- The Fourfold Yoga - Part II
- by: G Kumar, Astrologer &
Epistemologist
Union via Wisdom ( Jnana Yoga
)
Jnana means Wisdom and Jnana
Yoga means Union with the Divine via Wisdom.
Wisdom has been defined as organised
life. Wisdom and knowledge are different. Wisdom is a special
kind of knowledge. What is the use of knowing everything if one
doesn't know the Self? Knowledge of the Absolute Self alone is
Wisdom. ( Sa Vidya Tan Mathir Yaya ).
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The Quantum Field Theory
Quantum mechanics postulate that
the finest state of matter is the vaccum state. The universal
sea of matter exist in the vaccum state. It is defined as the
field of all possibilities. This vaccum state of the quantum
field corresponds to the indestructible being of transcendental
philosophy.
Matter was studied and pursued
till one day it vanished into energy. De Broglie's Matter-Wave
Hypothesis postulates that the electron is both a particle and
a wave. This wave like nature of matter has taken Physics into
the realm of Metaphysics, which hath already declared that matter
is a form of Energy and Energy is a form of Consciousness.
The Sevenfold Chord of Being
( The Septenary Principles )
The Universal Substance, by which
all this is pervaded, manifests with its septenary principles
with Matter as the lowest term and pure Being as the highest. |
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Matter ( Annam )
Life ( Prana )
Mind ( Mana )
Supermind ( Vijnana )
Existence ( Sat )
Consciousness ( Chit )
Bliss ( Ananda )
These are what the ancient sages
meant by the sevenfold mode of cosmic existence, the septenary
principles through which the Universal expresses itself.
These, then, are the seven colours
of the light of Divine Consciousness, the seven rays of the Infinite,
and by them the Spirit has filled in the canvass of his own self
existence conceptually extended, woven of the objective warp
of space and the subjective woof of time, the myriad wonders
of his self-creation, great, simple and symmetrical in its primal
laws and vast framings.The Light, the Sound is One; their action
is sevenfold. ( Aurobindo )
How to overcome the Ego
All knowledge is threefold ("
Thraigunya Vishaya Veda "). In Freudian Psycho-analysis
we have three impulses, Id, Ego and Supergo. The Vedantic Satwa,
Rajas and Thamas correspond to these impulses. The mind is always
gripped by these three impulses. Sometimes we are Rajasic ( worldly
) and go after wealth. When intense anger and other negative
emotions grip us, we are Thamasic. When divine qualities like
Love and Peace influence us, we are Satwic ( divine ).
The Ego with its ten heads (
symbolised as the ten-headed Ravana ) is the major block in attaining
Self_Actualisation. The ten heads of the Ego are Lust, Anger,
Pride, Avarice, Sloth, Covetousness, Attachment, Mind, Intellect,
Conceit and Egoistic Mentality. Only when the ten heads of the
Ego are removed can we hope to get Self-Realisation. ( Symbolically
only when the Ravana in us is destroyed ).
When we do our yoga, we will
be assailed by three type of Ego. Rajasic ( wordly ), Thamasic
( bestial ) and Satwic ( noble ). In order to overcome the three
types of Ego, we are given certain commandments.
" Ma the Sanghostha karmani
" - (Let there be not in you any attachment to inaction.)
This commandment is given so that we can overcome the Thamasic
( bestial ) ego.
" Ma Karma Phala Heturbhoo
" - ("Dont expect any reward") This commandment
is given to protect us from the Rajasic ( wordly ) ego, which
always expects rewards for work done.
" Ubhe Sukruta Dushkrute
" ( "Be beyond good and evil " ) This commandment
is given to us to overcome the Satwic Ego, for one should not
hang on to Punya ( divine merit ).
In other words, during the process
of Yoga we will be assailed by all sorts of negative thoughts.
Our aim is to identify with the Source of all thought, the Self.
We will find, as we progress on the path of yoga, that these
negative thoughts leave us slowly and steadily. Conquering our
negative aspect is not easy. The negative elements in man are
the true villains. Alone, powerful, cruel are the dark and dreadful
forces that profit from the reign of Night and Ignorance and
they don't want any change in the body. We have to annihilate
them one by one.
In tragic life, God wot
No villains need be, passions spin the plot
We are betrayed by what is false within!
The entire Vedic wisdom is contained
in one word "Transcend ".
Transcend both pain and sorrow, transcend the triune attributes
of Nature. Transcend negativity!.
More information about Transcendental
Philosophy and Yoga can be had from www.eastrovedica.com/html/yoga.htm
We are always confronted by the
negative qualities. Perfection has to be worked out, harmony
has to be established. Ignorance, limitation, sorrow, - these
are the negative qualities as pitted against Knowledge, Infintiy
and Bliss. These negative qualities are merely the first terms
of the formula - unintelligible, till we have worked out the
wider terms and reintepreted the formulary. They are merely the
initial discords of the Musician's harmony. To rise from the
Negative to the Positive, from Ignorace to Divine Knowledge,
from limitation to the Illimitable, from sorrow to Bliss Infinite,
from Matter to revealed Spirit, is Yoga. To achieve this end
for ourselves and for our brethren is the aim of our Yogic practice.
- ( Aurobindo)
Wise men like Ramana Maharshi
advises us to annihilate the Mind. For it is that which gives
you pleasure that gives you pain. The root cause of all bondage
and all sorrow is Mind! Annihilate the mind by thinking on its
real nature. The true Source of the Mind is the "I",
the primal thought. Because of the Primal Thought, the mind exists!
He advises us to enquire into the nature of the Self. The thought
" Who am I " will lead us to the annihilation of the
mind. This thought " Who am I " is like the the burning
log which will burn all other logs!
I am pure Being, by whom all
things be!
The Negative Method in the Upanishads
In the Upanishads Reality is
defined by a series of negatives because the Negative is less
limiting than the Positive.
This is known as the Neti ( "Not
this " ) method. We deny the Finite in order to affirm the
Infinite.
We say this is my shirt. That
means that I am not the shirt. Similarly we declare my hands,
my legs etc which means I am not the hands or legs. Then who
am I? The body is mine, therefore " I " am not the
body. Then who is this "I" ? We therefore apply Intuitive
Logic and deny everything. All these are mine, but I am not they.
A state will come, during this process of denial, that I cannot
deny one thing. What is this thing which I cannot deny? That
which I cannot deny is "I", the Self, the Consciousness!
The finite is negated to affirm
the Infinite.
The Superconscient as the Base
The Superconscious Mind and not
the subconscious is the base of all Life.
Let us analyse why the Superconscient
is considered as the foundation.
Deep within the five sheaths
which compose our being - the material, the vital, the mental,
the gnostic and the blissful - is the Absoulte Self, the divine
component in us which Jesus referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven
("The Kingdom of Heaven is within you and whomsover shall
know himself shall find it ").
The dreadful forces or "
hostile forces" as they are known - lust, greed, anger,
jealousy, sloth and covetousness - lie in the dark caverns of
the Subconscious mind. Wisdom declares that they are our inner
enemies.
Man houses dangerous forces in
his house
The Titan, the Fury and the Djinn
Lay in the subsconscient's cavern pit
And the Beast moved in his antre den
The Enemy means who? Our inner
enemies which lie in the Subconscient!
Socrates is poisoned. Jesus crucified.
Bruno burnt alive. This phenomenon is known in Yogic Psychology
as the downward pull of the mind, when the dark forces that lie
in the subconscient triumph ( in the collective subsconscient
). The reverse phenomenon, the upward pull of the mind is that
which pulls us from death to immortality and realises in this
body of earth the luminous Kingdom of Heaven ( Self-Actualisation
).
The four faculties of the Intuitive
Reason - Revealation, Inspiration, Intuition and Illumination
are all the properties of the Superconscious Mind and can be
experienced if we make ourselves pure and make our mind still
(" Be still and know that I am God " - Bible ).
The aim of Yoga is pull ourselves
out of the darkness of the subconscient into the Light of the
Superconscient and to receive the intuitions and the revealations
of the Self and ultimately lead us to Self_Actualisation. The
aim of Nature is to effect Super-Nature. The aim of Yoga is Self,
is Self-Actualisation.
The great battle between good
and evil which was depicted by the poets ( Iliad, Odyssey, Ramayana,Mahabharata
etc ) is actually the great war happening in the human bosom
between the conflicting forces of good and evil, ever locked
in eternal combat. Utlimately the positive elements - Truth,
Dharma, Peace, Love and the Discriminative Intellect will win
over the negative elements in us and we will be transmuted into
the Divine Man. This is the ultimate formula of Wisdom - the
divine transmutation of Man!
Yoga as Divine Alchemy
Alchemy is the science of transmuting
baser metals into gold. Yoga is divine alchemy as it transmutes
base metals ( our human nature ) into gold ( divine nature ).
Scientifically, Alchemy is possible.
By proton bombardment, the atomic number of any element can be
increased to form another element. So, theoretically, any element
can be converted into Aurum ( gold ).
Alchemy is symbolic and no physical
transmutation is meant here. Divine Alchemy is the ultimate formula
wherein we are transmuted into the Divine Being-Knowledge-Bliss!
This is what the ancient Yogis
meant by Transmutation, Transformation and Transfiguration!
Copyright 2003 G. Kumar |
