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In the Name of Shiva, the Most Glorious, the Most Obvious, the |
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SHRI SHIVA RAHASYA THE SECOND LIGHT (Chapter
Two) 2 Wherein the Secret of the Thirty-Six is revealed Om is the Eternal Sound Supreme. Of that all other sounds are born. Lord
Shiva said:
1. O noble ones! My Revelation is a Great
Secret (Maha Guhya) that is unknown to other Gods worshipped by men. For had they known It, they would have long
revealed It unto them. Hear you
therefore the Secret Truth that I teach and declare, and having heard It,
meditate upon It in your heart that you may see the Light.
2. Time, Matter and Soul originated from the
Supreme. Now, since all objects of the
World sprung from these three, it follows that the World of objects is
identical with the Supreme.
3. That Supreme Reality has hands and feet on
all sides (It can reach everywhere); on all sides an eye and mouth and head;
It has ears everywhere; It stands enveloping the World.
4. Though being endowed with the power of all
senses, It has no sense organs. It is
the Ruler and Support of all. It is
perpetual Bliss, unmanifest and free of duality.
5. It is incomparable, unfathomable and beyond
all means of ordinary knowledge; It is devoid of all alternatives; It is free
from appearances; It is the Ultimate Abode of all; It is the Supreme
Deathless One; It is One with the Universe yet It exists separately, on a
Higher Level. It is Eternally the
Same. It is devoid of material
qualities. It is the Highest
Light. It is Perfect Knowledge, known
to the wise.
6. It is the Self of all living things; It is
both within and without; It is beyond all.
I am that Self, the Omnipresent, Peaceful, the Great Lord and the
Embodiment of Consciousness. This
entire Universe, consisting of moving and unmoving things, exists within
Me. He who has realised this, is the
true knower of all Spiritual Teachings.
7. O you who are at peace! Reality or Truth is
Eternally One, without a doubt. Yet in
order to manifest Its Eternal Glory, Truth creates the various Worlds out of
Itself. Therefore It exists in
different States or Forms. They are:
Spirit, which is like unto Fire; Energy, which is like unto the Sun; and Matter
which is like unto the Moon.
8. The Fiery Spirit is Self-Shining
Intelligence, Awareness, Consciousness Itself. It is Shiva, the All-Encompassing,
All-Illuminning Reality in Its Restful, Unmanifest State.
9. The Sunlike Energy is the Intelligent Power
that flows from the Divine Fire even as rays flow from the Sun. It is the Power whereby Spirit creates the
Worlds. It is Spirit in Its Active
State of Pure, Flowing and Free, Creative Intelligence (Chit Shakti). It has two aspects, one likened unto a
Bright Sun, the other unto a Dark Sun.
The first named, the Bright Sun, gives rise to the Higher World of
Spirit wherein dwell the Radiant Ones.
The second, the Dark Sun, gives rise to the Dark World of Matter
wherein abide the unawakened Souls.
Embodied Souls are endowed with the quality of both brightness and
darkness, and therefore they work good and evil deeds.
10. Verily, the same Sun-like Intelligent
Power, having brought to pass the Creation of the Higher Worlds, materialises
or solidifies to various degrees giving birth to the Material World from the
Astral down to the Physical Planes. As
such it is called Matter. It is Spirit
in Its Materialised, Manifest State and is likened to the Moon.
11. The same Power Divine when elevating the
Soul to the Abode of Light is called Shakti.
When it envelops the Soul like a shroud and pulls him down into the
Material World, is known as Maya, the Lord's Magic Power. In its aspect of Objectively Perceptible
Substance, it is known as Matter (Prakarti).
When experienced in dormant form, as in deep sleep, it is called
Unmanifest Matter (Avyakta Prakarti) or Void.
12. Verily, everything perceived by the Soul is
a manifestation of the Power of the Lord.
The Universe consists of both Matter and Spirit which are the two
Aspects of the One Reality. Time is
the third aspect. The Great, Eternal
and Beginningless Time which is One with the Lord, gives rise to Matter. Having given birth to Matter it manifests
itself in the interaction of Matter and Spirit. Thus limited Time known to unawakened man,
is born.
13. Spirit, Time and Matter form the World
wherein reside all mortal men. I am
both identical with and different from these three, which are eternally
stationed within Me, the Unmanifest Supreme.
14. That which is known as Matter or Material
Energy (Prakarti) gives birth to the Material Universe (Jagat) beginning with
the Intellect and ending with the particularised forms. The Life-Principle called Soul (Atma)
enjoys the attributes of Matter as he interacts with it, and falls under its
spell.
15. Though being One, the Soul is given various
names such as, Spirit, Real I, True Man or Inner Self, by those who
contemplate the Things-That-Are (Tattvas).
Though being One, it is seen as many through the Lord's Magic that
enchants the World. The wise who have
freed themselves from the spell of the World and who have risen above
material objects, senses, ego and mind, they alone know that the Soul is
their real Self.
16. Soul is the Radiant, Self-Existing,
Self-Shining Witness regarding his material half in the mirror of his own
Consciousness, even as the Sun reflects himself in the Sea. That mirror-like reflection is known as
Material Energy or Matter. From that,
all material things arise like the many reflections of one light: the
Intellect, the Ego, the Lower Mind, the Five Senses and the objects of the
senses.
17. As the Wind as it rushes over the Sea stirs
the water into waves, so the Will of the Self rushing over the tranquil Sea
of Matter stirs its waters into life.
Waves of thought, feeling and perception arise therefrom and from
that, the World is born. What was
unseen comes to sight and what was unmade is brought to pass: thus the unborn
springs to life.
18. The first emanation of Matter is the
Intellect. It consists of knowledge
based on thought. From that the Ego,
the Thought of I and Mine, is born: every Ego fashioned according to the
wisdom and power of the Intellect that gave birth to it.
19. The Ego makes a man what he is. It is through the Ego (or Personal Mind)
that the Soul experiences pleasure and pain in this World and the next. Through repetition, man becomes accustomed
to some experiences, craving some and shunning others. Due to the Ego, when he obtains what he
craves, man experiences joy. When he
fails to obtain the desired thing, he experiences pain.
20. Thus the Ego is made of knowledge based on
feeling. It has as its instrument the
Lower Mind. The Lower Mind consists of
knowledge based on sense perceptions.
Its field of experience are the objects (of perception) consisting of
Sound, Touch, Colour and the rest.
21. When the Lower Mind perceives an object,
the Ego gives rise to a feeling related to that object and the Intellect determines
what is to be done. Thus man's life
revolves on his perception of and reaction to material things.
22. Due to the Ego's tendency to make objects
of experience his own, the Soul who is drawn to the Material World by the
Lower Mind, identifies himself with worldly things. He thinks to himself, I am these thoughts,
these feelings, this body and these material possessions. Thus worldly self-consciousness springs
into life. 23.
As a result, Soul becomes engrossed in worldly existence and is born
and dies, life after life. This
worldly existence with its endless cycle of birth and death is called Samsara
or World-Wandering.
24. The Soul's false identification with
material things has its origin in the action of Time upon Matter. Time measures out the Immeasurable and
fashions limited things. Time
determines the birth of living beings.
Time, too, annihilates them at the appropriate hour. Everything in the Material World depends
upon Time. Time is beyond the control
of anyone.
25. Time is eternal and restrains everything
from within. Hence, Time is One with
the Supreme All-Knowing Lord. Indeed,
Infinite Time is Eternal Truth Itself.
It creates and destroys the finite time known to unawakened man. He who realises the power of Unending Time,
for him limited time comes to an end.
He attains Eternal Life.
26. But he who is pray to finite time, knows
not the Limitless. He is bound to the
limited things of limited life.
Thinking, What is now being perceived by me: this Mind, this Body,
these Possessions; they belong to me, they are part of me, I am these and
nothing else. By this way of thinking,
the unenlightened Ego Mind leads the Soul to identify himself with these
constituents of Material Reality.
27. O you who are most wise! know that the
Universe is a well-ordered Unity of interdependent forms. All things therein, rocks, plants, fish,
birds and beasts dwell in harmony with each other and according to My
World-Supporting Law. Of all
creatures, ignorant men alone act not by My Command.
28. For they are possessed by a vain Ego: not
content with what I Myself allotted them, they yearn to be something
else. Moreover, they lift themselves
in pride above others and give themselves to works that are hateful and wrong.
29. Possessed by a defective Ego they break the
Sacred Bond of Unity and go to the Abode of Discord where Sin is their God
and sorrow their lot. Therefore, well
do the wise ones know that Ego is man's greatest foe.
30. Thus, through association with the Ego, the
deluded Sense of I, the Soul who is Pure Spirit comes to forget his true
identity and succumbs to the conviction that he is non-Spirit.
31. Having forgotten that he himself is Pure
and Perfect, Self-Shining Light, the Soul deems himself to be as dull and
lacklustre as the material substance he identifies with. In this dull condition, having once shined
like a Great Star in the midst of the Infinite Vault of Consciousness, he
becomes dependent upon outer, physical light.
32. Having once soared like an Eagle in the
Radiant Sky of Spiritual Reality, he now stands helpless upon the hard ground
of physical existence, enveloped in gloom.
33. Due to this blind darkness that separates
them from the Light of Spirit, the heart of un-Enlightened Souls is
ever-restless, tormented and suffers all kinds of pain.
34. The only antidote to Separation is Yoga,
for Yoga confers knowledge of the Self.
By means of Yoga one knows oneself to be a Soul eternal, whereas the
Mind and its delusions are born and die away.
35. Verily, know this to be a million times
true: whilst Matter is like unto the Ocean whereof myriads of fleeting waves
are born, the Self is the Immovable Ground of all things.
36. From Self, Matter flows forth. From Matter, all thoughts, feelings and
sense perceptions arise. Like waves
ever rising and ever subsiding in the Ocean or Sea, thoughts, feelings and
the rest emerge from Matter and return thereto every moment anew.
37. The ignorant, observing this never-ending
play, believes them to be continuous and permanent. Bound by their spell, he forgets himself.
38. But the Yogi who is a Knower of the Self,
knows that his Self alone endures and that Matter, from which all things in
this World arise, is but his own material half: dividing Itself twofold, the
Self becomes on one side the observer and on the other that which is
observed.
39. For this reason it has been rightly said
that the Self alone exists. The Self
is indeed the All-Knowing and All-Powerful Reality That contains everything
within Its sphere of awareness. By Its
power everything comes into being, endures for a while and before long passes
away. He who by means of Yoga knows
this, attains Unity with Me, the Only Existing, the Perfect, Ever-Living One.
40. O noble ones! Yoga is the Power of Unity
whereby Wholeness, Harmony and Happiness are established in the World. Unity is of three kinds: Human, Worldwide
and Divine.
41. The Unity which is between Body, Mind and
Soul, is of the Human kind. That which
is between people and nations as well as between Mankind and Nature, is of
the Worldwide kind. But the Unity
which is between Man and the Lord, that, indeed, is Divine. There is nothing higher than this.
42. Thus the only remedy to ignorance-based
disunity, disease and suffering is the Perfect Knowledge of Yoga that leads
to Spiritual Illumination, to Life in Unity with the Divine. This Perfect Knowledge I now Graciously
Declare unto the World for the Salvation of all Souls who are fit to be
saved.
43. O you who have been granted Insight into My
Eternal Truth! those who possess Spiritual Knowledge know that the Sense
Organs are greater than the objects they perceive.
44. For, that which is perceived depends upon
that which perceives. When the
perceiver perceives not, then the object of perception vanishes like the Moon
in the dark (that is, on a Moonless night).
45. But when the perceiver beholds an object
either in direct perception, imagination, dream or recollection, then the
object comes into existence and not otherwise. Therefore the Sense Organs are greater than
the objects they perceive.
46. Likewise, the wise know that the Lower Mind
(Manas) is greater than the Sense Organs.
For it is the Lower Mind that puts together the diverse perceptions of
the Senses and builds them into a coherent whole. Without the Lower Mind the perceptions of
the Five Senses would be scattered across the Sky (of Awareness) like clouds
in the wind.
47. The wise know further that the Thought of I
and Mine (Aham-Kara, Ego Mind)) is greater than the Lower Mind. For it is the Ego Mind by its power of
appropriation that brings a perceived thing into relation with the perceiver. Otherwise the two would be for ever severed
like the two halves of a broken twig.
48. The Intellect (Buddhi) is greater than the
Ego for it determines the nature of the object and the manner in which the
perceiver is to relate to it.
Moreover, the Intellect that is infused with the Light of Truth, can
awaken the Ego to its true identity.
49. The Unmanifest Matter (Prakarti) is greater
than the Intellect, for Matter is that whereof the Intellect is born. Therein the Intellect rests in deep sleep
and from that too it derives the power to think, feel and perceive whether in
dream or when awake. The Soul Proper
(Purusha) is greater than Matter for he is the perceiver and the agent whilst
Matter is the object perceived and acted upon. Moreover, Matter itself is nothing but the
Soul's sleeping half, as it were.
50. Greater than the embodied Soul is the
Sphere of Maya, wherein My Power of Magic (Maya) holds sway. It envelops the entire Material Universe
wherein dwell all embodied Souls, who possess physical or astral bodies according
as they inhabit the Earthly or Astral World.
It is Maya, the Lord's Wondrous Power that envelops the Soul like unto
a veil and holds him under its magic spell.
Maya keeps the unawakened Soul in his embodied state. Verily, by its five Binding Powers, Maya
envelops the Soul even as swaddling clothes envelop a newborn babe.
51. Greater than Maya, is the radiant Sphere of
Shakti, Shiva's Infinite Power, inhabited by the Liberated Souls who have
gone beyond the World of Maya. They
are the Great Radiant Ones, endowed with bodies of Pure Spiritual Light. In the midst of that Sphere of Power stands
the Threefold Stairway to Supreme Perfection.
It has Three Steps, each leading to a Higher World and together
leading to the Highest. Going up by
the Three Mighty Steps the Soul acquires the Three Divine Powers of Shiva
which are Action, Knowledge and Will, and ascends to the Highest Heaven.
52. Beyond the World of Power lies Shiva's
World of Spirit (Shivalaya) and the Highest Heaven. Therein dwell those Divine Souls who,
having acquired Shiva's Three Powers, acquire the last Two, namely Divine
Intelligence and Bliss. Having gained
Shiva's Five Powers they are for ever One with Him.
53. Over that Spiritual World, I, the Essence
of all Knowledge, the Supreme Lord than Who nothing is higher, preside in all
Eternity. My Infinite Abode of Spirit
is all that exists when at the end of Time, I, the All-Consuming, Fiery God
of Consciousness (Kalagni Rudra) dissolve all created Worlds and merge all
Souls into My Supreme Self.
54. Verily, there is no living Soul greater
than I. By realising Me, one becomes
free. No living beings in the
Universe, including the moving and unmoving ones, are truly eternal except I,
the Unmanifest, the Great Lord Who is of the form of All-Pervading Infinite
Space (Vyoman) and from Whom the Universe has no separate existence. The Seven Worlds (which are) the Earth with
her Nine Continents, the Astral World, the World of Maya, the Threefold World
of Power and the Abode of Shiva: all exist within Myself. I eternally create, sustain and annihilate
all things. For, I Alone Exist.
55. I, the Lord, Master of Maya (Magic Power)
and identical with it, am One with the Power of Time. Through this Power, the Power of the
Infinite Self, I create and control all the Worlds.
56. When the moment of Creation has come and
the Great Time (Maha Kala), the Great Life (Maha Satta), begins to measure
out His Unmeasured Glory by dividing It as it were into measurable parts,
that, O Sages! is when limited Time (Kala) is born. By the measuring out (Kalana) of the Lord's
Unmeasured Glory, measured life springs into being. Time ignites the spark of life in all
things.
57. Thus, in every Moment of Time (Kala-Anu) an
Atom of Life (Jiva-Anu) comes into being and lives in the World. The span of Time required for the living
Atom to take birth from the Ocean of Infinite Life is the smallest measure of
Time. It is known to the Lord and to
the Awakened Ones who are endowed with Sight Divine.
58. But to the unawakened, only that is known
which is seen by the eye. And Time on
Earth is reckoned by observing things that move such as the Earth, the Moon
and the Stars. Therefore upon Earth,
movement is Time.
59. Movement is the perception of successive
changes that take place in a perceived thing, and so is Time. Time is a form of knowledge. For, it makes itself known by means of
diverse forms of movement that appear in the knower's field (of perception).
60. The chief among all forms of movement that
can be observed by all is that of the Vital Breath (Prana). Having descended at the moment of Creation
from the Thirty-sixth and Highest State down to the nethermost, the Great
Lord Himself, Who Is the Life and Soul of the Universe enters with His Power
(Prana Shakti) an embodied Soul's form.
He then animates it by means of the Vital Breath. Hear you now how the Great Wheel of Time
(Kala-Chakra) comes into being by the power of the breath.
61. Man begins his life on Earth by breathing
in the air of this World; breathing in and out, he lives his appointed time;
then, breathing out his last, he goes to the Otherworld. Thus man's life depends upon breath. Breath is of three kinds: in-breath,
out-breath and the holding of breath in between. Of these are born the Three Times, Past,
Present and the Future.
62. By remembering the breath that was breathed
in, man knows that which has been.
Thus he comes to know the Past.
By resting for a moment before breathing out, man knows the Present or
that which is now. And by thinking on the breath that in a
moment will be breathed out by him, he knows that which is not but is yet to
be. In this wise he knows the three
phases of Time by the phases of his own breath.
63. Second, one movement of the breath in and
out makes one breath. One breath lasts
ten Nimeshas (Moments). Six breaths
make sixty Nimeshas or one Chashaka (a Cupful as unit of time). Sixty Chashakas make three hundred and
sixty breaths or one Ghatika (Copper Jar used for measuring time). Sixty Ghatikas make twenty-one thousand six
hundred breaths or one Day and Night.
This divided six hundredfold, makes thirty-six finger-breadths that
is, the distance covered by the movement of the breath on its way out beginning
from the heart and ending in the outer space.
Thirty-six divided sixfold makes six breaths or sixty Nimeshas
(Moments of time).
64. For this reason, in accord with My Law,
holy men who are ever absorbed in contemplation measure the time by means of
a hundred prayer-beads and eight. When
this is multiplied two hundredfold, it yields twenty and one thousand six
hundred breaths. When divided
threefold it gives thirty-six which is the number of fingers that measures
the course of one breath.
65. Thirty-six divided sixfold makes six, and
six multiplied tenfold makes sixty. A
quarter of this makes the fifteen Days of a Fortnight (or Half Month). Of Fortnights there are two. That beginning with the Full Moon and
ending with the New Moon is the dark Fortnight. That beginning when the Moon is New and
ending when she is Full is the bright Fortnight. Two Fortnights make a Month of thirty Days,
and two Months make one Season of sixty Days.
Sixty Days multiplied sixfold make a Year of three hundred Days and
sixty.
66. Verily, thirty-six multiplied a hundred
times sixty (600) gives twenty-one thousand six hundred breaths breathed by
man in a Day from sunrise to sunrise.
Divided threefold it gives rise to the twelve Months of the Year. Multiplied a hundredfold it gives rise to
three hundred and sixty Days. Three
hundred and sixty human Years make a Year of the Gods. And this multiplied twelve thousandfold yields
a Cosmic Cycle (of twelve thousand Divine Years).
67. In exhalation, the Sun rises in the heart
and sets in the outer space.
Therefore, the Outgoing Breath corresponds to a Day; to the Half Month
(Ardha-Masa) wherein the Full Moon wanes (diminishes); the Half-Year wherein
the Sun in his northward progression follows the Higher Path (Uttara Ayana)
across the Sky (from March to August); and the Emission of a Cosmic Cycle.
68. In inhalation, the reverse is true: the
Moon rises in the outer space and sets within the heart. Therefore, the Incoming Breath (Apana)
corresponds to a Night; to the Half Month wherein the New Moon waxes (grows);
the Half-Year wherein the Sun in his southward progression goes the Lower
Path (Dakshina Ayana) across the Sky (from September to February); and the
Absorption of a Cosmic Cycle.
69. The Standing Still at the beginning and end
of the two breaths corresponds to the two twilights of Dawn and Dusk; to the
beginning and end of the two Half Months; the two Equinoxes of Spring and
Autumn that mark the beginning and end of the two Half-Years; and the periods
of rest between the Creation and Dissolution of the Cosmic Cycle. Thus, O noble ones! a Day, a Month, a Year
human or Divine and a Cosmic Cycle too, all arise out of the breath. Without breath, there is no Time. And the breath is born out of the Lord.
70. As man's life rests upon his breath, so
does the life of the Universe itself.
The Lord Himself, the Great Life, breathes and lives in and through
all created things. It is the Lord
Himself Who creates and beholds all forms of Time. Therefore Time is the Lord, the Ever
Living, the Great Life, and none else.
71. They who by means of Yoga attain Unity
(Samyoga) with Me, the Lord of Time (Kalanatha), go to the Supreme Abode of
Shiva where all Souls long to be. For
true Life is to be found alone in My Abode of Unity where Time is One. Death and Suffering belong to the Abode of
Separation where Time is diverse, many-formed and a shaper of limited life.
72. O you who are followers of Unity with the
Supreme! six multiplied by itself becomes thirty-six. But when divided sixfold, Nought only
remains. Nought (Shunya) is the Great
Unmanifest Void (Maha Shunya), the Great Point (Maha Bindu) and Secret Place
whereof all numbers and measured things are born and unto which in due course
they all return. I Am That. With the Out-breath of Creation I manifest
the Thirty-Six Things which make up That Which Is. With the In-breath of Illumination I
dissolve them into the Unmanifest One.
He who knows the secret of the Two Breaths, knows that he and I are
One. I, the Light of Reality, the
Great Time, Supreme Spiritual Teacher and Enlightener of the World, declare
this Eternal Truth for all to hear in this World and beyond. Commentary to Chapter 2
6. I am that Self, the Omnipresent, Peaceful, the Great Lord and the
Embodiment of Consciousness: The concept of God as Consciousness or
Intelligence is the greatest contribution that Yoga has made to human
religious thought. While most
religions regard God as a Person endowed with supernatural powers, Yoga
teaches that God is a Self-Existing Force the fundamental functions of which
are Knowledge and Action. This is in
agreement with the Hindu Scriptures (Vedas) which state that Consciousness
(Prajnana) is the Supreme. A similar
concept is found in the teachings of the great Sages of Ancient Greece who
declared that "There is One God, always still and at rest, Who moves all
things with the thoughts of His Own Mind" (Xenophanes).
9. The Power Whereby Spirit creates the Worlds: This is a point that
is emphasised time and again in all Yogic texts. The World is a Creation of the Universal
Consciousness, which accounts for its qualities of coherence and
oneness. At the same time however, the
individual consciousness or Soul creates its own, psychological, image or
replica of the World, each Soul according to his capacities of perception and
conception as well as position in time and space that he occupies in relation
to the World and to other Souls. This
individual creation accounts for the qualities of limitedness and
distinctiveness in different individuals' experience of the World and its
various planes. Creation, therefore,
takes place at two levels: Universal and individual. Though the higher and inner processes of
creation only become apparent through Spiritual or psychological analysis of
human experience, the material aspects of the same are clearly observable in
everyday life. The Earth, for example,
is already present as a creation of the Universal Consciousness (or some
Higher Force unknown to man) whereas houses, pots, tools etc., are created by
the individual out of the pre-existing, naturally occurring materials such as
stone, mud, wood or metal. The two
forms of Creation also differ in another essential respect that has important
moral implications. While the
Universal always takes place in absolute harmony with the Universal Will,
this is not always so in the case of individual creation. Universal Will is admitted to be present,
for example, in the creation of agricultural implements whereby the
individual produces food for himself and his family, but absent in the
creation of weapons whereby an individual or group of individuals may
threaten, oppress or destroy others for selfish purposes. This also answers the fundamental question
as to what is right or wrong, lawful or unlawful, in terms of Universal (or
Divine) Law: an action is lawful when and to the extent that it is done in
Unity with Divine Will. What Divine
Will is, we may know by means of the three universally recognised means of
knowledge: firstly, Scriptural Authority (which includes the pronouncements
of divinely inspired Spiritual leaders); secondly, Reasoning; and thirdly,
Intuition or Inspiration (Inward Illumination, Yogically speaking). This will become clear in the following
verses and chapters.
19. The Ego makes a man what he is: Self-Awareness (Aham-Vimarsha),
Thought of I, Egoity (from Greek Ego, I) or I-ness (Ahanta) has two distinct
aspects. Ahamkara (lit., I-Maker) is
that which generates a made, created, artificial sense of identity which
alienates the Soul from his true nature.
By contrast, Ahambhava (Natural I) is one's true identity which is
unmade, uncreated being, devoid of mental limitations and distortions. The former (Ahamkara) is Imperfect or
Impure (Ashuddha), gives rise to the individual body-mind complex and brings
the Soul down to the limited, unenlightened condition of earthly life. The latter, (Ahambhava) is the Ever Perfect
or Pure (Shuddha) Universal Consciousness Itself Which lives in the heart of
all creatures and elevates the Soul to the Enlightened State of Cosmic Being.
36 (a). From Self, Matter flows forth: The Self is the conscious
Soul. "Matter" or Material
Energy is objective reality, that is, what consciousness is aware of as
distinct manifestations of itself such as mind, body and physical
objects. One of the greatest unsolved
mysteries in Western Science is how the brain generates consciousness. Yoga has long solved this problem by
looking at it from the reverse perspective.
Since it is consciousness who is asking the question, we may
legitimately ask, how consciousness creates the brain. Indeed, in ordinary human experience,
consciousness and the brain are never found separate. Logically speaking, this means that any one
of the two may generate the other.
However, consciousness is a subtle, non-physical substance or force
that is characterised by its capacity for being aware of itself and of other
things. The brain is merely a
biological organ whose function is to receive, process and transmit
electrical impulses. Now, there is no
scientific evidence to support the view that the brain generates anything
apart from the said impulses. On the
other hand, consciousness is known to operate creatively, willingly
generating thoughts, emotions and sense perceptions as may be seen in
imagination, dreams or hallucination.
Consciousness, therefore, is by definition a creative force. Moreover, no experience is ever possible
without consciousness. This suggests that consciousness is the source and
ground of everything that exists. What
is the evidence to support this view?
Firstly, consciousness has the capacity of experiencing itself: we all
are aware of ourselves as conscious and intelligent beings. Nobody says "I am unconscious; I don't
exist". All human beings say
"I am conscious; I am alive; I can think, feel and perceive". The brain, on the other hand, cannot be
said to be aware of itself. It never
says "I am a brain". It is
very easy for a human being to identify itself with an intelligent entity,
whether embodied or disembodied. To
identify oneself with the physical organ called brain, however, seems both
unnatural and extremely difficult if not impossible. Clearly, this would not be the case, were
the brain the true seat of intelligence.
Secondly, consciousness is aware of things external to itself such as
the physical body. There are numerous
authenticated accounts of extra-corporeal, exo-somatic or out-of-the-body
experiences in which the human consciousness becomes aware of itself as a
separate, independent entity that is capable of perceiving the physical body
as something distinct and distant from itself. This is never the case in reverse, that is,
there is no single instance of the body being aware of itself as separate and
independent from consciousness.
Indeed, for all practical purposes it is consciousness itself that
imparts life to the physical structure called body, including the brain. Even in everyday language we instinctively call
"lifeless" any thing that appears to be devoid of
consciousness. Similarly, we say that
certain inner thoughts or external events occur "out of the blue
sky", that is to say out of the sky-like reality called
consciousness. In other words, we are
subconsciously aware of the fact that whatever comes into being, whether
inner or outer, arises out of consciousness like clouds out of the sky. Which is only natural given that, as
conscious beings, we all are part of the Universal Consciousness which constitutes
the underlying source and ground of all things. In view of the patent capacity of
consciousness to create thoughts, emotions and sense perceptions which
together constitute the World we live in, it is not difficult to conceive of
the World itself as a creation of Consciousness. Indeed, millions of Yogis,
Hindus and Buddhists do just that.
Intelligence must have existed prior not only to the brain but to
physical matter in general, since the Universe is evidently constructed in a
way that is suggestive of purposiveness and hence intelligence. Since the brain is a recent development in
the history of the Universe, it cannot reasonably be supposed to have created
the World. Logically speaking, the World must have been created by an
Intelligence that is external to and independent from, the brain. Moreover,
the findings of modern physics indicate the existence of levels of reality
that transcend physical matter. While
the brain as a physical structure cannot belong to metaphysical levels of
reality, consciousness as a subtle, non-physical force, can and does. It follows from this that while the Yogic
concept of consciousness as a self-existing, creative force explains
everything, the official scientific hypothesis of the brain as generator of
consciousness must be admitted to be unsatisfactory, unnecessary (except to
defend a materialist agenda) and in the last analysis, untenable. The disbeliever in the Universal
Consciousness would have to explain, among other things, what force created
the Universe in a patently ordered and purposeful way long before the coming into being of the
"conscious brain", etc.
Whichever way we look at it, the fact is that the Universe creates
intelligent beings, hence it must itself be intelligent. Intelligence must be inherent to the nature
of the Universe and must have been there, in some form or another, from the
very beginning. This is the invariable
conclusion. A more detailed
investigation of this complex subject may be found in scientific works such
as The Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World, by
the renowned physicist Amit Goswami.
Suffice it to say here that as stated in the present verse, mind, body
and physical objects arise from and merge back into, Material Energy which in
turn arises from Consciousness, that is to say everything ultimately
originates in Consciousness. This is
the basis of all genuine Spirituality, that is, Spirit-based perception of
reality. See also Commentary to
Chapter 1, verses 42 and 74.
36 (b). Like waves ever rising and ever subsiding in the Ocean or Sea,
thoughts, feelings and the rest emerge from Matter and return thereto every
moment anew: The momentariness (or quality of lasting just one moment) of
the material, objective World is a well-known Yogic concept various forms of
which have passed into Hindu, Buddhist and even modern scientific
thought. Firstly, to understand what
Yoga means by material or objective, it is important to know that every
experience (or act of awareness whereby we become aware of, or consciously
register, something) presupposes a subject and an object. The subject is that which experiences, or
is aware of, a thing. And the object
is that which is experienced by the conscious subject as being within the
latter's sphere of experience or awareness.
In Yogic terminology, the subject is called pramata (that which
perceives or experiences) and the object is called prameya (that which is
perceived or experienced). The
subject's perception or awareness of the object is called pramiti (that which
is perceived or known in relation to the perceived object), the object and
our awareness thereof being two related yet distinct elements of experience
like the two sides of a coin, for example.
Armed with this knowledge, we may now investigate the nature of what
we call experience so that we better understand both ourselves and the World
"out there". Suppose I am
looking at a flower which I see clearly before me and form in my mind the
concept, "I see a flower".
According to what has been said before, the flower is the
object-element or factor of my experience, technically called prameya. As such, it has two aspects, the flower
itself, growing in the garden, which is the external physical object, and the
mental image I form of it in my mind.
My awareness of this mental object is the pramiti or what I know about
the object. I myself, as the conscious
entity holding this awareness of the object within myself, am the subject
(pramata). The faculties of
perception, which convey the object's properties (sound, touch, colour, taste
and smell) to the mind; the mind itself which turns its attention to, selects
and builds these up into an image; the ego whereby I relate to this image as
"mine"; and the intellect whereby I compare the image of this
flower to that of others seen in the past, and whereby moreover I form a
judgement as to whether I should carry on looking at this particular flower
or turn my attention to other things; in short, what may be generally termed
mind and its cognitive processes, is the means (pramana) whereby I come into
possession of knowledge about the object (prameya). Now, although superficially speaking the
object may be said to be a permanent, single and solid thing, a little
reflection will show that this is not so.
To begin with, the object consists of the five sense perceptions
(touch, colour, smell, etc.). Which
already means that the object is not solid but composite. Moreover, each of the component perceptions
turns out to consist of innumerable, minute points of perception appearing
and disappearing before my faculties of sight, smell, etc., at such a speed
as to give the impression of permanence in much the same way as an electrical
bulb emits rays of light, or a candle emits a series of flames that give the
appearance of permanent luminosity. In
the same way as each flame comes into being and vanishes in quick succession
according as each particle of fuel is being lit and consumed, so also each
mental image of my flower is created in quick bursts or pulses by the
mind. This is not only observable as a
fact of experience (with a little training) but is also a logical
necessity. For, were the image of the
object not recreated every moment afresh, we could hardly speak of an
experience (any experience) as taking place in the present. Were the image to last any longer than a
very brief moment, it would lose its freshness and its direct relation to the
physical object and become like a still painting or photograph. That this is not the case, we know from the
fact that as soon as a breeze starts, the flower slightly changes its
position in space, a change that is immediately reflected in our mental image
of the moving object. The objective
image, therefore, which we form in our mind as a replica of the external
object, must be admitted to be not permanent but momentary. As for the external object itself, even
modern Science admits that it consists of component elements such as cells,
molecules, atoms and energy particles none of which are permanent, so that
too is impermanent. Not only this, but
we cannot, in ordinary experience, directly perceive any external object but only a momentary image thereof (every perception taking place through the medium
of our faculties of perception which can provide us with nothing more than an
image made of the five sensory elements, sound, touch, etc.). And because all our mental processes such
as perceiving, thinking or feeling are based on such momentary images, they
also must be and, indeed, are momentary.
Likewise, our knowledge, experience or awareness of the said object or
objects must also be momentary. The
only thing that is not momentary is the subject. The conscious entity who is aware of
object, means of knowledge, knowledge of the object and their momentariness
(kshanikatva) or impermanence (anityata) as opposed to his own changelessness
and permanence, is the Soul. In the
final analysis, therefore, the Soul or the Consciousness-element of the
experience alone qualifies as Subject while everything else, from and
including Material Energy down to what is perceived by means of the senses
and processed by the mind is, by virtue of its being objectively perceived,
called object. And it is called
material, because it consists of Material Energy (Prakarti) which is a
condensed, "dormant" form of consciousness as opposed to the free,
radiant, awake and self-aware consciousness of the Soul proper. In the same way as every experience
requires a permanent, changeless and still principle (the conscious Soul) in
order for the awareness of momentariness, movement or change in the object or
objects to arise, it also requires a permanent substance out of which the
momentary components of experience arise and to which they return once they
have been experienced or consciously registered. This permanent substance or material is the
Soul's own material, objective aspect called Matter or Material Energy. This is why it has been said: "From
Self, Matter flows forth".
Material Energy is that aspect of the Soul which provides the material
of our experiences. From that
permanent material, the momentary factors of experience (intellect, ego,
mind, senses and sense objects) arise and to that they all return, Material
Energy being both their source and place of rest. It will be remembered that the
momentariness of the object of experience involves a series or sequence of
mental images quickly following one after the other as to give the appearance
of permanence. Now because the object
is reflected on the mirror-like light of the Soul, by concentrating his
attention on the point between the subsiding of one image or object and the
coming into being of the next, that is to say, on the brief breaks or gaps in
the rapid flux of objective awareness or perception, the Yogi can catch a glimpse of the light of the Soul and
recognise himself as that. References
to this teaching are found in some of the earliest Yogic texts such as the
Yoga Sutra (3:52) and Vijnana Bhairava Tantra. Says the Vijnana Bhairava (62): "Let
not the mind, having just quit one object of perception, turn to
another. For, by means of that which
is between them (i.e., between one perception and the next), the Great
Realisation (of Reality) unfolds in all its intensity". As has been rightly said: it is through
Yoga that Wisdom arises. It is only
through Wisdom (or Higher Knowledge) derived from Spiritual Practice that the
Self, the World, and everything else is truly known.
57. Thus, in every moment of Time (Anu) an Atom of Life (Anu) comes into
being and lives in the World, etc.: The Universal Consciousness creates
the World as a projection of Its own Creative Intelligence (Spanda
Shakti). The component elements that
constitute the physical World are therefore projected into being, withdrawn
into their source and projected again at unimaginably small intervals (or
high frequency), giving the impression of continuity and permanence. For this reason it has been said: "As
waves from Water, as sparks from a
Fire, as rays from the Sun, all life springs forth from Me, the Lord, the
Source of all Life". The
intervals at which the atoms or units of Consciousness are projected into
"measured" or limited life are the smallest units of Time. In consequence, they represent the points
at which limited time and life come into being as an inseparable unity. See also Ch. 3:19-22, p. 59 and Commentary
to 6:5, p.101.
63-72. 36 finger-breadths, etc.:
The calculations in verses 63-72 are based upon the sexagesimal
time-reckoning of Ancient India with 60 as a basic number upon which modern
time-keeping is also based. Thus the
modern reader will obtain 24 hours (or a Day and Night), by dividing 21,600
breaths by 900, a multiple of 60.
64. Twenty-one thousand six hundred breaths: This, divided by ten
gives 2,160, the number of years in which the Sun's position at the moment of
the Spring Equinox (21 March) moves backwards through the Zodiac, completing
one Sign or thirty degrees. Multiplied
by 20, 40, 60 and 80, it gives the number of years comprised in each of the
Four World Ages. (See Ch. 11:203 and
Commentary to 11:188.) Thus a
mathematical relation between the number of breaths, the movements of the Sun
in relation to Earth and the Constellations, and all units of time, from the
smallest to the greatest, is established.
65. Sixty Days multiplied sixfold make a Year of three hundred Days and
sixty: The objection that may be raised here is that 360 is five days
shorter than the actual length of the solar year (365). The fact is that no calendar in use today can
claim to be mathematically exact. Thus
the calendar currently used in most of the World, the so-called Julian
Calendar (named after the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar), involves variations
in the number of days in a month (31, 30 or 28) and requires the addition of
one extra day every four years resulting in a "leap year" of 366
days. A year calculated as in the
Ancient Indian system on the other hand does indeed appear to consist of only
360 days (12 months x 30 days = 360).
However, this problem is easily resolved by the addition of five
extra-calendrical, festive days, as was the practice in other parts of the
Ancient World, including Sumer, Egypt and Central America and the addition of
another extra day every four years, for example. As far as Yoga is concerned, this is
ultimately irrelevant as religious holidays are determined by the phases of
the Moon which occur independently of the Solar cycle (see Commentary to
11:46). Other calendars such as those
used in Judaism and Islam exhibit even greater irregularity in the number of
days comprised in a year in addition to the tendency of the months (which
alternate between 29 and 30 days) to fall out of alignment with the
seasons. Also, while there is no
direct mathematical relation in other calendars between weeks and months, the
Indian fortnight (or half month of 15 days) fits exactly in the 30-day
month. More importantly, the 360 days
of the Yogic calendar correspond to the 360 degrees of the circle. This calendar therefore, though older,
seems simpler, more natural, more mathematically exact and is in no way
inferior to any of its modern counterparts.
From a Spiritual point of view, its relevance consists in the relation
it bears to the thirty-six Realities of Yoga.
It is noteworthy that in a jar containing jewellery from the Indus
Valley period (2,000 BC) found in the 1980s near Karachi, there was a string
of thirty-six elongated carnelian beads interspersed with bronze beads. It does not seem unreasonable to assume
that it may have represented a form of portable calendar, one bead
symbolising a period of ten days in the Ancient Egyptian fashion. It is also interesting that an allusion to
such a calendar is found in the Rig Veda, apparently in the form of a riddle:
"Twelve are the fellies, and the wheel is single; three are the
naves. What man has understood
it? Therein are set together spokes
three hundred and sixty, which in no wise can be loosened" (Rig Veda, Book
I, 164:48). Clearly, the single wheel
is the Year; the twelve fellies, that is, the sections that form the outer
circle of the wheel, are the Months; the three naves or hubs are the three
aspects of time, past, present and future, upon which all time and all life
revolves and from which all other divisions of time derive (the three times
of the day, Dawn, Noon and Sunset, the three main seasons, Spring, Summer and
Winter, and the three aspect of life, Birth, Life and Death); while the three
hundred and sixty spokes are the Days of the Year. A more recent reference to this mystical calendar
is found in Shri Abhinava Gupta's Tantraloka, composed in the tenth century
of the current era. Although modern
historians are unable to specify when this calendar was first introduced into
India, it is clear that knowledge of it and its hidden meaning has been
transmitted as an unofficial, underground revelation for thousands of
years. And so another verse of the Rig
Veda declares: "The holy Priests, by their seasons, know, O Sun God!
those two wheels of yours: One kept concealed, those only who are skilled in
highest truths have learned" (X, 85:16).
Here the first two, visible wheels are the circle of the Earth and
that of Heaven, respectively, while the hidden one is that of the 360 Rays of
Reality which lies concealed in the heart of those who as the verse says, are
skilled in the highest truths.
Returning to Book I, Hymn 164, we find verse 11 which says:
"Formed with twelve spokes, by length of time, unweakened, rolls round
the Heaven this wheel of during Order.
Herein established, joined in pairs together, seven hundred Sons and
twenty stand, O Fiery One!". The
twelve spokes, of course, are the Months.
And 720 Sons (or Children) stand for 360 Days and 360 Nights who are
the Sons and Daughters of God (the Light of Heaven), the nouns Day and Night
in Sanskrit being masculine and feminine, respectively. And, as if to confirm the importance of
properly understanding the meaning of these verses, verse 16 of the same Book
and same Hymn (164), declares: "He who has eyes sees this, the blind
discerns not. The son who is a sage
has comprehended: who knows this rightly is his father's father". That is to say, he who realises the full meaning of this, is unsurpassed
in knowledge, authority and status.
72 (a). Nought (Shunya) is the Great
Unmanifest Void (Maha Shunya), the Great Point (Maha Bindu): The Sanskrit
term Shunya means both "the digit 0" and "void" or
"emptiness". It is
represented in writing as a dot or point (Bindu). Hence it symbolises the Absolute, as the
"Point" of departure in which all life originates and to which all
life ultimately returns. It is
noteworthy that in The Secrets Of The Cross, an 18th century
Christian work, it is written: "Before all things were there was One
Point. In the One there was implicitly
contained the many". Western
Science also teaches that the Universe was at first a single point of
non-material substance that exploded into being and expanded to become the
Physical World as we know it today.
Eventually the Universe will be re-absorbed into its point of
origin. In Yoga, this Original Point
is used to symbolise the Original State of Universal Consciousness in which
everything was Spirit while Matter was just a point or dot in the Infinite
Ocean of Being. The Creation of the
Universe out of an immaterial Point is illustrated in the Scriptures of India
by means of the simile of a tiny seed that, though apparently containing
nothing, grows into an immense fig-tree.
The Christian Gospels similarly compare the Kingdom of God to a
mustard seed which is "the smallest of all seeds", but "when
it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant and becomes a shelter
for the birds of the Sky" (The Gospel of Thomas, 20). This is a fundamental Yogic teaching which
must not be confused with the Western belief in Creation out of Nothing. Spiritual Void or Emptiness is not Nothing
just as the seed is not nothing but the very potentiality of a tree in
condensed form. It is Objectless
Consciousness, a Higher Form of Intelligence devoid of created or manifested things
yet containing in itself the potentiality of all conceivable and
inconceivable things. It is God's Own
Undifferentiated, Formless Intelligence out of which anything and everything
may be born or produced according to His Own Will. Indeed, the Yoga Masters derive the term
Point or Bindu (also spelt Vindu) from the root Vid, to know: Vetti iti Vindu
(That Which Knows is the Point). It
represents God's infinite Knowledge concentrated into a Point, as it were, prior
to Creation, in the same way as the mind of a man who is about to create a
work of art may be said to be concentrated into an undivided point of
creative intelligence prior to his commencing work. Not only this, but the Point also
represents the Unity and Oneness of That from which Creation is brought into
being. Says illustrious Master
Abhinava Gupta: "That Which is Undivided Light (of Consciousness), Which
despite all differentiation is Ever-Changeless, Which remains Eternally
Unaffected and does not deviate from Its Inherent Oneness is for us Bindu
(Primordial Point)" (Tantraloka I, 3:3).
This "Emptiness" is therefore not Nothing but God
Himself. It is only called empty
because it is impossible to categorise in everyday language. Says the second-century Saint Clement of
Alexandria: "If we abstract all physical properties such as depth,
breadth, length, position and the rest, all that remains is a Point which
represents Unity or Oneness. If we
then abstract all incorporeal properties and cast ourselves into the
Greatness of God, and then advance into Immensity, we may reach somehow to
the conception of the Almighty, knowing not what He is, but what He is
not" (Stromata V, 11). And the
South-Indian Master Nagarjuna: "To see Emptiness is to see the Buddha,
because Buddha and Emptiness are not different" (Discourse on the Ten
Stages, 33). In the same way as the
human mind prior to the conception of a thought may be described as empty
though in reality it is full of creative intelligence, so also the Universal
Consciousness prior to Creation may be described as Empty though in fact It
is always full to the brim of Shiva's Infinite Power of Intelligence that can
create anything at any time according to His Free Will. To confuse this "Empty" Fullness
with Nothing is a serious Spiritual blunder.
Thus the Christian Church in the year 1215 declared Nothing to be the
substance out of which God created the World: "We firmly believe and
openly confess that there is only one true God, the one principle of the
universe, Creator of all things visible and invisible, spiritual and
corporeal, who from the beginning of time and by His omnipotent power made from nothing creatures both spiritual
and corporeal, angelic and human" (Fourth Lateran Council, Canon
1). That this cannot be so, even a
child can see. A Spiritual creature
such as an Angel, for example, is, by definition, made of Spirit and not of
Nothing. To maintain that Spirit can
rise out of nothing is to divest it of its true value and meaning. Such a stance therefore is wrong because it
is contrary to Truth and because it creates confusion in the mind of sincere
Seekers of Truth. For this reason, the
2nd century Mulamadhyamika Karika warns against the misunderstanding of
subtle Spiritual Truths: "Emptiness (Shunyata) wrongly conceived destroys
the dimly witted like a snake grasped by the head, or a wrongly uttered
spell" (24:11). This being so, in
the interest of clarity and truth, Yoga teaches that God created the World
out of His Own Spirit. Surely, this
would be an easy thing for God to accomplish!
Indeed, irrespective of appearances, the Whole World consists of
Spirit and nothing else precisely because there is no other substance anywhere but Spirit.
72 (b). He who knows the secret of the Two Breaths, knows that he and I are
One: The Two Breaths, Exhalation (Prana) and Inhalation (Apana), here
stand for Creation or Emission of the Universe from, and its Dissolution or
Absorption into, the Universal Consciousness.
Since one Exhalation and Inhalation run over a distance of 36 fingers
each, the number ascribed to the present verse (36 + 36 = 72) symbolises the
totality of the World-creating and World-absorbing Process as an activity of the Universal Consciousness or
Shiva. The fact is that Spiritually
ignorant man is out of tune with God, the Universe and himself. By cultivating an awareness of the natural
rhythms of life, which are the creative pulsation of consciousness, man can
elevate himself to higher stages of experience. Thus the Yogi who, by means of Spiritual
Insight, realises that his own life which manifests principally as the
breathing process consisting of in-breath and out-breath, and the Life of God
which manifests as the Universal Creation-Absorption Process though distinct
in degree and scope are nonetheless essentially identical, realises his
Identity with the Creator from Whom he was born and attains the state of
Supreme Unity and Enlightenment. This
is what the Supreme Lord Himself declares for the upliftment of man. End of Chapter 2 and Commentary |