Dharma Kirtan: Greatest Verses from Yoga Vasistha
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Just as the trees on the bank of a lake are reflected
in the water, so also all these varied objects are reflected in
the vast mirror of our consciousness.
Even though bondage does not really exist, it
becomes strong through desire for worldly enjoyments;
when this desire subsides bondage becomes weak.
Like waves rising up from the ocean the unstable
mind rises out of the vast and stable expanse of the Supreme Self.
This world, though unreal, appears to exist
and is the cause of life-long suffering to an ignorant person, just as a (non-existent) ghost (is the cause of
fear) to a boy.
One who has no idea of gold sees only the bracelet.
He does not at all have the idea that it is merely gold.
The world is full of misery to an ignorant man
and full of bliss to a wise man. The world is dark to a
blind man and bright to one who has eyes.
The bliss of a man of discrimination, who has
rejected samsara and discarded all mental concepts,
constantly increases.
Like clouds which suddenly appear in a clear
sky and as suddenly dissolve, the entire universe (appears)
in the Self and (dissolves in it).
Just as the cloth, when investigated, is seen to
be nothing but thread, so also this world, when enquired
into, is (seen to be) merely the Self.
Just as the foam, the waves, the dew and the bubbles are not different from water, even so this world which has come out of the Self is not different from the Self
.
No more is it the Egyptian Amenthes, the region of judgment and purification; nor the Onderah – the abyss of darkness of the Hindus; for even the fallen angels hurled into it by Shiva, are allowed by Parabrahma to consider it as an intermediate state, in which an opportunity is afforded them to prepare for higher degrees of purification and redemption from their wretched condition.
Hell, Jesus used it but as an ordinary metaphor. Whence then came the dreary dogma of Archimedean lever of Christian theology, with which they have succeeded to hold in subjection the numberless millions of Christians for nineteen centuries?
#7. ATMA – The Divine Part
Atma (also written “Atman”) is the highermost and supreme part of man’s spiritual being. It is pure eternal Spirit. It is the Higher Self, the Divine Self, the Real Self of the human being and it is literally one and the same in essence and identity as the Infinite Supreme Self. This is in accordance with the fundamental teaching of Hinduism; that our Self (the Atman) IS the Supreme Self (Brahman). Atman literally means Self. It is the only one of our Principles to which the unqualified term “the Self” may be applied.
It is not an individual thing. There is no such thing as “my Atman” or “your Atman.” The Eternal Spirit is neither yours nor mine and is not the separate individual possession of anyone. There is neither “my Atman” nor “your Atman” but only THE Atman, the ONE Universal Self of all. It is here that all is truly one. The golden key to understanding universal oneness, divine allness, and non-duality (and thus the key to world peace!) is contained in this teaching about the Atman. I am the Atman. You are the Atman. Atman is Who and What we really are. It is our essential nature, it is our true self, it is the All IN All. In fact, It is the one and only Reality. As the Upanishads say, “This Atman IS Brahman.”
Since the Atman is literally Divinity Itself, we should always remember that it never incarnates or reincarnates, nor is it ever affected by our Karma or even by anything whatsoever. It just simply IS.
ATHHOR UNKNOWN
Jagadguru Sri Sankaracharya, who was an Avatara of Lord Siva, delved into the precious wisdom of the Upanishads and brought out the most rare gem in the form of the unparalleled Advaita philosophy or the Monistic idealism which gives you, in a nutshell, the glorious truth that you are in essence Divine beings, ever perfect, free, full and blissful. This idea is contained in his famous memorable Sloka: ‘Slokardhena pravakshyami yaduktam granthakotibhih, Brahma satyam jaganmithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah.’ This gives the very essence of all spiritual wisdom, and it is the last word in the transcendental realisation expressed in the form of this famous Sloka. Bliss is to be found in the spiritual Reality which is within you. Realise this and be free.
According to Jain Philosophy Moksha is an ecstatic state of existence of a soul, completely free from the karmic bondage, free from samsara, the cycle of birth and death. A released soul believed to have attained its true and pristine nature of infinite bliss, infinite knowledge and infinite perception. Such a soul is called siddha or paramatman and conceived as supreme soul or God. In Jainism, it is the highest and the noblest objective that a soul should endeavour to achieve. It fact, it is the only objective that a person should have; other objectives are adverse to the true nature of soul. With right faith, knowledge and efforts all souls can achieve this state.
“The Universe is founded in Consciousness and guided by it. Just as the Soul is the reality underlying the conscious powers of an individual, so is the Supreme Soul (God), the eternal quiet underneath the drive and activity of the Universe.”
I believe in a spiritual world – not as anything separate from this world – but as its innermost truth. With the breath we draw we must always feel this truth that we are living in God.
“I am’ itself is God. The seeking itself is God. In seeking you discover that you are neither the body nor mind, and the love of the self in you is for the self in all. The two are one. The consciousness in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, really one, seek unity and that is love.”
“You do not need any preacher or prophet to learn about God. The teaching is spread on the trees and the mountains, on the stars and the river, on the Sun and the moon. The ultimate teaching is written in your heart. You just need to wake up and see.”
. All great men think alike, and all great masters taught the same religion and the same gospel. Whether it is Christ or Krishna or Buddha, it makes no difference because they are only tongues of the same fire of THE birth of Heaven on Earth 11 religion, rays of the same sun of the Eternal. When this concept of religion rises in our hearts, we can be said to be celebrating the true Christmas because if at all there was anything worthwhile in the life of Christ, it was spirituality; it was God-awareness. His life was saturated with God-being; and our adoration of the Christ, or the incarnation of God, is nothing but an attempt of our own soul to participate in that process of the divine incarnation. It is the soul’s interpretation of the birth of the Divine Eternal through the religious consciousness which is true Christianity, different from the religion of the church, but the religion of the Christ; different from the religion of the temple, but the religion of God and Krishna.
“I choose to love you in silence… For in silence I find no rejection,
11. ‘He who dwells in the moon and the stars, yet is within the moon and the stars, whom the moon and the stars do not know, whose body the moon and the stars are, who controls the moon and the stars from within, he is your self, the inner controller, the immortal.’
12. ‘He who dwells in the ether, yet is within the ether, whom the ether does not know, whose body the ether is, who controls the ether from within, he is your self, the inner controller, the immortal.’
13. ‘He who dwells in the darkness, yet is within the darkness, whom the darkness does not know, whose body the darkness is, who controls the darkness from within, he is your self, the inner controller, the immortal.’
1. In the beginning this (world) was only the self, in the shape of a person. Looking around he saw nothing else than the self. He first said, ‘I am.’ Therefore arose the name of I. Therefore, even to this day when one is addressed he says first ‘This is I’ and then speaks whatever other name he may have. Because before all this, he burnt all evils, therefore he is a person. He who knows this, verily, burns up him who wishes to be before him.
2. He was afraid. Therefore one who is alone is afraid. This one then thought to himself, ‘since there is nothing else than myself, of what am I afraid?’ Thereupon his fear, verily, passed away, for, of what should he have been afraid? Assuredly it is from a second that fear arises.
3. He, verily, had no delight. Therefore he who is alone has no delight. He desired a second. He became as large as a woman and a man in close embrace. He caused that self to fall into two parts. From that arose husband and wife. Therefore, as Yajnavalkya used to say, this (body) is one half of oneself, like one of the two halves of a split pea. Therefore this space is filled by a wife. He became united with her. From that human beings were produced.
In Indian philosophy, the main terms used by Hindus and Buddhists have dynamic connotations. The word Brahman is derived from the Sanskrit root brih - to grow- and thus suggests a reality which is dynamic and alive. The Upanishads refer to Brahman as 'this unformed, immortal, moving', thus associating it with motion even though it transcends all forms.' The Rig Veda uses another term to express the dynamic character of the universe, the term Rita. This word comes from the root ri- to move. In its phenomenal aspect, the cosmic One is thus intrinsically dynamic, and the apprehension of its dynamic nature is basic to all schools of Eastern mysticism.
They all emphasize that the universe has to be grasped dynamically, as it moves, vibrates and dances. ..The Eastern mystics see the universe as an inseparable web, whose interconnections are dynamic and not static. The cosmic web is alive; it moves and grows and changes continually.Hindu cosmology is non-dualistic. Everything that is is Brahman. Brahman is the eternal Now, and in eternity there is no before or after, for everything is everywhere, always. To use the words of Pascal 'it is a circle the center of which is everywhere and the circumference nowhere.'
OM Asato ma sadgamaya, tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, mrityor mamritam gamaya
" OM Lead me from falsehood to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality."
Though One, Brahman is the cause of the many.
Brahman is the unborn (aja) in whom all existing things abide. The One manifests as the many, the formless putting on forms. (Rig Veda)
Behold but One in all things; it is the second that leads you astray. (Kabir)
The fundamental element of the cosmos is Space. Space is the all-embracing principle of higher unity. Nothing can exist without Space. .. According to ancient Indian tradition the Universe reveals itself in two fundamental properties: as Motion and as that in which motion takes place, namely Space. This Space is called Akasa .. derived from the root kas, 'to radiate, to shine', and has therefore the meaning of ether which is conceived as the medium of movement. The principle of movement, however, is Prana, the breath of life, the all-powerful, all-pervading rhythm of the universe.
“Illumination dissolves all material ties and binds men together with the golden chains of spiritual understanding: it acknowledges only the leadership of the Christ: it has no ritual or rule but the divine, impersonal universal Love: no other worship than the inner Flame that is ever lit at the shrine of Spirit. This union is the free state of spiritual brotherhood. The only restraint is the discipline of Soul: therefore, we know liberty without license: we are a united universe without physical limits, a divine service to God without ceremony or creed. The illumined walk without fear — by Grace.”
“Immortality is attained in proportion as personal sense is overcome, whether here or hereafter. As we put off the personal ego and attain the consciousness of our real Self – the Reality of us, divine Consciousness – we attain immortality. And that can be achieved here and now.”
God, then, is this Infinite Spirit which fills all the universe with Himself alone, so that all is from Him and in Him, and there is nothing that is outside. Indeed and in truth, then, in Him we live and move and have our being. He is the life of our life, our very life itself. We have received, we are continually receiving our life from Him. We are partakers of the life of God; and though we differ from Him in that we are individualized spirits, while He is the Spirit including us as well as all else beside, yet in essence the life of God and the life of man are identically the same, and so are one. They differ not in essence, in quality; they differ in degree.
Blessed aspirants, ‘Moksha’ is freedom from births and deaths and the attainment of supreme Immortal Bliss. Moksha is the goal of life. Moksha Gita is the essence of Vedanta and all Upanishads. It is the “Song of Salvation”. It will throw much light on the spiritual path and help you all in the attainment of freedom and Immortality.
May the Lord bless you