Commentary on the text “Yoga Vasistha,” Chapter Two, “Aspiration”
In this world, anything can be achieved only through one’s own efforts. When something does not succeed, the reasons must be sought in insufficient effort. This is obvious! What is called fate is an invention, and there is no fate.
One’s own efforts, O Rama, are those mental, verbal, and physical actions that are performed in accordance with the instructions of a wise person who knows the scriptures well. Only thanks to such efforts did Indra become the king of heaven, and Brahma become the creator; all the other gods and demigods ended up in their places.
Efforts can be of two kinds: the efforts of past births and the efforts of this birth. The latter can overcome the former. Fate is nothing other than the efforts of past births. Between these two kinds there is a constant conflict in this incarnation, and the stronger circumstances prevail.
In this chapter, the rishi Vasistha persuades Rama to enter the path of practice, relying on his own efforts and his own will. To do this, he inspires him by saying how important it is to manifest one’s own will, that Rama has nothing except his own will. He has not realized God; he has no helper-gods who would appear to him in a dream or in samadhi and lead him to liberation. He has none of this. He has only his own illusions and confusion, but he also has his own will. Vasistha insistently persuades Rama to believe in himself, to overcome his own amorphousness and diffuseness, and, relying on his own will, to follow the path of liberation.
Fate and One’s Own Efforts
Vasistha says: “Do not think that you are limited by fate.” From the point of view of a lower vision, fate (daiva), of course, exists. Daiva is our life line, our life path. Karma is what we created in past incarnations. Of course, these things exist. However, Vasistha is trying to explain a higher point of view to Rama. He says that people of low capacity are blindly limited by fate and karma, believing that nothing can be changed by their own will. He says that both fate and karma are simply the result of your past efforts; they are your own past efforts, the fruits of which you are now reaping. He says that if in this life you apply the right efforts in sufficient quantity and in the right direction, you can overcome your old, past, incorrect efforts.
There is a saying: “If you want to know who you were in the past, look at your present self. If you want to know who you will be in the future, analyze the course of your thoughts.”
It is precisely consciousness, thinking, sankalpa-shakti (the power of intention) that determines our next life, our destiny. Our present destiny is not mysticism; that is, it is not the result of the intervention of supernatural forces. Our present destiny is the manifestation of our intentions, choices, and thoughts in the past, in past incarnations. We may not notice this very much, but we are all made up of the past: the past weighs upon us, the past governs us, the past programs us every second. We act based on reliance on the past. The past constantly weighs upon us. We do not even realize how quickly it acts. At the moment when a certain act of volition or awareness arises in us, the past influences our mind even faster and instantly interprets everything. The past determines our karmic vision. It is our past that is what is called sanchita karma and prarabdha karma. Our present efforts are what we manifest in this life. They are also called purusha-kara, that is, our intention, our volitional aspiration, the new course of our thoughts that we consciously create ourselves.
Old karma, that is, destiny, and purusha-kara, that is, our own efforts, are often compared to two rams. On a narrow bridge over an abyss, two rams meet. One ram is our past karma, our past intentions, efforts, and choices. The other ram is our present intentions, our present actions. As a result, only one ram must remain; that is, the one who is stronger wins. If in this life our efforts are weak, insufficient, or diffuse, then the tendencies of our mind accumulated in the past prevail; accordingly, our future continues to be governed by the past. We follow the well-worn track created by past volitional intentions. If we create a sufficiently great sankalpa-shakti, that is, the power of volitional intention, we are able to shift this past, to open an alternative course of events, to open, as it is fashionable to say now, a variant universe with a different scenario for our life, to change our lines of destiny, to move onto other lines of life. All of this depends on the extent to which our willpower and the power of intention (sankalpa-shakti) will be activated in this life.
Parasattarka Logic: A Transcendent Vision of Reality
The world is not directly dependent on causes and effects. It is far more complex: it is probabilistic, random, stochastic. The world, first and foremost, depends entirely on the manifestation of consciousness. And only secondarily does it depend on causes and effects. This paradoxical theory in the teaching is called “parasattarka logic.” “Parasattarka” means a transcendent mystical vision inherent in the siddhas. The theory of parasattarka logic is set forth to some extent in the Yoga Vasishtha; it is also revealed by Saint Abhinavagupta. This is not logic, but rather a deep transcendent vision which says that the world is not determined, that cause-and-effect relationships do not play a major role in it. The principle of consciousness plays a major role in it, and it is precisely on the principle of consciousness that what our surroundings and our next life will be depend. To put it more simply, everything is in our hands. If we change our consciousness, we can change our life, our surroundings. By the power of reason and the power of consciousness alone we can change everything—nothing is impossible. If we apply enough power of intention (sankalpa-shakti), everything begins to manifest.
From the point of view of parasattarka logic, all events in the universe, all processes and realizations already exist; we have no need to create them anew. It is as if the universe were a boundless storehouse of various situations, things, and possible courses of events, and all of them already existed in it simultaneously. We do not need to create them; we only need to choose. But in order to make a choice, we must demonstrate a certain state of consciousness. At a high level of realization of consciousness, the universe becomes probabilistic, stochastic, and changing karmic vision, the environment, and oneself does not mean producing causes through effort and reaping effects. The path of cause and effect, of effort produced, is the path of the conditioned karmic vision of the human world. The so-called “impure karmic vision,” or samsara. The path of the gods is different, since the reality in which the gods abide differs greatly from the human one. This reality is not deterministic; it is playful, probabilistic, stochastic. Probability and chance play a major role in it, and they can be influenced by the power of consciousness.
For example, in the state of a pure dimension, you do not so much create certain causes through effort and reap effects; you simply change yourself from within and attract a new version of reality. By the power of consciousness, you attract probabilities. If you have enough power of consciousness, you attract probabilistic situations that you can subtly direct into the necessary channel. You do nothing on the external level. Or perhaps you do, but you do not rely too much on external deeds—you change yourself from within and simply change probabilities. As they take shape, probabilities create around you a new picture of the world, or an entirely different world. This is precisely the path of the siddhas, the path of divine beings, called “prakamya siddhi.” They have a completely different psychology, a different picture of the world, a different karmic vision. Here everything is determined by consciousness, by will, by the imperious-volitional operator qualities of the being.
Precious Human Birth and Divine Powers
In the lower worlds, beings are not imperious-volitional operators; that is, by the power of consciousness they are not able to influence matter, the surrounding world, or their own life. They are completely subject to the law of karma, the law of destiny. For beings from the lower worlds, the laws of karma and the laws of destiny operate very strictly. They operate no matter what, and it is impossible to shift them.
Why is precious human birth considered precious? Because it is precisely one of the worlds in which the laws of destiny can be shifted, where reality can be changed by the power of one’s consciousness, by the power of intention. In humans, unlike lower beings such as animals, beings of hell, or spirits, sankalpa-shakti (willpower, the power of intention) is activated and unfolded to some extent. By developing this willpower, sankalpa-shakti, they can attain a second divine power, which is called “aishvarya-shakti” and is translated as “divine authority.” By “authority” in this case is meant the ability to exert influence, the ability to act in relation to reality as an authoritative-volitional operator.
For example, in the present situation a person cannot act as an authoritative-volitional operator in relation to external reality—external reality seems independent of consciousness, existing on its own, coarse and not amenable to any control, or amenable, but only with enormous difficulty. However, the higher we ascend the spiritual hierarchy of divine beings, the more we see that for divine beings things are different. For them there is no external environment separated from consciousness—this is an illusion, a myth. For them, the external universe, the external environment, is integrated in their consciousness; it is a manifestation of their consciousness. They can effectively influence it, acting in relation to it as authoritative-volitional operators. The universe is a resonant medium that responds to the impulses of consciousness. In the tradition of the teaching of Laya Yoga, this is called:
sankalpa-shakti (the power of divine intention, will)
aishvarya-shakti (the power of divine authority)
kriya-shakti (the power of divine action)
In the process of spiritual practice, we gradually master these powers. If we do not master them, it means that the practice is not bearing the proper fruits, since mastery of these powers is unequivocally an indicator and criterion of your success in spiritual life.
Stages of Spiritual Realization
If we speak about the order of mastering such powers, we can say that at first, of course, we master a certain level of awareness, of intellectual understanding. Everything begins with intellectual understanding. To understand the view of Advaita at least on an intellectual level is also a great achievement. Many do not manage this even after years of studying the “Viveka Chudamani,” “Atma Bodha,” and Ramana’s texts. But at least on the intellectual level we should gain an understanding of the philosophy of Advaita. Of course, an intellectual understanding of the philosophy of Advaita will not give you realization, but it will at least provide a certain mental framework, a certain foundation and support for your further spiritual practice.
The next stage is that we attain a non-conceptual understanding of Advaita. Non-conceptual understanding of Advaita begins when elephants start flying across the sky for us, when we catch a horned rabbit by its nonexistent horns. This is the same as the vision of Zen—it is not verbal, not connected with thinking; nevertheless, it is clear, and we truly begin to penetrate this non-conceptual vision. Compared with this vision, intellectual understanding is narrow and akin to delusion. When a yogi reveals such a vision, it is said that he masters the view (the outlook); he also masters awareness.
Naked Awareness as the Core of Practice
Awareness is a way of realizing the view. Usually, in the teaching of Laya Yoga, we always speak of naked awareness. When it comes to spiritual practice, we always speak of the practice of naked awareness. If a person has realized naked awareness, it can be said that he is an accomplished practitioner of Laya Yoga. If he has not realized naked awareness, then even if he recites mantras, studies philosophy, performs asanas, prostrations, and pujas to deities, it is still a question whether he is a practitioner of Laya Yoga or not. Because Laya Yoga is not connected with anything external.
For example, if a person does not observe a single commandment, performs neither prostrations nor rituals, wears no distinctive signs, knows not a single sacred text, but when asked about naked awareness, instantly demonstrates it, then it can be said that such a person is truly an authentic practitioner of Laya Yoga, because he has grasped the very essence. On the contrary, if a person performs asanas, prostrations, pujas, magical practices, studies sacred texts, but has not received the living experience of naked awareness, then he can hardly be counted as a true practitioner of Laya Yoga. Since mastering naked awareness is the very core of the teaching, from which everything else develops and to which it serves as a supplement. It is precisely this secret that the student must first of all adopt from the master. Magical practices, rituals, philosophy, and sacred texts are, of course, very helpful; nevertheless, they are secondary. Even seated meditations, pranayamas, and the management of the life force are all necessary parts of the teaching; nevertheless, the core of the practice is precisely mastery of naked awareness.
Three Aspects of Realization: View, Awareness, and Action
Finally, besides the view and naked awareness, there is action. Action, or behavior, is how we manifest it on the relative level, outwardly. It can be said that this is how we live, using enlightened view and enlightened naked awareness. It is precisely the final stage of action that is the pinnacle of realization. By action here one can mean spontaneous abiding in non-doing, in a state of play, like a deity. By action one can also mean the principle of service, conducting through oneself certain universal shaktis as a particular play. By action one can also mean mastery of various universal forces.
Thus, first we master the view. The view can be attributed to jnana-shakti (the power of wisdom). At the moment when you have attained non-conceptual awareness in nonduality, your jnana-shakti is activated. When this jnana-shakti gains spiritual power, it becomes your way of living. Your wisdom manifests constantly. It is not that you had wisdom yesterday, and today something happened, so you lost it. Sometimes this happens with neophytes. For example, they perform practices, study philosophy, but then something happens, and they begin to wonder: “Is the world truly Brahman, or is it in fact real? Is the world truly an illusion, like a dream, or perhaps is it something else?” Jnana-shakti means that our view has gained strength, and we are constantly guided by it. This means that we will never lose the view again. The nondual view beyond subject and object has become our continuous being; it has penetrated our life, our flesh and blood.
Svatantrya-Shakti: The Energy of Freedom
When jnana-shakti gains such great spiritual power, another shakti is activated in the yogin—svatantrya-shakti (the energy of freedom). We often speak of the principle of attaining liberation. Liberation occurs precisely when jnana-shakti becomes svatantrya-shakti, when it becomes the real energy of freedom. For example, we have many limitations, and for these limitations to disappear, we need to realize the opposite of limitations, namely freedom. For example, this is:
- freedom of space, the freedom to possess boundless space, the freedom to be independent of space, the freedom to move within it
- freedom of time (independence from the flow of time), the freedom to be immortal, the freedom to model the future, change the past, and be independent of the three times: past, present, and future
- freedom is also connected with the manifestation of shakti (energy)—the freedom to manifest knowledge, will, actions, or the five kinds of energy: creation, maintenance, dissolution, enlightenment, and concealment
All these are different levels of freedom, which can be gathered into one capacious concept: “svatantrya-shakti.” Svatantrya-shakti is the energy of the higher Self, the energy of the Absolute. When we sufficiently master the principle of contemplative presence, when we enter into the vision of Advaita, this means that we realize a part of the Absolute within ourselves. The Absolute begins to transmit to us its possibilities, powers, and qualities. One of these qualities is freedom, svatantrya-shakti.
For example, when, through the practice of contemplation, you have become free from attachments, from your own egoism, anger, and lust, this is one of the manifestations of svatantriya-shakti. At a higher level, a person becomes free from a specific place of residence, from a dwelling, from identifying oneself with family, racial, clan, national, and narrowly religious concepts. His freedom increases more and more. All these are various manifestations of levels of freedom.
One of the yogic texts says that a yogin finds himself a new dwelling when he has a sufficient level of energy. The degree of his freedom no longer binds him to any one specific place. He becomes one who possesses shakti; for him, mobility of movement becomes something natural, similar to how it is with the gods.
Samarasa-vidya: the single “taste”
At the level of mastering svatantriya-shakti, the yogin realizes the so-called state of the single “taste” (samarasa-vidya). The single “taste” means that the yogin can perceive good and evil, happiness and misfortune, sorrow and joy, bad and good, pure and impure, past, present and future, inner and outer with equanimity. Neither joy nor sorrow can any longer strike his heart. Sometimes this can be a good criterion for testing students.
For example, a student approaches the teacher and asks:
Question: Teacher, have I realized the single “taste”?
The teacher answers:
– No.
The student says:
– Oh, what sorrow! I practiced so much! Could the Guru not tell me that I have realized it at least a little?
The teacher says:
– But the very fact that you are so deeply upset about this shows that you have not realized it. If you were not so distressed about it, perhaps there would be some chance to give you a somewhat encouraging confirmation. But the very fact that you are so strongly and egotistically upset about this, that you strive for it so passionately, shows that, for now, the single “taste” is not your experience.
The single “taste” implies composure, dispassion, calmness, lightness, and self-liberation in relation to everything: to external life, to one’s own mystical experiences, to one’s own great achievements, to a sense of one’s own importance, to one’s own egoism, in general, to everything that constitutes duality. It implies dispassion, self-liberation, the ability to relate to everything with ease, the ability to accept any manifestations of life, the ability to love both recognition and refusals; both what blesses and what brings obstacles. If, however, you do not accept this, are not able to love it, this indicates that it is still too early to sing your own praises or to rely on any of your own experiences. One should simply relate to this calmly, as to an ordinary experience that arose, came, and went, as part of spiritual practice. All of this relates to the processes of svatantriya-shakti.
Sankalpa-shakti: the power of intention
Finally, when the yogin has sufficiently mastered svatantriya-shakti, or the energy of freedom, the power of intention develops in him. He masters the next shakti—sankalpa-shakti. If, at the level of mastering jnana-shakti, the yogin realized only the nondual view, then at the level of svatantriya-shakti this nondual view truly began to liberate him. For example, once I spoke with a person who practiced Advaita and claimed that he had already realized nondual vision. A somewhat delicate situation arose, and I asked:
– But then how does it work in this case with Advaita, if everything is Brahman or everything is an illusion? Why are you so deeply worried about this?
He said:
– Philosophy is one thing, and life is another. So far, in life, I am not managing to do this.
This means that the person had mastered jnana-shakti to some extent, but svatantriya-shakti, the energy of freedom, had not yet been manifested in everyday life.
When a yogin masters svatantrya-shakti, the energy of freedom, he ceases to be an ordinary person. He may be a monk or an avadhuta, a layperson, yet he is completely free from illusions, from concepts, from egoism, from racial, national, or any other prejudices. Most importantly, he is free from his ego. But this freedom does not yet allow him to operate with reality, to manifest siddhis, to achieve his goals. He is, as it were, free for himself, but externally he is still subject to the law of karma; he is influenced by the elements, the chains of future events, and so on.
At the next stage, the stage of mastering sankalpa-shakti, the stage of will, the yogin can apply his enlightened knowledge already as an authoritative volitional operator. He can manifest his knowledge to control the external elements, to model the future, to change his own karma and that of others. He can already, to some extent, act in the role of a siddha (a perfected being) or in the role of a deity. This is the principle of sankalpa-shakti. The yogin masters intention. For example, his thoughts materialize, his words come true, his blessing possesses a certain power. This indicates that the yogin has mastered sankalpa-shakti and certain siddhis. Mastery of these siddhis in the tradition of Laya Yoga does not occur through techniques, through the recitation of mantras, or through invoking the blessing of special deities. It occurs only through abiding in contemplative presence and mastering the single “taste,” through continuous abiding in non-duality.
In one of Shankara’s texts, there are such shlokas:
“The one who continuously meditates, ‘I am Brahman,’ will master various divine powers within a year.”
Shankara was probably speaking about himself. Since Shankara was a divya-yogin, and moreover an avatar, it is quite possible to assume that within a year of such meditation he mastered all of this. Such a yogin does not master anything, but simply recalls what had been attained before. In the case of ordinary practitioners, however, allowances must always be made. Nevertheless, when the yogin’s presence gains strength, he truly passes from a conditioned, deterministic universe into a probabilistic one. By the power of consciousness, he can attract probabilities, change variable universes—of course, to a certain extent—alter the chains of future events, operate with causal links and chains, influence the past and govern it. Thanks to this, his consciousness gains great power, and he enters the process of creating a mandala. At this stage, through the power of his consciousness, he already begins to create something or bring something into being.
Aishvarya-shakti: the energy of divine authority
When his will, his intention, gains great strength, the next level opens, which is called “aishvarya-shakti.” Aishvarya-shakti is the energy of divine authority. It is not connected with self-aggrandizement or egoistic manifestation. Rather, it is the energy of divine authority inherent in the Absolute, which manifests through the consciousness of the yogin. For example, the text “The Path of Divine Pride” describes this stage, when the yogin has many dreams or various visions connected with offerings. In visions or dreams, he sees numerous situations in which various divine beings make offerings to him or express reverence for him.
It is believed that the practice of divine pride is what activates aishvarya-shakti (the energy of divine authority), what makes a person a conduit for the divine forces of the Absolute. At this stage, a person gains power over his energies and over the external elements; he can subdue spirits and demons. He already becomes a nascent deity, and the world around him begins to be purified; the mandala, the pure dimensions, begin to manifest. This is not yet full realization, but the beginning of such a manifestation. A yogin possessing divine authority can subdue spirits and demons, bind them by oaths, and oblige them to take the path of Dharma or not to harm living beings. Such a yogin can also create entire alternative universes of a high level. For example, he can create a space for his disciples; by the power of visualization and intention, he can create pure lands. He gains the ability to manifest his illusory bodies and diverse forms in various lokas. He can influence, by the power of his consciousness alone, the global climate of the planet, the processes taking place in the solar system, in the universe, and in other worlds. This is because the universal forces that govern the weather, the planets, and the flow of time begin to respond to the impulses of his consciousness. This is the true stage of siddhi.
The greatest yogins who mastered aishvarya-shakti were Rishi Tirumular, Saint Gorakshanath, and Siddha Dattatreya. Such yogins are not limited by the power of only one universe; they can create various alternative universes, enter them, and transfer others into them. They can locally alter the state of time and space in a certain area. Nothing is impossible for them; they are not limited like ordinary people. For example, if such a yogin is born in the world of humans, he can use his aishvarya-shakti to bring benefit to a large number of people. Then such a yogin is called a shakti-avesha-avatar, that is, an avatar endowed with special authority, endowed with the divine power to change the corresponding order of things. The gods often send their avatars, possessing great sankalpa-shakti and aishvarya-shakti, into the world of humans to coordinate the human world. This happens constantly. Avatars or great yogins were not born only in ancient times—they are born continuously.
By virtue of what can a yogin manifest aishvarya-shakti, the power of authoritative volitional operation? By virtue of the fact that he is one with the Supreme Source and immersed in presence of a very deep level. His level of contemplation of nonduality is so deep that, like a magnet, he can attract various universal forces. For example, if such a yogin is reborn in the world of humans, he can change the course of history, the course of the development of civilization, and the course of the development of humanity, depending on the extent of his spiritual power. All the great founders of various teachings and religions possessed colossal sankalpa-shakti and aishvarya-shakti. If this yogin possesses even greater spiritual power, he can completely annul the laws of the karmic vision of the human world, introduce other laws or another vision, as, for example, Saint Dattatreya did.
Kriya-shakti: the power of action
Finally, the last level of mastering shakti is called the “power of action,” or “kriya-shakti.” The level of mastering kriya-shakti means that now the universe, or the external world made of elements, fully responds to the impulses of consciousness. Usually, kriya-shakti, or the power of action, includes five types of energies: the power to create; the power to maintain (preserve and protect); the power to dissolve and destroy (for example, obstacles or negative phenomena); the power to conceal the divine; and the power to manifest the divine. It is believed that the fullness of the actions of kriya-shakti is inherent only in the great gods of the level of Brahma and, perhaps, in outstanding rishis. The power of the fullness of actions means that a yogin, by the power of his consciousness, can create new universes, like the son of the sage from the “Tripura Rahasya,” who created a separate universe inside a hill and manifested there as its creator, preserver, and destroyer. By the power of his consciousness alone, he created an entire tunnel of reality, manifesting as a deity. This is precisely the mastery of kriya-shakti.
So, when we practice the natural state, these powers, one after another, gradually become accessible to us, and we can apply them in our lives. Of course, this does not always happen exactly as described in the teaching. Sometimes some powers may manifest in us more, and sometimes others. Sometimes we may stop only at the state of jnana-shakti, when we have realized a certain level of awareness. Sometimes we have realized the state of freedom, but at times we master such a level that our will can manifest and we can truly change our own life.
Right Efforts and Overcoming Misunderstanding
Vasistha then says:
“Efforts that do not correspond to the sacred texts are motivated by misunderstanding. When there are no results from efforts, one must carefully review one’s actions, determine what stems from misunderstanding, and, upon finding such things, eradicate them.”
Often a person makes efforts, but these efforts may be improper, incorrect. He makes these efforts because of his misunderstanding. Misunderstanding arises due to the absence of the proper level of awareness. It follows that, before making any efforts, a yogin must develop a certain level of awareness. Otherwise, these efforts will not bear the necessary fruits. For example, even in worldly life we can observe how people may make colossal efforts, yet these efforts can often end in collapse or failure. This happens because there is misunderstanding.
“There is no power greater than right actions in the present. Therefore, gritting one’s teeth, one must make efforts to overcome evil with good, and fate with efforts in the present.”
Spiritual practice is nothing other than the continuous application of right efforts. There is a phrase here: “make efforts to overcome evil with good.” If we consider the dual categories of evil and good based on ordinary moral attitudes, this will be superficial. When this is spoken from the lips of a siddha or rishi, it should be understood more deeply. By “evil” here is meant unconscious energy, entropy, chaos, the darkness of awareness. If we consider the term “good,” it is always a high level of self-organization, pure vision, a mandala, that is, energy that has become conscious. Energy that, with the help of awareness, has turned into something divine, into something beautiful. Our impure karmic vision, in which we abide, contains within itself both the energy of awareness and the energy of chaos, the energy of entropy. In fact, these are two polar opposites, called in the teaching “the principle of Purusha” and “the principle of Prakriti.” Prakriti is always unorganized, inert; Purusha is always self-aware and highly organized. When they interact with each other, then in the process of this interaction there may arise either states of tamas, when darkness prevails, or rajas, when the principle of dynamism prevails, or sattva, when the principle of awareness prevails. Spiritual practice always means changing one’s life for the better, bringing awareness, purity, beauty, love, and harmony into it, that is, making order out of chaos. At the same time, this is order that does not arise from some mental attitudes and ideas, but order as a high level of self-organization, a high level of awareness. When we bring clarity into anything, we bring such self-organization into chaos and entropy.
For example, our mind is confused; there is no order in it. Through diligent spiritual practice, we bring orderliness into our consciousness. Or our pranas and elements are out of balance; there is no orderliness in them. Through Shat-chakra yoga and practice, we gradually master the energies of our body. If there is no organization in a Dharma center, it is difficult to hold classes, practices, or retreats there; the principles of the teaching are not observed there. But when we apply clarity, everything falls into place; instead of chaos, we obtain a high level of organization: yantras, mandalas, wonderful practices, sutras, and so on. All of this is a single principle, which consists in bringing clarity into such elements of chaos, into elements of unconsciousness. This principle is continuous; one could say it is a great battle to transform chaos into order. When our clarity becomes sufficient, the energy of darkness (tamas), the energy of chaos (unconscious prakriti), begins to yield and submit. Then the yogin, by the power of his consciousness, creates a mandala—a world independent of the energy of chaos, full of purity, love, harmony, and beauty; a world of enlightened energies, composed of ideal conceptions; a universe that manifests only in divine form. The manifestation of the mandala is the pinnacle of realization, when the yogin, having mastered the energy of divine will, divine authority, and divine action, completely transforms the surrounding reality in which he finds himself.
Overcoming Laziness and Gaining Control
Further, Vasishtha says:
“A lazy person is worse than an animal. One must never give in to laziness; one must strive for liberation, seeing how life slips away with every moment. One should not bathe in sensual pleasures like a worm in manure.”
The words are very simple, but they strike at the very essence. Vasishtha says that you must make use of this precious human life in such a way as to apply the right efforts and obtain some positive, correct result. In this life we can change our situation. We can, from a mortal being conditioned by the laws of nature and by our own karma, become a deity, move into another karmic vision. Become immortal and, instead of the interruption of personality and new unconscious rebirths, take all of this under control. To take control of one’s own life and death, the state of one’s own body and elements, one’s own destiny—to make all of this manageable, so that it is as we want, and not as the laws of evolution, genes, nature, and so forth want. There are very few controllable elements in our life; that is precisely why it is said that a person does not govern his destiny, a person does not govern life, but life governs him. Unfortunately, a person is not a deity. Suppose, whether we want it or not, our body breaks down over the years; it grows old. It does not happen that five years pass and you become younger, stronger, and healthier, and then after another ten years you begin running just like a youth. Nothing of the kind happens unless, of course, you make efforts toward it. We do not possess time; we do not control how long we are to be on this earth. Death exists, and without asking, it resettles us into another body, into another world, into another environment, taking away everything that we considered valuable. This is a situation completely beyond our control. Likewise, we do not possess the capacities of our body; we cannot transform it, teleport it, and so on, like the gods. On the contrary, this body constantly imposes its limitations on us.
The same is connected with external elements. For example, we do not have an option to “set the weather for today”—that is incredible. All of this consists of uncontrollable elements, everything that is called impure karmic vision, chaos, samsara. If we consider mandalas, pure lands, the worlds of the gods, then, on the contrary, all these things there are controlled by the power of consciousness. All of this can be changed, made exactly as you wish. Rishi Vasishtha says: “Rama, you can attain this if you apply sufficient effort, if you use this life to develop the power of your consciousness.” When we develop the power of our consciousness, we can to some extent take control of our rebirth, our life, our environment, and direct events in the proper way. All of this gradually, one after another, begins to be pacified, and from uncontrolled manifestations becomes increasingly controllable.
“He who says, ‘Such is my fate, I cannot oppose it,’ is not wise, and good fortune leaves him. Through your own efforts, obtain wisdom and then understand it—personal efforts culminate in understanding the essence.
If there were not on Earth this terrible source of evil called laziness, would anyone remain illiterate and poor? Because of laziness, people on Earth lead an animal-like life, full of suffering and misfortune.”
Overcoming Tamas and Spiritual Efforts
What Vasishtha here calls “laziness” can be said to be the energy of tamas, which does not allow one to concentrate intention or direct consciousness into the necessary channel. The spiritual practice of yoga is the continuous overcoming of tamas; it is a continuous daily challenge to oneself.
Often, when speaking about the teaching of laya yoga, we say that it is a path without effort. However, this should be understood correctly. The effortless state of contemplative presence is attainable only for those who have already developed the proper powers within themselves and mastered a high level of contemplation. In fact, this is already the level of a realized master. But as long as this level is absent, we always try to make efforts in order to overcome tamas, both within and without. Tamas means that, due to weak clarity, we are unable to concentrate our consciousness on what is right. Moreover, sometimes we do not even quite know where this “right” is located because of the absence of clarity.
Vasishtha further says:
“What is called fate, or God’s will, is simply the result of past actions, of personal efforts in the past. The present is infinitely more powerful than the past. Only ignorant people are satisfied with the results of their past efforts, which they call God’s will, and make no efforts in the present.”
One of the definitions of sadhana in yoga is tapas. Tapas is diligence, effort, kindling. It is diligence that kindles the spirit and certain energies within us, changing our destiny.
“If you see that your efforts in the present sometimes do not bring results, you must understand that your efforts now are simply weak, insufficient. A weak and unintelligent person sees the hand of fate in the fact that he encounters a strong, mighty enemy and yields to him.”
Here Vasishtha says that we may even make efforts, but sometimes not obtain results. This happens because our efforts have not yet surpassed the efforts that were made in past incarnations; they are still insufficient. But one should not see in this some kind of doom, fatality, that is, something impossible to change. It means that one simply needs to make efforts in a more concentrated way.
When some result does not manifest in spiritual practice, it means that the power of our consciousness is not sufficient to attract new probabilities. It means that, for now, the power of our intention is not enough to change destiny, to attract new variable universes.
The Multiplicity of Realities and the Power of Consciousness
For example, right now there are situations in which you are awakened, enlightened, like a saint. Another variant: right now there is a situation in which you are not enlightened, but are a very wealthy, prosperous person. There is a situation in which you are a monk highly experienced in spiritual practice. There is a situation in which you are a magician, a siddha. There is also a situation in which you are not merely enlightened, but a deity capable of operating with time, space, and the energies of the elements.
Right now there are also other situations in which everything turns out unsuccessfully for you, where you suffer only defeats, and your life passes in anger and melancholy. Also right now there are variants of situations in which you enjoy a happy and peaceful worldly life.
All these are different variations of situations, but the ability to realize one or another spatial tunnel, to attract one or another probability, depends on the power of your consciousness. This is precisely what parasattarka logic and the teaching of the “Yoga Vasishtha” are based on.
It is not so much that we create our destiny through certain actions; rather, we change karmic vision. There is no need to create the world of the gods, to make it out of anything. One simply needs to change karmic vision, and the world of the gods will manifest instantly.
For example, if we were now to instantly change our karmic vision, our consciousness, then in place of this small hall a large, magnificent palace would arise. Why would it arise? We would not build it, we would not collect money for its construction—it would arise naturally, because it has always been here. It is always here, but it exists in pure vision, that is, in another karmic dimension. For it to become accessible to us, we too must enter this other karmic vision—the pure dimension of the gods. As soon as we all enter it, this palace will manifest. This happens because we simply change our consciousness and our bhava, moving to another level of energy.
In fact, even from the point of view of parasattarka logic, when people build palaces out of stone, sand, and cement, in reality they do not generate causes that lead to effects. Through their actions or refined intentions, they simply attract probabilities, making magical offerings, when from a new reality what they have conceived is illuminated. Perhaps this seems very paradoxical; nevertheless, this is exactly how it happens.
When the power of our consciousness is insufficient, we cannot attract certain probabilities and change our destiny. When the power is sufficient, we can attract various probabilities with great force. These probabilities, like universal shaktis, enter our life, and then we move to some new level of causes and effects, entering another tunnel of reality. Sometimes this can be very interesting indeed.
A Practical Example of Changing Reality
For example, one day I thought that it would be good to change reality a little, and on the territory of “Divya Loka” to find something, for instance statues or sacred texts, or a library, or an underground city of ancient siddhas practicing Advaita. I thought that there was no need to go somewhere far away; it was enough to change reality, and then something should be found in “Divya Loka.” I did not pay much attention to this.
According to the theory of parasattarka logic, if you have sufficient power of intention, you can even change the past. For example, if the past is a manifestation of consciousness, then, having entered into sufficient power of consciousness, you can change the past in which the philosophy of Advaita has been traditionally developing in Russia for 2,000 years and is the dominant religion. All of this is possible. Everything depends on how much your spiritual power can attract probabilities.
I thought that if consciousness were changed in a small section of reality, then the past should also be restructured. Then, on the site of “Divya Loka,” we would find sacred texts, statues of siddhas. For about a week I reflected on this. As I reflected, I began to feel that the situation was gradually changing.
For example, I was told that nearby there are villages where Khan Chinibek lived. Perhaps he may have practiced Tibetan Buddhism, since he was not Russian. He had a wife who possessed magical powers. There is a bell there under the river. Local residents say that it can still be found even now. Then conversations began to reach me that the place where we live is not Russia, but belonged to the Mari people, that is, to some other religions. Then people began to tell me that we actually live on a cultural layer, that is, here there is an archaeological zone for the study of the cultural layer, where many interesting things can be found.
A week later archaeologists arrived and began to tell us not to build in one place, because it was their zone, where they were planning to carry out excavations. I thought that another month of such concentrations—and we would find a large city underground; it would be declared an archaeological zone, and then it would be very difficult for us to live here at all.
Nevertheless, I very clearly noticed how my consciousness began to attract these probabilities. Perhaps if this consciousness had continued further to express such an intention, we could have locally changed this space: found sacred texts, murtis of siddhas underground, and changed the past in which we existed. Before I began to do this, there was not a single word about it, that is, this reality did not exist. It was activated through the fact that a certain intention had been created.
It is precisely in this way that a yogin, applying the power of his awareness, changes reality. For example, if, proceeding from presence, you make the decision to become immortal, you begin to attract such a shakti. Before this, in your vocabulary, in your vision, there was not even a single concept of immortality. It was fantasy or a fairy tale. But when you apply sufficient sankalpa-shakti, your consciousness begins to change reality.
You suddenly begin to open such a tunnel of reality, such a karmic vision, in which you see that immortality is possible. That immortality was possible for many siddhas, that the most advanced science is now engaged in immortality, and that enormous investments are being made in it. The more deeply you open this, the more you see that immortality can indeed be realized. Ultimately, by the power of your sankalpa-shakti, you begin to manifest these structures until this is realized. Then you come to know the principle of immortality as always inherent in you and in everyone else. This is exactly how we change reality by the power of our consciousness.
Divine Will Through Personal Effort
“A person must understand that personal effort is simply another name for divine will. Personal effort arises from right understanding, arising in the heart that has been purified by the teachings of the sacred scriptures and the example of the saints.”
Personal effort (sankalpa-shakti) is divine will manifesting through a person. When we open ourselves to this divine will, our personal effort ceases to be selfish—it becomes something that is no longer ours, coming from the ego, but something coming from the higher Self. This is precisely the secret of how our personal effort can shift reality and change everything in this world. If we apply enough personal effort, we can become like that little bird whose eggs were taken by the ocean.
There is such a story. A little bird laid eggs on the ocean shore with her future chicks inside. During a storm, the ocean took these eggs away. Full of determination, the bird vowed to empty the ocean and began, with her tiny beak, to scoop out the ocean drop by drop. The ocean only laughed. But rumors about this bird spread among other beings, and they began gossiping among themselves. Eventually, even the gods and demigods became interested in these rumors. One day, at the darshan of Lord Vishnu, he was told of the great determination of the little bird to drain the ocean. Lord Vishnu himself was amazed by such great aspiration and resolve. He thought that he should help this bird, and so he summoned the deity of the ocean and forced him to return the bird’s eggs. Thus, the incredible happened.
When we engage in spiritual practice, in the beginning we are like such a little bird trying to empty the ocean of samsara. This is incredible. Nevertheless, in the very process of spiritual practice, a new divine power and new deities are revealed within us. What our small “I” could not do, these divine forces can very well accomplish. This is the meaning of applying effort in practice.
The True Nature of Destiny and the Results of Effort
“One who desires liberation must turn the impure mind toward pure goals through constant exercise. This is the essence of all scriptures. One must steadily follow the path that leads to true good. The results of a yogin’s efforts will be commensurate with the intensity of his own efforts, and neither fate nor God can change this.
Undoubtedly, only one’s own efforts are responsible for what a person receives as a result. If he becomes mired in sorrow, those around him, in order to console him, say that such is his fate.
However, fate or divine intervention is only a convention which, because of frequent repetition, is regarded by some as truth. If fate predetermined everything in the universe, would actions—even righteous ones—make sense? Would they have any significance, and could anyone be taught anything? Fate is simply the result of one’s own past actions.”
Thus, if we apply sufficient effort and change ourselves, we can completely change and transform our life in the direction we desire. For example, from mortal beings we can become immortal, from limited beings we can become boundless, from unfree beings we can become liberated, and from those who do not possess creative powers or a great potential of consciousness we can become those who possess them.
That is why I often tell students: “Make great efforts in the right direction, and you will always be rewarded.” Making the necessary efforts does not mean only practicing meditation or concentrating on the chakras. Rather, it means gradually, step by step, entering into a new perception of the universe, of reality, of oneself, into a new karmic vision, learning step by step to look at the world with new, more elevated eyes. This is the principle of the teaching of guru yoga and the principle of contemplation.
