Commentary on the text “Yoga Vasistha,” Chapter 3: “On Creation”
No one wants to suffer; everyone wants to be happy. But happiness is not found within us as the soul, as the ego, or as the mind—happiness is found in God. To attain indestructible happiness, one must make one’s way to it, but three dragons stand in the way—mala, vikshepa, and avarana—and they must be destroyed. There are many different forces, energies, and obstacles—the journey in search of happiness is not an easy one; it is a difficult journey, and it requires a great deal of effort. Monastic culture and monastic practice are constant labor on this journey. We must prepare ourselves for the fact that this is not an easy journey, that there will not be much entertainment along the way, and that a great deal of work lies ahead—we must earn four kinds of calluses.
The first kind of calluses is on the elbows and wrists, from the number of prostrations performed in temples. The second kind is on the index fingers and thumbs, from the amount of rudraksha beads moved through the fingers while reciting rounds on a mala, when you recite the mantra many times every day for years, for decades. The third kind is on the buttocks, from the number of hours, days, and months spent in seated meditation: mahashanti, shambhavi mudra, bhuchari mudra, khechari mudra, and so on. The fourth kind is on the feet, from the dozens of kilometers you have walked while contemplating in chankramanam with Shiva sankalpas, with Shakti sankalpas, without sankalpas, in the foundations of mindfulness, and so on. There is also a fifth kind of calluses—from service. Calluses earned in service wear away the ego: the more calluses you earn through service, the less ego remains.
When all these calluses have been earned, your karma is ground into dust, into powder, all obstacles disappear, and we can directly perceive God and abide in happiness—this requires great effort.
The Right Attitude Toward the Guru
Many people sometimes believe that it is a matter of some unusual technique, and accordingly, there are different approaches to the Guru. One approach is to treat the Guru as a coach: “Show me some special technique for dissolving samsara and entering samadhi”—but that is not enough on the spiritual path. The transmission of methods is important, but it is not enough. The Guru is also sometimes perceived as a professor or lecturer: “I listen and absorb the knowledge; that is enough.”
Guru yoga and Guru tattva are, among other things, a dimension of grace with which the disciple comes into contact. It is very important always to remain in contact with the dimension of grace while abiding in pure vision; then everything on the path will be much easier. Today we will speak about the things that obstruct the path: mala, vikshepa, avarana, avarana shakti, and vikshepa shakti.
Rama asked: “O holy sage, what is the source of the mind, and how did it arise? I beseech you, enlighten me.”
Vasistha replied: “After the cosmic dissolution and before the dawn of a new age, the entire objective universe was in a state of perfect equilibrium. At that time there was only the Supreme Being, God—eternal, unborn, omnipotent, filled with its own light, the One who is all. It is beyond concepts and beyond description, although it is called by various names: Atman and so on; but all these names are merely different points of view, not the truth. It exists, but it is not perceived by the world; it dwells in the body and at the same time is far away. From it arise countless deities, such as Vishnu and others, just as countless rays of light emanate from the sun.”
The Necessity of True Faith
First, one must become a believer in God. Not merely a believer, but a strong believer, a steadfast believer, a fervent believer—even a fanatical believer in the good sense of the word. To be a believer means always to place your trust in that which you believe in, always to contemplate it, to give your heart to that which you believe in, to give your body to that which you believe in, and to give your mind and speech, not to mention everything external. It also means giving up ambitions, attachments, selfishness, feelings, and so on. It means always connecting that which you believe in with every manifestation of life and, at the moment of making that connection, placing it first, making it paramount—that is, subordinating everything else to it.
In the state of faith, it is not a matter of equivalent, equal relationships. It is not like this: “I believe both in the ego and in God; God is good, and the ego is good too.” It is not a matter of such equality. When there is equality, there is no faith. When there is equality, there is ignorance; there is egoism.
The state of faith means exalting the One, surrendering to the One, trusting in the One, uniting everything with this One, and renouncing everything for the sake of this One. The state of faith means that our priorities are clearly established, with God coming first under all circumstances. The moment God comes first under all circumstances, we become believing sadhus. When God comes first under all circumstances and we perceive God in the spirit of Advaita, it is said that we have understood the View.
The Danger of the Path of Personal Growth
Often, when we put ourselves first, we can also arrive at the goal by investigating the “I” and discovering the emptiness of the “I,” but this path is neither easy nor safe, because instead of following the path of yoga, yoga-marga, we may slip into anava-marga—the path of strengthening the ego, the path of personal growth. “I am so aspiring and purposeful; I practice asanas, pranayamas, prana-vidya, and concentrate on the chakras—I am doing something worthwhile. Everyone else is foolish: they work and earn money, while I am doing something worthwhile, developing myself—yoga, chakras and channels, kundalini, training the mind. I am a superman, I am a special forces operative—this is what it means to live a real life. I am making a good investment in myself, in my precious self.”
Personal growth, onward to the heights, invigorates the ego so much; the ego’s eyes simply light up when it hears that it is being invested in and developed. But there is a major trap here, and this trap is that it is difficult to see God behind this ego unless we put God first from the very beginning. This is the trap into which a great many magicians, occultists, and those following the path of personal development (anava-marga) fall. All of this is anava-marga, that is, strengthening the “I,” strengthening the ego; but if you look closely, there is little of God in this “I,” in this ego—which means that the various forms of ignorance remain just as they were.
The Right Path to the View
This is not the View, and when there is no View, there is nothing to contemplate either. The View means faith, Refuge—we have placed God first, and our entire practice is an offering, a service to God. But we recognize God within ourselves; we do not separate ourselves from God, yet we try to subordinate our “I” to God, surrender it to God, saturate it with God, receive God’s grace, and recognize God within ourselves—this is the right path. We do not strengthen the “I” or develop the “I” for the sake of the “I”; rather, we recognize within ourselves the God in whom we believe and to whom we are devoted—Ishvara-pratyabhijna or atma-jnana.
This is the path that keeps us from going astray: first comes faith in God, and then the recognition of God, the recognition of Brahman within ourselves. We must unite with God the Guru, the ishta-devata, Ishvara, Shiva, Brahman, and our own “I”—we must unite all of this into an indivisible unity, the entire Refuge Tree. When God comes first and we perceive everything in the spirit of unity, it is considered that we have mastered jnana-drishti (the View), but this is only the View. For this View to penetrate us and become our very essence, we must master contemplation. Contemplation means constantly maintaining this View and never forgetting it until it dissolves the various forms of illusion and impurity.
The Nature of Cosmic Consciousness
“Infinite worlds manifest from it like waves on the surface of the ocean. It is the cosmic consciousness into which infinite objects of perception enter. It is the light in which the world and the individual shine. It predetermines for every created being its inherent, distinctive nature. Within it, worlds appear and disappear, just as a mirage may appear and disappear from time to time. Its form (the world) disappears, but its essence remains unchanged. It lives in everything. It hides, and it overflows. By its presence alone, it animates this inert material world and its inhabitants. Through its omnipresent, omnipotent omniscience, it materializes its thoughts.
This higher consciousness, O Rama, can be comprehended only through wisdom and by no other means, certainly not through strenuous religious practices. This consciousness, the higher Self, is neither far nor near; it is neither unattainable nor located in distant places. It is that which appears within itself as the experience of bliss, and therefore it is realized within oneself. Asceticism, or tapas, charity, and the observance of religious vows do not lead to the realization of God. Only the company of saints and the study of true scriptures can help, because they dispel misunderstanding and delusion. Indeed, when a person is convinced that only this consciousness is real, they embark on the path to liberation from suffering. Asceticism and the mortification of the body amount to inflicting pain upon oneself. What is the point of charity performed with money earned by deceiving others? Only those who have been deceived receive the fruits of such charity. Religious practices merely add to vanity. There is only one remedy for ignorance of God: a firm and resolute renunciation of desires for sensory pleasures.”
Moksha Dharma as the Liberation of God Within Oneself
Rama asked, “Where does God dwell, and how can I attain Him?”
Vasishtha replied, “The one who is described as God is not very far away. He is the consciousness that dwells in the body. He is the universe, although the universe is not Him. He is pure consciousness.”
Moksha Dharma (the path of liberation) is the liberation of God within oneself. It is when we practice not for the sake of our “self,” not for the sake of the ego, not for the sake of the mind, but for the sake of God within us, for the sake of recognizing and releasing God within us. One might wonder, “Is God not inherently free? Why, then, does He need to be released?” The answer is that God is inherently free; likewise, God within us is inherently pure and free. He requires no purification, correction, alteration, addition, or effort of any kind. Everything is well with God within us, but what, then, needs to be released? What is not well? Our perception.
Our perception needs to be liberated because at present we are identified with anything but God. Our perception is identified with entirely different things; it has become entangled in identifications and energies, and it has been entangled for more than one lifetime. From this entanglement, bodies and destinies are woven, as are reincarnations. This has been going on for quite a long time—perhaps millions of years, perhaps billions of years. In other words, there are problems with perception, with the perception of our consciousness, with that part of our consciousness that has focused on the wrong things, and it is this that must be liberated.
Someone might say, “If God within me is perfect and already free, then let my perception remain entangled. I am not my perception; in essence, I am God.” In fact, the question is complicated, because at any given moment we are that with which we identify ourselves. If we do not identify with the Atman and the experience of it, then it is as though we are not the Atman. Though we are the Atman, we do not exist as such; conversely, if there is identification with the body, the mind, or anything else, then that is what we are, because a universal cosmic law is at work: you become what you think about; wherever, whatever, and whenever consciousness conceives something, that is where it manifests.
Vikshepa and Avarana—The Two Principal Forces
Our entangled perception requires liberation, and there are certain difficulties, problems, and flaws associated with this perception; these are described in the prakriyas of Advaita Vedanta. To begin with, we can discuss the two principal shaktis associated with it. These are the shaktis of the Absolute in Vedanta: vikshepa and avarana.
There are two shaktis—avarana (the concealing, veiling power) and vikshepa (the distracting, projecting power). The development of this subject is more characteristic of Advaita in the “post-Shankara” period. It was reflected in the views of later representatives of this philosophy, who primarily addressed questions that had not received an unambiguous interpretation from Sri Adi Shankaracharya, particularly the question of the source and basis of avidya, as well as the nature of Ishvara and the jiva. While Shankaracharya identified Maya with avidya, his followers tended to believe that Maya was characterized more by creative, generative functions (vikshepa, literally “fragmenting”), whereas avidya acts primarily as a concealing power (avarana).
The two principal powers of Brahman, its shaktis, are vikshepa and avarana. Vikshepa is analogous to spanda in Shaivism. Vikshepa-shakti is divided into jnana-shakti, icchha-shakti, and kriya-shakti. Vikshepa is Brahman set into motion. This agitation within Brahman gives rise to vikshepa within us—it is the restlessness within our “I.” Such restlessness distorts our perception of reality, like ripples on water that prevent us from seeing God directly.
In the book “The Philosophy of Advaita Vedanta,” S. Chatterjee explains these two powers using the example of the rope and the snake:
“The perception of a snake in place of a rope results from our ignorance of what is actually concealed behind this appearance—that is, ignorance of the substratum, or basis, which in this case is the rope. If we could know the rope as a rope, no illusion concerning it would arise. However, mere ignorance of the rope cannot produce an illusion. In producing illusion, ignorance—avidya—not only conceals from our sight the real nature of the substratum (the rope), but also definitely distorts it, that is, makes it appear to be something else. Concealment (avarana)—the concealment of reality—and distortion (vikshepa)—its imagined transformation into something else—are thus the two functions of illusion-producing ignorance (avidya or ajnana). From our point of view, illusion is produced by our ignorance, which prevents us from understanding the real nature of things and causes us to see something else in place of real things.”
Avarana conceals, while vikshepa projects and superimposes. For example, in the case of the rope, when we are walking in the evening, we think: perhaps it is a rope, or perhaps it is a snake—this is an example of vikshepa. We have projected the idea of a snake onto the rope, but there is no snake there; because our mind has become agitated, restless, and uncertain, we have projected it—this is vikshepa. Then we come closer—the notion of the snake vanishes, and we see that it is a rope. But although we see the rope, we still do not see Brahman—this is avarana at work. The failure to recognize Brahman, the concealment of reality, is avarana.
The Double Illusion and the Three Types of Mala
These two energies—vikshepa and avarana—constitute avidya. It is not enough to dispel the illusion concerning the rope; it is not enough to dispel the false notion of the snake. One must also see Brahman behind the rope; one must dispel the rope as well. In other words, the illusion must be dispelled twice, because it is a double illusion.
This double illusion, in the form of vikshepa and avarana, creates impure vision. What is the cause of impure vision? It is the presence of vikshepa and avarana. Impure vision, impurity of mind, a flaw in the mind, primordial impurity—this is mala, what is also called original sin in the Abrahamic religions. Mala gives rise to anava-mala, maya-mala, and karma-mala. That is, when we look at ourselves from the state of an impure mind, we think: “I am this kind of person, contracted, confined, encased in a body. I am a limited individual.” When we look at the world through such eyes, we see a multiplicity of objects with various characteristics, but we do not see Brahman. When we act, we constantly identify ourselves with our actions, and then service is no longer service and brings no joy. Then we feel that we are becoming conditioned and subjected to karma; we need certain causes, results, and authorship, and we become intricately entangled in all of this. These are all different types of mala.
The Nature of the Projecting Power
The reason is the failure to recognize Brahman, the concealment of reality, and projection. How else can vikshepa-shakti be described? For example, there is a person, but you suddenly begin to think something impure about him, as in the story about the man who stole an axe—everyone knows that story. For example, you thought that he had taken your notebook or your iPhone; you had misplaced your iPhone somewhere, but you thought that this person had hidden it, and you began thinking things about him, making things up, and your mind became clouded by these thoughts. You began poisoning yourself, and then you saw that you had left your iPhone somewhere else, that no one had taken it, and that the person was not guilty, and you felt ashamed. Then you analyze the situation, look back, and think: “So this is what my mind is like. This is how the power of projection works. This is how successfully I can fool myself.” As the saying goes: “No one is deceiving you—you are doing a fine job of it yourself.” This is indeed true: no one is deceiving us; our mind handles it perfectly well on its own—all this is the action of vikshepa-shakti (the projecting power).
It is precisely these two powers that keep us in the realm of impure vision, and therefore these two powers must be purified. Avarana is eliminated through jnana yoga, vikshepa is eliminated through upasana (worship) and raja yoga, while mala is eliminated through bhakti yoga.
Question: Om, when you gave the example of the rope and the snake, one might think that once it is recognized as a rope, the projecting power no longer operates there; but when we see the rope, that same projecting power is still operating.
Yes, but on another level; avarana and another projecting power are still operating. This is merely an example intended to illustrate the point, but in reality the projecting power operates much more deeply, and this entire world is also a consequence of the projecting power.
“The veil of illusion (avarana) and the agitation of the mind (vikshepa) are the two energies of ignorance. As soon as knowledge of the Self arises, the veil of illusion falls away. Avarana-shakti is the concealing energy. Vikshepa-shakti is the projecting energy. The world is projected through the energy of vikshepa-shakti. Because of avarana-shakti, you are unable to perceive Brahman. Through the destruction of this veil, the sage is liberated from birth and death. But through the power of true desire and will, vikshepa-shakti becomes like a burnt seed.”
Swami Sivananda says:
“Just as the trembling of the body caused by the fear of a person who mistook a rope for a snake remains even after he has seen that it is a rope, just as a mirage remains after the illusory nature of its waters has been understood, so too the world remains visible to the liberated one even after he has attained Self-realization, even after he has understood the illusory nature of the world. But just as a person who has understood the illusory nature of a mirage will not chase after it in order to drink its water, so too the liberated one will not chase after sense objects like worldly people, although he sees the world. Such is the difference between a worldly person and a liberated sage; therefore, for the liberated one, only the appearance of the world exists.”
If we draw parallels with Shaivism, then avarana (the concealment of reality) consists of the inner energies in the form of the kanchukas. These are dikchari- and bhuchari-shakti, while khechari-shakti is vikshepa, that which projects. It is like a person in a clouded state who, not understanding who he is or what this world is, becomes anxious in a state of intense mental agitation, begins inventing things, falls into illusion, starts constructing a distorted picture of the world, and creates a very powerful illusory conception. A modern example of vikshepa-shakti can be likened to the mass media, which constantly mislead people, project certain realities, and successfully manipulate them. When people do not know the source from which thoughts arise, do not know who they are, and do not know the nature of reality, this is avarana. When they are exposed to information in the mass media and their minds are constantly projecting something, this resembles vikshepa.
Maya-shakti and the Pure Tattvas
Summarizing all of the above, we can say that this concerns Maya-shakti, the illusory power of the Absolute (not separate from it) in the aspect of avidya, which creates the illusory appearance of the world for individual souls through its two modifications, perceived by ignorant people as avarana-shakti and vikshepa-shakti.
Initially, if for better understanding we draw parallels with the philosophy of Shaivism, both vikshepa and avarana-shakti are energies of the pure tattvas (chit-shakti, ananda-shakti, jnana, iccha, and kriya). The first two (chit-shakti and ananda-shakti), when reflected in Maya-tattva, are avarana, while the next three (jnana, iccha, and kriya), when seen through maya and reflected in maya, become vikshepa. In the state of ignorance, the original pure tattvas manifest as vikshepa and avarana.
It should also be noted that Nirguna Brahman itself is not subject to this power, nor are any liberated souls, even though they continue to remain in the world and perceive its transformations.
The Conscious Universe
Rama remarked, “Any boy will tell you that God is consciousness; are any special teachings really needed for that?”
Vasishtha replied, “O one who knows that pure consciousness is the objective Universe knows nothing. The Universe is conscious, and the soul is conscious. Consciousness creates the knowable and becomes involved in suffering. When the knowable ceases to exist, attention is directed toward the unknowable pure consciousness.”
Thus, the Universe is conscious—this is the greatest understanding that should arise as a result of contemplation. We live in a conscious Universe; once again, this must be understood. We live within an immense, vast, superintelligent divine being, within a supermind. This divine supermind guides the lives of all living beings; it knows everything about us; it does not interfere; it gives us free will, but it establishes the fundamental laws woven into this Universe, our bodies, and our minds. As we act, we come under the influence of these fundamental laws, one of which is the law of karma. We live within the body of Shiva, within the body of Brahman (a superconscious being). The Universe is conscious; we see only its unconscious part, matter, but this matter is permeated by universal consciousness.
It is this universal consciousness that we worship; it is this universal consciousness upon which we meditate. We try to establish a connection with it because our happiness and our liberation lie in it. This superconscious universal being comes in the form of a spiritual Teacher and says, “Engage in spiritual practice. Stop doing foolish things. Of course, you may continue; no one will forbid you, as this is your free will. But if you want to be happy, I would advise you to engage in spiritual practice in order to attain liberation.” This same universal consciousness sends us sacred texts and speaks again from a different perspective. It is constantly sending us something, speaking to us, creating conditions for us to understand this—this is its way of indirectly interacting with us through Guru-tattva. This same universal consciousness sends avatars, gives us an ishta-devata, comes as the ishta-devata and interacts with us again, stands upon the altar, and blesses us.
The Three Defects of the Jiva
What prevents us from perceiving this divine superintelligent being within which we live is our own flaws. We seem to hear everything, yet we do not understand; it is very difficult to break through all of this. For example, when I was a child, I had a cat. I talked to him and tried to teach him things, but if you try to teach a cat, he may listen to you attentively without understanding anything. He always acts in his own way, according to feline patterns. I tried to train him somehow so that he could walk on his hind legs, jump through a hoop, and do other things, but he completely ignored me. All attempts to teach a cat seem futile unless you are Kuklachev; in reality, it is very difficult. Why? Because something gets in the way. I realized that something lay between the cat and me, some wall of misunderstanding, that we did not understand each other, and I abandoned these attempts. This wall of misunderstanding exists not only in animals; it also exists in humans, in the gods of samsara, and in many beings, each to a different degree. In Vedanta, there is prakriya No. 18, which says that this wall of misunderstanding is described as the three defects of the jiva: mala (impurity), vikshepa (restlessness of the mind), and avarana (ignorance). This is precisely what we must break through between ourselves and God—we must break through this wall of misunderstanding that has arisen, because this wall is very ancient and very fundamental, but we must destroy it.
The jiva is characterized by three defects: mala (impurity), vikshepa (restlessness of the mind), and avarana (ignorance).
“Vedanta says that there are three kinds of impurity in the mind: defilement, agitation, and the veil of illusion.”
It is beneficial to practice analytical meditation on these three malas in one’s spare time in order to become aware of them and transcend them. Not in order to identify with them, but to realize: there is something pure, sacred, and free within me that is separate from these flaws and is capable, like Garuda, of soaring above these three flaws.
“Vedanta prescribes selfless service to eliminate the defilement of the mind, worship to eliminate agitation, and deep meditation to remove the veil of ignorance (avarana).”
“The mind has three defects: mala, or defilement; vikshepa, or agitation; and avarana, or the veil. Agitation is eliminated through worship (upasana). The veil is torn away through the practice of jnana yoga. Only then is Self-realization possible. If you want to see yourself clearly in a mirror, you must wipe the dust from it, set it upright, and remove its cover. You can see yourself reflected in the water of a lake only if the water is not muddy, the wind does not stir up waves, and nothing is floating on the surface. The same is true of Self-awareness.”
Swami Sivananda, “The Golden Book of Yoga”
Swami Sivananda also speaks about the importance of Raja Yoga, as well as other schools and systems of spiritual practice, in eliminating these shaktis:
“The liberation of the individual is attained through the destruction of the impurity of the mind (mala), the elimination of mental agitation (vikshepa), and the tearing apart of the veil of ignorance (avarana).”
Thus, avarana is the veil of ignorance and must be torn apart; vikshepa must be eliminated; and mala must be destroyed. When it is said that avidya must be eliminated, we must understand in detail exactly what avidya is called, what it is, and what must be done with it. Avarana—the veil—must be torn apart, vikshepa must be eliminated, and mala must be destroyed. Our meditation must lead to the tearing apart of the veil of avarana, the elimination of vikshepa, and the destruction of mala. If our meditation or contemplative practice, mantras, or technique does not do this, then it is useless. This is the criterion by which we can test the effectiveness of any practice: it must necessarily destroy our ignorance in the form of mala, vikshepa, and avarana. Even if we undergo some unusual psychedelic experiences or our prana increases, but these things are not eliminated, we are not following the path of liberation. Perhaps we are following the path of a great adventure, perhaps we are on a psychedelic journey, or perhaps we are following the path of increasing prana or developing the intellect, but liberation has a clear criterion. When we follow the path of liberation, it means eliminating these three forces that hinder the perception of God.
“Raja Yoga also helps the practitioner attain this. Yama and niyama eliminate the impurity of the mind. Asana, pranayama, and pratyahara strengthen the mind and make it one-pointed. Dharana, dhyana, and samadhi remove the veil of ignorance and lead to liberation.”
The Interrelationship of the Three Obstacles
To summarize, it can be said that primordial ignorance, the failure to recognize Brahman (avarana), gives rise in the jiva to restless fluctuations of the mind (vikshepa), which the jiva perceives as objects of the visible illusory world; and as a result of interacting with and becoming attached to these objects, impurity arises, such as lust, anger, greed, and the like.
Thus, mental unrest and agitation—or, more precisely, the failure to recognize Brahman—lead to agitation, to vikshepa, while agitation (vikshepa) leads to an impure, clouded state. Whenever the Guru sees a distressed disciple and the disciple, in an agitated state of mind, tries to explain that there is some reason for it, the Guru already knows—even before hearing the explanation—the true cause. This cause is avarana-shakti, the veil of illusion, the failure to recognize Brahman. In other words, the cause is not that some event occurred, nor that someone said or did something wrong; the fundamental cause is the failure to recognize Brahman. The Guru’s task is to explain this to the disciple and return them to the recognition of Brahman, to the elimination of the cause (avarana). When Brahman is recognized through contemplative presence and self-liberation, the cause will be eliminated, the agitation of the mind will naturally subside on its own, and the impurity will also dissipate.
Within ourselves, we must also attune ourselves to Guru-tattva and eliminate any disturbance of the mind through the recognition of Brahman. The recognition of Brahman, the return to the view, is the very principle of self-liberation. Self-liberation means returning instantly, at that very moment, to the recognition of Brahman, removing avarana, and thereby allowing vikshepa (agitation) to disappear on its own.
Methods for Removing Obstacles
All three of these imperfections firmly hold the jiva in the bonds of samsara. Therefore, holy sages and yogis laid out a path for eliminating these limitations by means of bhakti yoga (with regard to mala), raja yoga (with regard to vikshepa), jnana yoga (with regard to avarana), and many other practices, among which the principal means of destruction is dispassion (vairagya).
Thus, mala is destroyed through bhakti yoga. The sense of doership, attachment to the fruits and results, the feeling “I am doing,” the sense of involvement in karma, as well as the unwillingness to act and become involved—all this cannot be destroyed by raja yoga; all this cannot simply be destroyed by jnana yoga. You may have a wonderful view of Atman and Brahman and meditate well, but when you act, it will not work. All this is destroyed by bhakti yoga—the spirit of self-surrender, the spirit of service to God, the spirit of worship. This is precisely the meaning of the monastic vow—service and obedience. One must learn to act in service to the divine will, without attachment, without concern for fruits and results, offering everything, letting go of everything, allowing the divine will to pass through oneself, subduing one’s own egoic will, surrendering it to the divine will, uniting it with the divine will, and allowing the divine will to act playfully through oneself. At the same time, one should feel neither attachment nor clinging, should not wish to be the beneficiary of one’s actions, the one who profits or acquires something as a result, but should act with detachment in unity with God.
To act not as a limited person, not as a doer endowed with kartritva-buddhi (the mentality of action), but to act playfully as Brahman playing within the body, for whom, in principle, it makes no difference what to do, whether to act or not to act, who desires to gain nothing from acting, and for whom action is an overflowing of enlightened qualities (play). Mala (impurity) is purified through bhakti yoga, through the spirit of devotion, self-surrender to God, love, and total surrender. Total surrender is what can purify the hardened impurities (malas): karma-mala, anava-mala, and maya-mala.
Vikshepa is the agitation of the mind; this agitation is dissolved by mastering raja yoga, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. Finally, avarana (the veil of illusion, the veil of misunderstanding)—the failure to recognize Brahman—is eliminated through jnana yoga, when we must apply the view to all perception and all concepts, apply contemplation, and release the awareness of Brahman from any situation.
There are many other practices, among which the principal means of destruction are dispassion (vairagya) and intensive spiritual practice (abhyasa).
Realization of God
“Until the knowable has been exhausted, attention cannot completely and finally turn away from it. Mere awareness that individual consciousness is involved in the cycle of existence does not help in any way, but when understanding of the Supreme God is attained, suffering comes to an end.”
Rama asked, “O sage, please describe God!”
Vasishtha replied:
“The cosmic intelligence in which the universe ceases to exist is God. In Him, subject-object relations as such come to an end. He is nothing; in Him the universe appears to exist, and even cosmic consciousness is motionless in Him like a mountain.”
Rama asked again, “How can we realize God and the unreality of the universe that we are accustomed to regarding as real?”
Vasishtha replied:
“God can be realized only when it is firmly understood that the universe is unreal, just as the blueness of the sky is unreal. Duality presupposes unity, while nonduality presupposes the existence of duality. Only when creation is realized to be utterly nonexistent can God be realized.”
Rama asked, “O holy one, how can this be realized? What must I know for the knowable to come to an end?”
Vasishtha replied:
“The false notion that this world is real has become deeply rooted through constant erroneous assumptions, but this notion can be rejected on the very day you turn to the company of saints and the study of the scriptures. This is the best of all scriptures. What is found here is found everywhere; what cannot be found here cannot be found anywhere else. However, if a person does not wish to study this scripture, they may study any other; there is no objection. When the false notion dissipates and truth is attained, this realization permeates one’s entire being so completely that one thinks only of it, speaks of it, rejoices in it, and teaches it to others. Such people are called Enlightened While Living.”
Rama asked, “What are the characteristics of the enlightened?”
Vasishtha replied:
“One who, while outwardly leading an ordinary life, experiences the entire world as emptiness is enlightened. He is awake, yet enjoys the tranquility of deep sleep; he is not affected in the least by pleasure or pain. He perceives this world as a dream—he is awake in deep sleep, but not awake in this world.”
Jagrat-sushupti—Wakefulness in Deep Sleep
“One who has realized divine wisdom enjoys the tranquility of deep sleep,” says Vasishtha. Who can say what kind of state this is? Yes, our goal is jagrat-sushupti. We are awake in this world, but against the background of perceiving the waking state of this world, we perceive deep sleep (dreamless sleep). If the brain waves of such a person were measured, they would correspond to the brain waves of someone in deep sleep.
The perception of deep sleep is not the end—it is only the beginning of awakening. When we reach this stage, we are awake while awake; conversely, when we have realized jagrat-sushupti and sleep at night, sinking into dreamless sleep, we remain awake in deep sleep. This is called sushupti-jagrat.
When we are awake in the state of deep sleep while outwardly awake, then in deep sleep, when we are asleep, we are also awake. It appears as though you do not sleep at night; more precisely, your body rests fully and your mind rests fully, but you yourself remain awake, as if there were no sleep at all. You abide in a space of pure light, relax within it, become saturated with it, and feel very well. You truly rest, but you do not rest in a dull way; you rest lucidly, wisely, blissfully, and in grace.
This is very different from what some yogis call “pig-like sleep,” when consciousness is completely interrupted. It also differs from the various samsaric dreams in which you merely experience dreams without realizing that they are dreams. It also differs from dreams of clarity, in which you see prophetic scenes, images, and memories of past lives, but do not perceive dreamless sleep.
These are called dreams of the fundamental Clear Light because, in the state of dreamless sleep, we begin to perceive the fundamental nature of reality, the nature of God, the pure Clear Light. The perception of the pure Clear Light fills the yogi with grace, awakens powers within him, dissolves all subtle karmas, and purifies vasanas and samskaras.
“The wisdom of this enlightened one is not obscured by latent tendencies. He may appear to be subject to desires, aversions, and fear, but in reality he is free, like space. He is free from egoism and desires; his consciousness is attached neither to action nor to inaction. No one fears him, nor does he fear anyone. He becomes finally enlightened when, at the proper time, his body dies. Such a finally enlightened one exists, while at the same time neither ‘self’ nor ‘other’ exists. He is the radiant sun, Vishnu who protects all, Rudra who destroys all, Brahma the creator; he is space, earth, water, and fire. He exists as cosmic consciousness—the very essence of all beings. Everything that exists in the past, present, and future is truly none other than he.”
Four Types of Presence and Four Mudras
The point is that, having received the transmission and instructions and having carried out the preliminary work of reflection and dispelling doubts—shravana and manana—we should enter, in the state of nididhyasana, the four types of presence we discussed:
The first type of presence is like the ocean, when we abide in an expanded state
The second type of presence is presence in the essence of awareness, when the subtle clarity of empty awareness perceives the clear light
The third type of presence is presence in the manifested, when presence is infused into whatever manifests outwardly, in the senses or in the mind—all images, all perceived phenomena, all audible sounds
The fourth type of presence is like the indestructible Mount Meru, when the inner and the outer have completely reunited and the yogi abides unshakably in his nondual nature
These four types of presence are the four mudras: bhuchari mudra, shambhavi mudra, krama mudra, and bhairava mudra—that is, the four seals that the yogi places upon all reality. When the yogi is able to place a seal upon the various internal and external energies, including khechari, bhuchari, dikchari, and gochari, he becomes Chakreshvara—the lord of all these energies—and a transition occurs from the state of shakti chakra, that is, the conditioned state, to the state of samvit devata chakra, the awakened mandala of pure divine energies.
