Posted on: 04 Feb 2005
The study of scriptures is like studying a subject through a correspondence course. The scriptures contain the total truth. But the correct way of interpretation is very important. Several people who are over intelligent have misinterpreted the scriptures in their own way to suit to their convenience. These people do not want to make any effort to change themselves to become eligible for the divine fruit. They are unable to fly to the sky from the earth. Instead, they wish that the divine fruit from the sky should come to the earth and should fall in their hands directly. Everybody aspires for the highest fruit through the easiest way. The easiest way is the path of knowledge, which does not require any sacrifice. The highest fruit is to become the very Lord right now from this moment onwards. They like the preacher to say that they should just come out of their house to receive a heap of infinite treasure lying at their doorstep. Anybody will be most pleased to receive the news that, he has become eligible to join the post of district collector in any stage of his study for the I.A.S. Examination [The I.A.S. examination is a prerequisite to hold government office]. Everyone would be happy if the post of district collector is offered to the fresh student who just joined the I.A.S. course and also to the student who passed the I.A.S. Examination. Both are equally eligible to join the same post at any instant. If the preacher says that both have already joined the post and that they have only forgotten this truth, now all the effort is only to recognize that they are already the district collectors. This gives the idea that there is no need of any future effort. This is the misinterpreted philosophy of monism (Advaita) of Shankara [misinterpreted by the present Advaita scholars]. Everybody is greatly attracted to this path. The influence of this path is so much that nobody wants to come out of this illusion. It is so sweet that they are unable to leave this state. The basic misconception is to think that the self [Atma] is the Super-Self [Paramatma]. The self is any living being in this world. The Super-Self is the Lord. They just find one common point i.e., the pure awareness (Chit) which exists in both. The prime minister and his peon have several common points like pure awareness, similar form of external human body etc. Both eat and sleep similarly. Both are married and both have children. Because of these common points can you treat the prime minister and His peon as one and the same? Based on one common point i.e., pure awareness, how can you say that the self is the Super-Self?
The Veda says that the sun shines by the order of the Lord. In summer, a human being is killed due to sunstroke. Let the Advaita scholar stand against the sunstroke and order the sun not to kill him. When the disciples of Shankara thought that they were also the Lord, Shankara swallowed molten lead and asked the disciples to do the same. Then they fell at the feet of Shankara and accepted their mistake. Shankara said “Shivah Kevaloham”, which means that He alone is Shiva. The word ‘Kevala’ (only) is important here.
Shankara while taking a bath in the ocean at Puri said “Oh Lord! Although there is a qualitative identity between us, there is a quantitative difference. The water is common in both the sea and the wave like the pure awareness which is common between the soul and Super Soul. But the quantitative difference exists and one should not forget that the entire wave is in the sea but the entire sea is not in the wave”. This is stated as a message for the sake of ordinary soul. These Advaita scholars filter out all the differentiating points and finally get the one common point filtered down into the beaker as the filtrate. The differentiating points are the residue on the filter paper and the filtered common point is collected in beaker. Then they see only the beaker and not the filter paper.
Therefore, the whole spiritual path was twisted and had confused almost all the human beings. Seeing this situation the same Shankara came as Ramanuja and Madhva and clearly differentiated the Super-Self from the self. Some devotees have come out of this illusion but several people are still lingering there due to their unreasonable and unimaginable ambition for the fruit. Unless this basic concept is realized, all the stages of the spiritual effort cannot be healthy. The poison injected in the foundation has spread all over the whole construction.
Your question has already assumed that self is Super-Self. You have no doubt about that basic concept. Nobody likes to touch that basic concept. If that basic concept is analysed, the entire castle of their ambition will collapse. They cannot tolerate to lose the highest fruit, which was captured by them by the easiest way of self-realization. Now for such self-realization, you are asking whether meditation or the study of scriptures is the path. When the goal itself is absent what is the use of the path? It is something like asking whether one should pass the eighth standard or ninth standard to become the district collector. Neither of these two standards can give you the post. By passing those two standards one can get the post of a peon. One has to pass the I.A.S. Examination for which he is eligible only after passing a degree examination, which is far from both those standards. These Advaita scholars argue that the peon is the collector. They do not accept the existence of any higher post other than the peon. The reason for this basic misunderstanding is the word ‘Brahman’.
As per Sanskrit grammar, this word comes from the root “Brihi-Vruddhau”, which indicates that the root meaning of this word is greatness. Anything that is great can be called as Brahman. The soul is the most precious and greatest item of the creation and is called as Para Prakriti, which means the greatest of all the created items. The soul is included as a part of the creation (Prakriti) and is called as Para Prakriti as said in the Gita (Prakritim Viddhi me paraam…). It is not the Creator. If it is the Creator it cannot be called as Prakriti. It is only the modification of food [matter] during evolution as said in the Veda (Annat Purushah…). The same inert energy called as electromagnetic radiation, working through a special unknown technology is called life. The materials of the technology are known and the working inert energy is also known. But the special technology in which it works is not known and therefore, life energy has not been artificially synthesized so far. Only God knows that technology. When sage Gautama cursed Ahalya, she became a stone. Now where is the soul and subtle body of Ahalya? Is it not in the stone? If it is not in the stone, there is no suffering to the soul through its subtle body. When the foot of Rama touched the stone, it got converted back into the woman called Ahalya. This clearly shows the inter conversion of life energy into inert energy and vice-versa.
When Brahma stole the cows and cowboys for one year, Lord Krishna created identical duplicates of the same cows and cowboys. If the soul is eternal it cannot be created again. This again proves that the soul is only a part of the creation and not the eternal Creator. The soul is said to be eternal with reference to this temporary body. Thus it is only relatively permanent as said in the Gita (Na Hanyate Hanyamane Sareere). If one does not understand the theory of relativity, the verses in the second chapter in the Gita cannot be realized. The soul is ‘greater’ than the ‘great’ body but the Super-Soul is greater than the ‘greater’ soul. Therefore, the soul is not the greatest. But as far as the items of Prakriti or Creation are concerned soul is the greatest. This does not mean that the soul is the Super-Soul. The Super-Soul is beyond the creation and is not an item of creation. Therefore, the Super-Soul does not come into the boundaries of Creation or Prakriti. In this sense the soul, which is the greatest within the boundaries of creation is called as Brahman. The scripture, Veda, is also called as Brahman because it is the greatest among all the scriptures. This is stated in the Gita (Brahmaakshara Samudbhavam).
Therefore, any ‘greatest’ item in a specific category can be called as Brahman. There is another path of psychological treatment of the teacher. It is to encourage the student by attaching the highest goal to every step he climbs. To make the student climb one more step, the teacher says that if he climbs one more step, the final height will be achieved. In this way encouragement is given to the devotee by saying that the Super-Self is achieved if the self is achieved. In fact the achievement of the self is necessary to achieve the Super-Self. If one attains his own self, he attains perfect peace. If he identifies himself with the soul, which is pure awareness, he is detached from the gross body and the inner subtle body. By such detachment, all the worldly bonds disappear and all the mental worries vanish. One attains the peace. Peace is a prerequisite for attaining the Super-Self. Thus attainment of the self is very important, which is the middle station of the journey.
When you are mentally worried and dragged by these worldly bonds, how can you concentrate on and develop the single bond on God? Therefore, self-realization is the basis for reaching the Super-Self. But one should not stop at mere self-realization because the attainment of the self is not attainment of Super-Self. If one is traveling from Vijayawada to Mumbai, the middle station is Hyderabad. One has to reach Hyderabad before reaching Mumbai. But one should not get down at Hyderabad thinking that it is Mumbai. Therefore, attaining the self and thereby attaining peace is a prerequisite for attaining the Super-Self. The study of scriptures as well as meditation are important as prerequisites to attain the self. The scripture must be studied to know the truth. But only the Sadguru must explain the scripture.
It is said that the Veda, the scripture, has to be studied only from a Guru and should not be read directly from book. Even this statement is misunderstood. People misinterpret that the recitation of the Veda should be done only with the help of the Guru or Preacher. No teacher is required for mere recitation. Any student can memorize any book by reading it on his own and no teacher is required for that. The correct interpretation of this statement is that the Veda should be explained only by a Sadguru (True Preacher). A teacher is required for explanation and interpretation and not for mere recitation. Thus, the study of the scripture must be done only with the help of Sadguru and not even under a Guru who is only an ordinary human being.
Then meditation means memorizing the concept that you are the self or soul or casual body and detaching yourself from the gross and subtle bodies. Both are required to fix you in the soul permanently. Pooja is only the worship of a model, which is suitable for the preliminary low cadre-devotees as said “Pratimaahyalpa Buddhinaam”. Thus both the study of scripture with the help of Sadguru and meditation are important to attain the middle station. Both these are also the indirect means to attain the Super-Self because unless peace is attained by self-realization, one cannot travel further to attain and please the Super-Self or the Lord.
People are clinging to the fruit of the path shown by Shankara due to over-ambition. They think that this fruit can be obtained by spending a little time and energy in study of the scripture. It is just like the recent computer scam related to Abidjan city. They ask you to spend a little to release the box and offer crores of rupees as the fruit of your little effort. Several innocent people were trapped and even flew to Abidjan to collect the box. But there is no trace of the box. Even Swami (Myself) played with one scam and made a long correspondence trying to change their attitude. [Those people tried to fool Swami too and Swami played innocent and tried to change their attitude] Shankara was surrounded by atheists, who only believed in the gross materialistic world. He tried to lead them from this gross state to a subtler state by introducing the subtle soul. The journey from the gross state to the subtle state can be a rehearsal for the journey from the imaginable creation to the unimaginable God. He stressed on the detachment from the body and attachment to the self. This gives a training to detach from the imaginable world and to attach to the unimaginable God.
In fact, the Super-Self or God is unimaginable, whereas the self or pure awareness is imaginable. Therefore, even awareness cannot be the common point between Super-Self and self. How can you say the unimaginable God possesses awareness? Awareness or life energy is an imaginable item of the creation. The scholars have misunderstood that God has awareness because God wished to create this universe. They say that since God wished, God must be awareness. This logic applies only to the items of creation and not to the Creator who is beyond creation. The unimaginable God can wish even without being the awareness. He is above the laws of Creation. The Veda says “Apanipaado Javano Graheeta…”, which means that He can run without legs and He can catch without hands. Since God runs you would say that God must have legs based on the natural laws. But the super natural God does not require legs to run. Similarly He can wish to create the world without Himself being the awareness. If this is understood, it is clear that the Super-Self is beyond your imagination. The Super-Self enters into some items of creation to give Its experience to you.
If the medium is a human form, it becomes most convenient for the Super-Self to preach you and receive your love and service directly. The Super-Self present in the human form is the Sadguru who will lead you from the gross body and subtle body to the self and then finally to the Super-Self, which is none else than Himself. Therefore, identifying and catching the feet of the Sadguru is most important than all these things mentioned by you.
The reason for Brahman to be stated as awareness is that, Brahman enters only a living being and not an inert object. Of course, the inert objects can be worshipped as models of Brahman by the lower cadre. Such worship is called as Pooja. If you see the incarnations [mentioned in the Puranas], all of them were only living beings like fish, tortoise, pig etc. The living being can only do certain actions independently. For the sake of human beings, Brahman enters a certain human body because preaching and clarification of doubts is impossible if the medium is not a human body. Even the energetic bodies taken up Brahman contain the separate innermost soul and inner subtle body. The energetic body is only the outer gross body. The subtle body is made of qualities. In case of the energetic form of Lord Brahma, the subtle body is made of the Rajas quality, in case of Vishnu it is of made of the Sattvam quality, in case of Shiva it is made of the Tamas quality and in case of Lord Datta it is made of all the three qualities.
When the Brahman appeared as Yaksha to angels, it was Datta who tested them and talked to them. The inert item is not independent and is always controlled by life. Therefore, Brahman never enters any inert body, which cannot control itself. If Brahman is identified with an inert object, Brahman has to be controlled by another living being. This is impossible because Brahman is the controller of all the inert and living beings. Therefore, the Veda says that Brahman can never exist in a statute or a picture (Na tasya Pratima…). But the inert object can be kept as a representative of model of Brahman and can be worshipped. But such worship is limited to just cleaning and decorating of the statute etc., and should not be extended to offering food, Dakshina (money) etc. The priests and the managers of temples are actually taking the offered food and Dakshina by keeping the statue in front of you. The priests and managers are not of the level of the Sadguru. Either they enjoying the offeringd themselves or spend the money improperly. Therefore, the worship of statue is not liked by realized souls. But it should be respected because there is no other alternative to this for beginners.
Whenever a soul or self (Atman) is referred, Atman means a human being. In Sanskrit, Atman means the human body. In fact even the soul is called as the casual body, which is the innermost component of the human body. The human body consists of the outermost gross body, the inner subtle body and the innermost casual body or soul. Therefore, whenever the word Atman comes in the sense of the Lord, it means the human body (human being), which is charged and pervaded all over by the Lord. Only such a self is the Super-Self or Brahman or the Lord. This should not be extrapolated to every self or every human being. Every human being is just the human body, which is a composite of the three bodies. The Veda says that the Lord is controller of all the selves (Atmeswaram…). If every self is the Lord Himself, how can He be controller of the self? It means He controls Himself. Therefore, self-realization and attainment of self in the first of half of the spiritual journey means realizing and attaining your own self and finally fixing yourself in the soul. But the word ‘self’ in the second half of the journey means the human incarnation or Sadguru and here self-realization means the recognition of the Sadguru and self-attainment here means catching hold of the feet of Sadguru [steadfast devotion to Sadguru]. You should not stop at the end of the first half of the journey thinking that your own self is the Sadguru. Therefore, it is better to catch the Sadguru in the beginning itself so that you are well aware of the whole of journey in the beginning itself. Of course, you can go to the middle station by your self with the help of scriptures and meditation. But there is a danger of your stagnation in the middle station thinking that, that is the final station. Once you are caught up by this Abidjan scam in the middle station, you will never go further, because the scam is so sweet. The Advaita scholars are caught up by this scam in the beginning of the journey itself. Therefore, nobody can save them.