Meditating on the Mahat tattva

[stephen1964]

Hello everybody
my name is stephen, and i am new to this Forum. and i just want to bless everybody on this forum.
i just want to ask the forum how do i meditate on the mahat tattva, can somebody help me.

Thank you

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté and welcome to HDF,

Before any offerings of ideas, can you assist us by your understanding of mahat and which tattva you see this as ?

praṇām

[anirvan]

Welcome stephen,I thought somebody has misguided you on meditation. Kindly try to understand what is mahat-tattva and all 24 tattvas,you will understand that its one of the last tattvas realized in the process of self-realization.so you can"t directly do meditate for it,but start from from basics of meditation.after long period with determined maditation with strict discipline,you may reach at this stage.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté

If we are looking at mahat from a tattva perspective , we can be directed to the sāṃkhya view of reality and the 24 principles ( some say 25); yet if we looked to a śaivism ( trika system ) point of view we will find 36 tattva's called out.


So lets consider just a few ideas... these may seem esoteric, yet after further review I am in hopes you see the practicality of the knowledge.

mahát + tattva - lets look at both. Many see mahát as the intellect/buddhi. Tattva is often viewed as 'element'.
Now we have the 'element of intellect' as part of the sāṃkhya view of reality , yet there is more to the story.



mahát is rooted in mah meaning great, large.
tattva is ~ thatness~ . It is also tata-tva which means :
tata = extended , stretched , spread , diffused , expanded
tva = one
Hence tata-tva is the one that is expanded; Who is that ? It is brahman. By the defintion of His own name brahman means 'growth , expansion'.

Hence in this instance we have 'thatness' that is great, large, expansive, and can be considered the ~ultimate thatness~ which is brahman.


So, now the question... can one meditate on this vastness, this greatness of Being. Yes, say the wise, by pursuing one's own SELF.

praṇām

[anirvan]

Yajvanji,thanks for the elaboration of mahatattva. Its really amazing to discover the deeper meaning lying in each wordings of ancient sages and also head naturally bows to the beautiful language called sanskrit.

Is it necessary to directly meditate on this elements of brahman? or speaking differently how easier/helpful it will be to start meditating from here.

Yoga says that its manipur chakra/agni tattva which is also the meeting place of important nadis is the best,easy and most effective way to control the mind and meditate.

To meditate on a perticular tattva,you have meditate upon a representative chakra or energy centre,as its impossible to conceive a tattva as its infinite.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté



Is it necessary to directly meditate on this elements of brahman? or speaking differently how easier/helpful it will be to start meditating from here.

Yoga says that its manipur chakra/agni tattva which is also the meeting place of important nadis is the best,easy and most effective way to control the mind and meditate.

To meditate on a perticular tattva,you have meditate upon a representative chakra or energy centre,as its impossible to conceive a tattva as its infinite.
Pending one's fitness or ability the paths¹ available to the sakaka¹ are varied. Now within kaśmir śaivism there is something that is called pañcadaśavidhiḥ or the fifteen-fold process or way. This is called out in the mālinīvijayottaratantra and addresses your question of working with/transcending the elements (tattva-s).The tattva-s begin with earth ( prithi ) and end with ākāśa (space). For each tattva there is a way, a process i.e. a upāya.

So one must ask how can there be a ~way~ with ākāśa (my favorite no less) ? Well it just so happens mataṇga-ma asks the same to parameśvara found in the mataṇgaparameśvarāgama, She says how can the void which has no form, no support, is beginningless and uncaused be possibly grasped ?
Parameśvara replies and says the void has the nature of providing space (avakāśa¹) and the essential property sound. Hence sound becomes key and we know of many approaches based upon sound.
Yet as you would expect there are other ways that also implore the yogin to contemplate the notion of being voidness itself i.e. śūnyā.


So for each tattva there is an approach - these are laid out in the mālinīvijayottaratantra and in vijñāna bhairava kārikā-s. Yet they are not for the entry level aspirant without the help and guidance of a teacher.

From what I offer above, is this the only way ? No.

praṇām

words

see this HDF Post on paths : http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=79334&postcount=2 (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=79334&postcount=2)
sadaka -To the śaiva-s , this word is applied for those affected by the elements of the material world , one not possessed of the Self. Even though one is not possessed of the Self this does not suggest the sakala is outside of śiva
See this post for more knowledge: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=6715 (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=6715)
avakāśa - to make room, space; to give way, admit.