Deivathin Kural # 46 of (Vol 2) of 13 Nov 2007.

Om Namah Sivaya.

Deivathin Kural # 46 of (Vol 2) of 13 Nov 2007.

(Continued from DK # 45 of 10 Nov 2007. We are to remind the readers that herein, 'he' as a word stands for 'she' as well. Words in Sanskrit script not being available, the transliteration spellings and thereby the pronounciation, especially of names may be at variance from what it should be!)

290. What was experienced in flashes of fractions of seconds, like the lightnings of the rainy season, becomes a continuous 'Anubhava', like the flow of oil, when you see all the sceneries of this world as expressions of the divinity! When such is the experience, you will agree with me that it is irrelevant, whether it happens while alive or after dropping the body, since your being is not dependent on 'bodyliness'. So, it was stated in the last para of the previous e-mail, that it is not important whether it is 'Jeevan Mukthi' or 'Videha Mukthi'. For a 'Gnani', both are the same! Thus to make us realise in experience that it is all the self same Brhma and cause us to be established in Moksham, is the primordial purpose of all Vedas!

291. Now you have News Papers. All the TV channels report on news. There are more and more news channels coming into being everyday. Internet service providers have also taken to news reporting. Think of the number of reporters, news agencies, letters, telegrams, teleprinters, fax-machines, satellites, scanners and cameras, e-mails and g-mails and so on; involved in reporting all this news! How about that news not understandable and decipherable, by any of these instruments and or machines? Don't we need a media for information, from where there will be no means for reporting, which can only be gathered by perception beyond senses, mind and intellect? That media is Vedam as reported by Rishis with such capabilities, not normally cognised, and generally beyond the normal run of things. Though there are many such material in the Vedas, of tremendous relevance and importance; there are some details which may be discarded at times.

292. When I say that there are some material which may be 'discarded', I do not mean, that there is anything in Vedas that should be discarded as wrong or irrelevant. It is anathema to think on such lines. However, when there are some arguements presented in favour or against some points of view, one should take the gist of the main hypothesis, as you would take the kernel and leave the chaff. It has been so arranged by our ancestors themselves. Initially we may learn to count on our fingers. Once we have learnt using an abacus, say, we may not use the fingers anymore! At the primary or intermediate level, what is important, may not be so, when you graduate to the successive higher levels. But it may still be useful to some other aspirant, coming up the ladder. There are many such things in the Vedas, which elevate the Jeevan gradually, which may be acceptable at one level but, ignored at further higher levels. Instead, there are some, which should be accepted at all times, completely. These are known as 'vidhi'. Those things acceptable at one level and then discarded at further higher levels are, 'arthavaadam or anuvaadam'.

293. Let us say, to make us understand a 'tatvam' or 'vidhi', a story may have been used. Actually the Vedas contains many such stories. Take that story about the girl who went in search of the best man and finally ended up with the same man that her parents had initially selected and the story of the Stag in search of the fragrance from it's own navel!. The stories are not as relevant as the 'vidhi tatvamasi', that, what you are searching for, is here in yourself! The stories are 'artha vaadam'. What is 'anuvaadam'? To affirm something that we do not know about, Vedam may start from something well known and proceed from there. That is to say, 'anuvaadam' are the supportive arguements. Anuvaadam and Artha vaadam, are not to be accepted as inviolable tenets or 'vidhi'. If Vedam says something, that is not otherwise known to us at all, that is 'Vidhi', the truth, 'tatvam', aim, mission, upadesam and Law.

294. That is, If Vedam says anything that otherwise could also be known, through any other means, then that is not a 'Veda Pramaanam', ie., something conclusively proved by Vedam. Vedam has come into being to reveal things not otherwise known. So, when it says something normally known and then says something not-known, then that, 'not otherwise known' becomes the message of the Vedam. It is out of concern for our ease of understanding that, Vedam starts from the known and takes us to the unknown. If the already known was the message, there was no need to introduce that, what was unknown. If the Vedam talks at length about a new subject, otherwise not-known; and then says forget about it and keep what is already known to you; that would be a rediculously foolish situation. Why talk about that unknown subject and then say, forget it? That brings us to a very important question or two questions!

295. What is known to us and what is not known to us? For all the things of the world, there are, two types of opinions. All the things that are seen in this world; can be integrated under one heading as, 'the seen' or can be differentiated as 'different things'. The worldly affairs can only be carried out, if we think of them all as so many different things, from the direct observation. For us water is different from oil. Lamp will burn only with oil. You cannot do with water, for that purpose. But if there is a conflagration of fire, you need water to put it out. If you use oil there, the fire will become uncontrollable! So, for getting the work of the world done, you have to differentiate and use the right person or right material for the right job! To look at all the things of the world as made of so many things, is Dwaitam. The many methods, approaches, Karmas and Upasana Paddhathis described in the Vedas; are all on the basis of Dwaitam. In all these areas, Vedam is seen to be supportive of the Principle of Dwaitam only. No Adwaitins need to object to this.

296. But, let us see, if Vedam stops at this known Dwaitam only. If it stops, then we can clearly say that Dwaitam is the message of the Vedas. But, what do we see in the Vedas? In some places in the Samhita portion and in many places in the Upanishads, it talks of Adwaitam, not known and felt by us! 'Things are not different from each other; they are all seeming outer manifestation of the self same Atma only.' This is the decision that Vedas bring us to, in the end!

297. In our religious books, there are two sub-divisions, known as 'Poorva-paksham' and 'Siddhantam'. The Poorva-paksham, would first talk of the opposite point of view. It will give all the arguments for the contrary opinion. If you read only that portion, you may get carried away with the idea as explained there, to be the main message! All the contrary views are subsequently, comprehensively refuted, in the Siddhantam portion! This is done (in these books known as 'Darshanams') so that, the principle concept is established beyond any possible objections. This openness, transparency and honesty found in the very logical analysis of the 'Darshanams'; is highly appreciated by intelligentia the world over.

298. Please understand that, Vedam has not dealt with Dwaitam, as is done in Poorva-paksham in 'Darshanams', so that it may be refuted later, while establishing 'Adwaitam' as the irrefutable concept! Yes, Dwaitam does occur in the Karmakandam in the Vedas; similar to the Poorva-paksham in Darshanas, but not so as to facilitate later refutation! The reason is that, Dwaitam and Adwaitam are both relevant at certain levels of individual development and Vedam accepts that! To put it in other words, Dwaitam and Adwaitam are not at cross purposes with each other! Once Dwaitam itself is acceptable, no one in the right sense can have any objection about Visishtadwaitam anyhow! The differences are too subtle, to be noticed in the refinement of ones own advancement. Karma and Upasana are the 'steps of the ladder' or the 'building blocks' for 'Adwaita Anubhava'. Anyhow, 'Adwaita Anubhava' is too personal, that you just cannot share with anybody! The logic is that, the moment you are thinking of the experience to be shared with one more person; it is not 'Adwaita Anubhava' anymore! Saint of Thiruvannamalai, Arunagiri Nathar says in Tamil, "...thannanth thani ninradu thaan ariya, innam oruvarku isaivippaduvo?...", meaning, '...to have stood alone could be known; but how could it ever be told to another?...'. But the beauty still remains that, Arunagiri Nathar still wrote the poem and is still sharing with us, his Adwaita Anubhava, even now!

299. So, Karma and Upasana, lead you to Adwaita Anubhava, and hence are not to be opposed or contradicted or discarded. First what is a flower, after pollination becomes the fruit subsequently; what is Dwaitam initially becomes Adwaitam later. There is no war on between the Flower and the Fruit. Everything in its own place has a logic of existance. Problem is only when you do not change, grow and mature or get stuck in a groove. If Adi Sankara and other other authors of Adwaita have been critical of other Siddhantas, it is only on the point of not growing or fruitioning into Adwaita!

300. By God's grace, modern science's growth, instead of being inimical towards religion and theology, is proving to be taking humanity closer and closer towards concepts and ideas, otherwise beyond the comprehension of the common man; except through the Vedas. In Inorganic Chemistry, we learnt about the Periodic Table of Elements. They said that there are 72 basic elements, listed in a matrix of rows and columns. The rows were successively differing in characteristics, depending on the change in the number of the outer electrons. The columns contained similar metals or non-metals; once again characterised by the similarity in the number of outer electrons. Then they said that all these elements combine in various ways to make all the millions and zillions of materials of this world. From 72, this number of basic elements have been increasing and touched 103, as of now. Further analysis in science, however proves that despite all the seeming variations, everything is energy and that, matter and energy are interchangeable. They have only relative existance and are not absolute. (Much before Atomic Science could take form, that is in the 1920s, Periyaval, in one of his lectures commented that, "They are talking about all the things of the world coming into being, by a combination of 72 elements. On further analysis, they are likely to find that the root matter of all matter is One only.")

301. Those who have analysed these and known the truth, say that the truth is in the form of, 'arivu', a Tamil word for putting together, if you can, "knowledge, awareness, sentience, consciousness, information and intuitive intellect". Now if you can include, in that 'arivu', the inanimate objects too; that would comprise of the all inclusive 'Adwaitam', out of which there is nothing else! The renegades, scoundrels, scalawags, idiots, terrorists, fanatics, fascists, idi amins, hitlers, pol pots, karunanidhis, jayalalithas and lallu prasad yadavs, and modis, also included! Let it be one energy or eka chaitanyam, that Adwaitam is not visible to our eyes and discernible to our senses. But all the other things are all visible to us. In other words, it is the Dwaitam, that is visible. For this world visible as many sided and multi dimentional, we do not need the Vedam. We do not need the Vedam, for what is within the grasp of our senses and mind. It has to take us from here, to the realms of the unknown, not normally understood and percieved! That is, 'the jeeva to know his true self, should dissolve in the paramatma, without a trace'. That is 'tatvam'.

Upadesa Saram

302. To reach there, or to become that 'tatvam', or to realize the truth; what in essence is the advice of the Upanishads? Modern science is saying that the functional world is stuck within the two concepts of Time and Space. Upanishad says that, the truth can only be discerned, if and when you are out of the clutches, of these two restricting factors. In this previous sentence, look at the two words underlined. That first word, 'when' is of the dimension of Time and the phrase 'out of' is of the dimension of Space. That is how stuck we are, without being aware of it. Take the story of the horizon, I told earlier. like that there are plenty of examples. There are also very clear examples of how, in relation to the concept of 'oneself, me and I', our sense of Time and Space gets warped. This is an important point. Give attention! I am going to give two examples.

303. Say that, you are reading the news paper. Just to kill time, you are avidly reading about some fighting, somewhere in Congo, let us say. But neare home, if there is a war between India and Pakistan, then that news takes priority. The Congo news is set aside and Indo-Pak War gets prominent coverage. Even this becomes secondary, if there is a fight between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, that Thiruththani should be completely part of Tamil Nadu. When there is fight between Tamil and Telugu people, Indo-Pak war is also of minor importance! Now, if there is a fisticuff, in the next road or lane; we throw away the newspaper, and run there to witness the happening. There, if someone were to tell us that in our house children are fighting, tell me if you will waste your time, hanging around in the neighbourhood? That too, if it is a war of words, involving some utencils too, between Mother-in-law, Your Mother and Doughter-in-law, Your Wife.

304. In International level, the Congo war may be very important. Then from there, Indo-Pak war; Tamil Nadu- Andhra Pradesh face-off; road fight; fight within ones own house; the importance of the event is successively lower; but is getting our attention in the inversely proportional ratio. Why is this so? Because, Congo is somewhere far away. Subsequently, each event is progressively coming closer and closer to our self. Same story of the horizon coming closer and closer.

305. Now all that you have to do is to focus the attention inward. Now, if you start giving attention to the pulls and pressures between the five senses and the chaos that they are creating, all fights in the outer world, will lose relevance and importance. They will all run away, like some happening in Congo. This is the inner-war. This is the battle between good and evil within ourselves. This is the conflict between Kouravas and Pandavas of Maha Bharath. You resolve this conflict and there will be peace. In that peace, space is no more a binding or restricting factor. Were you aware of space while sleeping? In sleep, 'arivu' is missing and so are the senses missing. In Gnanam, 'arivu' will be there, less the conflict of the senses. In that 'Atma Anubhava' Space has no Place!

306. Time is also like this only. When Daddy died ten years back, how much we cried. Why are we not crying now? The very second day, we were crying less! Last year you got promotion. Why don't you celebrate now? You remember as to how much we felt happy when we won that Rs. 1,000/- lottery, in Giant Super Market! We danced on the roads. Why do we not dance now? As there is more attraction to things or events, as we come closer to our own assumed idea of ourselves, events nearer in time; seems to affect us more. Leaving the outside matters, when we shift our attention inwards, what we are seeing is that, the intensity of how we are affected by Time and Space is less, with not much of effort on our part! This is indicative of the fact that, if we make an effort to pay attention inwards, we can reduce the impact of Time and Space on us. We will continue from here, in the next e-mail.

Sambhomahadeva.