Chapter 9 (On Detachment and Equanimity) Verse 7
पश्य भूतविकारांस्त्वं भूतमात्रान् यथार्थतः ।
तत्क्षणाद्बन्धनिर्मुक्तः स्वरूपस्थो भविष्यसि ॥ ९-७॥
PURPORT:
Look upon the modification of our senses
as nothing other than a transmutation of the
primary elements: earth, water, fire, air and space.
Understanding this, may you be absolved of
attachment and bondage and thusly abide
within your own innate awareness.
TRANSLITERATION:
पश्य भूतविकारान् त्वम् भूतमात्रान् यथार्थतः ।
paśya bhūtavikārān tvam bhūtamātrān yathārthataḥ ।
तत्क्षणात् बन्धनिर्मुक्तः स्वरूपस्थः भविष्यसि ॥ ९-७॥
tatkṣaṇāt bandhanirmuktaḥ svarūpasthaḥ bhaviṣyasi ॥ 9-7॥
MEANING:
paśya (पश्य) = upon observing/upon witnessing
bhūtavikārān (भूतविकारान्) = modification of the elements (compound of bhūta (भूत) meaning 'elements' and vikārān (विकारान्) meaning 'modification/change')
tvam (त्वम्) = you
bhūtamātrān (भूतमात्रान्) = nothing but the principal elements (compound of bhūta (भूत) meaning 'elements' and mātrān (मात्रान्) meaning 'primary/just/only/principal')
yathārthataḥ (यथार्थतः) = in reality ।
tatkṣaṇāt (तत्क्षणात्) = from that point onward (compound of tat (तत्) meaning 'that' and kṣaṇāt (क्षणात्) meaning 'from that point')
bandhanirmuktaḥ (बन्धनिर्मुक्तः) = free from attachment (compound of bandha (बन्ध) meaning 'attachment/bondage/clinging' and nirmuktaḥ (निर्मुक्तः) meaning 'absolved from/free of')
svarūpasthaḥ (स्वरूपस्थः) = enduring within one’s own nature/abiding within ones innate awareness
bhaviṣyasi (भविष्यसि) = you will be/you will become॥ 9-7॥
COMMENT:
For a verse purported to be written 2000 years back (or, as some historians date this text to about 800 years), the prescient nature of this particular verse is nevertheless resoundingly loud - the fundamental import being that all of the energy in the universe is neither created nor destroyed but instead flows cyclically through various ecosystems. The ecosystems themselves forged within the hearts of stars millions and billions of years ago going through a continuous process of recycling that currently manifests (amongst many other things) as our bodies, and, in due course, result in the formation of various other systems - sentient or otherwise).
One does not have to look too far amongst grand systems like planetary formations or galaxies or galactic clusters to see this cycle in operation - one can look to understand this verse within the context of the planet we collectively share to better appreciate the deep import of these verses.
We see that the energy that we obtain flows directionally - flowing from the sun sustaining the earth and exiting as heat emanating from the various biogeochemical dependent systems on the earth. Intertwined within this glorious flow of energy are the individual elemental components that make up sentient beings on the earth - elemental components that are recycled - the atoms that compose you and I are not brand new - they have been cycling through the biosphere for eons and they have formed bits and parts of various other living organisms and non-living entities over the millennia.
In order to appreciate the elemental cycles, one need not grasp the full panoply of the periodic table of 120+ elements - instead, one only needs to look to the six most common elements that compose the organic molecules that dependently create living, breathing compassionate structures like you and I - carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur - these take a variety of chemical forms. Carbon created within the hearts of stars is found within all organic molecules, nitrogen and phosphorus created within stars is an essential component of RNA and DNA found inside every one of our cells, oxygen and hydrogen created within stars combine to form water and constitute 60% of our body mass and finally sulfur created within stars forms an essential component of every protein that gives form and shape to our corporeal forms.
It is important to understand that each of these cycles are dependent cycles propped up by various other dependent causes and conditions that allow for the harmonious flow of energy that give life to the biotic world and also give form and structure to the abiotic world.
Understanding the dependent nature of the various cycles that give us sustenance while simultaneously discerning that there cannot exist a scenario where any one of these processes, elements or cycles can stand by itself devoid of dependencies allows for the mind to find a measure of quietude and stillness. Ashtavakra mentions that this knowledge and a deep appreciation of the same allows the seeker to realize that they are not bound, but instead participating every second of the present moment within this grand elemental cycle.
Friday, January 31, 2020
Thursday, January 30, 2020
AVG 9.6
Chapter 9 (On Detachment and Equanimity) Verse 6
कृत्वा मूर्तिपरिज्ञानं चैतन्यस्य न किं गुरुः ।
निर्वेदसमतायुक्त्या यस्तारयति संसृतेः ॥ ९-६॥
PURPORT:
They, who having gained awareness by their
union with equanimity and appropriate
detachment towards objects of the
phenomenal world and who help channel
others around them toward tranquility,
are they not the true spiritual guides?
TRANSLITERATION:
कृत्वा मूर्तिपरिज्ञानम् चैतन्यस्य न किम् गुरुः ।
kṛtvā mūrtiparijñānam caitanyasya na kim guruḥ ।
निर्वेदसमता युक्त्या यः तारयति संसृतेः ॥ ९-६॥
nirvedasamatā yuktyā yaḥ tārayati saṃsṛteḥ ॥ 9-6॥
MEANING:
kṛtvā (कृत्वा) = having done/having gained
mūrtiparijñānam (मूर्तिपरिज्ञानम्) = realization of the true nature of form and shape (compound of mūrti (मूर्ति) meaning 'anything which has definite shape or limits' and parijñānam (परिज्ञानम्) meaning 'to use ones discriminative powers and thorough knowledge gained')
caitanyasya (चैतन्यस्य) = of awareness/of consciousness
na (न) = not
kim (किम्) = what (used here in an interrogative sense)
guruḥ (गुरुः) = spiritual preceptor/guide/teacher।
nirvedasamatā (निर्वेदसमता) = by detachment and equanimity (compound of nirveda (निर्वेद) literally meaning 'indifference' but in this context can be construed as 'detached' and samatā (समता) meaning 'impartiality/evenness/equanimity')
yuktyā (युक्त्या) = yoked/joined; please note that the Sanskrit word nirvedasamatāyuktyā (निर्वेदसमतायुक्त्या) means 'to be joined together with equanimity and appropriate detachment [towards the objects of the world]')
yaḥ (यः) = who
tārayati (तारयति) = to liberate from/cross over
saṃsṛteḥ (संसृतेः) = cycle of aimless drifting, wandering or mundane existence (for those who subscribe to reincarnation, the meaning is purported to refer to the supposed transmigration at death of the soul/self of a human being or animal into a new body of the same or a different species; but, in this treatment, that particular construct is not being subscribed, but instead, one may still understand this word to refer to the cyclic process that involves our constituent atoms uncoupling themselves after our brief sentient sojourn on this planet and reconstituting themselves into other varied sentient and non-sentient forms - a form of reincarnation that we can comprehend and relate to) ॥ 9-6॥
COMMENT:
There is an interesting juxtaposition noticed between the sentiment expressed in the previous verse (the fact that varieties of spiritual experience collated by disparate strands of human groups ultimately express the same fundamental truths), and this verse that talks about the defining characteristic of a preceptor who is able to lead the seeker to a better understanding - Ashtavakra mentions that the teacher who might be considered fit to mentor and channel will be that one who has attained a measure of awareness by the discriminative process of arriving at the truth by themselves - rather than the approach where teachers study the spiritual hand-me-downs, memorize stanzas of religious poetry, don a semblance of knowledge and proceed to preach. Ashtavakra indirectly cautions us against these purported godmen who have little realization of awareness of their own selves yet have a storehouse of rote religious information at their fingertips to suit any occasion presented to them by the seeker.
In this sense many of us who have seen aspects of the peaceful awareness that is within our fundamental selves fear to open up because we tend to harbor the mistaken belief that we have something intrinsic to defend and to protect - some cherished ideal that culture and indoctrination has passed onto us that our ego looks to for the sake of continuity as well as permanence.
The process of awakening and awareness is the process of opening up so wide and leaving oneself so exposed that we stop the innate motivation to defend beliefs and protect dogmatic assertions that we have been led to understand. We become what is as it is understood from an absolute awareness perspective rather than become what is as the individual is personified. This opening up happens sans boundaries, walls or other narrow domestic structures erected by the fog of extraneous and erroneous conditioning.
In essence, Ashtavakra informs us that the right preceptor to lead the seeker will be that one who has had this sort of a liberated understanding of themselves where there is no pressure nor compulsion to defend nor to hold on.
कृत्वा मूर्तिपरिज्ञानं चैतन्यस्य न किं गुरुः ।
निर्वेदसमतायुक्त्या यस्तारयति संसृतेः ॥ ९-६॥
PURPORT:
They, who having gained awareness by their
union with equanimity and appropriate
detachment towards objects of the
phenomenal world and who help channel
others around them toward tranquility,
are they not the true spiritual guides?
TRANSLITERATION:
कृत्वा मूर्तिपरिज्ञानम् चैतन्यस्य न किम् गुरुः ।
kṛtvā mūrtiparijñānam caitanyasya na kim guruḥ ।
निर्वेदसमता युक्त्या यः तारयति संसृतेः ॥ ९-६॥
nirvedasamatā yuktyā yaḥ tārayati saṃsṛteḥ ॥ 9-6॥
MEANING:
kṛtvā (कृत्वा) = having done/having gained
mūrtiparijñānam (मूर्तिपरिज्ञानम्) = realization of the true nature of form and shape (compound of mūrti (मूर्ति) meaning 'anything which has definite shape or limits' and parijñānam (परिज्ञानम्) meaning 'to use ones discriminative powers and thorough knowledge gained')
caitanyasya (चैतन्यस्य) = of awareness/of consciousness
na (न) = not
kim (किम्) = what (used here in an interrogative sense)
guruḥ (गुरुः) = spiritual preceptor/guide/teacher।
nirvedasamatā (निर्वेदसमता) = by detachment and equanimity (compound of nirveda (निर्वेद) literally meaning 'indifference' but in this context can be construed as 'detached' and samatā (समता) meaning 'impartiality/evenness/equanimity')
yuktyā (युक्त्या) = yoked/joined; please note that the Sanskrit word nirvedasamatāyuktyā (निर्वेदसमतायुक्त्या) means 'to be joined together with equanimity and appropriate detachment [towards the objects of the world]')
yaḥ (यः) = who
tārayati (तारयति) = to liberate from/cross over
saṃsṛteḥ (संसृतेः) = cycle of aimless drifting, wandering or mundane existence (for those who subscribe to reincarnation, the meaning is purported to refer to the supposed transmigration at death of the soul/self of a human being or animal into a new body of the same or a different species; but, in this treatment, that particular construct is not being subscribed, but instead, one may still understand this word to refer to the cyclic process that involves our constituent atoms uncoupling themselves after our brief sentient sojourn on this planet and reconstituting themselves into other varied sentient and non-sentient forms - a form of reincarnation that we can comprehend and relate to) ॥ 9-6॥
COMMENT:
There is an interesting juxtaposition noticed between the sentiment expressed in the previous verse (the fact that varieties of spiritual experience collated by disparate strands of human groups ultimately express the same fundamental truths), and this verse that talks about the defining characteristic of a preceptor who is able to lead the seeker to a better understanding - Ashtavakra mentions that the teacher who might be considered fit to mentor and channel will be that one who has attained a measure of awareness by the discriminative process of arriving at the truth by themselves - rather than the approach where teachers study the spiritual hand-me-downs, memorize stanzas of religious poetry, don a semblance of knowledge and proceed to preach. Ashtavakra indirectly cautions us against these purported godmen who have little realization of awareness of their own selves yet have a storehouse of rote religious information at their fingertips to suit any occasion presented to them by the seeker.
In this sense many of us who have seen aspects of the peaceful awareness that is within our fundamental selves fear to open up because we tend to harbor the mistaken belief that we have something intrinsic to defend and to protect - some cherished ideal that culture and indoctrination has passed onto us that our ego looks to for the sake of continuity as well as permanence.
The process of awakening and awareness is the process of opening up so wide and leaving oneself so exposed that we stop the innate motivation to defend beliefs and protect dogmatic assertions that we have been led to understand. We become what is as it is understood from an absolute awareness perspective rather than become what is as the individual is personified. This opening up happens sans boundaries, walls or other narrow domestic structures erected by the fog of extraneous and erroneous conditioning.
In essence, Ashtavakra informs us that the right preceptor to lead the seeker will be that one who has had this sort of a liberated understanding of themselves where there is no pressure nor compulsion to defend nor to hold on.
AVG 9.5
Chapter 9 (On Detachment and Equanimity) Verse 5
नाना मतं महर्षीणां साधूनां योगिनां तथा ।
दृष्ट्वा निर्वेदमापन्नः को न शाम्यति मानवः ॥ ९-५॥
PURPORT:
Great preceptors, saints and yogis teach
using a wide diversity of doctrines and viewpoints.
Having observed this diversity, which of us
would judiciously not acquire that impartial
dispassion where serenity and tranquility is found.
TRANSLITERATION:
नाना मतम् महर्षीणाम् साधूनाम् योगिनाम् तथा ।
nānā matam maharṣīṇām sādhūnām yoginām tathā ।
दृष्ट्वा निर्वेदम् आपन्नः कः न शाम्यति मानवः ॥ ९-५॥
dṛṣṭvā nirvedam āpannaḥ kaḥ na śāmyati mānavaḥ ॥ 9-5॥
MEANING:
nānā (नाना) = varied/assorted/diversity
matam (मतम्) = doctrine/opinion/theory/viewpoint
maharṣīṇām (महर्षीणाम्) = of great preceptors
sādhūnām (साधूनाम्) = of saints
yoginām (योगिनाम्) = of yogis (yogi (योगी) refers to a practitioner of yoga. Yogi is technically male, and yoginī is the term used for female practitioners. The word yogi is also used generically to refer to both male and female practitioners of yoga and related meditative practices belonging to any spiritual tradition. A yogi should not be confused with someone practicing asceticism and excessive self-mortification.)
tathā (तथा) = additionally/as well/likewise।
dṛṣṭvā (दृष्ट्वा) = having seen
nirvedam (निर्वेदम्) = indifference/impassiveness (as in a feeling of indifference towards learning and amassing more opinions and doctrines)
āpannaḥ (आपन्नः) = attained/realized/acquire
kaḥ (कः) = what
na (न) = not
śāmyati (शाम्यति) = attains serenity/realize tranquility
mānavaḥ (मानवः) = sentient seeker (literally translates to 'man') ॥ 9-5॥
COMMENT:
This verse is yet another beautiful bit of poetry that talks about the fundamental universalities that underpin many of our great (and not-so-well-known) spiritual traditions. The crux of the message here is that if one observers the family of spiritual practices that our species have managed to abstract over the millennia, one finds that there are themes and morals within these spiritual practices that, when looked at piecemeal, may seem explicitly honed to that specific aggregation and culture, but, from a larger perspective, seem to be closely interlinked and meshed with each other in terms of the overall message and the insight thereof. Ashtavakra's question is simple - in the face of such similarities, overlapping ideals and criss-crossing of lush and productive insights between spiritual traditions, how can the discerning seeker not realize a sense of dispassion and find serenity?
From my limited understanding of the great spiritual traditions, some of these similarities and overlapping ideals may be understood to broadly fall into three broad paths that we tend to tread concurrently as we travel through life: The first common truth being that nothing is annihilated or squandered in the universe and the very truth, tranquility and serenity that we go out seeking is really within oneself; old galaxies form new ones, planets and sentient beings disintegrate into newer forms, if we destroy things around us, we tend to destroy ourselves, if we fabricate falsehoods to another, we deceive ourselves.
The second fundamental commonality is the fact that everything changes and all existents are in a continuous state of transition without interruption; the process of arising of phenomena, enduring of the same and cessation of manifest experience is like a river, it keeps on flowing, gurgling, transmogrifying, and ever-morphing.
The third overlapping ideal across the traditions is the principle of cause and effect; the simplest way to enunciate this is via the age-old aphorism - the kind of seed sown and the kind of care taken in nurturing the plant will produce that kind of fruit. All of manifest phenomena stands upon a causal framework that itself is impermanent, mutable and constantly adjusting to appropriate underlying causes ad-infinitum.
In closing this beautiful verse, the following wise words of a twitter user named SisterSufi rings: “Truth inspires all religions and it remains at the core of their universal ideals. But era, culture, and personality make changes to religions that are passed down through generations and which change with time again and again. Seek the universal not the ephemeral.”
नाना मतं महर्षीणां साधूनां योगिनां तथा ।
दृष्ट्वा निर्वेदमापन्नः को न शाम्यति मानवः ॥ ९-५॥
PURPORT:
Great preceptors, saints and yogis teach
using a wide diversity of doctrines and viewpoints.
Having observed this diversity, which of us
would judiciously not acquire that impartial
dispassion where serenity and tranquility is found.
TRANSLITERATION:
नाना मतम् महर्षीणाम् साधूनाम् योगिनाम् तथा ।
nānā matam maharṣīṇām sādhūnām yoginām tathā ।
दृष्ट्वा निर्वेदम् आपन्नः कः न शाम्यति मानवः ॥ ९-५॥
dṛṣṭvā nirvedam āpannaḥ kaḥ na śāmyati mānavaḥ ॥ 9-5॥
MEANING:
nānā (नाना) = varied/assorted/diversity
matam (मतम्) = doctrine/opinion/theory/viewpoint
maharṣīṇām (महर्षीणाम्) = of great preceptors
sādhūnām (साधूनाम्) = of saints
yoginām (योगिनाम्) = of yogis (yogi (योगी) refers to a practitioner of yoga. Yogi is technically male, and yoginī is the term used for female practitioners. The word yogi is also used generically to refer to both male and female practitioners of yoga and related meditative practices belonging to any spiritual tradition. A yogi should not be confused with someone practicing asceticism and excessive self-mortification.)
tathā (तथा) = additionally/as well/likewise।
dṛṣṭvā (दृष्ट्वा) = having seen
nirvedam (निर्वेदम्) = indifference/impassiveness (as in a feeling of indifference towards learning and amassing more opinions and doctrines)
āpannaḥ (आपन्नः) = attained/realized/acquire
kaḥ (कः) = what
na (न) = not
śāmyati (शाम्यति) = attains serenity/realize tranquility
mānavaḥ (मानवः) = sentient seeker (literally translates to 'man') ॥ 9-5॥
COMMENT:
This verse is yet another beautiful bit of poetry that talks about the fundamental universalities that underpin many of our great (and not-so-well-known) spiritual traditions. The crux of the message here is that if one observers the family of spiritual practices that our species have managed to abstract over the millennia, one finds that there are themes and morals within these spiritual practices that, when looked at piecemeal, may seem explicitly honed to that specific aggregation and culture, but, from a larger perspective, seem to be closely interlinked and meshed with each other in terms of the overall message and the insight thereof. Ashtavakra's question is simple - in the face of such similarities, overlapping ideals and criss-crossing of lush and productive insights between spiritual traditions, how can the discerning seeker not realize a sense of dispassion and find serenity?
From my limited understanding of the great spiritual traditions, some of these similarities and overlapping ideals may be understood to broadly fall into three broad paths that we tend to tread concurrently as we travel through life: The first common truth being that nothing is annihilated or squandered in the universe and the very truth, tranquility and serenity that we go out seeking is really within oneself; old galaxies form new ones, planets and sentient beings disintegrate into newer forms, if we destroy things around us, we tend to destroy ourselves, if we fabricate falsehoods to another, we deceive ourselves.
The second fundamental commonality is the fact that everything changes and all existents are in a continuous state of transition without interruption; the process of arising of phenomena, enduring of the same and cessation of manifest experience is like a river, it keeps on flowing, gurgling, transmogrifying, and ever-morphing.
The third overlapping ideal across the traditions is the principle of cause and effect; the simplest way to enunciate this is via the age-old aphorism - the kind of seed sown and the kind of care taken in nurturing the plant will produce that kind of fruit. All of manifest phenomena stands upon a causal framework that itself is impermanent, mutable and constantly adjusting to appropriate underlying causes ad-infinitum.
In closing this beautiful verse, the following wise words of a twitter user named SisterSufi rings: “Truth inspires all religions and it remains at the core of their universal ideals. But era, culture, and personality make changes to religions that are passed down through generations and which change with time again and again. Seek the universal not the ephemeral.”
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
AVG 9.4
Chapter 9 (On Detachment and Equanimity) Verse 4
कोऽसौ कालो वयः किं वा यत्र द्वन्द्वानि नो नृणाम् ।
तान्युपेक्ष्य यथाप्राप्तवर्ती सिद्धिमवाप्नुयात् ॥ ९-४॥
PURPORT:
What might be that time and when
might be that era when pairs of
opposites stop to vex sentient beings?
When one renounces these dualities,
they arrive at a state of stillness
content with what comes of itself.
TRANSLITERATION:
कः असौ कालः वयः किम् वा यत्र द्वन्द्वानि नो नृणाम् ।
kaḥ asau kālaḥ vayaḥ kim vā yatra dvandvāni no nṛṇām ।
तानि उपेक्ष्य यथा प्राप्तवर्ती सिद्धिम् अवाप्नुयात् ॥ ९-४॥
tāni upekṣya yathā prāptavartī siddhim avāpnuyāt ॥ 9-4॥
MEANING:
kaḥ (कः) = what
asau (असौ) = that
kālaḥ (कालः) = time
vayaḥ (वयः) = age
kim (किम्) = what
vā (वा) = or
yatra (यत्र) = where
dvandvāni (द्वन्द्वानि) = dyad of opposites
no (नो) = not
nṛṇām (नृणाम्) = of sentient beings (literal translation yields the masculine 'of men')।
tāni (तानि) = those
upekṣya (उपेक्ष्य) = relinquish/renounce
yathā (यथा) = of itself
prāptavartī (प्राप्तवर्ती) = resting contentedly (compound of prāpta (प्राप्त) meaning 'attained/achieved' and vartī (वर्ती) meaning 'abiding/staying'). The word yathāprāptavartī (यथाप्राप्तवर्ती) is taken to mean as one who is in a state of stillness and quietude internally content with what occurs of its own volition
siddhim (सिद्धिम्) = excellence/integrity/purity in outcome
avāpnuyāt (अवाप्नुयात्) = achieve/accomplish ॥ 9-4॥
COMMENT:
Ashtavakra here talks about the path that leads seekers to awareness and that sense of stillness that obtains when thoughts that dwell and stagnate within the mind are allowed to pass through without metastasizing within ourselves.
In this sense, we understand that our bodies and our experiences are really defined by the senses — the senses of sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste and mind* — and these senses, in direct contact with their objects of perception, give rise to corresponding sensations of bliss, euphoria, despair or melancholy (among others).
It is also understood that none of these sensations are permanent. Each sensation that is mediated and modulated by one or more of our sensory organs are transitory. The more we allow ourselves to be a willing participant to the paths that these sensations lead us towards, the less becomes our ability to discriminate reality and discern the true sense of awareness underlying within ourselves.
Ashtavakra mentions that when the seeker renounces dualities within themselves, the state of stillness that they arrive at will allow for them to work with the natural flow of phenomena that arises, abides and ceases - phenomena in dependent harmony with the flow of nature and its states thereof. This harmony is characterized by a rejection of innate predilections towards extremes of any potentially dualistic positions presented by our sensoria. The insight that follows allows for one to develop the appropriate discernment with respect to witnessing thoughts without prejudice and this in turn allows for a clarity of awareness to be established.
NOTE:
*Please note that the senses of sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste correspond to the standard Western oeuvre, but, one is compelled to add the 'mind' as a sense because the mind does not transcend the other bodily senses but complements them, serving as the site of sensation for mental sense-objects just as (for example) touch is the site of sensation for physical objects.
This compromise allows for us to weaken and eventually shatter the imaginary divisions between mental (which by nature is abstract neuronal integration) and physical phenomena (which by nature is discernment and accommodation of physical phenomena) and replace them with the understanding that all manifest phenomena are impermanent and without essence and thus come to the realization that all that we recognize as 'real' arises out of the contact between senses and objects mediated by the mind. In this sense, all of the traditional five senses and the mind are simultaneously active and/or synchronously quiescent, reciprocally cooperating with the sensations that ‘arise’ from contact with objects informing each other in somewhat of a recursive manner. It is by observance of the physical sensations that arise from the traditional sense organs that one can discern the impermanent nature of the physical sense perceptions and the essentially mutable aspects of our existence.
कोऽसौ कालो वयः किं वा यत्र द्वन्द्वानि नो नृणाम् ।
तान्युपेक्ष्य यथाप्राप्तवर्ती सिद्धिमवाप्नुयात् ॥ ९-४॥
PURPORT:
What might be that time and when
might be that era when pairs of
opposites stop to vex sentient beings?
When one renounces these dualities,
they arrive at a state of stillness
content with what comes of itself.
TRANSLITERATION:
कः असौ कालः वयः किम् वा यत्र द्वन्द्वानि नो नृणाम् ।
kaḥ asau kālaḥ vayaḥ kim vā yatra dvandvāni no nṛṇām ।
तानि उपेक्ष्य यथा प्राप्तवर्ती सिद्धिम् अवाप्नुयात् ॥ ९-४॥
tāni upekṣya yathā prāptavartī siddhim avāpnuyāt ॥ 9-4॥
MEANING:
kaḥ (कः) = what
asau (असौ) = that
kālaḥ (कालः) = time
vayaḥ (वयः) = age
kim (किम्) = what
vā (वा) = or
yatra (यत्र) = where
dvandvāni (द्वन्द्वानि) = dyad of opposites
no (नो) = not
nṛṇām (नृणाम्) = of sentient beings (literal translation yields the masculine 'of men')।
tāni (तानि) = those
upekṣya (उपेक्ष्य) = relinquish/renounce
yathā (यथा) = of itself
prāptavartī (प्राप्तवर्ती) = resting contentedly (compound of prāpta (प्राप्त) meaning 'attained/achieved' and vartī (वर्ती) meaning 'abiding/staying'). The word yathāprāptavartī (यथाप्राप्तवर्ती) is taken to mean as one who is in a state of stillness and quietude internally content with what occurs of its own volition
siddhim (सिद्धिम्) = excellence/integrity/purity in outcome
avāpnuyāt (अवाप्नुयात्) = achieve/accomplish ॥ 9-4॥
COMMENT:
Ashtavakra here talks about the path that leads seekers to awareness and that sense of stillness that obtains when thoughts that dwell and stagnate within the mind are allowed to pass through without metastasizing within ourselves.
In this sense, we understand that our bodies and our experiences are really defined by the senses — the senses of sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste and mind* — and these senses, in direct contact with their objects of perception, give rise to corresponding sensations of bliss, euphoria, despair or melancholy (among others).
It is also understood that none of these sensations are permanent. Each sensation that is mediated and modulated by one or more of our sensory organs are transitory. The more we allow ourselves to be a willing participant to the paths that these sensations lead us towards, the less becomes our ability to discriminate reality and discern the true sense of awareness underlying within ourselves.
Ashtavakra mentions that when the seeker renounces dualities within themselves, the state of stillness that they arrive at will allow for them to work with the natural flow of phenomena that arises, abides and ceases - phenomena in dependent harmony with the flow of nature and its states thereof. This harmony is characterized by a rejection of innate predilections towards extremes of any potentially dualistic positions presented by our sensoria. The insight that follows allows for one to develop the appropriate discernment with respect to witnessing thoughts without prejudice and this in turn allows for a clarity of awareness to be established.
NOTE:
*Please note that the senses of sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste correspond to the standard Western oeuvre, but, one is compelled to add the 'mind' as a sense because the mind does not transcend the other bodily senses but complements them, serving as the site of sensation for mental sense-objects just as (for example) touch is the site of sensation for physical objects.
This compromise allows for us to weaken and eventually shatter the imaginary divisions between mental (which by nature is abstract neuronal integration) and physical phenomena (which by nature is discernment and accommodation of physical phenomena) and replace them with the understanding that all manifest phenomena are impermanent and without essence and thus come to the realization that all that we recognize as 'real' arises out of the contact between senses and objects mediated by the mind. In this sense, all of the traditional five senses and the mind are simultaneously active and/or synchronously quiescent, reciprocally cooperating with the sensations that ‘arise’ from contact with objects informing each other in somewhat of a recursive manner. It is by observance of the physical sensations that arise from the traditional sense organs that one can discern the impermanent nature of the physical sense perceptions and the essentially mutable aspects of our existence.
Monday, January 27, 2020
AVG 9.3
Chapter 9 (On Detachment and Equanimity) Verse 3
अनित्यं सर्वमेवेदं तापत्रितयदूषितम् ।
असारं निन्दितं हेयमिति निश्चित्य शाम्यति ॥ ९-३॥
PURPORT:
The wise one comes to a state of
peaceful awareness from the realization
that all manifest phenomena is
rendered into eventual decrepitude
by the threefold factors of misfortune
and thus understands phenomena to be
insubstantial, impermanent and insignificant.
TRANSLITERATION:
अनित्यम् सर्वम् एव इदम् तापत्रितयदूषितम् ।
anityam sarvam eva idam tāpatritayadūṣitam ।
असारम् निन्दितम् हेयम् इति निश्चित्य शाम्यति ॥ ९-३॥
asāram ninditam heyam iti niścitya śāmyati ॥ 9-3॥
MEANING:
anityam (अनित्यम्) = ephemeral/transitory/transient/impermanent
sarvam (सर्वम्) = all/everything /entirety
eva (एव) = indeed
idam (इदम्) = this
tāpatritayadūṣitam* (तापत्रितयदूषितम्) = । spoil or impair the quality or efficiency by the threefold adversity (compound of tāpa (ताप) meaning 'adversity/anguish/misfortune' and tritaya (त्रितय) meaning 'ternery/threefold/trinal' and dūṣitam (दूषितम्) meaning 'devalued and deteriorated')
asāram (असारम्) = insubstantial/uncomplicated
ninditam (निन्दितम्) = despicable/contemptible/shameful
heyam (हेयम्) = that which is subtractable/that which is reducible/worthy of rejection
iti (इति) = thus
niścitya (निश्चित्य) = having known for certain/having ascertained
śāmyati (शाम्यति) = comes to a peaceful awareness ॥ 9-3॥
COMMENT:
It is indeed interesting that we find this particular verse that talks about affliction and anguish within a chapter that Ashtavakra devotes to understanding detachment. But, on closer reading, one instinctively understands that sorrow and suffering are an undeniable and an unavoidable portion of life and a measure of detachment and equanimity cannot be attained by the seeking mortal unless one has a clear understanding of their types, origins and potential causes as it pertains to suffering. Clarity in this will help the seeker to better understand the origins, causes and the motivations of thoughts triggered as a result of suffering/unhappiness.
This understanding helps with the witnessing of thoughts rather than the individual dwelling within the thoughts. The moment one transforms oneself from an attitude where thoughts are not granted tenancy within the mind, but, instead allows oneself the luxury for the choiceless observance of the flow of thoughts entering and exiting the subconscious, a measure of peace is obtained. In the larger reckoning, sorrow stems from one source and one source only: our latent misunderstanding of who we truly are, a symptom of not knowing or not seeing our true awareness; an awareness that was once pure and present when we were much younger, but, slowly drowned out by the cacophony that accompanies the process of acculturation (adjustment to culture which was partly forced upon us and partly imbibed non-volitionally as we grow and interact with our peers and society in general). In that sense, our younger selves were limitless in terms of time, space, and knowledge, but, the process of living immersed within culture gradually limits our horizons and stunts our capacities to perceive our inexhaustible joyful awareness (which is oftentimes just hidden beneath each one of us waiting to be discovered by oneself). This stunting causes enormous distress, both conscious and unconscious. The seeker often fails to notice that the end of such suffering comes from the removal of not-knowing and basking within our legitimate identity - a journey that cannot be engendered by anyone else other than the one person - you.
NOTE:
*The word used by Ashtavakra in the analysis of the slow and eventual decrepitude of all manifest phenomena is tapatritayadusitam: split up as 'tapa' meaning adversity/anguish/misfortune, 'tritaya' meaning threefold and 'dusitam' meaning devalued and deteriorated. The original Sanskrit literature called them ‘tāpatraya’ or ‘the three miseries’ and categorized them into ādhyātmika, ādhidaivika and adhibhautika. While these classifications are by no means prescriptory in any manner, it is nevertheless interesting to study and understand the categories to appreciate the timeless wisdom of erstwhile seers who seem to have observed nature around them and then gleaned teachings that later formed our great spiritual traditions. The first pertains to factors of the body and mind (ādhyātmika duhkha - related to ātma or the body/mind complex) caused by bodily suffering and mental anguish; said to be precipitated by hereditary diseases, disabilities and maladies caused by wanton negligence to ones own health; in addition, the mental anguish generated as a result of attachment and aversion are also said to come under ādhyātmika duhkha. The second category pertains to factors of randomness found within the cycles of nature or ādhidaivika duhka (pertaining to fate and unforeseen forces); includes the decay provoked by the power of time, nature and the unseen hand or fate; also includes the infirmities visited upon the individual by diseases and misery caused by the elemental forces like floods/fire and natural tribulations. The third category is ādhibhautika duhkha and this pertains to the misery that can potentially be induced by other sentient beings (examples include transmitted diseases spread by bugs like mosquitoes, communicable diseases caused by organisms, maladies that render the immune system deficient in fighting off affliction spread by viruses etc.).
अनित्यं सर्वमेवेदं तापत्रितयदूषितम् ।
असारं निन्दितं हेयमिति निश्चित्य शाम्यति ॥ ९-३॥
PURPORT:
The wise one comes to a state of
peaceful awareness from the realization
that all manifest phenomena is
rendered into eventual decrepitude
by the threefold factors of misfortune
and thus understands phenomena to be
insubstantial, impermanent and insignificant.
TRANSLITERATION:
अनित्यम् सर्वम् एव इदम् तापत्रितयदूषितम् ।
anityam sarvam eva idam tāpatritayadūṣitam ।
असारम् निन्दितम् हेयम् इति निश्चित्य शाम्यति ॥ ९-३॥
asāram ninditam heyam iti niścitya śāmyati ॥ 9-3॥
MEANING:
anityam (अनित्यम्) = ephemeral/transitory/transient/impermanent
sarvam (सर्वम्) = all/everything /entirety
eva (एव) = indeed
idam (इदम्) = this
tāpatritayadūṣitam* (तापत्रितयदूषितम्) = । spoil or impair the quality or efficiency by the threefold adversity (compound of tāpa (ताप) meaning 'adversity/anguish/misfortune' and tritaya (त्रितय) meaning 'ternery/threefold/trinal' and dūṣitam (दूषितम्) meaning 'devalued and deteriorated')
asāram (असारम्) = insubstantial/uncomplicated
ninditam (निन्दितम्) = despicable/contemptible/shameful
heyam (हेयम्) = that which is subtractable/that which is reducible/worthy of rejection
iti (इति) = thus
niścitya (निश्चित्य) = having known for certain/having ascertained
śāmyati (शाम्यति) = comes to a peaceful awareness ॥ 9-3॥
COMMENT:
It is indeed interesting that we find this particular verse that talks about affliction and anguish within a chapter that Ashtavakra devotes to understanding detachment. But, on closer reading, one instinctively understands that sorrow and suffering are an undeniable and an unavoidable portion of life and a measure of detachment and equanimity cannot be attained by the seeking mortal unless one has a clear understanding of their types, origins and potential causes as it pertains to suffering. Clarity in this will help the seeker to better understand the origins, causes and the motivations of thoughts triggered as a result of suffering/unhappiness.
This understanding helps with the witnessing of thoughts rather than the individual dwelling within the thoughts. The moment one transforms oneself from an attitude where thoughts are not granted tenancy within the mind, but, instead allows oneself the luxury for the choiceless observance of the flow of thoughts entering and exiting the subconscious, a measure of peace is obtained. In the larger reckoning, sorrow stems from one source and one source only: our latent misunderstanding of who we truly are, a symptom of not knowing or not seeing our true awareness; an awareness that was once pure and present when we were much younger, but, slowly drowned out by the cacophony that accompanies the process of acculturation (adjustment to culture which was partly forced upon us and partly imbibed non-volitionally as we grow and interact with our peers and society in general). In that sense, our younger selves were limitless in terms of time, space, and knowledge, but, the process of living immersed within culture gradually limits our horizons and stunts our capacities to perceive our inexhaustible joyful awareness (which is oftentimes just hidden beneath each one of us waiting to be discovered by oneself). This stunting causes enormous distress, both conscious and unconscious. The seeker often fails to notice that the end of such suffering comes from the removal of not-knowing and basking within our legitimate identity - a journey that cannot be engendered by anyone else other than the one person - you.
NOTE:
*The word used by Ashtavakra in the analysis of the slow and eventual decrepitude of all manifest phenomena is tapatritayadusitam: split up as 'tapa' meaning adversity/anguish/misfortune, 'tritaya' meaning threefold and 'dusitam' meaning devalued and deteriorated. The original Sanskrit literature called them ‘tāpatraya’ or ‘the three miseries’ and categorized them into ādhyātmika, ādhidaivika and adhibhautika. While these classifications are by no means prescriptory in any manner, it is nevertheless interesting to study and understand the categories to appreciate the timeless wisdom of erstwhile seers who seem to have observed nature around them and then gleaned teachings that later formed our great spiritual traditions. The first pertains to factors of the body and mind (ādhyātmika duhkha - related to ātma or the body/mind complex) caused by bodily suffering and mental anguish; said to be precipitated by hereditary diseases, disabilities and maladies caused by wanton negligence to ones own health; in addition, the mental anguish generated as a result of attachment and aversion are also said to come under ādhyātmika duhkha. The second category pertains to factors of randomness found within the cycles of nature or ādhidaivika duhka (pertaining to fate and unforeseen forces); includes the decay provoked by the power of time, nature and the unseen hand or fate; also includes the infirmities visited upon the individual by diseases and misery caused by the elemental forces like floods/fire and natural tribulations. The third category is ādhibhautika duhkha and this pertains to the misery that can potentially be induced by other sentient beings (examples include transmitted diseases spread by bugs like mosquitoes, communicable diseases caused by organisms, maladies that render the immune system deficient in fighting off affliction spread by viruses etc.).
AVG 9.2
Chapter 9 (On Detachment and Equanimity) Verse 2
कस्यापि तात धन्यस्य लोकचेष्टावलोकनात् ।
जीवितेच्छा बुभुक्षा च बुभुत्सोपशमं गताः ॥ ९-२॥
PURPORT:
Dear one! it is only someone truly fortunate whose
desire for everlasting life, whose craving to seek newer
amusements and whose willingness to hoard knowledge
has been stilled; this stilling arises from an insightful and
choiceless witnessing of the ways of the world and its people.
TRANSLITERATION:
कस्य अपि तात धन्यस्य लोकचेष्टावलोकनात् ।
kasya api tāta dhanyasya lokaceṣṭāvalokanāt ।
जीवितेच्छा बुभुक्षा च बुभुत्सा उपशमम् गताः ॥ ९-२॥
jīvitecchā bubhukṣā ca bubhutsā upaśamam gatā ॥ 9-2॥
MEANING:
kasya (कस्य) = of whom
api (अपि) = even
tāta (तात) = a term of affection used to refer to a junior or a senior (in this case taken to mean as 'my dear son')
dhanyasya (धन्यस्य) = of a most fortunate one
lokaceṣṭāvalokanāt (लोकचेष्टावलोकनात्) = from observing the ways and behavior of the people/from understanding the ways of the world (compound of loka (लोक) meaning 'world/people of the world' and ceṣṭā (चेष्टा) meaning 'manner of life/mores/action, activity, effort, endeavor, exertion' and avalokanāt (अवलोकनात्) meaning 'observing/watching/noticing') ।
jīvitecchā (जीवितेच्छा) = desire to live (compound of jīvita (जीवित) meaning 'life/living' and icchā (इच्छा) meaning 'desire/inclination')
bubhukṣā (बुभुक्षा) = desire to enjoy
ca (च) = and
bubhutsā (बुभुत्सा) = desire to know/curiosity about
upaśamam (उपशमम्) = a peaceful condition/cessation from agitation
gatā (गताः) = attained/gone to ॥ 9-2॥
COMMENT:
The key phrase that talks to the heart of this fascinating verse is lokaceṣṭāvalokanāt (लोकचेष्टावलोकनात्), a compound of loka (the world, people of the world), ceṣṭā (customs, habits, mores and patterns in culture) and avalokanāt (emanating from the process of observing). The emphasis of the phrase is significant; briefly, it means living and being a part of the cultural pattern and being a recipient of the education imparted over the course of our lives that ultimately translates to our minds being filled with fluctuations of thoughts - often racing and competing with each other all through the course of the day and when we dream during our sleep.
The stilling of the mind refers to a process where one develops the equanimity to step outside of the constant flow of the river of thought and observe the movement of the thoughts, their patterns, their motivations, intentions and agendas (sometimes purposeless as thoughts emanate autonomously and sometimes modeled after specific choices and agendas upon the part of the thinker).
Utilizing the analogy of the river, the observer stands on the banks and witnesses the waters of thought gurgling along, rushing over the rocks, the nooks and crevices contained within the river of the mind - sans judgement, acknowledgement or denunciation - only indulging in pure observation. Once the observer of the river of thoughts becomes ever more slightly aware, it is seen that one is able to choicelessly and impartially observe a small portion of the thoughts flow by while the mind concentrates itself on judging, challenging and dwelling incessantly on the remaining larger portions.
Over time, the process of choiceless observation allows for one to slowly but surely indulge in a process where one is able to observe without judgement a larger and larger percentage of thoughts that flow by without consciously taking part or being influenced by such thoughts - in effect - not allowing for the thoughts to house themselves within the mind; just letting the flow happen harmoniously. Over time, the integrity of the process by which the observer that is witnessing and observing the thoughts only increases by its repeated application and the stilling of the mind results.
The energy that we assign to thoughts, the emotions associated with the thoughts, the constant churning that goes on within our minds about the various possibilities and permutations spun off by the original thought then subsides. The observer becomes the observed, the witnesser and the thoughts that the witnesser are having merge and become one to a degree where there is no difference between the subject (witnesser) and the object (thoughts). The state of duality that culture, education, training, acculturation and dogma that has been imposed upon the witnesser will now be shattered. Clarity results.
कस्यापि तात धन्यस्य लोकचेष्टावलोकनात् ।
जीवितेच्छा बुभुक्षा च बुभुत्सोपशमं गताः ॥ ९-२॥
PURPORT:
Dear one! it is only someone truly fortunate whose
desire for everlasting life, whose craving to seek newer
amusements and whose willingness to hoard knowledge
has been stilled; this stilling arises from an insightful and
choiceless witnessing of the ways of the world and its people.
TRANSLITERATION:
कस्य अपि तात धन्यस्य लोकचेष्टावलोकनात् ।
kasya api tāta dhanyasya lokaceṣṭāvalokanāt ।
जीवितेच्छा बुभुक्षा च बुभुत्सा उपशमम् गताः ॥ ९-२॥
jīvitecchā bubhukṣā ca bubhutsā upaśamam gatā ॥ 9-2॥
MEANING:
kasya (कस्य) = of whom
api (अपि) = even
tāta (तात) = a term of affection used to refer to a junior or a senior (in this case taken to mean as 'my dear son')
dhanyasya (धन्यस्य) = of a most fortunate one
lokaceṣṭāvalokanāt (लोकचेष्टावलोकनात्) = from observing the ways and behavior of the people/from understanding the ways of the world (compound of loka (लोक) meaning 'world/people of the world' and ceṣṭā (चेष्टा) meaning 'manner of life/mores/action, activity, effort, endeavor, exertion' and avalokanāt (अवलोकनात्) meaning 'observing/watching/noticing') ।
jīvitecchā (जीवितेच्छा) = desire to live (compound of jīvita (जीवित) meaning 'life/living' and icchā (इच्छा) meaning 'desire/inclination')
bubhukṣā (बुभुक्षा) = desire to enjoy
ca (च) = and
bubhutsā (बुभुत्सा) = desire to know/curiosity about
upaśamam (उपशमम्) = a peaceful condition/cessation from agitation
gatā (गताः) = attained/gone to ॥ 9-2॥
COMMENT:
The key phrase that talks to the heart of this fascinating verse is lokaceṣṭāvalokanāt (लोकचेष्टावलोकनात्), a compound of loka (the world, people of the world), ceṣṭā (customs, habits, mores and patterns in culture) and avalokanāt (emanating from the process of observing). The emphasis of the phrase is significant; briefly, it means living and being a part of the cultural pattern and being a recipient of the education imparted over the course of our lives that ultimately translates to our minds being filled with fluctuations of thoughts - often racing and competing with each other all through the course of the day and when we dream during our sleep.
The stilling of the mind refers to a process where one develops the equanimity to step outside of the constant flow of the river of thought and observe the movement of the thoughts, their patterns, their motivations, intentions and agendas (sometimes purposeless as thoughts emanate autonomously and sometimes modeled after specific choices and agendas upon the part of the thinker).
Utilizing the analogy of the river, the observer stands on the banks and witnesses the waters of thought gurgling along, rushing over the rocks, the nooks and crevices contained within the river of the mind - sans judgement, acknowledgement or denunciation - only indulging in pure observation. Once the observer of the river of thoughts becomes ever more slightly aware, it is seen that one is able to choicelessly and impartially observe a small portion of the thoughts flow by while the mind concentrates itself on judging, challenging and dwelling incessantly on the remaining larger portions.
Over time, the process of choiceless observation allows for one to slowly but surely indulge in a process where one is able to observe without judgement a larger and larger percentage of thoughts that flow by without consciously taking part or being influenced by such thoughts - in effect - not allowing for the thoughts to house themselves within the mind; just letting the flow happen harmoniously. Over time, the integrity of the process by which the observer that is witnessing and observing the thoughts only increases by its repeated application and the stilling of the mind results.
The energy that we assign to thoughts, the emotions associated with the thoughts, the constant churning that goes on within our minds about the various possibilities and permutations spun off by the original thought then subsides. The observer becomes the observed, the witnesser and the thoughts that the witnesser are having merge and become one to a degree where there is no difference between the subject (witnesser) and the object (thoughts). The state of duality that culture, education, training, acculturation and dogma that has been imposed upon the witnesser will now be shattered. Clarity results.
AVG 9.1
Chapter 9 (On Detachment and Equanimity) Verse 1
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
कृताकृते च द्वन्द्वानि कदा शान्तानि कस्य वा ।
एवं ज्ञात्वेह निर्वेदाद्भव त्यागपरोऽव्रती ॥ ९-१॥
PURPORT:
When does and which person has had respite
from pairs of dualities: states where personal
obligations were deemed complete and other states
where they were not? Knowing thus, be resolved
on renunciation with a secular mindset; always
applying an unbiased approach to the world.
TRANSLITERATION:
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
aṣṭāvakra uvāca ॥
कृताकृते च द्वन्द्वानि कदा शान्तानि कस्य वा ।
kṛtākṛte ca dvandvāni kadā śāntāni kasya vā ।
एवम् ज्ञात्वा इह निर्वेदात् भव त्यागपरः आव्रती ॥ ९-१॥
evam jñātvā iha nirvedāt bhava tyāgaparaḥ āvratī ॥ 9-1॥
MEANING:
aṣṭāvakra (अष्टावक्र) = Aṣṭāvakra
uvāca (उवाच) = said ॥
kṛtākṛte (कृताकृते) = the performed and the not performed [as in done and not done duties/obligations] (compound of kṛta (कृत) meaning 'done/performed/completed' and ākṛte (आकृते) meaning 'not done/not complete')
ca (च) = and
dvandvāni (द्वन्द्वानि) = dyad of antipodes/pairs of opposites
kadā (कदा) = when
śāntāni (शान्तानि) = concluded/ameliorated/mitigated
kasya (कस्य) = whose
vā (वा) = or ।
evam (एवम्) = thus
jñātvā (ज्ञात्वा) = having known
iha (इह) = here
nirvedāt (निर्वेदात्) = through an unbiased approach/from impartiality
bhava (भव) = be
tyāgaparaḥ (त्यागपरः) = intent on repudiation/resolved on renunciation
āvratī (आव्रती) = desireless in a secular non-religious manner of undertaking (literally āvratī (आव्रती) translates to 'not a vratin(व्रतिन्)' i.e. not someone who engages in religious observance)॥ 9-1॥
COMMENT:
One of the key objectives in the opening lines of the ninth chapter is to remind the seeker that ultimately (whether one likes it or not), we live in a world filled with dualities - work deemed done and tasks deemed incomplete, desires satiated and those not fulfilled, expectations achieved or prospects falling short - the list is as long as the desires that we are confronted with in the world we are brought into - one cannot escape these fundamental dichotomies we face. We do not control* nor dictate any of these and other similar dichotomies presented. It is for this reason that Ashtavakra informs that knowing this truth, the seeker resolves on achieving a state of renunciation through a secular mindset utilizing an unbiased approach to the dualities presented to the seeker by the world.
From a larger perspective, the ninth chapter talks about an important, but sometimes overlooked concept - the concept of detachment - the process and the state of allowing oneself to separate themselves from their own thoughts and opinions with a perspective as to not be swayed overly at a mental and emotional level. This state of awareness (also referred to as non-attachment), allows for a seeker to clearly discriminate their thoughts as it applies to desire for things, people or concepts of the world and thus attain a perspective rooted within choiceless awareness.
At a fundamental level, our existence can be construed as living and navigating a framework of options that potentially involve choosing between one of the following states that always seem to be in opposition to each other. The dualities presented within the states of pleasure and pain, loss and gain, failure and success and criticism and praise. The verses in this chapter talk about the need on the part of the seeker to allow to foster within themselves the mental equanimity to accept and work with ether side of any one of these pairs of opposites in harmony with whatever vitality has arisen at that present moment. The vitality of each moment is modulated and tuned by the understanding that flows from awareness that we bring to that particular moment as we navigate any one of the pairs of opposites confronted. This will allow us to move from a mindset of picking and choosing any one of the pairs of opposites to a mindset of witnessing/allowing that particular aspect of the duality to pass by (fully immersed in the understanding that each of the dualities presented are impermanent, devoid of any specific essence and subject to the flow of dependencies that all of us are subjected to). A mindset that allows for the seeker to seek that middle ground where one understands that clinging to concepts, appearances and worldly projections will only tend to increase the sense of confusion and delusion. A state of being unattached to outward appearances while in the midst of appearances and being inwardly detached with concepts like emptiness while being surrounded by emptiness all around.
NOTE:
*We talked about things 'not being within our control' at the beginning of this comment section. From my meager understanding, what I have gleaned is that all of the manifest phenomena that we are confronted with in this world in and of itself have arisen in a dependent manner and owe their brief existence due to being propped up by a causal framework that is itself inter-dependent, impermanent and devoid of any inherent essence. We and the 'things' that we interact with are part of this same glorious interplay - an interplay where parts are arising and coming into existence as we speak, portions of which abide and assume some semblance of permanence (however brief or prolonged as it might be) and some other portions of which are ceasing because the causal framework supporting the same has also ceased to be. Between the illusory self-model within our minds that constantly craves for permanence moment to moment amongst dualities and our culture-based-conditioning, we want to believe that we posses agency - the will to freely choose as we please - when, in reality, we have none..
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
कृताकृते च द्वन्द्वानि कदा शान्तानि कस्य वा ।
एवं ज्ञात्वेह निर्वेदाद्भव त्यागपरोऽव्रती ॥ ९-१॥
PURPORT:
When does and which person has had respite
from pairs of dualities: states where personal
obligations were deemed complete and other states
where they were not? Knowing thus, be resolved
on renunciation with a secular mindset; always
applying an unbiased approach to the world.
TRANSLITERATION:
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
aṣṭāvakra uvāca ॥
कृताकृते च द्वन्द्वानि कदा शान्तानि कस्य वा ।
kṛtākṛte ca dvandvāni kadā śāntāni kasya vā ।
एवम् ज्ञात्वा इह निर्वेदात् भव त्यागपरः आव्रती ॥ ९-१॥
evam jñātvā iha nirvedāt bhava tyāgaparaḥ āvratī ॥ 9-1॥
MEANING:
aṣṭāvakra (अष्टावक्र) = Aṣṭāvakra
uvāca (उवाच) = said ॥
kṛtākṛte (कृताकृते) = the performed and the not performed [as in done and not done duties/obligations] (compound of kṛta (कृत) meaning 'done/performed/completed' and ākṛte (आकृते) meaning 'not done/not complete')
ca (च) = and
dvandvāni (द्वन्द्वानि) = dyad of antipodes/pairs of opposites
kadā (कदा) = when
śāntāni (शान्तानि) = concluded/ameliorated/mitigated
kasya (कस्य) = whose
vā (वा) = or ।
evam (एवम्) = thus
jñātvā (ज्ञात्वा) = having known
iha (इह) = here
nirvedāt (निर्वेदात्) = through an unbiased approach/from impartiality
bhava (भव) = be
tyāgaparaḥ (त्यागपरः) = intent on repudiation/resolved on renunciation
āvratī (आव्रती) = desireless in a secular non-religious manner of undertaking (literally āvratī (आव्रती) translates to 'not a vratin(व्रतिन्)' i.e. not someone who engages in religious observance)॥ 9-1॥
COMMENT:
One of the key objectives in the opening lines of the ninth chapter is to remind the seeker that ultimately (whether one likes it or not), we live in a world filled with dualities - work deemed done and tasks deemed incomplete, desires satiated and those not fulfilled, expectations achieved or prospects falling short - the list is as long as the desires that we are confronted with in the world we are brought into - one cannot escape these fundamental dichotomies we face. We do not control* nor dictate any of these and other similar dichotomies presented. It is for this reason that Ashtavakra informs that knowing this truth, the seeker resolves on achieving a state of renunciation through a secular mindset utilizing an unbiased approach to the dualities presented to the seeker by the world.
From a larger perspective, the ninth chapter talks about an important, but sometimes overlooked concept - the concept of detachment - the process and the state of allowing oneself to separate themselves from their own thoughts and opinions with a perspective as to not be swayed overly at a mental and emotional level. This state of awareness (also referred to as non-attachment), allows for a seeker to clearly discriminate their thoughts as it applies to desire for things, people or concepts of the world and thus attain a perspective rooted within choiceless awareness.
At a fundamental level, our existence can be construed as living and navigating a framework of options that potentially involve choosing between one of the following states that always seem to be in opposition to each other. The dualities presented within the states of pleasure and pain, loss and gain, failure and success and criticism and praise. The verses in this chapter talk about the need on the part of the seeker to allow to foster within themselves the mental equanimity to accept and work with ether side of any one of these pairs of opposites in harmony with whatever vitality has arisen at that present moment. The vitality of each moment is modulated and tuned by the understanding that flows from awareness that we bring to that particular moment as we navigate any one of the pairs of opposites confronted. This will allow us to move from a mindset of picking and choosing any one of the pairs of opposites to a mindset of witnessing/allowing that particular aspect of the duality to pass by (fully immersed in the understanding that each of the dualities presented are impermanent, devoid of any specific essence and subject to the flow of dependencies that all of us are subjected to). A mindset that allows for the seeker to seek that middle ground where one understands that clinging to concepts, appearances and worldly projections will only tend to increase the sense of confusion and delusion. A state of being unattached to outward appearances while in the midst of appearances and being inwardly detached with concepts like emptiness while being surrounded by emptiness all around.
NOTE:
*We talked about things 'not being within our control' at the beginning of this comment section. From my meager understanding, what I have gleaned is that all of the manifest phenomena that we are confronted with in this world in and of itself have arisen in a dependent manner and owe their brief existence due to being propped up by a causal framework that is itself inter-dependent, impermanent and devoid of any inherent essence. We and the 'things' that we interact with are part of this same glorious interplay - an interplay where parts are arising and coming into existence as we speak, portions of which abide and assume some semblance of permanence (however brief or prolonged as it might be) and some other portions of which are ceasing because the causal framework supporting the same has also ceased to be. Between the illusory self-model within our minds that constantly craves for permanence moment to moment amongst dualities and our culture-based-conditioning, we want to believe that we posses agency - the will to freely choose as we please - when, in reality, we have none..
AVG 8.4
Chapter 8 (Reflections on Bondage and Liberation) Verse 4
यदा नाहं तदा मोक्षो यदाहं बन्धनं तदा ।
मत्वेति हेलया किञ्चिन्मा गृहाण विमुञ्च मा ॥ ८-४॥
PURPORT:
Where there is no awareness of 'I'
yoked to things that seem perceived,
there is liberation.
When 'I' clings to the perceived,
there is bondage. Considering
thus, instinctively refrain
from accepting or rejecting anything.
TRANSLITERATION:
यदा न अहम् तदा मोक्षः यदा अहम् बन्धनम् तदा ।
yadā na aham tadā mokṣaḥ yadā aham bandhanam tadā ।
मत्वा इति हेलया किञ्चित् मा गृहाण विमुञ्च मा ॥ ८-४॥
matvā iti helayā kiñcit mā gṛhāṇa vimuñca mā ॥ 8-4॥
MEANING:
yadā (यदा) = when
na (न) = not
aham (अहम्) = I
tadā (तदा) = then
mokṣaḥ (मोक्षः) = liberation/emancipation
yadā (यदा) = when
aham (अहम्) = I
bandhanam (बन्धनम्) = bondage/shackling
tadā (तदा) = then ।
matvā (मत्वा) = having thought/thinking that/considering that
iti (इति) = thus
helayā (हेलया) = easily/instinctively
kiñcit (किञ्चित्) = anything
mā (मा) = do not
gṛhāṇa (गृहाण) = accept/gain
vimuñca (विमुञ्च) = reject/forfeit
mā (मा) = do not ॥ 8-4॥
COMMENT:
At the heart of these lines is an examination of craving and yearning and the identification of the individual with the objects of one’s craving. Craving for material forms and non-material phenomena is a clear and an unavoidable aspect of living. In many cases, the time taken to reflect and arrive at a clear understanding on the nature of craving is never attempted and it is only the discomfort that stems from a feeling of deficiency that manifests within the individual. When cravings are realized, then the individual enters a phase of being happy that itself is as impermanent as the original object of ones craving. When the drive to achieve a consummation of the craving is not achieved, then the individual goes through a phase of sadness. The perceived feelings of happiness and sadness are only phases, but many seekers go through cycles of such fluctuations that the individual may find it difficult to step out of the pattern and examine the reasons for such recurrence. The obvious inquiry that some seekers indulge in will include the finding of ways by which one might break the topsy-turvy nature of yearning and its perceived fulfillment.
Examining craving and yearning through the lens of impermanency, one starts to understand that there is nothing to be done to break this cycle. Absolutely nothing needs to be done. The gnawing doubt of how one might free themselves of craving arises from a craving not to crave. The way forward involves a clearer examination and understanding of craving itself. Craving stems from an innate urge for the individual to find enjoyment. In that sense, craving and enjoyment are coupled to the sense of ‘I’ that Ashtavakra eloquently brings about here. Craving allows for the illusion of self to sustain itself from moment to moment via multiple pathways within the brain. People describe the brain to be inundated with chemicals and the one chemical that seems to stand out insofar as craving is concerned is dopamine - the molecule that seems to drive everything from motivation, addiction, attention, lust and psychosis. The self-model with the appropriate dopamine pathways within the brain has managed to evolve over millennia into a finely tuned machine wherein the release of the dopamine molecules results in a perceived feeling of exhilaration within the individual that is hypnotic, addictive and self-recursive. Since all feelings like happiness, euphoria and exhilaration is by its very nature short lived and impermanent; the self-model continuously searches and scans the environment for desired objects or feelings (the by-product of this search in turn allows for the self-model/ego to assume a level of permanency within the individual). From a cursory examination of the amount of recurrent pleasure that one might hope to obtain from a particular experience, it is seen that one can never hope to derive the same amount of pleasure the second, third or fourth time as compared to the first time that the individual achieves the object of their cravings. This is due to the nature of euphoria itself where it seen that euphoria and its mirror anguish are fundamentally transitory and are fleeting phenomenal states that pass on. Once the seeker understands the underlying futility of euphoria (and provisional nature of anguish in the same vein), the seeker begins to understand the nature of craving.
यदा नाहं तदा मोक्षो यदाहं बन्धनं तदा ।
मत्वेति हेलया किञ्चिन्मा गृहाण विमुञ्च मा ॥ ८-४॥
PURPORT:
Where there is no awareness of 'I'
yoked to things that seem perceived,
there is liberation.
When 'I' clings to the perceived,
there is bondage. Considering
thus, instinctively refrain
from accepting or rejecting anything.
TRANSLITERATION:
यदा न अहम् तदा मोक्षः यदा अहम् बन्धनम् तदा ।
yadā na aham tadā mokṣaḥ yadā aham bandhanam tadā ।
मत्वा इति हेलया किञ्चित् मा गृहाण विमुञ्च मा ॥ ८-४॥
matvā iti helayā kiñcit mā gṛhāṇa vimuñca mā ॥ 8-4॥
MEANING:
yadā (यदा) = when
na (न) = not
aham (अहम्) = I
tadā (तदा) = then
mokṣaḥ (मोक्षः) = liberation/emancipation
yadā (यदा) = when
aham (अहम्) = I
bandhanam (बन्धनम्) = bondage/shackling
tadā (तदा) = then ।
matvā (मत्वा) = having thought/thinking that/considering that
iti (इति) = thus
helayā (हेलया) = easily/instinctively
kiñcit (किञ्चित्) = anything
mā (मा) = do not
gṛhāṇa (गृहाण) = accept/gain
vimuñca (विमुञ्च) = reject/forfeit
mā (मा) = do not ॥ 8-4॥
COMMENT:
At the heart of these lines is an examination of craving and yearning and the identification of the individual with the objects of one’s craving. Craving for material forms and non-material phenomena is a clear and an unavoidable aspect of living. In many cases, the time taken to reflect and arrive at a clear understanding on the nature of craving is never attempted and it is only the discomfort that stems from a feeling of deficiency that manifests within the individual. When cravings are realized, then the individual enters a phase of being happy that itself is as impermanent as the original object of ones craving. When the drive to achieve a consummation of the craving is not achieved, then the individual goes through a phase of sadness. The perceived feelings of happiness and sadness are only phases, but many seekers go through cycles of such fluctuations that the individual may find it difficult to step out of the pattern and examine the reasons for such recurrence. The obvious inquiry that some seekers indulge in will include the finding of ways by which one might break the topsy-turvy nature of yearning and its perceived fulfillment.
Examining craving and yearning through the lens of impermanency, one starts to understand that there is nothing to be done to break this cycle. Absolutely nothing needs to be done. The gnawing doubt of how one might free themselves of craving arises from a craving not to crave. The way forward involves a clearer examination and understanding of craving itself. Craving stems from an innate urge for the individual to find enjoyment. In that sense, craving and enjoyment are coupled to the sense of ‘I’ that Ashtavakra eloquently brings about here. Craving allows for the illusion of self to sustain itself from moment to moment via multiple pathways within the brain. People describe the brain to be inundated with chemicals and the one chemical that seems to stand out insofar as craving is concerned is dopamine - the molecule that seems to drive everything from motivation, addiction, attention, lust and psychosis. The self-model with the appropriate dopamine pathways within the brain has managed to evolve over millennia into a finely tuned machine wherein the release of the dopamine molecules results in a perceived feeling of exhilaration within the individual that is hypnotic, addictive and self-recursive. Since all feelings like happiness, euphoria and exhilaration is by its very nature short lived and impermanent; the self-model continuously searches and scans the environment for desired objects or feelings (the by-product of this search in turn allows for the self-model/ego to assume a level of permanency within the individual). From a cursory examination of the amount of recurrent pleasure that one might hope to obtain from a particular experience, it is seen that one can never hope to derive the same amount of pleasure the second, third or fourth time as compared to the first time that the individual achieves the object of their cravings. This is due to the nature of euphoria itself where it seen that euphoria and its mirror anguish are fundamentally transitory and are fleeting phenomenal states that pass on. Once the seeker understands the underlying futility of euphoria (and provisional nature of anguish in the same vein), the seeker begins to understand the nature of craving.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
AVG 8.3
Chapter 8 (Reflections on Bondage and Liberation) Verse 3
तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं सक्तं कास्वपि दृष्टिषु ।
तदा मोक्षो यदा चित्तमसक्तं सर्वदृष्टिषु ॥ ८-३॥
PURPORT:
That is the state of bondage when awareness
is attached to any one particular sensory organ
and the things that seem perceived thereof.
That is the state of liberation when awareness
does not cling to things that seem to be
perceived by any one of our sensory organs.
TRANSLITERATION:
तदा बन्धः यदा चित्तम् सक्तम् कासु अपि दृष्टिषु ।
tadā bandhaḥ yadā cittam saktam kāsu api dṛṣṭiṣu ।
तदा मोक्षः यदा चित्तम् असक्तम् सर्वदृष्टिषु ॥ ८-३॥
tadā mokṣaḥ yadā cittam asaktam sarvadṛṣṭiṣu ॥ 8-3॥
MEANING:
tadā (तदा) = then
bandhaḥ (बन्धः) = bondage/clinging
yadā (यदा) = when
cittam (चित्तम्) = mind
saktam (सक्तम्) = attachment/fondness
kāsu (कासु) = to anything/to anyone
api (अपि) = at all
dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु) = perceiving via the sense-organs (dṛṣṭi (दृष्टि) directly relates to the faculty of seeing via the eyes and the word dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु) by extension is any instrument of perception – any sensory organ)।
tadā (तदा) = then
mokṣaḥ (मोक्षः) = liberation
yadā (यदा) = when
cittam (चित्तम्) = mind
asaktam (असक्तम्) = detached/non-attachment/unattached
sarvadṛṣṭiṣu (सर्वदृष्टिषु) = in all the sense perceptions (compound of sarva (सर्व) menaing ‘all’ and dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु); please see note on dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु) above) ॥ 8-3॥
COMMENT:
While the first two verses of this chapter dealt with the concepts of liberation and bondage associated with the identification with and the disassociation from modifications and fluctuations of our internal mental processes and thoughts, this beautiful verse portrays identification with and disassociation from external objects as perceived by our sense organs.
Ashtavakra mentions that the state of bondage is that state where the mind is fixated on thoughts and our attempts to imbue those thoughts and their attendant perceptions with a mark of permanence and rigidity within our psyche. Similarly, the flip side of the coin is also true; in the sense that the state of liberation is that station within ones seeking where the mind is detached from recurring thoughts and all of the perceived inputs and all attempts to assign fixity to the same (by the underlying ego) is thwarted by the understanding that perceived phenomena and associated thoughts are fundamentally impermanent, lack any underlying essence and are conditionally dependent manifestations that are themselves impermanent.
In this sense, it is fundamental to understand the origination of thoughts and what constitutes thought. The moment the reader had finished reading the above line was when that particular thought sprung into the readers mind and a series of dependent thoughts and questions were automatically generated in the readers mind. The reader experienced a reaction within their mind based upon the prior conditioning of the reader. In this sense, the pattern of fluctuations intrinsically generated by the reader (in reading that sentence) within their minds are unconsciously channeled by past conditioning to appropriately meet new experiences and fold those experiences into pre-conceived templates. This will result in one of two outcomes - either a strengthening of the original patterns of memory stored within the brain resulting in strengthened conditioning of prior choices/prejudices or, conversely, will result in the attenuation of the mental patterns resulting in a weakening of conditioned responses and a (potential for) melting away of ones biases. This happens every second of our waking selves and our dream selves. I cautiously and humbly aver that the only time this push-pull between the ossification-attenuation within ourselves fades away is when one goes into deep sleep.
Extending this line of reasoning, it can be said that there is no 'thinker' thinking up all of these thoughts. In fact, the thinker of thoughts itself is just one of the thoughts that spring up from the same set of individual instances of subjective, conscious experience described above. There is no separate thinker - the only truth is that there are these thoughts that autonomously arise within our subconscious or arise in reaction to meeting new experiences patterned and molded based upon prior conditioning.
A state of choiceless witnessing and observing of the phenomenal world where one is able to witness the genesis, persistence and the cessation of thoughts as they flow through our minds results in a measure of liberation where one does not feel anxiety, rejection, acceptance, joy or irritation at outcomes - this is the simple, yet profound import of these beautiful lines.
तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं सक्तं कास्वपि दृष्टिषु ।
तदा मोक्षो यदा चित्तमसक्तं सर्वदृष्टिषु ॥ ८-३॥
PURPORT:
That is the state of bondage when awareness
is attached to any one particular sensory organ
and the things that seem perceived thereof.
That is the state of liberation when awareness
does not cling to things that seem to be
perceived by any one of our sensory organs.
TRANSLITERATION:
तदा बन्धः यदा चित्तम् सक्तम् कासु अपि दृष्टिषु ।
tadā bandhaḥ yadā cittam saktam kāsu api dṛṣṭiṣu ।
तदा मोक्षः यदा चित्तम् असक्तम् सर्वदृष्टिषु ॥ ८-३॥
tadā mokṣaḥ yadā cittam asaktam sarvadṛṣṭiṣu ॥ 8-3॥
MEANING:
tadā (तदा) = then
bandhaḥ (बन्धः) = bondage/clinging
yadā (यदा) = when
cittam (चित्तम्) = mind
saktam (सक्तम्) = attachment/fondness
kāsu (कासु) = to anything/to anyone
api (अपि) = at all
dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु) = perceiving via the sense-organs (dṛṣṭi (दृष्टि) directly relates to the faculty of seeing via the eyes and the word dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु) by extension is any instrument of perception – any sensory organ)।
tadā (तदा) = then
mokṣaḥ (मोक्षः) = liberation
yadā (यदा) = when
cittam (चित्तम्) = mind
asaktam (असक्तम्) = detached/non-attachment/unattached
sarvadṛṣṭiṣu (सर्वदृष्टिषु) = in all the sense perceptions (compound of sarva (सर्व) menaing ‘all’ and dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु); please see note on dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु) above) ॥ 8-3॥
COMMENT:
While the first two verses of this chapter dealt with the concepts of liberation and bondage associated with the identification with and the disassociation from modifications and fluctuations of our internal mental processes and thoughts, this beautiful verse portrays identification with and disassociation from external objects as perceived by our sense organs.
Ashtavakra mentions that the state of bondage is that state where the mind is fixated on thoughts and our attempts to imbue those thoughts and their attendant perceptions with a mark of permanence and rigidity within our psyche. Similarly, the flip side of the coin is also true; in the sense that the state of liberation is that station within ones seeking where the mind is detached from recurring thoughts and all of the perceived inputs and all attempts to assign fixity to the same (by the underlying ego) is thwarted by the understanding that perceived phenomena and associated thoughts are fundamentally impermanent, lack any underlying essence and are conditionally dependent manifestations that are themselves impermanent.
In this sense, it is fundamental to understand the origination of thoughts and what constitutes thought. The moment the reader had finished reading the above line was when that particular thought sprung into the readers mind and a series of dependent thoughts and questions were automatically generated in the readers mind. The reader experienced a reaction within their mind based upon the prior conditioning of the reader. In this sense, the pattern of fluctuations intrinsically generated by the reader (in reading that sentence) within their minds are unconsciously channeled by past conditioning to appropriately meet new experiences and fold those experiences into pre-conceived templates. This will result in one of two outcomes - either a strengthening of the original patterns of memory stored within the brain resulting in strengthened conditioning of prior choices/prejudices or, conversely, will result in the attenuation of the mental patterns resulting in a weakening of conditioned responses and a (potential for) melting away of ones biases. This happens every second of our waking selves and our dream selves. I cautiously and humbly aver that the only time this push-pull between the ossification-attenuation within ourselves fades away is when one goes into deep sleep.
Extending this line of reasoning, it can be said that there is no 'thinker' thinking up all of these thoughts. In fact, the thinker of thoughts itself is just one of the thoughts that spring up from the same set of individual instances of subjective, conscious experience described above. There is no separate thinker - the only truth is that there are these thoughts that autonomously arise within our subconscious or arise in reaction to meeting new experiences patterned and molded based upon prior conditioning.
A state of choiceless witnessing and observing of the phenomenal world where one is able to witness the genesis, persistence and the cessation of thoughts as they flow through our minds results in a measure of liberation where one does not feel anxiety, rejection, acceptance, joy or irritation at outcomes - this is the simple, yet profound import of these beautiful lines.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
AVG 8.2
Chapter 8 (Reflections on Bondage and Liberation) Verse 2
तदामुक्तिर्यदा चित्तं न वाञ्छति न शोचति ।
न मुञ्चति न गृह्णाति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति ॥ ८-२॥
PURPORT:
That is the state of liberation when the mind
and the patterns of thought within
does not desire nor mourn nor reject
nor comply nor exult nor is resentful.
TRANSLITERATION:
तदा मुक्तिः यदा चित्तम् न वाञ्छति न शोचति ।
tadā muktiḥ yadā cittam na vāñchati na śocati ।
न मुञ्चति न गृह्णाति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति ॥ ८-२॥
na muñcati na gṛhṇāti na hṛṣyati na kupyati ॥ 8-2॥
MEANING:
tadā (तदा) = then
muktiḥ (मुक्तिः) = liberation/salvation/freedom
yadā (यदा) = when
cittam (चित्तम्) = mind
na (न) = not
vāñchati (वाञ्छति) = strive after/desire/wish/hanker
na (न) = not
śocati (शोचति) = lament/mourn/grieves।
na (न) = not
muñcati (मुञ्चति) = reject/renounce/repudiate
na (न) = not
gṛhṇāti (गृह्णाति) = accept/allow/comply
na (न) = not
hṛṣyati (हृष्यति) = exult/thrilled/rejoice
na (न) = not
kupyati (कुप्यति) = is resentful of/is angry at/is offended with ॥ 8-2॥
COMMENT:
The previous verse in this chapter dealt with the idea of attachment and bondage. This verse inverts the argument of the previous and presents each of the conceptual ideas developed as it applies to the state of being aware and liberated - a state where the mind stops wanting and does not descend into anxiety because the seeking individual has a better understanding of themselves.
In this particular sense, the seeker who resolves to attain this state as described by Ashtavakra does not really have to do anything to be who they are or to reach that supposed 'lofty goal'. Leanings towards goal oriented spiritual practice, unchanging dualisms that explain goals on the basis of subject/object, cause/effect, salvation/damnation etc. only further confuse and polarize the seekers mind as the seeker now tries to apply these concepts to their practice and thus tend to lose their natural equanimity. In this sense, the path towards that sense of freedom and equanimity is not via the performance of chanting mantras or incessantly scheduled prayers or yogic calisthenics or pilgrimages to holy lands; the path is simply to look within oneself and start to slowly realize that each one of us are free innately.
The constant practice of looking outside of ourselves and searching, clinging and grasping onto entities, concepts and ideas that have no permanent foundation within this ever-changing cosmos is the reason why we do not get the time to look within. One realizes that one has always been free and the signs of such a change include the fact that once the individual experiences this state of liberation (however fleeting or however prolonged), on analysis, it is seen that the entities, concepts and ideas of the world has not really changed, the world has not fundamentally changed, it is the individual and how the individual chooses to deal with those same ideas and concepts that seem to have changed from the point to view of the individual's perspective.
The looking, understanding and the change has to come from within - no amount of austerities or other purported forms of attaining salvation commonly espoused by godmen will help - in fact, in many cases, such practices only serve the opposite - they steer the individual away from their own inner luminous selves. In short, self-flagellation in the name of seeking truth never helped and never will - not only does one torture their bodies and minds, but they also imperil whatever understanding one had garnered.
तदामुक्तिर्यदा चित्तं न वाञ्छति न शोचति ।
न मुञ्चति न गृह्णाति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति ॥ ८-२॥
PURPORT:
That is the state of liberation when the mind
and the patterns of thought within
does not desire nor mourn nor reject
nor comply nor exult nor is resentful.
TRANSLITERATION:
तदा मुक्तिः यदा चित्तम् न वाञ्छति न शोचति ।
tadā muktiḥ yadā cittam na vāñchati na śocati ।
न मुञ्चति न गृह्णाति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति ॥ ८-२॥
na muñcati na gṛhṇāti na hṛṣyati na kupyati ॥ 8-2॥
MEANING:
tadā (तदा) = then
muktiḥ (मुक्तिः) = liberation/salvation/freedom
yadā (यदा) = when
cittam (चित्तम्) = mind
na (न) = not
vāñchati (वाञ्छति) = strive after/desire/wish/hanker
na (न) = not
śocati (शोचति) = lament/mourn/grieves।
na (न) = not
muñcati (मुञ्चति) = reject/renounce/repudiate
na (न) = not
gṛhṇāti (गृह्णाति) = accept/allow/comply
na (न) = not
hṛṣyati (हृष्यति) = exult/thrilled/rejoice
na (न) = not
kupyati (कुप्यति) = is resentful of/is angry at/is offended with ॥ 8-2॥
COMMENT:
The previous verse in this chapter dealt with the idea of attachment and bondage. This verse inverts the argument of the previous and presents each of the conceptual ideas developed as it applies to the state of being aware and liberated - a state where the mind stops wanting and does not descend into anxiety because the seeking individual has a better understanding of themselves.
In this particular sense, the seeker who resolves to attain this state as described by Ashtavakra does not really have to do anything to be who they are or to reach that supposed 'lofty goal'. Leanings towards goal oriented spiritual practice, unchanging dualisms that explain goals on the basis of subject/object, cause/effect, salvation/damnation etc. only further confuse and polarize the seekers mind as the seeker now tries to apply these concepts to their practice and thus tend to lose their natural equanimity. In this sense, the path towards that sense of freedom and equanimity is not via the performance of chanting mantras or incessantly scheduled prayers or yogic calisthenics or pilgrimages to holy lands; the path is simply to look within oneself and start to slowly realize that each one of us are free innately.
The constant practice of looking outside of ourselves and searching, clinging and grasping onto entities, concepts and ideas that have no permanent foundation within this ever-changing cosmos is the reason why we do not get the time to look within. One realizes that one has always been free and the signs of such a change include the fact that once the individual experiences this state of liberation (however fleeting or however prolonged), on analysis, it is seen that the entities, concepts and ideas of the world has not really changed, the world has not fundamentally changed, it is the individual and how the individual chooses to deal with those same ideas and concepts that seem to have changed from the point to view of the individual's perspective.
The looking, understanding and the change has to come from within - no amount of austerities or other purported forms of attaining salvation commonly espoused by godmen will help - in fact, in many cases, such practices only serve the opposite - they steer the individual away from their own inner luminous selves. In short, self-flagellation in the name of seeking truth never helped and never will - not only does one torture their bodies and minds, but they also imperil whatever understanding one had garnered.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
AVG 8.1
Chapter 8 (Reflections on Bondage and Liberation) Verse 1
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं किञ्चिद्वाञ्छति शोचति ।
किञ्चिन्मुञ्चति गृह्णाति किञ्चिद्धृष्यति कुप्यति ॥ ८-१॥
PURPORT:
Aṣṭāvakra said:
That is the state of bondage when the mind
hankers after or laments about something,
repudiates or complies with something,
exults about or is resentful of something.
TRANSLITERATION:
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
aṣṭāvakra uvāca ॥
तदा बन्धः यदा चित्तम् किञ्चित् वाञ्छति शोचति ।
tadā bandhaḥ yadā cittam kiñcit vāñchati śocati ।
किञ्चित् मुञ्चति गृह्णाति किञ्चित् हृष्यति कुप्यति ॥ ८-१॥
kiñcit muñcati gṛhṇāti kiñcit hṛṣyati kupyati ॥ 8-1॥
MEANING:
aṣṭāvakra (अष्टावक्र) = Aṣṭāvakra
uvāca (उवाच) = said ॥
tadā (तदा) = then
bandhaḥ (बन्धः) = bondage/restrained/imprisoned
yadā (यदा) = then
cittam (चित्तम्) = mind
kiñcit (किञ्चित्) = something
vāñchati (वाञ्छति) = strive after/desire/wish/hanker
śocati (शोचति) = lament/mourn/grieves।
kiñcit (किञ्चित्) = something
muñcati (मुञ्चति) = reject/renounce/repudiate
gṛhṇāti (गृह्णाति) = accept/allow/comply
kiñcit (किञ्चित्) = something
hṛṣyati (हृष्यति) = exult/thrilled/rejoice
kupyati (कुप्यति) = is resentful of/is angry at/is offended with॥ 8-1॥
COMMENT:
This chapter is a beautifully written meditation on the nature of attachment and its antithesis - liberation. After listening to Janaka explain his own state of self-realization in the previous chapter, Ashtavakra comes to the understanding that while Janaka's perception of awareness obtains the necessary clarity, Janaka's recognition of the same can use some additional polish.
A deeper survey into states of the mind hankering after an object of attachment, the disappointment of the mind in not obtaining the same, rejection and the eventual acceptance based upon preconceived assumptions and the attendant feelings of hatred or irritation or elation that accompanies these mental states is the theme of this verse.
One of the keys to gradually disabusing oneself of these states comes with the purity of understanding that all objects, existents, emotions, perceptions and manifest phenomena are presented to us via an extensively intricate scaffolding of causes and conditions that allows for the manifestation of said phenomena. Even without a detailed analysis, we infer that the manifest phenomena that our senses are confronted with (and comforted mostly) is always in a state of change (sentient beings age, things fall into decrepitude, seasons morph - the list goes on). The fact that the manifest phenomena in front of us is dynamic allows us to infer that the underlying scaffolding also follows this state of flux and change. This will mean that not a single one of the objects, existents, emotions, perceptions and manifest phenomena encountered have anything approaching an inherent unitary self that abides forever. All of the manifested phenomena are thus empty insofar as discovering an undying essentiality. Searching for inherently empty phenomena will come up empty.
Things fall apart with the advent of time is the best way to condense the above. A deeper analysis of this simple fact allows for one to infer that all manifestations of the phenomenal world is impermanent. The arising, enduring and ceasing of not only phenomena but also the causal scaffolding allows us to understand the impermanence behind the manifested.
Attachment and its close cousins bondage and clinging stems from our natural inclination to assign permanence and apply our own imputation of an essence or a self to the object of our attachment. We are not lesser creatures because of this - it is a natural by-product of society, culture and evolution. The imputation of a self-essence to objects happened in our distant past and must have begun with neural patterns within our brains rearranging themselves in such a way so as to allow for our proto-human ancestors to stitch together a semblance of continuity to their lives in the face of various threats (perceived or otherwise) from nature and its forces. The mechanism of stitching together of this continuity of the self-model from moment to moment allowed for our proto-ancestors to quell the overwhelming existential anxieties connected with their bodies eventual disintegration and instead, the illusion of the continuity engendered by the self-model must have allowed for them to plan their next forage. This presumably evolved over time to slowly metastasize into an enduring model of the self and its attendant ego.
Ashtavakra informs that understanding of the reasons behind attachment and the mental states stimulated as a result of the same allows for us to transcend our natural state to one where the seeker becomes a dispassionate witness to the unfolding events and stays within the equilibrium established by understanding.
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं किञ्चिद्वाञ्छति शोचति ।
किञ्चिन्मुञ्चति गृह्णाति किञ्चिद्धृष्यति कुप्यति ॥ ८-१॥
PURPORT:
Aṣṭāvakra said:
That is the state of bondage when the mind
hankers after or laments about something,
repudiates or complies with something,
exults about or is resentful of something.
TRANSLITERATION:
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
aṣṭāvakra uvāca ॥
तदा बन्धः यदा चित्तम् किञ्चित् वाञ्छति शोचति ।
tadā bandhaḥ yadā cittam kiñcit vāñchati śocati ।
किञ्चित् मुञ्चति गृह्णाति किञ्चित् हृष्यति कुप्यति ॥ ८-१॥
kiñcit muñcati gṛhṇāti kiñcit hṛṣyati kupyati ॥ 8-1॥
MEANING:
aṣṭāvakra (अष्टावक्र) = Aṣṭāvakra
uvāca (उवाच) = said ॥
tadā (तदा) = then
bandhaḥ (बन्धः) = bondage/restrained/imprisoned
yadā (यदा) = then
cittam (चित्तम्) = mind
kiñcit (किञ्चित्) = something
vāñchati (वाञ्छति) = strive after/desire/wish/hanker
śocati (शोचति) = lament/mourn/grieves।
kiñcit (किञ्चित्) = something
muñcati (मुञ्चति) = reject/renounce/repudiate
gṛhṇāti (गृह्णाति) = accept/allow/comply
kiñcit (किञ्चित्) = something
hṛṣyati (हृष्यति) = exult/thrilled/rejoice
kupyati (कुप्यति) = is resentful of/is angry at/is offended with॥ 8-1॥
COMMENT:
This chapter is a beautifully written meditation on the nature of attachment and its antithesis - liberation. After listening to Janaka explain his own state of self-realization in the previous chapter, Ashtavakra comes to the understanding that while Janaka's perception of awareness obtains the necessary clarity, Janaka's recognition of the same can use some additional polish.
A deeper survey into states of the mind hankering after an object of attachment, the disappointment of the mind in not obtaining the same, rejection and the eventual acceptance based upon preconceived assumptions and the attendant feelings of hatred or irritation or elation that accompanies these mental states is the theme of this verse.
One of the keys to gradually disabusing oneself of these states comes with the purity of understanding that all objects, existents, emotions, perceptions and manifest phenomena are presented to us via an extensively intricate scaffolding of causes and conditions that allows for the manifestation of said phenomena. Even without a detailed analysis, we infer that the manifest phenomena that our senses are confronted with (and comforted mostly) is always in a state of change (sentient beings age, things fall into decrepitude, seasons morph - the list goes on). The fact that the manifest phenomena in front of us is dynamic allows us to infer that the underlying scaffolding also follows this state of flux and change. This will mean that not a single one of the objects, existents, emotions, perceptions and manifest phenomena encountered have anything approaching an inherent unitary self that abides forever. All of the manifested phenomena are thus empty insofar as discovering an undying essentiality. Searching for inherently empty phenomena will come up empty.
Things fall apart with the advent of time is the best way to condense the above. A deeper analysis of this simple fact allows for one to infer that all manifestations of the phenomenal world is impermanent. The arising, enduring and ceasing of not only phenomena but also the causal scaffolding allows us to understand the impermanence behind the manifested.
Attachment and its close cousins bondage and clinging stems from our natural inclination to assign permanence and apply our own imputation of an essence or a self to the object of our attachment. We are not lesser creatures because of this - it is a natural by-product of society, culture and evolution. The imputation of a self-essence to objects happened in our distant past and must have begun with neural patterns within our brains rearranging themselves in such a way so as to allow for our proto-human ancestors to stitch together a semblance of continuity to their lives in the face of various threats (perceived or otherwise) from nature and its forces. The mechanism of stitching together of this continuity of the self-model from moment to moment allowed for our proto-ancestors to quell the overwhelming existential anxieties connected with their bodies eventual disintegration and instead, the illusion of the continuity engendered by the self-model must have allowed for them to plan their next forage. This presumably evolved over time to slowly metastasize into an enduring model of the self and its attendant ego.
Ashtavakra informs that understanding of the reasons behind attachment and the mental states stimulated as a result of the same allows for us to transcend our natural state to one where the seeker becomes a dispassionate witness to the unfolding events and stays within the equilibrium established by understanding.
AVG 7.5
Chapter 7 (The Seekers sense of Awareness) Verse 5
अहो चिन्मात्रमेवाहमिन्द्रजालोपमं जगत् ।
अतो मम कथं कुत्र हेयोपादेयकल्पना ॥ ७-५॥
PURPORT:
Ahhh, I am really awareness itself!
The phenomenal world is like a
pageantry of misperceived delusions.
So, how and where can there be thoughts
of affirmation or circumvention within me?
TRANSLITERATION:
अहो चिन्मात्रम् एव अहम् इन्द्रजालोपमम् जगत् ।
aho cinmātram eva aham indrajālopamam jagat ।
अतः मम कथम् कुत्र हेयोपादेयकल्पना ॥ ७-५॥
ataḥ mama katham kutra heyopādeyakalpanā ॥ 7-5॥
MEANING:
aho (अहो) = Oh!
cinmātram (चिन्मात्रम्) = just consciousness/just awareness
eva (एव) = surely/indeed
aham (अहम्) = I
indrajālopamam (इन्द्रजालोपमम्) = comparable to a magic show/like delusional pageantry
jagat (जगत्) = world (as in the phenomenal world of name-and-form concepts and artifacts)।
ataḥ (अतः) = so
mama (मम) = my
katham (कथम्) = how
kutra (कुत्र) = where
heyopādeyakalpanā (हेयोपादेयकल्पना) = thought of circumventing and affirming (compound of heya (हेय) meaning 'to be avoided/to be rejected' and upādeya (उपादेय) meaning 'to be accepted/to affirm' and kalpanā (कल्पना) meaning 'thought/conception') ॥ 7-5॥
COMMENT:
The central thrust of modern physics has historically been biased by the partiality towards finding explanations that align with atomism, and by extension, the existence of an objective reality; but, it seems that the ever closer we start to probe into the smallest units of objective existence, the more it seems that our ideas of reality are conceptually and objectively flawed.
The overall general consensus seems to boil down to the fact that all phenomena arise because of the interplay between a number of causal factors. In addition, since causes and effects are interdependent, a single cause or a single factor cannot be objectively isolated and said to be the progenitor of any existent entity.
In this regard, all of the reality that we observe is a product of mutual causality; that is, things only exist in relationship to other things; phenomena and entities arise together in a mutually interdependent network of cause and effect. Therefore, nothing whatsoever can exist independently, for it would be without a cause, sacrosanct and forever enduring. Accordingly, all of the characteristics of the phenomenal world that we observe, interact with and act on are defined through relationships of the whole and the parts - each of which are mutually interdependent. Given that reality exists only because of the interdependent nature of entities collaborating and given that the phenomena that we are confronted with is ever-changing and morphing, it follows that not only the phenomena presented (to us via our senses), but also, the underlying causes, conditions and the network of linkages that hold the edifice together is inherently changing, morphing and consequently impermanent.
The triad of emptiness, interdependence, and impermanence distinctly color the background when Janaka proclaims that "the phenomenal world is like a pageantry of misperceived delusions". Nothing whatsoever can be connoted to 'exist' in the proper sense of the term - the only existence that entities can lay claim to is that they exist (and designated as such by us) in relation to another object acting as a reference point. In this sense, the physical properties of any purportedly independent 'substantial' object is not only determined by the character and the disposition of the object, but also dependent upon its association and interrelationship with other objects. In this sense, the lines spoken by Janaka insofar as he labels the phenomenal world as an illusion points to a more fundamental aspect to his insight: which is that all phenomena are inseparably and indistinguishably affiliated to, and even conceived by, the mind of the onlooker.
Norman Fischer, a zen seeker said it best when he proclaimed that appearances remain valid as appearance, and there is no reality beyond appearances, other than the emptiness of the very appearances. At its very heart, the verse talks about the nature of reality; a reality that is constantly present, but obscured underneath the illusion of objective reality.
In ending this fascinating chapter, I want to add that even if I have gone ahead and used words like impermanence, emptiness and interdependent arising, please understand that these are also concepts and should not be reified in any manner of understanding. When a society conceptualizes words, they start to fall into the delusion of thinking that the word is not only the truth, but universal objective reality. Even the word 'emptiness' is itself empty of any imputation insofar as such imputation connotes any objective enduring truth associated with that word; the same as is the case with other similar conceptual designations like soul, spirit, god, ego, anima or psyche - all of these are conceptual designation with zero essence whatsoever. The only function of words is that they attempt to describe the perceived reality of the one who is observing.
अहो चिन्मात्रमेवाहमिन्द्रजालोपमं जगत् ।
अतो मम कथं कुत्र हेयोपादेयकल्पना ॥ ७-५॥
PURPORT:
Ahhh, I am really awareness itself!
The phenomenal world is like a
pageantry of misperceived delusions.
So, how and where can there be thoughts
of affirmation or circumvention within me?
TRANSLITERATION:
अहो चिन्मात्रम् एव अहम् इन्द्रजालोपमम् जगत् ।
aho cinmātram eva aham indrajālopamam jagat ।
अतः मम कथम् कुत्र हेयोपादेयकल्पना ॥ ७-५॥
ataḥ mama katham kutra heyopādeyakalpanā ॥ 7-5॥
MEANING:
aho (अहो) = Oh!
cinmātram (चिन्मात्रम्) = just consciousness/just awareness
eva (एव) = surely/indeed
aham (अहम्) = I
indrajālopamam (इन्द्रजालोपमम्) = comparable to a magic show/like delusional pageantry
jagat (जगत्) = world (as in the phenomenal world of name-and-form concepts and artifacts)।
ataḥ (अतः) = so
mama (मम) = my
katham (कथम्) = how
kutra (कुत्र) = where
heyopādeyakalpanā (हेयोपादेयकल्पना) = thought of circumventing and affirming (compound of heya (हेय) meaning 'to be avoided/to be rejected' and upādeya (उपादेय) meaning 'to be accepted/to affirm' and kalpanā (कल्पना) meaning 'thought/conception') ॥ 7-5॥
COMMENT:
The central thrust of modern physics has historically been biased by the partiality towards finding explanations that align with atomism, and by extension, the existence of an objective reality; but, it seems that the ever closer we start to probe into the smallest units of objective existence, the more it seems that our ideas of reality are conceptually and objectively flawed.
The overall general consensus seems to boil down to the fact that all phenomena arise because of the interplay between a number of causal factors. In addition, since causes and effects are interdependent, a single cause or a single factor cannot be objectively isolated and said to be the progenitor of any existent entity.
In this regard, all of the reality that we observe is a product of mutual causality; that is, things only exist in relationship to other things; phenomena and entities arise together in a mutually interdependent network of cause and effect. Therefore, nothing whatsoever can exist independently, for it would be without a cause, sacrosanct and forever enduring. Accordingly, all of the characteristics of the phenomenal world that we observe, interact with and act on are defined through relationships of the whole and the parts - each of which are mutually interdependent. Given that reality exists only because of the interdependent nature of entities collaborating and given that the phenomena that we are confronted with is ever-changing and morphing, it follows that not only the phenomena presented (to us via our senses), but also, the underlying causes, conditions and the network of linkages that hold the edifice together is inherently changing, morphing and consequently impermanent.
The triad of emptiness, interdependence, and impermanence distinctly color the background when Janaka proclaims that "the phenomenal world is like a pageantry of misperceived delusions". Nothing whatsoever can be connoted to 'exist' in the proper sense of the term - the only existence that entities can lay claim to is that they exist (and designated as such by us) in relation to another object acting as a reference point. In this sense, the physical properties of any purportedly independent 'substantial' object is not only determined by the character and the disposition of the object, but also dependent upon its association and interrelationship with other objects. In this sense, the lines spoken by Janaka insofar as he labels the phenomenal world as an illusion points to a more fundamental aspect to his insight: which is that all phenomena are inseparably and indistinguishably affiliated to, and even conceived by, the mind of the onlooker.
Norman Fischer, a zen seeker said it best when he proclaimed that appearances remain valid as appearance, and there is no reality beyond appearances, other than the emptiness of the very appearances. At its very heart, the verse talks about the nature of reality; a reality that is constantly present, but obscured underneath the illusion of objective reality.
In ending this fascinating chapter, I want to add that even if I have gone ahead and used words like impermanence, emptiness and interdependent arising, please understand that these are also concepts and should not be reified in any manner of understanding. When a society conceptualizes words, they start to fall into the delusion of thinking that the word is not only the truth, but universal objective reality. Even the word 'emptiness' is itself empty of any imputation insofar as such imputation connotes any objective enduring truth associated with that word; the same as is the case with other similar conceptual designations like soul, spirit, god, ego, anima or psyche - all of these are conceptual designation with zero essence whatsoever. The only function of words is that they attempt to describe the perceived reality of the one who is observing.
AVG 7.4
Chapter 7 (The Seekers sense of Awareness) Verse 4
नात्मा भावेषु नो भावस्तत्रानन्ते निरञ्जने ।
इत्यसक्तोऽस्पृहः शान्त एतदेवाहमास्थितः ॥ ७-४॥
PURPORT:
Awareness of self cannot be found in manifested
objects. Nor can any manifested object be found
within awareness that is boundless and without
blemish. Thus, free from worldly ties and not
desirous of the manifested, true awareness
is found at perfect tranquility. In this alone do I abide.
TRANSLITERATION:
न आत्मा भावेषु नो भावः तत्र अनन्ते निरञ्जने ।
na ātmā bhāveṣu no bhāvaḥ tatra anante nirañjane ।
इति असक्तः अस्पृहः शान्त एतत् एव अहम् आस्थितः ॥ ७-४॥
iti asaktaḥ aspṛhaḥ śānta etat eva aham āsthitaḥ ॥ 7-4॥
MEANING:
na (न) = not
ātmā (आत्मा) = self-awareness (literally translates to the self)
bhāveṣu (भावेषु) = within the objects/entities/happenings
no (नो) = not
bhāvaḥ (भावः) = objects/entities/happenings
tatra (तत्र) = in that (as in 'in that self-model)
anante (अनन्ते) = boundless/immesurable/limitless
nirañjane (निरञ्जने) = pure/without blemish/without stain or impurity।
iti (इति) = thus saying/so/therefore
asaktaḥ (असक्तः) = free from ties/unattached/detached from worldly passions
aspṛhaḥ (अस्पृहः) = not desirous/desireless
śānta (शान्त) = tranquil/serene/at peace
etat (एतत्) = this
eva (एव) = alone
aham (अहम्) = I
āsthitaḥ (आस्थितः) = abiding in/dwelling in ॥ 7-4॥
COMMENT:
Reading this particular verse that touches yet again at the dualities presented by the phenomenal world, one is reminded of a similar train of teaching that comes to us via the ancient philosopher Plotinus - he says that when we start to look 'outside' and away from all of the dependent conditions upon which we arise and endure, we also tend to ignore and cast aside the fundamental unity that we share with all sentient creatures. Looking outside, one sees a multiplicity of forms, faces, and entities, whereas, on looking inward with choiceless awareness, all one tends to perceive is a seamless unity of experience. The flawed perception that culminates in an individual not seeing this unity of experience takes the form of duality where the 'other' is perceived and treated as an entity separate from the space occupied temporarily by our bodies.
An example can help clarify: One does not need to look too far from oneself to see this form of duality in action; it is now well known that within the sciences and methods used within the conservation world, scientists tend to 'other' one particular species in order to nurture another; scientists try to create an unfavorable ecosystem that they believe will favor one species over another (all under the noble aegis of conservation). Elaborate taxonomies are developed that will allow us to correlate species based upon their perceived benefit to humans (developed and propagated using an anthropocentric framework). Name-and-form assignments that depauperates a particular class of sentient species are developed and published; such name-and-form include words like 'invasive-species', 'foreign-imports', 'pests', 'weeds', 'illegitimate-aliens' etc. This verse presented by Janaka cautions against this particular example of extreme duality that ultimately tends to socially express itself in the form of a breakdown of societal norms that manifests as anomie - a state of social derangement characterized by responses that tend towards the unstable, chaotic, and the conflict-prone as the social force of the norms and values that otherwise provide stability is weakened or missing. The moral obligation in nurturing all forms of life (useful or otherwise) and the moving away from an ego-driven anthropocentric framework is the key import of these lines.
नात्मा भावेषु नो भावस्तत्रानन्ते निरञ्जने ।
इत्यसक्तोऽस्पृहः शान्त एतदेवाहमास्थितः ॥ ७-४॥
PURPORT:
Awareness of self cannot be found in manifested
objects. Nor can any manifested object be found
within awareness that is boundless and without
blemish. Thus, free from worldly ties and not
desirous of the manifested, true awareness
is found at perfect tranquility. In this alone do I abide.
TRANSLITERATION:
न आत्मा भावेषु नो भावः तत्र अनन्ते निरञ्जने ।
na ātmā bhāveṣu no bhāvaḥ tatra anante nirañjane ।
इति असक्तः अस्पृहः शान्त एतत् एव अहम् आस्थितः ॥ ७-४॥
iti asaktaḥ aspṛhaḥ śānta etat eva aham āsthitaḥ ॥ 7-4॥
MEANING:
na (न) = not
ātmā (आत्मा) = self-awareness (literally translates to the self)
bhāveṣu (भावेषु) = within the objects/entities/happenings
no (नो) = not
bhāvaḥ (भावः) = objects/entities/happenings
tatra (तत्र) = in that (as in 'in that self-model)
anante (अनन्ते) = boundless/immesurable/limitless
nirañjane (निरञ्जने) = pure/without blemish/without stain or impurity।
iti (इति) = thus saying/so/therefore
asaktaḥ (असक्तः) = free from ties/unattached/detached from worldly passions
aspṛhaḥ (अस्पृहः) = not desirous/desireless
śānta (शान्त) = tranquil/serene/at peace
etat (एतत्) = this
eva (एव) = alone
aham (अहम्) = I
āsthitaḥ (आस्थितः) = abiding in/dwelling in ॥ 7-4॥
COMMENT:
Reading this particular verse that touches yet again at the dualities presented by the phenomenal world, one is reminded of a similar train of teaching that comes to us via the ancient philosopher Plotinus - he says that when we start to look 'outside' and away from all of the dependent conditions upon which we arise and endure, we also tend to ignore and cast aside the fundamental unity that we share with all sentient creatures. Looking outside, one sees a multiplicity of forms, faces, and entities, whereas, on looking inward with choiceless awareness, all one tends to perceive is a seamless unity of experience. The flawed perception that culminates in an individual not seeing this unity of experience takes the form of duality where the 'other' is perceived and treated as an entity separate from the space occupied temporarily by our bodies.
An example can help clarify: One does not need to look too far from oneself to see this form of duality in action; it is now well known that within the sciences and methods used within the conservation world, scientists tend to 'other' one particular species in order to nurture another; scientists try to create an unfavorable ecosystem that they believe will favor one species over another (all under the noble aegis of conservation). Elaborate taxonomies are developed that will allow us to correlate species based upon their perceived benefit to humans (developed and propagated using an anthropocentric framework). Name-and-form assignments that depauperates a particular class of sentient species are developed and published; such name-and-form include words like 'invasive-species', 'foreign-imports', 'pests', 'weeds', 'illegitimate-aliens' etc. This verse presented by Janaka cautions against this particular example of extreme duality that ultimately tends to socially express itself in the form of a breakdown of societal norms that manifests as anomie - a state of social derangement characterized by responses that tend towards the unstable, chaotic, and the conflict-prone as the social force of the norms and values that otherwise provide stability is weakened or missing. The moral obligation in nurturing all forms of life (useful or otherwise) and the moving away from an ego-driven anthropocentric framework is the key import of these lines.
AVG 7.3
Chapter 7 (The Seekers sense of Awareness) Verse 3
मय्यनंतमहाम्भोधौ विश्वं नाम विकल्पना ।
अतिशान्तो निराकार एतदेवाहमास्थितः ॥ ७-३॥
PURPORT:
In me, as in an unlimited ocean,
the world is conceived within the imagination
as arrangements of name-and-form.
I prevail in tranquility and do not identify with
form nor appellation. In this alone do I abide.
TRANSLITERATION:
मयि अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ विश्वम् नाम विकल्पना ।
mayi anantamahāmbhodhau viśvam nāma vikalpanā ।
अतिशान्तः निराकारः एतत् एव अहम् आस्थितः ॥ ७-३॥
atiśāntaḥ nirākāraḥ etat eva aham āsthitaḥ ॥ 7-3॥
MEANING:
mayi (मयि) = in me
anantamahāmbhodhau (अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ) = in the grand ocean that has no limits
viśvam (विश्वम्) = world
nāma (नाम) = name/called (name as in 'name-and-form')
vikalpanā (विकल्पना) = imagination/creativity/fabrication।
atiśāntaḥ (अतिशान्तः) = a heightened state of tranquility
nirākāraḥ (निराकारः) = incorporeal/shapeless/formless
etat (एतत्) = this
eva (एव) = alone
aham (अहम्) = I
āsthitaḥ (आस्थितः) = abiding in/dwelling in ॥ 7-3॥
COMMENT:
Janaka mentions the phenomenal world is ultimately reified imagination - a construct of our minds conditioned and sculpted by culture, name-and-form, doctrine, and education. Reification happens gradually over the course of the maturation of the mind where an abstract belief or hypothetical construct or even a functioning process is construed as if it were a concrete, physical entity. The sense of reification heightens over time as an idea or a construct that is created by our name-and-form based existence is gradually taken to be a 'real thing'.
On careful analysis, it is seen that all abstract beliefs, hypothetical constructs, and functioning processes lack permanence of any kind and even the sub-processes themselves lack any fixed inherent identity. Extending the conceptual idea of reification, processes like our animate bodies (or even inanimate entities like combustion engines) would not be called thus unless a fully functional ensemble became emergent from the individual constituted parts that formed the whole; the individual parts themselves further dependent upon moieties of other functionally appropriate and dependent fractions. A combustion engine would not be called so unless it has the potential and design to take in fuel and oxygen and put out the products of combustion delivering energy. A living, animate being would not be called so unless the being has the potential to achieve sustenance, respire and convert the energies contained within the chemical bonds organically assimilated into a continuance of existence and vitality. In this sense, it is seen that all of animate or inanimate entities are in a state of dependence and impermanence; and, to posit any form of essence or permanence to such animate or inanimate entities (or essence to the processes, beliefs or constructs that every such entity is dependent upon) is an exercise in futility.
An additional thought that springs to mind on reading these lines is the implication that the mind is secondary to awareness and silence, but, often mistaken to be the primary driver and the conductor of the symphony. In that sense, the true conductor is the symphony of silence and clear awareness that was present before the mind was born and then sculpted using the implements of culture and knowledge. Once the seeker awakens to the fact that their awareness takes the form of a boundless stretch of ocean, stateless and formless in complete tranquility with their original selves as they were born, a form of clarity and happiness descends upon that seeker.
NOTE:
"People, cars, houses, etc. are put together. A car is metal, plastic, rubber, etc. - a construction in material and given a name suitable to its function. Same with a house. People too are constructions of food and information obtained through senses - given a name due to functionality. Thinking this way people are abstractions of the 5 elements as are cars and houses. All exist as names and forms/namarupa. All exist in our mind as data received through senses and stored in the brain (food alone as well). These names and forms are infused through ignorance with consciousness - the process called superimposition and voila, the empirical transaction takes the characteristic of real from consciousness and Consciousness appears variegated into the world. As there really is only a rope, so there is really only consciousness." --- Michael Chandra Cohen
मय्यनंतमहाम्भोधौ विश्वं नाम विकल्पना ।
अतिशान्तो निराकार एतदेवाहमास्थितः ॥ ७-३॥
PURPORT:
In me, as in an unlimited ocean,
the world is conceived within the imagination
as arrangements of name-and-form.
I prevail in tranquility and do not identify with
form nor appellation. In this alone do I abide.
TRANSLITERATION:
मयि अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ विश्वम् नाम विकल्पना ।
mayi anantamahāmbhodhau viśvam nāma vikalpanā ।
अतिशान्तः निराकारः एतत् एव अहम् आस्थितः ॥ ७-३॥
atiśāntaḥ nirākāraḥ etat eva aham āsthitaḥ ॥ 7-3॥
MEANING:
mayi (मयि) = in me
anantamahāmbhodhau (अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ) = in the grand ocean that has no limits
viśvam (विश्वम्) = world
nāma (नाम) = name/called (name as in 'name-and-form')
vikalpanā (विकल्पना) = imagination/creativity/fabrication।
atiśāntaḥ (अतिशान्तः) = a heightened state of tranquility
nirākāraḥ (निराकारः) = incorporeal/shapeless/formless
etat (एतत्) = this
eva (एव) = alone
aham (अहम्) = I
āsthitaḥ (आस्थितः) = abiding in/dwelling in ॥ 7-3॥
COMMENT:
Janaka mentions the phenomenal world is ultimately reified imagination - a construct of our minds conditioned and sculpted by culture, name-and-form, doctrine, and education. Reification happens gradually over the course of the maturation of the mind where an abstract belief or hypothetical construct or even a functioning process is construed as if it were a concrete, physical entity. The sense of reification heightens over time as an idea or a construct that is created by our name-and-form based existence is gradually taken to be a 'real thing'.
On careful analysis, it is seen that all abstract beliefs, hypothetical constructs, and functioning processes lack permanence of any kind and even the sub-processes themselves lack any fixed inherent identity. Extending the conceptual idea of reification, processes like our animate bodies (or even inanimate entities like combustion engines) would not be called thus unless a fully functional ensemble became emergent from the individual constituted parts that formed the whole; the individual parts themselves further dependent upon moieties of other functionally appropriate and dependent fractions. A combustion engine would not be called so unless it has the potential and design to take in fuel and oxygen and put out the products of combustion delivering energy. A living, animate being would not be called so unless the being has the potential to achieve sustenance, respire and convert the energies contained within the chemical bonds organically assimilated into a continuance of existence and vitality. In this sense, it is seen that all of animate or inanimate entities are in a state of dependence and impermanence; and, to posit any form of essence or permanence to such animate or inanimate entities (or essence to the processes, beliefs or constructs that every such entity is dependent upon) is an exercise in futility.
An additional thought that springs to mind on reading these lines is the implication that the mind is secondary to awareness and silence, but, often mistaken to be the primary driver and the conductor of the symphony. In that sense, the true conductor is the symphony of silence and clear awareness that was present before the mind was born and then sculpted using the implements of culture and knowledge. Once the seeker awakens to the fact that their awareness takes the form of a boundless stretch of ocean, stateless and formless in complete tranquility with their original selves as they were born, a form of clarity and happiness descends upon that seeker.
NOTE:
"People, cars, houses, etc. are put together. A car is metal, plastic, rubber, etc. - a construction in material and given a name suitable to its function. Same with a house. People too are constructions of food and information obtained through senses - given a name due to functionality. Thinking this way people are abstractions of the 5 elements as are cars and houses. All exist as names and forms/namarupa. All exist in our mind as data received through senses and stored in the brain (food alone as well). These names and forms are infused through ignorance with consciousness - the process called superimposition and voila, the empirical transaction takes the characteristic of real from consciousness and Consciousness appears variegated into the world. As there really is only a rope, so there is really only consciousness." --- Michael Chandra Cohen
Friday, January 17, 2020
AVG 7.2
Chapter 7 (The Seekers sense of Awareness) Verse 2
मय्यनंतमहाम्भोधौ जगद्वीचिः स्वभावतः ।
उदेतु वास्तमायातु न मे वृद्धिर्न च क्षतिः ॥ ७-२॥
PURPORT:
In me, as in an unlimited ocean,
let the waves of name-and-form
of this phenomenal world materialize;
or, dissolve of its own intuitive nature.
I do not advance nor diminish thereby.
TRANSLITERATION:
मयि अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ जगद्वीचिः स्वभावतः ।
mayi anantamahāmbhodhau jagadvīciḥ svabhāvataḥ ।
उदेतु वा अस्तम् आयातु न मे वृद्धिः न च क्षतिः ॥ ७-२॥
udetu vā astam āyātu na me vṛddhiḥ na ca kṣatiḥ ॥ 7-2॥
MEANING:
mayi (मयि) = in me
anantamahāmbhodhau (अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ) = in the grand ocean that has no limits
jagadvīciḥ (जगद्वीचिः) = the waves of the world (compound of jagat (जगत्) meaning 'world' and viciḥ (विचिः) meaning 'waves/ripples')
svabhāvataḥ (स्वभावतः) = of itself/of its own volition/intuitive nature।
udetu (उदेतु) = may arise/may emerge
vā (वा) = or
astam (अस्तम्) = cease/decline/dissolve
āyātu (आयातु) = may attain/may come to
na (न) = not
me (मे) = my
vṛddhiḥ (वृद्धिः) = increase/advance/heighten/intensify
na (न) = not
ca (च) = and
kṣatiḥ (क्षतिः) =abate/decrease/diminish ॥ 7-2॥
COMMENT:
The metaphor of a rolling wave (equated to conditioned experience) and the ocean (boundless awareness) is exquisite in this verse; an individual wave in the ocean cannot seek nor control the manner and movements of the ocean; the wave breaks and crashes upon the land in cadence to the rhythms of various dynamic factors and dependent conditions of the ocean. The actual movement of the waves themselves may be compared to the flow of events that one witnesses. In this sense, there is no choice nor control within the flow of the wave as the wave is dependent upon considerations as diverse as the slope of the land that the wave breaks, the wind speed, the temperature of the ocean and myriad other dependent causal conditions for the wave to 'roll' on. Janaka informs that in the unlimited ocean of awareness, even if the waves (conditioned experience) materialize or dissipate from the phenomenal world of name-and-form of their own accord, the understanding that the ocean (awareness) neither advances nor diminishes is key. The ocean itself is without partitions, therefore there cannot be any ' good' waves or 'bad' waves. In this sense, there are very few positive or negative experiences. It is the conditioned mind that makes a wave 'positive' or 'negative'; without the conditioning, the subjective and opinionated aspects that we unconsciously accord to our experiences fall away. We are that ocean and that ocean is us.
मय्यनंतमहाम्भोधौ जगद्वीचिः स्वभावतः ।
उदेतु वास्तमायातु न मे वृद्धिर्न च क्षतिः ॥ ७-२॥
PURPORT:
In me, as in an unlimited ocean,
let the waves of name-and-form
of this phenomenal world materialize;
or, dissolve of its own intuitive nature.
I do not advance nor diminish thereby.
TRANSLITERATION:
मयि अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ जगद्वीचिः स्वभावतः ।
mayi anantamahāmbhodhau jagadvīciḥ svabhāvataḥ ।
उदेतु वा अस्तम् आयातु न मे वृद्धिः न च क्षतिः ॥ ७-२॥
udetu vā astam āyātu na me vṛddhiḥ na ca kṣatiḥ ॥ 7-2॥
MEANING:
mayi (मयि) = in me
anantamahāmbhodhau (अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ) = in the grand ocean that has no limits
jagadvīciḥ (जगद्वीचिः) = the waves of the world (compound of jagat (जगत्) meaning 'world' and viciḥ (विचिः) meaning 'waves/ripples')
svabhāvataḥ (स्वभावतः) = of itself/of its own volition/intuitive nature।
udetu (उदेतु) = may arise/may emerge
vā (वा) = or
astam (अस्तम्) = cease/decline/dissolve
āyātu (आयातु) = may attain/may come to
na (न) = not
me (मे) = my
vṛddhiḥ (वृद्धिः) = increase/advance/heighten/intensify
na (न) = not
ca (च) = and
kṣatiḥ (क्षतिः) =abate/decrease/diminish ॥ 7-2॥
COMMENT:
The metaphor of a rolling wave (equated to conditioned experience) and the ocean (boundless awareness) is exquisite in this verse; an individual wave in the ocean cannot seek nor control the manner and movements of the ocean; the wave breaks and crashes upon the land in cadence to the rhythms of various dynamic factors and dependent conditions of the ocean. The actual movement of the waves themselves may be compared to the flow of events that one witnesses. In this sense, there is no choice nor control within the flow of the wave as the wave is dependent upon considerations as diverse as the slope of the land that the wave breaks, the wind speed, the temperature of the ocean and myriad other dependent causal conditions for the wave to 'roll' on. Janaka informs that in the unlimited ocean of awareness, even if the waves (conditioned experience) materialize or dissipate from the phenomenal world of name-and-form of their own accord, the understanding that the ocean (awareness) neither advances nor diminishes is key. The ocean itself is without partitions, therefore there cannot be any ' good' waves or 'bad' waves. In this sense, there are very few positive or negative experiences. It is the conditioned mind that makes a wave 'positive' or 'negative'; without the conditioning, the subjective and opinionated aspects that we unconsciously accord to our experiences fall away. We are that ocean and that ocean is us.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
AVG 7.1
Chapter 7 (The Seekers sense of Awareness) Verse 1
जनक उवाच ॥
मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ विश्वपोत इतस्ततः ।
भ्रमति स्वान्तवातेन न ममास्त्यसहिष्णुता ॥ ७-१॥
PURPORT:
Janaka says:
In me, as in a boundless ocean,
the ark of the phenomenal world
gets buffeted - roving here and there; subjectively
propelled by the winds within my own self.
Just what I am, remains unconditionally tranquil.
TRANSLITERATION:
जनक उवाच ॥
Janaka uvāca ॥
मयि अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ विश्वपोतः इतः ततः ।
mayi anantamahāmbhodhau viśvapotaḥ itaḥ tataḥ ।
भ्रमति स्वान्तवातेन न मम अस्ति असहिष्णुता ॥ ७-१॥
bhramati svāntavātena na mama asti asahiṣṇutā ॥ 7-1॥
MEANING:
Janaka (जनक) = Janaka
uvāca (उवाच) = says ॥
mayi (मयि) = in me
anantamahāmbhodhau (अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ) = in the grand ocean that has no limits (compound of ananta (अनन्त) meaning 'infinite/limitless/boundless' and mahāmbhodhau (महाम्भोधौ) meaning 'in the grand ocean')
viśvapotaḥ (विश्वपोतः) = the ark of the cosmos (compound of viśva (विश्व) meaning 'universe/cosmos' and potaḥ (पोतः) meaning 'ship')
itaḥ (इतः) = here/hither
tataḥ (ततः) = there/thither ।
bhramati (भ्रमति) = rove/move/wander (as in wandering around in a slightly confused manner)
svāntavātena (स्वान्तवातेन) = by the wind within my own [self] (compound of sva (स्व) meaning 'own' and anta (अन्त) meaning 'inner/intrinsic/innate' and vātena (वातेन) meaning 'by the wind')
na (न) = not
mama (मम) = my
asti (अस्ति) = is
asahiṣṇutā (असहिष्णुता) = inability to endure/a lack of forebearance॥ 7-1॥
COMMENT:
After Janaka listens to Ashtavakra explain the four ways by which dissolution of the self can be accomplished (in Chapter 5) as well as Ashtavakra's deeper foray in the following chapter where the experience of awareness that stems from the dissolution of the self-ego complex is explained, Janaka, in this chapter is seen as clarifying his own point of view - a point of view where Janaka seems to have grasped the insight embedded within Ashtavakra's words, yet, proceeds to further elaborate his understanding of awareness and realization of the self.
Janaka tells us that a seeker strives to make sense of the changing patterns impelled upon themselves from the world (and the universe at large) and, in response, tries to comfort their own ego and self with the vacant understanding that "I constitute this phenomenal aspect of the world" or "I conspire with that part of the phenomenal archetype encountered". This rhythm of conspiring and identification with temporary aspects of patterns that a seeker is subjected to are only additional layers sheathing the clear nature of our own innate awareness. Janaka advises us to cast off these swaddling layers and clarify to ourselves that there is nothing to understand - just be.
In this sense, there seems to be no other magic way to understand and clarify awareness than to peel back the corybantic fluctuations of thought and strive towards the development of a choiceless blank slate from which one only observes and witnesses without judgment or choice. One finds that there will be no need for supernatural beings, prayers, mantras, gurus, meditation, deities or purported godmen. In the truest sense of the word, this mindset of extirpating the fluctuations of the mind and allowing for a stillness to settle must become a continuous process. This sentiment and resolve must be present in all activities that one undertakes. Upon practice, the process of stilling and activities that one attends will start to merge and the rejection of mental activities becomes continuous, automatic and harmonious. One will just be.
Thus, starting off another beautiful chapter, one is reminded of that apt sentiment attributed to the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi informing us that it is the child that sees the primordial secret of nature and it is the child in ourselves that we would want to return to.
जनक उवाच ॥
मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ विश्वपोत इतस्ततः ।
भ्रमति स्वान्तवातेन न ममास्त्यसहिष्णुता ॥ ७-१॥
PURPORT:
Janaka says:
In me, as in a boundless ocean,
the ark of the phenomenal world
gets buffeted - roving here and there; subjectively
propelled by the winds within my own self.
Just what I am, remains unconditionally tranquil.
TRANSLITERATION:
जनक उवाच ॥
Janaka uvāca ॥
मयि अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ विश्वपोतः इतः ततः ।
mayi anantamahāmbhodhau viśvapotaḥ itaḥ tataḥ ।
भ्रमति स्वान्तवातेन न मम अस्ति असहिष्णुता ॥ ७-१॥
bhramati svāntavātena na mama asti asahiṣṇutā ॥ 7-1॥
MEANING:
Janaka (जनक) = Janaka
uvāca (उवाच) = says ॥
mayi (मयि) = in me
anantamahāmbhodhau (अनन्तमहाम्भोधौ) = in the grand ocean that has no limits (compound of ananta (अनन्त) meaning 'infinite/limitless/boundless' and mahāmbhodhau (महाम्भोधौ) meaning 'in the grand ocean')
viśvapotaḥ (विश्वपोतः) = the ark of the cosmos (compound of viśva (विश्व) meaning 'universe/cosmos' and potaḥ (पोतः) meaning 'ship')
itaḥ (इतः) = here/hither
tataḥ (ततः) = there/thither ।
bhramati (भ्रमति) = rove/move/wander (as in wandering around in a slightly confused manner)
svāntavātena (स्वान्तवातेन) = by the wind within my own [self] (compound of sva (स्व) meaning 'own' and anta (अन्त) meaning 'inner/intrinsic/innate' and vātena (वातेन) meaning 'by the wind')
na (न) = not
mama (मम) = my
asti (अस्ति) = is
asahiṣṇutā (असहिष्णुता) = inability to endure/a lack of forebearance॥ 7-1॥
COMMENT:
After Janaka listens to Ashtavakra explain the four ways by which dissolution of the self can be accomplished (in Chapter 5) as well as Ashtavakra's deeper foray in the following chapter where the experience of awareness that stems from the dissolution of the self-ego complex is explained, Janaka, in this chapter is seen as clarifying his own point of view - a point of view where Janaka seems to have grasped the insight embedded within Ashtavakra's words, yet, proceeds to further elaborate his understanding of awareness and realization of the self.
Janaka tells us that a seeker strives to make sense of the changing patterns impelled upon themselves from the world (and the universe at large) and, in response, tries to comfort their own ego and self with the vacant understanding that "I constitute this phenomenal aspect of the world" or "I conspire with that part of the phenomenal archetype encountered". This rhythm of conspiring and identification with temporary aspects of patterns that a seeker is subjected to are only additional layers sheathing the clear nature of our own innate awareness. Janaka advises us to cast off these swaddling layers and clarify to ourselves that there is nothing to understand - just be.
In this sense, there seems to be no other magic way to understand and clarify awareness than to peel back the corybantic fluctuations of thought and strive towards the development of a choiceless blank slate from which one only observes and witnesses without judgment or choice. One finds that there will be no need for supernatural beings, prayers, mantras, gurus, meditation, deities or purported godmen. In the truest sense of the word, this mindset of extirpating the fluctuations of the mind and allowing for a stillness to settle must become a continuous process. This sentiment and resolve must be present in all activities that one undertakes. Upon practice, the process of stilling and activities that one attends will start to merge and the rejection of mental activities becomes continuous, automatic and harmonious. One will just be.
Thus, starting off another beautiful chapter, one is reminded of that apt sentiment attributed to the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi informing us that it is the child that sees the primordial secret of nature and it is the child in ourselves that we would want to return to.
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
AVG 6.4
Chapter 6 (Patterns that point to a peerless awareness) Verse 4
अहं वा सर्वभूतेषु सर्वभूतान्यथो मयि ।
इति ज्ञानं तथैतस्य न त्यागो न ग्रहो लयः ॥ ६-४॥
PURPORT:
I am indeed in all sentient beings
and all sentient beings are within me.
This is pure nonpareil awareness and
on realization, this phenomenal world needs
neither abdication nor acceptance nor negation.
TRANSLITERATION:
अहम् वा सर्वभूतेषु सर्वभूतानि अथो मयि ।
aham vā sarvabhūteṣu sarvabhūtāni atho mayi ।
इति ज्ञानम् तथा एतस्य न त्यागः न ग्रहः लयः ॥ ६-१॥
iti jñānam tathā etasya na tyāgaḥ na grahaḥ layaḥ ॥ 6-4॥
MEANING:
aham (अहम्) = I
vā (वा) = indeed
sarvabhūteṣu (सर्वभूतेषु) = in all sentient beings
sarvabhūtāni (सर्वभूतानि) = all sentient beings
atho (अथो) = also
mayi (मयि) = in me ।
iti (इति) = this
jñānam (ज्ञानम्) = knowledge/awareness
tathā (तथा) = so
etasya (एतस्य) = of this (as in 'of this phenomenal world')
na (न) = not
tyāgaḥ (त्यागः) = renouncement/abdication/surrender (please refer to 6-1 for context)
na (न) = not
grahaḥ (ग्रहः) = recognition/acceptance (please refer to 6-1 for context)
layaḥ (लयः) = dissolved/negated (please refer to 6-1 for context) ॥ 6-4॥
COMMENT:
This last verse in this chapter is one of pure beauty - Ashtavakra eloquently talks about the flow of awareness that is shared between all creatures that participate in the grand process of life. Pure awareness or a biological state in which the flow of consciousness is characterized by the complete absorption in the activity that the sentient being chooses to undertake and the resultant transformation in the flow of time where the temporal patterns tend to cease is the essential but, overlooked nature of every sentient being - a cheetah running after her prey or a dog contentedly resting after a good meal or a gymnast doing her floor routines gracefully or an individual in a meditative state - all of these activities merge action and awareness without the intrusion of any form of reflective self-awareness resulting in a mental state so merged with experience, that all other needs become negligible. The cheetah, the dog, the individual and the gymnast have their own distinct subjective forms of such an experience in this state of pure awareness. Such a state of awareness is not limited just to human life forms. The universal or non-anthropocentric aspect of just such an awareness is the best common denominator upon which a sustainable relationship between diverse life forms can be based and the single common sentiment that binds various life-forms - Ashtavakra eloquently and succinctly states this sentiment simply by stating that "I am indeed in all sentient beings and all sentient beings are within me". It simply means that as humans, we are aware, awake; in a similar manner, other sentient life forms (whether terrestrial or extra-terrestrial) are aware and awake in their own subjective realities.
अहं वा सर्वभूतेषु सर्वभूतान्यथो मयि ।
इति ज्ञानं तथैतस्य न त्यागो न ग्रहो लयः ॥ ६-४॥
PURPORT:
I am indeed in all sentient beings
and all sentient beings are within me.
This is pure nonpareil awareness and
on realization, this phenomenal world needs
neither abdication nor acceptance nor negation.
TRANSLITERATION:
अहम् वा सर्वभूतेषु सर्वभूतानि अथो मयि ।
aham vā sarvabhūteṣu sarvabhūtāni atho mayi ।
इति ज्ञानम् तथा एतस्य न त्यागः न ग्रहः लयः ॥ ६-१॥
iti jñānam tathā etasya na tyāgaḥ na grahaḥ layaḥ ॥ 6-4॥
MEANING:
aham (अहम्) = I
vā (वा) = indeed
sarvabhūteṣu (सर्वभूतेषु) = in all sentient beings
sarvabhūtāni (सर्वभूतानि) = all sentient beings
atho (अथो) = also
mayi (मयि) = in me ।
iti (इति) = this
jñānam (ज्ञानम्) = knowledge/awareness
tathā (तथा) = so
etasya (एतस्य) = of this (as in 'of this phenomenal world')
na (न) = not
tyāgaḥ (त्यागः) = renouncement/abdication/surrender (please refer to 6-1 for context)
na (न) = not
grahaḥ (ग्रहः) = recognition/acceptance (please refer to 6-1 for context)
layaḥ (लयः) = dissolved/negated (please refer to 6-1 for context) ॥ 6-4॥
COMMENT:
This last verse in this chapter is one of pure beauty - Ashtavakra eloquently talks about the flow of awareness that is shared between all creatures that participate in the grand process of life. Pure awareness or a biological state in which the flow of consciousness is characterized by the complete absorption in the activity that the sentient being chooses to undertake and the resultant transformation in the flow of time where the temporal patterns tend to cease is the essential but, overlooked nature of every sentient being - a cheetah running after her prey or a dog contentedly resting after a good meal or a gymnast doing her floor routines gracefully or an individual in a meditative state - all of these activities merge action and awareness without the intrusion of any form of reflective self-awareness resulting in a mental state so merged with experience, that all other needs become negligible. The cheetah, the dog, the individual and the gymnast have their own distinct subjective forms of such an experience in this state of pure awareness. Such a state of awareness is not limited just to human life forms. The universal or non-anthropocentric aspect of just such an awareness is the best common denominator upon which a sustainable relationship between diverse life forms can be based and the single common sentiment that binds various life-forms - Ashtavakra eloquently and succinctly states this sentiment simply by stating that "I am indeed in all sentient beings and all sentient beings are within me". It simply means that as humans, we are aware, awake; in a similar manner, other sentient life forms (whether terrestrial or extra-terrestrial) are aware and awake in their own subjective realities.
AVG 6.3
Chapter 6 (Patterns that point to a peerless awareness) Verse 3
अहं स शुक्तिसङ्काशो रूप्यवद्विश्वकल्पना ।
इति ज्ञानं तथैतस्य न त्यागो न ग्रहो लयः ॥ ६-३॥
PURPORT:
That I am like mother-of-pearl, but, via the
illusory projections of the world, seems like silver.
This is pure nonpareil awareness and
on realization, this phenomenal world needs
neither abdication nor acceptance nor negation.
TRANSLITERATION:
अहम् सः शुक्तिसङ्काशः रूप्यवत् विश्वकल्पना ।
aham saḥ śuktisaṅkāśaḥ rūpyavat viśvakalpanā ।
इति ज्ञानम् तथा एतस्य न त्यागः न ग्रहः लयः ॥ ६-१॥
iti jñānam tathā etasya na tyāgaḥ na grahaḥ layaḥ ॥ 6-3॥
MEANING:
aham (अहम्) = I
saḥ (सः) = that
śuktisaṅkāśaḥ (शुक्तिसङ्काशः) = resembling nacre or the mother-of-pearl (compound of śukti (शुक्ति) meaning ‘nacre/mother-of-pearl’ and saṅkāśaḥ (सङ्काशः) meaning ‘resemblance/alikeness’)
rūpyavat (रूप्यवत्) = like silver
viśvakalpanā (विश्वकल्पना) = the conception/projection of the world (compound of viśva (विश्व) meaning ‘world’ and kalpanā (कल्पना) meaning ‘projection/imagination/conception’)।
iti (इति) = this
jñānam (ज्ञानम्) = knowledge/awareness
tathā (तथा) = so
etasya (एतस्य) = of this (as in 'of this phenomenal world')
na (न) = not
tyāgaḥ (त्यागः) = renouncement/abdication/surrender (please refer to 6-1 for context)
na (न) = not
grahaḥ (ग्रहः) = recognition/acceptance (please refer to 6-1 for context)
layaḥ (लयः) = dissolved/negated (please refer to 6-1 for context) ॥ 6-3॥
COMMENT:
The central theme of this verse remains the motif of oneness; this verse talks about the individual's perceptions of the phenomenal world where projections of the phenomenal world upon the seeker are akin to be mistaken by a seeker in much the same way one mistakes the iridescent luster of nacre formed on the inner shell of mollusks to be sterling silver. The experiential illusion of mistaking nacre for silver is an example of the phenomenal world and our sensorium co-arising to create our own version of interpreted reality; the co-arising itself being a dependent process involving the responses of our sensorium and the corresponding stimuli from the phenomenal world that influences the sense faculties. Therefore, Ashtavakra, using the foil of nacre vis-à-vis silver informs us that the response of our sense faculties to corresponding phenomenal stimuli are not merely sovereign events and experiences, but, they are aspects of the same integral experience that co-arise dependently.
Thus, our awareness and conceptual framework of forms and structures that constitute the phenomenal world are really determined by the series of neurological actions that provide for perception and awareness - which means that the phenomenal world as we understand it must be discerned in the interplay and cooperation between our senses and external stimuli rather than accepted as an absolute truth that is supposed to endure autonomously. Therefore, it is not the phenomenal world that decides and regulates the perceptions of sentient biologies like ours, but, the perceptual competencies and capacities of sentients that determine the way beings like us correspondingly perceive our own environments and ecosystems. Each one of us creates our own world as limited or as expansive as we confine it to be circumscribed and orchestrated by the impediments or advantages conferred thereof to each individual sentient as a result of natural selection.
अहं स शुक्तिसङ्काशो रूप्यवद्विश्वकल्पना ।
इति ज्ञानं तथैतस्य न त्यागो न ग्रहो लयः ॥ ६-३॥
PURPORT:
That I am like mother-of-pearl, but, via the
illusory projections of the world, seems like silver.
This is pure nonpareil awareness and
on realization, this phenomenal world needs
neither abdication nor acceptance nor negation.
TRANSLITERATION:
अहम् सः शुक्तिसङ्काशः रूप्यवत् विश्वकल्पना ।
aham saḥ śuktisaṅkāśaḥ rūpyavat viśvakalpanā ।
इति ज्ञानम् तथा एतस्य न त्यागः न ग्रहः लयः ॥ ६-१॥
iti jñānam tathā etasya na tyāgaḥ na grahaḥ layaḥ ॥ 6-3॥
MEANING:
aham (अहम्) = I
saḥ (सः) = that
śuktisaṅkāśaḥ (शुक्तिसङ्काशः) = resembling nacre or the mother-of-pearl (compound of śukti (शुक्ति) meaning ‘nacre/mother-of-pearl’ and saṅkāśaḥ (सङ्काशः) meaning ‘resemblance/alikeness’)
rūpyavat (रूप्यवत्) = like silver
viśvakalpanā (विश्वकल्पना) = the conception/projection of the world (compound of viśva (विश्व) meaning ‘world’ and kalpanā (कल्पना) meaning ‘projection/imagination/conception’)।
iti (इति) = this
jñānam (ज्ञानम्) = knowledge/awareness
tathā (तथा) = so
etasya (एतस्य) = of this (as in 'of this phenomenal world')
na (न) = not
tyāgaḥ (त्यागः) = renouncement/abdication/surrender (please refer to 6-1 for context)
na (न) = not
grahaḥ (ग्रहः) = recognition/acceptance (please refer to 6-1 for context)
layaḥ (लयः) = dissolved/negated (please refer to 6-1 for context) ॥ 6-3॥
COMMENT:
The central theme of this verse remains the motif of oneness; this verse talks about the individual's perceptions of the phenomenal world where projections of the phenomenal world upon the seeker are akin to be mistaken by a seeker in much the same way one mistakes the iridescent luster of nacre formed on the inner shell of mollusks to be sterling silver. The experiential illusion of mistaking nacre for silver is an example of the phenomenal world and our sensorium co-arising to create our own version of interpreted reality; the co-arising itself being a dependent process involving the responses of our sensorium and the corresponding stimuli from the phenomenal world that influences the sense faculties. Therefore, Ashtavakra, using the foil of nacre vis-à-vis silver informs us that the response of our sense faculties to corresponding phenomenal stimuli are not merely sovereign events and experiences, but, they are aspects of the same integral experience that co-arise dependently.
Thus, our awareness and conceptual framework of forms and structures that constitute the phenomenal world are really determined by the series of neurological actions that provide for perception and awareness - which means that the phenomenal world as we understand it must be discerned in the interplay and cooperation between our senses and external stimuli rather than accepted as an absolute truth that is supposed to endure autonomously. Therefore, it is not the phenomenal world that decides and regulates the perceptions of sentient biologies like ours, but, the perceptual competencies and capacities of sentients that determine the way beings like us correspondingly perceive our own environments and ecosystems. Each one of us creates our own world as limited or as expansive as we confine it to be circumscribed and orchestrated by the impediments or advantages conferred thereof to each individual sentient as a result of natural selection.
Monday, January 13, 2020
AVG 6.2
Chapter 6 (Patterns that point to a peerless awareness) Verse 2
महोदधिरिवाहं स प्रपञ्चो वीचिसन्निभः ।
इति ज्ञानं तथैतस्य न त्यागो न ग्रहो लयः ॥ ६-२॥
PURPORT:
This phenomenal universe is like the wave
and my awareness and serenity like the great ocean.
This is pure nonpareil awareness and on
realization, this phenomenal world needs neither
abdication nor acceptance nor negation.
TRANSLITERATION:
महोदधिः इव अहम् सः प्रपञ्चः वीचिसन्निभः ।
mahodadhiḥ iva aham saḥ prapañcaḥ vīcisannibhaḥ ।
इति ज्ञानम् तथा एतस्य न त्यागः न ग्रहः लयः ॥ ६-१॥
iti jñānam tathā etasya na tyāgaḥ na grahaḥ layaḥ ॥ 6-2॥
MEANING:
mahodadhiḥ (महोदधिः) = great ocean (compound of mahā (मह) meaning 'great' and udadhiḥ (उदधिः) meaning 'holding water/ocean')
iva (इव) = like
aham (अहम्) = I
saḥ (सः) = that
prapañcaḥ (प्रपञ्चः) = phenomenal universe
vīcisannibhaḥ (वीचिसन्निभः) = like the wave (compound of vīcisannibhaḥ (वीचि) meaning 'waves/ripples' and sannibhaḥ (सन्निभः) meaning 'similar to/like') ।
iti (इति) = this
jñānam (ज्ञानम्) = knowledge/awareness
tathā (तथा) = so
etasya (एतस्य) = of this (as in 'of this phenomenal world')
na (न) = not
tyāgaḥ (त्यागः) = renouncement/abdication/surrender (please refer to 6-1 for context)
na (न) = not
grahaḥ (ग्रहः) = recognition/acceptance (please refer to 6-1 for context)
layaḥ (लयः) = dissolved/negated (please refer to 6-1 for context) ॥ 6-2॥
COMMENT:
The overarching theme in this short chapter is the reiteration of the idea of oneness between the individual and the universe at large - eloquently conveyed by the example of the waves as the phenomenal world emanating from the ocean and the ocean itself as the individual. Extending this thinking a bit further, this feeling of a seamlessly alloyed and continuous flow of matter and emotions across sentient and non-sentient entities applies equally well to suffering, hurt, loss, misery and other such similar states of being.
The slightly more comprehensive thought that one derives from a verse like this (as it applies to the states of being mentioned above) is that another's pain or suffering hurts just at least as severely as our own pain and suffering do. If this were indeed understood so, then a lot of the actions that we take for granted in this world will not and cannot be justified. The model of the self that we have consciously and unconsciously fabricated over the years via cultural conditioning (and the resultant ego - albeit illusory - that we build up within ourselves as an outcome of the accreted self-model) naturally makes it normal for the individual to assume that another's pain, loss, hurt and suffering is orders of magnitude lesser than the individual's - this is a result of the ego riding herd and always projecting the individual's interests (bearing the ego) above all else around the individual. This allows for the easy rationalization of many acts that might otherwise be considered heinous and unnatural to our otherwise harmonious flow of existence that we are naturally a part of - the list is long and tedious, but a few examples are clear and present - clear-cutting of vast swaths of our rain forests, production factory farming of animals, depleting the oceans of sentient marine life, polluting rivers with industrial runoff - the list runs long, deep and cuts through whatever veneer of humanity and awareness that we seem to possess/seek. The awareness that stems from a clearer understanding of Ashtavakra's constant refrain that reverberates throughout this short chapter is the same message that is part of any great spiritual and scriptural tradition - the simple message that one needs to do unto others as you would have them do unto you; and, the underlying optimism that we can fix this if we really want to.
महोदधिरिवाहं स प्रपञ्चो वीचिसन्निभः ।
इति ज्ञानं तथैतस्य न त्यागो न ग्रहो लयः ॥ ६-२॥
PURPORT:
This phenomenal universe is like the wave
and my awareness and serenity like the great ocean.
This is pure nonpareil awareness and on
realization, this phenomenal world needs neither
abdication nor acceptance nor negation.
TRANSLITERATION:
महोदधिः इव अहम् सः प्रपञ्चः वीचिसन्निभः ।
mahodadhiḥ iva aham saḥ prapañcaḥ vīcisannibhaḥ ।
इति ज्ञानम् तथा एतस्य न त्यागः न ग्रहः लयः ॥ ६-१॥
iti jñānam tathā etasya na tyāgaḥ na grahaḥ layaḥ ॥ 6-2॥
MEANING:
mahodadhiḥ (महोदधिः) = great ocean (compound of mahā (मह) meaning 'great' and udadhiḥ (उदधिः) meaning 'holding water/ocean')
iva (इव) = like
aham (अहम्) = I
saḥ (सः) = that
prapañcaḥ (प्रपञ्चः) = phenomenal universe
vīcisannibhaḥ (वीचिसन्निभः) = like the wave (compound of vīcisannibhaḥ (वीचि) meaning 'waves/ripples' and sannibhaḥ (सन्निभः) meaning 'similar to/like') ।
iti (इति) = this
jñānam (ज्ञानम्) = knowledge/awareness
tathā (तथा) = so
etasya (एतस्य) = of this (as in 'of this phenomenal world')
na (न) = not
tyāgaḥ (त्यागः) = renouncement/abdication/surrender (please refer to 6-1 for context)
na (न) = not
grahaḥ (ग्रहः) = recognition/acceptance (please refer to 6-1 for context)
layaḥ (लयः) = dissolved/negated (please refer to 6-1 for context) ॥ 6-2॥
COMMENT:
The overarching theme in this short chapter is the reiteration of the idea of oneness between the individual and the universe at large - eloquently conveyed by the example of the waves as the phenomenal world emanating from the ocean and the ocean itself as the individual. Extending this thinking a bit further, this feeling of a seamlessly alloyed and continuous flow of matter and emotions across sentient and non-sentient entities applies equally well to suffering, hurt, loss, misery and other such similar states of being.
The slightly more comprehensive thought that one derives from a verse like this (as it applies to the states of being mentioned above) is that another's pain or suffering hurts just at least as severely as our own pain and suffering do. If this were indeed understood so, then a lot of the actions that we take for granted in this world will not and cannot be justified. The model of the self that we have consciously and unconsciously fabricated over the years via cultural conditioning (and the resultant ego - albeit illusory - that we build up within ourselves as an outcome of the accreted self-model) naturally makes it normal for the individual to assume that another's pain, loss, hurt and suffering is orders of magnitude lesser than the individual's - this is a result of the ego riding herd and always projecting the individual's interests (bearing the ego) above all else around the individual. This allows for the easy rationalization of many acts that might otherwise be considered heinous and unnatural to our otherwise harmonious flow of existence that we are naturally a part of - the list is long and tedious, but a few examples are clear and present - clear-cutting of vast swaths of our rain forests, production factory farming of animals, depleting the oceans of sentient marine life, polluting rivers with industrial runoff - the list runs long, deep and cuts through whatever veneer of humanity and awareness that we seem to possess/seek. The awareness that stems from a clearer understanding of Ashtavakra's constant refrain that reverberates throughout this short chapter is the same message that is part of any great spiritual and scriptural tradition - the simple message that one needs to do unto others as you would have them do unto you; and, the underlying optimism that we can fix this if we really want to.
AVG 6.1
Chapter 6 (Patterns that point to a peerless awareness) Verse 1
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
आकाशवदनन्तोऽहं घटवत्प्राकृतं जगत् ।
इति ज्ञानं तथैतस्य न त्यागो न ग्रहो लयः ॥ ६-१॥
PURPORT:
The phenomenal world seems segmented;
discrete like the space confined within
an earthen pot. But, my capacity for
awareness and serenity is as immeasurable
and boundless as the all-pervading space.
This is pure nonpareil awareness and on
realization, this phenomenal world needs neither
abdication nor acceptance nor negation.
TRANSLITERATION:
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
aṣṭāvakra uvāca ॥
आकाशवत् अनन्तः अहम् घटवत् प्राकृतम् जगत् ।
ākāśavat anantaḥ aham ghaṭavat prākṛtam jagat ।
इति ज्ञानम् तथा एतस्य न त्यागः न ग्रहः लयः ॥ ६-१॥
iti jñānam tathā etasya na tyāgaḥ na grahaḥ layaḥ ॥ 6-1॥
MEANING:
Aṣṭāvakra (अष्टावक्र) = Aṣṭāvakra
uvāca (उवाच) = says ॥
ākāśavat (आकाशवत्) = like space (spacious/extended)
anantaḥ (अनन्तः) = infinite/limitless/immeasurable
aham (अहम्) = I
ghaṭavat (घटवत्) = like a jar/like a pot
prākṛtam (प्राकृतम्)* = phenomenal (the natural world of phenomena)
jagat (जगत्) = world।
iti (इति) = this
jñānam (ज्ञानम्) = knowledge/awareness
tathā (तथा) = so
etasya (एतस्य) = of this (as in 'of this phenomenal world')
na (न) = not
tyāgaḥ (त्यागः) = renouncement/abdication/surrender (the meaning should be construed as in 'when this higher level of knowledge or awareness is achieved, then one does not need to trouble oneself with the question of surrendering or abdication or renouncement as one is already in union with the universe AND the phenomenal world - therefore the question of renunciation of the phenomenal world does not arise')
na (न) = not
grahaḥ (ग्रहः) = recognition/acceptance (the meaning should be construed as in 'one would not need to feel attached and thus accept or recognize the phenomenal world')
layaḥ (लयः) = dissolved/negated (the meaning should be construed as in 'one would not need to negate the phenomenal world as something other than what we are composed of')॥ 6-1॥
COMMENT:
While the previous chapter talked specifically about the various ways by which the seeker may attain the dissolution of self-pride and consequently the death of the ego, in this short chapter, Ashtavakra steers the seeker to a higher plane - a plane where the common patterns of thought and state-of-being experienced by the seeker is correspondent and homogenous with anything and everything in contact with the seeker (insofar as it relates to emotions, entities, activities, thoughts, and such). Ashtavakra here teaches us that pure self-awareness was never restrained nor bound; the transparency that comes with this form of awareness allows for one to neither accept this phenomenal world (as one is already deliquesced with both the phenomenal world as well as the larger universe that the world is a part of) nor accept this phenomenal world (as the phenomenal world does not have the potential nor power to provoke attachment, clinging, hankering or possessiveness on the part of the seeker) nor the need to negate the phenomenal world (because the seeker feels the synthesis of their own identity in graceful harmonic resonance with the fluctuations of the world allowing for the seeker to dance, live and love in a radiant manner). Therefore, the seeker in this state of peerless awareness does not in any way resemble the state of disconnectedness evidenced by the metaphor offered in the first line - the metaphor of the space within the earthen pot being separate and distinct from the limitless space that surrounds the same earthen pot.
NOTE:
*prākṛtam (प्राकृतम्)* prākṛtam is from the Sansrit prakriti or prakruti meaning "nature"; refers to a primal creative or natural force, connoting the natural or original intended state of something or of an individual's being. The term is derived from the Sanskrit pra, meaning “beginning,” and kriti, meaning “creation.” While the overall import remains the same, the interpretation varies based upon the schools of Indian philosophy. In the Samkhya school, it is contrasted with Purusha (spirit, consciousness), and Prakriti refers to "the material world, nature, matter, physical and psychological character, constitution, temper, disposition". In Hindu cosmology, Prakṛti is the feminine aspect of existence, the personified will, and energy of the Supreme (Brahman); while in Shaktism, the Goddess is presented as both the Brahman and the Prakṛti. In the Bhagavad Gita, it is the "primal motive force"; the essential constituent of the universe and the basis of all the activity of the creation. According to the Bhagavad Gita Prakrti or Nature is composed of the three gunas which are tendencies or modes of being, known as Sattva (arising), rajas (abiding), and tamas (cessation). Sattva encompasses qualities of goodness, light, and harmony. Rajas is associated with concepts of energy, activity, and passion; Tamas is commonly associated with inertia, darkness, insensitivity.
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
आकाशवदनन्तोऽहं घटवत्प्राकृतं जगत् ।
इति ज्ञानं तथैतस्य न त्यागो न ग्रहो लयः ॥ ६-१॥
PURPORT:
The phenomenal world seems segmented;
discrete like the space confined within
an earthen pot. But, my capacity for
awareness and serenity is as immeasurable
and boundless as the all-pervading space.
This is pure nonpareil awareness and on
realization, this phenomenal world needs neither
abdication nor acceptance nor negation.
TRANSLITERATION:
अष्टावक्र उवाच ॥
aṣṭāvakra uvāca ॥
आकाशवत् अनन्तः अहम् घटवत् प्राकृतम् जगत् ।
ākāśavat anantaḥ aham ghaṭavat prākṛtam jagat ।
इति ज्ञानम् तथा एतस्य न त्यागः न ग्रहः लयः ॥ ६-१॥
iti jñānam tathā etasya na tyāgaḥ na grahaḥ layaḥ ॥ 6-1॥
MEANING:
Aṣṭāvakra (अष्टावक्र) = Aṣṭāvakra
uvāca (उवाच) = says ॥
ākāśavat (आकाशवत्) = like space (spacious/extended)
anantaḥ (अनन्तः) = infinite/limitless/immeasurable
aham (अहम्) = I
ghaṭavat (घटवत्) = like a jar/like a pot
prākṛtam (प्राकृतम्)* = phenomenal (the natural world of phenomena)
jagat (जगत्) = world।
iti (इति) = this
jñānam (ज्ञानम्) = knowledge/awareness
tathā (तथा) = so
etasya (एतस्य) = of this (as in 'of this phenomenal world')
na (न) = not
tyāgaḥ (त्यागः) = renouncement/abdication/surrender (the meaning should be construed as in 'when this higher level of knowledge or awareness is achieved, then one does not need to trouble oneself with the question of surrendering or abdication or renouncement as one is already in union with the universe AND the phenomenal world - therefore the question of renunciation of the phenomenal world does not arise')
na (न) = not
grahaḥ (ग्रहः) = recognition/acceptance (the meaning should be construed as in 'one would not need to feel attached and thus accept or recognize the phenomenal world')
layaḥ (लयः) = dissolved/negated (the meaning should be construed as in 'one would not need to negate the phenomenal world as something other than what we are composed of')॥ 6-1॥
COMMENT:
While the previous chapter talked specifically about the various ways by which the seeker may attain the dissolution of self-pride and consequently the death of the ego, in this short chapter, Ashtavakra steers the seeker to a higher plane - a plane where the common patterns of thought and state-of-being experienced by the seeker is correspondent and homogenous with anything and everything in contact with the seeker (insofar as it relates to emotions, entities, activities, thoughts, and such). Ashtavakra here teaches us that pure self-awareness was never restrained nor bound; the transparency that comes with this form of awareness allows for one to neither accept this phenomenal world (as one is already deliquesced with both the phenomenal world as well as the larger universe that the world is a part of) nor accept this phenomenal world (as the phenomenal world does not have the potential nor power to provoke attachment, clinging, hankering or possessiveness on the part of the seeker) nor the need to negate the phenomenal world (because the seeker feels the synthesis of their own identity in graceful harmonic resonance with the fluctuations of the world allowing for the seeker to dance, live and love in a radiant manner). Therefore, the seeker in this state of peerless awareness does not in any way resemble the state of disconnectedness evidenced by the metaphor offered in the first line - the metaphor of the space within the earthen pot being separate and distinct from the limitless space that surrounds the same earthen pot.
NOTE:
*prākṛtam (प्राकृतम्)* prākṛtam is from the Sansrit prakriti or prakruti meaning "nature"; refers to a primal creative or natural force, connoting the natural or original intended state of something or of an individual's being. The term is derived from the Sanskrit pra, meaning “beginning,” and kriti, meaning “creation.” While the overall import remains the same, the interpretation varies based upon the schools of Indian philosophy. In the Samkhya school, it is contrasted with Purusha (spirit, consciousness), and Prakriti refers to "the material world, nature, matter, physical and psychological character, constitution, temper, disposition". In Hindu cosmology, Prakṛti is the feminine aspect of existence, the personified will, and energy of the Supreme (Brahman); while in Shaktism, the Goddess is presented as both the Brahman and the Prakṛti. In the Bhagavad Gita, it is the "primal motive force"; the essential constituent of the universe and the basis of all the activity of the creation. According to the Bhagavad Gita Prakrti or Nature is composed of the three gunas which are tendencies or modes of being, known as Sattva (arising), rajas (abiding), and tamas (cessation). Sattva encompasses qualities of goodness, light, and harmony. Rajas is associated with concepts of energy, activity, and passion; Tamas is commonly associated with inertia, darkness, insensitivity.
AVG 5.4
Chapter 5 (Pathways to dissolving the self) Verse 4
समदुःखसुखः पूर्ण आशानैराश्ययोः समः ।
समजीवितमृत्युः सन्नेवमेव लयं व्रज ॥ ५-४॥
PURPORT:
You are tranquil and equanimous
in adversity and extravagance,
in aspiration and despondency,
and in being alive or ceasing to be.
Clarified thus, realize the path to dissolution.
TRANSLITERATION:
समदुःखसुखः पूर्णः आशानैराश्ययोः समः ।
samaduḥkhasukhaḥ pūrṇaḥ āśānairāśyayoḥ samaḥ ।
समजीवितमृत्युः सन् एवम् एव लयम् व्रज ॥ ५-४॥
samajīvitamṛtyuḥ san evam eva layam vraja ॥ 5-4॥
MEANING:
samaduḥkhasukhaḥ (समदुःखसुखः) = to whom suffering and pleasure are the same (compound of sama (सम) meaning 'same/similar' and duḥkha (दुःख) meaning 'suffering/misery/adversity' and sukhaḥ (सुखः) meaning 'amenity/happiness/luxury')
pūrṇaḥ (पूर्णः) = complete/perfect
āśānairāśyayoḥ (आशानैराश्ययोः) = in hope and in despondency (compound of āśā (आशा) meaning 'hope/aspiration' and nairāśyayoḥ (नैराश्ययोः) meaning 'despair/misery')
samaḥ (समः) = same/similar।
samajīvitamṛtyuḥ (समजीवितमृत्युः) = to whom life and death are the same (compound of sama (सम) meaning 'same' and jīvita (जीवित) meaning 'life' and mṛtyuḥ (मृत्युः) meaning 'death/cessation')
san (सन्) = being
evam (evam) = thus
eva (एव) = surely
layam (लयम्) = dissolution/disintegration (awareness results from such a state of dissolution)
vraja (व्रज) = attain ॥ 5-4॥
COMMENT:
The main theme in this chapter's final verse is the theme of equanimity. Equanimity construed as a state of mental stability and psychological composure which is undisturbed by subjective or objective experience of phenomena or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena - similar exposure to which may cause those without this lucid quality to lose the subjective balance and emotional equilibrium. The ancients described a mind filled with equanimity as “abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, and without ill-will.” In this sense, the equanimity that Ashtavakra talks about here can come about in two progressive steps - the first of which being the equanimity that emanates from the individual from choiceless examination of events and impartial consideration of actions - the ability to see and examine without being enveloped and engulfed by what we observe and consider, and yet, being able to do so with clarified understanding and straightforward compassion. This leads to a sense of peace and harmony within the seeker.
In addition, a heightened sense of equanimity results from the mentality of moderation that is honed as a result of examining and living life within the framework outlined in the previous step. An ability to tread a middle path and being centered within the bands of moderation of whatever is happening around oneself without allowing oneself to be pulled away to the extremes that many inhabit under acute duress or extreme elation. It is important to note that the sense of balance that must be maintained during this search for equanimity is also important as one does not want to substitute nor identify aloofness or complacency or indifference to phenomena with equanimity.
समदुःखसुखः पूर्ण आशानैराश्ययोः समः ।
समजीवितमृत्युः सन्नेवमेव लयं व्रज ॥ ५-४॥
PURPORT:
You are tranquil and equanimous
in adversity and extravagance,
in aspiration and despondency,
and in being alive or ceasing to be.
Clarified thus, realize the path to dissolution.
TRANSLITERATION:
समदुःखसुखः पूर्णः आशानैराश्ययोः समः ।
samaduḥkhasukhaḥ pūrṇaḥ āśānairāśyayoḥ samaḥ ।
समजीवितमृत्युः सन् एवम् एव लयम् व्रज ॥ ५-४॥
samajīvitamṛtyuḥ san evam eva layam vraja ॥ 5-4॥
MEANING:
samaduḥkhasukhaḥ (समदुःखसुखः) = to whom suffering and pleasure are the same (compound of sama (सम) meaning 'same/similar' and duḥkha (दुःख) meaning 'suffering/misery/adversity' and sukhaḥ (सुखः) meaning 'amenity/happiness/luxury')
pūrṇaḥ (पूर्णः) = complete/perfect
āśānairāśyayoḥ (आशानैराश्ययोः) = in hope and in despondency (compound of āśā (आशा) meaning 'hope/aspiration' and nairāśyayoḥ (नैराश्ययोः) meaning 'despair/misery')
samaḥ (समः) = same/similar।
samajīvitamṛtyuḥ (समजीवितमृत्युः) = to whom life and death are the same (compound of sama (सम) meaning 'same' and jīvita (जीवित) meaning 'life' and mṛtyuḥ (मृत्युः) meaning 'death/cessation')
san (सन्) = being
evam (evam) = thus
eva (एव) = surely
layam (लयम्) = dissolution/disintegration (awareness results from such a state of dissolution)
vraja (व्रज) = attain ॥ 5-4॥
COMMENT:
The main theme in this chapter's final verse is the theme of equanimity. Equanimity construed as a state of mental stability and psychological composure which is undisturbed by subjective or objective experience of phenomena or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena - similar exposure to which may cause those without this lucid quality to lose the subjective balance and emotional equilibrium. The ancients described a mind filled with equanimity as “abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, and without ill-will.” In this sense, the equanimity that Ashtavakra talks about here can come about in two progressive steps - the first of which being the equanimity that emanates from the individual from choiceless examination of events and impartial consideration of actions - the ability to see and examine without being enveloped and engulfed by what we observe and consider, and yet, being able to do so with clarified understanding and straightforward compassion. This leads to a sense of peace and harmony within the seeker.
In addition, a heightened sense of equanimity results from the mentality of moderation that is honed as a result of examining and living life within the framework outlined in the previous step. An ability to tread a middle path and being centered within the bands of moderation of whatever is happening around oneself without allowing oneself to be pulled away to the extremes that many inhabit under acute duress or extreme elation. It is important to note that the sense of balance that must be maintained during this search for equanimity is also important as one does not want to substitute nor identify aloofness or complacency or indifference to phenomena with equanimity.
Friday, January 10, 2020
AVG 5.3
Chapter 5 (Pathways to dissolving the self) Verse 3
प्रत्यक्षमप्यवस्तुत्वाद्विश्वं नास्त्यमले त्वयि ।
रज्जुसर्प इव व्यक्तमेवमेव लयं व्रज ॥ ५-३॥
PURPORT:
The universe, though perceived by the senses
as conventionally real, is devoid of any inherent
essence and thus empty. In your state of pure
awareness, the recognized universe is akin to
perceiving the form of a snake within a coiled rope.
Clarified thus, realize the path to dissolution.
TRANSLITERATION:
प्रत्यक्षम् अपि अवस्तुत्वात् विश्वम् न अस्ति अमले त्वयि ।
pratyakṣam api avastutvāt viśvam na asti amale tvayi ।
रज्जुसर्प इव व्यक्तम् एवम् एव लयम् व्रज ॥ ५-३॥
rajjusarpa iva vyaktam evam eva layam vraja ॥ 5-3॥
MEANING:
pratyakṣam (प्रत्यक्षम्) = visibly perceived
api (अपि) = although
avastutvāt (अवस्तुत्वात्) = from insubstantiality (From chimerical and illusory sources)
viśvam (विश्वम्) = universe
na (न) = not
asti (अस्ति) = is
amale (अमले) = pure (as in pure awareness devoid of any thought fluctuations; thought to be sometimes achieved through non-conceptual meditative states that de-emphasize the value or role of dialectical thought or reasoning)
tvayi (त्वयि) = in you ।
rajjusarpa (रज्जुसर्प)* = the snake in the rope (first encountered in verse 1.10)
iva (इव) = like
vyaktam (व्यक्तम्) = manifested
evam (evam) = thus
eva (एव) = surely
layam (लयम्) = dissolution/disintegration (awareness results from such a state of dissolution)
vraja (व्रज) = attain ॥ 5-3॥
COMMENT:
Here Ashtavakra is highlighting the conventionally real aspects of the world while simultaneously emphasizing the truth that all conventional entities are ultimately empty of any underlying essence or everlasting characteristic. By using the example of the snake being mistakenly perceived in the presentation of a coiled rope in a dimly lit place, Ashtavakra states that the nature of conventional objects will be both; appearance as designated - abiding temporally based upon causal conditions - but truly empty insofar as reducing the entity down to an essential underlying marrow. If objects existed truly in the way it appears, then it would not be conventional. Tables, chairs, souls, self etc. would have the defining characteristic of 'tableness', 'chairness', 'soulness', 'selfness' etc. and such defining characteristics would persist till the end of time (if these were ultimately real). However, this is not so. Tables, chairs, the model of the self and soul are all designated characteristics that originate based upon dependencies and they cease to exist when the dependent conditions upon which they arise and abide cease to exist. Conventionality stems from the fact that the objects do not truly exist in the way it appears. In a similar manner, our minds, mental states and the entities perceived by our mental states appear to exist as if they have a definite nature. These appearances have the same characteristic as the conventional entities described above. Extending the analogy, ultimately, minds, mental states and the entities perceived thereof are empty of the nature they appear to have.
NOTE:
*A brief note on the word rajjusarpa (रज्जुसर्प): a compound meaning 'the snake within the rope'. Imagine on a dark night, a rope lying on the ground could be mistaken for a snake. We know that the rope alone is real, not the snake. However, the failure to perceive the rope gives rise to the false perception of the snake. Once the darkness goes away, the rope alone remains; the snake disappears. It is held that at the moment of illusion, the ignorance in the perceiver instantly creates that illusory snake. Upon dispelling of illusion, that illusory snake is sublated by correct knowledge of rope. Our experience of the world is also similarly regarded as an illusion.
प्रत्यक्षमप्यवस्तुत्वाद्विश्वं नास्त्यमले त्वयि ।
रज्जुसर्प इव व्यक्तमेवमेव लयं व्रज ॥ ५-३॥
PURPORT:
The universe, though perceived by the senses
as conventionally real, is devoid of any inherent
essence and thus empty. In your state of pure
awareness, the recognized universe is akin to
perceiving the form of a snake within a coiled rope.
Clarified thus, realize the path to dissolution.
TRANSLITERATION:
प्रत्यक्षम् अपि अवस्तुत्वात् विश्वम् न अस्ति अमले त्वयि ।
pratyakṣam api avastutvāt viśvam na asti amale tvayi ।
रज्जुसर्प इव व्यक्तम् एवम् एव लयम् व्रज ॥ ५-३॥
rajjusarpa iva vyaktam evam eva layam vraja ॥ 5-3॥
MEANING:
pratyakṣam (प्रत्यक्षम्) = visibly perceived
api (अपि) = although
avastutvāt (अवस्तुत्वात्) = from insubstantiality (From chimerical and illusory sources)
viśvam (विश्वम्) = universe
na (न) = not
asti (अस्ति) = is
amale (अमले) = pure (as in pure awareness devoid of any thought fluctuations; thought to be sometimes achieved through non-conceptual meditative states that de-emphasize the value or role of dialectical thought or reasoning)
tvayi (त्वयि) = in you ।
rajjusarpa (रज्जुसर्प)* = the snake in the rope (first encountered in verse 1.10)
iva (इव) = like
vyaktam (व्यक्तम्) = manifested
evam (evam) = thus
eva (एव) = surely
layam (लयम्) = dissolution/disintegration (awareness results from such a state of dissolution)
vraja (व्रज) = attain ॥ 5-3॥
COMMENT:
Here Ashtavakra is highlighting the conventionally real aspects of the world while simultaneously emphasizing the truth that all conventional entities are ultimately empty of any underlying essence or everlasting characteristic. By using the example of the snake being mistakenly perceived in the presentation of a coiled rope in a dimly lit place, Ashtavakra states that the nature of conventional objects will be both; appearance as designated - abiding temporally based upon causal conditions - but truly empty insofar as reducing the entity down to an essential underlying marrow. If objects existed truly in the way it appears, then it would not be conventional. Tables, chairs, souls, self etc. would have the defining characteristic of 'tableness', 'chairness', 'soulness', 'selfness' etc. and such defining characteristics would persist till the end of time (if these were ultimately real). However, this is not so. Tables, chairs, the model of the self and soul are all designated characteristics that originate based upon dependencies and they cease to exist when the dependent conditions upon which they arise and abide cease to exist. Conventionality stems from the fact that the objects do not truly exist in the way it appears. In a similar manner, our minds, mental states and the entities perceived by our mental states appear to exist as if they have a definite nature. These appearances have the same characteristic as the conventional entities described above. Extending the analogy, ultimately, minds, mental states and the entities perceived thereof are empty of the nature they appear to have.
NOTE:
*A brief note on the word rajjusarpa (रज्जुसर्प): a compound meaning 'the snake within the rope'. Imagine on a dark night, a rope lying on the ground could be mistaken for a snake. We know that the rope alone is real, not the snake. However, the failure to perceive the rope gives rise to the false perception of the snake. Once the darkness goes away, the rope alone remains; the snake disappears. It is held that at the moment of illusion, the ignorance in the perceiver instantly creates that illusory snake. Upon dispelling of illusion, that illusory snake is sublated by correct knowledge of rope. Our experience of the world is also similarly regarded as an illusion.
Thursday, January 9, 2020
AVG 5.2
Chapter 5 (Pathways to dissolving the self) Verse 2
उदेति भवतो विश्वं वारिधेरिव बुद्बुदः ।
इति ज्ञात्वैकमात्मानं एवमेव लयं व्रज ॥ ५-२॥
PURPORT:
The universe emanates from you,
like bubbles arising out of the seas;
having known this, understand that
your self-awareness and your very being
is unanimous with matter in the universe.
Clarified thus, realize the path to dissolution.
TRANSLITERATION:
उदेति भवतः विश्वम् वारिधेः इव बुद्बुदः ।
udeti bhavataḥ viśvam vāridheḥ iva budbudaḥ ।
इति ज्ञात्वा एकम् आत्मानम् एवम् एव लयम् व्रज ॥ ५-२॥
iti jñātvā ekam ātmānam evam eva layam vraja ॥ 5-2॥
MEANING:
udeti (उदेति) = rises/emanate
bhavataḥ (भवतः) = from you
viśvam (विश्वम्) = universe
vāridheḥ (वारिधेः) = from the sea
iva (इव) = like
budbudaḥ (बुद्बुदः) = bubbles (nice example of an onomatopoeia) ।
iti (इति) = thus
jñātvā (ज्ञात्वा) = having known
ekam (एकम्) = one
ātmānam (आत्मानम्) = self-awareness (literally ‘self’)
evam (evam) = thus
eva (एव) = surely
layam (लयम्) = dissolution/disintegration (awareness results from such a state of dissolution)
vraja (व्रज) = attain ॥ 5-2॥
COMMENT:
This fascinating verse is a beautiful way for Ashtavakra to remind us that each one of us is the universe experiencing itself for the short period of time – that short period of time that we abide in a sentient manner on this earth. The fact that the atoms that we are made of have lasted for billions of years and will last for billions of year after our short span of sentience on earth itself clarifies that all of the physical matter that we are constituted of emerged from (and of) this universe. In this sense, it is self-evident that we are the universe expressing itself in the constituted forms we respectively assume (from animals to plants to any of the other single celled organisms that teem the universe).
Given the fact that the sub-atomic particles that comprise atoms created after the big bang are not only implausibly permanent, but also overwhelmingly abundant throughout the universe, it can be said that you and I are comprised of recycled atoms that probably once belonged to famous historical figures. In that sense, we are variously composed of the recycled atoms that once constituted the Buddha, the recycled atoms that composed Mohammad and atoms that had once established the corporeal Jesus (amongst some famous historical figures who were spiritually self-aware). It is said that scientists can ascertain using probabilistic tools that each of us contains within us at least a billion atoms that once comprised each of the three examples of humans mentioned above. In addition, it can also be said that each one of us are recycled and re-constituted from seawater, the anemones within the sea, the great fishes, animals, dinosaurs, plants of the carboniferous era, the rain, the dew drops and a billion other interacting aspects of this universe too numerous to recount. In this particular sense, each one of us are involved within a trans-migratory movement of atoms that are reincarnated as ‘you’ and ‘me’ for now. Stardust. When we pass on and the atoms disperse, the same atoms we are composed of will reconstitute to create new forms - sentient or otherwise - but, the simple fact remains that we remain intricately merged and connected with the universe every second of our being. This is main import that Ashtavakra wants to convey within this beautifully concise rendering of verse.
उदेति भवतो विश्वं वारिधेरिव बुद्बुदः ।
इति ज्ञात्वैकमात्मानं एवमेव लयं व्रज ॥ ५-२॥
PURPORT:
The universe emanates from you,
like bubbles arising out of the seas;
having known this, understand that
your self-awareness and your very being
is unanimous with matter in the universe.
Clarified thus, realize the path to dissolution.
TRANSLITERATION:
उदेति भवतः विश्वम् वारिधेः इव बुद्बुदः ।
udeti bhavataḥ viśvam vāridheḥ iva budbudaḥ ।
इति ज्ञात्वा एकम् आत्मानम् एवम् एव लयम् व्रज ॥ ५-२॥
iti jñātvā ekam ātmānam evam eva layam vraja ॥ 5-2॥
MEANING:
udeti (उदेति) = rises/emanate
bhavataḥ (भवतः) = from you
viśvam (विश्वम्) = universe
vāridheḥ (वारिधेः) = from the sea
iva (इव) = like
budbudaḥ (बुद्बुदः) = bubbles (nice example of an onomatopoeia) ।
iti (इति) = thus
jñātvā (ज्ञात्वा) = having known
ekam (एकम्) = one
ātmānam (आत्मानम्) = self-awareness (literally ‘self’)
evam (evam) = thus
eva (एव) = surely
layam (लयम्) = dissolution/disintegration (awareness results from such a state of dissolution)
vraja (व्रज) = attain ॥ 5-2॥
COMMENT:
This fascinating verse is a beautiful way for Ashtavakra to remind us that each one of us is the universe experiencing itself for the short period of time – that short period of time that we abide in a sentient manner on this earth. The fact that the atoms that we are made of have lasted for billions of years and will last for billions of year after our short span of sentience on earth itself clarifies that all of the physical matter that we are constituted of emerged from (and of) this universe. In this sense, it is self-evident that we are the universe expressing itself in the constituted forms we respectively assume (from animals to plants to any of the other single celled organisms that teem the universe).
Given the fact that the sub-atomic particles that comprise atoms created after the big bang are not only implausibly permanent, but also overwhelmingly abundant throughout the universe, it can be said that you and I are comprised of recycled atoms that probably once belonged to famous historical figures. In that sense, we are variously composed of the recycled atoms that once constituted the Buddha, the recycled atoms that composed Mohammad and atoms that had once established the corporeal Jesus (amongst some famous historical figures who were spiritually self-aware). It is said that scientists can ascertain using probabilistic tools that each of us contains within us at least a billion atoms that once comprised each of the three examples of humans mentioned above. In addition, it can also be said that each one of us are recycled and re-constituted from seawater, the anemones within the sea, the great fishes, animals, dinosaurs, plants of the carboniferous era, the rain, the dew drops and a billion other interacting aspects of this universe too numerous to recount. In this particular sense, each one of us are involved within a trans-migratory movement of atoms that are reincarnated as ‘you’ and ‘me’ for now. Stardust. When we pass on and the atoms disperse, the same atoms we are composed of will reconstitute to create new forms - sentient or otherwise - but, the simple fact remains that we remain intricately merged and connected with the universe every second of our being. This is main import that Ashtavakra wants to convey within this beautifully concise rendering of verse.
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