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O.Otl#Ffiuv Part|Ll Sj!= T FourSodhonos r r o.oTl#ffiuv Part|ll sj!= t SWAMIADVAYANANDA Introduction We have already seen the nature, Purpose and importance of *raaana (listening) and manana (reflection), the first two sddhands(means) for Realisationl.In this essaywe shall take up 'nididhyasnna', for study the thfud sadhana. Through 1raaanaone comes to ascertainthat the essential knowledge (jfiana) envisaged by the Upaniqadsis the identity of the inner-Self (pratyagdtman)with Brahman' Various doubts about this knowledge are removed by tnanana,the second sadhand-step. Thus at the end of *raaaqtaand manana,the seeker has come to the 'doubtless Knowledge' (sarh1ayarahitajnana)of the Self. lftdna and Vijnana Mere 'intellectual Knowledge' - even if it is doubtless - is not the 'actual Experience'(anubhatil. The BhagaaadGeeta2 uses 'ifliina' two distinct words to differentiate them - the word to 'aijfidna' indicate 'doubtless intellectual Knowledge' and to indicate 'actual Experience'. That the intellectual Knowledge of the Self is different from the actual Experience of the Self is '6raaa4a' 1 For and'manana'refer to September and October 2005 issues of Tapoztan Prasad. "...jfianah 2 Yide BhagaaadGeeta (Verse 9.1) oijftdnasahitarityajifiatoa moksyase'6ubhat." Tapovan Prasad evident to all seekers.It is the universal experienceof all seekers that they are still within the powerful grip of ignorance-based thoughts' such as notions of doership and enjoyership, likes, dislikes, desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride, jealousy, fear and so on, notwithstanding the clear intellectual Knowledge that the Self is the all-pervading Brahman,which they come to enjoy after the processof study and reflection. The presenceof such strong notions and ways of thinking is a clear sign of the continued existenceof ignorance. Seekersoften wonder what they should do further in their sadhanato get rid of these persistent disquieting notions and thoughts. Viparlta-bhdaand 'I TheVedanflcKnowledge of am the all-pervadingBrahman' 'I is contrary to the notion of am the (limited) not-Self'. The notion of 'I am the not-Self' gives birth to the ideas of doership and enjoyership (knrtrtaa and bhoktrtaa),which further ramify into desire, anger,greed and so on. These thought ramifications, especially their root-thought - the identification with the not- Self and the notions of kartytua (doerchip) and bhoktrtaa 'aipartta-bhdaand'. 'uiparTta- (enjoyership)- are termed The term 'contrary bhdaand'literally means notions' i.e., notions that are 'I antithetical to the Knowledge am Brahman'. Knowledge (jfiana) fructifies into Experience (aiifiana) only 'aiparrta-bhdaands' when these are overcome. And as long as 'aiparTta-bhaaands' 'I these are present, the thought of am the infinite Brahman' gained through 6raoa4aand mananaremains rather shallow and superficial and does not become the potent and compelling' brahmdknrauytti' 3 which destroys ignorance. An example will make this concept clear: In the game of chess, it is easy to attack the king when his supports - the queen, bishops, elephants, horses and soldiers - are defeated. As long as this'armyiprotects the king, it is difficult to attack him- In 'brnhmdkfuraoytti' 3 For roter fuly and August 2005 issues of TapooanPrasad. November 2005 the same way, it is possible to overcome ignorance, when its defence, constituted of the aiparlta-bh7aanAs(contrary notions) - identification with the not-Self, kartytaa and bhokrtT)A,ego, desire, anger, greed and so on - are weakened. The third and fourth sddhands- nididhyasanaand samddhirespectively - aim at destroying these aipartta-bhdannAs. This prospect of aipartta-bhaaanascontinuing to hold sway, in spite of the intellectual Knowledge of the Self and the absolute need to eliminate the aiparlta-bhaaanas(contrary notions) for gaining the experience of the Self is emphasised in many Adaaitic works. The following is a verse to this effect from Sri Sankaracharya's Viaekacndamani(verce 267): qRFils;rTRqI q Tg;vfr l-^"fr - q-airirrrsc+tfrfr E6rdrTstq.dsrtg' r trgr€uqtss.:qfrfr{fdr qtsq+{t[qq-dr( gft $g€-dk{gafr *rr<rm+i v-qrr jfiAte oastunyapi balaaatladsand' nddireqd kart d bhoktd'py ahamiti dfdha yd' sy a sarhsdrahetul.t, pr aty ag dy g ly d" tmani niaas at d sd' p an ey d pr ayat ndt muktirh prdhustadihamunnyo z:dsandtdnaaarhyat. Evenafter the Self is known,lhese adsands(habitual tendencies) 'l suchas amthe doer', 'l amthe enjoyer', which are the cause of bondage, arevery strong. These have to be removedwith effort by livingin a state of inwardvisionl The sagescallthis'attenuation of oiisa:nEs'Liberation. Aniitmaodsanii The oipartta-bhioands(contrary notions) are powerful, because we have been entertaining them for many lives. One has always considered oneself to be a limited individual - not in this life alone, but in innumerable past lives - and therefore these 'dyf,ha-adsands' notions have becorne i.e., 'strong habitual tendencies'. Habits are powerful and difficult to overcome; they are involuntary, persistent and resist subjugation. A person who is Tapovan Prasad , habituated to sleeping late finds it impossible to sleep early. A person - even though a doctor - if he is habituated to smoking or drinking, finds it difficult to give up, notwithstanding his firm knowledge of its harmful effects. A person, who is used to dragging his feet while walking, will, without any volition on his part, automatically walk with a drag! Even if he makes a decision not to drag his feet, he soon forgets his decision and continues to walk with the same old drag. Such is the Power of habits (adsands)- it seems to keep at bay both knowledge and resolve! 'the 'anatmaadsand',lhe The basic habit, original sin', is the habit of identifying with the not-Self. As individuals, we have entertained this habit (rtdsand)from time immemorial and it is extremely powerful. It is the underlying current in all one's actions and thoughts, nay, it continues to exist even in deep- sleep, when all thoughts and actions have ceased,albeit in its cauJal form. Powered by this andtmaadsand,despltehis VedAntic Knowledge, the learned seekerinvoluntarily identifies with the not-Self - the gross, subtle and causal bodies' Ere soon he is caught in the tentaclesof kartrtaa and bhokrtaa,kdma (desire), kroiha (anger), lobha(greed), moha(delusion), mada(ptide) and matsarya(jealousy). The fault lies not with the clarity of his 'habit knowlLdge but rather with the aniitmaadsana- the of identifying with the not-Self'. As long as this chain of habit (aasani) remains unbroken, any amount of Knowledge and clarity will be of no avail and Liberation will continue to be elusive. It is this andtmaadsandthat is the Power behind the aipartta-bhaaandsand obstructs the doubt-free Knowledge of the Self from eradicating ignorance. November 2005 Tackling Andtmaodsand Habits are broken by consciouslycultivating contrary habits. The secret of breaking a habit is to cultivate and empower a habit which is directly antithetical to the habit which one wants to overcome. Thus to overcome the habit of sleeping Iate, consciousand steady effort is to be made to cultivate its contrary habit of sleeping early. In the initial phases of cultivating this new habit of going to bed earIy, even though it may be impossible to get sleep despite one's best efforts, one has to persist with diligence, and in the course of a few weeks, one does learn to steep early. In order to cultivate this fresh habit, it is important to sleep early every day without any break, till 'sleeping the new habit becomes ingrained. This early' soon becomes a strong habit and the habit of sleeping late is overcome once and for all. Conscious,continuous effort alone ensures habit formation. 'I The'andtmaadsand'of am the not-Self - the gross, subtle and causal bodies,' is also to be broken by its contrary habit, 'dtmaadsand'a 'I the - am the infinite Brahman'.There has to be 'I a consciousuninterrupted devoted reiteration of the thought am the pure Self, of the nature of.Sat-Cit-Antnda,'to break the. 'I habitual thought of am the not-Self - the gross, subtle and causalbodies'. Niitidhyasaha 'nididhydsana' 'contemplation' The term - often translated as - is formed from the Sanskritverbal root'dhyai'which means 'call 'to contemplate' or to mind'. To this verbal root is added 'ni' 'steadiness' the prefix (nitaram) whiclr. signifies and 'nididhyasana' 'steady 'repetition'. Thus the term literally means 'repeated contemplation' or calling to mind'. The following 'nididhydsana'is definition of given by Sri Swami Sadanandain Vedanta-Sara: 'brahmaoasand' 4 TllJJis'dtmaudsand' is termed variously as and'brahmasmtti z.t^sand'. Tapovan Prasad - ffi q-iarffi a-eftdqr€g-rertrq-q?wrdrd frfuqrsrqrr aijatty a- dehddipr aty ay ar ahit a- ada it-ry au ast u- saj atTy a- pr aty ay ap r aa aho. nididhy as an am. Nididhyasanamisastreamofthe same kind of thoughtsreferring to Brahman,theOne without a second,to theexclusion of thoughtsreferring to the bodyand so forth. Nididhyasana is t}ire technique of creating dtmaadsand.The power of the andtmaadsandsis broken by the strength of dtmaadsandsgenerated through the process of nididhyasana- a consciousuninterrupted reiteration of the single thought'I am the non-dual Brahman',to the exclusion of the thoughts of the not-Self, like 'I am the body','I am the mind' and so on. Long periods are spent in silent devoted contemplation. The mind is held firmly with the thought 'f am Brahman'and all andtmacintana(thoughts pertaining to the not-Self) are kept at bay. Note that this thought'I am Brahman'is not a mechanical self-hypnotising thought - rather it is the thought born of doubtless Knowledge, originating from manana (reflection). When the seeker spends his entire time and energy focussing 'I on this single thought - am Brahman' - he is practising nididhyasana, the fourth sddhand.This nididhydsanais a full- time effort, not a part-time pursuit! Dhdraqra and,Dhydna Nididhyasanacan be divided into two sub-stages: 'dhdrana', (1) The initial stage called wherein there is concentration occasionedwith a lot of effort.
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