Chapter 1
Decoding the secret of the secret of the Avataric Path
ADVAITA
Monism
We are going to look into the overview of Gita chapter by chapter as a reference for the various mystical states in self-realization paths. In this disposition we will not be repeating the symbolic representations behind the characters of Gita nor will we be touching on interpretating Gita in the light of Yogshaastara because there are inexhaustive amount of information already floating around. Equally, we will not be diving into the Sanskrit meanings of each verse nor dissecting them word for word unless when required. The reason behind this is to narrow down and contain our focus solely on extracting the pearls of the path of Avatars-according to the unity of world scriptures-from the mystical shadings that had overshadowed Gita. This path of Avatar can be synonymously coined as the realization of Purushottamam who is a special purusha beyond all purushas or simply as The God-realization path. We have intentionally accentuated the word ‘the’ in God, as in ‘The God’ in order to differentiate this special purusha (The God) from other purushas (gods). Keeping these succinct details in mind, we shall now proceed to unravel the Gita.
Avataric Way the Path Beyond Advaita
Chapter One of Gita commences by describing the culminative experience of a mystic which we coin it as the necessary levels of a shadow unity. In the path of spirituality, there is a structure comprising different stages and stations determined by sages of yore for the benefit of those who thread the spiritual path. With the spiritual compass in their hands, they will be able to navigate the direction to take, not misunderstand the state of experiences or the station he or she is in, to realize if they are stuck or lost in the vast spiritual ocean. Without such relative maps and compasses, it will be difficult to navigate their own progress and become caught in delusional experiences. In this respect, there are fundamentally seven stages of which six requires our attention; The diagram below constitutes those stages.
Mankind receives the metaphysical and ontological matters of realities through two different approaches. One is through an objective phenomenon while the other is through subjective means. The objective mode is coined as the religious consciousness because it was revealed by The One Primordial God to the chosen beings sent down in specific time frames, while the subjective means is called mystical consciousness which is opened to those who strive towards realization. Ina crux religious consciousness means the descending of God’s revelation on the chosen being while mystical consciousness means the ascent of man by his or her effort to grasp that One True Absolute Reality. The concept of The One True Absolute Reality, which belongs to the domain of religious experience, is indeed different in nature from the ecstatic intuitive experience of a mystic who can stall at any stations or stream from multiplicity to trinity to duality to shadow realities finally culminating at origin of origin states depending on his or her aptitude while on the other hand, the entire path is revealed to the chosen beings. Thus, the God Purushottamam, and its relation to the world and the common man, realized purely from a religious experience is different from the mystical inner perception[1]. The stark difference between them can also be understood by the emphasize laid down by Krishna in regards to duty, principles and importance of participating in the world which is exclusive to the Avataric paths that emerged out from the religious consciousness of which the common man can easily relate to and participate. While the route from Trinity to Origin of Origin from the mystical way advocates dispensing totally with worldly participation or having minimum contact with the world.
Furthermore, the common man is not privy to mystical secrets and if he or she did take up the fork, most will not able to endure long in the arduous mystical pursuit. Hence the mystical quest is designed only for those who have a certain aptitude or flare for it. Bhagavad Gita is a unique scripture that bridges this objective and subjective matter by taking us step by step to the religious consciousness from the mystical route.
We call this special path as the Avataric path because it was Krishna being a Purna Avatar, propounded the way to Arjuna. We will devote an entire chapter on these two approaches at the end of this article.
According to the Avataric path, the first step is Advaita without which one cannot progress nor proceed to the next. Unfortunately, thousands of mystics hold Advaita as the final step after which they believe that there is no more ‘journeying’. This is true if their struggle in the path is solely based on their own endeavours or through a teacher grounded in pure unity or Monistic notions. However, this is not true in the path of Avatars. An aspirant who has tapped onto an Avatar will penetrate further and realize that Monism was only a drop compared to the ocean. Unfortunately, many mystics run after the drop thinking that it is the ocean. The Monistic movement has hijacked the world of spirituality to the extent that many hold Advaita as the pinnacle of spiritual experience while other paths such as Vishishtadvaita or Dvaita have been washed out from the spiritual standings as something trivial especially Dvaita where 99% of mystics do not understand its high standing position. In this muddle, the Avataric path had become totally lost. One must understand that we are not condemning any paths or experiences. It is precluded for us to do so because we cannot dispense with these stages of the mystical consciousness especially when we pursue the Avataric path through the mystical route. How then can we condemn any stations? Rather we are more interested in discussing the stages in spiritual pursuit that leads to the Avataric position which we will witness in the Gita as we proceed further. Henceforth, Monism is an important step in the mystical goal but it is not the end according to the Avataric way. In this regard, we will witness how Krishna expounds the Avataric way, the path beyond to Arjuna once he had attained Advaita.
Many will be surprised by these bold statements because the entire Gita have been predominantly construed from the Advaita or Monistic perspective. They view Arjuna as an embodiment of the ego self and since the inception was at the egocentric self, coined also as Duality Improper, the final destination will naturally fall at Advaita, the Undifferentiated Oneness of Being. This is because when a man attempts to know the self from his or her own endeavours they can only orbit as far as their sight could reach and so their interpretation will follow suite naturally falling within that boundary also. But for those who have broken that boundary through the aid of God see beyond and further. Based on the arguments forwarded in previous chapters regarding the pre-Gita civilization’s standpoint, ultimate goal and world view, we are shoehorned to the very frontiers of our intellect to believe that Arjuna was a self-realized individual who was near at attaining Advaita which was symbolized by the event that unfolded in the battle ground, and it was for this reason that Krishna was already depicted as the charioteer for Arjuna as explained in the Chapter, The Settings. We must understand that the Gita begun with this crucial depiction or notion at hand. Henceforth, in this trail of argument, Arjuna was not a novice but a veteran in the spiritual enterprise.
Reins and Horses: Avatars and Mystics
The term reins of the horses depict the phenomenon of the mind while horses are alluded to the attributes and the senses. Krishna was portrayed controlling the reins (mind) for Arjuna. Furthermore, the horses (senses) were illustrated as white in colour, which means that Arjuna’s senses were already purified and his mind were at a certain level of control. Hence, Arjuna was someone who had already connected to his own higher being the Divine Individual Spirit (Krishna) who took full control of his mind and senses. Arjuna moves through the impact and guidance of his higher self. This is a spectacular illustration of the unseen architectures of our inner mechanism. In fact, the entire men or most of them in that period must be self-realized to some extent. If not self-realized, how can we account for the many amazing things that had occurred through their hands and the incredible amount of knowledge that had passed down from generations to generations in continuum. If this is true, the cogent question is, why the Kauravas were bent on doing evil? It is stated in Gita Chapter 1 verse 38.“‘Their thoughts are overpowered by greed and they see no wrong in annihilating their relatives or wreaking treachery upon friends….’ ”
One must understand that mysticism does not guarantee anyone any security or protection from sin and evil. As long as one still occupies the body, some ego has to be retained and hence, virittis or vibrations will re-emerge without it one cannot interact with the world. How much the mystic can control vices and surpluses solely lies in his or her hands since a mystic is considered as someone who has separated the eternal from the contingent and thus have the liberty or some control over how he or she wants to dispose of their affairs. However, Avatars (according to our definition in Chapter Avatar) unlike mystics had been granted security against vices for they have full control over the elements of nature as well and this was why Vishnu had always been depicted as someone who can envelope and drown himself in dreams after dreams while at the same time, he could extricate himself out whenever he wants form those alluring, captivating, dangerous seductive hold of maya. This is a dangerous game (leela) which mystics do not dare play with lest they get caught in the web of the mayic deceit, but for the Avatars they have total control over it and yet they religiously abide by the laws and destiny that govern it. Avatars appearance on earth were to teach mankind the lessons of life by becoming the ideal for the populace. They were not sent to seek or learn anything here. They were not here to pursue enlightenment either unlike mystics, but were sent only to be reminded of their purpose and mission for mankind. So, it is totally a different ball game for the Avatars.Meaning of War
Chapter One of Gita opens up with the events of the war. In spiritual quest, the indication that one’s spiritual journey has started is shown through visions of war, bloodshed, killing and such. It’s the symbol of an aspirants’ tug and war between the sides that draws them towards good and the side that pulls them towards evil. Before embarking on the spiritual path, good and evil were mixed. One cannot differentiate much between good and evil and stand confused at times. The maxim “All is fair in Love and War”, form a rational view point is devoid of any moral bearings. In another words it is a ‘no holds barred’ situation where anything goes and everything can be justified and then normalized. Nonetheless can war ever be justified? How do we know when to limit and to extend humanitarian principles? Or does it all matter? The tortuous nature of such philosophical positions can build up to such a degree that right and wrong, appearance and reality soon loses its ground. Different philosophies have shaped many ideas. Liberal philosophies have justified the use of arms against tyrannical rules, Karl Marx materialistic philosophy created heartless cold-blooded psychopaths, Robespierre bible was the Rousseau who was decapitated by his own machine and thus instead of clarity, a person can flounder in a pool of uncertainty. There seems to be no clear-cut iron wall that demarcates right and wrong or distinguishes appearance from reality. Good and evil are like friends and sometimes like foes similar to family and relations. But once the spiritual process has begun, these two sides slowly start separating like in the scene of a war zone. There are the Allies and Axis each hoisting its flag ready for a final showdown. Thus, the spiritual position gives us a form of certainty which distinguishes right from wrong. This diametrically differs from the turbid confused state of an aspirant before embarking onto the spiritual voyage. He now acts with the sense of responsibility towards God and His creations in terms of trust, propagating compassion and justice just like Arjuna. Arjuna displayed the characteristic of the potential nature of a man who is adorned with the criterion and is highly developed in consciousness. On the other hand, the Kauravas displayed the acquired nature of man which is the fall back to the animalistic self. Those are the unrestrained urges, desires and other inclinations that fulfil their selfish needs and wants. A mystic can rise like Arjuna or revert and fall back like Kauravas because nothing is guaranteed. There are many mystics who at a certain point of attainment claim that they are guaranteed safety from ever falling, but we have witnessed the fall of great mystic from grace many a times in history. In fact, mystics are more susceptible to the tests of life because they have opened up different dimensions of energy that the common man has no access to and as such, they have the freedom to control and use their powers for both good and for vice. Such mystics unchecked, will ultimately spread corruption on earth.“Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjay, after gathering on the holy field of Kurukshetra, and desiring to fight……”
“Sanjay said: On observing the Pandava army standing in military formation... ”
“Duryodhan said: Respected teacher! Behold the mighty army of the sons of Pandu, so expertly arrayed for battle…. ”
“Behold in their ranks are many powerful warriors… ”
“O best of Brahmins, hear too about the principal generals on our side, who are especially qualified to lead……. ”
“The strength of our army is unlimited and we are safely marshalled by Grandsire Bheeshma, while the strength of the Pandava army, carefully marshalled by Bheem, is limited”
The war ground shows that each side have its own skilful warriors and armies to topple the other. This is the phase of struggle, and the aspirant goes through the trials and tribulations from all corners example; the attractive spell of the opposite gender, the world, from the magnetic pull of power, wealth and other craftiness to add on to his or her test. Thus, separating good from evil is the first step of purification. But the power of evil is ever stronger than the pull of good. We know how easy it is to slip to the bad side then to nurture the good side and this is the inner meaning of the verse 10;
“The strength of our army is unlimited and we are safely marshalled by Grandsire Bheeshma, while the strength of the Pandava army, carefully marshalled by Bheem, is limited”
The aspirant must be tilting more on the side of good instead of evil by training the self to engage in more good works. Once they are able to nurture this aspect until it has become entrenched in them, they will be brought to the next level of spirituality which is to see with their inner eye those enemies within.
“Arjun said: O Infallible One, please take my chariot to the middle of both armies, so that I may look at the warriors arrayed for battle, whom I must fight in this great combat.”
The Teacher & Yajna
In the first phase of an aspirant’s spiritual life, the teacher is the symbol of Krishna who will not be fighting your war but he or she will be the charioteer driving you. For that you must surrender yourself to him or her which includes your senses and the mind. These must come under control at a certain level and purified. The dark horses (senses and desire) must transform into white (light) horses. The reins that control the horses must be held and restrained whenever one wishes meaning these must always be in our control. Amazingly, in the last scripture to mankind, the mind as aql[2], also meaning reins that need to be controlled and the nafs, the egocentric self is exemplified in Sufism as wild horses that must be purified. The Quran stated that the nafs or the self has a spectrum of states that can be classified into three fundamental categories. Those are, Nafs[3] al-ammara (the egocentric self, animalistic self, base desire, dark self), nafs al-lawwamah (the reproaching self, the inclining self) and finally nafs al-mutmainah (the self at peace, the Ture Self). But before the ego can be reached the senses must be purified first, because it is through the gates of the body the ego gets its strength.
“Restraining all the gates of the body and fixing the mind in the heart region…”
In all personalities, the ego or nafs is situated in between the Divine Individual Spirit and the attributes. The ego self holds the reins of the mind and senses in all common man. Thus, before we can give ‘Krishna’ control, we must at least know that our ego is first in control or rather out of control. This ego is also called the animalistic self, dark self that can transform into the inclining self of yours. If it is left to control without check and balance, it will bring about your destruction because the true Self will remain as a prisoner to it, but if the teacher takes its reins and teaches you the technique of control and practice of restraint, then the ego transforms into the inclining self which begins to guide the senses instead. Soon this inclining-self fades away giving full control over to the teacher who will take it to further hights. This happens when the student absolutely surrenders to the teacher and becomes one with the teacher.
Thus, two preliminary issues must be rectified and put in place in conjunction to separating good from evil. Firstly, the teacher must take control of your reins and secondly, the senses must not transcend beyond its boundaries. Once this is managed the senses will move to where the teacher directs it because the surrendering of the student to his teacher has become a form of sacrifice of their very self. This is the true Yajna or the first level of sacrificial rites done at the sacred fire of the teachers being. Next are the desires of body being the food for the pyre, the flowers symbolize the thoughts of the mind, are sacrificed to the fire so that there is only one pointed God awareness alone, the senses are the cakes and food products thrown in the fire, the will and power of the aspirant is the money sacrificed in the fire, the ghee resembles the subtle selves and the milk signifies even the sattvic qualities or goodness are also sacrificed in the sacred fire. The jeeva the individual self now follows the teacher firmly seated without his or her ego-self active participation. In this way the student dissolves his or her own enacted identity gradually into the teacher. They now adopt the identity of their teacher as a replacement for theirs
The Satguru, Ego, Self and Spirit
Once the physical teacher has completed his or her work on the student to a certain level, the reins will be handed over to the Divine teacher, the Satguru within. This happens when the self has now further transformed from the inkling self to the Self at peace the True Self. This is symbolized or seen in spirituality by the colour blue the like of the ocean or sky because the self has expanded like the vastness of the sky and at complete peace. This is the reason why we feel serene and free whenever we look into the sky or vastness. It now is able to reflect the light and blessings of God on its ‘earth’.
At this moment the Self is also ready to receive clear inspiration from the Divine which is symbolized by the instrument of flute. The True Self becomes an instrument for the work of God to be completed through it and for the voice or words of God to be spread through it. But this does not mean one has achieved. By now both the active and passive states of the ego are subjugated. The subdued ego becomes a vehicle for the Self to scan the cosmos and multi-dimensional worlds. One who is taken up by the satguru knows that their own ego becomes the vemaana (vehicle) for them. This is the reason why deities had been portrayed installed on different animals. These same connotations apply to the symbol of the chariot as well. The satguru is the Divine Individual Spirit itself which becomes the rider, ready to take over the reins. Its senses are now firmly attached in the Divine Individual Spirit and as such it doesn’t transgress. The Self that is firmly entrenched, now takes over the place of the Divine Individual Spirit instead attaining peace and bliss. In this sense, there are two prominent roles assumed by the charioteer, first the physical teacher and then the satguru or the Divine Individual Spirit. Indeed the other name for Krishna is Vaasudeeva. Vaasu from the root word Vassi meaning breath/Spirit and Deeva Divine, thus Divine Spirit. Hence, in all three phases they lead the Self accordingly. The salient features discussed above are presented in the below table;
What are Senses & Self?
The senses are attributes of the Self which can be separated from the Self. They can leave the Self or extend out like the horses of Arjuna or be joined as one with the Self. The Self is connected to the attributes in such a way that when the attributes leave or disjoin it, the Self can still see and hear by following them or remaining behind as a witness. The connection and its separation between them are beyond human conception. The attributes are always one with the Self itself. We can compare this to the Sun and its rays. The Sun is the Self and its rays are the attributes. The attributes extend but never leaves the Sun. They are always connected to the Sun.
What is Spirit?
However, this is not the case with the Spirit. The Self and attributes are in need of the Spirit in order to exists, but the Spirit being the essence-be it individual or universal- does not require the Self nor attributes to exists, see and hear. It exists in its own essence. Mankind is an amalgamation of all these. To recap, first, there are the attributes of the self that can disjoin from the self but always connected to it, then the Self itself and then the Divine Spirit that does not need the Self nor the attributes to exists, but the Self and attributes require and depend on the Spirit to exists lest they become non-existence. Consequently, in this scenario, the Sun represents the Spirit, while the moon represents the Self and attributes are the light rays from the moon.
The War Ground
Once the evil and good are separated, the student is shown the entirety like how Krishna took Arjuna to the middle of the battle ground to scan the entire opposing army.
“Arjun said: O Infallible One, please take my chariot to the middle of both armies, so that I may look at the warriors arrayed for battle, whom I must fight in this great combat.”
“I desire to see those who have come here to fight on the side of the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra, wishing to please him.”
“Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjay, after gathering on the holy field of Kurukshetra, and desiring to fight, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do? ”
The holy field or the middle ground is the sushumna nadi or channel at the centre of our being. There is nothing here except empty sacred space. The Self which is surrounded by goodness is driven out from the heart space or holy house to enter the holy ground called sushumna. This heart space is not on the left side of our breast but it’s slightly on the right belonging to the Individual Spirit the charioteer. This is mostly popular in Sufism as they know that the Divine Individual Spirit is located on the right side of the chest[4[. It is also stated in the Bible and by Ramana Marshi who called it Hiradayam[5]. So that was why we read that Arjuna was driven out from the good side or the right side of the breast to the centre of his being.
Micro to Macro
In the biological application, the cells that destroys you and cells that nourish you are the good and evil side. Anytime the dark cells tips over the good cells, cancer and other sickness results. As long as the good cells keep the balance, life sustains. At the intellectual or ethical level, it’s the war between the evil inclination and good disposition. One must maintain the balance and keep evil sinuation at bay and from rising in order to be successful. The moment we answer its call or give in to its insinuations we begin to create a pattern in our mind that becomes cemented as habits. In action one must also maintain the same equilibrium, if not evil will spread and the soul becomes corrupted. In the society this balanced must be maintained. We can see the similarity in the micro and macro scales of things. In all of these three Yogs, namely Karma Yog (The Mysticism of Action and Sacrifice), Buddhi or Jyana Yog (The Mysticism of Intellect or Knowledge), Samkhya Yog (The Mysticism of the Soul or Self), balance is required because if the evil side tips more than the other, one begins spiralling down back into that dark lane. So far, we described the requirements of self-realization paths.
What is Bakthi Yog?
The fourth path coined as the Bakthi Yog (The Mysticism of the highest form of love, devotion or servitude) will be introduced to Arjuna by Krishna later in Gita. This is an undeniable mark of an Avataric path which we can see in Sufism, Gnosticism and Kabbalah mysticism. But before we describe Bakthi Yog in detail, let us do an introductory note first. Bakthi path lies in between self-realization paths and God-realization path. Yes, self-realization is different from God-realization. Love in mystical path doesn’t have opposition because it’s a union, but such love without boundaries will fall under self-realization path with a taste of God-realization instead. But in the path of Avatar, love must be balanced with law. (Dharma in Vedic, Shariah in Islam, Halaka in Jewism, which is another mark of an Avatar). It is only then that the aspirant is deemed to have truly stepped into God-realization path, if not the very love in self-realization paths can create imbalances.
These imbalances or rather intoxications are not harmful for the mystics because it’s a passing state for them, like being drunk for a while, but on the other hand it can become perilous to the society when the common man and pseudo mystics starts to imitate them blindly believing it to be the ultimate station achievable. They adopt such patterns of thought and speech from those mystics without having any experience or knowledge and understanding of their states. They know not what love-stricken mystics are going through. In such cases, the masses can seriously deviate and cause corruption in the society. So, the wise must lead the masses with wisdom. Bhakti path in mystical pursuit is not a requirement or a necessary component of self-realization path because it does not comprise attaining God, but it involves achieving God like state of being eternal. Once having reached the goal of immortality, the God equation can pose a problem for the mystical unity and hence it must be dropped from the entirety due to running into paradoxes. But in Avataric path, God-realization cannot be attained without Bhakti. The God equation is the cardinal principle in their path without which the entire edifice of the spiritual programme can collapse.
We will devote two chapters on these two exciting topics of love entitled; Radha Krishna the Philosophy of Love and Krishna & Arjuna the Philosophy of Love & Law; We will also highlight the difference between self-realization path and God-realization path in the chapter Concluding the Bhagavad Gita.
Salient points:
Akin to the war ground, an aspirant on the path of spirituality separates good and evil.
Sushumna is the holy ground or the sacred space.
Heart is the holy house or the carriage, the niche.
Self-realization path is different from God realization path.
Self-realization path consists of Karma Yog (The Mysticism of Action and Sacrifice), Buddhi or Jyana Yog (The Mysticism of Intellect or Knowledge), Samkhya Yog (The Mysticism of the Soul or Self) while Bakthi Yog is not required to achieve Self-Realization
God-realization path can consist of all the above or one can suspense with all those paths as well but one cannot dispense with Bhakti Yog.
Bakthi Yog has two shades of meaning one in self-realization path of mystics where they get a taste of God-realization and the other is in the Avataric path where they truly step into God-realization.
Arjuna attains Advaita in that moment
So Arjuna (Self) is driven out from the right side to the holy ground (sushumna) where he is centred and able to scan everything. The very fact that Gita begins with the imagery of Arjuna being driven out to the centre by Krishna (Divine Individual Spirit) shows that he had already attained certain level of mastery and unity. Once at the holy ground of the eternal sacred space, Arjuna (Self) attains Advaita and realized that all is one and one is all. Nothing is wrong or right because in essence all arise from the same root and it’s all part of him.
“There, Arjun could see stationed in both armies, his fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, cousins, sons, nephews, grand-nephews, friends, fathers-in-law, and well-wishers.”
This verse refers to the relation by blood, but in spiritual exposition of Advaita, this verse indicates to the very fundamental ground of which every being is connected by and connected to. This fundamental ground is through the very soul as one universal being.
“Seeing all his relatives present there, Arjun, the son of Kunti, was overwhelmed with compassion, and with deep sorrow, spoke the following words.”
Arjuna seeing that all is him, attained high level of consciousness. His attitude towards life and death, right and wrong, in fact all opposites and distinctions that he used to consider as ethical under his society’s tutelage began to blur. He realized that nothing was opposed to one another because everything that sprung out from the fundamental ground were mere concepts or ideas. Concepts and distinctions of multiplicity occur in the domain of reason and intellect, but once achieving unity these demarcations begin to dissolve. Arjuna realized that such distinctions are far from the reality of the original Unity.
The second aspect of this was the rush of compassion that flooded Arjuna’s heart for all beings. This stems right out from Motherly nature of the fundamental ground of all beings due to the fact that everything sprung from Brahman Bhuta (The Being or essence of Brahman) and thus, he sees himself in all and in all himself. Everything and everyone become good for Arjuna. He felt huge compassion for all of them. In the stages of love, pity is the first phase where one feels sorry for another without really getting involved. But as one’s consciousness develops further; one feels sympathy and empathy finally reaching compassion. Now for those who have compassion, suffering is a must. The higher the compassion the more one has to suffer because not only one will feel for the others but also wants to release them from the quagmire they are stuck in. One is willing to sacrifice time, energy and wealth for the other. Then as one reaches the highest point of compassion, they will arrive at altruism where one is willing to die for the other. So Arjuna attaining Advaita or Oneness with Brahman says killing them is like killing himself.
“…. O Madhusudan, I do not wish to slay them, even if they attack me…”
Arjuna sees from the unity of being, the consequences of this terrible war; he states;
‘O Maintainer of all living entities, what pleasure will we derive from killing the sons of Dhritarasthra? Even though they may be aggressors, sin will certainly come upon us if we slay them. Hence, it does not behoove us to kill our own cousins, the sons of Dhritarashtra, and friends. O Madhav (Krishna), how can we hope to be happy by killing our own kinsmen?
Their thoughts are overpowered by greed and they see no wrong in annihilating their relatives or wreaking treachery upon friends. Yet, O Janardan (Krishna), why should we, who can clearly see the crime in killing our kindred, not turn away from this sin?
When a dynasty is destroyed, its traditions get vanquished, and the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligion.
…..the women of the family become immoral; and from the immorality of women, O descendent of Vrishni, unwanted progeny are born.
An increase in unwanted children results in hellish life both for the family and for those who destroy the family. Deprived of sacrificial offerings, the ancestors of such corrupt families also fall.
…….a variety of social and family welfare activities are ruined.
The lamentation above deals with Arjuna’s destruction of his body, mind and egocentric self. At the same time, he perceives destruction occurring at all levels of the human situation which will cause the next generations onwards to deviate. The phrase, ’…the women of the family become immoral; and from the immorality of women, O descendent of Vrishni, unwanted progeny are born.’ indicates to the sakti/ nafs or self within being corrupted. Its reactions are the birth of evil and mischief thoughts and desires. As such hell becomes their abode because the Self gets sucked deeper into the dark prison of ignorance.
Arjuna adopts ahimsai (non-violence/ the witnessing self) meaning if he battles (giving attention to) his thoughts, oppositions and desires, it will only fuel them more and strengthen the egocentric-self further. He wished to remain as a witnessing self and remain in the state of equilibrium in absolute stillness like Shiva in Kailash. He did not want to involve himself, and create new karma lest he spirals down from this great station. He wants to just flow. He says; “Let them do whatever they want with me it’s ok. I just want to flow.”
“those who destroy family traditions dwell in hell for an indefinite period of time.”
“….It would be better if, with weapons in hand, the sons of Dhritarashtra kill me unarmed and unresisting on the battlefield.”
We understand from the verses below some crucial details regarding Arjuna’s state. Arjuna was attaining absolute Undifferentiated Oneness. He was losing his form and name into Purna and thus, was about to attain Moksha;
‘….my limbs are giving way and my mouth is drying up….’ (1:28) (the phrase, ‘my limbs are giving way’ indicates attaining to a yogic station where the form is starting to melt away into the vastness. The phrase,’ mouth drying up’ signifies experiencing the final moments of death like state which is contrary to meditative state because in deep meditation the mouth will be wet and sometimes full with saliva and watery.
My whole-body shudders; my hair is standing on end. My bow, the Gāṇḍīv, is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning all over. My mind is in quandary and whirling in confusion; I am unable to hold myself steady any longer. O Krishna, killer of the Keshi demon, I only see (nimittani) of misfortune (Viparita). I do not foresee how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle.”
Gita (1:29-31)
……Arjun cast aside his bow and arrows, and sank into the seat of his chariot, his mind in distress (Samvigna) and overwhelmed with grief (Shoka).”
Gita (1:47)
…………“Govind, I shall not fight,” and became silent.”
Gita 2:9
We can witness from the above verses how Arjuna is facing two situations at the same moment, one being maya and the other reality. He was attaining the peak of unity as the verses were describing the process of his soul leaving the body, ‘….my limbs are giving way and my mouth is drying up ‘, ‘…My whole-body shudders; my hair is standing on end. My bow, the Gāṇḍīv, is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning all over ….’ Here the primordial energy has reached his sahasrara (crown) and his entire body heated up to the point of combustion. The bow (Gandiv) signifies the erected spine which had started to give way. At the same time, bow from the universal perspective means that this entire cosmos of creation which boundary lies within the ‘cosmic bow’ or bent was collapsing for Arjuna.
He further stated that, ‘My mind is in quandary and whirling in confusion; I am unable to hold myself steady any longer.’ at that moment his mind was whirling and was entrenched in utter confusion coined in mysticism as the chaotic undifferentiating. At that instant, Arjuna was witnessing the losing of forms, identifications and names in the extreme whirling. But the distinctions were still there in the periphery of Arjuna’s reference but were no more significant. Arjuna was withdrawing from the mayic or sakthi hold of forms and meanings. He could no long keep his spine the bow erect anymore.
In the next stanza, ’.. O Krishna, killer of the Keshi demon, I only see omens (nimittani) of misfortune (Viparita). ...’ the term ‘Krishna killer of Keshi demon’ denotes that his ego the demon was slaughtered and the word nimittani translated as omen, will rightfully mean according to this motion, that the veil for occasions were lifted to reveal the causes. Arjuna who was moving forward in time to his death was also moving backward in time beholding the causes of everything like a movie being replayed in reverse. The word Viparita translated as misfortune linked to nimittani denotes not only this reversal but at the same time it will mean that this entirety of forward and backward arrow of time conflated and inverted within him as the present moment which is highlighted in 1:47,
‘Arjun cast aside his bow and arrows, and sank into the seat of his chariot, his mind in distress (Samvigna) and overwhelmed with grief (Shoka).’
So, his spine (bow) dropped, his arrows were cast aside (whatever pranas were left over spilled out), the Self inverted and sank into its niche (chariot), while, ‘his mind distress’, as we said earlier that his agony and distinctions will still be hanging around the peripherals will also mean here to be shaking in great agitation (which when traced from the spinning earlier, has intensified into shaking uncontrollably and is about to burst) and finally the word grief (Shoka) has other meanings and one of it is to burn away. At long last, he surrendered and sank into the primordial silence. “Govind, I shall not fight,” and became silent.
What Arjuna was going through was the experience of the entire cosmos heading towards dissolution or rather annihilation. At that moment, not only he perceived the future repercussions which he mentioned but also the reverse of time that gave him the insight into the causes for the current occasions and events to rise. We also noticed that these experiences were occurring along with maya until he inverted into himself and entered into the primeval silence which we will discuss in detail in Chapter 2. In short, Arjuna was describing the moment of his Mukti which occurred from chaotic movement to absolute stillness. In yogic term it is coined as the movement from Sakthi to Shiva or Prakriti to Purusha.
To recap, once the Divine Individual Spirit (Krishna) drives him (the witnessing Self) into the holy ground, Arjuna attains Adviata or Undifferentiated Oneness. He sees everything as one. Subject and object conflate. He feels compassion for all beings because he realized that all beings are part of him. Killing them had no more meaning as both good and evil had become neutralized because he realized the source of all is One. Engagement will only regenerate the karma. He sees that vibrations are coming to an end and the wheel of life was concluded for him. He was ready to be slain and go off once and for all because he had attained the highest truth held at his time, Advaita. Arjuna was attaining Purna.
“ Sanjay said: Seeing Arjun overwhelmed with pity, his mind grief-stricken, and his eyes full of tears, Shree Krishna spoke the following words.” Gita (2:1)
Arjuna overwhelmed with compassion, mind uncontrollable, trembling and, ‘his eyes full of tears’ signifies that Arjuna became one united being or the eye as a whole. That means that he had relinquished all forms and names and became pure consciousness. As the bible states;
“The light of the body is the eye: if. therefore, thine eye be single, thy. whole body shall be full of light. ”
The term about the Eye, ‘full of tears (aśhru-pūrṇa)’ alludes to attaining Purna. But Krishna was about to pull the reins or rather the brakes on Arjuna!!
Concluding Chapter One - Advaita
The below depicts the stages of a Mystical ascent and descent.
Stages in Self-Realization Path in the Mystical Ascent and Descent
In this article we would like to describe briefly the mystical stages in Self-realization paths that actually have no standard structures because of replications in experiences and visions and also due to stations being commingled and superimposed with one another. Nonetheless, there definitely exists a fundamental structure that can’t be denied either. Earlier we projected the seven stages of the spiritual path. In this chapter we would like to briefly describe each step up to Avaita according to world religious and spiritual movement as well. This involves charting out the stages from the Vedic/Yogic, Taoists, Buddhists, Christian Gnostics, Islamic Sufism and Jewish Kabbalism point of references in order to witness for ourselves the unity in all religions because reality is one and the same for all. Our spirits, consciousness and soul are one and the same in everyone. No matter what directions we pilot from, we must arrive to the similar aspects of that one reality. We shall produce the same table here for quick references.
The novice, starts with acknowledging his or her utter state of ignorance first. He or she will have to understand that they are being ruled by the infra-consciousness or the animal soul also coined as the ego. The egocentricity here gives the self an enacted reality of a self- identity sculptured from their senses through their interactions with the world which continuously shapes them in time that finally defines who they are. This enacted “i” centricity becomes cemented through the ego’s reinforcements and its focus becomes completely turned towards the world of materialistic and hedonistic indulgence. Thus, every ignorant being views their selves as differentiated and individuated separate beings distinct with forms and names. This is called the multiplicity of the world and this initial state of ignorance is coined by us as duality improper tagged to the seventh stage, the World.
Ascent of the Mystic: Trinity to Duality Paradigm
When the aspirant is shaken by the ultimate questions of life and starts to deeply contemplate the meaning of life and about the self, then he or she is said to have truly embarked on the mystical process. They begin sailing inwards to seek an answer for their burning questions. The first step after duality improper is called the stage of reflection, where they start perceiving themselves as a reflection or being reflected in everything. In the reflection stage, the self-identity of a separated individual and differentiations still persists in the aspirant’s perception, but that perception is now being slowly melted away as they start to feel an affinity with everything as being a reflection or part of themselves. As they penetrate deep into the reflection stages, they will observe that all creations fundamentally consist of a dual nature that splits further into three fundamental dimensions which in turn manifest into the entire creations, or as in the Taoists jargon ‘ten thousand things’ or ‘eighteen thousand universes’ according to Islamic Sufism. These terms are metaphors for infinite number of creations termed as multiplicity.
We can see from the above table that despite the differences in the language and medium of description utilized for understanding that part of reality seen by different seers according to their time, needs and situation, the fundamental essence remains the same. The trinity comes from a duality that is darkness and light. This is not featured in terms of male and female gender status but masculine as an active principle and feminine as the passive principle for the process of creation. At the same time other religions such as Taoism and Buddhism reversed the nature and viewed the female as dark the passive aspect and male as light the active principle instead. Thus, such classifications are of purely for references sake rather than to be taken as the ultimate viewpoints. The table below shows the pictorial version of the stages discussed so far.
In physics they realized this same trinity as energy, wave and frequency, but yet to progress further. In the next section we see how the aspirant moves from duality to becoming a whole but not One yet.
Being- Pantheism to Panentheism
Pantheism
As their sadhanas intensify, they reach the next crucial step in mysticism called pantheism where their consciousness or soul expands to the extent that it includes every being, creatures and all things as part of their very own selves. This in fact is a necessary but mundane form of a unitary experience where they will not be able to distinguish between what is me and what is not me! The mystic will perceive all is the self and the self is all. If the mystic is God conscious or devoted to God, then he or she might interpret their experiences as all is God and God is all and views the self also as God and vice versa. Thus, here we have a disparity within parallel mystical experiences of unity as all as One. If a mystic believes in God and devoted to it than that perception shapes their experience, but if the mystic does not believe in God, then that perception follow suite in that notion.
The paramount point to note in this pantheistic stage is that the fundamental experience of pantheism is true but the form it takes is an illusion. Thus, this God perception cannot be taken seriously as it was misconstrued by the mystic due to being influenced by their devotion or perception, because another mystic who have no such perception will not experience it as such. Thus, one who is devoted to a particular ishtadeva might see it everywhere, one who loves their teacher will see him or her everywhere and likewise for any other perception held dear. Such perceptions become a hurdle instead that could delay the mystic’s progress.
Panentheism
As the mystic’s soul or consciousness expands further to include the entire cosmos or multi-universes, the mystic reaches a higher stage than pantheism called panentheism. In panentheism, the mystic expands or becomes infinite space such that he views the entirety or everything is in him or her instead. This is experiencing unity as all in One to the extent that the mystic views the entirety or the universes as a tiny dot in him or her. Prior to the earlier enlightenment from the mirror or reflection states where he or she beheld the mirror as something other, in this current experience they awaken to the fact that the very mirror was none other than themselves and what they viewed in the mirror was actually whatever was in themselves. Likewise, if they are God consciousness then they may misconstrue the entirety as a dot in God/Self. The dot is seen as diamond like. All ideas merge at this point and all aspects become malleable. The mystic perceives the Self and the origins of the entire cosmos being packed in that point. They will also view all concepts, ideas, thoughts merged in that point. The point is also called the word of God, Om in Vedas and Become (Fayakun) in Islam. By this stage the mystic becomes a Witnessing Self who witnesses every event like a spectator outside space and time.
Thus, it is clear from the above argument that God cannot be attributed to expansion state of the self also. It is purely a mystical mistake whose visions were influenced by a certain penchant that seem to superimpose upon the mystic which influences their sight. This is the reason why we read about mystical poems that seem to be struggling in confusions, caught between seeing God or themselves. This crucial step in the mystical path alludes to the combinations of the two masculine and feminine principles seen as one or the entire whole seen with its parts. Both principles exist clearly in the mystical vision but without contours. Up to this junction the ego self is still there. This ego self may imagine itself to be God or any being as well. Coupled with the activation of its latent energy, it is able to do miracles. These stages consist of many pitfalls that the aspirant must be aware of. Let us add on to the table for a better view;
The above table again clearly shows the unity of spiritual experiences from the duality position leading to the Being in all religious institutions. Here, again by chipping away the forms and languages used according to the seers, the essence will remain the same. From duality it is becoming one as Being where the differentiation still exists in the mystical vision but as one with the whole. Darkness comingled with light or the passive with the active. These entire stage from multiplicity or world to trinity, duality and Being is coined as traversing in the Shadow of the Shadow stages or Reflective of the Reflective stages.
Advaita: The Undifferentiated Oneness
As the mystic presses on, they arrive at the stage called Undifferentiated Oneness where there lies no more differentiation of any sort. In this feature there lies three fundamental Monistic or Advaita experiences. First is the Undifferentiated Oneness or simply called The One.
The world, self, concepts, gods and God (if they are God conscious) are one and from the same substance or existence. The subject and object become conflated regardless to whatever status it is conferred upon in the world or maya. The dot they viewed becomes a geometrical point that does not have any sharp edges or diamond like that could be defined. Every point in the dot can be a beginning and an end. There is no more a centre. In fact, every point is a centre. All ideas merge at this point and all aspects become malleable. This point is also coined as the ‘Mathematical Face of God’ where the mystic can realize God’s attributes and qualities in the formless sense. This is also called undifferentiated unity, Monism and in the Indian mysticism it is coined as Advaita. From Arjuna’s first-hand experience we observed that in the chaotic undifferentiation all identify, forms, meanings, names, qualities and attributes lose its contours. In this stance there are at least three different movements belonging to Samkhya, Vedanta and Yogis which we would like to briefly touch on.
The first is the followers of Samkhya methodology where God is excluded from the equation. Here they only perceive themselves as the ultimate integrated Self. Second is the motion from the Vedanta thought where God is included and thus, the Self or Brahman is taken as the ultimate impersonal God and everything else do not exists. In a crux nothing exists except God. This is Nirguna Brahman (without distinctions) while other denominations may include the lesser gods as their personnel preferences due to their descend. Lastly the movement from the Yog position is to use the celestial beings or lesser gods as their ideal. But once they transcend them, they drop those celestial beings, becoming the integrated Self. They drop worship of all gods. This unity of undifferentiated Oneness is seen as One Integrated Self in Samkhya and in Yog or as Nirguna or higher Brahman in Vedic while the celestial gods and the world comprise the lower Brahman or the Saguna Brahman which utilizes Yogmaya, or parkriti or sakhthi to create the multiple forms of the world and illusion of distinctions.
The Integrated Self or Nirguna Brahman is a state that transcends all duality, oppositions, vibrations and thus, thoughts cease, for if there was a single vibration or thought then there is no escape from duality or opposites. They go beyond being and non-being, manifest and non-manifest and all opposites attaining freedom and fullness. There are no more boundaries, all forms, senses, mental, astral and bodily perceptions become dissolved, where there will be no one to see, hear, speak and know anymore. They coin this as, ‘the jeeva returning home’ to be united with the all-pervading, omni-present Brahma Bhuta (The being or essence of Brahman) which paradoxically is none other than their own Self.
This state is coined as Zero (0) the Purna or the Mystical Transcendence of fullness where the ‘i’ of the bodily ego, ‘i’ of the mental ego and the mundane self are destroyed. Some mystics become nailed to this station or rather get stuck here for a long time while others descend. The Undifferentiated Oneness is a state where there are no more distinctions but all existence remains as potentials in it ready to be manifested. From this Purna state it then differentiates within itself into duality in Oneness to become the male and female principles from which it moves to trinity and manifest out as the ‘ten thousand things.’ without any changes in its essence. This is because these differentiation occurs in the mirror of its “Mind”.
However, in the first stage of Undifferentiated Oneness where the potentiality for existence can be observed is called Nirguna Improper and the mystic experience of Purna in this stage is the active version of it that falls under shadow experiences. Likewise, the transcendence experience in this stage is also shadow version rather than the actual Transcendence. This entire state is called Shadow or Reflective states. Let us continue with the table by adding on the state of Oneness;
We can envisage from the above that different institutions perceive The One in different forms while some like Taoism and Vedanta saw it in its pure state of Being without any attachments or colourings. But in Vendetta some took Brahman as God while others as the Self and rejected the idea of God totally. Shiva, Vishnu, Buddha and Muhammad’s (pbuh) respective followers perceived this entity according to their beliefs because they tapped onto their respective leaders and following and thus, they saw these nexuses in the forefront. In here, Shiva and Vishnu devotees attributed godhead to this One. Likewise for Christian devotees and Jewish followers they attribute godhead to it without compromising its actual state. While in Muhammad’s (pbuh) and Buddhist’s case, they do not attribute any godhead to It, yet in Taoism, Buddhism and Vedanta they call it the Pure Self also. The Quran in Islam called it clearly as Unitary Self. In these movements myriad of philosophies and enlightenment positions arose that ranged from disbelieving in God, to being part of God and to being God itself which can also be taken to be disbelieving in an entity called the Self or all selves being part of the Self or being the Self itself like in the Brahman or Nafsul Waahidah concept.
Just like in the case of differences between different orders during pantheistic phases, where some perceived in their expansion God being everywhere and everything while other orders do not, here too we find the same problem of godhead and not. If there is no unanimity between them at these stages, how then can their positions be true as well. Again, differences lie in the forms and this is because the followers of that particular order had to tap onto the leaders and founders of the respective movements, as such they will perceive it under their banner while those like Taoism who did not begin with any form in mind naturally saw it as pure being which is akin to the Quranic revelation of Unitary Pure Self and Vedanta Brahman of Shankara, the Universal Self.
Hence, despite difference in form, the essence is the same in all institutions (Brahman/The Self/The One). All beings including Avatars, Adi Yogi and other spiritual nexus are parts of Brahman/Self. Thus, it is not surprising to see their forms are all manifestation of the Self which is none other than one’s own self. The essence of the Primordial One is Absolute Existence that contains in itself undifferentiated ideas or potential for all beings to emerge from it. It is One and it is none other than ones Integrated Self. Thus, due to this phenomenon, the mystic experiences of God too are assumed to be one’s Self. But due to this inconclusive myriad of mystical positions held by different mystical institutions, we will have to suspend identifying God as the Self in this stage or equation for now. Below is the continuation of the stages;
Descent of the Mystic
The mystic who is returned from this stage after losing his ego, now attains what we call the Transcendental Ego or the Cosmic Self which is different from whatever he had acquired prior to this experience. In this Cosmic Self the mystic cannot be contained or restricted into any demarcations for he or she has no more contours. They tend to flow with everything as everything flows with them. The world of differences and images of forms and shapes come back in their descent. But for the mystic he or she will no longer behold or observe any distinctions between infinity and infinitesimal, formless and form even thou he or she will acknowledge these distinctions but they always find them to be one with another comingled. This peculiar vision of the mystic is not akin to the stage of duality improper of the common man. The difference between the mystic who have descended to the world of multiplicity and the common man who remained in the world of multiplicity is that the mystic will perceive multiplicity clearly without being fixated it being still unified. For the mystic all are the same. Thus, in their descent, all the previous pantheistic visions come back to the mystic and they attribute everything again to the Self or as God due to perceiving everything intertwined with everything else. So, they now perceive monkeys, donkeys, faeces, urine, gold, dust, you, me and all as the Self or God.
This is the mystical range and these multi-dimensional positions are peculiar visions belonging to the mystical experience which rose out from the mystics’ speculative consciousness and thus, are not an expression for the common man to adopt and adapt in his or her life because they neither have any iota of their experiences nor the knowledge of what is going on in the mystic’s consciousness. When the common man, out of ignorance, take such mystical station and utterances for the truth, and the masses indulges in ignorant rituals and activities, it only ends up reinforcing and further cementing their own mental ego or desire with the external objectifications.
The common man in this way becomes truly deviated because he is actually deifying his or her own mental ego and delusions instead. But we must understand that it is a totally different thing for the mystics who have descended in a semi-circle fashion from the ascent. In self -realization path of Unity or Oneness, the elders had deemed this as the end of the mystical endeavour or complete giving stage. Students are allowed to teach but that does not mean it’s the end of their journey. Unfortunately, in our time this state has become the end. Henceforth, Monism and its ranges are from the speculative consciousness that are purely mystical rather than religious. We have highlighted in the chart below the mystical descent. All of these stages constitute the Shadow stages.
Salient Features:
A mystic starts from the world of multiplicity
Reaches to reflective stages- Trinity to Duality
Ascends to Pantheistic and Panentheistic stages to Being-Whole
These are under Shadow of shadow stages
Becomes The One Undifferentiated Being.
His egocentric-self annihilates
Attains Transcendental Ego to descend.
These are under Shadow stages, Shadow Transcendence, Nirguna Improper
God is not conclusive in these stages except as a strong impression on some mystical paths.
While some mystical paths behold their leaders, Saints, Prophets or Avatars too as the Unitary Self as well.
The essence of being is Brahman or the Unitary Self
Every creation is part and the whole of this Self
Thus, called Self-realization paths
Speculative Consciousness in Mysticism and Intellectualism
In these stages, Indian mystics have come with myriad of philosophies based on their experiential knowledge. We have;
Madhva Acharya who said, "Man is the servant of God," and established his Dvaita philosophy.
Ramanuja who said, "Man is a ray or spark of God," and established his Visishtadvaita philosophy.
Sankara who said, "Man is identical with Brahman or the Eternal Soul," and established his Advaita philosophy extending to the Param Guru Gaudapada’s position absolute non-dualism (There is nothing except for Brahman)
Then there is the Shuddhadvaita (pure monism), the Jīvātman and Brahman are identical; both, along with the changing empirically-observed universe being Krishna.
We also have the Bhedabhed (or Dvaitadvait) established by Nimbarkacharya. Bhedābheda means "difference and non–difference". This schools emphasize that the individual self (Jīvatman) is both different and not different from Brahman.
The maha guru Bhaskara postulated the Upadhika theory, which considers both identity and difference of Brahman (God), souls (chit) and matter or the universe (achit) to be equally real.
Then Nimbārka who improved on Bhaskara theory propounded Dvaitādvaita which considers Brahman (God), souls (chit) and matter or the universe (achit) to be equally real and as co-eternal realities.
The great guru Chaitanya Mahaprabhu became the prime exponent of Achintya-Bheda-Abheda. This school represented the philosophy of "inconceivable difference in non-difference", where he asserted that Krishna is Bhagavan of the bhakti yogins, the Brahman of the jnana yogins, and has a divine potency that is inconceivable yet it is all-pervading.
There have been multi-dimensional specualtive spiritual or enlightenment positions that changes throughout time like parkriti or maya. Likewise in the West, this speculative consciousness from the mystical dimension includes Monolatry, Deistic, Multiplicity, Agnosticism, Duality, Reflection (son of god) Pantheism, Panentheism, Monism, Taoism, Nihilism, Atheism, Nirvana, Unitism and many other theories based on the mystical experience. The above are just sprinkles of the myriad of mystical speculative thoughts. But this is not only peculiar in the mystical enterprise. In fact even in the intellectual arena of philosophy and science, speculation exists.
The human situation seems to possess an innate yearning that demands in him to reach a unitary principle from which everything can be explained and concluded. In the intellectual field we have;
Physics- Theory of Unification between the cosmological and quantum fields.
Mathematics- A Unifying formula from which all Laws can be derived.
Biology- Unitary cell
Philosophy- Monad
Thales found his unity in Water
Anaximander in Air
Democritus realized in Atoms and Void
The Empiricists feel it’s in Ideas and Sensation
The Rationalists suggest it the Thought and Being
Plato enforced it In Ideas
Aristotle however states its In Pure Form
Spinoza- found it in Substance
Hegel calls it the Absolute Idea
Kant admits it as the Regulative Idea.
Perennials attains unity in Perennialism/ Universal Mind
All of the above positions from both the Mystical and Intellectuals stems out from our speculative consciousness. In fact, what the mystics arrived through experiential knowledge, the intellectuals achieved the same thing through ratiocination. The speculative unity being numerical zero (0) as is one whole or nothingness, from which evolves out the principals of dualism and pluralism. This could also revolve back into zero (0) becoming Monistic. Some may regard the whole as identical with the parts while others may regard the parts as relative to the whole which is absolute. Yet some may reject all as illusion and regard the whole as the ultimate reality.
We realize from the evidence presented that there is actually no difference between a mystic and an intellect in regards to the ultimate questions of life except in methodology and level of experience. The mystic feels in pulsating in every of his or her cells while for the intellectuals it doesn’t go beyond mental excitement. Nonetheless the pinnacle of realization is somewhat the same for both methods. In this argument, we find that its not an unity but the unity has to be broken apart into multiplicity as the absolute oneness can only be described from a relative position and thus, their positions and philosophies end up like blind men speculating on the parts of an elephant. The question is why is this so?
This is because all mystical endeavors and self enquiry accomplishments terminate at the point zero which is coined as the dot of creation from non-existence. Non-existence or nothingness is like spiritual clay that can be molded, constructed, deconstructed and perceived as one wills.
In the last scripture the Quran, The Quran do not deny this type of unity but this type of Unity is attributed to the level of creation. Thus we witness that in every department of knowledge this type of Unity exists.
From the following verse we derive that the prime Unity always breaks into duality and then into multiplicity.
“O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single nafs, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah ever watches over you”
We also realize a similar presentation of our universe-
“Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?”
- And the link between both in verses 31:29 which is 31:28 and the verse after surah 39:5 which is 39:6, Allah talks about the creation of mankind as a single nafs/Absolute Self in connection to the cosmological elucidations.
While creations being relative to reality is encapsulated in the below verse, Surah al Layl 92
By the night when it covers” 92:1
“And [by] the day when it appears”92:2
“And [by] He who created the male and female” 92:3
Here the God has beautifully used the symbols of night and day with reference to man and woman. As information becomes deeper we also come to know that there is no such thing as night and day except it appears to us such. The reality is space, but night and day is relative to reality. It was because of the orbital path and rotational formation created for the earth, other stars and planets that night and day appear.
Thus concepts of Monism, dualism and pluralism occurs in the stage of creation. But it is the only frontier which the human mind or even his spirit could reach, entertain and interpret. It cannot envisage further then that and it is at this point that revelation through an Avatar teaches mystics and men that there is something beyond which we will witness in Gita.
Conclusion
Chapter One is about Advaita or Monism, the first level of unity which includes all pantheistic stages of unity where one sees oneself with everything and vice versa as one whole. In this state of Oneness, one feels compassion for foe and friend, kith and kin while good and evil have no more distinctions because they are all from the same essence. If one persists to engage in worldly activities without attaining the transcendental or the Cosmic Ego after attaining this stage, then there lurks the danger of falling from that peak to get entangled into the web of maya incurring karma. In order to reach Advaita, one must have controlled the reins and the Divine Individual Spirit knocked out from niche of the heart where it will take you to the centre the holy ground, the eternal sacred space which is Nirguna (without any quality or distinctions), while witnessing the play of the Sagunas (attributes, qualities and distinctions) at the peripherals whirling in continuum as one remains centred as a witness. This Nirguna is higher brahman and the Sagunas are the lower brahman mentioned in Prashna Upanishad verse 5:2;
‘The syllable ‘Om’ is verily the higher and lower Brahman. Therefore, the knower, by this means, surely reaches either of them.’[12]
Mystics entrenched in Advaita will claim that higher Brahman is Para-Brahman which is synonymous to Nirguna Brahman while the lower brahman is attributed to Saguna Brahman. But in the Avataric path, we realize that there is a flaw in that experience. This was due to experiencing the prime unity as one and hence the impetus behind that interpretation, but once one progresses further by holding on to an Avatar, the previous experience doesn’t hold water anymore.
In the Avataric path the Para-Brahman is different and apart from Brahman and thus, the higher Brahman alluded to Nirguna and lower to Saguna belongs to the Brahman itself instead. This fact is encapsulated in the cosmic syllable Om, it being the word of God and not God. For example, we cannot say that the current writings are me. However, we can say it is mine, from me and my words but we can never say it is Me or I am my words. Let’s ponder on this for a moment.
The next important feature to note is that, because Arjuna (Self) was following an Avatar; Krishna, who after giving him an experience of Purna, immediately wanted to take him out of that stage so that he can proceed further. For Avatars, Advaita is just the first step of the spiritual quest itself and not the end. Arjuna was reluctant to move from this overwhelming stage, it being honoured as the hallmark of all spiritual attainments according to pre-Gita civilization by the majority. But Krishna was going to give Arjun a discourse on its instability because compassion stemming out from such Oneness is from an imbalanced state of the soul. Non-action base on Oneness is imbalance. It was at this moment after touching the culmination point of Advaita and near to Mukti, Krishna pulled back Arjuna’s reins, in order to flip Arjuna to the other side of the same coin of Purna so that Arjuna can proceed further and not attain samadhi (terminate) in this way or make an immature mystical descent. He then gave him a discourse on the cardinal mystical systems and introduced to him a new path called Bakthi or love of The God which must be executed with the law. This involved stability and maintaining a balanced state for the universal good.
Salient points:
Arjuna attains Advaita
Considers it the culmination of all spiritual experience
Refused to move from the Oneness
Sees everything as part of himself (relations)
Sees good and evil as one.
Non-violence, non-action.
Ready to give up his being in that state
Krishna makes Arjuna move out from Advaita.
Higher Brahman is Nirguna and lower Brahman is Saguna.
Brahman is Om and Om is the word of God.
My words are mine but my words are not Me.
God’s word are His but He is not His Word.
Sources :
Toshihiko Izutsu, Sufism and Taoism, A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts, 1984, Berkeley, Los Angeles, California, University of California Press, pg 419
https://muslimcentral.com/yasir-qadhi-the-meaning-of-intelligence-in-islam/
https://feel-sakinah.tumblr.com/post/636314018200551424/the-nafs-is-like-a-wild-horse-and-you-are-riding
https://sufischool.org/practices/lataif.html
https://sriramanamaharishi.com/faith-heart-grace-reality/what-is-heart-it-is-the-reality/
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https://www.pinterest.com/pin/71565081567364177/
https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/kabbalah/Creation/creation.html
https://empowermentwithnadine.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/binah/
Toshihiko Izutsu, Sufism and Taoism, A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts, 1984, Berkeley, Los Angeles, California, University of California Press, pg 378-379
Toshihiko Izutsu, Sufism and Taoism, A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts, 1984, Berkeley, Los Angeles, California, University of California Press, pg 399
https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/prashna-upanishad-shankara-bhashya/d/doc145333.html