Once yoga has happened (the mind is no more) the seer rests in its own unmodified state🔗

We have to understand this sutra very carefully. It's a continuation from the previous sutra. The previous sutra is a pre-requisite for this sutra. The yoga should have happened and then the seer will rest in its own unmodified state.

When the mind is devoid of any thoughts the seer will rest in its own unmodified state. The mind being devoid of any thoughts is important. Once that happens then everything is done. Nothing more needs to be done. Thoughts are like the ripples on the surface of the lake. When the ripples calm down and die, the bottom of the lake is seen clearly. Similarly when the thought waves die, the self dwells in its state of radiance.

Patanjali is extremely careful with his words. He does not say that the self sees its own nature. He says that the self rests in its own nature. The reason being that the self cannot see itself though it is commonly referred to that way. The self rests in its own nature. There is no seeing involved. When all that remains is the self who will see whom? You cannot even say that self is seeing the self. All you can say is that the self rests in its own nature.

Once a salt doll that was living in the interiors of the land was told that there is something like the sea. The salt doll found it difficult to believe. It asked 'Is it as large as a well?'. The person laughed and said that it is much larger than the well. Then it enquired 'Is it as large as a river'. The person said that you can see the other bank of the river but you cannot see the other bank of the sea. It's much larger than the river. Then the salt doll became very curious and wanted to find out for itself. So it started traveling towards the sea. As it was coming nearer it was able to hear the roaring of the sea waves. Finally it reached the seashore and for the first time it saw such a huge mass of water. It could not see the other end of the sea. The salt doll thought that if it could not see the other end, at least it could try to find the depth. So if not the horizontal direction it can try to explore the vertical direction. So the salt doll jumped into the see and tried to go to the bottom of the seabed. But because it was salt as it started going down it dissolved and disappeared and there was no longer any salt doll to know the sea. Then all that remained was the sea. In the Upanishads it is said 'Brahmaveda Brahmaiva Bhavati" the knower of the Brahman becomes the Brahman. Let me explain this story in the context of this sutra.

The salt doll represents the thoughts. It represents the mind, which is trying to know the self. Sea in the story denotes the self. When the mind tries to know the self, the mind dissolves and disappears and all that remains is the self. Then there is no mind to know the self. In the very process of knowing the self, the mind dissolves. Actually speaking there is nothing like knowing the self. As for knowing to happen the knower has to be there. But when the self is known there is no knower. So self cannot be known. Only the mind can die. Only the thoughts can cease to come. Then the self will rest in its own unmodified state.

The self is always there. Just as the clouds, which have been formed because of the sun due to the evaporation of water, cover the sun and prevent the sun from being seen, the self remains hidden because of the mind. When the clouds disappear, the sun shines in its own glory. Similarly when the mind dissolves, the self shines in its own glory. But that does not mean that the self is not present otherwise. It is present but remains concealed. It remains hidden. It gets blocked because of the mind, which again was created because of the self. Just as the clouds, which were created because of the sun, themselves blocked the sun, the mind blocks the self. For the self to reveal you have to become nobody. The very identity needs to die.

Once a wandering mendicant who was dressed like a beggar runs up the throne of the king and sits there. All the people in the kings court run towards him and ask him 'How can you sit here, you don't even look like the chief minister'. The mendicant replies 'Chief Minister! I am much more than that'. The people are perplexed. They say 'Are you then the Prime Minister'. The mendicant exclaims 'Prime Minister! I am much more than that'. 'More than the Prime Minister is the king' say the people. The mendicants laughs and says 'King! I am much more than the King'. By this time people are very angry. They say that more than King is God, do you mean to say that you are God. The mendicant again laughs and says that he is more than God too. People say that more than God is nobody. The mendicant exclaims 'Exactly I am nobody'.

Only when you become nobody the true self shines forth. One person asked an enlightened master 'what is the difference between you and me'. The enlightened master replied that there is no difference apart from the fact that you are somebody and I am nobody. The ego is this somebody. The ego is the shaft, which we have created. When the ego dies then we become nobody. Then there is nobody as our inner space is filled with silence. Then our emptiness will be full, our silence will sing. It's rather a difficult state to put in words because words cannot reach it, the senses cannot reach it and nor the mind can reach it. It's the mahakash, the state of pure being.

In this context I would like to explain the role of the witness. Often as a spiritual practice you are asked to witness. They say that witness the thoughts, witness the feelings, and witness the actions. Really speaking witnessing cannot be done. If witnessing is done as an act then it cannot exist simultaneously with some other thought, action or feeling. Witnessing can happen but it can never be done as an activity. If it is done as an activity then you wont be really witnessing though it may appear that way. If you do witnessing as an act then you will create one more shaft. You would be just deceiving yourself. Witnessing will become one more shaft.

Once you just relax in your inner space the witnessing will happen by itself. Relaxation is important. The mental relaxation; not the physical relaxation. Then the thought waves die and self remains alone. Somehow due to our ignorance we have associated ourselves with the thoughts. We create the shaft and are now clinging to this shaft. One jolt is enough to wake us up. The guru is this jolt. The guru is the lion in the dream that can wake you up from the dream.

Once a pregnant lioness attacks a herd of sheep. It leaps to kill the sheep but the jump is too much for the lioness. She is not able to sustain the shock of the jump as a result the lioness dies and delivers a cub at the time of its death. The herd of sheep, which was there, saw the small newborn cub. Then went around it and started playing with it. They felt that they should take care of the cub. They were ignorant of the fact that it was a lion. Now this cub is brought up amongst the sheep. As the cub is amongst the sheep it starts learning the ways of the sheep. He starts eating grass, drinks goat milk and bleats like other sheep. He has all sheep friends and sheep acquaintances. His entire life revolves around the sheep.

Suddenly after few days when the cub grew older the problems started. The mother started receiving complains from other sheep that the cub is very arrogant. He does not play the games properly and so naturally the cub was ostracized from the sheep community. As a result the cub starts feeling depressed and dull. He no longer finds any juice in living the mundane life. The cub is not satisfied with the way things are going and is trying solutions to improve the quality of his life. He is not able to enjoy the company of sheep and their talks don't entertain him any more. Then this sheep-lion (lion who thinks that he is a sheep) starts contemplating about life. He thinks that there is no purpose living the same dull life with other sheep eating grass and making some bleating sounds. Every time this sheep-lion looks at the forest from a distance he always feels like exploring the forest. But he is reluctant to do so as his mother has strictly warned him against it. The mother sheep is also under the illusion that the sheep-lion is a sheep and does not want the sheep-lion to enter the forest and get eaten by other wild animals. So the sheep-lion does not enter the forest because of the fear of lions as warned by his mother. Somehow he suppresses his desire to enter the forest. Every time he expresses his desire to enter the forest the mother sheep would start weeping and wailing and somehow she managed to prevent him from entering the forest. Finally she gets the sheep-lion married.

Few years after enjoying the married life again the low mood starts entering in this sheep-lions life. He felt that he has got whatever any successful sheep can get but still he is feeling extremely empty; some kind of a void within his heart. Again the sheep-lion starts seeking for solutions to get out of this emptiness. This is a phase called mid-life crisis which most of the men experience around the age of 40-45. They have got everything, wife and kids, house, car and all other material comforts. Still they are not happy. Some intelligent people start seeking at such a juncture. Some others get addicted to something either work or alcohol or smoking while some others involve themselves in some activity to get over this feeling of emptiness. Only the intelligent few start asking transcendental questions and try to find the nature of the self and the ultimate reality.

Then suddenly one day another lion attacks the herd of sheep while the sheep-lion is out grazing in the meadow. When the lion attacks the herd, all the sheep run away. This sheep-lion neither felt like running away nor it had the courage to stand and face the lion. The lion that is trying to attack is looking so graceful that the sheep-lion was awe-struck, as he had never seen such a graceful animal before. So slowly somehow unconsciously this sheep-lion feels attracted to the lion. Because of this attraction neither he runs away nor he has the courage to stand because he thinks he is a sheep. So he slowly starts walking away looking at the lion. The lion straight away comes near him and catches him. The sheep-lion starts bleating and says "Oh don't kill me. Leave me" The lion says, "Fool, I have not come to kill you. You are a lion. Why are you shouting?" This is the first time the sheep-lion hears that he is a lion. He is not able to believe it. He thinks how can he be a lion and immediately a doubt rises in his mind that this lion is trying to cheat him. He thinks that the lion wants to take him to the forest and eat him. Again he gets frightened and begs the lion to leave him. The lion shouts at this sheep-lion and tells him that he is a lion and there is no reason for him to be afraid. He says that why would one lion kill another lion? Still this sheep-lion is not ready to believe and somehow he manages to escape and run away.

Even though this sheep-lion escaped and ran away he is not able to forget the lion. After one week again he feels like meeting the lion. For one week he was fear-struck but slowly the fear subsides and he starts thinking that he should meet that lion once more. This is like getting a first glimpse as described in the Bhagavad Gita. When Arjuna saw the Vishwaroopa he was afraid. His whole body started trembling and he asked Krishna to assume his human form back. Similarly after seeing the lion for the first time this sheep-lion was in fright. One part of the mind was refusing to meet the lion because of the fear of getting killed but other part of the mind is saying that it was such a fantastic experience meeting the lion and he should see him again. An important thing to realize here is that unless you have enlightenment within yourself you will not feel attracted towards an enlightened person. If you feel attached or connected with an enlightened person, you have enlightenment within you already. If you don't have the enlightenment within you, you will not even feel connected. You need immense maturity to feel attracted towards an enlightened person. Unless you realize that everything you do in this world is ultimately purposeless your seeking won't begin. That is the reason this sheep-lion remembers the lion and feels the pang of meeting the lion once more as his being was mature.

So this sheep-lion waits for the lion at the edge of the meadow everyday to catch the glimpse of the lion. After two-three months, once more the lion appears. But the moment this sheep-lion sees the lion he is caught in fear. He is waiting to see the lion since months but the moment he sees him he gets afraid. This time the lion comes near and says, "How are you?" Again this sheep-lion starts bleating "Please don't eat me. Leave me". This time he does not run away but he is not able to face the lion. The lion asks this sheep-lion not to worry, as he won't kill him because he is a lion. Lion says that if the sheep-lion is uncomfortable in his presence he will go away. The lion says that he is not benefited in any way by being with the sheep-lion so he has no reason to be with him unless the sheep-lion desires so. So the lion starts walking towards the forest. The moment the lion starts walking back to the forest the sheep-lion pleads the lion to be with him and requests him to spend some time with him. The sheep-lion requests the lion to stand at a distance and talk. This is the next phase in the Guru-Disciple relationship when the disciple neither wants to forget the Guru nor he wants to go near him.

Again the lion starts' lecturing this sheep-lion that he should understand that he is a lion. Unnecessarily he has been living with sheep and has made all sheep friends. He tells this sheep-lion to realize his true identity and stop living foolishly like a sheep. By now the doubt that the lion wants to eat him has disappeared in the mind of the sheep-lion. Now the sheep-lion is confident that lion has no vested interest in telling him that he is a lion nor does he have anything precious to offer to the lion that lion desires. So he is sure of one fact that lion is not cheating him in anyway. Only when the disciple understands that he is not benefiting the Guru in any way and that Guru has no vested interest in talking to him, he starts trusting the Guru. Only then the real Guru-Disciple relationship starts happening and the disciple starts trusting the Guru's words. Then the disciple starts experimenting with Guru's words. This is the time when the disciple understands that the Guru is sharing because he is overflowing. He is sharing not because he wants something but he is sharing because that's his very nature. So now the sheep-lion has started trusting the lion. If the lion wanted to kill the sheep-lion, long before he could have done it. But he is unable to comprehend lion's persistence in saying that he is a lion.

Since this sheep-lion has now started trusting the lion he starts contemplating on what lion is saying. Sheep-lion thinks that this lion looks so courageous, bold, graceful and confident and does not look like he is telling a lie. One can figure out whether a person is telling the truth or a lie just by looking into the other person's eyes. You don't need a lie detector. Just looking into the eyes of the other person will give you the information if the person is lying or speaking the truth. Since the lion has no reason to lie the sheep-lion is baffled when he hears repeatedly that he is a lion. He knows that he is a sheep. There is no doubt about it in his mind. All his lifetime he has been living a life of a sheep. So he is not ready to believe that he is a lion. Finally the lion tells this sheep-lion that if he is not ready to listen to him he is going. He does not want to waste his time telling the same thing again and again. Anyways his all words are in vain and are having no impact on this sheep-lion. But this sheep-lion begs for one more meeting with the lion. The lion enquires the reason for another meeting because he has said all he has to say. He does not have anything else other than telling him that he is a lion. The sheep-lion says that he would like to have some more time to think about what he has been told and would like to come later and put his doubts and arguments. The lion obliges and agrees to meet the sheep-lion after a month.

Then the sheep-lion starts contemplating on how he can be a lion. He knows for sure he is a sheep. He eats grass, and bleats like the sheep and also goes around with the sheep. Then how can he be a lion? He gathers all great philosophical questions, refers to sheep Gita, sheep Upanishads and other sheep scriptures. All the questions, which were not answered by his parents or friends, he gathers and decides to ask the lion in his next meeting. One important thing is that this sheep-lion has not told his mother that he has met the lion because if she knows she will stop him and prevent him from going to the edge of the meadow. The parents of all young children are afraid to send their children to

Swami's. They have no problem in their children visiting a temple but never to a spiritual master. Vivekananda is great as long as he is born in the neighbor's house but not in our house.

Finally after one month the appointment day came and this sheep lion collected the best grass and the best sweets available to offer to the lion. Seeing the love of the sheep-lion the lion acts as if he is enjoying what is being offered. Just to please the sheep-lion and to make it feel connected the lion eats with this sheep lion. This way he zeros down the distance between him and the sheep lion. Only when the real connection and trust happens between the Guru and the disciple the real transformation can take place. Only then the transmission of knowledge from Guru to the disciple can happen. So for the alchemy to happen in this sheep-lion and for him to realize that he is a lion first the trust in this sheep-lion has to be developed. So the lion even compliments this sheep-lion that he has cooked really well and he liked his food a lot. Now the sheep-lion is extremely happy and blissful and is ready to receive the knowledge from the lion.

Lion again reiterates that the sheep-lion is a lion and it's his foolishness and ignorance in thinking that he is a sheep. By now the sheep-lion has understood that he is not what he had imagined himself to be. He has realized that he is not a sheep. But he is finding hard to understand how he can be a lion. Looking at his characteristics like color etc. he has come to the conclusion that he is not a sheep. At this stage the disciple realizes that he is not the body; he is not the mind but is not able to comprehend how he can be the Ātman or how he can be God. The disciple applies logic and reason to understand what he is not but fails to realize what he really is. So the sheep-lion knows for sure that he is not a sheep but is unable to grasp and experience that he is a lion.

Now the lion suggests that both of them should go on a picnic. The sheep-lion is now comfortable with the lion and so he readily agrees. When both of them visit a lake suddenly the lion catches the neck of the sheep-lion and drags him near the water and shows him his reflection in the water. The sheep-lion looks inside and sees his reflection. He first thinks that there is another young lion with them but there is no such lion. He is seeing two reflections in the water; one of the lion and his. Then the lion moves away from this sheep-lion and asks him to see his own reflection in the water. The sheep-lion sees his reflection and for the first time he gets a glimpse of his true nature. Again fear develops in him and he runs away from that place. He is completely shaken when he sees that he is a lion. He starts thinking that if he were a lion then he would have to renounce everything. He would have to start living in the forest. What would happen to his sheep world, his sheep family and sheep friends? He is so comfortable and well settled in the sheep world. How can he suddenly switch to the world of lions and start roaming in the forest? How can he handle so much responsibility? Such questions cloud the mind of the sheep-lion. He feels as if the very earth beneath him has shaken. He has just experienced a glimpse of his true nature. This happens to a disciple when while meditating he experiences his true nature once or falls into Samādhi momentarily through Guru's grace.

Now comes the time when the lion comes in search of this sheep-lion. He has brought a gift for this sheep-lion. When the lion confronts this sheep-lion, both look at each other. There is no exchange of words this time. No dialog, no intellectual discussions and no philosophy. The lion has brought flesh with him from the forest. He simply grabs this sheep-lion and pushes the flesh into his mouth. Finally the sheep-lion chews this flesh for the first time, swallows it and roars. Now he realizes completely that he is a lion. It was his ignorance in thinking that he was a sheep. Never was he a sheep. From day one he was a lion and his true nature was to eat flesh and roar. Somehow he had fallen into the company of sheep and was eating grass and bleating like them. But now the sheep-lion has experienced and tasted the bliss of being a lion and has no doubts whatsoever. This is the way a Guru finally blesses the disciple with the ultimate experience of enlightenment and makes him realize that it was his foolishness in thinking that he is a man. Guru invokes the latent divinity hidden within the disciple and makes him taste the eternal bliss (THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM), which is his true nature.

This is a beautiful story about how seeking begins in an individual and how he meets his Guru and then how it culminates in the beautiful experience of enlightenment. The lion in this story that guides the cub is the Guru. We are the cubs. We have somehow lost our true identity. We can never answer why we lost it or how. We just lost it; just as the cub right from its birth was oblivious of its true nature. That is the reason it is said that Māyā as well as Brahman is Anandi. Anādi means something, which does not have a start. It was always there. But Brahman is anant where as Māyā is sant. Anant means never ending or endless and sant means something, which has an end. Māyā ends when the identity with Brahman is realized, but both are beginningless. So the question, when the world came into existence can never be answered. Because it's like asking when did ignorance come into existence? We don't know when it came into existence but we know that we can go beyond it through knowledge of the self. Buddha said that there are ten questions we need not ask when we are seeking. Questions like 'Who was I before my birth', 'Is there rebirth', 'Where did I come from' etc. The reasons being that these questions don't lead us to the truth. They give rise to more questions. He gives an analogy. If an arrow hits a person who is walking in the jungle and his friends come to him for help, won't he ask them to simply remove the arrow? Wouldn't it be foolish to ask questions like 'where did the arrow come from', 'who hit it', 'what is the exact direction' etc. So Buddha says that since we are in deep ignorance lets work towards removing this ignorance rather that asking questions about how it came and why it came. These very questions are a product of our ignorance.

So in the story the cub when confronts the lion for the first time is afraid. Just as we are afraid of spiritual masters; we think they are here to deceive us, or fool us. But then when the lion starts making the cub feel comfortable the cub develops a trust in the lion. Similarly the Guru starts behaving the way we want him to behave and then we start developing trust in the Guru. Once the deep trust has been developed then the Guru one day just says Tat Tvam Asi (You are that). This is analogous to the lion showing the cub its reflection in the water. The Guru shows us our true nature and then finally shows us that our true nature was bliss. Unnecessarily we had associated ourselves with objects and were thinking that objects are the source of bliss. Guru shows us that our true nature is to fly. He gives us the taste of the nectar of immortality just as the lion in the story makes the cub eat meat and tells him that his true nature is not to eat grass.

Guru is like this lion in our dream. He is here to wake us up from the dream. If you just follow his teachings you will wake up. But if you run away from him then you are in trouble. Guru is the master surgeon and once you are on his operation bed you are sure to be cured. But just have some patience. Don't get up in middle of the operation. You will miss a golden opportunity. I always tell people; do all your testing, checking out before coming close to me. Don't leave once I start my work. It will be dangerous for you. Just imagine if the patient gets up when the doctor is in the middle of the operation. In a same way, have some patience, just cooperate for some time and let the Master do his surgery: the divine surgery.

When I say relax often it is misunderstood as doing nothing. Relaxation does not mean physical relaxation. It means mental relaxation. Put your mind to rest. But this does not sink in so easily. When I ask people to relax they question 'How will I do my job then?' This question itself proves that you hate your job. You don't enjoy your job. If you had really enjoyed your job you would not have considered your job as anti relaxation. Right now the pendulum is at its extreme end, means that you have been continuously running behind things. Because of this habit whenever I say relax you try to go to the other end of the extreme. But you can be in the middle of a intense physical activity but still you can be relaxed. If the thought waves die then automatically you will experience the peace within. Then the external act won't impact your inner space.

Actually speaking hard work is a big myth. Continuously you are repeating to yourself that I am doing hard work. This becomes too ingrained in your system and then you start believing that you are doing hard work. This automatically impacts your performance and you feel fatigued, tired. The body getting tired is a different thing and the mind getting tired is different. The body becoming tired can be avoided if the mind is perfectly under control. The movement of the mind makes the mind tired. This can be definitely avoided. When yoga happens the movement of the mind will stop. The mind will become like a clear lake. And mind and the body are tightly coupled. Once the mind is fresh, it will infuse more and more energy for the body to function.

When the engraved memories become zero, the mind becomes like a clear lake. The unconscious space in the mind is then filled with silence. Intuition starts happening in us. We experience the immense flow of existential energy within us. The seer is then not disturbed by the seen. The seen is nothing but the image of the seer. When thought waves die this realization dawns and all that remains is the self. How can the self be jealous of itself? How can the self compare against itself? How can the self be discontented with itself? When everywhere what is perceived is the self alone? In the Bhagavad Gītā, Krishna says that I alone exist. Nobody exists other than me. Here he is referring to the self. He has become one with that self. Whenever an enlightened person refers to I he always means the self. When we say I, we mean the shaft we have created by connecting our thoughts. When this false ego dies and we stop creating the shaft the true 'I' emerges forth. This true 'I' is the supreme self, the universal consciousness, God or whatever term you may like to use.

Then the triputi will dissolve. We need to understand what is triputi. Triputi means a triad. There exists a triad in everything we do. Say we are reading a book. Then there exist three things. The reader i.e. you, the object of reading i.e. the book and the process of reading itself. In any experience there exists an experiencer, experienced and the experience. We are always caught in this triad. The seer, seen and seeing triad exists almost everywhere. This sutra says that when yoga happens the seer rests in its own unmodified state. Let us understand how?

When the seer stops associating itself with the seen, then automatically it starts to witness its thoughts, actions, feelings and perceptions. Right now the seer becomes the seen when it is in contact with the seen. For e.g. when we are sometimes working intensely, we become the work itself. We lose ourselves into the work. Or we are eating an ice cream, we forget ourselves and become one with that ice cream. Slowly when the seer separates itself from the seen the act of witnessing starts to happen. This is the first step. Here the seer sees itself totally separate from the seen. Then a stage comes when the seer realizes that the seen has emerged out of him only. He realizes that the seen is made of the same stuff as he is made of. All the differences then vanish. The seer, seeing and the seen become one. The triputi (triad) is then transcended and then the self alone rests. The normal activities may still go on but the self remains un-perturbed. It's like a screen on which the movie of the world is going on. How does it matter to the screen whether somebody dies or takes birth in the movie? Also without the screen the movie cannot run. The self is that screen. It's beyond the triputi. The triputi exists as long as you associate yourself with some character in the movie. The moment you realize that you are not the character in the movie, but the very potentiality due to which the movie runs, you transcend the triad. You become one with the supreme self.

Just as the spider weaves his web from the material he has produced and retracts the web after sometime into himself, in the similar way we have woven this web of the world around us. This world is not separate from us. It is made up of the same stuff. This world is made up of the same material of which our thoughts are made of.

Ramakrishna used to give an example of man trying to go to the terrace. He can take any route, like elevator, stairs, ladder etc. Once he reaches the terrace he realizes that all that was below is made of the same material as that of the terrace. Similarly when you realize that you are the screen of consciousness on which the movie of the world is running, you understand that the world is nothing but your own reflection. It's non-different from you. The fear disappears. You will fear something only when something is separate from you and you anticipate that it can harm you. When all that remains is the self, fear automatically dissolves. That's what Ādi-Śankara says in his Nirvāna Shatkam.

Aham Bhojanam Naiva Bhojam na Bhokta, Chidananda Roppa Shivoham Shivoham

I am neither the person who is eating nor the food what is being eaten and also not the process of eating but I am that supreme consciousness whose nature is auspiciousness. Why does he say auspiciousness? Because when you realize this you enter into bliss. Bliss becomes your nature. You become one with Sat-Chit-Ānanda. Sat means existence. Chit means consciousness and Ānanda means bliss. The bliss that you experience as of now is muddled because of the layer of ignorance you have been carrying with yourself. And again it is an experience. The triad is still there. But when the thought waves die, you become bliss. You enter into bliss. Experiencing bliss is different and becoming bliss is different. The experience can be lost but one's true nature cannot be lost. When you realize that your nature itself is bliss, you rest in your own unmodified state.

Vrittisaaruupyamitaratra

IN OTHER STATES (itaratra) THERE IS IDENTIFICATION (saaruupyam) WITH THE MODIFICATIONS OF THE MIND (vritti)

As long as the mind is present the identification with the unreal continues. Sankara says that "Brahma Satya Jagat Mithya, Jivo Brahmaiva na aparah" which means that Brahman is real, the world is unreal and the individual soul is non-different from Brahman. What he means here is that only when the mind ceases to exist the Brahman shines forth. The reality shines in its own glory. As long as there is mind, there are thoughts. Thoughts always hover in the past or the future. There can never be a thought about the present. In the present there can only be consciousness. So as long as thoughts are present we will continue to create shafts. We will connect these thoughts and create imaginary shafts of either pleasure or pain. The moment a shaft is created there is identification with the unreal. The reason is that we connect these unconnected thoughts. The very process of connecting thoughts is reason for misery in this samsara sagara (world). Because we connect thoughts the imaginary identity (which Sankara calls as Jiva) comes into existence. When the Jiva appears the world of mithya (made of unreal) appears. When we un-clutch automatically the false identity disappears and the Brahman consciousness is revealed. Then the jivahood merges in to Brahmanhood.

We have two types of identities. One is the identity that we show to the outer world and other is the identity that we show to the inner world. The identity that we show to the outer world is called as ahankar. The identity, which we show to the inner world, is called as mamakar. Both these identities are in constant conflict with each other. For e.g. outwardly we may project that we are such and such person but inwardly we know that we are lacking in someway or the other. There is always a discrepancy between these two identities. The identity, which we project to the outer world, is always more than what we actually are. A person always tries to prove superior in front of others. Identity, which we project to ourselves, is always less than what we actually are. You might have observed that we are never satisfied with our own selves. Constantly we are trying to improve ourselves in some way or the other. Either we are dissatisfied spiritually or we are dissatisfied materially. This inner identity that we carry always lacks something and the outer identity that we carry always exceeds the normal. Hence both these identities are always in conflict. That is the reason we have to be very careful when we talk because we rarely talk what we think. If we start directly reproducing our thoughts into words people around us will start running away from us. Ramakrishna used to say that bringing your thoughts and words together is true spirituality. That is when we go beyond these two identities.

Both these identities are false identities. These identities are a result of the shaft we create. They don't exist in reality. As long as we are associating with these identities we are caught up in Samsara. Once we go beyond these two identities, we become enlightened. All the time we are creating, sustaining and destroying thoughts. The process of creation (brahma), sustenance (Vishnu) and destruction (Mahesh) is constantly going on. When we stop creating, sustaining and destroying we go beyond all three and reach the state of parabrahman.

Let us analyze how does identification take place. Suppose you are feeling hungry immediately you get a thought saying I am hungry. The moment this thought appears you have identified the hunger with yourself. You feel that you are hungry. It is not that an enlightened person does not feel hunger or thirst. Just that he does not commit the mistake of identifying that hunger with himself. He just realizes that the body is hungry.

Once an enlightened master was suffering from pain and he was moaning. One of his disciples asked "Master, are you in pain?" The master replied that the pain is there, but he is not in pain. An enlightened one never identifies him with the modifications of the mind. Hence though the pain was present he did not identify with that pain. So he did not suffer.

If somebody blames us we immediately revolt. Why does this happen? Lets analyze. When someone makes a comment against us we receive this input through the senses and this information is passed on in the brain. As a result a thought wave is created and there are modifications in the mind. We immediately identify ourselves with these modifications and start thinking that we have been blamed or we have been criticized. Because of this modification and then identification a reaction is produced in the form of either revolt or suppression.

When we get up from bed we immediately feel that we got up. We identify ourselves with this waking state and so the world. With this identification follows the conclusion that for the last eight hours we were sleeping. We always identify with these states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep. But our true self is always beyond these three states. It is at the background of these three states. It is present in all the three states but always distinct from the three. This fourth state is called as Turiya. Our identification with these three states creates this world of illusion. The moment we realize that we are not these three states but the witness of that, we go beyond this world of mithya (unreal) and enter into the world of nithya (real). It takes a small error to go from nithya to mithya. That error is identification with the modifications of the mind.

Once a zen master gets up from the bed and starts crying. His disciples ask him the reason for his crying. The zen master says that last night he dreamt that he had become a butterfly and that is the reason he is crying. His disciples asked the zen master as to how can this be a reason for crying. Everybody dreams and this is one another dream. The zen master says that he is crying because he is unable to understand whether he is a person who dreamt that he had become a butterfly or he is a butterfly who is dreaming right now that it has become a person. This way the zen master taught the disciples that whenever there is identification with any of these states there is suffering.

Similarly there is identification with the three bodies viz. the physical body, the subtle body and the causal body and also the five koshas (sheaths) viz. annomaya kosha (physical sheath), pranomaya kosha (breath sheath), manomaya kosha (mind sheath), vijnyanomaya kosha (intellect sheath) and anandamaya kosha (bliss sheath). That is the reason the Upanishads describe the ultimate reality as sharira traivalaxana panchakosha teeth avastha trai sakshi (witness of the three bodies, beyond the five sheaths and the witness of the three states)

Whatever we feel, experience we identify ourselves with that. We immediately come to the conclusion that it's us who are doing, feeling or experiencing such a thing. If we pause for a moment and witness the whole event without bias we would realize that we are totally different from these modifications, we are the ultimate witness. Unnecessarily we had been identifying ourselves with the events happening around us and suffering. But we are much more than what we think of ourselves to be. We are that ultimate potentiality on which these modifications take place. We are not these modifications. We are the purusha (witness) on which the modifications of the prakriti (creation, preservation and destruction) happen. It is like a colorless crystal and a red rose. When the rose is brought in vicinity of a colorless crystal the colorless crystal appears red. Now this crystal starts thinking that it is red. But in reality it's colorless. The presence or the absence of the rose does not change the essential nature of the crystal that is colorless. Similarly even if the modifications of the mind are present we are still that ultimate witness, untouched, unfettered, always free and pure. The moment we realize this, the modifications stop and we rest in our true self. As long as we involve ourselves with the modifications, the modifications get energy to function. We provide them that energy. The moment we detach, the modifications cannot exist independently. They die down automatically. Nothing can exist without our silent permission. It's us who provides the necessary energy for these modifications to function in our mind.

It is a vicious cycle. As long as there are modifications in the mind, there would be identification. When there is identification it will create more modifications and this will continue. When there is no identification the modifications cease to be. It is this identification, which causes them to function. Identification gives us the illusion of doership. When there is doership, there comes misery.

Doership creates a reaction to any event. Since we think that we are the doer we also feel the need to react. If we write an examination and we pass with excellent score we immediately think that we wrote the examination and because of our effort and hard work we scored so well in the exam. Because of the doership in this act of giving the examination, it created the reaction of pride. If there was no doership, there wouldn't be any pride involved. How can one be proud about something that he has not done? But because we think that we did something we always claim the merit or de-merit resulting from that action. This produces further reaction and the cycle continues. Identification is the biggest sin; there is no other sin other than identification with the actions. It is this identification, which is the cause of all the trouble.

You might ask, if we don't identify with our actions we might misuse this freedom and start doing whatever we want to do. The world would become a madhouse in that place. I don't know how the world would be if there is no identification, but certainly I can see the state of the world now with identification. Another thing to understand is that when the identification with your actions is absent a tremendous intelligence will dawn in you. You cannot do anything that is harmful to the society or nature. All your actions would be divine actions. You would then be enlightened.

There is a big difference between a madman and a sage. Though the external manifestation may be the same in some cases, there is a big difference in their inner space. Both of them have gone beyond the mind but for an enlightened person the mind has disappeared. For a mad man the mind is divided, distorted and multiplied. Mind can become both a friend as well as an enemy. If used as a friend it disappears, if used as an enemy it multiplies. The former is the case of an enlightened one, the later being the madman. Mind can be either the source of bondage or the source of freedom. It depends upon how we use it.

If the mind is worked upon carefully it vanishes. It depends upon how much power we give to the mind. If we feed the mind finally the mind will overpower us. Then we wont have any say. Only the mind will rule. That happens in the case of the madman. Where only the mind remains. The controller is absent. The controller has gone beyond the mind but in that process he himself has disappeared. The mind becomes the master. It does whatever it wants to. Mind is like a mad monkey; imagine a mad monkey with nobody to control it. Won't it go berserk? That's what happens in the case of a madman. He has surrendered to his mind so much that he himself has disappeared and what remains is total chaos. Something totally opposite happens in the case of an enlightened one.

In the case of an enlightened one, the mind disappears and only he remains. Then he is the master and the mind the slave. In his case the mind has surrendered to him. The mind has no say, so power. It becomes a faithful servant. In both the enlightened person and the madman you can find totality. For the madman, the mind has become total, for an enlightened one, he has become total. When one becomes total, the other vanishes. When the mind becomes the slave, we say that is has disappeared. In the case of a Buddha the mind has disappeared completely. He calls the mind only when it's required. It is just an utility.

When you call any sage by his name, he responds to you. For that he needs his mind. But he has used it only for that purpose. Once the need is absent, it is discarded. Then there is total silence. He does not cling on to it. Just the way once we climb the ladder we let go of the ladder, similarly an enlightened on lets go of his mind. You cannot be grateful to the ladder and cling on to it just because it helped you to climb. You have to go ahead.

But as we know there are not just two classes of people. There are an intermediate few. The people, who are not enlightened, and are not completely mad. These are the people who have surrendered partially to the mind and partially to the self. They feed both the mind as well as the self. It depends upon whom they feed more. But as long as the mind has not disappeared completely, they are still ignorant. The mind is still the master in their case. If they tell the mind to stop, the mind won't listen. It will keep on running. When people worry, they are asked not to worry. How much ever they try to stop worrying they are not successful because the mind has stopped listening to them. It's beyond their control.

There are no degrees of enlightenment. Either a person is enlightened or he is not. There are just two boats, one of the enlightened ones and other of the unenlightened ones. But few from the second boat know about the first boat and are trying to get into the first boat. These are the people who are seekers. Others are busy enjoying in their own boat. They are completely oblivious about the presence of the second boat. These are the materialists who are still finding juice in worldly life. They have surrendered to their mind.

The seekers are trying to detach from their mind. They are waging a war against their mind. This war has to be a peaceful one. May sound ironical. But if this war is violent then the mind becomes more powerful. Then it is very difficult to go beyond the mind. It has to be tackled very intelligently. In Ramayana there was a character called Vali. He had a peculiar strength or a quality. If you fight with him face to face, he takes half of your strength away. So obviously Vali used to defeat any enemy who fought with him face to face. He was invincible It was very difficult to defeat him. Because the moment the fight began, the offender would lose half of his strength to Vali. So for that reason, Ram had to attack Vali from behind his back. Even an incarnation like Ram had to use tactics to defeat Vali. This story has great significance in our context.

Vali is our mind and Ram is the self. If we have to defeat the mind, we cannot fight it face to face. It will take away half of our strength. We have to deal with it intelligently. Only then it can be over-powered. As long as the identification with the mind and its modifications is present we are face to face with the mind. Only when we start witnessing these modifications without identification we are going beyond the mind. The very act of witnessing is no-mind. When we witness, its like Ram attacking Vali behind the back. Then stealthily the modifications start dying down and the identification ceases.

वृत्तयो पेञ्चतय्यो क्लिष्टुः अक्लिष्टुः

Vrittayah pancatayyah klistaa aklistaah