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Chapter 9
dhyAnadIpa
Meditation on Pure Consciousness
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8
According to the teachings of vedAnta, a person who has acquired the four preliminary requisites, namely, discrimination between the eternal and the ephemeral, total dispassion towards all pleasures in this world and in higher worlds, the spiritual disciplines such as control of the mind, control of the senses, etc., and intense yearning for liberation, attains liberation through hearing of the scriptures from a guru, and reflecting and meditating on them. For those who, even after the study of the upaniShad-s, are not able to attain realization due to some obstruction, such as lack of subtlety of mind, meditation on the attributeless (nirguNa) brahman is prescribed as an alternative means in this chapter. Such meditations are laid down in the uttara-tApanIya upaniShad.
Sometimes even by acting on a wrong notion one may by chance attain a desired end. For example, a man sees the gleam of a gem coming from a distance. Mistaking the gleam for a gem itself he runs towards it and gets the gem. Though he was wrong in thinking that the gleam itself was a gem, he succeeded in getting a gem. Such a notion which, though wrong, results in a successful conclusion, is called �samvAdi bhrama�. Another person mistakes the gleam of a lamp for a gem and runs towards it, but is disappointed. Such a wrong notion is called �visamvAdi bhrama�.
If a person mistakes mist for smoke and goes towards it expecting to find fire and accidentally finds fire there, it is called �samvAdi bhrama�. A person sprinkles on himself the water of the river godAvarI, thinking it to be the water of the river gangA. He is purified, because the water of godAvarI is also a purifier according to the scriptures. Here his mistaking godAvarI water for gangA water is �samvAdi bhrama� because though it is an error, it leads to the desired result. A man in delirium because of high fever unconsciously repeats the name �nArAyaNa� and dies. He goes to heaven because of having uttered the name of the Lord at the time of death. This is another instance of �samvAdi bhrama�. (In shrImad bhAgavata it is said: 'The name of the illustrious Lord, whether uttered consciously or unconsciously, destroys a person�s sins as surely as fire destroys a heap of wood; just as a powerful medicine has its effect, even if taken by chance by one who does not know its potency, so has the Lord�s name when uttered even by an ignorant person.' (VI. 2. 18-19).
In direct perception (pratyakSha), inference (anumAna) and scriptural authority there are innumerable instances of samvAdi bhrama. The worship of images made of clay, wood and stone as deities is one such instance. In chhAndogya upaniShad (Chapter 5) heaven, rain-god, earth, man and woman are to be meditated on as the sacrificial fire. These are also instances of samvAdi bhrama.
samvAdi bhrama, though it is a bhrama (error), leads to a desirable result. So also, meditation on brahman leads to liberation. brahman with attributes which is meditated on, is not a reality (in the absolute sense) and so such meditation is samvAdi bhrama. Any upAsana or meditation is based on looking upon one thing as another, such as the linga as shiva, sAlagrAma as viShNu, or brahman with attributes (saguNa brahman) as the ultimate Reality. It is therefore a bhrama.
After knowing the one indivisible homogeneous brahman indirectly from the scriptures (getting parokSha j~nAnam), one should meditate identifying oneself with brahman. The knowledge that brahman exists, derived from the study of the scriptures, without the actual realization that brahman is one�s own Self, is what is known as indirect knowledge. It is like the knowledge of the forms of viShNu and other gods. The knowledge of the form of viShNu as described in the scriptures is not false, though indirect, because the scriptures are authoritative. One can know from the scriptures that brahman is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, but he cannot be said to have direct knowledge of brahman until he has realized brahman as the inner witness within himself. The indirect knowledge is, however, not illusory. As long as identification with the body continues, one cannot realize one�s identity with brahman. The indirect knowledge of non-duality gained from the scriptures is not opposed to the perception of duality in the world. The perception that an image of viShNu is made of stone is not opposed to the idea that the image represents viShNu and to the worship of the image as viShNu.
Indirect knowledge of brahman can arise even from a single instruction by a competent preceptor. Like the knowledge of the form of viShNu, it does not need any enquiry. The methods of worship have been laid down in the kalpa-sUtras by the sages, Jaimini, AsvalAyana, Apastamba, BodhAyana, KatyAyana and VaikhAnasa. These form limbs of the vedas. Worship can be performed by a study of these and with the help of instructions from a knowledgeable person. But, for direct realization of brahman the instruction of a preceptor, though essential, is not sufficient. In addition, the spiritual aspirant must perform reflection and one-pointed meditation. Want of faith obstructs the rise of indirect knowledge, but want of enquiry (i.e. hearing, reflection and meditation) is what obstructs the rise of direct knowledge. The enquiry should be continued until realization. If one does not get realization in this birth even after practising enquiry till death, he will get it in a future life when all obstacles have been eliminated. By virtue of the practice of spiritual enquiry in a previous birth, VAmadeva attained realization even when he was in his mother�s womb, says aitareya upaniShad (2.1.5.)
If, in spite of the practice of enquiry over a long period realization does not arise, it is due to various impediments. Realization will dawn when the impediments are removed. A person who does not know that one of his ancestors had buried a large quantity of gold under the ground in the compound of his house lives in poverty. When some one who knows the secret informs him about the treasure, he collects it and lives happily. A monk could not attain realization because of his past attachment to a she-buffalo. His teacher instructed him to meditate on brahman, looking upon it as the substratum of the buffalo. By doing so he was able to attain realization.
Some of the impediments are: intense attachment to sense-objects; lack of subtlety of the intellect, indulging in perverse arguments about the truth of the upaniShad teachings, and the deep-rooted conviction that the Self is a doer and an enjoyer. These should be removed by the practice of disciplines such as control of the mind, control of the senses, dispassion, etc., and enquiry into the nature of the reality. It is said in the bhagavadgItA that the spiritual development attained by a person in one life will not be lost on death, but will be with him in his next birth and will enable him to progress further from the stage reached (6.41-45). The essential condition for the attainment of realization is complete freedom from all desires, including desire for the pleasures of heaven and even of brahmaloka.
If a person is unable to practice enquiry, he should keep his mind always fixed on the thought of brahman. Just as it is possible to meditate on brahman with attributes, it is also possible to meditate on the attributeless brahman. The latter may be meditated on as being beyond the reach of the senses, speech and the mind. Meditation on nirguNa brahman has been spoken of in the nRisimha-uttara-tApanIya upaniShad (1.1), prashna upaniShad, (5.5), kaThopaniShad (1.2.15-17), and mANDUkya upaniShad (1.12). This meditation has been mentioned also in the panchIkaraNa vArtika by Sureshvara AchArya. It is a means towards the indirect knowledge of brahman. The Self is indicated in the upaniShad-s by implication by means of positive attributes such as bliss, etc. and also negatively as �not gross�, etc. One should meditate on the indivisible, homogeneous Self as �That I am�.
The difference between knowledge (j~nAna) and meditation (upAsana) is that the former depends on the object, while the latter depends on the will of the meditator. To explain, knowledge reveals an object as it actually is, but in meditation an object is looked upon as representing some thing else. Seeing the sun as the sun is knowledge, but thinking of the sun as brahman is meditation.
Knowledge of brahman arises by the practice of enquiry. Such knowledge puts an end to the notion that the world is real. On the attainment of this knowledge the person enjoys permanent satisfaction and feels that he has accomplished the goal of life. He becomes liberated even while living and merely awaits the exhaustion of the karma which brought about his present birth (prArabdha karma).
A person who is not able to practise enquiry should meditate in the manner prescribed by his guru with complete faith, without allowing his mind to be distracted by other thoughts. He should continue the practice of meditation until he becomes identified with the object of meditation and thereafter also continue it till the last moment of his life.
A diligent student of the vedas recites them even in his dreams. Similarly, one who practises meditation without any distraction continues the meditation even in his dreams, because of the deep impression produced by the meditation in his mind. Such a person can meditate without interruption even while continuing to experience his fructifying karma, just as a worldly person keeps on thinking of the objects to which he is attached even while he is engaged otherwise.
A person who has realized that he is the Self (and not the body-mind complex) fulfills his worldly duties also well, because they do not conflict with his knowledge. The knowledge that the world is not real but only mAyA and that the Self is pure Consciousness is not opposed to worldly activities. In order to perform worldly activities it is not necessary to believe that the world is real. Only the right means are necessary. These means are the mind, speech, body and external objects. They do not disappear on the attainment of enlightenment.
The injunctions and prohibitions of the scriptures have no application to the enlightened. They apply only to those who look upon themselves as belonging to a certain caste or station or stage of life. The enlightened person knows that caste, stage of life, etc., are creations of mAyA and that they pertain only to the body and not to the Self which is pure Consciousness. The enlightened person whose mind is completely free from all desires and vAsanA-s has nothing to gain from action or inaction, meditation or japa.
A person who meditates continuously attains identity with the object of meditation, but this identity ceases if the practice of meditation is given up. But the realization of the Self, once attained through knowledge, is never lost. Every living being is in reality brahman, but is ignorant of this fact. Knowledge only reveals this truth and does not create brahmanhood.
Because of nescience which conceals their real nature, people do not realize the purpose of life. But just as begging is better than starving, it is better to practice devotion and meditation rather than other pursuits. Performance of the rituals laid down in the scriptures is superior to being engrossed in worldly affairs alone. Better than that is worship of a personal deity. Even better than that is meditation on the attributeless brahman which leads to direct realization.
A samvAdi bhrama which leads to the desired result becomes valid knowledge (pramA). Similarly, meditation on brahman, when it ripens, leads to liberation and becomes knowledge of the reality. Though meditation on the form of a deity and chanting of mantras may also lead to liberation, meditation on the attributeless brahman is nearest to the goal of Self-realization.
Meditation on the attributeless brahman matures into savikalpa samAdhi in which there is still the distinction of meditator, the act of meditation and the object of meditation. This, when pursued, leads to nirvikalpa samAdhi where such differences vanish. There is then a perfect realization of brahman as immutable, associationless, eternal, Self-luminous, without a second and infinite, as declared in the scriptures.
Those who undertake pilgrimages and chanting of mantras instead of meditation on the attributeless brahman may be compared to a person who licks his hand after dropping the sweets held by him.
Enquiry into the nature of the Self by hearing the scriptures from a teacher and then reflecting on them and practicing meditation is the direct means to Self-realization. Meditation on the attributeless brahman is prescribed only for those who are unable to practise such enquiry.
If a person is not able to perfect his meditation in this life, he may attain liberation by acquiring Self-knowledge in brahmaloka or in another life. The bhagavadgItA says that one attains that which he thinks of at the time of death (8.6). Thus the future life of a person is determined by his thoughts at the time of death. So the worshipper of a personal god will attain identity with Him, and the meditator on the attributeless brahman will attain liberation.
One who studies this chapter and reflects on its contents is freed from all doubts and constantly meditates on brahman.
End of Chapter 9
Chapter 10
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