#Chāndogya

[dejahisashmom]

India’s Vedic Sanskrit Upanishads: Foundation of Religions and Karma! | Ancient Origins

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/upanishads-0016125

[filmcentury]

Now, this light shines beyond heaven, beyond the universe, in every aspect it is complete perfection. Shining in the unsurpassed, highest worlds, it indeed is this which is the inner light in a person.

— Chāndogya Upanishad 3.13.7

[blushlillyyy]

• Prajnānam Brahma : divine consciousness is the supreme reality (brahman) (aitareya : 5.3)

• Aham Brahmāsmi : I am brahman ( brihadāranyaka : 1.4.10)

• Tat tvam asi : you are that (brahman) (chāndogya: 6.8.7)

• Ayam ātmā Brahma : this indwelling self is brahman ( Māndukya :2)

[vivekkumar66335]

Sarvam khalvidam Brahmam

👆

Aghori Baba from Tamilnadu / South India staying at Bakreswar Temple, West Bengal - Shakthi peet temple.

Ordinary people  (Pasu -  have no curiosity to explore what is BEYOND BASIC THOUGHT ) ,  will be skeptical about Tantric practices. 

Only few are given curiosity to go beyond scepticism   and explore higher things

After “Chakra anustan” Aghori baba says “ Sarvam khalvidam Brahmam” - Everything we  experience is Divine

Divine God is going through experiences by the drama (thiruvilayadal) enacted through us.

We share all experiences of our life with a “collective consciousness “ GOD

👇

Bakreswar Temple, West Bengal  - Shakthi peet temple , where chakra anustan was performed by Aghori baba

👇

[bhagvadgita]

Verse 10.41 - Vibhuti Yoga

यद्यद्विभूतिमत्सत्त्वं श्रीमदूर्जितमेव वा ।

तत्तदेवावगच्छ त्वं मम तेजोऽशसम्भवम् ॥ ४१ ॥

yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṁ śrīmad ūrjitam eva vā

tat tad evāvagaccha tvaṁ mama tejo ’nśa-sambhavam

Whatever being is glorious, prosperous or powerful, you should understand that to be born of a fraction of My splendor.

- In this verse, the Lord declares that He is the source of all opulence, beauty and glory in the world. He says that whatever we see as magnificent, attractive or influential, is nothing but a spark of His infinite splendor. He wants us to recognize His presence and supremacy in all His wonderful manifestations.

- This verse also implies that we should not be attached or deluded by the worldly splendor, which is temporary and illusory. We should not be proud or envious of our own or others' achievements, which are dependent on the grace of God. We should not forget our true identity as the eternal souls, who are parts and parcels of God, and who are meant to serve and love Him.

- This verse also inspires us to appreciate and worship God's splendor in all His creation. We should not be indifferent or hostile to anyone or anything, but see them as expressions of God's energy. We should cultivate a vision of unity and harmony, and offer our gratitude and devotion to God, who is the origin and sustainer of everything.

Some similar verses from other Vedic texts are:

- Īśopaniṣad Verse 6:

यस्मात् सर्वाणि भूतानि आत्मन्येवानुपश्यति ।

सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं ततो न विजुघुप्सते ॥

yasmat sarvāṇi bhūtāni ātmanyevānupaśyati

sarvabhūteṣu cātmānaṁ tato na vijugupsate

He who sees all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, he never hates anyone.

- Ṛgveda 1.164.46:

एकं सद् विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति ।

ekaṁ sad viprā bahudhā vadanti

The Truth is one, but the wise call it by many names.

- Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1:

सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म ।

sarvaṁ khalvidam brahma

All this is indeed Brahman (the Supreme Spirit).

[chaitanyavijnanam]

శ్రీమద్భగవద్గీత - 345: 09వ అధ్., శ్లో 07 / Bhagavad-Gita - 345: Chap. 09, Ver. 07

🌹. శ్రీమద్భగవద్గీత - 345 / Bhagavad-Gita - 345 🌹 ✍️. శ్రీ ప్రభుపాద, 📚. ప్రసాద్ భరద్వాజ 🌴. 9వ అధ్యాయము - రాజవిద్యా రాజగుహ్య యోగం - 07 🌴 07. సర్వభూతాని కౌన్తేయ ప్రకృతిమ యాన్తి మామికామ్ | కల్పక్షయే పునస్తాని కల్పాదౌ విసృజామ్యాహమ్ || 🌷. తాత్పర్యం :

ఓ కొన్తేయ! కల్పాంతమున సమస్త భౌతికసృష్టులు నా ప్రకృతి యందు ప్రవేశించును. తదుపరి కల్పారంభమున నేనే నా శక్తిచే వాటిని తిరిగి సృజింతును.

🌷. భాష్యము :

ఈ భౌతికసృష్టి యొక్క సృష్టి, స్థితి, లయములు సంపూర్ణముగా శ్రీకృష్ణభగవానుని దివ్యసంకల్పము పైననే ఆధారపడియుండును. ఇచ్చట కల్పాంతమనగా బ్రహ్మదేవుని నిర్వాణము పిదప యని భావము. నూరు సంవత్సరములు జీవించు ఆ బ్రహ్మదేవుని ఒక పగలు 4,300,000,000 భూలోక సంవత్సరములతో సమానము. అతని రాత్రి సమయము కూడా అంతే కాలపరిమాణమును కలిగియుండును. అనగా అతని మాసమున అట్టి పగలు మరియు రాత్రి సమయములు ముప్పదియుండగా, అతని సంవత్సరకాలము పన్నెండు అట్టి మాసములను కలిగియుండును.

అటువంటి వంద సంవత్సరములు గడచిన పిమ్మట బ్రహ్మదేవుడు తనువును చాలించినపుడు ప్రళయము సంభవించును. అనగా అట్టి సమయమున అంతవరకు ప్రదర్శితమైన శ్రీక���ష్ణభగవానుని శక్తి అతని యందే తిరిగి లయించిపోవును. మరల విశ్వసృష్టి అవసరమైనప్పుడు, ఆ భగవానుని సంకల్పముచే అది తిరిగి ప్రకటితమగును. కనుకనే “బహుస్యాం – నేనొక్కడనే అయినను బహురూపములు దాల్చుదును” అని తెలుపబడినది. ఇది చాందోగ్యోపనిషత్తు మంత్రము (6.2.3). శ్రీకృష్ణభగవానుడు ఆ రీతి భౌతికశక్తి యందు వ్యాపించినపుడు సమస్త విశ్వము తిరిగి ప్రకటితమగును.

🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹

🌹 Bhagavad-Gita as It is - 345 🌹 ✍️ Sri Prabhupada, 📚 Prasad Bharadwaj 🌴 Chapter 9 - Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga - 07 🌴 07 . sarva-bhūtāni kaunteya prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām kalpa-kṣaye punas tāni kalpādau visṛjāmy aham 🌷 Translation :

O son of Kuntī, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again.

🌹 Purport :

The creation, maintenance and annihilation of this material cosmic manifestation are completely dependent on the supreme will of the Personality of Godhead. “At the end of the millennium” means at the death of Brahmā. Brahmā lives for one hundred years, and his one day is calculated at 4,300,000,000 of our earthly years. His night is of the same duration. His month consists of thirty such days and nights, and his year of twelve months. After one hundred such years, when Brahmā dies, the devastation or annihilation takes place; this means that the energy manifested by the Supreme Lord is again wound up in Himself.

Then again, when there is a need to manifest the cosmic world, it is done by His will. Bahu syām: “Although I am one, I shall become many.” This is the Vedic aphorism (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.3). He expands Himself in this material energy, and the whole cosmic manifestation again takes place.

🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹

[prabhupadanugas]

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 26: श‍ुक्ल‍कृष्णे गती ह्येते जगत: शाश्वते मते । एकया यात्यनावृत्तिमन्ययावर्तते पुन: ॥ २६ ॥ śukla-kṛṣṇe gatī hy ete jagataḥ śāśvate mate ekayā yāty anāvṛttim anyayāvartate punaḥ According to Vedic opinion, there are two ways of passing from this world – one in light and one in darkness. When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns. https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/26/ https://vanisource.org/wiki/760308_-_Morning_Walk_-_Mayapur https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/?audio=Has+audio&type=Bhagavad-gita&chapter=8 https://prabhupada.io https://prabhupada.io/books/bg/8 https://bookchanges.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Bg-Chapter-8-diff.htm http://www.govindadasi.com https://www.facebook.com/govinda.dasi.9 https://vaniquotes.org/wiki/Main_Page The same description of departure and return is quoted by Ācārya Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (5.10.3–5). Those who are fruitive laborers and philosophical speculators from time immemorial are constantly going and coming. Actually they do not attain ultimate salvation, for they do not surrender to Kṛṣṇa. https://youtube.com/user/AmritanandadasRPS https://sites.google.com/view/sanatan-dharma https://m.facebook.com/HDG.A.C.Bhaktivedanta.Svami.Srila.Prabhupada.Uvaca/ https://www.bhagavad-gita.us/famous-reflections-on-the-bhagavad-gita/ #bhagavatam #srimadbhagavatam #vishnu #vishnupuran #harekrishna #harekrsna #harekrishna #harekrisna #prabhupada #bhagavadgita #bhagavadgitaasitis #bhagavadgītā #srilaprabhupada #srilaprabhupad #srilaprabhupadaquotes #asitis #india #indian #wayoflife #religion #goals #goaloflife #spiritual #bhakti #bhaktiyoga #chant #prasadam #picoftheday #photo #beautiful #usa https://www.instagram.com/p/CnEBJH1II2v/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[ulfwolf]

No Where-When -- Musing 265

Atman=Brahman

Beyond   Matter   Energy   Space   Time There’s no   where-when   to separate

The ultimate truth. In Buddhism, it is known as Sunnatā, Emptiness, the Void. According to the Buddha, it is beyond space and beyond time. It is beyond, period. Or as Gertrude Stein would have put it, there is no “there” there.

But this apparent nothingness harbors two enduring elements: Intent and Awareness—this and nothing else.

How it all began: I think that the Chāndogya Upanishad (6.2.1–3) nails it:

In the beginning, this world was just Being [i.e., Brahman]—one only, without a second. And it thought to itself—"Let me become many; let me multiply myself.” Each little self an Atman.

The vital truth is that the spirit does by intending. If there is no stuff around to act upon and/or through then intention alone is the doing.

Brahman, the only, without a second, intended and, voila, he’s many.

Today, he’s very, very, very, very, very many.

But here’s the rub, in order to become many, Brahman, the one only without a second had first to intend/invent space, for without it there would be no separation of one atman from the next and so, in a spaceless void, would still remain just the one. Space, then, is a requisite for multitude, for without it there is nowhere, nowhen, noway for separation or difference.

Nirvana, says the Buddha (and 2,500 years of commentary and musings, especially in the Mahayana camp, agree) is Emptiness and is beyond space and time. There really is no there there. And without a there, without space (and time, since for space to endure, well, it needs a clock), nothing can be separate.

That is how, these days, I view annatā, the Buddhist doctrine of non-self: Ultimately, separate selves are simply impossible: there’s no there (i.e., no space) to be separate in.

And I believe that in our very physical world, the self that insists on existing is best viewed as the ego, the somewhat selfish creature that insists on surviving as creature in space through time—having lost sight of the deeper truth that says that the only thing separating atman, the inner stillness, from Brahman, the outer stillness, is this precious ego, like a bubble in space. Same space inside as outside, separated by that soapy mental film we call ego.

Shed that and all will be well.

::

P.S. If you like what you’ve read here and would like to contribute to the creative motion, as it were, you can do so via PayPal: here.

[sanathanadharmasblog]

SHODASI MANTRA

MAHA SHODASI MANTRA

महाषोडशी मन्त्र

***************************🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

1. Om – ॐ

2. śrīṁ – hrīṁ – klīṁ – aiṁ – sauḥ:

श्रीं ह्रीं क्लीं ऐं सौः

3. om – hrīṁ – śrīṁ ॐह्रींश्रीं (3 bījas)

4. ka – e – ī – la- hrīṁ कएईलह्रीं (5 bījas)

5. ha – sa – ka – ha – la – hrīṁ

हसकहलह्रीं (6 bījas)

6. sa – ka – la – hrīṁ सकलह्रीं (4 bījas)

7. sauḥ – aiṁ – klīṁ – hrīṁ – śrīṁ सौःऐंक्लींह्रींश्रीं (5 bījas)

8. Namah नमः

It is always good to understand the meaning and significance of the mantra. The following are the details of the Maha Shodasi Mantra.

First line: om – śrīṁ – hrīṁ – klīṁ – aiṁ – sauḥ (ॐ श्रीं ह्रीं क्लीं ऐं सौः)

Place śrī bīja, then place māyā bīja, then kāma bīja, then vāgbhava bīja and finally parā bīja. Thus the first line of this mantra is formed.

Any mantra should start with ॐ. Kulārṇava Tantra (XV.57) says that not beginning a mantra without ॐ causes impurity of birth. Further, Chāndogya Upaniṣad begins by saying “om iti etat akṣaram udgītham upāsīta ॐ इति एतत् अक्षरम् उद्गीथम् उपासीत”. This means “this ॐ is closest to Brahman and recite this syllable as part of your worship”. The Vedas begin with ॐ. Going by the interpretation of Chāndogya Upaniṣad, ॐ at the beginning refers to Brahman. Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (1) also says that ॐ is both the cause and the effect. Therefore, ॐ should be prefixed to mahāṣoḍaśī mantra, without which the mantra becomes ineffective. Further reasoning is given while discussing sauḥ*.

Next to ॐ is śrīṁ (श्रीं), which is known as śrī bīja or Lakṣmī bīja. This is one of the most important bīja of mahāṣoḍaśī mantra. Bīja śrīṁ is capable of providing auspiciousness. It promotes positive attitude and positive growth in the mind of the aspirant. This bīja is the root cause for faith, devotion, love and ultimate surrender unto Her. First, one has to have to faith in divinity. This faith later transforms into devotion. When the devotion is strong, it turns into Love for Her. This love alone makes the aspirant to surrender unto Her. As śrī bīja is the cause for surrender unto Her, it leads the aspirant to liberation. Śrīṁ comprises of three letters śa + ra + ī + nāda(m) + bindu (dot) (श + र + ई and बिन्दु), where śa refers to Mahālakṣmī (Goddess of wealth), ra refers to wealth; ra bīja is also known as agni bīja and is capable of offering supernatural powers. Nāda is Consciousness about to manifest as the universe. It also means subtle sound. This can be best explained by ṁ. There is no other way to explain this. It is like humming nasal sound. The sound made after closing both the lips is nāda. Without nāda, bindu cannot be effective as bindu cannot be pronounced separately. Nādabindu refers to the union of Śiva and Śakti, where Nāda means Śakti and bindu means Śiva. The dot (bindu) above this bīja removes sorrows and negative energies in the mind of the aspirant. Based on this fact, it is said that Ṣoḍaśī mantra is capable of offering liberation or mokṣa. It is also said, “Ṣoḍaśī mantra kevalaṁ mokṣa sādhanam”, which means that only Ṣoḍaśī mantra offers liberation, which is the ultimate goal of everyone. Since liberation is not attainable that easily, Ṣoḍaśī mantra is said to be highly secretive in nature.

Next to श्रीं is hrīṁ ह्रीं, which is also known as māyā bīja. This is the combination of three letters ha + ra + ī and nāda and bindu (ह + र + ई + nāda + bindu. Ha refers to Divine Light of Śiva which also encompasses prāṇa and ākāśā, two important principles without which we cannot exist. The second component of hrīṁ is ra (र) which is also known as agni bīja. To the properties of ha, now the properties of ra are added. Properties of ra are fire (the fire that is needed for our sustenance), dharma (Agni is known for dharma) and of course agni, itself. It is said that when sun sets, it hands over its fire to Agni and takes it back when the sun rises again next day. Thus Agni also becomes a sustainer, like the sun. Śiva is also known as Prakāśa, the original divine Light. Third of part of hrīṁ is ī which focuses the aspirants energy and motivate him to pursue the path of dharma. Nāda refers to Universal Mother (the one who reflects the Light of Śiva to the world and She is also known as Vimarśa, meaning reflection, intelligence, etc) and the bindu (dot) is the dispeller of sorrow, which actually means dispelling innate ignorance, the reason for our sorrows.

Hrīṁ ह्रीं is also known as Bhuvaneśvarī bīja. Bhuvana means the earth and Īśvarī means the ruler. She is known as Bhuvaneśvarī because, She rules the earth. Ha means Śiva and ra means Prakṛti (which can be explained as Nature or original substance. Lalitā Sahasranāma 397 is Mūlaprakṛtiḥ, which is explained here). Ī means Mahāmāya, the Divine Power of illusion. Nāda means Śrī Mātā, the Universal Mother. The dot, known as bindu is the dispeller of sorrows. Therefore, hrīṁ can also be explained thus: Śiva (ha) and Śakti (ra) unite to cause creation (nāda) making a person afflicted with illusion. This illusion can be removed by both of them, if an aspirant contemplates them and this removal of ignorance is done through bindu or dot.

Next to hrīṁ ह्रीं is klīṁ क्लीं, which is known as kāma bīja. This bīja draws divine energy towards the aspirant. It acts like a magnet. This bīja is known as power of attraction. Kāma here does not mean lust, but means the desire to get into the state of Bliss (one among the four puruṣārtha-s. Four puruṣārtha-s are dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa). It completes the process of desire to attain Her. Attaining Her and entering into the state of Bliss go together. It increases the level of devotion. This bīja has got three parts – ka + la + am. Ka refers to desire to achieve Her Grace, la refers to contentment in one’s life, which reduces our desires and attachments and am gives happiness and joy. There are interpretations that ka also refers to Lord Kṛṣṇa. It is the bīja through which Śiva shows His Love for Her.

In the above three bījas, kāmakalā īṁ (ईं) is hidden. Kāmakalā can be explained through the innermost triangle of Śrī Cakra around the bindu (the innermost dot in Śrī Cakra). This dot represents Mahākāmeśvara-Mahākāmeśvari who are identical in all respects. They are seated in this dot, known as bindu. From the bindu, because of their union, eternal creation is taking place in the innermost triangle. The three sides represent Prakāśa (Light of Śiva), Vimarśa (diffusion of the Light of Śiva done by Śakti) and third side of the triangle represents “I am” and “this” (aham and idam). Thus, because of kāmakalā, these bījas become capable of creation.

Next to क्लीं is aiṁ ऐं, which is known as vāgbhava bīja. It is the bīja of Sarasvati, Goddess of Knowledge. It has two parts ai + ṁ. ṁ also acts as the dispeller of sorrow. This bīja also represents one’s Guru, who is the dispeller of ignorance and as a result of this bīja, one attains the highest spiritual knowledge. It also adds motivation, will power and dedication to the aspirant. This bīja is the cause for spiritual intellect (buddhi). Mainly intellect refers to the highest level of spiritual knowledge. It directly takes an aspirant to the concerned deity by increasing his level of awareness (consciousness).

Next to ऐं is sauḥ सौः, known as parā bīja. This is also known as hṛdayabīja or amṛtabīja. Śiva explains to Śakti about this in Parā-trīśikā-vivāraṇa (verses 9 and 10), a Trika Scripture. He says to Her, “O! Gracious one! It is the third Brahman (sat or sa स) united with the fourteenth vowel औ (au – out of the sixteen vowels), well joined with that which comes at the end of the lord of vowels (visarga or : – two dots one above the other, used in the sixteenth vowel अः – aḥ). Therefore sauḥ is formed out of the combination of sa स + au औ+ ḥ = sauḥ सौः. In Parā-trīśikā-vivāraṇa (verse 26), it is again said, “He, who knows this mantra in its essence, becomes competent for initiation, leading to liberation without any sacrificial rites.” This is known as nirvāṇa dīkṣā or initiation for final liberation, where nirvāṇa means emancipation. The Scripture proceeds to say that the one who elucidates the proper meaning of this bīja is known as Śiva Himself. This bīja is the Cosmic pulsation of the Lord.

The third Brahman referred here (sat) is explained in Bhagavad Gītā (XVII.23 – 26) “ॐ, tat and sat are the threefold representation of Brahman and from That alone Vedas, Vedic scholars and sacrificial rites have originated. Hence, during the acts of sacrifices, gifts, austerities approved by Scriptures and during Vedic recitations, ॐ is uttered in the beginning*. tat is recited by those who aim for liberation while performing sacrificial rites, austerities and charities without intent on the fruits of these actions. Sat is recited by those who perform the above acts with faith and on behalf of the Brahman.”

Thus sa स (sat) referred in this bīja is Śiva Himself, which represents His creative aspect, the pure Consciousness. Next comes His three energies Icchāśakti, Jñānaśakti and Kriyāśakti. During Creation, Cit Śakti of Śiva, after manifesting as Ānanda Śakti (Bliss) becomes the above referred three Śakti-s, before entering into the sphere of Māyā. Ānanda Śakti is known as Śakti, normally referred as Śiva’s Consort or His Svātantraya Śakti, His exclusive and unique Power of Autonomy. These three powers can be explained as subject “I”, object “That”, and subject-object or I and That. These powers of Śiva are also known as Sadāśiva, Iśvara and Suddha Vidyā. Now the fusion between S and AU takes place and सौ (sau) is formed. As a result of this fusion, creation happens, which is represented by visarga – two dots one above the other like the punctuation mark colon : .This is the Spanda or throb or pulsation of the Divine towards creation, causing the emission of His three energies contained in AU. With the addition of visarga ḥ : at the end of सौ (sau) becomes सौः (sauḥ). This parābīja is not meant for recitation or repetition but for the contemplation of Śiva, who alone is capable of offering liberation by removing all differentiations caused by māyā. The one who fully understands the significance of सौः (sauḥ) becomes instantly liberated.

Thus these five bījas form the first line of Mahāṣoḍaśī mantra.

Second line of Mahāṣoḍaśī mantra is formed by placing praṇava, māyā bīja and śrī bīja and the second line appears like this:

om – hrīṁ – śrīṁ: ॐ – ह्रीं – श्रीं.

ॐ used at the beginning of the mantra refers to the Supreme Self, known as Brahman. The second ॐ placed here represents the individual soul. Thus, this ॐ is to be replaced with ātmabīja, which is given by one’s guru either at the time of initiation or earlier. Everyone will have ātmabīja, which is derived based on several factors. In case one’s guru has not given any ātmabīja to an aspirant, he can continue to use ॐ as his ātmabīja. The three bījas used here refer to three stages. ॐ is apara stage or the individual soul. Hrīṁ represents the union of Śiva and Śakti and is known as parāpara (the stage of cause and effect). The last bīja śrīṁ is the stage of para, the Supreme energy, the state of Supreme Paramaśiva, where Śakti stands merged with Śiva and in this stage, She cannot be identified as a separate entity. For attaining liberation, one has to merge into Paramaśiva. In other words, individual soul (ॐ), transcend māyā, which is represented by hrīṁ, where both Śiva and Śakti are present as separate energies. The aspirant through sādhana (practice) goes past māyā, represented by bīja hrīṁ to merge with the Supreme Self, represented by the third bīja śrīṁ. Only in the second line of mahāṣoḍaśī mantra, liberation is explicitly declared.

Third, fourth and fifth lines of the Shodasi mantra are also known as the Pañcadaśī mantra.

PAÑCADAŚĪ MANTRA – पञ्चदशीमन्त्र –

The main mantra of Lalitāmbikā is Pañcadaśī which consists of fifteen bījas. A bīja need not be a single Sanskrit alphabet. It could be a combination of alphabets. For example, sa is a bīja and it is a single alphabet, whereas hṛīṃ is also a bīja but a combination of many alphabets. Each alphabet in Sanskrit has a meaning. If we take the first letter a in Sanskrit alphabet, it conveys many things. It is the origin of (OM); it also means unification, non-destruction, etc. The interpretation of meaning for such bījas mostly depends on the context in which it is used. Pañcadaśa means fifteen. Since this mantra has fifteen bījas, it is called as Pañcadaśī. Pañcadaśī mantra consists of three groups consisting of bījas and each line is called kūṭa or group. The three kūṭa-s are known as vāgbhava kūṭa, kāmarāja kūtā or madhya kūṭa and śakti kūtā. Vāgbhava kūṭa represents Lalitāmbikā’s face, kāmarāja kūṭa represents the portion between Her neck and hip and the last one śakti kūṭa represents the portion below Her hip. The whole form of Lalitāmbikā is made up of these three kūṭas. This is one of the reasons why Pañcadaśī is considered as very powerful. These three kūṭa-s are joined in such a way that an inverted triangle is formed which represents Her yoni, the source of the universe. This is why this mantra is considered as highly secretive. Vāgbhava kūṭa is the right side of this triangle, kāmarāja kūṭa the upper side and śakti kūṭa forms the left side of the triangle.

Vāgbhava kūṭa consists of five bījas viz. ka-e-ī-la-hrīṁ . कएईलह्रीं (5 bījas)

Madhya kūṭa consists of six bījas viz. ha-sa-ka-ha-la-hrīṁ. हसकहलह्रीं.

śakti kūṭa consists of four bījas viz. sa-ka-la-hrīṁ सकलह्रीं.

Thus, we have fifteen bījas of Pañcadaśī. This mantra is not revealed by these bījas, but by the following verse in Sanskrit.

kāmo yoni: kamalā vajrapāṇirguhāhasā matariśvābhrāmindraḥ|

punarguhāsakala māyayā ca purucyeṣā viśvamātādividyā||

This is the verse where in the fifteen bījas of Pañcadaśī are hidden. This is a clear indication of the highly secretive nature of this mantra. From this verse, the fifteen bījas of Pañcadaśī are arrived thus. kāman (ka) yoni: (e) kamalā (ī)vajrapāniṛ (la)-guhā (hrīṃ) ha (ha) sā (sa) mathariśvā (ka) abram (ha) indraḥ (la)| punar (punar means again) guhā (hrīṃ) sakala (sa,ka,la) māyayā ca (hrīṃ) purucyeṣā viśvamātādividyā.

The first kūṭa has five bījas ka-e-ī -la- hrīṃ. All the three kūṭas end with hrīṃ and this hrīṃ is called hṛllekha. A lot of importance is attached to this hṛllekha which is also called as māyā bīja. Vākbhava kūṭa is also known as agni khaṇḍa and indicates jñāna śakti of Lalitāmbikā. Ka means Brahma, the creator. e means Sarasvatī the goddess of jñāna. ī means Lakṣmī, la means Indra and hrīṃ means the merger of Śiva and Śaktī. The bīja ka is the root of kāma bīja klīṁ (क्लीं). ka also bestows peace and prosperity to the sādaka. The next bīja e prevents misfortunes to the sādaka. ī bestows wealth and all good things to sādaka. The bīja la gives victory to the sādaka. Thus, the first four bījas give peace, prosperity, prevention of misfortunes, auspiciousness and a status like Indra. This means victory to sādaka in every step he puts forward. (Indra is the chief of all gods and goddesses and is victorious in all the battles against demons).

hrīṁ is made up of twelve letters. H + r + ī + m and a bindu. Bindu is a dot on the letter m (ṁ). But this is not just a dot. This dot comprises of ardacandra, rodhinī, nāda, nādānta, śakti, vyāpikā, samanā and uṇmanī. Beginning from bindu and including these eight, is nāda (total nine). This nāda comprises of two V-s one above the other (each V has two lines and two V-s together have four lines) and four dots each at the open ends of V and one dot on the top these four dots. This is the combination of bīja hrīṁ. More than these V-s and dots, the pronunciation is important. There are specifications of length of timing for pronunciations of each bīja. The entire kūṭa should be pronounced in eleven mātrā-s (a mātrā is the time taken for a winking, possibly lesser than a second). There are guidelines for pronouncing the bījas. The pronunciation of Vākbhava kūṭas hould commence from mūlādhāra cakra and end at anāhata cakra, contemplating the entire kūṭa as the fire.

The second kūṭa is kāmarāja kūṭa or madhya kūṭa is to be meditated upon Lalitāmbikā’s neck to hip. Thiskūṭa has the highest number of bījas, six. They are ha-sa-ka-ha-la- hrīṁ. Out of these, ka, la and hrīṁ have been discussed in the first kūṭa, leaving two new bījas in this kūṭa. Out of the new bījas, ha has been repeated twice. The first ha means Śiva; the second ha means ākāś element (Saundarya Laharī verse 32 refers this second ha as the sun) and sa in this place means Viṣṇu. With reference to the five basic elements, sa means air element. The bīja ha is also known as eunuch bīja. Probably this is the reason why the bīja hrīṁ refers to the union of Śiva and Śaktī. In the first kūṭa, Brahma was mentioned, as the first kūṭa refers to creation. In thiskūṭa of sustenance, Viṣṇu is mentioned as He is the lord of sustenance. This kūṭa should be pronounced in a time frame of 11.50 mātrā. This kūṭa is to be contemplated from anāhata cakra to ājñā cakra in the form brightness that is equivalent to millions of suns. This kūṭa is also called sūrya khaṇḍa and forms the second act of Brahman viz. the sustenance. Since it is associated with sustenance, desire is attached to this kūṭa.

The third kūṭa which is called śaktī kūṭa, has only four bījas. This kūṭa is to be meditated upon the portion between hip and the feet of Lalitāmbikā. The four bījas are sa-ka-la- hrīṃ. The first kūṭa has five bījas, second kūṭa six bījas and the third has only four bījas. Possibly this could mean that sustenance is the most difficult act and dissolution is the easiest act. Vākbhava kūṭa refers to subtle intellect, kāmarāja kūṭa refers to preponderance of valour, wealth, fame, etc and the third kūṭa, the śakti kūṭa expands the conveyance of the previous two kūṭas. It can be noticed that two ha bījas in the madhya kūṭa is removed in this śaktī kūṭa. This kūṭa is to be pronounced in a time frame of eight and a half mātrās. The entire Pañcadaśī mantra should be pronounced in thirty one mātrās. In the case of continuous recitation of this mantra, without leaving time gap between the kūṭa only twenty nine mātrā-s are prescribed. But the time factor does not apply when the mantra is recited mentally. This kūṭa is to be contemplated from anāhata cakra to the middle of the forehead in the forms of brightness comparable to the millions of moons. There are nine stages from anāhata to the middle of the forehead. These nine stages are nothing but the nine components of nāda which was discussed under hrīṃ. This kūṭa is called chandra khaṇḍa and forms the third act of Brahman, the dissolution. The dissolution is represented by the bījā ‘la’ which means the destructive weaponries viz. vajra (thunder bolt),cakra (the wheel. Possibly meaning the Sudarśana cakra of Viṣṇu), triśūla or trident of Śiva and the gada of Viṣṇu. There are three hrīṃ-s in Pañcadaśī each representing creation, sustenance and dissolution.

Śaṃkarācārya also talks about the bījas of Pañcadaśī in a secretive manner in Saundarya Laharī (verse 32). In the second kūṭa out of the two ha bījas, Śaṃkarācārya means sun instead of ākāś element. The interpretations of the bījas differ from scholar to scholar. It is also pertinent to note that chanting of one round of Pañcadaśī mantra is equivalent to three rounds of recitation of pūrṇa Gāyatrī mantra. Pūrṇa Gāyatrīmeans an addition of paro rajase sāvadom as the last line in addition to the existing three lines.

In sixth and last line the bījas of the first line are placed in a reverse order. This is known as mantra sampuṭīkaraṇa. This means that three bījas of the second line and Pañcadaśī mantra are encased by the first line and the last line, so that effects of Pañcadaśī mantra and the bījas of the second line do not go out of the aspirant and is sealed within the aspirant.

At the end the salutation Namah नमः is added.

Mahāṣoḍaśī mantra thus formed is like this.

1. Om – ॐ

2. śrīṁ – hrīṁ – klīṁ – aiṁ – sauḥ: श्रीं ह्रीं क्लीं ऐं सौः (5 bījas, ॐ omitted)

3. om – hrīṁ – śrīṁ ॐह्रींश्रीं (3 bījas)

4. ka – e – ī – la- hrīṁ कएईलह्रीं (5 bījas)

5. ha – sa – ka – ha – la – hrīṁ हसकहलह्रीं (6 bījas)

6. sa – ka – la – hrīṁ सकलह्रीं (4 bījas)

7. sauḥ – aiṁ – klīṁ – hrīṁ – śrīṁ सौः ऐं क्लीं ह्रीं श्रीं (5 bījas)

8. Namah नमः

Thus Mahāṣoḍaśī has twenty eight bījas, excluding the first praṇava Om and the ending Namah.

…..Om Tat Sat…..

MAHA SHODASHI MANTRA JAPA महाषोडशी मन्त्र जप

Śrī Mahāṣoḍaśī Mahāmantra Japaḥ श्रीमहाषोडशीमहामन्त्रजपः

This is the simple way of doing Śrī Mahāṣoḍaśī Mahāmantra Japa

While doing this mantra japa, one has to sit facing either East or North. If one does not have a guru, contemplate on Lord Dkṣiṇāmūrti and mentally accept Him as Guru.

1. Ṛṣyādi nyāsaḥ ऋष्यादिन्यासः

Asyaśrī Mahāṣodaśī Mahāmantrasya – Śrī Dakṣiṇāmūrti ṛṣiḥ – Gāyatrī chandaḥ – Śrī Lalitā mahātripurasundari Parābhaṭṭārikā Devatā |

अस्यश्रीमहाषोदशीमहामन्त्रस्य – श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तिऋषिः – गायत्रीछन्दः – श्रीललितामहात्रिपुरसुन्दरिपराभट्टारिकादेवता।

aiṁ bījaṁ | sauḥ śaktiḥ | klīṁ kīlakam || ऐंबीजं।सौःशक्तिः।क्लींकीलकम्॥

Śrī Lalitāmahātripurasundari Parābhaṭṭārikā darśana bhāṣaṇa siddhyarthe Śrī Mahāṣoḍaśī Mahāmantra jape viniyogaḥ ||

श्रीललितामहात्रिपुरसुन्दरिपराभट्टारिकादर्शनभाषणसिद्ध्यर्थेश्रीमहाषोडशीमहामन्त्रजपेविनियोगः॥

2. Karanyāsaḥ करन्यासः

Om – śrīṁ – hrīṁ – klīṁ – aiṁ – sauḥ: aṅguṣṭhābhyām namaḥ ॐ श्रीं ह्रीं क्लीं ऐं सौः अङ्गुष्ठाभ्याम् नमः (use both the index fingers and run them on both the thumbs)

om – hrīṁ – śrīṁ tarjanībhyāṁ namaḥ ॐ ह्रीं श्रीं तर्जनीभ्यां नमः (use both the thumbs and run them on both the index fingers)

ka – e – ī – la- hrīṁ madhyamābhyāṁ namaḥ क ए ई ल ह्रीं मध्यमाभ्यां नमः (both the thumbs on the middle fingers)

ha – sa – ka – ha – la – hrīṁ anāmikābhyāṁ namaḥ ह स क ह ल ह्रीं अन���मिकाभ्यां नमः (both the thumbs on the ring fingers)

sa – ka – la – hrīṁ kaniṣṭhīkābhyāṁ namaḥ स क ल ह्रीं कनिष्ठीकाभ्यां नमः (both the thumbs on the little fingers)

sauḥ – aiṁ – klīṁ – hrīṁ – śrīṁ karatalakarapṛṣṭhābhyāṁ namaḥ सौः ऐं क्लीं ह्रीं श्रीं करतलकरपृष्ठाभ्यां नमः (open both the palms; run the opened palms of the right hand on the front and back sides of the left palm and repeat the same for the other palm)

3. Hrdayādi nyāsaḥ ह्र्दयादिन्यासः

Om – śrīṁ – hrīṁ – klīṁ – aiṁ – sauḥ: hrdayāya namaḥ| ॐ श्रीं ह्रीं क्लीं ऐं सौः ह्र्दयाय नमः (open index, middle and ring fingers of the right hand and place them on the heart chakra)

om – hrīṁ – śrīṁ śirase svāhā ॐ ह्रीं श्रीं शिरसे स्वाहा (open middle and ring fingers of the right hand and touch the top of the forehead)

ka – e – ī – la- hrīṁ śikhāyai vaṣaṭ स क ल ह्रीं शिखायै वषट् (open the right thumb and touch the back of the head. This is the point where tuft is kept)

ha – sa – ka – ha – la – hrīṁ kavacāya huṁ ह स क ह ल ह्रीं कवचाय हुं (cross both the hands and run the fully opened palms from shoulders to finger tips)

sa – ka – la – hrīṁ netratrayāya vauṣaṭ स क ल ह्रीं नेत्रत्रयाय वौषट् (open the index, middle and ring fingers of the right hand; touch both the eyes using index and ring fingers and touch the point between the two eyebrows (ājñā cakra) with the middle finger.)

sauḥ – aiṁ – klīṁ – hrīṁ – śrīṁ astrāya phaṭ सौः ऐं क्लीं ह्रीं श्रीं अस्त्राय फट् (open up the left palm and strike it three times with index and middle fingers of the right hand)

भूर्भुवस्सुवरोमिति दिग्बन्धः॥ bhūrbhuvassuvaromiti digbandhaḥ|| (by using right hand thumb and middle fingers make rattle clockwise around the head)

4. Dhyānam ध्यानम्

cāpaṁ cekṣumayaṁ prasūnaviśikhān pāśāṅkuśaṁ pustakaṁ

māṇikyāṣasṛjavaraṁ maṇīmayīṁ vīṇāṁ sarojadvayaṁ |

pāṇibhyāṁ varadā abhayaṁ ca dadhatīṁ brahmādisevyāṁ parāṁ

sindūrāruṇa vigrahāṁ bhagavatīṁ tāṁ ṣoḍaśīmāśraye ||

चापंचेक्षुमयंप्रसूनविशिखान्पाशाङ्कुशंपुस्तकं

माणिक्याषसृजवरंमणीमयींवीणांसरोजद्वयं।

पाणिभ्यांवरदाअभयंचदधतींब्रह्मादिसेव्यांपरां

सिन्दूरारुणविग्रहांभगवतींतांषोडशीमाश्रये॥

Meaning: She has twelve hands, holds (1) a bow made of sugarcane, (2) arrows made of kadamba flowers, (3) a noose, (4) a hook, (5) a book, (6) a rosary made of rubies, displays (7) abhaya (removal of fear) and (8) varadha (giving boons) mudras. She closely holds a veena (a musical instrument) with two hands (9 and 10) and lotus flowers in two hands (11 and 12) one on each side. She is worshipped by Brahmā and other gods and goddesses. She is red in complexion. I surrender unto this Supreme Goddess.

5. Pañcapūjā पञ्चपूजा (follow as per Karanyāsa)

laṁ – pṛthivyātmikāyai gandhaṁ samarpayāmi|

haṁ – ākāśātmikāyai puṣpaiḥ pūjayāmi|

yaṁ – vāyvātmikāyai dhūpamāghrāpayāmi|

raṁ – agnyātmikāyai dhīpaṁ darśayāmi |

vaṁ amṛtātmikāyai amṛtaṁ mahānaivedyaṁ nivedayāmi |

saṁ – sarvātmikāyai sarvopacāra pūjām samarpayāmi||

लं – पृथिव्यात्मिकायैगन्धंसमर्पयामि।

हं – आकाशात्मिकायैपुष्पैःपूजयामि।

यं – वाय्वात्मिकायैधूपमाघ्रापयामि।

रं – अग्न्यात्मिकायैधीपंदर्शयामि।

वंअमृतात्मिकायैअमृतंमहानैवेद्यंनिवेदयामि।

सं – सर्वात्मिकायैसर्वोपचारपूजाम्समर्पयामि॥

6. Śrī Mahāṣoḍaśī Mahā Mantraḥ श्रीमहाषोडशीमहामन्त्रः

om śrīṁ hrīṁ klīṁ aiṁ sauḥ — ॐ श्रीं ह्रीं क्लीं ऐं सौः

om hrīṁ śrīṁ — ॐह्रींश्रीं

ka e ī la hrīṁ — कएईलह्रीं

ha sa ka ha la hrīṁ — हसकहलह्रीं

sa ka la hrīṁ — सकलह्रीं

sauḥ aiṁ klīṁ hrīṁ śrīṁ — सौःऐंक्लींह्रींश्रीं

Namah नमः

Ideally recite the Maha Shodasi Mantra 108 times.

Also note that the arrangement of bījā-s in the first line (om śrīṁ hrīṁ klīṁ aiṁ sauḥ ) are reversed in the last line (sauḥ aiṁ klīṁ hrīṁ śrīṁ). This is known as sampuṭīkaraṇa or the sealing of the mantra.

7. Samarpaṇam समर्पनम्

guhyāti guhya goptrī tvaṁ gṛhāṇāsmat-kṛtaṁ japam|

siddhirbhavatu me devi tvatprasādānmayi stirā||

गुह्यातिगुह्यगोप्त्रीत्वंगृहाणास्मत्–कृतंजपम्।

सिद्धिर्भवतुमेदेवित्वत्प्रसादान्मयिस्तिरा॥

Meaning: You sustain the secret of all secrets. Please accept this japa performed by me and bestow Your perpetual Grace on me.

8. Ideally after worshipping Devi you should also offer a prayer to Lord Shiva. The following is a brief simple verse.

Om Satchitananda Parabrahma Paramatma Parameswara

Sri Bhagavati sameta Om Bhagavate Namaha

ॐसच्चिदानन्दपर–ब्रह्मपरमात्मपरमेश्वर

श्रीभगवतीसमेताॐभगवतेनमः

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[iskconchd]

श्रीमद्‌ भगवद्‌गीता यथारूप 8.26 शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते । एकया यात्यनावृत्तिमन्ययावर्तते पुनः ॥ ८.२६ ॥ TRANSLATION वैदिक मतानुसार इस संसार से प्रयाण करने के दो मार्ग हैं – एक प्रकाश का तथा दूसरा अंधकार का । जब मनुष्य प्रकाश के मार्ग से जाता है तो वह वापस नहीं आता, किन्तु अंधकार के मार्ग से जाने वाला पुनः लौटकर आता है । PURPORT आचार्य बलदेव विद्याभूषण ने छान्दोग्य उपनिषद् से (५.१०.३-५) ऐसा ही विवरण उद्धृत किया है । जो अनादि काल से सकाम कर्मों तथा दार्शनिक चिन्तक रहे हैं वे निरन्तर आवगमन करते रहे हैं । वस्तुतः उन्हें परममोक्ष प्राप्त नहीं होता, क्योंकि वे कृष्ण की शरण में नहीं जाते । ----- Srimad Bhagavad Gita As It Is 8.26 śukla-kṛṣṇe gatī hy ete jagataḥ śāśvate mate ekayā yāty anāvṛttim anyayāvartate punaḥ TRANSLATION According to Vedic opinion, there are two ways of passing from this world – one in light and one in darkness. When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns. PURPORT The same description of departure and return is quoted by Ācārya Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (5.10.3–5). Those who are fruitive laborers and philosophical speculators from time immemorial are constantly going and coming. Actually they do not attain ultimate salvation, for they do not surrender to Kṛṣṇa. -----

[lemandro-vive-qui]

“Nei più profondi recessi dell'essere dell'uomo c'è un ardente desiderio, addirittura un bisogno, di semplificare tutta la sua vita, non solo a parole ma anche a fatti. A un periodo di quasi insaziabile brama di esperienza e di conoscenza, succede un periodo di saturazione che conduce alla maturità, a patto che l'uomo sia abbastanza saggio da fermare al momento giusto il continuo accumulo di informazioni e di stimoli tramite i quali cerca di elaborare una sintesi unica e personale, la propria visione del mondo, la sua saggezza. Egli diventa allora conscio della limitatezza sia della sua conoscenza che della sua ignoranza. A questo punto egli ha due vie aperte davanti a se: o cominciare tutto di nuovo e incrementare e ampliare il flusso di informazioni, o cominciare a semplificare, condensare, concentrare, così che tutto torni ad essere semplice, più trasparente, quasi a recuperare la sua antica innocenza, pur se a un grado più in alto e in un senso più profondo”.

(Raimon Panikkar)

“Come tutte le foglie di un ramoscello sono tenute assieme da un gambo, nello stesso modo tutte le parole sono tenute insieme dal suono Oṃ (ॐ)”.

[Chāndogya Upaniṣad II, 23 3]

[bhagavadgitaclassesgurgaon]

ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate *From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again* . (Bg 8.16) All kinds of yogīs — karma, jñāna, haṭha, etc. — *eventually have to attain devotional perfection in bhakti-yoga, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness* , before they can go to Kṛṣṇa's transcendental abode and never return. Those who attain the highest material planets, the planets of the demigods, are again subjected to repeated birth and death. As persons on earth are elevated to higher planets, people on higher planets such as Brahmaloka, Candraloka and Indraloka fall down to earth. The practice of sacrifice called pañcāgni-vidyā, recommended in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, enables one to achieve Brahmaloka, *but if, on Brahmaloka, one does not cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he must return to earth* . Those who progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness on the higher planets are gradually elevated to higher and higher planets and at the time of universal devastation are transferred to the eternal spiritual kingdom. Śrīdhara Svāmī, in his commentary on Bhagavad-gītā, quotes this verse: brahmaṇā saha te sarve samprāpte pratisañcare parasyānte kṛtātmānaḥ praviśanti paraṁ padam "When there is devastation of this material universe, *Brahmā and his devotees, who are constantly engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness* , are all transferred to the spiritual universe and to specific spiritual planets according to their desires." https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx6BgcTgEpv/?igshid=w2uy6fll1soi

[kailasakalpataruchinese]

凯拉萨国家宪法

第1章凯拉萨国家宪法第一修正案

每个公民都有权将自己视为帕冉玛希瓦。每个人都必须像帕冉玛希瓦一样被对待，也要像对待帕冉玛希瓦一样对待他人。

依据圣典法理的无上真言：

1. ऐतरेय उपनिषद् / Aitareya upaniṣad 3.3 /《爱达罗氏奥义书》3.3 प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म / prajñānaṃ brahma / 识即梵

( 意识就是帕冉玛希瓦 )  

2. छान्दोग्योपनिषद् / chāndogya upaniṣad 6.8.7 《歌者奥义书》6.8.7तत्त्वमसि / tattvamasi /  那就是你

(你就是帕冉玛希瓦！ )

3. बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् | Br̥hadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.10 《广林奥义书》1.4.10अहं ब्रह्मास्मि | ahaṃ brahmāsmi   /我既是梵，梵我合一，我就是终极存在，我就是无上实相

(你是梵!)

4. माण्डूक्य उपनिषद्  | māṇḍūkya upaniṣad 1.2 《蛙式奥义书》1.2अयं आत्माब्रह्म | ayaṃ ātmābrahma   我即梵

(自性是真我-梵)

5. सोमशम्भुपद्धति | somaśambhupaddhati 诗节 35 शिवोऽहमादिसर्वज्ञो मम यज्ञे प्रधानता ।अत्यर्थ भावयेदेवं ज्ञानखड़करो गुरुः ॥ śivo'hamādisarvajño mama yajñe pradhānatā ।atyartha bhāvayedevaṃ jñānakhaḍakaro guruḥ

( 希我含=希瓦  阿含=我是希瓦 )

6. सूर्योपनिषत् | sūrya upaniṣat   《太阳神 奥义书》सूर्य आत्मा जगतस्तस्थुषश्च .   |  sūrya ātmā jagatastasthuṣaśca

( 圣尊 太阳神 是统治着有生命和无生命的世界的那个真我 )

हंसः सोऽहमग्निनारायणयुक्तं बीजम् |  haṃsaḥ so'hamagninārāyaṇayuktaṃ bījam

(soham是《太阳神 奥义书》中的种子咒言，宣称“我就是他” )

7. तैत्तिरीय सम्हित यजुर् वेद | taittirīya samhita yajur veda  《泰帝利耶本集 夜柔吠陀》नारायण परो ध्याता ध्यानं नारायणः परः  | nārāyaṇa paro dhyātā dhyānaṃ nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ 

(冥想那罗亚纳的人就是真正的那罗亚纳 )

8. कामिक आगम | kāmika āgama verse 112   《卡米卡 阿戈玛经》诗节112समाचम्य शुचिर्भूतो सकलीकृत विग्रहः | samācamya śucirbhūto sakalīkṛta vigrahaḥ।

( 在祭拜前，他应该通过 sakalikarana法事以帕冉玛希瓦的形态出现 )

9. तैत्तिरीय उपनिषद्   | taittirīya upaniṣad  《泰帝利耶 奥义书》हा ३ वु॒ हा ३ वु॒ हा ३ वु॑ अ॒हमन्नम॒हमन्नम॒हमन्नम् hā 3 vu̱ hā 3 vu̱ hā 3 vu̍a̱hamannama̱hamannama̱hamannam

( 哦，太棒了！我是食物！在这部《奥义书》中，圣人婆利古（Bhrigu）首先认识到食物就是梵。他被婆罗那（Varuna）引导走向开悟。开悟后，圣人婆利古意识到他真得是食物（即所认知的梵）)

10. ईषा उपनिषद्  | īṣā upaniṣad upaniṣad verse 16  《自在 奥义书》奥义书 诗节 16तेजो यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत्ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि  |tejo yatte rūpaṃ kalyāṇatamaṃ tatte paśyāmi yo'sāvasau puruṣaḥ so'hamasmi

( 这节经文以 so'ham asmi 结尾—— 我就是那个！)我是帕冉玛希瓦 我是帕冉玛希瓦  我是帕冉玛希瓦 你是帕冉玛希瓦 你是帕冉玛希瓦 你是帕冉玛希瓦

[kailasainohio]

The 1st Amendment of the Constitution of Kailasa Nation : Every citizen has the right to cognize himself/herself as Paramashiva.Every one must be treated as Paramashiva and treat others as Paramashiva. The mahāvākyā-s of as per śāstra pramāṇā 1. ऐतरेय उपनिषद् / Aitareya upaniṣad 3.3 प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म / prajñānaṃ brahma ( consciousness is Paramashiva ) 2. छान्दोग्योपनिषद् / chāndogya upaniṣad 6.8.7 तत्त्वमसि / tattvamasi ( You Are that Paramashiva ! ) 3. बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् | Br̥hadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.10 अहं ब्रह्मास्मि | ahaṃ brahmāsmi ( You are Brahman ! ) 4. माण्डूक्य उपनिषद् | māṇḍūkya upaniṣad 1.2 अयं आत्माब्रह्म | ayaṃ ātmābrahma ( The Self is Atman - Brahman ) 5. सोमशम्भुपद्धति | somaśambhupaddhati verse 35 शिवोऽहमादिसर्वज्ञो मम यज्ञे प्रधानता । अत्यर्थ भावयेदेवं ज्ञानखड़करो गुरुः ॥ śivo'hamādisarvajño mama yajñe pradhānatā । atyartha bhāvayedevaṃ jñānakhaḍakaro guruḥ ( Shivo'ham = shiva aham = I AM SHIVA ) 6. सूर्योपनिषत् | sūrya upaniṣat सूर्य आत्मा जगतस्तस्थुषश्च . | sūrya ātmā jagatastasthuṣaśca ( Surya Bhagavan IS Atma Who reigns the world both animate and inanimate ) हंसः सोऽहमग्निनारायणयुक्तं बीजम् | haṃsaḥ so'hamagninārāyaṇayuktaṃ bījam ( soham being one of the bija in this surya upanishad declares ' I AM HE ' ) 7. तैत्तिरीय सम्हित यजुर् वेद | taittirīya Aranyakam yajur veda नारायण परो ध्याता ध्यानं नारायणः परः | nārāyaṇa paro dhyātā dhyānaṃ nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ ( The person who is meditating on Narayana IS verily Narayana ) 8. कामिक आगम | kāmika āgama verse 112 समाचम्य शुचिर्भूतो सकलीकृत विग्रहः | samācamya śucirbhūto sakalīkṛta vigrahaḥ। ( He should assume the form of Paramashiva through sakalikarana before worship ) 9. तैत्तिरीय उपनिषद् | taittirīya upaniṣad हा ३ वु॒ हा ३ वु॒ हा ३ वु॑ अ॒हमन्नम॒हमन्नम॒हमन्नम् hā 3 vu̱ hā 3 vu̱ hā 3 vu̍ a̱hamannama̱hamannama̱hamannam ( O wonderful ! I AM food ! In this Upanishad,Sage Bhrigu starts with a cognition that food is Brahman.He is led to enlightenment by Varuna.Upon enlightenment,Sage Bhrigu realises that he is indeed food ( Brahman as cognised ) #kailasa #nithyananda — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/3E8O0n7

[vedantaboston]

Thoughts on Service

"From highest Brahman to the yonder worm, And to the very minutest atom, Everywhere is the same God, the All-Love, Friend, offer mind, soul, body, at their feet. These are His manifold forms before thee, Rejecting them, where seekest thou for God ? Who loves all beings without distinction, He indeed is worshiping best his God."  -- Swami Vivekananda

There were two brothers, one was married and other was a bachelor. They owned a farm and shared its produce fifty-fifty. The soil was fertile and they reaped a rich harvest every year. All went well for a few years. Then something extraordinary happened.

The married brother began to wake up with a start from his sleep at night and think, “It is not fair. My brother isn’t married. He needs to save more for the future than me. I am a married man with a wife and five kids. I have all the security in the world. But what security has my poor brother? Who will look after him in his old age? My kids will care for me when I am old. My brother’s need is greater than mine.” With that the married man would leave his bed, steal over to his brother’s granary and pour there a sackful of his own share of grain.

Now the other brother too began to get these nightly attacks. He would wake up from his sleep and think, “It’s too bad that I should accept an equal share of the farm’s produce as my brother who has a family to maintain. I am single and my needs are minimal. He has got to support his wife and children. He deserves a larger share.” So this brother would get up, take a sackful of grain from his stock and empty it stealthily into his married brother’s granary.

Once it so happened that they got out of the bed at the same time and ran into each other, each carrying a grain-filled sack on his back! Years later, when the town wanted to build a temple (the story of the two brothers, who had passed away, had leaked out by then), the people there chose the spot where the two brothers had met that night. “This is the holiest of all places in this town,” the elders said, and a temple was constructed there.

Service (sevā) is indeed a sacred activity and the place where service is done is a holy place. Above all, only a holy person can give true service. Why true service? Is there such a thing as false service? There is, but of course it is not called by that name. That complicates matters. So we must begin by identifying the distinction between the two kinds of service.

One kind of service we are all familiar with. It is something good done for others prompted by the feelings of duty, pity or guilt, or with the desire for name and fame, or for happiness here and hereafter, or just as a part of social ritual. Service is a misnomer really for such an act. It is probably right to call it “good work,” because it does help the person served to some extent and may bring a feeling of satisfaction to the one who offers the service. 

But that’s about all it does and nothing more. It brings lasting fulfillment neither to the one who is served nor to the one who serves. Nor does it bring the joy of freedom. It is possible to do such good work and yet remain selfish, arrogant, frustrated, even immoral. Spiritually speaking, this variety of so-called service perpetuates ignorance and, in the long run, helps neither the person nor society. It is clear that there is nothing particularly sacred about this work. If we must call it “service,” then we had better qualify the term with the adjective “false.”

But there is the other variety of service which elevates the person and benefits society. This service is not the result of pity, duty or guilt. It is the result of the perception of solidarity, of oneness, of identity, with the person served. There is no hesitation or calculation before doing this kind of service. It is a spontaneous act which comes to a person as naturally as breathing. It is free even from the idea “I am doing this service.” It is a free offering with no strings attached. Both the giver and the receiver feel blessed and uplifted. 

This is service, and to distinguish it from the much-too-common variety described earlier, let us call this “true” service. This is the kind of service saints and genuinely holy men and women offer. What this means really is that if you and I are able to extend this kind of service to everyone and everything around us, we too shall become genuinely holy.

Perception of Oneness

Perception of oneness is the mother of true service. But how many of us actually perceive oneness? We only see diversity everywhere. No two things are exactly identical. Even twins are not identical in every respect. The basic distinction we experience in life is between this person who is me and everything else that is not me—the distinction between the “I” and the “not-I.” I am different from the rest and the rest differ among themselves. If there is some being called God, God too is different from me, just as God is different from everyone and everything else. Differences galore everywhere. 

I can perceive oneness only if there is oneness. If it is true that oneness exists, the question is, why do I not perceive it? Vedanta teachers tend to answer it in this way: “We don’t perceive oneness because we don’t want to perceive it. If we close our eyes and deny the sun because we don’t perceive it, does that mean the sun doesn’t exist?”

This can be countered, of course, by saying that everyone sees the sun and the denial by any person would be clearly invalid and unacceptable. But such is not the case with oneness. The fact is, no one sees oneness, though quite a number of people talk or write about it. The perception of the many is a universal experience and cannot be wished away by simply saying that it is the result of ignorance.

This may not be true, however. It is quite all right to say, “I do not perceive oneness,” but what right have I to claim that no one perceives oneness? If something is true in my case, must it be true for others also? I am not the standard by which the world ought to be judged. The claim “no one perceives oneness” is an overreach. We can concede, however, that the number of people who perceive oneness is in all likelihood extremely small, almost microscopic, as compared to the billions who perceive the many.

It is natural to wonder why these handful of people who see oneness could be right and the legions who see the many could be wrong. Apart from the fact that the truth of oneness is validated by the scriptures (see, for instance, Chāndogya Upaniṣad, 3.14.1 and Kaṭhopaniṣad, 2.1.10-11) and is also being admitted by scientists and scholars (read, for instance, writings of Ken Wilber, Abraham Maslow, David Bohm, and Fritzof Capra), the experience of oneness is known to have brought total, irrevocable fulfillment, joy and freedom to those who perceived oneness. How can this be the result of a false experience?

Experiencing the many, on the other hand, is not known to have brought total fulfillment, bliss and freedom to anyone. On the contrary, as we know from our own life, it perpetuates the sense of incompleteness, bondage, imperfection, and the alternating experience of fleeting happiness and sorrow. These are the very things every one of us is struggling to overcome. If the experience of oneness can help us overcome these—and we know it has helped a few brave and determined souls in every generation—then it seems reasonable to assume that there must be something wrong with our present experience of seeing the many. That “something wrong,” according to the Gītā (5.15, 7.25), is ignorance.

When did this ignorance come upon us? Every kind of ignorance seems like it never had a beginning. If I am ignorant of the speed of light and ask, “When did my ignorance start?” I’ll probably end up saying that it’s always been there. But my ignorance can vanish the moment someone tells me what the speed of light is. It’s futile to worry about when my ignorance started. I’m never going to know the answer. All I need to do is to recognize the presence of ignorance and focus on how I can get rid of it.

The method is simple enough. Here are Sri Ramakrishna’s words:

“If one thing is placed upon another, you must remove the one to get the other. Can you get the second thing without removing the first?” (Gospel, p. 944)

And here are Holy Mother’s:

“You have rolled different threads on a reel—red, black and white. While unrolling you will see them all exactly in the same way.” (Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi, p. 32)

The knowledge of my true self is covered by ignorance. To get knowledge, ignorance has to be removed first. This is what Sri Ramakrishna’s words signify. Holy Mother’s words deal with the steps that separate knowledge from ignorance. She says that I have to go back the same way I came. From the experience of oneness I have somehow arrived at the experience of the many. If I know the steps that brought me down from the heights of oneness to the depths of multiplicity, I can go upward by tracing the same steps in the reverse direction. 

From the One to the Many

In the beginning there was only the self. There was no one else. The self was all that existed. It was complete (pūrṇa), eternal (nitya), infinite (ananta), indivisible (akhaṇḍa), pure (śuddha), conscious (buddha), and free (mukta). (See Chāndogya Upaniṣad, 6.2.1,  Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 1.4.10, Taittirīyopaniṣad, 2.1.1, Kaṭhopaniṣad, 1.2.18,  Gitā, 2. 23-25). 

Then something mysterious seems to have happened. A kind of division suddenly took place in what was really indivisible. The self, the one and only reality, somehow became fragmented into three apparently different entities: God (also called paramātman, the supreme self), the world (sometimes called anātman, the non-self), and me (called jīvātman, the individual self). When cracks appear, they have a tendency to spread. So a further fragmentation of these entities was inevitable. The world got divided and subdivided into countless number of objects and creatures of all sizes, shapes, colors, and characteristics. The extent of these divisions and the variety in the universe are mind-boggling.

Divisions took place in the individual self too. To begin with, there was the obvious division into body and mind, and the not-so-obvious estrangement of the two from the inner self (pratyagātman). The mind was subdivided into the unconscious (called id) and the conscious (called ego) fragments. These divisions were strange. They divided the personality without taking apart the individual fragments. It was like a broken marriage but the unfortunate couple continuing to live under the same roof. Naturally this gave rise to stress and strain. The body and mind were separate but they continued to influence each other. The unconscious and the conscious parts of the mind were divided but they continued to pull and drag the person, often in mutually opposite directions.

The net result of all these multiple fragmentations was that the self became limited and localized. The self (ātman), the real me, became identified with a body and a mind, and alienated from everything else. My identification with the body and mind too was not stable. Sometimes I identified with the body, sometimes with the mind, sometimes with both, and sometimes with neither (as in deep sleep). I became alienated from the spiritual essence of my being and, worse, did not even know that I was so alienated. 

The conscious part of my mind became alienated from the unconscious as well as from the world around. In this way the self became even more narrowed down as it got identified not with the whole personality but only with a fragment of it at any given time. The other fragments thus remained alienated, and it is these fragments that destroyed my peace, upset my harmony, and robbed me of the sense of fulfillment and wholeness. Thus I became, so to speak, alienated from myself.

Much has been written about self-alienation. Some of the best minds in the fields of philosophy, psychology and sociology have pored over the problem of alienation. Their interpretations varied because their ideas of the self varied and also because their perspectives and approaches were different. Nevertheless, they have come up with valuable insights and have enriched our understanding of this central problem of human existence.

We have seen how we descended from the state of oneness to the state of mutually conflicting many. From the one to the many the descent is complete. The fall—allegorized in the story of Adam and Eve—was from the state of oneness. From one have emerged the many, and the many must merge back into the one. The fallen me must rise again. The upward march toward unity must begin. The broken fragments constituting “the many” must be joined, the divisions must be removed. It is here that service comes into the picture.

From the Many to the One

There are two approaches to the problem of overcoming the many. First the popular approach. When pieces have to be joined together, we use an adhesive. Love is the adhesive that joins the many into one whole. Love grows in an unselfish person and expresses itself through service. So first and foremost we must all become unselfish and force ourselves to sacrifice for others and to do good to others.

In this approach, the self is objectified and certain moral rules are thrust upon it. We are expected to become unselfish, loving and charitable. The aim is to become someone different from what we are. This involves needless struggle and usually produces inner conflicts. Moreover, we seldom succeed fully in the struggle to become this and that. People go on trying to become unselfish and, to prove the point, doing good to others, but in the process create a lot of unhappiness for themselves and often for others as well.

Most of the efforts at social service in modern times show this phenomenon. In developed countries, social service is more organized and, in a sense, it comes naturally to the people there as a result of years of social discipline and upbringing. Thousands of small and big institutions and millions of men and women, young and old, are engaged in volunteer services of every kind. One would expect that, with so many unselfish people around, modern societies would be ideal. Would to God it was so! But we see that crime, violence, rape, drug addiction, neurosis etc are steadily increasing and the social fabric is crumbling in many parts of the world.

How do we explain this strange phenomenon? When self-alienated people do social service, they only increase their self-alienation and, consequently, their selfishness.  This is what the Gītā (6.6) says:

बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जित: । अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत् ॥

bandhur-ātmā ātmanas-tasya yena ātmaiva ātmanā jitaḥ;

anātmanas-tu śatrutve varteta ātmaiva śatruvat.

“To the (self-possessed) person who has conquered the self by the self, the self is a friend. But in the (self-alienated) person whose self has become inimical, the self behaves like an enemy.” 

Those portions of my personality from which I am alienated act like enemies and I develop a kind of hatred for them. But they are all parts of my own self and my hatred is really a subtle kind of self-hatred. This produces inner insecurity and the fear of facing myself.

Self-hatred can manifest itself in two ways. (1) I may project my self-hatred outward upon other people and thus attempt to cover up my inner hatred, fear and distrust by accumulating everything for myself and refusing to share it with others. They will naturally conclude that I am a selfish person. (2) It is also possible that my self-hatred may get projected inward and I may try to escape from myself through “service.” I’ll decide to become unselfish by trying to solve others’ problems—the underlying, undeclared (and often unacknowledged) reason being my fear of being left alone to confront my own problems. Others may praise my “unselfishness” without realizing that I am spending all my time and energy for others not out of a sense of duty, compassion, sympathy, or love for them (though these may be the ostensible reasons) but to avoid the horror and pain of confronting myself in the silence of my heart.

Indeed, it is not too unusual to see this happening even in the lives of those who turn to spiritual life. Well-meaning but self-alienated people busy themselves with so-called service, imagining they are seeing God in others, and end up after some time filled with disillusion, frustration and, in a few cases, even naked apathy. Many organizations launch service projects with much fanfare and enthusiasm, but are gradually reduced to petty politicking and to being controlled by power-hungry people. Why all this happens should not surprise us. For, service rendered by self-alienated people is no service at all in the true sense of the term. It is only a form of escape, and escapism has nothing to do with spiritual life.

A better approach to service is the existential approach. Here I am not expected to become anyone or anything; I simply have to be my true self. Unselfishness is my true nature. Love is only the dynamic aspect of the all-pervading unity of existence and this also is my true nature. I don’t have to move heaven and earth to become unselfish or try to fill myself with love. I only need to recognize that I am unselfish already. I have all the love in the world already within me. 

If that is so, why do I not feel it? Evidently, some negative mechanism—“alienation”—is operating within me and acting as a hurdle to the manifestation of these spontaneous traits of my personality. All I have to do is remove the hurdles—or eliminate alienation—and my inherent selflessness and love will shine forth in a most natural way.

We have seen that as a result of alienation, my awareness gets localized and identified with a fragment rather than the whole of my personality. The remaining fragments are left in the dark, out of the field of my awareness. To remove alienation, I must expand my awareness and focus its light in every nook and corner of my personality. Through the practice of deep, healthy self-introspection or self-analysis and the help of an illumined spiritual teacher, the alienation of the conscious mind from the unconscious can be removed. Absolute purity of life, intense prayer and other devotional practices eliminate the alienation of the psyche from the true inner self. The alienation of the inner self from the supreme Self is overcome through higher knowledge and the grace of God. This is the final stage and, of course, I can be nowhere near it until the earlier stages are crossed.

But where does service come into the picture? Is it a means to de-alienation or only a result of it? It is both a means and a result. As a means, service not only helps to eliminate the alienation of the person from the world but is also an important aid to remove the alienation within one’s personality. Service as a means demands uncompromising conviction, great application, and extraordinary grit, and is understandably less than perfect. Service as a result is natural, spontaneous, and perfect.

Service as a Means

Service should not be undertaken in a big way until at least a certain amount of expansion of awareness has taken place. Learners are advised not to go toward the deep-end of the swimming pool until they have mastered at least the preliminaries of swimming. In the field of service too a similar rule applies. If we want to do true service, we must have at least the preliminary qualifications necessary to be a true server. When the process of de-alienation is set in motion to some extent, service comes in as a catalytic agent to speed up the process.

I mentioned the necessity of uncompromising conviction. What conviction? The conviction that oneness exists. Though I may not have yet “perceived” oneness, I must be convinced to the core that it exists nevertheless. Not only that; mere conviction is not enough. I must be prepared to make an all out effort to live—in thought, word and action—with the awareness of the undivided existence.

“Learn to make the world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own.” When Sarada Devi told this to a disciple she was referring to the underlying oneness of all creation. Mother’s words seem to be suggest not “oneness” but “belonging.” “The world is my own” is clearly different from “I am the world.” But when put into practice, Mother’s teaching leads not to the experience of “belonging” to the world but to the experience of identity with it. 

Just as I am no stranger to myself, nothing in the world should be a stranger to me. The love, care and attention that I bestow on myself must be offered to the whole world too, because the world is my own self in a different form. To serve with this idea obviously requires great application, inner strength and dogged perseverance—particularly because the immediate fallout of this practice may not always be pleasant and endearing.

Three questions arise: (1) The act of service needs at least two, the server and the served; how is service possible when there is only oneness? (2) Is it possible to live and serve with the idea of oneness without actually perceiving it? (3) Is it easy to cultivate this approach to service?

All the three questions are easily answered. Let us begin with the first: How is service possible when there is only oneness?  Service can take place even when there is oneness. When my toe is stubbed, do I not tend it with all care and do everything to heal it? Granted, the hands that tend the toe are different from it, but the fact remains that they belong to one body animated by one conscious being. In the same way, service is possible in this universe which is, as it were, the gross body of the one, conscious, Supreme Being. (Gitā, 13. 13-15)

The second question, Is it possible to live with the idea of oneness without actually perceiving it? To live with the idea of something without perceiving it, is not as difficult as we imagine it to be. We have no difficulty accepting that the protective ozone layer around the earth is steadily depleting and the gaping hole in the layer is threatening some populated areas of our planet. With the exception of a few scientists, none of us has perceived all this, have we? Don’t we accept it as true and try to do something to avert the disaster? Similar is the case with oneness. If we can take the word of the scientists about the ozone layer, there is no reason why we cannot take the word of the spiritually enlightened about oneness.

The words of the spiritually enlightened are far more trustworthy than the words of those who deal with physical sciences. It doesn’t take long for one scientific theory to be contradicted by another and one technology to be superseded by another. The scientists are right only so long as they are not proved wrong, and history shows us that it is never long enough. On the other hand, the words of the spiritually enlightened have stood the test of time for the last God-knows-how-many centuries. The truth of oneness was proclaimed centuries ago and is enshrined in the Vedas, the oldest literature known to us today. It was true then and it is true today, because there were people who perceived it then and there are people who perceive it today. 

Let it not be imagined, therefore, that this discussion is theoretical or only an intellectual exercise. In every generation there are people who have lived with the unshakeable conviction that oneness exists. They have moulded their lives on this conviction, and eventually experienced oneness. This realization brought them total freedom, absolute perfection, and ineffable bliss. If this was possible for some, it is possible for you and me as well. If it was possible in the past, it is certainly possible at present and in future too.

Now the third question: Is it easy to cultivate this kind of nondualistic approach to service? The truth is that “easy” and “difficult” are relative terms. What is easy for one may be difficult for another and what usually makes the difference is the intensity of faith in oneself, a firm determination to succeed, and dogged perseverance. With these in good measure, nothing is difficult; without these, nothing is easy.

Two methods are recommended for those who find it difficult to serve continually with the idea of oneness of all creation. One method is to maintain the constant awareness of one’s true nature as the spiritual self (ātman), distinct from body and mind. All activity is “outside”—merely forces of nature (prakṛti) acting and interacting upon one another. I am only their witness, unaffected and untouched (Gitā, 3. 27-28). All work is done only for work’s sake, not out of any other consideration or hope (Gitā, 18. 9).

The second method is suited particularly to those with a predominantly devotional temperament. Here all actions are done for the sake of God. The results of actions are offered to God. All work is God’s work. As a devotee, I am only a servant of God carrying out my master’s orders. Or, I can looks upon myself as a child of God, and all other beings as God’s children, and I can serve them with that idea in mind. (CW, 3. 83–84)

In his lectures on karma yoga, Swami Vivekananda has described both these methods for overcoming attachments and freeing oneself from the binding nature of karma (see CW, 1. 32, 56-60, 87-90, 98-107). Whichever of these methods I adopt, sooner or later I’ll discover that they lead me to the awareness of unity underlying the endless diversity in the universe. I may not still “perceive” oneness, but I can no longer doubt it. I begin to have a somewhat vague but persistent feeling that the whole universe is a cosmic, multidimensional conscious being (virāt puruṣa), and I joyfully serve this cosmic being as well as I can.

This is service as means at its best. As said earlier, this accelerates the process of de-alienation or reintegration. When this process reaches its logical conclusion, service as means has fulfilled its purpose. Whatever service I do thenceforth is spontaneous and perfect. It is service not as a means to de-alienation but as a wholesome result of it.

Service as a Result

When my awareness expands, it not only removes the alienation within my personality but also transcends at some stage the barrier of the body, and gradually engulfs more and more of the world around. When I am completely de-alienated, all frontiers vanish. Nothing limits me. I perceive the one, infinite, conscious being within and without. My every little act becomes a worship, every word a benediction. I discover that my true self is not different from the true self in each and every creature around. I perceive consciousness pulsating even in objects that are normally considered inanimate (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 3.8.11, Muṇḍakopaniṣad, 2.2.11, Chāndogya Upaniṣad, 7.25.1-2,  Gītā, 4. 24, 10. 20). I find that there is only one self appearing in countless forms (Kaṭhopaniṣad, 2.2.2, 2.2.9-10,  Chāndogya Upaniṣad, 6.3.2). My love for my true self does not conflict with my love for others, because I see my own self in all, and I see all in my own self (Īśāvāsyopaniṣad, 6-7 and Gitā, 6. 29-32). I become immersed in the bliss of my self. I perceive oneness everywhere. I become free from all duties, responsibilities, obligations. Nothing binds me (Gitā, 3. 17-18). Yet I don’t stop working. Out of the fullness of my heart, out of the spontaneous love that gushes forth from my being for the whole of creation, I continue to serve (Gitā, 3. 25). This is true service.

When I am spiritually illumined, my service need not always take the form of external activity. I will do good to the world by just being who I am. My mere presence will do wonders and I’ll radiate peace, harmony, bliss all around. Whoever comes within the orbit of my influence will become blessed and get the strength, hope and faith necessary to pursue higher life. 

Often we may know nothing about those who are spiritually illumined. “The highest men,” said Swami Vivekananda, 

“are calm, silent, and unknown. They are the men who really know the power of thought; they are sure that, even if they go into a cave and close the door and simply think five truer thoughts and then pass away, these five thoughts of theirs will live through eternity. Indeed, such thoughts will penetrate through the mountains, cross the oceans, and travel through the world. They will enter deep into human hearts and brains, and raise up men and women who will give them practical expression in the workings of human life.” (CW, 1. 106)

Such illumined ones appear in every generation: a few among them become known; most pass away unknown. Known or unknown, they are the greatest benefactors of humanity. Through their lives we learn what this life is all about; through the kind of service they do we understand what true service means.

Summary

We have seen that true service is an act of holiness and it has its origin in the perception of the unity of all existence. Through some mysterious quirk this unity was disturbed. The one, undivided existence became fragmented into many seemingly different existences. This produced alienation, stress, conflicts—and, inevitably, sorrow.

To overcome this, the many have to be resolved back into the one. In other words, alienation must be removed. Since the breaking up into the many is essentially the apparent fragmentation and localization of the all-pervading consciousness, the resolving into the one calls for a progressive transformation and expansion of consciousness.

Several factors play important roles in the de-alienation process. Service is one of them. It acts as a catalyst to the process, provided it is done with the firm conviction (at this stage, there is no actual perception) in the oneness of all that exists. This purifies the heart and helps obliterate the various boundaries that stand as hurdles to the broadening of awareness. When the process of de-alienation is complete and I return to being a fully reintegrated being, I become perfect and am able to perceive “the one” behind the apparent and illusory “many.” Then, and only then, can I offer true service, which does lasting good to the world. (CW 5. 285)

If everything is ultimately one, who serves whom? The answer is, I serve myself, because there is no one else to be served. How the one, indivisible reality got divided into the many is, really speaking, a nonsensical question. If the indivisible could really get divided, it only means it was never indivisible to start with. On the other hand, if it really was indivisible, then absolutely nothing can divide it. Then what was all this discussion about the descent of the one to become the many and the ascent of the many to become the one? If it is impossible for the one to become the many, how did the impossible become possible? 

The impossible can become possible only through ignorance. Which is to say, only ignorance can make the impossible appear as possible. Nothing but the ignorance of a coiled rope in a semlit room can turn it into a snake. Obviously, the rope’s transformation is only illusory. The awareness that it’s only a rope, not a snake, drives away the ignorance and the snake vanishes. In precisely the same way, ignorance divides the indivisible, absolute Being, Consciousness and Bliss (sat-cit-ānanda) into countless fragments. The divisions, obviously illusory, vanish when overrun by the expanding awareness that reveals the undivided nature of all that exists.

Why should I serve myself? No reason why I should, really. But when I discover ignorance having its sway over me, the only way I can kill it off is through knowledge, and service done in the proper spirit is an indispensable aid to the acquisition of knowledge. Once the floodlight of supreme knowledge dispels the gloomy darkness of ignorance, I become free. The service I do thenceforth is a free, spontaneous, perfect offering—not for the sake of knowledge, which I already have—but for the good of the world which I clearly see as my own self in another form.

[keepyourpantsongohan]

What do you think about the association of Indra with critical thinking and of Ashura with surface thinking (at least in the Chāndogya Upanishad, see hymn 8.5.3.) in the context of the arcs of Naruto and Sasuke

First of all, I love the energy of this ask! 

Secondly, I’m having a little trouble locating the verse. Do you have a link or a quote you have in mind?