Question 269-270 – Sri Yoga Vasishtha

Rama asks about how lightning arises and disappears; how then does consciousness arise? What is the cause of the potency of ideation? A short lecture follows… … realizing Atma brings the end of ideation and illusion.

Glossary:
chitta: chitta San. noun. the mind (the seat of understanding and awareness, of intellect and will); memory, thought, reflection; the soul, heart. It is the individual consciousness, composed of intelligence and intellect (buddhi), ego (ahamkara) and mind (manas). In Vedanta, chitta is one aspect of Universal Consciousness (chit). The world hangs on the thread of consciousness – without consciousness, there is no world.

swaroop Hin. m. swarupam (swa+rupa) San. n. an image; a form assumed by a deity; one’s intrinsic nature, the expression of one’s own essential form, nature or character, including the values one represents or demonstrates. (real, actual, essential, original spiritual form, of the nature of, by nature)

akash: San. m., n. (ambara) sky, space, an expanse; the element of ether, the subtlest form of matter. Space gives things form and keeps them discrete. Its quality is sound. ‘It is through space that sounds are transmitted and heard. Love and play are products of akasha and seeds sprout on account of akasha.’Akasha pervades the cosmos but remains unstained.’ (BG: 23:32)

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Question 269: Sir, the flash of lightning arises and disappears in the clouds instantly, because it is a product of the clouds. Kindly explain to me how the chitta-potency is caused in Brahman.

Answer: Ramji, it is not right for you to ask such a question because clouds and lightning are unreal and Brahman is real. How can you draw a comparison between the unreal and the real? Better to ignore this question of cause and effect.

Question 270: Sir, is the potency of ideation real or unreal? What is its cause, from where does it arise?

Answer: Ramji, I have explained to you earlier also that only Atma exists in all forms and manners. There is no distinction between the chitta and its ideation. Brahman itself exists in its own Self (swaroop). All that is perceived besides this is an illusion. Ramji, you should accept this with firm faith, because I have realised this and am telling you on the basis of my own experience. Assimilate my teachings firmly so that you may soon attain to the Atmic state. Do not permit futile questions and doubts in your mind.

Ramji, time, akash, various other objects, and so forth are cognised due to the ideation. Nothing has been created in Atma. What is the cause of light in a lamp or of heat in fire? What is the cause of motion or stillness in air? Just as there is no cause for all these, so there is no cause for the ideation. Heat is an aspect of fire, light is an aspect of lamp, motion and stillness are aspects of air; so ideation is an aspect (swaroop) of Atma. Knowing so when you abandon the ideation and realise the Self, all your doubts will disappear. When wisdom arises, Atma is always experienced as homogeneous (non-dual), but when there is ignorance, it is cognised to the contrary. The firm feeling of a universe developed in ideation, assuming itself as real, becomes established as a universe. When ideation of this kind vanishes within, the being of the universe too disappears.

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Man’s knowledge can be classified into five categories. The type of knowledge which is most widely prevalent now-a-days is book knowledge. We are wasting our entire lives for acquiring such book knowledge which is merely superficial. On account of this, general knowledge and common sense have become conspicuous by their absence. These two, namely, general knowledge and common sense cannot be gained from books, but only from various experiences in actual day-to-day living, especially through service to society. The fourth one is discriminative knowledge. This type of knowledge is now-a-days being used perversely for selfish ends. This is not the right use of discrimination. What is wanted is the kind of discrimination which keeps in view not the selfish individual good but the collective good of the society at large. Young people should particularly avoid justifying the wrong use of their discrimination for self interest. They should develop what may be called “fundamental discrimination”, which is equally applicable to all people, irrespective of the country to which they belong. Unlike in the case of ordinary arithmetic, 3-1=1 according to the spiritual arithmetic. You may argue that this equation is incorrect, but I firmly assert that it is correct. Why? Because it is based not on selfish worldy calculation but on selfless Atmic calculation which aims at universal welfare. Of the three entities God, Maya and the Universe, God is the object, Maya is the mirror and the Universe is God’s reflection. If the mirror be removed, there will be no Maya and Universe. Then only God remains. Therefore, 3-1=1 SS, 1990, Glory of Indian Culture

Lightning involves a near-instantaneous release of energy on a scale averaging between 200 megajoules and 7 gigajoules. The air around the lightning flash rapidly heats to temperatures of approximately 30,000°C. There is an emission of electromagnetic radiation across a wide range of wavelengths, some visible as a bright flash. Lightning also causes thunder, a sound from the shock wave which develops as heated gases in the vicinity of the discharge experience a sudden increase in pressure.

Hamsa Gayatri
Om Hamsaaya Vidmahe
Paramahamsaya Dheemahi
Tanno Hamsa Prachodayat

“May we realise Hamsa that is our own Self as the Swan. Let us meditate on that Paramahamsa, the Supreme Self. May Hamsa illumine us.”

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