Η ΦΥΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΝΟΥ
ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟ VI από το βιβλίο
Μετάφραση Άτμαν Νιτυανάντα
1. Ο Δάσκαλος (Γκουρού) είπε: Ο νους έχει τη δύναμη να δημιουργεί ή να
καταστρέφει ολόκληρο το σύμπαν στο ανοιγόκλεισμα ενός ματιού. Σκοτώστε αυτόν
τον νου μέσω της αυτοέρευνας (Βιτσάρα-Vichara - η έρευνα του αληθινού Εαυτού), την καταστροφή των Βάσανας-Vasanas (λεπτές επιθυμίες) και τον έλεγχο της διακύμανσής του.
2, 3. Ο νους είναι μια δέσμη (ένα σύνολο) από Βάσανας. Μέσω των Βάσανας προκαλείται η σκλαβιά. Η καταστροφή των Βάσανας θα φέρει την ελευθερία. Αν καταστραφούν οι Βάσανας ο νους θα πετύχει την τέλεια ηρεμία σαν το καντήλι
που δεν έχει γκί*
ΣΧΟΛΙΟ
Γκί*: γκί είναι το διϋλισμένο αγνό βούτυρο. Το χρησιμοποιούν στην Ινδία για να
φτιάξουν καντήλια. Στην Ελλάδα βάζουμε συνήθως ελαιόλαδο στα καντήλια.
4. Ακριβώς όπως ο μεταξοσκώληκας τυλίγεται στο δικό του κουκούλι (στο
κουκούλι που παράγει ο ίδιος), έτσι και ο άνθρωπος πιάνεται σε αυτό το τεράστιο δίχτυ της Σαμσάρα (κύκλος επαναγγενήσεων) από τις δικές του Σανκάλπας (Sankalpas, σκέψεις, φαντασίες) και Βάσανας.
5. Ο εχθρός του Άτμαν είναι μόνο ο
κυμαινόμενος νους (ο νους που είναι συνεχώς σε κίνηση). Ο νους μέσω της δύναμης
της διακύμανσης δημιουργεί αμέτρητες Βάσανας και Σανκάλπας. Καταστρέψτε αυτήν την κυμαινόμενη δύναμη του νου
μέσω της συνεχούς Έρευνα του Μπράμαν (Μπράμα-Βιτσάρα/ Brahma-Vichara).
6. Το Μπράμαν δεν θα λάμψει αν δεν
καταστραφούν οι δυαδικότητες του νου. Καταστρέψτε τις δυαδικότητες και
το Μπράμαν θα λάμψει στην πρωταρχική του δόξα.
7. Ο Αχάμκαρα-Ahamkara (Εγώ, Εγωϊσμός), που είναι η πηγή όλων
των προβλημάτων, βρίσκεται στον νου. Η εκμηδένιση
(αφανισμός) του εγωισμού θα επιφέρει την καταστροφή του νου και ο
αφανισμός του νου θα επιφέρει την
καταστροφή του εγωισμού.
8. Οι ιδέες το «δικό μου» και το «δικό σου» είναι αποκλειστικά και μόνο
δημιουργίες του νου. Αν ο νους καταστραφεί μέσω της αυτοέρευνας (Βιτσάρα), αυτές οι ιδέες
θα εξαφανιστούν. Μόνο η καταστροφή του νου είναι Απελευθέρωση (Μόκσα-Moksha).
9. Η καταστροφή των Σανκάλπας είναι στ’ αλήθεια η καταστροφή του
νου. Μόνο η ολοκληρωτική καταστροφή των Σανκάλπας πέρα από
κάθε νεκρανάσταση αποτελεί την άφατη,
άφθαρτη, απαστράπτουσα (αστραφτερή)) κατοικία του Μπράμαν.
10. Ακριβώς όπως καθαρίζεται ο χρυσός θερμαίνοντας τον στην φωτιά, έτσι
εξαγνίζεται και ο νους με τη φωτιά του διαλογισμού.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Ακολουθεί το πρωτότυπο κείμενο μαζί με
σχόλια του Σουάμι Κρισνανάντα
THE NATURE OF MIND
1. The Guru
said: The Mind has the power of creating or undoing the whole universe in the
twinkling of an eye. Slay this mind through Vichara (enquiry), destruction of
Vasanas and control of its fluctuation.
The
power of the mind is indescribable and unimaginable. The greatest Siddhis and
Riddhis are all the effects of the working of the highly purified mind.
Terrific powers and psychic abilities are the expressions of the mind when it
nears the All-powerful Consciousness which is the very existence of Power
itself. There are beautiful stories in the Yogavasishtha which illustrate the
existence of the dreadful powers of the mind. Mind is a crude form of the Chit
aspect of the Reality. The Chit-Shakti of Brahman alone appears as the mind.
The purified mind has all the powers of Iccha, Jnana and Kriya which are the
three aspects of the Supreme Shakti. The mind is more powerful than all the
weapons of the world put together; it can do and undo things in a moment, for
it is consciousness in its essence. All Yogic powers are due to the expansion
of the mind in the higher and subtler regions which are swayed over by it by
being included within the domain of its activities. When the mind reaches the
highest state of conscious expansion or the Brahmakara-Vritti, then the goal of
thought is near the reach. That is the glory of the majesty of the Self!
This Supreme State is reached through Vichara
or enquiry and control of the fluctuations of the mind. Vichara or
investigation into the reality behind the universe is the second stage in the
development of spiritual consciousness. Such a thorough research into the
hidden mystery lying as the back-ground of the universe compels the mind to
desist from its terrible expansion into the Vishayakara-Vritti which beholds
the external world with its innumerable functions. The hydra-hooded dragon of
the mind flaps its mighty wings of lust and hatred, emits the fire of craving
to protect its ego, beats the tail of self-assertion and devours the knowledge
of the Truth. It can be shot dead by the gun of penetrating discrimination
loaded with the explodent of burning dispassion for the three worlds.
Protracted Sadhana alone can slay the evil mind and make the Jiva regain its
lost Independence.
2, 3. Mind is a bundle of Vasanas (subtle
desires). Through Vasanas bondage is caused. Destruction of Vasanas will bring
freedom. The mind will attain quiescence like a gheeless lamp if the Vasanas
are destroyed.
The mind is not an impartite substance. Just
as cloth is nothing but a bundle of threads, the mind is nothing but a cluster
of Vasanas or past impressions and subtle desires that persistently lurk within
the subconscience. When the threads are pulled out one by one, where is cloth
at all? When the Vasanas are burnt with their seeds the mind vanishes into the
Immortal Seat of Brahman. The Upanishad says, “when the senses do not work and
stand together with the mind, and when the intellect is still, that, they say
is the Highest State”. The daily selfish actions of the Jiva add to the stock
of these Vasanas and thus the embodied existence becomes unbroken, and the
wheel of birth and death rolls on ceaselessly. The emptying of these Vasanas
demands a twofold counter-activity by the Jiva. The first one is to stop the
adding of newer Vasanas and the second is the destruction of the existing ones.
The first purpose is served by beholding the
Self in all beings, by rendering selfless service to other fellow beings, by
devotion to the Deity and by severe concentration of the mind. The second one
is effected when the mind is completely thinned out and when the Self is
realised.
When the threads of Vasanas are destroyed the
cloth of the mind also disappears from existence. The Ambrosia of Brahman is
drunk deep. The soul is drowned in the ocean of joy. The Wisdom-sun rises and
the Immortal Life is lived. The Divine Existence, the Almighty Satchidananda is
attained.
In this state supreme silence alone is. The
mind becomes quiescent due to the exhaustion of Prarabdhas even as a lamp unfed
by oil gets naturally extinguished. The zenith of being is the cessation of
thought, change and action. It is a getting of everything at once, the living
of the infinite life, the highest freedom, the most supreme blessing, the
greatest happiness and limitlessness of Knowledge which is not a possession but
an existence, not a means of Knowing but the very being of Knowledge-Absolute.
4. Just as a silk-worm is caught in its own
cocoon, so also man is caught in this vast net of Samsara by his own Sankalpas
and Vasanas.
Τhe conception that the prison of life of the individual is self-built is
brought out by the example of the self-imprisoning of the silkworm with its
cocoon which it itself winds around its body. Further escape from the jail
becomes difficult.
The Jiva winds round itself the cocoon of love
for separation from the Eternal Truth through the positive act of being untrue
to itself. It is a selfdeception, a self-blasphemy, a self-slaughter that is
done by allowing oneself to fall into lower Yonis or degraded conditions of
existence. It is real suicide, because it is killing the consciousness of the
true Self. Negation of Truth is the faithfulness towards something other than
Truth, and that something is obviously untruth. He who catches the unreal by
discarding the Real is involved in the horrifying wheel of Samsara and once the
Jiva is caught within the clutches of this turning wheel there is no easy hope
of its near freedom.
The net of Samsara is knit together with the
strings of Sankalpas. He cannot become a Yogi who has not renounced Sankalpas
or the act of imagining. Sankalpa is a creative determination to carry out a
certain effect in the realm of relative life by relating the self to objective
selves which are taken for granted to be independent and real by themselves.
This creative affirmation deposits the psychic objective tendencies in the core
of the being of the Jiva and these tendencies assert themselves whenever they
find suitable conditions for that purpose. The moral sense of the intellect suppresses
the lower appetites and the base cravings during the waking experience but the
moment this ethical sense is overshadowed by the Tamas that manifests itself in
the dreaming and the deep sleep states, the physical propensities which mar the
consciousness of the Self express themselves and demand wish-fulfilment. At
this time, the discriminative faculty is held in check and the dance of the
senses to the tune of the Vasanas becomes the main feature of the Jiva’s life.
The material greed ejects its venom of earthly passion for the possession of
and the rejoicing with spatial objects. This is how the Vasanas manage to
maintain individuality and activity, and make the Jiva suffer the illness of
life as a localised body. It is not merely the suppression but the complete
frying of the Sankalpa-bhavana that can liberate the Jiva from the thraldom of
the earth.
5. The enemy of the Atma is the fluctuating
mind only. The mind through its power of fluctuation generates countless
Vasanas and Sankalpas. Destroy this fluctuating power of the mind through
constant Brahma-Vichara.
The Atma or the immortal Self is enveloped by
the veil of mentation. The vibration of the mind generates fresh Vasanas and
Sankalpas by its forward urge to expand itself info the world of nature. Every
thought sends forth such currents of creative influence of the strength
proportionate to the intensity of the original affirmation, and these creative
urges touch the mental being of the other bodies of the universe in various degrees
in accordance with their power of receptivity based on their own categories in
the stages of their spiritual evolution. When the mental activity is able to
affect even bodies completely separated from its own, it goes without saying
that its immediate body is tremendously influenced by it.
The condition of physical health, mental
peace, nervous equilibrium, harmonised flow of blood in the body are all
dependent on the tranquillity of the inner organ. Every harmful thought poisons
the blood of the individual, disturbs the nerves and wrecks the general health.
All the diseases of the body are mainly rooted in sin and passion which work
the destruction of harmony and purity with enormous vigour. All thoughts of the
individual are generally directed to external acquirements or positive injury
to other beings or to inordinate affections for objects of love. Such thoughts
are against the real good and the growth of the spiritual consciousness and
hence they spoil the career of the Jiva by drowning it in the pains of the
three kinds of evil influences originating from the self and fattened by the
similar actions on it of the rest of the beings of the universe and also the
reactions from the heavenly bodies.
Brahmavichara is the remedy for this
affliction. It is also called Brahmabhyasa which consists in thinking of
Brahman, talking about Brahman, reminding one another of Brahman and resting
completely in Brahman throughout. Such kinds of Sadhana for Brahma-Sakshatkara
alone can free the Jiva from all sorrow and death.
6. Brahman will not shine when the dualities
of the mind are not destroyed. Destroy the dualities. Brahman will shine in its
pristine glory.
It is impossible to have the vision of Brahman
as long as there is faith in dual existence. The Light of the Self cannot be
seen by one who is fast bound to plural and dual life. Even intellectual life
cannot make one behold the glorious Brahman, for the intellect functions only
on a dual basis. The intellect cannot work with a feeling of total Unity, for
thereby, it is trying to arrive at self-destruction. What is inclusive of the
cogniser himself cannot be seen by the cognising subject. It would be just like
attempting to climb on one’s own shoulders. Every method of cognition requires
a process of knowing besides the knower and the known. The intellect itself is
one of the senses through which the internal psychic organ manifests itself.
The fact that intellectuality is excluded from immorality does not refrain it
from its being included among the organs of perception.
The highest power of knowing by the individual
is in its intellect and that being a slave of the dual reality, it is implied,
therefore, that the Jiva, as it is, cannot realise Brahman. It has to divest
itself of the clogging psychic becomings and stand up bold and unaided by the
senses. When the waves, ripples and bubbles, the rays and the ramifications are
embraced as one being, the world becomes no world, the body is no body,
relations are no relations and qualities are no qualities.
Since duality is not of the nature of Brahman,
it will not shine where there is duality. Dual perception is a refusal to
perceive Brahman which is Oneness and since two contradictions cannot exist in
the same nature, the experience of Brahman becomes impossible in the
pluralistic world. When the sense of two-ness in being is overcome the
perceiver and the perceived fuse into a single Unit and that is the realization
of Brahman. Even in deep sleep duality does not appear but since duality is in
a potential state there and is not destroyed, Brahman cannot be realised in the
deep sleep state. Unity attended with Consciousness is the Reality. Glimpses of
this state are experienced in selfless contemplation and activity of pure and
spiritual determination. The joy of self-abandonment cannot be compared with
any joy derived from egoistic enjoyments.
7. Ahamkara which is the source of all
troubles has its seat in the mind. Annihilation of egoism will bring about
destruction of the mind and annihilation of the mind will cause destruction of
egoism.
Ahamkara or egoism is the main sense of the
Jiva. It is the mastermanipulator of diverse life. The ego is the hardening or
the concretising of the universal consciousness at a point in space. It is
formed of the stuff of arrogating itself and excluding all else from being.
Ahamkara need not necessarily be taken to mean pride merely, but it is
essentially the feeling of “I am” or self-awareness. This self-consciousness is
the pivot of the rotation of the incessant revelation and the withdrawal of
self-asserting forces thrown out by the ego by its powerful spells of thought.
The whole universe is in fact this magical incantation of the sense of the ego
which has at its background the ocean of the mind.
The ego is a monad in absolute consciousness.
It strongly desires to express itself and this power of expression creates the
appearance of space, time, sound, touch, colour, taste and smell in limitless
being. The origin of the world is the desire to egotise in opposition to the
Self. The grosser the ego-manifestation, the more real appears the world and
the farther is the Jiva from the reality.
The ego or the individuality does not consist
in being a simple spiritual entity or a soul but in being a mind which is a
peculiar mode of the Supreme Brahman determined by a special movement or will.
This self-same ego is called by various names when it performs different
functions. Buddhi, Ahamkara, Chitta, Manas, Karma, Vasana. Sankalpa, Kalpana,
Bhavana, Prakriti, Shakti, are all the appearances of the different forces
which manifest themselves from the root of individuality in order to fulfil
certain particularised conditions of self-existence.
The ego and the mind are related to one
another as the source and the root. They are in a sense the same power viewed
from different points of view. This power is like a wave in the Ocean of the
Absolute. It is the impulse to create that causes the appearance of the ego and
this will to manifest forms is cast all over in all egos each of which in its
own way takes part in the scheme of creation. This creative impulse should be
checked and turned inward to effect Self-Illumination or Realization of
Brahman.
8. The ideas of ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ are only
the creation of the mind. If the mind is destroyed through Vichara, these ideas
will vanish. Destruction of the mind alone is Moksha.
“I”, “Mine”, “Thine”, and such other ideas are based on the belief in a
multiple universe. The intensity of these ideas differs in the various degrees
of ignorance and knowledge that characterise the individuals. There are seven
grades of ignorance and seven grades of knowledge. These fourteen stages of
evolution are dominated by fourteen degrees of nescience which hide the Reality
little by little increasing as the darkness becomes thicker and the
intelligence more obscured. The Sadhana that is practised to remove this
ignorance should consist in a gradual unveiling of the Self through systematic
self-restraint and abstraction. The ideas which reign over the mind are its own
offshoots which later on gain independence over its natural quiescent state,
and act like irremovable obstructions on the path.
The destruction of the ego is the destruction
of the mind, and it is done through the practice of Yoga. Yoga is a process
running along two lines, namely, the denial of individuality and the
affirmation of the Self. The ego or the individuality does not consist only of
intellect but also of feeling and activity. The practice of Yoga, therefore, is
done through three aspects: Intellectual assertion and conviction of one’s not
being an ego but the Absolute Brahman, negation of desire, infatuation and
attachment, etc., and practice in stopping the ceaseless functioning of the
vital current or Prana which does the activity of life by its rising and
setting. These methods bring moments of rest to the psychic activity which
corresponds to the moment of rest in consciousness, however little it may be.
This long practice brings permanent rest of mental activity and opens the door
of intuition.
When Sadhana is practised - be it of any
particular aspect of self-transformation - the one important point to be borne
in mind is the negation of the ego. It is not formal practice of routines and traditional
rules that can liberate the individual but methods to pacify the egoism through
commonsense and understanding. Yoga is completely an inward process, for it is
not the body that is the hindrance to Absolute Independence but the mind. Any
physical practice done to achieve Spiritual Perfection should be coupled with
inward detachment and love for the Eternal. The yearning to catch the Infinite
Being directs all the emotions to the Fullness of Existence and thus undermines
the flinty egoism.
9. Destruction of Sankalpas is really
destruction of the mind. It is only Sankalpas destroyed beyond resurrection
that constitute the ineffable, imperishable and effulgent Brahmic seat.
The Sankalpas should be destroyed beyond
resurrection. The resuscitation of Vasanas allows the tree of Samsara to grow
once again and therefore, the purpose of all methods of Yoga is the utter
removal of all the possibilities of further appearance of the mind. Calm, sure
and steady should be the way of approach to Self-realization. There is no other
way to attain Liberation than the Knowledge of what really exists, for the
bondage consists in the forgetfulness of the Absolute which is here and now.
Liberation cannot be attained by mere living in a forest and practising selfmortification.
It is not even the renunciation of Karma that is required for the purpose of
Self-realization. It is Knowledge that is wanted and nothing short of it.
Knowledge consists in the conviction that Brahman is the only reality, that
everything is Brahman, that nothing other than Brahman can exist, that Brahman
is the very Self of all.
Jnana is a means for Self-realization and not
merely an intellectual conviction. Scriptural study may help further Knowledge
but by itself it is only in the realm of Maya. Jnana is not a philosophical
creed but an intuitional comprehension of the entire being. The individual
should expand into the Absolute and should live as the Absolute. Actual living
in the Experience of Brahman, the Divine Being, is what is indicated by true
Jnana. The eradication of the mental function is not done in a moment like a
magical trick. The attachment of the Jiva to its finitude has come since aeons.
A mere intellectual grasping may make one believe in the illusory nature of the
world, yet, the illusion does not thereby stop tormenting the individual. The
cessation of Samsara takes place only through the actualisation of the undying
Knowledge and practice of Yoga. Yoga should be a discipline neglecting no
aspect of life. The physical, mental and spiritual aspects must be touched by
every true method of Yoga for Selfrealization. A one-sided development leaves
the other sides as they were and Truth-experience becomes impossible.
10. Just as gold is purified by heating it on
the fire, so also mind is purified by the fire of meditation.
Yoga is in its strictest sense Meditation on the Absolute Reality. The way to
such a meditation lies through suffering and pain. The road to bliss always
passes through self-sacrifice and self-purification. Gold becomes lustrous when
it is purged of all dross and the self shines in its own Nature when it is
disciplined through meditation. Spiritual meditation is practised through
constant affirmation of one’s being identical with Brahman. Thereby the mind
returns to Peace. When the Self is asserted to be in tune with the Great
Expanse of the Reality the mind which is a shadow of the Self turns back to its
substance, the Self. The mind being annihilated, the vital currents or the
Pranas stop their activity, because the Prana is only an appearance of the
power of the mind. The practice of deep affirmation of the Supreme Tattwa
subordinates all other spiritual endeavours to reach Brahman.
One must continuously meditate on the truth
that he is non-different from Brahman and thus direct all his activities,
thoughts and emotions towards this end, affirming without break that he is the
One Brahman himself. This method is the most difficult one, because one has to
feel here the whole universe as the one essence of Akhanda-Satchidananda. By
constantly brooding over the absolute existence of Brahman, one becomes Brahman
only due to the power of meditation. That person who affirms Brahman in this
manner acquires all power and all knowledge, for, he affirms that which is everything.
His Self becomes the Infinite Whole, Satyam, Jnanam and Anantam. The mind
vanishes for want of objects of perception. When the One Brahman alone is seen
everywhere, where is the occasion for the appearance of objects? The breath
also stops thereby and the Absolute Experience shines alone.
The affirmation of Absoluteness is suited only
for the highest class of aspirants whose minds are ready to receive the higher
spiritual Light. When the Sadhaka practises such severe assertions the physical
consciousness will try to revolt against all measures taken against its
well-being. The general result of such affirmations by weak-minded aspirants is
great fear and shock.
The Divine Consciousness tries to manifest itself in the individual and shatters the ego like a mad elephant that has entered a small hut. This supreme meditation is called Brahmabhavana or Brahmabhyasa. The force of intense meditation lights up the entire materialised nature and at once liberates the soul like a sudden flash of lightning. At one stroke the universe dwindles into nothingness and the Majesty of Brahman is revealed. This is the Goal.
The Divine Consciousness tries to manifest itself in the individual and shatters the ego like a mad elephant that has entered a small hut. This supreme meditation is called Brahmabhavana or Brahmabhyasa. The force of intense meditation lights up the entire materialised nature and at once liberates the soul like a sudden flash of lightning. At one stroke the universe dwindles into nothingness and the Majesty of Brahman is revealed. This is the Goal.