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Thread: How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

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    How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

    Namaste

    Taittiriya upanishad sloka 1 of chapter I part III ( Bhrigu valli) (translated by swami Gambhirananda)

    First part of the verse says that when Bhrigu approached his father Varuna to know about Brahman, Varuna says “ food( annam) ,pranam,the eyes,ear, mind, speech are the aids to the knowledge of Brahman. These are the doors to the realization of Brahman.

    Second part says that varuna says ‘ crave to know well that from which all these beings take birth, that by which they live after being born ,that towards which they move and into which they merge. That is brahman’.

    Advaitik view says that
    , liberation from samsara, which is called moksha or mukti, is obtained only through knowledge of identity with Brahman .The moment one gains the knowledge, “I am Brahman”, one discovers one’s true eternal nature.

    My question is since the doors to the realization of Brahman i.e. eyes, ear, mind, speech are part of maya which either projects false object ( viksepa shakti) or conceals the original object ( avarana shakti) how can jiva attain knowledge with the help of maya ? will maya not lead to illusion ? can we depend on maya for getting true knowledge ?

    Second part of the verse says three important points to indicate what brahman is (i) from which all these beings take birth ,(ii) by which they live after being born, (iii) towards which they move and into which they merge. That is Brahman.

    I want to know, is this Brahman nirakar nirvishesh ,nirguna or is this Brahman sagun sakar savishesh ? at least advaitik view will not accept that we move towards and merge into sagun sakar Brahman. Rather advaitik view will accept that Sagun sakar Brahman itself merge into nirgun nirakar brahman . will maya or ignorance bring knowledge ? will dark bring light ?

  2. #2

    Re: How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

    Namaste Jopmala Ji,

    Its great question and I certainly have not figured that one out. Recently a friend who is very learned in Advaita said

    quote "Our Consciousness which is part of the problem cannot bring about a solution to the fundamental questions about life."

    Seems obvious at first and there is great truth in this, but then again how can we start to evolve into that state which is beyond all of this when we are in a conditioned cycle.

    For some reason this has caused some dilemma in my approach and has had me thinking for a while. If all energies are shakti and shakti is always in union with Shiva~ Brahman, how can they not open an understanding about Him or Brahman or the totality. It seems impossible to jump from being embodied to full realization of the disembodied state.

    Mind, sense and intellect or the factors of compound consciousness are not equipped in and of themself to understand that which is beyond them, unless there is realization of that which is working beyond them, in the cosmic reality these forces of the working senses are under the direction of the devas, and beyond the devas is the total full being who is fully aware of all and not disturbed or moved by them.

    Recently I have been listening to some talks on Kena Upanishad and one of the questions in Kena is to ask what deva set motion of the eye, the hearing and other working senses, so perhaps what is being spoken is to gradually open in stages to finally arrive at full realization, gradually peel back the layers of what is beyond or behind the working senses, then the cosmos with devatta beings who still are to different degrees covered or under the direction of maya and do not have full knowledge ( if thats the correct way of saying ), so there is a further peeling back to reach the source or Brahman.

    So perhaps through practice sadhana/meditation we search first to know what is the force behind the working senses, then we reach the deva realms, then we keep seeking to know what is behind the devas as they have universal duties and are not fully complete in and of them self, there is still something beyond all of this, until finally we reach the unlimited uncompounded eternally liberated realization of Brahman.

    In some of my findings I have seen that the means of travel from one level of understanding to another is samadhi, dharma is contained in the body and mind, so these dharma's in body and mind will reveal something within nama and rupa but will then automatically or instinctively push one to seek further or what lies behind these and so the journey goes on.

    Its also a consideration that when the mind and senses are purified by what is behind them, if one does become jivanmukta in this life then the ordinary working senses will become divine and can help in the liberation of other beings, or one enters divine life in full union with Brahman.

    Its a high goal for the embodied, jivanmukta seems almost impossible.

    Thats probably not the type of response your looking for, but this is how your question resonates at this time with me.

    Pranam
    Last edited by markandeya 108 dasa; 23 December 2016 at 01:21 PM.

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    Re: How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

    Namaste Jopmala ji,
    The question you asked is from Upanishad and I am not a learned person to answer.. but I always like to put my personal point of view arising from what I know and mostly from my inner (you can say instincts)

    I also don't know about your 2nd question so I will try to answer 1st one..
    You are right here that Maya is creating illusions and how can she be the door of realisation.. let consider some points here

    -if Maya is started showing the direct path towards realisation then no one will left here without realised and self realisation will become so valueless..
    You have to do much efforts for self realisation, gold have to burn for more sparkle, and seed have to dug himself to sprout..
    Maya take tests again and again, and if you passed the test then you realised and get near to the goal

    second important thing is
    - mind, eyes, ears are part of Maya but let's understand their relation with our supreme goal.
    Actually these are the mediums which are must for realisation and that's why in taitriya Upanishad it is said that this are door to realisation..

    Let's take example if your meditating suppose on Nada or any visual meditations in spiritual practices then ear, mind, budhhi involves.. if you don't have mind, budhhi then you can't meditate or do your sadhna, I heard that for Atmā it is not possible to do any karma or do any progress without body (prakriti)

    So without purusha (consciousness) and prakriti (senses, mind, buddhi etc) it's impossible to do spiritual progress..

    Now if we simplify more then you have to control them, Maya will create illusions but with power of your will, discrimination, devotion you have to control mind, budhhi and have to direct it towards God.. this controlling is difficult, it is the test and once you do then this mediums become doors of realisation..

    Now if you want to get out of the room (Samsara) you have to open the closed door (of Maya) and go outside. So in short Maya is not darkness but closed door but with your efforts when you will open the door light will come out and you will know at that time what you have to do..

    Thanks for reading
    Pranam
    Aasato ma sat gamay
    tamaso ma jotirgamay
    mrityorma amrutamgamay
    (Bring me from asat to sat, bring me from darkness (ignorance) to light (knowledge), bring me from death to immortality)
    Om Namah Shivay
    Om Vishnave Namah

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    Re: How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

    Quote Originally Posted by markandeya 108 dasa View Post
    Namaste Jopmala Ji,

    Its great question and I certainly have not figured that one out. Recently a friend who is very learned in Advaita said

    quote "Our Consciousness which is part of the problem cannot bring about a solution to the fundamental questions about life."

    Seems obvious at first and there is great truth in this, but then again how can we start to evolve into that state which is beyond all of this when we are in a conditioned cycle.

    For some reason this has caused some dilemma in my approach and has had me thinking for a while. If all energies are shakti and shakti is always in union with Shiva~ Brahman, how can they not open an understanding about Him or Brahman or the totality. It seems impossible to jump from being embodied to full realization of the disembodied state.

    Mind, sense and intellect or the factors of compound consciousness are not equipped in and of themself to understand that which is beyond them, unless there is realization of that which is working beyond them, in the cosmic reality these forces of the working senses are under the direction of the devas, and beyond the devas is the total full being who is fully aware of all and not disturbed or moved by them.

    Recently I have been listening to some talks on Kena Upanishad and one of the questions in Kena is to ask what deva set motion of the eye, the hearing and other working senses, so perhaps what is being spoken is to gradually open in stages to finally arrive at full realization, gradually peel back the layers of what is beyond or behind the working senses, then the cosmos with devatta beings who still are to different degrees covered or under the direction of maya and do not have full knowledge ( if thats the correct way of saying ), so there is a further peeling back to reach the source or Brahman.

    So perhaps through practice sadhana/meditation we search first to know what is the force behind the working senses, then we reach the deva realms, then we keep seeking to know what is behind the devas as they have universal duties and are not fully complete in and of them self, there is still something beyond all of this, until finally we reach the unlimited uncompounded eternally liberated realization of Brahman.

    In some of my findings I have seen that the means of travel from one level of understanding to another is samadhi, dharma is contained in the body and mind, so these dharma's in body and mind will reveal something within nama and rupa but will then automatically or instinctively push one to seek further or what lies behind these and so the journey goes on.

    Its also a consideration that when the mind and senses are purified by what is behind them, if one does become jivanmukta in this life then the ordinary working senses will become divine and can help in the liberation of other beings, or one enters divine life in full union with Brahman.

    Its a high goal for the embodied, jivanmukta seems almost impossible.

    Thats probably not the type of response your looking for, but this is how your question resonates at this time with me.

    Pranam
    Namaste..
    I agree with you and thanks for refrenses.. I was typing so didn't read your post..


    Pranam
    Aasato ma sat gamay
    tamaso ma jotirgamay
    mrityorma amrutamgamay
    (Bring me from asat to sat, bring me from darkness (ignorance) to light (knowledge), bring me from death to immortality)
    Om Namah Shivay
    Om Vishnave Namah

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    Re: How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

    hariḥ om̐
    ~~~~~~

    namasté & hello,

    Some doubts ( me thinks) come from zooming into one particular place and perhaps missing the notion that this upanisad is a whole... like zooming in on one area of a painting and missing the total artwork offered.

    Note that this taittirīyopaniṣat ( some spell taittiṝya upaniṣad) is in 3 sections (vallī):
    • śikṣā vallī
    • brahmānanda vallī
    • bhṛgu vallī


    The core of the śikṣā vallī even though one may think it is all about teaching proper pronunciation & the science which teaches proper articulation and pronunciation of vedic texts it comes to land on mahaḥ (section 5 of this chapter) which is none other than brahman, wholeness, fullness. If one goes to the 8th section in the śikṣā vallī we are given the absolute/ultimate truth:
    omiti brahma |
    omitīdam sarvaṁ |

    om is brahman |
    om is ‘this’ all |

    This sets the stage.
    Now what occurs in the brahmānanda vallī ? There are many offers, but the key is the 3rd verse of section 6:
    let me become many |

    It is how this (brahman) wholeness, by choice became many and entered into it. It is how perfect wholeness chose multiplicity to express Itself. And the key here? He entered into it. In fact, it is none other than Himself all the time. This is key. Why so? It is because it never is fragmented, it is never diversity, but to us it seems so. This is māyā. It is by His choice, and it is Never not whole but to us, it seems so. He never needs to go outside of Himself - all occurs within Him. This is confirmed in the śrīmad bhāgavad gītā, chapter 9 , 8th śloka:

    prakṛtim svām avastabhya
    visrjami punaḥ punaḥ |
    bhūta-grāmam imaṁ kṛtsnam
    avaśaṁ prakṛter vaśāt ||

    This says curving back (leaning, resting-upon or avaṣṭabhya) onto my SELF (svām) I create (visṛjāmi) again and again (punaḥ punaḥ). All this (kṛtsnam) which exists ( manifestation and variety bhūta-grāmam) , that comes into creation (prakṛti) is done by my authority or command (vaśāt).

    Now we can go to the bhṛgu vallī... we could not go there without visiting the first 2 vallī’s. And what is key here? Well in the 1st vallī everything is this brahman; the 2nd vallī is how this wholeness chose to become seemingly diverse ( unity in diversity); and the 3rd vallī ? It is how to bring diversity back to unity ( which it has always been and cannot be otherwise). It is all about reversal. It is the inverse process. The term pratiprasava is used by śeṣa patañjali in his yogadarśana. It is defined as ‘counter order’ or ‘returning to the original state’. The logic is simple, if all ‘this’ came from brahman, if we backtrack ( counter order) it should point us to ‘It’ once again.

    In chapter 2 it was the decent of brahman into diversity; in chapter 3 it is the ascent to Reality. Yet the problem comes in for many that they think there is 2. There is ‘me’ and the Supreme. Well, if all this is brahman ( chapter 1) that must include me also, no? Therefore:

    • food = the physical existence of ‘this’
    • prana is the animating priciple of ~ life~
    • Sight, hearing, all that are the inner faculties
    • etc.etc.


    It is varuṇa asks his son bhṛgu to see this, the entire world as brahman: That from which everything is born, because of which everything lives and in which all will merge back, that is brahman.

    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ
    Last edited by yajvan; 24 December 2016 at 12:09 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

    Namaste Markandeya dasaji


    I appreciate you for your straight forward approach to the issue. But maya acts like a magician so far advaita philosophy is concerned. Magician creates confusion and mislead us .so also maya . Even the realm of devas also not free from maya . Gita verse 16 of chapter 8 says “ from the domain of brahma down to this world are subject to cycles of birth” . A Jivanmukta is also not free from maya since he is in the domain of maya. sadhana or meditation can not be practiced without involving body mind intellect. Have you read about any jivanmukta ? did they not breath did they not eat drink talk think walk ? shri Krishna says in gita that maya is surely difficult to overcome. Nirgun Brahman can not help anyway. That is why shri Krishna says to arjuna in verse 5 of chapter 12 “ those who set their thoughts on the unmanifested have to face a harder task for the goal of the unmanifested is difficult to attain by the embodied souls”.. This is my understanding.

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    Re: How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

    Namaste soul of light


    I respect your thoughts but the basic point is you can not control maya in the form of budhhi or mind. Maya does not hear you.

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    Re: How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

    Namaste Yajvanji

    You have explained the teaching of taittiriyopanishad and I think all our scriptures try to explain the relationship of Brahman jiva jagat and maya. My point was if the doors i.e. body mind intellect etc to the realization of Brahman are part of maya which is clearly mentioned in this verse how can we achieve mukthi by practicing something which involves body mind intellect ? As we know maya is responsible either for projecting the false or concealing the real . therefore my point has no relation with how Brahman becomes many and then many become Brahman. However , you did not make comment on my question. with your permission I would like to put some points based on your explanation. You have mentioned only ‘ brahman’ but there are two Brahman in advaita philosophy. You may say both are same but I would like to know if both nirgun and sagun Brahman are same why nirgun Brahman is considered as ultimate only and why the state of sagun Brahman is not turiya. When you say by choice Brahman become many and entered into it. I suppose this is definitely sagun Brahman. if Brahman become many by choice and entered into it , why then the diversity for us “seems so”. You quoted verse from Gita chapter 9. This verse has clearly stated that he creates again and again still we have to make his creation “ seems so”. First you say Brahman by choice became many and entered into it then you say Brahman never became many or entered into it . the diversity is due to projection of maya. You call it ‘ seemingly diverse’. I am confused. Why don’t you accept that Brahman became many and he entered into it so it is real. There is no projection done by maya.

    When there is question of creation it is sagun Brahman, but when the question is for merging into or union it is nirgun Brahman because sagun Brahman is not ultimate entity. If there is no ‘ Brahman becoming many’ and everything is seemingly diverse due to maya then why does the question of returning of many to its original state arise ?

    Lastly why Brahman made a choice to become many and enter into it and then many to return to its original state ?

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    Re: How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

    hariḥ om̐
    ~~~~~~

    namasté jopmala,


    your questions show a sharp intellect - this is a good thing. So as to not boil the ocean I have divided your post into 5 questions. With your permission this will allow you and the HDF reader to consider several offers and points of view. I may jump around from one question to another, but allow me that liberty to do so and I think perhaps you will see why. Also, I think it's best not to answer all the questions all at once as that will be like trying to take a drink out of a fire hose... just too much at one time and nothing really gets digested. Let's start with Question1 and then procede to the others, in the next few posts.


    Question 1
    You have explained the teaching of taittiriyopanishad and I think all our scriptures try to explain the relationship of Brahman jiva jagat and maya. My point was if the doors i.e. body mind intellect etc to the realization of Brahman are part of maya which is clearly mentioned in this verse how can we achieve mukthi by practicing something which involves body mind intellect ?


    Question 2
    As we know maya is responsible either for projecting the false or concealing the real . therefore my point has no relation with how Brahman becomes many and then many become Brahman. However , you did not make comment on my question. with your permission I would like to put some points based on your explanation. You have mentioned only ‘ brahman’ but there are two Brahman in advaita philosophy. You may say both are same but I would like to know if both nirgun and sagun Brahman are same why nirgun Brahman is considered as ultimate only and why the state of sagun Brahman is not turiya.

    Question 3
    When you say by choice Brahman become many and entered into it. I suppose this is definitely sagun Brahman. if Brahman become many by choice and entered into it , why then the diversity for us “seems so”. You quoted verse from Gita chapter 9. This verse has clearly stated that he creates again and again still we have to make his creation “ seems so”. First you say Brahman by choice became many and entered into it then you say Brahman never became many or entered into it . the diversity is due to projection of maya. You call it ‘ seemingly diverse’. I am confused. Why don’t you accept that Brahman became many and he entered into it so it is real. There is no projection done by maya.


    Question 4
    When there is question of creation it is sagun Brahman, but when the question is for merging into or union it is nirgun Brahman because sagun Brahman is not ultimate entity. If there is no ‘ Brahman becoming many’ and everything is seemingly diverse due to maya then why does the question of returning of many to its original state arise ?


    Question 5
    Lastly why Brahman made a choice to become many and enter into it and then many to return to its original state ?
    Question 1 - how can we achieve mukthi by practicing something which involves body mind intellect ?
    I look to the muṇḍaka upaniṣad ( some spell muṇḍkopaniṣad ) 1st chapter ( or khaṇḍa) 2nd section, 12th śloka ( verse) as it informs us , nāsti akṛtaḥ kṛtena. I am only using this for now to support what you have said, and then we will culture and expand the answer with more knowledge.

    nāsti akṛtaḥ kṛtena

    • nāsti= na + asti = not + existent
    • akṛtaḥ = a + kṛtaḥ = not + made
    • kṛtena = obtained , gained , acquired


    What does this say? the not-made is not obtained by made-up means. Well, that certainly did not bring much clarity to the conversation now does it?
    It is telling us, that Reality that one is looking for (established Reality in one's consciousness = liberation = mukti) is eternal; the not-made is ajāta, unborn and stainless, pure Being. Its attainment (kṛtena) is not possible through made-up means.This Reality never came to Being as the result of any action.

    That which is made of actions (house, job, car, family, friends, money, the body) is attainable by actions (work, ritual, p
    ūja, trying, taking, etc). Hence to strive after It ( Being/Brahman) with 'made-up means' i.e. actions, will not produce the result one is looking for as they remain in the field of action.

    So if we arrange the words just a bit differently we can say the following:
    akṛtaḥ na asti kṛtena kim ( I added kim) - this now says, the not-made (Being/brahman) is not made as the result of action, why then (kim) yet another action ?

    See the beauty and the profound insight here - and at the same time the dilemmia? What does one do? Are we stuck forever in the situation we are faced with. That of establishing Being (once again) as our full frame of reference or are we stuck as this paśúnā¹ ? One could quickly argue if this is the case how did the sages, yogi's, and seers (ṛṣi’s) find their way? We then know it must be possible.

    First we need to eliminate one notion of doing nothing. The logic is, 'if actions are at fault here, then I will do nothing!' We are guided by the śrīmad bhāgavad gītā , 3rd chapter where we are informed:
    · no one can exist even for an instant without performing action - 5th śloka
    · not by abstaining from action does a man achieve non-action (naiṣkarmya) - 4th śloka
    · action is superior to inaction - 8th śloka
    · actions in every case are performed by the 3 guṇa-s - 27th śloka
    · by action alone did Janaka and others gain perfection - 20th śloka

    So , what is one to do? One needs to learn and comprehend 'skill in action'. In my terms ( and my terms only) It is learning to do nothing perfectly. Using the terms of the
    bhāgavad gītā (chapter 2, 48th śloka) yogasthaḥ kuru karmānī- established (or steadfast) in yoga ( union) perform actions (karma). This union is with SELF as one's reference point for everything. Being established in yoga = being established in the SELF. This is not a concept or philosophical notion some choose to believe. It is a real, actual level of existence (sattā) one can experience.
    What occurs in this state? Nirodha निरोध - stillness, silence of the mind, established in Being. And what is experienced ? Nirvikalpa निर्विकल्प - free from change or differences (the not-made or akṛtaḥ); not wavering. Completely possessed of this universal status of SELF. Its also called kevala केवल conclusion, entirely , wholly , absolutely i.e. liberation from birth-after-birth.

    How is this possible ? Because of the following just mentioned above:

    • actions in every case are performed by the 3 guṇa-s - 27th śloka ( the field of the made, of doing)


    You see, you leave the made ( field of actions, the field of the 'made') and experience the 'not made'. To say you 'experience it' is more of words for one's comprehension. You are it, you become it again without distractions of the 'made', the 3 guṇa-s. Let the
    3 guṇa-s do what they wish, "I" am not that. You see there is nothing to be gained here. If it is something that is 'gained', it is still in the field of action ( this takes some getting used to ). And to say you experience it, suggests there must be 2 , the object of experience and the experiencer. This also cannot be, because the final experiencer is pure awareness , Being, brahman, it is the final subject.
    As our upaniṣad-s inform us, It is the eye of the eye, the ear of the ear, etc. It is that consciousness that provides awareness to all the senses, intellect, mind, etc. So when some one says they 'experience it' it is really becoming it, because there is nothing finer, more subtler than that to experience 'it' as an object. It is never the object.

    Said from a different point of view and a different school ( kaśmir śaivism and our trika śāstra-s); in the 20th kārikā, bhairava informs us that :
    tatdāsauśivarūpī sayāt śaivī mukhamihocyate ||20
    In laymen's terms, śivaḥ is known through śaivī (śakti).

    We will not purse this statement now, but is is also quite profound and on the same foundation as
    yogasthaḥ kuru karmānī.

    So, 'how can we achieve mukthi by practicing something which involves body mind intellect ?' --> Skill in action.



    On to another question a bit later...

    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ


    terms


    • paśu or paśúnā - any tethered animal, singularly or collectively
      • 'a herd '; 5 kinds are enumerated , " men , kine , horses , goats and sheep "
      • paśutā - the state of an animal
      • paśutva - (with māheśvara-s and pāśupata-s) being the individual soul
      • paśavya - belonging to a herd; a drove of cattle
    Last edited by yajvan; 25 December 2016 at 02:05 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: How can maya lead to knowledge of brahman

    hariḥ om̐
    ~~~~~~
    namasté

    Question 3 & 4
    saguṇa and nirguṇa brahman

    • saguṇa – with qualities; the world of things, diversity, differentiated things.
    • nirguṇa – without qualities; pure whole, stainless, undifferentiated

    These terms are for our use. For those that need to compare and contrast ideas. There is no 2. It ‘seems’ so, because we use the two terms. Think of an iceberg in the water. There is that portion that is above the water and that which is below. Yet it is one , but we use terms above and below to get to know some of its properties or characteristics.
    Brahman above the waterline is all of diversity, of things. Yet it is still brahman. And below, it is undifferentiated. Yet all-and-all it is in total brahman. There is no two.

    you mention
    if Brahman become many by choice and entered into it , why then the diversity for us “seems so”. You quoted verse from Gita chapter 9. This verse has clearly stated that he creates again and again still we have to make his creation “ seems so”. First you say Brahman by choice became many and entered into it then you say Brahman never became many or entered into it .
    Note that when we say brahman becomes ‘many’ He is not used up, He in total is not converted to many and loses His status of wholeness, fullness , this would be an incorrect view. Within our upaniṣads they have a particular voice, approach, method. I need to go outside the upaniṣads to explain this so allow me this indulgence.

    Within the non-dual kaśmir śaivism view of Reality we are told keenly and simply within the śiva sūtra-s , 1st chapter :
    caitanyamātmā | 1.1

    This first sūtra offers that ātmā is the reality (the essence) of everything i.e. Supreme consciousness, as the Truth of one's status and the essence of all creation. This ātman at its root can be viewed as ātan. This ātan आतन् is defined as that which extends, stretches over. It is all and everything, without pause... there’s no above or below like the iceberg.

    Now this ātmā = Supreme consciousness = paramaśivaḥ. I mention this because the term ‘śiva’ is rooted (√) in śī which is defined as ‘in whom all things lie’. Nothing is outside of paramaśivaḥ. It is without break or pause. So even creation occurs within this fullness and wholeness of Being. This is the notion of curving back (leaning, resting-upon or avaṣṭabhya) onto my SELF (svām) I create (visṛjāmi) again and again (punaḥ punaḥ) – totally Self-sufficient.

    So, there is more. The śivasūtra-s are so profound (as they were offered by śivaḥ himself to vasugupata-ji); they are offered in 3 chapters. The 1st chapter is of the highest knowledge and truth. It is śāmbhavopāya; then comes the 2nd chapter and it is śaktopāya, and then the 3rd chapter which is āṇavopāya. Why mention this?
    • śāmbhavopāya = śāmbhava upāya , the first and Supreme means to this Divine Reality
    • śaktopāya = śakti upāya, the next approach engaging śakti methods (upāya) to this Divine Reality
    • āṇavopāya = āṇava upāya is the next approach and engages all the methods (upāya) to this Divine Reality for the āṇava = ‘small’ or the person in boundaries.


    You see, some are ready for this Reality and just a nudge is needed. Others need more work to be done. It is how ‘ripe’ the student is to falling of the tree (of doing, chasing, acquiring, wanting, needing).

    Now why bother with this? Here is the brilliance. In the 1st chapter ātman at its root can be viewed as ātan and as I have mentioned it suggests stretching over, covering all. Yet in chapter 3 the term ātan means sātatya gamane - or who comes and goes, always in movement. How does this apply ? It is the ātman that goes (gama) uninterrupted (sātatya) from birth-to-birth i.e. the āṇava or ‘small’ ,the person in boundaries It is that chapter for the one that needs more support within the field of doing.
    In both cases the SELF is there but in two conditions - one as completely independent, svātantrya, full, without boundaries, the other is 'shrunk on all sides' ( svāmī lakṣman-jū's words) and goes from birth-to-birth.

    But who is śivaḥ and who is the individual ? Both. One is expressed in an unbounded full and whole condition; the other in a bound condition, but still śivaḥ.

    It is this constrained condition that many wish to throw off and come back to the unbounded condition. One does not become something else, or ‘gain’ something as if it was an acquisition. It is one’s return back his/her original status. To even say ‘return’ is a misnomer. Can anyone exist for one second without Being ? It is just the firm re-recognition of Being as your Self which becomes now and always your referral point in wake-dream-sleep . It never subsides.

    It is like a gold becoming an ear-ring, then a finger ring, then a broach. Taking on all these shapes; then the gold finally says
    ‘I just want to be gold again’.




    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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