Monday, November 30, 2015

THE ULTIMATE TRUTH :- WHAT IS "OM" ?

Yogi rides the Sound Waves of OM. Destination: Silence
When we pray to God, we use the sound-syllable OM; OM is the first sound, first thought, Brahman and God; OM consists of three letters: A U M, the beginning, the middle and the end. AUM includes or contains the past, the present and the future and is beyond time itself. When Prajapathi was meditating on the three worlds, three Vedas originated; earth, atmosphere and sky came into existence; and the syllable AUM came about. "As the leaves are held together by its stalk, so is the speech held together by AUM." – Chandyogya Upanishad.

AUM is the basis of any thought, spoken or written and more; AUM also represents the Hindu Holy Trinity: A, Brahma; U, Vishnu; and M, Siva. AUM knows neither fear nor death and so men, gods and asuras take refuge in AUM. (Sing it sotto voce and have no fear of anything.) In Sanskrit A and U combine to form O sound and M gives that resonance. A begins at the voice box,  fills the mouth (u) and ends in the closed lips (m). While modulations of the sound takes place, as said before, it resonates in the sinus cavities. Upanishads state, “As all leaves are held together by the stalk, so all speech is held together by AUM.” Joseph Campbell explains this as follows:
"Consonants are simply interruptions of these vowel sounds according to this view. So that all words and their meanings are simply broken inflections of aum, just as all the scattered reflections on that pond that I mentioned are merely broken inflections of that great cosmic image."
Aum is the whole universe and beings in all their states. A comes into a state of wakefulness; U goes into dream sleep; M goes into deep sleep. A is creation; U is life on earth; M is dissolution. The silence that follows OM is the period between dissolution and creation. This cosmic series of events take place in our daily lives on a smaller human scale: birth, life and death; wakefulness, dream, and deep sleep.

In wakefulness (A), one is aware of subject and object differentiation. It is I compared to you, it and that. Duality is the order of wakefulness; there is no self-illumination; it is all ego; it is matter; it is waiting for (spiritual) illumination from outside of itself. The empirical world is its playground.
In dream sleep (U), I , You, and that become objects; you are a subject who dreams and also an object along with others; thus, subject and object differentiation blurs and become one. It is a subtle state, where all are imageries, hopes, aspirations, fears, and possibilities.

In deep sleep (M), consciousness is in a potential state. It is a conceptual self in that seminal concepts are incubated without awareness until they are hatched. This state of union with Brahman confers a temporary relief lasting for the duration of deep sleep. It is a Bliss state, though temporary
THE ELEPHANTA CAVES ( MAHARASHTRA ,INDIA )

Elephanta Caves , taluka Uran, district Raigad is located on island hills about 11 km north-east of the Apollo Bandar, Mumbai . The island is named after a colossal elephant found in the island, which is popularly known as ‘Gharapuri’. At present, the statue of elephant is housed at Jijamata Garden in Mumbai. In ancient period, the place is variously identified as Puri which is mentioned in the Aihole inscription of Pulakesin II. It seems, different dynasties held their sway over this island, namely, the Konkan-Mauryas, Trikutakas, Chalukyas of Badami, Silaharas, Rashtrakutas, Kalyani Chalukyas, Yadavas of Deogiri, Muslim rulers of Ahmedabad and then by the Portuguese. The Marathas also had this island under their control and from them it passed into the control of the British.

There are seven cave excavations in the Elephanta group and these are datable from circa 6th – 7th centuries A.D. Among the cave excavations, the Cave 1 is the most impressive which represents the evolved Brahmanical rock-cut architecture. The cave is also famous for the exquisite and vibrant sculptures. On plan it almost resembles the Dumar Lena (Cave 29) of Ellora. The cave has a main entrance on the north with two other openings on the east and west respectively and a central hall with six rows of pillared columns, six in each row except on the western corner, where a shrine of lingam is provided.

On plan, there are three large square recesses divided off by pilasters each of them bearing a gigantic image of a dvarapala. The panel on the east has a figure of ardhanarisvara, a form of Siva with the combined energies of male and female; and on the west figures of Siva and Parvati playing chausar is carved. The central recess holds the most famous and remarkable sculpture of this period known as the Mahesa-murti. It is a colossal bust of the three forms of Siva, the aghora, turbulent and fearsome; tatpurusha, benign and meditative and vamadeva, mild pleasing and lovable. The other notable panels in the main cave are Andhakasuravada murti; cosmic dance of Nataraja; Kalyanasundara murti; Gangadhara murti; Ravana shaking Kailasa and Siva as Lakulisa. A panel depicting Saptamatrikas near the eastern opening is also remarkable.

ADESH ADESH




INDETERMINATE KNOWLEDGE--DETERMINATE KNOWLEDGE--EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE

You see a form behind a diaphanous screen; you don't know whether it is a male, a female, or a statue. That is Indeterminate knowledge. The form moves and comes in view before you. You apprehend the form as a woman; that is determinate knowledge. The figure is a statuesque, living breathing young woman and induces positive feelings and love at first sight; her demeanor is bewitching; the juices start flowing ; the sensitized pheromonal receptors are heightened; the adrenaline rush is palpable and causes palpitation; you without your awareness develop a physical response to her; she kindles your desire and Buddhi gives a thorough look-see; you are melting in the heat of passion; you desire for union; that is Experiential perception or knowledge. This is the physical side of human response.

There is less knowledge among people with regards to spiritual side of human response. You hear of ecstasy in seers and sages, when they meditate on God. That spiritual ecstasy is compared to sexual bliss in Tantric texts. Sexual bliss is difficult to express in words; so also is Spiritual bliss, but it is much more intense, when the Yogi experiences what is called Turiya and Turiyatita, the 4th and 5th state of  human consciousness (the other three are wakefulness, dream sleep and deep sleep). This is the ultimate human experience in this phenomenal world.

 Experiential knowledge = Self-perception of pleasure and pain brought about by arāka-tattuvam
Direct Perception = Pratyaksha Pramana
is the knowledge gained by direct perception of an object by the senses. The first impression is the general appearance or occurrence and is called Nirvikalpa Pratyyaksha
, Indeterminate perception. Vikalpam = difference. Nirvikalpam = undifferentiated or indeterminate. The next perception in sequence is Savikalpa Pratyyaksha
 Savikalpam is knowledge that comes with perception associated with appreciation of difference. One comes to know how an object is different from the rest. It is a definite identification of the object and its true nature. Savikalpa Partyyaksha is knowledge that is not tainted with doubt, confusion, and erroneous apprehension
 Savikalpa Patyaksha is knowledge devoid of stain.
It is indicated that Inner Organ is endowed with functional polymorphism, the constituent name based on its function. When it emotes (Manasa-Vrtti) it is called Manas or mind; when it thinks (Buddhi-Vrrti) it is Buddhi; When it is in memory mode (Chitta Vrrti), it is Chittam. Thus Mano-Buddhi-Ahamkara-Chitta is one entity with multiple functions. Each function in the active mode inhibits the other functions with ever-present Ahamkara humming in the background..
Soul's intellect, when at work, goes after the objects. It uses the five sensory organs like the eyes. Its perception is based on and limited by the organs. Indriya KAtchi (Sense Perception) perceives without the stain of doubt and erroneous apprehension the object's general quality without knowing its name and genus. This is known as sense-knowledge. The first knowledge engendered by and associated with the five sense-organs takes a foothold in Chitta (Determinative Faculty) and remains in memory; later Buddhi (Intuitive Intellect) assigns a name, genus and such attributes to the object and thus establishes a clear comprehension of the object. This is known as MAnatha KAtchi (Intellectual Perception),
Intellectual perception by the soul through the functioning of the intellect.
External Sense Organs: They are the eyes, the nose, the tongue, the ears and the skin, which serve to collect disparate sensations from the outer world. They are outside of the Inner Organ.