual consciousness, and he can answer, at least a little, the question of “whom a barren woman gives birth to.” His answer will not be perfect, but he can already say something; he will not simply moo or say something absurd. His answer will be born from the power of his own awareness; he is like a little Shiva being born, not yet fully aware of himself, but his awareness has already awakened. He is not an ordinary person; he is a sadhu. The third land of wisdom corresponds to the stage of conception. In fact, this is a high stage, which most believers, if they are not strong sadhus, do not reach in their entire lifetime, except for saints, of course. This stage divides holy sadhus from non-holy ones—it is transitional.
The fourth ground of wisdom is called “sattva-pati” (self-realization). One who attains it receives the title Brahmavid. Brahmavid means one who knows Brahman or recognizes Brahman, capable of recognizing Brahman, not becoming entangled in maya. This is in fact already a stage of holiness, of a certain holiness, a stage of liberation. One who reaches it experiences, through the sixteen kalas, the stage of birth, closing the circle of day and night. The small circle of the closing of night and the great birth depend on the level of attainment. But at the stage of self-realization, the yogin rises above Prakriti-tattva and realizes Purusha-tattva. He realizes the Clear Light of consciousness (prabhasvara). He has transcended the three gunas, experiences the space of light in dreams or the space of light in samadhi, and his contemplation is stable.
He is not captured by the world, not captured by thoughts, not captured by inner dialogues or reflection; he no longer keeps diaries within himself. He abides beyond evaluations and judgments, seeing the world as one shakti, while he himself abides in unity with Shiva. The play of Shiva and Shakti is clear to him as if in the palm of his hand, and he himself is a conduit of this play. One who knows Brahman (Brahmavid) means that everywhere and always he contemplates God directly (pratyaksha), and in dreams he experiences the direct Clear Light. There is an indirect Clear Light, when we visualize it, for example, during theurgic practice, and there is the direct Clear Light, when we perceive it directly in a state beyond concepts.
The fifth ground of wisdom is called “non-attachment” (asam-shakti). The yogin who has attained it has the title Brahmavidvara. This is an even higher realization, which begins with the state of nurturing, cultivation, and beyond. The yogin has separated all his perception from the world and sees God in the form of space of the purest color, while he sees the world as the play of maya, as an illusion superimposed upon the luminous essence of Brahman. He is not attached to this world; he is like a holy fool avadhuta who conceals his realization by playing along with the foolishness of the human world. He is so far from the world of people that it is impossible for him to be human, but thanks to his flexibility he can play at being human, have a human body, and manifest. This is a high level of holiness — Brahmavidvara.
The sixth ground of wisdom is called “non-perception of objects” (padartha-bhavana), and the title that the sadhu attains here is called Brahmavidvarya. At this stage the yogin does not see the world; he sees divine light — divine light plays through him. He either does not perceive objects at all, abiding in deep nirvikalpa samadhi, not leaving the transcendent state, or he plays in this world beyond the conventions of human perception. This is a very powerful saint, one who has himself become Shiva in the body.
The seventh ground of wisdom is “transcendentality” (turyaga), and the title of the sadhu at this level is Brahmavidvarishtha. This is the stage beginning with the play through the sixteen kalas, the transition into the dimension of the mandala, the creation of the universe, becoming Ishvara, God the Creator.
The Path of Development Through the Grounds of Wisdom
We move through the seven grounds of wisdom depending on how much our consciousness develops. As a rule, beginning sadhus are somewhere between the first and second wisdom, the vast majority, 80 percent. Some manage to make breakthroughs into the subtle mind and establish themselves on the third ground; the third ground is a strong state. It is a state of clarity, self-liberation, wisdom, and power. But very few manage to break through to the fourth ground, which truly is the awakening of self-realization (sattva-pati). This is the task of an entire life; even over a whole lifetime, very few manage to break through to the fourth ground.
The second, third, and fourth grounds guarantee heavenly experiences and what are called the lower types of liberation (salokya-mukti). Those who have realized the illusory body at this stage can attain sarupya-mukti, or closeness to the deity, called samipya-mukti. But sayujya-mukti is granted only on the fourth ground of wisdom, at the stage of self-realization (sattva-pati).
It sometimes happens that those who develop great faith and great devotion realize the grounds of wisdom through faith and devotion, while contemplative ability, self-liberation, comes to them a little later, retroactively, as it were. They can enter the light through immersion in divya-bhava, rather than through non-conceptual awareness. By repeatedly experiencing divya-bhava through devotion and self-surrender, they retrospectively give rise to non-conceptual awareness. They first understand God with the heart, and then through self-awareness. This method is also possible for those whose devotion is greater than their capacity for contemplation.
“Free from all conditioning, truly established in the state of unchanging consciousness, the yogi remains like a child or a fool; bliss manifests in him like the blueness of the sky. This bliss is not a sensation; its essence is self-awareness, therefore it does not become an obstacle, but remains integrated in consciousness. Here there is freedom from all sensations. At the same time, the yogi is constantly engaged in actions, and here there is freedom from inaction. However difficult it may be to attain this state, O Rama, strive for it and cross the ocean of suffering.”
All experiences of God are difficult for an ordinary person to approach. But the path of a sadhu consists in first becoming a sadhu from an ordinary person, then a jnani, and then a siddha. This path takes an entire lifetime. To become a sadhu from an ordinary person, one needs to pass through half a life somewhere—less for some, more for others. To pass from a sadhu to a jnani, one must traverse a path the length of a lifetime, and to become a siddha from a jnani, one may perhaps have to pass through several thousand years or many lives. However, at the moment when we traverse the path from human being to jnani, we are liberated from samsara.
The Initial Stages of Awakening and the Avatars of Dattatreya
Everything begins with the awareness of one’s limitations; we become aware of the limitations of samsara, the limitations of our life, and understand that limitations must be overcome. There is not even a concept of God yet, but one must simply understand that limitations must be overcome. At this stage there is not yet any ground of wisdom, but there is the blessing of Dattatreya, and at this stage the first avatar of Dattatreya—Yogiraj—blesses the yogin.
Even worldly people at this stage, who strive to follow the path of anava-marga (the development of their “I”) in order to overcome limitations, receive blessings, since the avatar Yogiraj blesses the soul so that it may overcome limitations by any available means. People who attend personal growth trainings, seminars, who practice raw foodism, pranic nourishment, a mono-diet, fruitarianism—who in any way try somehow to become aware of limitations, to change their life with the help of the minor sciences of astrology (Jyotish), Vastu, feng shui, diets, hatha yoga, cosmic energetics, sensory practices. To do at least something in some way, even through conspiracy theories, trying somehow to expand their consciousness and get out of that matrix in which the soul is immersed and to realize—this is the stage of limitation.
They say: “Let us at least somehow awaken.” Some awaken through politics, some through conspiracy theories, and some through a mono-diet, raw foodism, pranic nourishment, autonomy, autonomous nutrition, through anything at all—these are the inscrutable paths of the soul. But behind all this stands the blessing of Dattatreya. Dattatreya, as Yogiraj, pushes the soul from within so that it may awaken. Dissatisfaction and awareness of limitations—here the grounds of wisdom are absent. The second avatar who awakens the soul at the second stage is Atrivarada. These avatars awaken every soul while still on worldly stages, when awareness is absent, but there is a desire to get out of samsaric limitations.
“The desire for sensations arises as a thought in consciousness and strengthens as this thought is repeated. Thus, having created within itself this apparent world, consciousness leads itself to its own liberation. Whatever it conceives becomes materialized. Having bound itself, having subjected itself to suffering (like a silkworm in its cocoon), at the proper time it attains liberation.”
At this stage the soul begins to dimly suspect the magical nature of the world. It dimly suspects that behind all material forms there is one divine consciousness. The soul begins to transition into a quantum-magical divine picture of the world. It begins to dimly suspect that the world is created by its consciousness, that it itself creates situations, various realities. It begins to think about controlling external reality, materializing intention, fulfilling desires by willpower, but it does not understand this mechanism or what the essence here is. This is also called the search for the moon. At this stage the soul begins to seek God based on its locality and upbringing. At this stage the soul begins to approach the first ground of wisdom.
What are the external signs at the stage of searching for the moon and approaching the first ground? The behavior of a bee, when it seeks information in different sources, the study of different teachings. There is an intensive search for teachings, a Guru, a path, and methods, but there is no great understanding.
What are the internal signs? Such a soul begins to practice attentiveness, awareness beyond thoughts, atma-vichara, strives to cultivate sakshi (witnessing consciousness), self-observation. Self-observation and self-reflection develop in it, and it is not free from self-reflection in the process of self-observation. The avatar who blesses at this stage is Dattatreya. Dattatreya impels the soul to seek awareness and contemplation; invisibly, he activates mechanisms within the soul. The very search within the soul is the blessing of Dattatreya.
“At the right time it attains liberation, because it is the essence of infinite consciousness. That which appears as the universe is nothing other than pure consciousness, O Rama. Pure existence alone is the seed and embryo of infinite consciousness.”
Pure Consciousness and the Encounter with Light
Pure consciousness, pure existence—these are not philosophical concepts, as when you read Kant, for example, the “Critique of Pure Reason.” This is God—this is Ishvara; it is not merely pure consciousness that possesses nothing—it is the omnipotent consciousness of Shiva, of Ishvara, who carries out the panchakritya: creation, preservation, and so on.
When the soul begins to encounter this mighty pure consciousness, to acknowledge its greatness, its own subordinate position and, at the same time, its unity with it—this is called the “encounter with light.” The “encounter with light” in the sixteen kalas of contemplation corresponds to the first ground of wisdom; it is called “the desire for enlightenment.” When the soul comes into contact with this light, it desires to become enlightened itself; it feels its impurity or its limitation in comparison with this light, and a passionate desire flares up within it to merge with it, somehow to become liberated and become the same.
The external sign here is the meeting with the Guru, the ishta-devata, and the parampara. The internal sign is a brief flash of clarity or the first deep experience of amanaska (the state of no-mind, a non-mental experience), divine bliss, what is called fleeting samadhi or the experience of the “inner light,” pure consciousness, nonduality, a deep state of the witness. For example, the state of jagrat-svapna or jagrat-sushupti is experienced, even if only once. All these are signs of comprehending the first ground of wisdom. If you have experienced this, it means the first ground has been passed by you: the “desire for enlightenment.”
To put it simply, if you have the desire for enlightenment, then you are on the first ground of wisdom. At this stage the soul is blessed by the avatar Kalagnishamana, who is the essence of pure light, Brahman in the form of pure light. The fourth avatar of the sixteen, he comes to the soul as a manifestation of the Clear Light, pure light. For example, a yogin has been deeply contemplating the saints, the deities, or has been meditating, or is in a dream, and suddenly he feels in his chest an enormous flash of light that floods everything. He simply cannot believe that such light can be within him—this is Kalagnishamana greeting him, saying: “You are on the right path. I am within you. I am your inner light; go forward.”
“They are inseparable from each other, like the sun and its rays. But this pure existence has two aspects—diversity and unity. That which is described as ‘that’ and ‘this,’ ‘I’ and ‘you’—this is multiplicity. When one turns away from this multiplicity, only pure existence remains; it is regarded as unity.”
The Second Ground of Wisdom: Inquiry
The experience of the state beyond concepts, the experience of the pure being of God—this is the beginning of the second ground of wisdom; it corresponds to the stage of transmission in the sixteen kalas, inquiry (vichara). Here the yogin experiences the state of no-mind, the experience of light, of the observer, which is recognized in the waking state and applied at the level of self-liberated mindfulness. Here, even without receiving an external explanation, the yogin intuitively approaches the principle of self-liberated mindfulness. If one remains mindful of nonconceptual awareness or the inner light, while ignoring thoughts and doubts, kleshas, and emotions, this can be called self-liberated mindfulness. Another question is whether it will be able to develop or not.
The state of jagrat-svapna becomes frequent or constant. In waking reality, in the waking state, the yogin experiences the subtle body. Sometimes there may be breakthroughs of the experience of jagrat-sushupti, dreamless sleep while awake. He develops skills of verbal and mental self-liberation. He has a deeper flash of insight into nonduality, flashes of clarity, and an understanding of these flashes as his own view. Here one’s own view is formed, when these flashes begin to come together into a picture of the world, when the words of the scriptures that “everything is one consciousness” are internalized; they cease to be words of theory and become one’s own understanding. The capacity for contemplation and self-liberation is born.
The level of contemplation here is initial, from fullness of attention to self-liberated mindfulness. The yogin becomes accustomed to being attentive; he no longer bites the bait of samsara, and he maintains self-liberated mindfulness to some extent. At this stage, savikalpa samadhi may also be experienced, thanks to kundalini yoga or raja yoga. According to tradition, when a disciple receives confirmation in this, the Guru shows him a mirror as a symbol of confirmation of his level and realization of this stage. But not always; if there is no mirror at hand, he shows nothing, he simply speaks. The Avatar of Dattatreya who blesses at this stage is Yogiraj Vallabha. Yogiraj Vallabha allows the soul to penetrate into non-conceptual awareness, and all this is the second ground of wisdom — investigation.
Not necessarily — this does not mean that you will see Dattatreya in his form. Dattatreya will manifest in you as amanaska, as the space of awareness, as inner light, as awakened inner clarity. But it will unmistakably be him; how will you recognize him — unconditional devotion to him will be born in you, unconditional trust in him will be born in you, a feeling of boundless consciousness will arise in you, which you begin to understand and realize, to come into contact with its greatness; delight and admiration for this experience will be born. This means that the wisdom body of Yogiraj Vallabha has touched you.
“When multiplicity is abandoned and unity prevails, this is a state of absence of sensations; therefore, ‘unity’ is not a subject or an object of sensation. This unity is eternal and indestructible. O Rama, abandon all forms of division — in time, in space, or in anything else.”
The Third Ground of Wisdom: the Subtle Mind
Here, unity is already being spoken of, when unity is experienced for the first time — it is like the conception of a child. When disparate objects have ceased to dominate consciousness, and this unified consciousness has come to the forefront, the darshan of God has broken through into consciousness — this is the stage of conception. The stage of conception means that we do not think in dualistic categories — we think in categories of unity. We have felt out this unity, even if it is not yet perfect — this is called the beginning of the third ground of wisdom, “the subtle mind” (tanu-manasa).
The subtle mind means that your consciousness has become refined, and you have begun to see the universe not through concepts, and not through the organs of perception, but through buddhi, through awareness. In general, it is said of buddhi that it is the final representation of the Guru in the body of the disciple — it is buddhi, when there is neither Guru nor shastras, but there is intelligence (buddhi), and intelligence is awareness. This is the final representation of the Guru-tattva in the disciple himself.
At the stage of conception, at the beginning of the third ground of wisdom, the subtle mind (tanu-manasa), the yogin experiences the experience of unity. He begins to experience all-encompassing wisdom, he ceases to think only in the categories of “I” and “you,” he begins to think “I” and “you” are one, we are one.” He ceases to think in the categories of “I am the subject, this is the object,” he begins to think “there is a single whole divine consciousness that unites subject and object and transcends subject-object relations.” He begins to include in his consciousness everything he hears, sees, smells, and touches; the feeling of unity grows within him.
At this stage, experiences of continuous consciousness are undergone, for example, in dreamless sleep at least once. Light is experienced as space; the experience of light is undergone. The circle of the day begins to close, though not yet stably; sometimes it closes, sometimes it opens, but in general it begins to close at least at the stage of fullness of attention or self-liberated mindfulness.
On one of the three levels, lucid dreams appear, and these dreams are not merely lucid; they also contain the experience of contemplation. Experiences of kundalini yoga arise, as well as experiences of the subtle body, visions of peaceful deities, and the level of contemplation increases. It is somewhere between self-liberated mindfulness and empty mindfulness—this can no longer be called merely fullness of attention. For many, even fullness of attention is a big problem; sometimes there is fullness of inattention. But here the level of contemplation is quite high, and during confirmation the Guru shows the disciple a crystal or a crystal ball as the principle of this unity, the single nature of the Mind, which, in unity with God, is capable of directly (pratyaksha) comprehending God. If one speaks of a dark retreat, this corresponds to the first level of the vision of jyoti yoga. At this stage, sometimes savikalpa and sometimes nirvikalpa samadhi are experienced. The Avatar who patronizes this stage is Lilavishvambara—Dattatreya in the form of Lilavishvambara.
“Remain in pure existence. Division contributes to the arising of concepts. They are not different from pure consciousness; moreover, they are not real as such at all. Reflection on division does not lead to purity of vision. Only pure existence without division within it is the seed of everything we have spoken of so far—there is no seed for this pure existence itself. It is the cause of everything and itself has no cause.”
Here Vasishta gives further instructions. Vasishta gives Rama the classic instructions, which are described in three words—shravana, manana, and nididhyasana. First Rama listened to Vasishta in the palace of Dasharatha, his father. Then at night he reflected on his instructions, eliminating doubts and periodically asking questions. Then Vasishta gave him instructions on how to enter the direct state of nondual vision of contemplation and how to remain in it. When we strive to remain in nondual contemplation, this is called the stage of gestation—this is already the full-fledged third ground of wisdom. The advanced third ground of wisdom, the stability of gestation, “the refined mind” (tanu-manasa), gains strength.
What does “refined mind” mean? It means that I no longer live only by the mind, concepts, assessments, and judgments; I do not live by emotions; I do not live by the indriyas of perception; I live by a refined contemplative consciousness, and I live not simply by observation, as a witness. My refined consciousness begins to perceive God, begins to open wide. For example, I live in all twelve sankalpas at once, or in one sankalpa, but very deeply. For example, I am sitting here in the room, but at the same time I contemplate “I am,” and this “I am” has a nature like space; I see the world as an illusion—that is, the Dream sankalpa, atma-vichara, space, is fulfilled—and the feeling of space evokes in me an incomprehensible greatness, and this greatness is divine; the Divine Pride sankalpa is fulfilled. In this greatness I feel such descending mercy and grace that it fills me (samavesha)—this is the Descending Force sankalpa, and in this samavesha I discover a deep luminous power. I perceive it as something that elevates consciousness so much that it is experienced as light—this means the Light sankalpa is fulfilled.
Remaining in such a state, I cannot see anything as impure; I see everything as pure—this means that I steadily abide in pure vision, and since my vision is pure and stable, it extends unconditionally to all objects; what this leads to is a single “taste,” unconditionally. Since I abide in a single “taste,” I can include everything in my consciousness; I reject nothing, and therefore everything becomes one with my mind. When everything becomes one with my mind, I am able to penetrate into God, into divine reality; I perceive God directly, and this is my brahma-vichara. Thus, at the stage of the “refined mind,” all twelve Shiva sankalpas are realized; that is, the “refined mind,” the third ground of wisdom, is the realization of all twelve Shiva sankalpas.
The next stage is connected with shakti-sankalpas, but here you steadily understand, you know the taste in Shiva-sankalpas, and your contemplation is already inseparable from them, while your life is inseparable from contemplation. Here clinging, hopes, and fears are cut off. Fundamental clinging, hopes, and fears are cut off; there is no attachment, no greed, no pride, because you understand a little how the world is arranged, you understand that everything is God—what is there to reject, what is there to fear, what is there to cling to; all this is nothing more than a game. It is nothing more than a storm in a teacup and children fussing in a sandbox. At this stage the yogin looks upon gold as pebbles or as dirt, upon kings as beggars, and upon sadhus as true kings. The circle of the day is closed more deeply, at the level from empty remembrance to, at times, self-luminous remembrance. The mind is pacified; at this stage the yogin does not get nervous, is not embarrassed, and is afraid of nothing. If he is somewhat wary of anything, it is only one thing—distractions. Everything else he knows: one can lose everything, but one must not lose oneself in distraction, and contemplation can be generated entirely by the power of intention, but having lost contemplation, nothing can be generated except karma.
The initial level of the single “taste” is attained. A vision arises of deities blessing or transmitting the teaching. This vision may occur in meditation, in the subtle body, in a dream; to see it while awake, one must be very fortunate. During confirmation, the Guru shows the disciple a peacock feather. The capacity for savikalpa and nirvikalpa samadhi also increases. At this stage the great decision is made, the entry into great non-action. The yogin can truly relax and accept wisdom as the method. If before this wisdom and method were separate, now wisdom is wisdom, but wisdom is also the method, you understand. Contemplative presence, like the sky, in which the yogin relaxes, is simultaneously both method and wisdom; it is both the basis and the path, and ultimately the fruit, the only difference being in the stages of deepening. He can truly surrender to divine grace. His doubts are eliminated, although subtle dualistic notions still remain, but they concern fundamental foundations such as time, space—these are the kanchukas (kala, kala, niyati), and so on. But the Purusha-tattva is realized by him, and the avatar who blesses at this stage is Siddharaj, Dattatreya Siddharaja.
The Fourth Ground of Wisdom: Self-Realization
“This is the cause of everything and itself has no cause. Everything is reflected in it. All diverse sensations are perceived in this pure existence, as different tastes are sensed by one and the same tongue. An infinite number of universes is born, exists, and dissolves in it; they are in mutual relationship with it.”
Here the fixation of the yogin’s mind shifts away from his own “I” (ego), from the world, from karma, from relationships and plans, the eight worldly dharmas, hopes and fears, and even from methods of practice, from inner experiences—to what? To the experience of God; it shifts directly and clearly. For the most part, most of the time, he is occupied with God, not with external matters, although external matters may be resolved, but the mind is no longer occupied with them, nor with internal problems or concepts. It is occupied with the direct experience of God. He experiences unified consciousness. When “consciousness” is spoken of, what is meant is precisely the consciousness of Shiva and the consciousness of Dattatreya. At this stage the yogin closes the circle of the day and begins to close the circle of the night; unity ceases to be an unattainable dream for him; everywhere he sees the one God. This stage is called the fourth ground of wisdom, “self-realization”; here the first level of holiness is already attained.
When the small birth is attained, this means that the circle of the day has been closed, and the circle of the night in dream sleep has been partially closed, where contemplation is maintained, but only partially. For example, it is maintained in dream sleep, but not maintained in dreamless sleep; this is the experience of savikalpa samadhi, nirvikalpa samadhi, and the experience of sahaja samadhi appears. At the stage of the great birth—all this refers to the eighth stage—the circle of day and night is closed. Visions arise of joyful or wrathful deities or dakinis who bestow blessings. At this stage the Guru shows the statue of Dattatreya, and the statue of Dattatreya here is Jnanasagara. The Dattatreya who blesses at this stage is the avatar Jnanasagara (ocean of wisdom), since the yogin himself becomes such an ocean of wisdom. At this stage one of the types of mukti is attained: salokya, samipya, sarupya, or even sayujya.
What levels of light are there? Three levels of light are experienced, and the fourth primordial light (prabhasvara). That is, the four levels of light are the lights of emptiness associated with the experience of the three gunas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—or the light of white radiance, red increase, and the black darkness of near-attainment, after which the fourth primordial pure light (prabhasvara) arises. Vyoma-panchaka is also experienced, that is, various kinds of pure spaces of Purusha-tattva, when the yogin begins to realize the space of light as the body of the siddhas, the body of Dattatreya, his own body for life (jnana-deha). The state of sushupti and the initial levels of turiya are realized. Jagrat-sushupti, jagrat-turiya, svapna-sushupti, and svapna-turiya are experienced. Here the final acceptance of the great decision occurs. The level of contemplation here does not fall below the empty one: empty and self-illuminating mindfulness. Jnanasagara as an avatar is always present in the yogin’s heart. What beings realize this consciousness? They are those who become vidyadharas, vidyeshvaras. This is not a position; there is a position in a monastery—that is one thing—but we are speaking of classes of beings, already of deities, which yogis become upon realizing this consciousness.
Establishment in the Supreme State
“This pure existence is the weight in all heavy things; and the light in everything that shines. It is both materiality and ethereality. It is the first among the first, the last among the last. This light in the luminous and darkness in the dark, materiality in all matter, and space as well. It is nothing and everything; it is, and it is not. It is the visible and the invisible, that which is I, and that which is not I. O Rama, therefore strive with all your strength to become established in this supreme state, pure and indestructible, which is the truth of one’s own existence. Attain supreme peace. Having attained it, you will forever be freed from the fear of worldly existence.”
Thus, Vasishtha gives Rama instructions on the experience of the pure tattvas, and the tattva in which one should become established is the fifth tattva, the fourth, the third, the second, and the first—that is, Shiva-tattva, Shakti-tattva, and so on. These are various experiences of shunya (non-dual emptiness), the experience of the wisdom body of Shiva and Dattatreya. This stage corresponds to nurturing, when the stage of great birth has been realized; now it must be nurtured as deeply as possible, as deeply as one can, in order to ascend through the tattvas. To ascend from Purusha-tattva through the kanchukas, break through into the sixth Maya-tattva, and enter the realm of stable abiding in the five pure tattvas. This is called shuddha-tattvas, shuddha-adhvas (pure dimensions).
The Fifth Land of Wisdom: The Stage of Nurturing
The fifth land of wisdom begins with the stage of nurturing (asam-shakti), “non-attachment.” The nine self-liberations of natural contemplation merge with the forty-five manifestations of karma, that is, the nine actions of body, speech, and mind, in the five actions (panchakritya)—creation, maintenance, destruction, concealment, and liberation—manifest together with contemplative presence.
There is no longer any sight, taste, hearing, smell, act of movement, or a single act of thought or speech without the natural state. Neither in dream nor in waking, neither inside nor outside, neither in tamas nor in rajas, neither by body nor by speech nor by mind—there is no longer any manifestation anywhere without God. Everything is done only in unity with God. Neither laughter, nor coughing, nor eating, nor movements, nor thought, nor dreams, nor word, nor sound are here separate from God—everything is totally and always one with God. Neither during creation, nor during maintenance or destruction.
All manifestations of karma, whatever they may be, are released in the natural state, manifesting as supreme resourcefulness in the search for God without any attachment; presence penetrates the indriyas. This corresponds to the second level of vision in jyoti-yoga, in the dark retreat. Here the yogin receives the title of brahmavidvara, and the avatar who blesses here is Vishvambar Avadhuta.
Rama asked: “O holy one, I pray, tell me how all these seeds of distraction can be quickly destroyed and the supreme state attained?”
Vasishtha answered: “The seeds of suffering, O Rama, can be destroyed by destroying them one by one. If you can, with a single blow, cut off all mental conditioning and, with tremendous effort, remain in the state of pure existence (if you stay there even for a second), you will be able to become established in that state. However, if you wish to remain in pure existence, you can attain this through even greater efforts. In the same way, by reflecting and meditating on infinite consciousness, you will be able to remain in the supreme state, but this requires tremendous effort”.
At the next stage, continuing to move toward the fifth ground of wisdom, the yogin at the stage of cultivation practices flexibility and integration. In extracting vishesha, samanya-spanda through various paths: dakshina-marga, vamachara-marga, kaula-marga, siddhantachara-marga, the practices of crazy wisdom, and the single “taste.” This is the behavior of the dog-pig—the highest stage of the avadhuta.
Here, at this stage, the yogin receives the title of brahmavidvara, and the avatar who blesses at this stage is Mayamukta Avadhuta. The beings that are born from the realization of this stage are vidyadharas, vidyeshvaras, and if this stage is passed through incorrectly, pralayakalas.
“Meditation on objects of sensation is impossible, because they exist only in consciousness or the supreme essence. But if you strive to destroy conditionings (concepts, notions, habits, and so on), then your errors and illnesses disappear instantly. But this is more difficult than what was described earlier. Because, as long as the mind is not free from the movement of thought, it is difficult to stop the actions of conditioning, and the reverse is also true; and as long as the truth has not been realized, the mind does not cease its actions, and the reverse is also true. But until the action of conditioning ceases, the unconditioned truth cannot be realized, and vice versa. Because the realization of truth, the cessation of the power of the mind, and the end of conditioning are so interconnected, it is exceptionally difficult to address these questions separately”.
