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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: F.A.Q. 27
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The Thirty-six Realities (Tattvas) QUESTION: What are the Tattvas and how many are
they? ANSWER: The Sanskrit word "Tattva" means
Truth, Reality or True Essence - from "tad", that which is. Strictly
speaking, there is only One Reality. That Reality is God, the Supreme Being
and Highest Truth, the Para Tattva. This is the original teaching of
all true Scriptures. If this teaching were adhered to by all, Mankind would live in
unity and harmony for ever. However, there is a small problem, namely, the
World or, rather, man's misunderstanding thereof. It is this human
misunderstanding that creates all the problems in the World. There are two general attitudes towards the World. Some reject
its existence and concern themselves exclusively with their own beliefs about
God, while others engross themselves in the World and forget about God. Yoga teaches that both attitudes are wrong. As long as we live
in the physical World we cannot deny its existence. Similarly, as God is the
Ground of everything, we cannot ignore Him. In His Infinite Wisdom and Compassion, the Supreme Lord
Himself helps us through the Eternal Teachings of Yoga to properly relate to
both the World and God. Thus Yoga teaches us that although the World appears
to consist of seemingly distinct and unrelated things, the fact is that they
all have one ultimate source. Indeed, the Universe is nothing but a
manifestation of the Supreme Spirit. In the same way as the clear, blue Sky produces clouds, which
produce rain, which can turn into solid ice, so also, immaterial Spirit
produces increasingly solid or material, forms of life. The entire Universe consists of various manifestations of God
(the Universal Consciousness) which together form the basis of all our
experiences. As these are just forms of the Ultimate Reality, they are
themselves called Primary Realities, Principles or Categories of Existence.
In short, Tattvas. God - the Source and Origin of all things In the Rudra Samhita of Shiva Purana, Lord Shiva declares:
"I am the Supreme Being, the Ever Existing, the Infinite, the Perfect,
the Pure One. Being, Consciousness and Bliss are My characteristics. Verily,
I am Ever One, Undivided and Unmanifest." Yet He also says, "I am both Without Form and With Form.
I am the Author of Creation, Preservation and Dissolution". The Supreme Lord then explains how Creation is brought about:
"For the purpose of Creation, Preservation and Dissolution, I manifest
Myself as Creator, Preserver, Dissolver." As a piece of gold fashioned into an ornament does not cease
to be gold, so the World is just different names and forms of the same
substance. As clay and objects made of it are different in name, form and
function, but not in substance, so all things are in reality made of the same
one stuff. God (the Supreme Intelligence), therefore, must be seen as the
basic material of all things. His Pure, Unseen, Unmanifest Aspect which is
Truth, Supreme Knowledge, Infinite, is the Root of all things. That must be
realised and meditated upon as the Highest Truth. The Universe as an Emanation of the Divine In the same way as a dreaming man fashions a whole World out
of his own thoughts, God creates the World out of His Own Infinite
Intelligence. Thus the Universe is an Emanation or Projection of the Divine.
Says the Shiva Purana: "God sees all this within Himself". When Shiva, the Universal Consciousness or Supreme
Intelligence looks outwards, as it were, he projects the Universe out of Himself.
When Shiva looks inwards, the Universal Projection is withdrawn back into
Himself and He perceives nothing but His Undifferentiated, Unmanifest
Infinite Self. These activities of Emanation and Retraction are known as
Opening (Unmesha) and Closing (Nimesha), respectively, of the Divine Eyes. In consequence, the Tattvas, which are the Primary Realities
or Principles which constitute the World, are nothing but stages in the
Process of Emanation or Unfolding of the Universal Consciousness (Parama
Samvid). The Ancient Scriptures of India analyse the Process of
Universal Emanation into thirty-six main stages or phases which are briefly
described as follows. 1. Shiva-Tattva: As the Universe is the creation of God's
Own Mind (the Supreme Intelligence), the first Reality or Tattva naturally is
God (Shiva) Himself. This level of Reality consists of Pure, Infinite
Consciousness. 2. Shakti-Tattva: The second level of Reality is that of
Pure, Infinite Bliss which is the Power whereby God experiences the Boundless
Joy of His Own Existence. For this reason it is known as Shakti-Tattva, the
Principle or Category of Power. 3. Sadashiva-Tattva: The third level is that of Pure,
Infinite Will-Power, being the Power whereby God experiences Himself as an
Unlimited, Independent Force that is ready and able to perform any action He
wishes. At this stage God forms the resolve to bring His Power of Creation
into operation. 4. Ishvara-Tattva: The fourth level represents God's
Power of Pure, Infinite Knowledge whereby He is able to know all things. At
this stage God begins to conceive in His Mind the Universe to be created. 5. Satvidya-Tattva: The fifth level is that of Pure,
Infinite Action. At this stage, the Divine Power of Action which is the Power
whereby God may assume, or manifest Himself as, any form or shape, comes into
operation. Up to and including this stage, Creation is Ideal in the sense
that it is very much one with the Mind of God just as a thought or idea is
one with the mind of the person who conceives it. The Universe at this level
is purely Spiritual and is inhabited by Spiritual Beings such as Gods
(Angels), Enlightened Yogis (Siddhas), Sages (Rishis) and Saints (Sadhus) who
are consciously aware of their Oneness with their Creator. These evolved Souls are beings of great Spiritual power.
Although they may assume any form and shape they wish, they have no bodies
but may be described as radiant Orbs of Spirit for which reason they are
known as Devas or Devatas (Radiant Ones). 6. Maya-Tattva: This is God's Wondrous Power, that aspect
of His Power of Action, whereby He performs the Miracle of Physical Creation.
For this reason it is called the Magic Power of God or Maya Shakti. At this stage something extraordinary happens. Just as the Sun
is sometimes obscured by an eclipse or by a mist or cloud which conceals his
radiant orb from human view, God's Infinite, Independent and Free
Consciousness appears to become obscured by a layer of dense and opaque
Consciousness. This dark veil of Consciousness provides the substance from
which the Material Universe is created. Thus, as the Sun envelops himself in clouds which produce rain
which nourishes different forms of life, so also God obscures His Own
Infinite Majesty and Glory and appears as, or manifests, the Material Universe
teeming with innumerable forms of limited life. Just as the Sun hides himself from human view by night in
order to reveal the Stars and the Moon, so also God conceals His Highest
Glory so that man may see the wonders of His Creation and understand the true
Power of God. 7. Kalaa-Tattva: Due to God's Power of Obscuration His
Five Divine Powers (Consciousness, Bliss, Will-Power, Knowledge and Action)
assume limited forms giving rise to the first stage in limited creation,
called Kalaa-Tattva. It represents the limited power of action whereby an
embodied being is able to accomplish but a few things. 8. Vidya-Tattva: This is the stage at which the power of
knowledge associated with a sentient creature is limited so that he can only
know a few things. 9. Raaga-Tattva: At this stage a living being's will-power
becomes limited so that he only desires limited things. 10. Kaala-Tattva: This is that stage at which a Soul's
unlimited and uninterrupted happiness becomes temporary and limited. This
temporariness gives rise to the experience of limited time. 11. Niyati-Tattva: This is the stage at which the
Soul's consciousness becomes so limited as for him to have only a limited
experience of himself. 12. Purusha-Tattva: This is the crucial point at which
Consciousness, having become limited, comes into existence as an embodied
Soul, complete with the above mentioned limited powers of consciousness,
happiness, will, knowledge and action. Hence it is known as Purusha or
personal Soul. 13. Pradhana-Tattva: Also known as Prakrti, it
represents that aspect of the Soul which, following the limitation of his
consciousness, becomes unconscious and forms the Soul's first objective
experience. For this reason it is called Pradhana or Primary Matter from
which all objective experience arises. Pradhana consists of the three qualities (Gunas) of Light
(Sattva), Darkness (Tamas) and Activity (Rajas), the last-named being the
interaction of the first two. They are experienced as pleasure, insentience
and pain, respectively and together represent the sum total of the Soul's
future experiences such as thoughts, emotions and sense perceptions, resting
within himself in potential form. Pradhana corresponds to what Western psychology terms a
person's "unconscious". While every Soul has his own Pradhana (or
Unconscious), the Collective Unconscious is nothing but the Mind of God which
is unknown and therefore "unconscious" to the personal Soul. 14. Buddhi-Tattva: This is the first product of
Pradhana, formed from its light-aspect (Sattva), in which both Soul and his
experiences reflect themselves as in a mirror, resulting in thought
processes. In everyday life, Buddhi constitutes a Soul's Intellect or Power
of Reasoning whereby he analyses his experiences and forms a judgement in
respect of the same. 15. Ahamkara-Tattva: The offshoot of Buddhi-Tattva, it
represents the Power of Personality or Identity whereby the Soul creates or
builds a sense of Identity for himself out of sense perceptions, emotions,
thoughts and memories. Hence it is called Ahamkara or "I-maker". 16. Manas-Tattva: The Lower Mind (as opposed to the
Intellect or Higher Mind) whereby the Soul selects sense perceptions out of
the general sense data, builds them into intelligible images, names and
classifies them and presents them to the higher levels of the mind for
further processing. For the sake of convenience, the remaining 20 Tattvas
are dealt with in groups of five. Tattvas 17 to 21. The Five Faculties of Perception
(Jnanendriyas): Hearing, Feeling by Touch, Seeing, Tasting and Smelling are
the Soul's Powers of Perceptual Knowledge and extensions of the Lower Mind,
whereby the Soul experiences the multitude of sense perceptions that
constitute the external World. Tattvas 22 to 26. The Five Faculties of Action
(Karmendriyas): Speaking, Grasping, Moving About, Excreting and Sexual
Activities are the Soul's Powers of responding to and interacting with, the
external World. Tattvas 27 to 31. The Five Primary Sensations
(Tanmatras): Sound, Touch, Colour, Flavour and Odour constitute the
Soul's sense data that together form his external experiences. Tattvas 32 to 36. The Five Gross Elements of Matter
(Maha Bhutas): Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth are condensations of the
above described Primary Sensations. They represent the constituent forces
that in various combinations make up the material substance of which physical
objects are made. For example, that which gives solidity to an object, belongs
to the Earth-Tattva. That which gives fluidity belongs to the Water-Tattva.
That which gives form and shape belongs to Fire. That which gives movement
belongs to Air. And that which gives location and extension in space (i.e.,
size, direction, etc.) belongs to Ether. Due to variation in their materiality or subtlety, the Gross
Tattvas are perceived variously. Earth is perceived by its qualities of
odour, taste, colour, feel and sound; Water by its qualities of taste,
colour, feel and sound; Fire by its qualities of colour, feel and sound; Air
by its qualities of feel and sound; and Ether, being the most subtle, is
perceived by its qualitiy of sound, only. What becomes evident from the above is that the Tattvas
are defined by their exclusive capacity to perform a specific function in the
scheme of reality. And as the sole agent or acting force is Consciousness, it
follows that the Tattvas are nothing but functions of Consciousness. Thus the whole Universe is made of Spiritual Intelligence in
various degrees of crystallization or condensation. In the human body, this
Intelligence lies dormant in the form of Kundalini Shakti, the
"Serpent Power" which can be awakened through Spiritual Knowledge,
Yogic Postures, Meditation or simply through the grace of an Enlightened
Master. When awakened, Kundalini rises upwards, like a roused cobra, and
elevates man's consciousness to its original state of wisdom and power. The Throne of Heaven In the same way as Intelligence can descend from the highest
elevation of Divine Consciousness to the lowest, it can also ascend from the
lowest to the highest. Western Scriptures speak of the six steps leading to the
Throne of God, the Seven Heavens, etc. All this is very mysterious until we
analyse these scattered fragments of information from a Yogic Perspective. There are seven levels of Intelligence, from the dormant one
present in "inanimate" objects to the fully awakened one of
Enlightened Beings. These levels of Intelligence may be accessed and
experienced through the stimulation of certain energy-centres in the human
body, known as Chakras. The "opening" of the Chakras represents the
awakening of particular levels of Consciousness or the unlocking of the
Soul's capacities of experience. The first six Chakras correspond to the six levels of
Universal Manifestation consisting of five Tattvas (Universal Principles) each.
These are the six steps leading to the Throne of Heaven. The seventh and
highest Chakra is the level of Divinity consisting of the Five Divine Powers
through the awakening of which man becomes once again Divine. This is the
Throne of God or For this reason, knowledge of the 36 Realities
(Tattva-Jnana) is Knowledge of Ultimate Reality Itself, that is, the Highest
Knowledge. This Knowledge contains everything that is worthy to be known.
Nothing can be known besides this because nothing else exists. This clearly
establishes the supremacy of Yoga over all other faiths. How many Tattvas? It is sometimes objected that the Yoga Sutra, the primary text
of "Classical Yoga" dating to about 180 BC, only mentions 25
Tattvas, the highest being Purusha. This may be so. However, "Classical Yoga" is not the
only form of Yoga. There are plenty of other Yogic texts which do mention 36
Tattvas. Yoga is a vast body of knowledge that cannot be reasonably
restricted to one text! Moreover, mention of some Tattvas does not exclude the
existence of others. Some traditions speak of four, seven or nine Tattvas.
The second book of the Vayaviya Samhita of Shiva Purana, for example,
mentions three Tattvas: "Shiva, Vidya and Atma are the three Tattvas.
From Shiva came out the Vidya and from Vidya the Atma" ( It may be inferred from this that there are only three
Tattvas. The matter becomes clear, however, when we understand that
"tattva" literally means "reality" and a reality is quite
capable of containing other realities. Indeed, as explained in the
Siddhanta-Saravali and other works, "Shiva" comprises the
Shiva-Tattva and Shakti-Tattva; "Vidya" comprises the Tattvas from
Sadashiva to Satvidya; and "Atma" comprises the Tattvas from Maya
to Earth. This gives a total of thirty-six, which is the generally accepted
number in the tradition of Shiva. It may be that the Yoga Sutra was explaining things in terms
of Samkhya teachings, a tradition that was fashionable in that period of
Indian history and which appeared to advocate Purusha as the highest Reality
or Tattva. However, the Yoga Sutra itself mentions Ishvara (Shiva or
God), a Higher Being above Purusha who is to be worshipped for the purpose of
Salvation. This provides ample scope for the admission of intermediary
Tattvas, which may well be comprised in the Tattvas Purusha (Soul) and
Ishvara (Shiva). After all, the additional Tattvas that distinguish the Shiva
tradition from the Samkhya are nothing but the five powers of the Soul and
the five powers of the Supreme Being. If in addition to this we count the
Supreme Being Himself (Shiva Tattva) as the Reality above all others, we get
thirty-six Tattvas. Shiva Agama vs. Yoga Sutra The main difference that sets apart some Scriptures from
others is that some are externalist in their approach to reality and others
are internalist. Externalist Scriptures like the Yoga Sutra follow schools of
thought such as Samkhya which seek to explain reality in terms of the outer
layers of Consciousness (the Tattvas from Earth to Purusha). Scriptures like the Shiva Sutra, on the other hand, belong to
the Tradition of Shiva (Shiva Agama) which describes reality mainly in terms
of the innermost aspects of Consciousness (Tattvas from Maya and the
Kanchukas to Shiva Himself). They are, therefore, internalist and represent a
higher level of Spiritual instruction. While the Yoga Sutra constitutes a valuable introduction to
Yogic teachings, the higher truths of Yoga are to be found in Shiva Agama
which is the true origin of Yoga. We have thus demonstrated that the Holy
Scriptures of India are not mutually contradictory but complementary, those
belonging to the Shiva Agama tradition being the highest as they concern
themselves with the highest aspects of Reality. What is important to understand is that Yogic texts like the
Yoga Sutra are not novels but extremely concise works that often barely
outline a Spiritual concept which needs to be elaborated by a qualified
Master and substantiated by practice and direct experience. Even if we were to accept, for the sake of argument, that
"Classical Yoga" only taught the existence of 25 Tattvas, there
would be no harm. If a person somehow manages to elevate himself to the level
of pure intelligence of the Soul, he will necessarily become enlightened
enough to progress further of his own accord - and with the help of Ishvara! Thus he will of necessity meet a Higher Reality face to face
even if he started on his journey by doubting or even denying the existence
of such Reality. We must not forget that Spiritual Practice is a force that
carries the practiser higher and higher until the final Goal has been
reached, irrespective of the point of departure. It is not for nothing that the Scriptures themselves declare
Samkhya and Yoga to be one and the same. Any teaching to the contrary must be
rejected as contrary to the Universal Law of Unity (Yoga Dharma). Finally, we must address a question that legitimately arises
at this point, namely, Does it matter whether there are twenty-five or
thirty-six Tattvas? The answer is that it does matter. Lord Shiva is the Lord
of Yoga and His tradition teaches that the Tattvas are 36 in number. For the
sake of harmony and unity, all Yogic traditions must agree with this. However, there is another important reason. The number
"36" is a sacred number which has a special meaning in Yoga.
Indeed, it has many different meanings or one meaning with many different
facets, like a diamond. Strictly speaking, this must be revealed by the
Teacher to the disciple. We may nevertheless disclose some of it so that the
seeker may acquire a taste of the infinitely profound, unsurpassed and
incomparable Wisdom of Yoga Dharma. 1) "30" represents the Moon (the
thirty-day lunar month of the Indian calendar is called "Maasa" or
"Moon", in Sanskrit) which is the symbol of Lord Shiva; and "6"
represents the Six Disciplines of Yoga (physical postures, breath-control,
detachment, concentration, meditation, union with Shiva); the Six Paths
(Shadadhvaa: mantra, varna, pada, kalaa, tattva, bhuvana); and the Six
Chakras or Sthalas; which are the Path that leads to Shiva. 2) By further applying the Yogic method of numerological
interpretation, "36" will be explained as follows. "3"
signifies that Shiva is Three-times the Greatest: He is the Greatest on Earth
(the Terrestrial Plane); the Greatest in the Air (the Astral Plane); and the
Greatest in Heaven (the Celestial Plane). "6" is made up of "5" and
"1". "5" signifies that Shiva is the Lord of the
Five Divine Powers (Intelligence, Bliss, Will, Knowledge and Action) and the
Performer of the Five Divine Acts (Creation, Preservation, Dissolution,
Obscuration and Illumination or Salvation). "1" (One) signifies that the Supreme Lord is
the All-Powerful, Unique, Ever Existing One Who alone exists and Who holds
the totality of all things within Himself. Therefore, "5" and
"1", being inseparable, are taken together as "6". Thus
by writing "3" and "6" we arrive at the sacred number
"36". This is the innermost, secret meaning. 3) In terms of external reality which is the domain of
multiplicity, when multiplied by the base "10", it yields
"360" which is the number of days in a year; the number of
degrees in a circle, etc. It stands for the Totality of Being or
All-Encompassing Supreme Reality Itself. In brief, it represents a symbol of completeness. In practice,
therefore, the number "36" (or 360) symbolises man's (and
the World's) Revolution or Completion of the Circle of Life and return to the
original Point of departure. This Spiritual Revolution is not a return to the past
but a return to the Ever Present, Ever-Living Truth that nourishes all life.
It is a return that must be urgently effectuated by the modern World for the
Salvation of all Souls and the Establishment of Divine Life on Earth. Finally, if we add "3" and "6", we obtain
the number "9". "Nine" ("Nava") in the Sanskrit
Language, also means "New", thus indicating the advent of a New
World Order based upon the Eternal Principle of All-Encompassing Unity
and Harmony, that is to say, the Supreme Eternal Law of Heaven (Sanatana
Dharma) which must prevail over all other laws as Shiva (the Supreme
Intelligence) Himself decreed at the beginning of time. |