Revel in the Revelation🔗

Our meditation programs are never designed; they are just revealed. There is a big difference between designing and revelation.

Let us understand this first. This is the first thing which you need to understand. 'Designed' means having the information as to:

What the customer wants? What is supposed to be supplied? How best to package it? What is the interest of the product?

'Design' is an analysis of what you want to give, and how you want to market it. With all this information, with all this data, the product is created and marketed.

'Revelation' needs just one thing: the need of the customer, that's all, nothing else. What does the person in front of you need? Then, the Truth, as it should be expressed, simply comes out on its own! That is revelation.

Meaning of Atma Spurana and the Koshas

Let us understand the word Atma Spurana before entering into the program. Literally when the word is translated, Atma Spurana means 'flowering of the Self'. The word 'Self' needs to be understood. In the Western dictionary, the word 'self' is always understood as 'ego' or 'individual identity'. But in the Vedic tradition, 'Self' is not considered as the individual identity. It is the eternally existing Consciousness. Atma Spurana is the flowering of this Consciousness.

What are koshas? Koshas literally means sheaths or coverings.

For example, we say biologically our physical body comprises of various systems like nervous system, circulatory system, muscul-skeletal system, respiratory system etc. This does not mean that there are so many separate systems each of which has its own body part. The same physical body has a number of organs, a group of which can be classified into performing a certain function. For example, the respiratory system has all the organs like the heart, lungs, throat etc which are involved with the functions of inhalation, exhalation and sending the oxygen to each and every part of the body and collecting the carbon dioxide from every cell of the body.

So also, we can classify our body-mind-spirit system in different ways. One such classification is the koshas. The annamaya kosha is related to the physical body which is the body we can see, touch and feel. The pranamaya kosha is related to the breath, which is directly and deeply related to our desires. The manomaya kosha is related to our mental thoughts. The vijnanamaya kosha is related to all our feelings and emotions. The anandamaya kosha is related to the bliss in us - our true nature.

We don't need to work on the Self itself in order to make this flowering happen. We need to work on something which is between that us and that Self. Your body, your mind, your emotions, these few things which are between you and your Self is what we need to work on. These are called koshas; they are energy sheaths, in and around us. Only these koshas, which are five in number, need to flower, need to open, need to radiate, need to fall in tune. Understand: the ultimate Self does not need anything, only the instruments with which you experience the Self need to flower; they need to open up for you to experience the Self or Truth. All five layers need to be purified so that they constantly radiate enlightenment.

One more thing: in the NSP, we work on the samskaras or engraved memories that are printed on the koshas, on the layers. Now we are going to work on the koshas themselves*,* on the very canvas itself.

Meaning of Atman – Story from Mahabharata

See, in each one of you, there is something which gives you the confidence. Even though you die again and again, there is something that gives you a deep confidence that you will not die in the real sense. That is what the Atman or the Self is.

There is a beautiful story in the great Hindu epic Mahabharata. It is called Yakshaprashna:

There was a demigod named Yaksha who had a quiz program with Yudhishtira – one of the five Pandava Princes, known for treading the path of dharma, or righteousness.

The demigod was asking all his questions and one of the questions was, 'What is the most surprising thing on planet Earth?'

Yudhishtira says, 'Every moment, every day, we see so many people going to a mass abode – the abode of deat. Even then, every soul, every person who lives here, thinks that he is not going to die! He thinks that he is going to be here forever; that only others are going to die. That is the most surprising thing on planet Earth!'

There is something which gives you the confidence; there is some energy that constantly gives you the idea that you are going to be here forever. That is what we call Atman! If we understand this truth and catch on to the energy, or Self, behind this thinking, we will celebrate death as a mere passage in the existence of the Self. Instead, if we understand this truth in the context of the physical body, we will end up believing that death can never take our body away from us, and we suffer when it actually happens.

The Goal of This Program – Making the Self Alive

Every one of you, every one of us, experiences the Self, but unfortunately, not all the time. Every one of us has got some experience or at least a vague idea about that Self. Without this hidden belief, there would be no logic for you to hold on to this body. You holding on to the body, is only a disguise of the truth that your Self is eternal. Holding on to this body is possible only because you have some idea, in some corner of your mind, that you won't perish, that you won't die. Consciously you think that it is your body that can't perish, but the deep truth is that it is your Self.

Atma Spurana means flowering of the Self, that Self, that consciousness which is in you; making it alive; making this as a solid experience for you throughout your life. The goal, or the purpose of the whole program is making that Self alive, making that as a living experience, which will hold good for your entire life.

Making the Self alive was the very goal of the Master/disciple relationship in the Vedic tradition. And to achieve this, you should know the significance of these koshas. Then, you can achieve inner bliss in a much easier and quicker way. During the Vedic times, knowledge of these koshas was passed down from the Master to the disciple through learning of the Vedic scriptures such as the Upanishad. The Upanishad speak extensively about these koshas. Knowledge about them was imparted in Vedic schools called Gurukul. In the olden days, the disciples went to Gurukuls and learned about life engineering, that is, Spirituality. Once they undertook training in such profound truths, the rest of the academics became child's play. The reason is, through Upanishadic training, the very learning stemmed from deep consciousness, not from mere intellect.

In Gurukuls, whatever be the area of learning for the child, the deep seeking in them for the ultimate truth was continuously nurtured. That was the thread in which everything else was strung. They were continuously prodded to inquire what man's search in life was about. Every human being has this question and the answer for it, deeply embedded in him. It is the responsibility of the enlightened Masters to bring this out of them, and help them achieve fulfilment through it. It is only because this question is not brought out, that we really do not know what we are searching for. The aim of education in the Gurukuls was to bring out this question, and to identify the answer.