(Part 1)
PART – 1
Let us contemplate on the crucial step of Nidhidhyasa in Vedanta.
The entire Vedanta Sadhana for Self-Recognition involves Shravana, Manana, Nidhidhyasa. Shravana means you have to listen to the truth. Manana means you have to understand. Then, Nidhidhyasa means, you have to meditate. Now, this meditation is slightly different from your regular meditation. First, let us understand the purpose of Shravana and Manana.
What is the purpose of Shravana and Manana? Shravana means listening to the truth and Manana means understanding. Listening to the truth from the Guru, spiritual master, based on the authentic Vedantic texts. What is the truth? ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ – ‘You Are That’. You are Brahman, You are Supreme Consciousness. Tat Tvam Asi. This is understanding. This understanding has to clearly sink in you, without any doubt. No confusion should be there. ‘How can I be Brahman?’ All those confusion should go. Then, the intellect will be free from doubt. If you still have doubt, then you listen properly, get clarity, because if intellect doesn’t get clarity, it will create doubts. And when there are doubts, you can’t enter into Nidhidhyasa.
PART – 2
Now, what is the purpose of Vedantic teaching for you? It is called Atmajnana. The purpose of Atmajnana or Self-Knowledge is to remove the Self-ignorance. Why Self-ignorance has to be removed? It is because you become what you think – ‘Yat bhaavayati, tat bhavati’. Your understanding of yourself is what makes you in your life. If you think you are a fool, you will become the greatest fool on the earth. If you think you are good, you will become good. If you think you are Brahman, you will become Brahman, because it is your thought which creates your life. A wrong understanding of your thought has to be corrected. That is the purpose of Vedantic teaching. That is the grace of Guru. That is the grace of the spiritual master. That is the grace of scriptural texts. That is the grace of Bhagavan – to give you a clear understanding about yourself. Right now, whatever understanding you have about yourself, is based on what people say, what people tell about you. That is not important. What you think about yourself, is important. What you talk to yourself about you is important. How you address yourself to you, what mental understanding you have about yourself, is very important. Unless that is corrected, your life will not change.
PART – 3
So now, what should be your understanding? Should you think that you want enlightenment, you want to become Brahman? Is the understanding ‘I want to become Brahman’ the right understanding? ‘I want to get liberated’ is this right understanding? It is a wrong understanding. You cannot become Brahman, because you are already Brahman. You cannot start with a wrong assumption and end up in the right realization. That is why I insist on listening properly. If you think that you are not Brahman and that you want to become Brahman, then your understanding is wrong. If you think you are bonded, and you want liberation, then again your understanding is wrong. Your effort should be to recognize.
PART – 4
First, you should get conviction deep inside, ‘I am already liberated.’ That recognition has to happen. ‘If you think, ‘I am struggling for liberation’, forever in your life you will be struggling for liberation. If you think, ‘I am struggling for enlightenment’, for millions of lifetimes you will struggle for enlightenment, because that is not the truth. You are focusing your practices based on the untruth. The truth is, “You are Atma. Atma has no bondage, no liberation. Atma is blissful, Atma is Ananda. Atma is Sacchidananda”. Now, if you start with saying, ‘No, no, I have to become Atma’, then gone; because it is a wrong practice. ‘No, no, I want to get liberated.’ When did Atma become bonded? That is also wrong. You have to start with the right understanding, and for that, you have to do Shravana and Manana. You have to get clarity about what Atma is and what You are. Then, you have to reflect on that. That is called Nidhidhyasa. ‘Nidhi’ means wealth, and ‘Dhyasa’ means protection. So, Guru has given you the wealth, wisdom. Now, that wisdom has to be protected from the wrong understanding which comes in.
PART – 5
People will still call you with the same name, you will still deal with so many things, but within you, you have to protect that wisdom. That is meditation. Anything which is required to remove the ignorance from your mind is called contemplation. You should be very, very clear that ‘I am not struggling for liberation. I am already liberated,’ ‘I am not struggling for enlightenment, I am already enlightened’. When you say, ‘I am’, that is about the Atma. ‘No, no, I am the mind, I am struggling to become Atma,’ that is a wrong understanding. You have never been the mind. That correction has already happened by the teaching, Atmajnana. You are not the mind, you are not the body, and you are not the intellect. So, Nidhidhyasa means, not trying to become something, but Nidhidhyasa means holding on to the Truth. It is not moving from untruth to Truth. No. It is staying in the Truth. That is called Nidhidhyasa. Never be under the confusion. ‘No, no, I want to get liberated, that is why I am doing Nidhidhyasa,’ it is wrong. ‘I am liberated, I am holding on to the truth,’ is Nidhidhyasa.
PART – 6
If you don’t have a conviction that you are liberated, then do more Shravana, Manana. If you are not convinced that you are Atma, then you do Shravana, Manana. You are not ready for Nidhidhyasa. I am of the nature of Atma, I am the Truth, I am Sat-Chit-Ananda, I am Blissful, I am Ananda Swaroopa. That conviction has to come to you, and then you can do Nidhidhyasa. It is holding on to the Truth, not moving from untruth to Truth. Untruth to Truth has to happen during Shravana and Manana. Listen carefully and get convinced about the Truth. Nidhidhyasa is only holding on to the Truth so that you recognize the Self directly. All the preliminary doubts have to be cleared by Shravana and Manana.
PART – 7
There is a beautiful saying by Ashtavakra, as teaching to Janakaraja.
“Mukthabhimaani Mukthohi Baddho Baddhaabhimaani
Kim Vadanteya Sathyeham Ya Mathihi Saagathirbaveth”
‘Abhimaana’ means a feeling. ‘Mukthaabhimaani’ means one who feels constantly that I am liberated. He will be liberated. One who thinks I am Baddha, I am in bondage, he will become bonded only. ‘Ya mathihi saagathihi’ – whatever you think, you will become that. So, whatever your thinking is, please correct it. From untruth, you move to the Truth by Shravana and Manana. Nidhidhyasa is holding on to the Truth.
The Truth is, ‘I am atma, I am Sacchidaananda Swaroopa, I am liberated, I am enlightened, I am free from all bondages, I don’t have birth and death’ this is the truth.
“Nanu nanembudu nanalla. Ee deha-mana-budhi nanalla. Sacchidaanandatma Shiva nanu nane. Shivoham, Shivoham, Shivoham.”
Hold on to this truth. If you are not convinced about truth, go and ask Guru, and get clarity. It is not that you have to become Shiva, you are already Shiva. Jiva is Shiva, Jiva is Brahma. If you are not convinced about it, then you still cannot enter into Nidhidhyasa, because whatever truth you are convinced, that you are holding on in Nidhidhyasa.
PART – 8
An effort is required in Shravana and Manana. All these mental conceptions, which are wrong, related to Self has to be clarified. Then, sit in Nidhidhyasa, that will be protecting your wealth, that will go deeper in your consciousness, you will recognize the Self by the Self, in Nidhidhyasa. Your wrong understanding about your Self’s nature, you have to correct, before entering into Nidhidhyasa. If you have any direct doubt, like, ‘No, No, I am bonded, everybody else is enlightened,’ then, you are not ready for Nidhidhyasa. That has to be Shravana and Manana, get your doubts clarified.
PART – 9
Sri Krishna says in Bhagavad Githa, “Shraddhamayo ayampurusho yo yacchadva sayevasaha” – Whatever faith you have, Shraddha, you become that only. You cannot start from a wrong understanding, meditate, and become right. That has to happen in Shravana and Manana. Understand clearly, contemplate clearly, and get clarity. Nidhidhyasa is only staying in the Truth, deep inside, that ‘I am Atma, I am liberated, I am free.’ If you want to meditate on, ‘No, no, I want to get liberated’, then ‘I want to’ becomes strong. Forever you will be trying for liberation. If you want to say, ‘I want to get enlightened,’ the universe will say, ‘Ok, fine, forever you will want to get enlightened.’
So, what you think about yourself, you become that. This is the preliminary attitude and understanding you have to have, after completing Shravana and Manana, for Nidhidhyasa.
Pranams
BB 37
(Part 2)
Let us now contemplate on Nidhidhyasa.
Atmajnana liberates you, Atmajnana frees you. The Jnana has two parts – indirect and direct knowledge. Indirect knowledge is called Paroksha Jnana; direct knowledge is called Aparoksha Jnana. Indirect knowledge is Paroksha; it is because mind is involved. Pratyaksha Jnana involves sense organs – ‘I can see a flower.’ But, if I listen to a teaching, it is not Pratyaksha, because I cannot see it; I can understand through the mind.
Enlightenment or liberation involves two stages – Paroksha Jnana, which means, a clear understanding; and Aparoksha Jnana means direct experience. So, direct knowledge and direct experience will liberate you. The Paroksha Jnana to happen, your Ajnana, or wrong understanding about your Self, has to go. What wrong understanding do you have? ‘I am the body, I am the mind, I am the intellect.’ This is the wrong understanding, and this has to go. And this can go only by clear teaching. The clear teaching, based on the Vedanta, given by a Guru, a Realized Master, will remove this ignorance called ‘I am the body, I am the mind, and I am the intellect’.
‘Nanu nanembudu nanalla. Ee deha-mana-buddhi nanalla. Sacchidanandatma Shiva nanu nane. Shivoham, Shivoham, Shivoham’.
So, listen to the Truth from Master. A Master is the one who will be able to tell it very convincingly, clearly to you. That conviction and clarity will come because he has realized the truth. And he is taking the support of Vedanta, the Divine scriptures, and he is giving the truth. Shravana will give confidence to you. Then understand it – Manana, contemplate on that. So, the mind will throw out some challenges. The mind will create doubt. You contemplate, based on the teachings, and clarify that doubt. If you still have a doubt, go back to the Guru and ask the question and clarify. But, get convinced in your mind and intellect about the Truth. You should not have any doubt about the Truth. What is the Truth? The truth is, ‘I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the intellect, I am Pure Consciousness, Shiva Swaroopa, Brahma Swaroopa; Jiva is Shiva, Shiva is Jiva’. That conviction has to come, very clearly, without any doubt. Then, Manana will be over. This is what you call as indirect knowledge or Paroksha Jnana. Absolute crystal-clarity has to come.
Then, you can go for direct knowledge. You take the Truth now; you are convinced about the truth now. The Truth has to be now directly seen. That will happen through Nidhidhyasa, the process of meditation. You have to first get convinced. You cannot start Nidhidhyasa thinking that I am in bondage, I want to get liberated – I am Jiva, I want to become Brahma. These are all wrong understandings. This wrong understanding has to be dropped before you get into Nidhidhyasa. Then, indirect knowledge will get converted into a direct experience – Aparoksha Jnana.
Remember that whatever you think, you will become that. ‘Yat bhaavayati, Tat bhavati’. So, have a clear understanding. If you want, you can repeat it many times a day – ‘This is the Truth’. But, get convinced about the truth in an indirect way, before you enter into the direct realization. Otherwise, the mind will keep on throwing challenges. Somebody asked a question, ‘If there are a lot of impressions, how can we get convinced?’ This impression only will throw on you challenges. This impression will come and say, ‘Oh! How is it possible?’ So, they get clarified – in the process, an impression will get clarified, cleared. It is not that all the impressions get cleared, and I will get liberated – No, that is not true, because it is not possible. Whatever impressions are blocking your understanding of the truth, get clarified.
Pranams