PART – 1
Let us take up some of the misconceptions about Realization.
There are many, many misconceptions about Realization. People have different types of visions, people have different types of experiences. Many of these are operating at the mental level – mind level. ‘I saw a Divine form’ – the Divine form which you saw, is it universal in nature? Because God is universal, God is not for a culture. Then, what you saw, experienced, is coloured by your cultural conditioning, which means your mind. So, is the vision of the God dependant on your mental conditioning? That means, mind is interfering. Also, the experience of God was momentary. The experience of vision was momentary. The vision can happen during meditation, or the vision can happen in dream. Of course, there is a vividness, there is a clarity, that I saw a Divine form. But still, it is a mental experience, in the mind-domain. Not that these visions are not important – they are important, because they give inspiration, they motivate us, but they are temporary in nature. But Realization of God is Nitya, eternal. Do not confuse the temporary with the eternal.
PART – 2
The experience, which you have of the Divine, may be when you are chanting, or doing meditation, is a momentary appearance based on the mental conditioning. Many people, not only have experienced, but have a communication also with the Divine. Any communication involves the mind. You need to be clear and careful about how much part of the communication, is your own mental projection, because the mind itself projects the image of the Divine, mind itself asks the question and gives the answer. In a sense, it can be a self-dialogue. You need to be clear about how much of that is self-dialogue.
Any communication or any interaction with the Divine, has a lot of wisdom in it, the Truth in it. Most of the time, we start communicating with the Divine for our mundane problems. That is fine, that will give you relief, that will give you satisfaction, and solace. But, the Realization is Realization of the Truth. I talk to God, and God gives me answers. Wonderful, that gives you consolation, that gives you a feeling of comfort. God as a father or mother helps you to maintain your mental and emotional stability. But, realization is something more than this. Realization is experiencing, or understanding the Divine or higher Truths – about your own nature, about the nature of the Self. Now, in this communication, other than the mundane communication about your life, about your family, about your children or about something in life, is there a Truth? Is there a wisdom – spiritual wisdom – involved? What is that spiritual wisdom? Then, there is a communication from the higher part of the mind – higher mind
PART – 3
The mind has a lower mind – the subconscious mind and the unconscious mind, and a higher mind, which is a reservoir of higher truths. Do you get insight from the higher Truth? Or do you get communication from the subconscious mind? Are the answers from the Divine for nothing but to fulfill the subconscious impressions? How do you distinguish that? Are you falling below mind or are you rising above mind in the Divine vision and communication?
A person who is having Divine vision has a deep understanding of life. He understands the nature of the world as an appearance or Maya. He understands that he is one with the Divine, deep inside. These are all spiritual truths. You can refer to the spiritual teachings of the realized persons or Vedanta. So, your understanding, whatever communication happened between you and the Divine, is it matching with the realization of the sages? You need to do a cross-check. Otherwise, we may live in a world, where the subconscious impressions are leading us. You should rise. As the mind becomes more pure, the higher mind will answer. Now, the answers from the higher mind will be more closer to spiritual Truths. But, it is still not the Absolute Truth. It is not the Realization. Why is it not Realization? So, there are two types of experiences, one is called transcendental and the other is called empirical.
PART – 4
In the empirical truth, or empirical realization, the mind is involved. There is a seer, there is a seen and the process of seeing. Knower, known, knowledge – this is the nature of the mind. The mind is coming into picture, in the empirical truth. In the transcendental truth, the mind, body and intellect have become silent – deeply silent. The Truth is a direct, intuitive, inner experience – Inner Realization. So, what I am telling is that, the vision of the Lord, the vision of the God, as seer, seen and the process of seeing, is also an empirical experience which involves the mind. The moment it involves the mind, there is a corruption by the mind. The mind can be corrupted by Subconscious impressions or mind can be influenced by higher Consciousness. So, the mind influenced by higher Consciousness will take you closer and closer to the Truth, and becomes more and more purified mind. But, still, it is an empirical experience – the experience of Jiva, where knower, known and knowledge is involved.
PART – 5
So, the communication from the higher mind is called vision. It is helpful and it motivates you. Many people think that they get some supernatural experiences. What they call as ‘the vision of the future’ or telepathy, reading of the mind, or premonition or remote viewing – ability to see something very remote; These are all called ‘Siddhis’ or super natural powers. This has nothing to do with Realization. These are faculties of the mind. As you become more meditative, then mind develops certain faculties. Somebody may develop a healing power. These are all the nature of mind, which has become sharper and sharper, and purified. Because of the meditation practice, because of yoga, mind has become more subtle and it has developed certain powers. Still these are empirical in nature. Do not confuse that with the Truth. Never confuse this with the Realization.
PART – 6
There are people who will see a light at the third eye or get a vision at the third eye. It is called ‘Roopanusandana Samadhi’. Then, there is a taste, nectar-like taste in the tongue, it is called, ‘Rasanusandana Samadhi’. Then, there is a vibration, it is called, ‘Sparshanusandana Samadhi’. All this will capture the mind. There is a lot joy, lot of ecstasy. Do not confuse this with Realization. Do not get stuck at this place. These are all helpful, I am not saying these are wrong. But, this is not your destination, because here also, there is an experiencer, experience and object is there. The Triputi has not gone. In Realization, the Triputi disappears. The knower, known and knowledge disappears, and Pure Awareness remains.
Then, there are some people who say, ‘In realization, the breath has to stop’. Stopping of the breath also indicates stopping of the mind. If stopping of the breath is a sign of Realization, then everybody is realized. Because, between one breath in and one breath out, the breath stops momentarily. By that stand, everybody is realized. ‘No, no, breath stopping for one hour is realization,’ that is a different thing. Whether breath stops momentarily or for one hour, it doesn’t make any difference, because, if breath stopping is the standard, then everybody should be realized. It is not the stopping which is important, it is the wisdom which is important, and hence the removal of ignorance which is important. That is why breath stopping is not a measure of Realization. Because, there are people who go into some type of Samadhi for some time, where breath stops momentarily or for long duration. And there is as associated Ananda or bliss. It is good. It is a sign that mind is becoming silent. But, that is not Realization. If stopping of the breath is Realization, then everybody should be realized, because for everybody breath stops momentarily between a breath in and a breath out.
PART – 7
Then, there are people who claim something called ‘Nirvikalpa Samadhi’, where the mind has stopped, the breath has stopped. The mind has gone to some dormant condition. There is no awareness of inside or outside. Sometimes, it is accompanied by the heart-beat stopping, sometimes the pulse stopping. It is a fantastic achievement. As a human being, you are able to stop the autonomous processes of the body. The unconscious processes of the body has come to a stand still. But, when the mind has become silent through practices, which are mechanical in nature, there is no wisdom gained.
PART – 8
What is the difference between deep sleep and the state where the mind has gone into dormant condition? There is no wisdom gained in deep sleep. The Vedantic Samadhi, or the Samadhi which we speak of in Vedanta, which is also called as Nirvikalpa Samadhi. But the Nirvikalpa Samadhi in Vedanta is a state of Pure Awareness. The mind fully active, the intellect is fully active, but silent. There is a knowledge that ‘I am Brahman’, ‘I am Consciousness’. That is missing in some of the other types of Samadhis which is mechanically obtained, through breath, or breath stopping, or whatever way. They are also called Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Though it may look similar, the wisdom is missing. This is as per Sri Shankaracharya. The Nirvikalpa Samadhi, where wisdom is involved, is actually Jnana Samadhi – wisdom is there. Nirvikalpa Samadhi, where no wisdom is involved is called ‘Jada Samadhi’. So, we should be careful that we don’t enter into Jada Samadhi.
PART – 9
‘I was meditating for a long time, suddenly I didn’t know what happened,’ that means you lost your awareness. Then you lost your chance to get wisdom. So, a Samadhi where you are fully aware, but is like a deep sleep, there the wisdom is there. What is the wisdom? “I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the intellect, but I am Pure Awareness. Pure Awareness is Brahman, Consciousness.” And since there are no thoughts, there is no other world other than Awareness. What is Real is only Awareness. What is Satya is the awareness. Then, what is the world? World is a projection, like a dream-like state, which happens in that Awareness. This understanding ‘Brahma Satya, Jagan Mithya; Jeevo Brahmaiva Naaparaha’. That wisdom arises in a Chetana Samadhi – in a Jnana Samadhi. Without that wisdom it becomes a Jada Samadhi.
PART – 10
Then, there are other misconceptions, like ‘I am Self Realized’. ‘I am Self Realized’ is also a misconception. The one who says ‘I am Self Realized’, is ego. The ego, intellect, Chitta, and mind – Manas, Buddhi, Ahankara and Chitta – these are the instruments. These instruments can never realize what Consciousness is, because they are instruments of Consciousness. Like a bulb can give light when the electricity passes – bulb can show everything in the room, but it cannot show electricity. Similarly, the intellect or the mind, gets powered by the Consciousness, but can never understand Consciousness. So, ‘I am Self Realized’ is a paradox. It is not possible.
‘No, no, Brahman realized something or the Consciousness realized something’, that is also a paradox, because Consciousness cannot realize anything. Then what is the Realization all about? Who realizes? Then you Realize that there is nobody to Realize, because what I call myself was a dream character. ‘Me’ was a dream, so was the world. This wisdom comes. One who says ‘I know’ knows not. This is the teaching of Vedanta and Upanishad. If it is ‘I know’, then he knows not, because, knowledge belongs to the intellect. Where there is knowledge, there is ignorance also. But, Self is beyond knowledge and ignorance. It is a Pure Awareness – Shuddha Chaitanya. In that Pure Awareness, there is no idea of knowledge and no idea of ignorance.
To give an example, let us say Sun is there. When Sun light is there, there is shade, which is darkness, and there is light. Where Sun is present, there is light,and shadow of that is darkness. Similarly, when Atma is present, Self is present, the Buddhi has knowledge and ignorance, like darkness and light. But, what about Sun? In the Sun, there is no concept of darkness, there is no concept of light also. The Sun is purely shining, by itself. Similarly, Atma or the Self, is shining by itself – Pure Awareness. That is called ‘Prajnana’. Knowledge is called Jnana, ignorance is Ajnana. Atma is beyond Jnana and Ajnana.
PART – 11
There is another concept, that Silence is Realization – Mouna is Realization. When you want to speak, there is an urge in you, and thoughts will come, words will come. The silence can be as a practice. When you are silent, there is no thought, even though the urge may be there. It is a suppression. People think that somewhere, the silence is Realization. The silence belongs to the mind. The words and silence both belong to the mind. The Self is beyond silence and words. Then, what about when people say,that a Jnani is teaching silence? Like, Dakshinamurthy sat silently and taught Rishis. Actually, Dakshinamurthy didn’t speak, because, the Self is beyond words. He is trying to teach what is beyond mind, by being silent. Because, Self is beyond words. And Self is beyond silence also. But, silence itself is not sign of Realization. If somebody is silent, it doesn’t mean he is Realized. A realized person can be silent, because he cannot speak or explain. He is not able to indicate. His words may be confused for something else.
PART – 12
Then, there is another misconception, that the Vedanta, study of scriptures, is a theory – you need to do something after studying the theory to realize the truth. The problem is the ignorance, which is shadowing the intellect. Ignorance is Avarana, and Vikshepa, Rajo Guna and Tamo Guna, which cover the nature of self, and projects. The Vikshepa has to be made silent by practicing some meditation, Avarana, or the ignorance of the Self, has to be removed through Jnana. So, Self is known to everybody, because intuitively, everybody knows the Self. The Ajnana has to be removed. The Vedanta Jnana will help you to remove the Ajnana. When Ajnana is removed, Jnana has no value. It is gone. It has only one purpose, to remove Ajnana. You don’t have to repeat it many times.
For example, you see the Sun rising in the east, and setting in the west. You think that Sun is going round the earth. Your science teacher comes and says, ‘No, no, Earth is going round the Sun’. It is one-time Jnana, there is no repetition. That removes the Ajnana. Vedanta Jnana is not a means to end, it is not that after Vedanta you have to do something to realize something. It is an end in itself. It is an end to all the other means. All your Sadhana will come to Jnana. That is why Sri Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita “Jnanavan Maam prapadyate”. The one who has Jnana will realize me. So,’ Jnani is me only,’ Sri Krishna says. So, Jnana is not a means to end, it is an end to all other means. These are all the misconceptions people have.
PART – 13
Then, there is another misconception that ‘I have lot of Vasanas, impressions. Now all those impressions have to go before I realize something.’ So, now, these impressions are classified as Deha Vasana, Loka Vasana, Shastra Vasana. Loka Vasana means, ‘I want to interact with the world, I want to enjoy the world.’ Deha Vasana means, ‘I want to look beautiful, handsome.’ Shastra Vasana means, ‘I have to read a lot of scriptures.’ These are the three Vasanas. Now, if you say, ‘I will get realization only after all these Vasanas are over’, it will take billions of years, because, every time you try to remove some Vasana, some other Vasana will crop up. So, there is no end to this. The realization is not after removing all Vasanas. Realization is not a result of any action – Vasana removal is an action. If you want to remove Vasanas to realize what you are, then it means that it is a result of an action. But, yes, to some extent some of the Vasanas you have to reduce, that is called ‘Antahkarana Shuddhi’, because your mind has to be introverted, and peaceful, to Realize, and to that extent, Vasanas have to disappear. But, if you wait for all Vasanas to disappear, it will be for an infinite time. It won’t happen. Realization doesn’t require all Vasanas to be removed. This is another misconception. Realization requires some Vasanas, which will help you to go inwards.
‘If Vasanas are removed, then only the Self Realization will take place’, if this understanding is there, then Vasana becomes an independent reality. It also becomes Satya. Then there are two parallel realities – Satya and another Satya. There is nothing other than Satya. It is a Mithya, a dependant reality. Your Realization doesn’t depend on that reality. So, don’t be under the impression that ‘I have lot of Vasanas, and all my Vasanas have to go before I realize.’ No. Vasanas which will block you from going inward, should be removed. Otherwise, every Vasana if you want to remove to Realize, then it will not happen.