Namaskar How is the relation between the soul and the Supreme Soul - God? It is as though on a single tree there are two beautifully winged birds, perching together intimately, one eating the tasty fruits of that tree and the other witnessing it only as the knower without eating them. Here the fruit-eating bird is the unit-soul, for the unit-soul is taking the exact impress of whatever auspicious or inauspicious (good or bad) fruits are growing in the mind-like tree, or is getting smitten by them, and the Supreme Soul, as the Knower of all mundane entities, is also perching on the same psychic tree but that Supreme Soul is not taking its fruits. The Supreme is just going on witnessing as the Omnipresent Entity. The Supreme Consciousness is the Original Manifestation and the unit soul is a psychic reflection of the Supreme. --- The deathless God is Omnipresent. Front or back, south or north, top or bottom, that Consciousness permeates everywhere. The three worlds (physical, mental, spiritual) are the greatest manifestations of Divine Consciousness. That is to say, it is the Supreme Consciousness, Who is manifest as the Greatest Entity throughout the three worlds. --- Iishvara Pran'idha'na : Lesson 1 First lesson is the practice of the principle of Iishvara Pran'idha'na mentioned also under Yama and Niyama. This basic meditation has five aspects: Physical posture. Lotus pose or padma'sana is the best posture for this meditation, for it helps control the senses and keeps the spine erect, enhancing concentration. Bhu'ta shuddi. Withdrawal of the mind from the physical surroundings. A'sana shuddi. Withdrawal of the mind from the body and concentrating the mind in a point known as I's'ta Cakra, the controlling point of the mind. This point varies from person to person. Citta shuddi. Mind identifies within Cosmic Consciousness. Dhya'na ideation. Identifying with the spiritual concept of one's personal mantra, that is, to merge the mind into Cosmic Consciousness. This leads the mind into a transcendental state of infinite bliss. --- Intuitional Science What is the result of learning Intuitional Science or Spiritual Practices from a competent preceptor? By dint of this Intuitional Science a person learns to understand thoroughly what is temporal and what is eternal. This is the eterno-temporal discrimination. The spiritualist accepts the eternal and not the temporal. It is on the strength of this Intuitional Science that people know what is mortal and what is immortal. What is the innate characteristic of the human beings? The endeavour to achieve happiness. why does a living being crave for happiness? For self-preservation. Why do you eat and drink? To keep yourself alive - to achieve happiness. From this you understand that to love whatever little is lasting within your present entity - whatever is its essence, is your inner self. This innate characteristic teaches people to guide your subtlest soul towards spiritual longing and spiritual attainment. The transitory body is not the supreme entity. The materialists are reluctant to give any importance to the mind in their philosophy. They very often even hesitate to clearly admit mind's apperception or self-consciousness. Yet these materialists sometimes want to publicize themselves as pragmatists or behaviourists. They want to `make a day of night and a night of day'. However, all created objects that exist in this universe are under the sway of the Supreme Being. The Cosmic Consciousness is controlling everything of this world, whether crude, subtle of causal. Intuitional Science enables this understanding and leads to the path of good. That which comes within the orbit of the mind is but a relative truth, not an eternal truth, and so it will come and go. Scriptures and mythologies are but stacks of bricks, i.e. they are only arranged in layers, carrying no significance or intrinsic value. So how can they describe or explain that Ultimate Entity, which is beyond the scope of mental faculty? How can this Intuitional Science be interpreted which is beyond the compass of body, words and mind? Only by the development of the subtler layers of the mind and ultimately through a psycho-spiritual approach where the spiritual practices act on the silver lining between the I-feeling of the mind and unit soul (but affecting all aspects of life), so as to recognise and realise that one's self equates with the Supreme Soul. --- THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VEDA AND TANTRA It is not enough to say that the ideological difference between Veda and Tantra is wide; rather one should say that it is very wide. Tantra is a practical and natural process and is thus easily practised and followed by the members of society. People easily accept it as their own. There is a shloka in the Vedas that begins, Uttis't'hata ja'grata pra'pya bara'nnibodhata -- that is, "Arise, awake. Seek a competent teacher and start moving along the path of spirituality." This is similar to the spirit of Tantra. But the Veda further says: Ks'urasya dha'ra' nishita' duratyaya'. Durgam' pathastat kavayo vadanti. That is, "The path is as sharp as a razor's edge, so move along it carefully." Here Tantra begins to differ from Veda. The process of Tantra progressively develops the qualities latent in human beings and at the same time eliminates the defects. In Tantra, therefore, there is no question of the path being as sharp as a razor's edge. Because of this spirit, a practitioner of Tantra becomes elevated and attains mastery over a hostile environment. Tantra does not accept the teachings of the Vedas that human beings should move internally, and carefully avoid any association with their environment. Rather, Tantra suggests that spiritual aspirants should rid their minds of fear from the very beginning. The Vedas maintain, however, that fear will be automatically removed from the mind some day in the process of sa'dhana'; but who knows when that auspicious moment will come? It is not desirable to wait indefinitely for that. Moreover, while moving in this way, something unexpected might happen which might be detrimental to individual and collective growth. So Tantra advises, "Jump into your environment without the least hesitation. Don't be afraid. Fear will leave you step by step. Tomorrow you will not be as fearful as you are today, the day after you will be even less fearful, and ten days from now you'll notice that you are completely fearless." The process of Tantra sa'dhana' is formulated along these lines. The very first night that a Tantric goes to the burial ground he is stricken with fear; there is horripilation all over the body. But when he returns home after finishing sa'dhana', the mind is much lighter than before. When he goes out for sa'dhana' the next night, he is much less fearful. And thus the Tantric steadily and slowly overcomes fear. This is the applied process of Tantra which will help the practitioner overcome all mental propensities. In Tantra, there is a nice blending between the internal sa'dhana', an ongoing psychic process, and physico-psychic sa'dhana'. In the Vedas, however, physico-psychic sa'dhana' is totally absent -- only psychic sa'dhana' is practised, which may lead to trouble. Tantra is of the opinion that the Vedas cannot fulfil the hopes of beginners on the spiritual path -- the hopes of making some discernible spiritual progress at the outset. In fact there is often retardation. That is why the Vedic system of sa'dhana' has been almost totally rejected by society. Even in the past it was not widely popular, and today it is practised by only a few people. And the little Vedic sa'dhana' which is practised today is merely a few prayers to Parama Purus'a. For example, they pray, "O Lord, show me the way. Please help me get Tantric initiation." So Vedic initiation today is just the first step towards Tantric initiation. The sa'dhaka says, "O Lord, I want to follow the path of spirituality and wish to practise the Tantric process of sa'dhana'. Please give me the opportunity to learn it." Sarve ca pashavah santi talavad bhu'tale nara'h: Tes'a'm' jina'napraka'sha'ya viirabha'vah praka'shitah; Viirabha'vam' sada' pra'pya kramena devata' bhavet. --Rudraya'mala Tantra "At the first stage all human beings are as good as animals." Unable to find the light of knowledge, they fail to understand what is to be done and what is not to be done. When one is unaware of the dos and don'ts of life, one is no better than an animal. One will have to rise higher step by step. "When one masters the first stage of Tantra sa'dhana', and acquires some knowledge and intellect and learns about the dos and don'ts of life, one is no longer like an animal but is a veritable hero." In Tantra that system of sa'dhana' is called viira'ca'ra. Viirabha'vam' sada' pra'pya kramena devata' bha'vet -- "while doing sa'dhana' in viirabha'va [the ideation of viira'ca'ra], the sa'dhaka merges in that viirabha'va." And just as one who fights against the fear instinct is called a viira'ca'rii, one who has overcome fear, who has gone beyond fear, is called a divya'ca'rii. And the divya'ca'rii who successfully defeats the ripus and the pa'shas* and, rising above petty selfishness, identifies himself or herself with the collective interest, becomes one with Parama Purus'a. This gradual movement towards the supreme goal is the path of Tantra. It is a safe path where there is no scope for fear. And the naturalness of human life is not impaired under any circumstances. The Tantric sa'dhana' introduced by Sada'shiva was the first sa'dhana' to be given in this world. Tantra sa'dhana' is the only sa'dhana'. Without sa'dhana' there is no Tantra and without Tantra there is no sa'dhana'. Tantra has yet another speciality. According to the Vedas, practical life is guided by theory. But the efficacy of a theory should first be tested in the practical sphere. Movement on the basis of an untested theory may or may not be fruitful. The theory of Tantra has been evolved on the basis of practical experience on the path. And as the theory is formulated on the basis of efficacy in the field of application, it always leads to success. It is infallible in applied life. Shrii Shrii Anandamurti 13 November 1978 morning, Calcutta A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 5 * The s'ad'ripu, or six enemies, of the mind are ka'ma [longing for physical pleasure], krodha [anger], lobha [avarice], mada [vanity], moha [blind attachment], and ma'tsarya [envy]. The as't'apa'sha, or eight fetters, are ghrn'a' [hatred, revulsion], shaunka [doubt], bhaya [fear], lajja' [shyness], jugupsa' [dissemblance], kula [vanity of lineage], shiila [cultural superiority complex], and ma'na [egotism]. --Eds. ---