Oct 2021 notes: Kaivalya Navneetam, Dnyaneshwari etc.

 From Kaivalya navneetam:

“Are you able to stay unshaken as a mere witness? 

Have all your doubts disappeared? 

Or, does the sense of differentiation creep in at times?

Tell me your condition

4. On this the disciple said: 

Master, how can the the phantoms of differentiation, 

(which can roam about only in the darkness of ignorance, 

in the wilderness of worldly life,) 

appear to the inner vision in the broad daylight of wisdom

 after the sun of your teaching has risen over the summit of your Grace?

5. Even after the devil is exorcized, just as the person who was possessed is further protected by a talisman against any return of the trouble, so also, though my ignorance has already been dispelled by your teaching, yet, Master, I seek more from you that I may be firmly fixed in the Self.

6. You said, “Know it from the scriptures (that the Self is Brahman), non-dual Brahman cannot be reached by speech (study or discussion). 

It must be realized in the Heart. 

Self shining Brahman cannot be reached by the miserable mind.” 

Please clear what seems to be the contraction of these two statements.

9. A girl says “not he”, “not he” of all others, and remains shy and silent when her lover is pointed out. In the same way, the Vedas clearly deny when is not Brahman, “not this”, “not this”, and indicate Brahman by silence.

20. Master: The annihilation of the mind is of two grades: namely, of the mind pattern and of the mind itself.

The former applies to Sages liberated while alive; the latter to disembodied Sages. Elimination of rajas and tamas, leaving sattva alone is the dissolution of the pattern of the mind.

When sattva vanishes along with the subtle body, the mind itself is said to have perished too.

...

28. Disciple: It is right that they alone can practice true wisdom who have deliberately discarded the joys of life here and hereafter? Can those who have turned away from worldly activities and rituals to tread the path of Liberation ever turn back to the old methods? Are not hearing, reasoning and meditation necessary to make the mind firm?

29. Master: They who do not know, must learn the Truth as taught by the scriptures and Masters. 

Those who have doubts must engage in reasoning. 

Those who are in the grip of wrong knowledge must practice meditation.

Can there be anything wanting for those who have become the real ethereal Being-Consciousness-Perfection?.

..\

33. Master: Activities end when prarabdha ends. 

Is not practice of samadhi or worldly work an activity of the mind? 

Being one with the transcendent Self, can he do anything different from It? 

Should he be practicing samadhi, he cannot be said to be established in the Self.

....

In the same manner, the jiva whose limitations are destroyed is withdrawn into its source, the Self, but the other jivas are not.

..

53. Master: 

My son, those of in-turned mind will realize the everlasting “That”. 

62. Now here is the vital point: 

Rebirths will be at an end for him who adopts with perseverance 

the way to Deliverance shown by God in the scriptures,

 follows the Sages,

 gives up his evil propensities,

 discriminates the Real from the unreal, 

rejects the illusion born of ignorance and 

gains Wisdom (by realizing the Self). 

Then and then only, will rebirths be at an end for him. This is the Truth.

...

63. This Wisdom can be gained by a long course of practice of unceasing enquiry into the Self. 

67. Likewise, enquiry alone can lead to the knowledge revealed in the Vedas, which only point to Brahman indirectly. 

Knowledge of the Self cannot be gained by a study of the Vedas, feeding the hungry, performing austerities, repeating mantras, righteous conduct, sacrifices and what not.

71. A man who has forgotten where he left his things in the house cannot recover them by weeping even for a hundred years. 

But he will get them only if he thinks the matter over and finds out.

 The Self is realized directly by Knowledge which destroys forgetfulness (ignorance),

 the root-cause of all misery, 

but it cannot be realized by any amount of hard work, though extended over several aeons (Yugas).

...

Meditation such as “I am Brahman” is certainly different from Knowledge obtained by enquiry. To formulate one thing as another is forced yoga.

 Direct Knowledge (gained by experience) can alone be true. Do not be deceived by fanciful ideas.

imp=83 

83. Knowledge is the result of direct experience, whereas meditation is mere mental imagery of something heard. 

That which is heard from others will be wiped off the memory, but not that which is experienced. Therefore that which is experienced is alone real, but not those things that are meditated upon. 

Know that knowledge, but not karma, is the destroyer of ignorance at sight. 

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From Dnyaneshwari:

11. Constant pursuit of knowledge of Self, 

and insight into the aim of true wisdom, 

all these are known as (the means of) knowledge. 

Everything else is ignorance.

He is firmly convinced that the knowledge through which one experiences the Supreme Self, is true knowledge and that the knowledge which leads to worldly prosperity and heaven, is nothing but ignorance.

 He does not long for heaven, 

neglects his worldly affairs and

becomes engrossed in the thoughts about Self. 

Just as a wayfarer, makes careful enquiries at the crossroads and avoids the by-path, he fixes his mind and intellect on the knowledge of the Self (616-620). 

Then his intellect becomes steady like the mountain Meru with the conviction, that the knowledge of the Self, is the only true knowledge and every other knowledge is delusive.

 Just as the pole star remains steady in the sky, he keeps his mind steady on the knowledge of the Self. 

There is no doubt that knowledge dwells in such a person.

When his knowledge of Self becomes impressed on his mind, he becomes one with Me. 

When a person has just sat down, you cannot say that he is seated, the same is the case with knowledge, unless knowledge becomes firmly implanted in his own mind, one cannot call him a man of wisdom. 

Then he sets his sight on the fruit of that knowledge, which is the knowable (Brahman) (621-625).

 If one does not realise the knowable, then he cannot be said to have attained knowledge.

 Of what use is a lamp in the hand of a blind man? 

So if he acquires knowledge but does not realise the knowable, then his knowledge becomes worthless. 

If the intellect does not reach Brahman in the light of knowledge, then it is blind.

 He longs to attain that knowledge by which he sees the supreme Brahman everywhere and then he becomes endowed with that spotless knowledge by which he realises Brahman (626-630). 

The development of his intellect keeps pace with the development of this knowledge. Then it does not need to be said in so many words, that he has become knowledge incarnate.

 He, whose intellect comes into contact with this knowledge, experiences the touch of God. Is there any wonder if I say that he has become of the very nature of knowledge? Is it necessary to point out the sun as the sun?

........

He who has not even a nodding acquaintance with the knowledge of the Self, cannot know the true import of that knowledge. 

......

With the realisation of this knowledge, the thoughtful persons do not allow worldly existence to raise its head. 

By withdrawing the mind from the sense-objects, they become tranquil and do not come under the sway of the body, even though possessed of the body (46-50). 

Then, they cross over the hedge of the body and come up to the same level as Myself, with an equable mind.

...

26.  .... Just as there is no difference between the earth particles and earth or the snow particles and the Himalayas, so see the universe as abiding in Me (381-385). 

Even the smallest wave is not different from the sea; so the Self is not distinct from God.

 If one attains this blissful state of vision of one’s identity with God, it is the highest form of devotion.

 This vision is the quintessence of knowledge and Yoga. 

Just as the mutual relation between the sea and the cloud has a continuous flow, so his mental attitude remains the same. 

Just as there is no joint connecting the mouth of the well with the sky, similar is his oneness with the Supreme Self (386-390).

.................

chp 15

....The main purport of the Gita is to demonstrate the unreality of the world and to impart the knowledge of the real nature of the Self.

3.     ..................Did not this tree become strong, because of man’s ignorance of his true Self? 

One should therefore, fell it by means of Self-knowledge.

If you make use of remedies other than this knowledge, you will become more and more entangled in this tree.

 How long can you go up and down the branches of this tree? 

So cut down the branches of this tree and cut down its root, which is ignorance, by true knowledge of the Self (246-250). 

Otherwise it would be like gathering sticks to kill the (illusory) serpent, imagined in a rope or getting drowned in a real forest stream, while running in search of a boat, to cross the mirage.


 Oh warrior, while one devises means for destroying this world-tree, one deprived of Self-knowledge becomes possessed of the notion, that the world affairs are real. 


O winner of wealth, just as the waking state is the only way to get rid of a wound caused in a dream, so one needs the sword of knowledge to cut the root of world-tree, which is ignorance.

In order to wield this sword of knowledge without effort, the intelligence needs the constant support of non-attachment (251-255).

When this non-attachment becomes firm, 

it goes beyond righteousness, acquisition of riches and passion, 

in the way a dog vomits foul food consumed by it. 


O Arjuna, when one forms a loathing for every object, this non-attachment grows strong. 

Then one should take out the sword of knowledge from its sheath, in the form of body-consciousness and hold it firmly in the hand, in the form of intellect, 

which is looking inwards.

 Then after rubbing this sword on the whetstone of discrimination, it should be sharpened and cleaned, on the notion ‘I am Brahman’.

 Then holding this sword in one’s firm grip of resolve, one should brandish it once or twice and then balance it in his hand on the strength of reflection (256-260).

 When the wielder of the weapon becomes one with the weapon, there is nothing in the world which can withstand its onslaught. 

That sword of the Self-knowledge, will then, by means of its splendour of non-dualism, not allow the world-tree to exist anywhere. 

Just as at the start of autumn, the wind clears the sky of all clouds or as the rising sun destroys all darkness, or as the waking state ends the confused state of the mind in a dream, so the sharpened edge of the sword of knowledge, does its work.

 Then as the mirage disappears in the moon-light, the upper and lower roots of the world-tree and the expansion of its branches cease to exist (261-265).

Therefore, O best of warriors, you should cut down this top-rooted Ashvattha tree by means of the sword of Self-knowledge.



4. .....Then they should realise the Self which cannot be referred to as ‘this’ or ‘that’ and which destroys the ego.

 But you should refrain from the notion of duality, which the fools entertain by looking into the mirror.

You should view this Self, in such a way, as the water springs remain intact, even when the well is filled up

 or as the sun’s reflection returns to the original disc, when the water in which it is reflected dries up,

 or as the space in the earthen pot merges in the sky when the pot breaks (266-270) 

or as the fire becomes extinguished, when the fuel is burnt up.

One should scrutinize one’s Self, as the tongue tastes itself 

or the eye sees its eye-ball. 

Just as splendour merges in itself, as the sky rolls on itself, 

or the water remains in water, 

I declare that one should view oneself with a non-dual vision.

4......The Vedas describe him with the help of limiting conditions (upadhis) and raise a noisy clamour in vain, that he has name and form. 

But those who are tired of heavenly and worldly pleasures, take a vow that they would never return to this world. 

They resort to Yoga and knowledge.

 Then, becoming indifferent to the world, they lay a wager to turn their back on mundane existence and even go beyond the abode of god Brahma, which is attainable through the way of action (276-280).

.........

It is only those who are completely saturated with the knowledge of the Self, 

-similar to the world being brimful with water at the time of the deluge- 

attain to the Supreme Self.

..............

Just as relations get tired of a poor and cruel person and desert him, they do not get into the clutches of emotions. 

Just as a plantain tree topples down after bearing bananas, so with the realisation of the Self, their activities slowly come to a stop. 

Just as birds fly away from a tree, which has caught fire, all fancies leave them and go away. 

They do not even become aware of the notion of duality, 

which produces sprouts of grass, in the form of shortcomings in the Field. 

Just as darkness disappears with dawn, their body-consciousness leaves them along with ignorance (286-290).

..........

These thoughtful persons are like swans, that consume the milk of Self-knowledge, after separating it from the water, in the form of not-Self. 

.........

Just as the sun sends showers of rain to the earth and absorbs it through his rays (by the process of evaporation), so the Supreme Self, which had seemingly become scattered into different directions, becomes consolidated into the vision of Self.

Their thoughts become firmly grounded in the Supreme Self, as the flow of the river Ganga becomes merged in the sea.

............

But, even if a man attains this knowledge and possesses keen intellect, to penetrate through atom and becomes proficient in all lores, but is lacking in non-attachment, he will not attain to Me, the all-pervading one. 

...........

Even if he talks glibly about discrimination, but at the same time entertains thoughts of sense-objects in his mind, he will definitely not attain to Me.

..........

In this way the states of wakefulness and dream, which spring from false knowledge, become dissolved in ignorance. 

Like fire which is extinguished after burning firewood, this knowledge, after destroying ignorance, experiences the Supreme Self and vanishes.

 That which remains behind after knowledge ceases to exist, is the Supreme Person.

 This is the third purusha different from the other two purushas.

This is the ultimate truth of the doctrine of purusha.

.......

Through this knowledge of Self, one attains union with the Supreme Self (581-585) and all activity comes to a stop, knowing that its life’s work is fulfilled. 

O great warrior, just as with the recovery of the missing article, the search comes to an end, so when the dome of knowledge is built on the temple of activity, all actions cease. 

chp 16

3.  ....Disinterested activity and discrimination of the mind are the signs of external and internal purity.

................

When a person longs to pursue the path of knowledge for God-realisation, he does not feel the lack of strength. 

There is nothing so dreadful than immolation, but a chaste wife does not hesitate to enter the pyre of her dead husband.

 In the same way, a person longing to attain his Lord, the Self, rejects sensuous pleasures like poison and treads the difficult path leading to the formless Brahman. 

In this journey, he is not obstructed by precepts or prohibitions nor is he lured by the miraculous powers.

 In this way, his mind is directed, of its own accord, towards the Supreme Self and this is known as spiritual vigour (186-190).

.............

To sustain courage and stand steadfast on occasions of extreme perturbation of the mind, is what is known as fortitude.

.........

Just as the salt, when dropped in water, which is its original state, becomes merged in it, so the mind, having realised the Self, loses its essential nature. How then could emotions and other tendencies arise in such a mind?

.

How could his mind rush along the road of the senses and reach the town of sense-objects? 

Then the tendencies of the mind become pure, in the way the palm of a person is free from hair (231-235).

 O Arjuna, when the mind reaches this state, it is said to possess the austerity of the mind. 

Such are the characteristics of the austerity of the mind.

........

When an elephant in rut comes face to face with a roaring lion, he forgets to put his foot down, which he had raised (to attack an enemy). 

So when the sattvic steadiness rises in the heart, all the activities of the mind, life breath and senses come to a stop. 

Then the bond between the senses and their objects automatically ceases and all the senses enter the womb of their mother i.e. the mind (instead of turning to their objects). 

The prana, which moves upward and upward, being blocked, along with the nine different vital airs, enters the sushumna nadi, and the mind being stripped of its garments, in the form of desires and fancies, the intellect remains quiet behind it (736-740). 

In this way, that firm steadiness brings the functions of the mind, vital airs and senses to a standstill and confines them through the power of Yoga in the chamber of meditation.

 It then keeps them shut up there and prevents them from succumbing to any temptations, until it delivers them to their Lord, the Supreme Self. 

That is the sattvic steadiness,

.........

45...   ... This non-attachment is like the dawn, which heralds the sun-rise in the form of Self-realisation. 

It is the Divine collyrium, which shows him the buried treasure in the form of Self-knowledge and he applies it whole-heartedly to his inward eye. 

In this way, O Arjuna, by performing prescribed actions, he makes himself worthy for the attainment of liberation (901-905

49. He whose intellect is unattached to all things, 

who is self-restrained 

and free from desire, 

attains the highest perfection, 

 through renunciation (of the fruit of action,) ....

which is freedom from action.

As the wind is not entangled in a net, he is not entangled in the snares of mundane existence, such as the body. 

Just as when the fruit becomes ripe, it does not cling to the stem, nor the stem remains attached to the fruit, so his attachment to the worldly life, diminishes. 

Even though his son, wealth and wife act according to his wishes, he does not call them his own.

 Now his intellect, which had been scorched by sensual enjoyments, turns inward to the contemplation of the Self. 

Even if his mind wanders and comes into contact with sense-objects, he never forgets the oath he has taken, not to go after them (956-960). 

Then holding his mind in the grip of unity, he makes it cherish the Self. 

Just as the smoke is smothered by the dust covering the fire, his desire for sense-enjoyment in this and the next world, is destroyed.

 In short, he attains to this plane of Yoga. 

With the cessation of false knowledge, 

he remains absorbed in the knowledge of the Self. 

Just as stored water gets exhausted by gradual use, so his accumulated karma from past lives gets expiated by being enjoyed in his present body and his mind does not feel like doing fresh deeds (961-965).

When the sun rises, light envelops darkness from all sides. When camphor comes into contact with lamp, it becomes a lamp (981-985). When a granule of salt is dropped in water, it becomes water. When a person wakes up from sleep, his sleep along with dream ends and he resumes his conscious state.

So if he hears the instruction of the Master through good fortune, his mind sheds the notion of duality and rests in the nature of the Self.

51........so his intellect, after being purified, becomes attracted to the Self.

Just as a woman from a good family leaves the homes of her parents and parents-in-law and follows her husband, so his intellect, discarding the notion of dualism, becomes absorbed in the meditation of the Self.

 He has eliminated the five sense-objects, which he had prized so long in the life, of acquiring the desired knowledge, in the same way as the withdrawal of the rays by the sun (at sunset) destroys the mirage.

52. Dwelling in solitude, eating sparingly, subdued in speech, body and mind, ever intent on the practice of meditation, and resorting to dispassion,

He dwells in solitude in a forest, far from the maddening crowd in company of his own body and organs.

 Restraint of the senses and self-control become his recreation and he observes silence.

 He is not even conscious how his time passes in meditating, over the instruction of his Guru.

......

After conquering body, speech and mind, he turns to the sky of concentrated meditation.

 Just as one sees one’s face clearly in the mirror, he then scrutinizes the nature of his Self, as instructed by his Guru.

......

Meditation ordinarily consists of the meditator, the state of meditation and the object of meditation. 

O Son of Pandu, one has to meditate until the object of meditation, the act of meditation and the meditation all become one. 

Therefore the seeker who is intent upon attaining the knowledge of Self, takes recourse to the Yoga of meditation (1031-1035).

 

.....

Then, pressing the heel of his right foot against the perineum between the genital organs and the rectum and contracting the lower region, he practices the three bandhas (physico-psychic postures) and he unites the life-breaths. 

With the control of breath, the Serpent Power wakes up and when the passage of Sushumna opens up, she ascends, by piercing all the six centers from the Muladhara to the Ajna. 

Then, the cloud in the form of thousand petalled lotus, in the brahmarandhra sends showers of nectar, which flows through the sushumna passages, until it reaches the Muladhara center. 

Then the Kundalini places in a broken piece of a pitcher, a hotch-potch of cooked rice and pulses, in the form of the mind and the breaths before the terrible deity (Bhairava) dancing on the mountain of Brahmurandhra (1036-1040). 

In this way, he practices the yogic discipline steadily for the attainment of Self-knowledge and in order to ward off obstacles in the way, he makes friends with non-attachment. 

This non attachment keeps him company, in all the yogic states. If one has a lamp in hand, why should there by any delay in seeing the desired thing? So long as the seeker has the company of non-attachment, how can he meet with obstacles in his yogic practice (1041-1045)? 

Therefore, that fortunate person who practices Yoga combined with non-attachment, becomes qualified for the attainment of Brahman. 

Such a one, who wears the armour of non-attachment and rides on the horse of raja yoga, arms himself with the sword of meditation, in order to slash any obstacles, big or small, which come in the way. In this way, as the sun enters darkness, he enters the battlefield in the form of worldly existence, in order to gain victory in the form of deliverance.

...

53.....   ....The holy Ganges slackens its speed, after it joins the sea or an amorous wife calms down after meeting her husband. A plantain stops its growth, after bearing fruit or a journey ends after reaching the destination. In the same way, after he knows that he is about to realise the Self, then he lays down slowly his arms in the form of spiritual practices. O Arjuna, when the time comes when he is to attain union with Brahman, then his yogic practice comes to an end. 

Then he attains perfect peace, which is the consummation of non-attachment, the end of the study of knowledge and the fulfillment of his yogic practice and becomes qualified to become Brahman (1081-1085

....

55. ....   ..... When he is awakened, 

he knows that he is all alone, 

that he is the sun, the light-giver, 

as well the object lighted 

and that these two are not different from each other.

 Since I am all-pervasive, all movements (of the devotee who is merged in Myself) stop and this absence of movement, becomes his pilgrimage to My non-dual state. 

...

When the object of knowledge disappears, only the knower remains and he realises that one who knows, is also Myself. 

..

He realises that this knowledge of non-dualism is also Myself, the Supreme spirit. 

Then the knowledge dawns upon him, that he himself is the Supreme Self, who is beyond dualism and non-dualism and then that knowledge turns into realisation (1201-1205).

Thus, as the state which one attains, after waking up disappears, he does not know what state he has entered into, or as the gold ornaments appear as gold without their being melted, or when the salt is dissolved in water, the water acquires the salty taste and when that water becomes evaporated that salty taste too disappears, so when the term ‘he’ ceases to exist, how can the term ‘I’ subsist? 

In this way, the notions of ‘he’ and ‘I’ cease to exist, and he merges into My being (1205-1210). Just as when the camphor is burnt up, both the camphor and fire also vanish and only the sky beyond them remains or when one is deducted from one the remainder is zero, so what remains after subtracting what is and what is not, is Myself.

 In that state, all talk about Brahman, the Self and the Lord becomes meaningless and even refraining from speech, also has no scope there.

.............yyy

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