Dwelling in the Self

Practice of Contemplation/Niddhidyasana

Practice of Contemplation/Nididhyasanam, is keeping Vedantic knowledge alive in the mind all the time, by all spiritual seekers, even if they are not continuing to pursue further knowledge  (e.g., for health reasons).
In life we face troubling events caused by our Prarabda which at times may be  traumatic and overwhelming; The only solution is remembering Vedantic knowledge constantly as the “emergency exit” out of samsara’s traumatic grip.  It may rarely be used; however, this exit path must be “well serviced”. The “normal exits” from samsara are by practicing karma yoga of dharmic actions as “duties” without expectations in return.

5 capsules for dwelling in Nidhidyasanam

During sravanam, mananam we use the words like atma, sakshi, brahman etc., implying reference to something else.  In Nidhidyasanam, we need to use the words “I”, the subject.
5 capsules for dwelling in Nidhidyasanam.
Remembering these is “servicing the emergency exit” out of samsara.
1) I am of the nature of eternal and all-pervading Consciousness.
2) I am the only source of permanent peace, security and happiness.  Don’t lean on the mithya world for external joy.
3) By my mere presence, I give life to the material body and thru the body, I experience the material world.
4) I am unaffected by any event that happens in the material universe or the material body.
5) Forgetting my nature will convert life into struggle and remembering my nature will convert life into entertainment.

It is in my own hand!

It is in my own hand!
Needs courage, dhiraha to pursue the enquiry with priority and focus. Not with Guru, not with Scriptures, and not with Ishwara
The mithya jagat is beyond comprehension and beyond control which are the negative aspects. The positive aspects is that the mithya world cannot affect “I” (Asango hum). A jnani understands that all divisions in the triangular format of Jiva, Jagat, and Ishwara (which are all Names&Forms), implies that Jiva is afflicted by Karma, and he has to beg Ishwara for protection. However, Ishwara cannot take Jiva out of karma cycles. The jnani, through understanding, knows the Self as Atma, and all appearance as N&F and therefore anatma. Anatma borrows its temporary existence from Atma alone, which leads to the understanding of Sarvaatma bhava. Only Atma exists. The jnani relaxes in this understanding and enjoys witnessing the fluctuations of jagat (including body/mind) as entertainment.

Dissolution of the World into Mind into C

What we are seeing is many (names and forms), varied and continuously changing. All the changing panorama of this is grounded in one thing, the eyes, the organ of vision. So all that we see (out there) is just part of our “seeing”. This is merging the idea of external objects back into the vision. Into the fire of vision I offer all that is seen.
Similarly smell, touch etc. Into the fire of the senses, I pour the external world.
This is a very big move. If one can understand this deeply, it is a revolutionary way of thinking.
What is mind? Mind is thoughts, emotions, ideas, memories, even the ego sense.
All perceptions I pour into the fire called mind.
In awareness/conciousness only we are aware of movements of the mind (thoughts, emotions, sensory perceptions ) appear in consciousness.
I poured the mind into consciousness.
The mind is nothing more than an appearance (manifestation) in consciousness.
This recognition is nothing more than I the consciousness.
You have reduced the “external world” to a straw. We throw it into the fire of consciousness. It’s immediately burnt up.
This is called dissolution of the world, dissolution of the senses and the body and the mind into I, the consciousness.
Offer everything into the fire of consciousness. This is Jnani’s way of dissolving the mind.
………………..

 

Nididhyāsanam

The central objective of nididhyāsanam is dwelling on the teaching and assimilating it. This is a process of internalizing the teaching like soaking in the syrup of advaita jñanam (like rasagolla or gulab jamun). This can be done in different ways:

 Through repeated śravaṇam, your mind can remain in the teaching. Initially, you get new ideas through śravaṇam. When you listen to teaching repeatedly, you do not get new ideas, but you get the opportunity to remain in the teaching. Repeated reading (of your own notes), writing, discussions with peers and teaching someone are all effective methods of nididhyāsanam to remain in the teaching.
 Try to imitate the behavior of a jīvanmukta who has assimilated and transformed. After some time, it will become natural. Swami Dayananda said – “fake it and make it”. We ask the children to do namaskāra at the temple or to a mahātmā. They do it mechanically without reverence. The parents train them with the hope that this mechanical practice will turn into a reverential one. We can imitate the mahātmās described in the Gītā in chapters 2 (verses 54-72), 13 (verses 13-20) and 14 (verses 21-27) and lead an alert life.
 Meditation is a traditional form of nididhyāsanam. It is practiced in a specific place in a specific posture as described in Verse 5 of Kaivalya Upaniṣad. This exercise of focusing is called samādhi abhyāsaḥ (samādhiḥ = focus; abhyāsaḥ = exercise). The focus is not on Brahman as an object, but on any aspect of the teaching that is relevant to you. If I feel I am lacking something in life, I should meditate that do not lack anything in life, indicating pūrṇatvam. If I fear dying, I should focus on nityatvam (eternal). If relationships are causing problems, focus should be on asaṅgatvam (non-attachment). Thus, choose the appropriate teaching and focus on it to internalize it.
The purpose of nididhyāsanam is not mokṣa. Through the teaching, we have understood that mokṣa is not a future event to happen. It is to remind ourselves that a change in a situation will not make me free because I am already free despite that situation. It is not even meant for knowledge, which is gained only through śravaṇam. Nididhyāsanam is not meant to prove, confirm or validate the knowledge. Proving is done by mananam. It is not for gaining an extraordinary experience because all experiences belong to anātmā. Ordinary experiences belong to ordinary anātamā and extraordinary experiences belong to extraordinary anātmā. Even Śaṅkarācārya admits that extraordinary experiences are possible, but they have no relationship to selfknowledge.
A jñānī is not necessarily a siddhi, a mystic with extraordinary experiences or powers. There are four types of people:
 A jñānī who is also a siddhi
 A jñānī who is not a siddhi
 A siddhi who is not a jñānī (like Rāvaṇa)
 One who is neither a siddhi nor a jñānī (the majority)
Thus, nididhyāsanam is for solely for assimilation of the teachings by dwelling on them. What is the sign of assimilation? It is the change in the unhealthy reaction or responses to the situations in life. One will attain peace (śānti) – samatvam – which is the experience of the benefit of self-knowledge (brahmajñānaphala anubhava). There is no experience of Brahman. This transformation is not instantaneous; it is gradual. It can be measured using the FIT test:
F – reduction in Frequency of unhealthy reactions to situations in life
– Reduction in Intensity at all three levels – physical, verbal and mental. The intensity of disturbance at the mental level is the least, where one knows he is angry, but has sufficient balance to postpone reaction. The physical reaction is the most intense because it has crossed the other two levels.
T – Reduction in the Time of recovery. How much time to recover balance? It is said that a uttama puruṣa recovers in a moment, the madhyama in 1 ½ hours and adhama in 24 hours, but a pāpi (sinner) does not recover even till death.

The Vedānta does not expect us to be completely free of these reactions; it only helps us to keep the balance. A healthy body does get sick sometimes, but recovers fast because it has the internal immunity to fight the disease and get back to health. Similarly, a healthy mind bounces back negative state like a rubber ball, while an unhealthy mind stays in the negative emotions like a wet clay ball. This benefit of jñāna (jñānaphalam) is called jīvanmuktiḥ.
This teaching is at the end part of the Vedas and therefore, it is called Vedāntaḥ (Vedantaḥ). Since the focus is on jñāna (self-knowledge) in this section, it is called jñānakāṇḍa. It is also called the Upaniṣad. In this stage of spiritual progression, karma is not absent, but the focus is predominantly on brahmavidyā or ātmavidyā, which is the knowledge of myself as the ever free one.
Śaṅkarācārya has given a special meaning to the word Upaniṣad: upaniṣannaṁ śreyaḥ asyām iti upaniṣat – that in which freedom is hidden or kept. By analyzing the Upaniṣads, you are discovering the freedom within yourself. You discover freedom at the emotional level (ātmayeva ātmanā tuṣtaḥ) and achieve total self-satisfaction and fulfillment, not after death, but here and now. Therefore, the study of the Upaniṣads should not be treated as an academic exercise.

Meditation is Attention

Alertness and constant Attention to the Mind is Meditation!
Watching the mind (paying attention to the mind) is Sakshi Bhava (Witnessing the mind).
This causes the mind to break up any “noodle (twisted, busy)” thinking of past and future, and remain in the present moment and think only as needed. This is the Vedantic way to allow the mind to be silent (unlike the yogic method of forced silence).
This method is also called Jnana Agnihi (knowledge based “flame of attention”) that eliminates/burns off past and future “perceived” issues.  Need to kindle this flame as much as possible with this understanding.  And this requires no “effort”. No deep thinking, no analysis etc, just watching.

“Achintanam eva Brahma Chintanam”  Such thoughtless, silent mind is then free to allow Atma realization.   Mind has become “no mind”.  Mind dissolves in Atma.
Stabilized such understanding, leads to SarvaAtma Bhava and Tattvamasi follows.

This kind of Attention has no “forced effort”, and so it does not exhaust one. It brings freshness and freedom and allows Love to express and spread. This brings one into the spiritual dimension.

This brings Joy in day-to-day Life in whatever Prarabda karma brings to the body-mind complex for its transactions.

Remind oneself that true Meditation is ongoing Attention!!

Glimpses of Jivan Mukti is achieved

Glimpses of Jivan Mukti is achieved
It is said that after great deal of purification of mind through Sadhana Chatusthaya Sampathi, and thorough understanding of the Sruti (Upanishads), that glimpses of Jivan Mukti is achieved. This manifests as the “apparent liberation” of the Jiva/ahankara from its previous “attachment state” to the world of N&F, and also owning up to the Consciousness/atma that one always is. This Jivan Mukti is however, relative with levels of steadfastness in this blissful state. A Jivan Mukta will usually say he is continuing to dwell in the Nididhyasanam to purify his mind, and not there yet. There are extremely rare individuals who are true Siddha Purusha, who have totally foregone the world and are in constant state of independent consciousness.