Moment to Speak

The Ultimate Reality is Brahman , or Cosmic Self, but the perceived world is Mithya , or an illusion, avows Adi Shankaracharya. It does not have any independent existence, other than as a Maya , or illusion of Brahman, or Ultimate Reality ( Brahma Jnanavali Mala , (20), Adi Shankaracharya). Maya (illusion) plays with Avidya , or ignorance, by blurring the subject with objects, or Atman with the phenomenal world. Duality, according to Swami Sivananda , consisting of subject and object, is a creation of the mind and the sensual nerve senses. In deep sleep, one has no experience with the world because there is no mind. This clearly shows that there will be a world only if there is a mind and that the mind alone creates this world. This world, he says, is a play of colours and sounds. This sensory universe is a complex interaction of Maya , or illusion, the mind, and the nervous system. Their jugglery keeps the false show going. One enjoys swimming in the transience as long as the sensua...

Living liberation (Jeevan mukti, or Sadyo-Moksha, or Videha mukti) is a state of experiencing awareness, knowledge, and realisation of Atman , or Self, in this very life process while still alive, bereft of desire, attachment, and affliction but in a steady state of solitude and quietude. It involves recognition of one's true self as Brahman , or Cosmic Self. The pure-natured person, according to Ashtavakra Gita (18.21-27), is desireless, peaceful, self-reliant, independent, and free of bonds; he has neither joy nor sorrow nor pride nor false humility, and his joy is in himself. He is beyond mental stillness and distraction, for one who has transcended Samsara (birthand death, or worldly existence) does not think, know, hear, or see. He is the one who acts without being able to say why, but is not thereby a fool; he is one liberated while still alive, happy, and blessed. It represents living liberation, where one embodies divine consciousness and continues to exist in societ...

Bondage and release highlight the struggle between the entrapment of Atman , or Self, within material existence and its potential for liberation. This cycle reflects the impact of actions and desires, with bondage stemming from Avidya , or ignorance. Conversely, release is realised through self-knowledge and self-realisation . It elevates one to freedom from the repetitious Samsara chakra , or cycle of birth and rebirth and ultimately understanding one’s true nature. The mind alone is the cause of bondage, as well as liberation, asserts Amritabindu Upanishad (2). The mind is the entire set, explains Acharya Prashant , the whole universe of objects that the ‘I’ has a relationship with. It does not encompass everything that exists in the universe.One does not have a relationship with everything. However, anything with which one develops a relationship becomes part of the mind. The ego is just an object untouched by the self. But the moment the object is touched by ‘I’, it becomes vish...

Desire exists when there is a subject and an object, i.e., duality. When all is One Existence only, there is no desire. Desire is a conative tendency of mental processes of attempted action or change. It encompasses impulse, volition, and the effort to enjoy objects in the phenomenal world through sensory perceptions and organs. Desire, according to Swami Sivananda , is an earnest longing for attaining some object or goal. It is a wish or an urge to enjoy an object or attain something. He explains that the desire to see is of the eyes; to hear is of the ears; to taste is of the tongue; to smell is of the nose; to touch is of the skin; to work is of the hand; to speak has become of the organ of speech; to walk has become of the feet; and to copulate has become of the organ of reproduction. Desire, Swami Sivananda maintains, is the root cause for this mundane life in the Samsara chakra (wheel of birth and death). Desire, sage philosopher Swami Krishnananda explains, is a concentration...

The Ashtavakra Gita (10.8) pronounces "Now at last stop," or "Cease that now," specifically in the context of external thought projection of mind to relish in the world of objects. The inner spirit, or Atman , remains a mute witness to all these activities of mind. The Srimad Bhagavad Gita (3.38) aptly explains it in this way: dhūmenāvriyate vahnir yathādarśho malena cha yatholbenāvṛito garbhas tathā tenedam āvṛitam The Bhagavad Gita (3.38) says that just as a fire is covered by smoke, a mirror is masked by dust, and an embryo is concealed by the womb, similarly one’s knowledge is shrouded by desire. Insatiable desire clouds our perception of reality, i.e. One, indivisible, eternal, and infinite, and impedes our ability to realise reality unobscured. The Ashtavakra Gita equally teaches to imbibe the virtues of equanimity, endurance, detachment, dispassion, and dispossession in the transient phenomenal world ingrained with sensual desires, attachments, passion, ig...

Good conduct is leading a life of virtues and experiencing the same in every way and moment to realise Self. It is all about, according to Yoga-Vasistha, contentment, a society of the virtuous, ratiocination, and quietism. These are the several means for crossing over the ocean of the world by mankind. Good conduct is interlinked with wisdom and is considered essential for spiritual progress. It involves cultivating virtues like contentment, society of the virtuous, ratiocination, quietism, self-control, and compassion. Good conduct is not merely external behaviour but a reflection of inner purity and a balanced mind. Good conduct is intertwined with wisdom, asserts Yoga-Vasistha, as each complements the other. Right conduct arises from wisdom, and wisdom is enriched by good conduct. It induces harmonious correlation between interior and exterior aspects concatenated with virtues of non-duality , transparency, equanimity , detachment , and forbearance . The text prescribes that good co...

The Yoga-Vasistha (Chapters XLII and CV ) uses the analogy of a dream to illustrate the evanescence and fallaciousness of the phenomenal world. Just as a dream world dissolves upon waking, the phenomenal world is seen as impermanent and ultimately dissolving into a vacuum upon the realisation of Atman , or Self. It presents a unique perspective on dreaming, equating it with two states of consciousness, dreaming and waking, that share similarities and can intertwine with one another. Both states are considered illusions or magical experiences, lacking true reality, while also revealing the thought projection of mind . This interplay illustrates the complexities and nuances of human consciousness. The Yoga-Vasistha ( Chapter XLII ) suggests that both are ultimately illusions created by the mind. It says (Yoga-Vasistha, Chapter CV ) that the intellect conceives the form of the world, of its own intrinsic nature, and fancies itself in that very form, as it were in a dream. The world we pe...