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Pujya Dr. K.C. Varadachari
- Volume -1 |
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Discourses on "The
Commentary on the Ten Commandments" of the system of
Sri Ramchandra's Rajayoga - Commandment -1 |
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Rise before dawn. Offer your prayer and puja
at a fixed hour
preferably before sunrise, sitting in one and
the same pose.
Have a separate place and seat for worship.
Purity of mind
and body should be specially adhered to.
(1)
The importance of getting up at the time before
sunrise for our daily duties has been long
recognized. Indeed the last two hours of the
night preceding the day-break or sunrise has
been called Brahmi - Muhurta. It is literally
the hour of Brahma, the creator of the universe.
It is well known that all creative work starts
with the dawn. Vedadhyayana, music and other
learning of fundamental sciences are counselled
about this hour. The day for the Pancaratra
agama begins with the hour of abhigamana or
moving about.
The first commandment accordingly states that
one should rise before dawn or sunrise. Master
Ram Chandraji Maharaj gives another reason. This
is to reveal the correspondence between the
creative period of the entire universe and our
own times as calculated from the movement of the
earth round the sun or diurnal rotation of the
earth or the monthly movement of the moon round
the earth.
At the beginning it must be presumed that only
the transcendent beyond all thought existed.
Obviously such an existence is completely
different from what we call existence because
all this arises from that through the act of
original thought. This thought also must be
considered to be different from all our thought
but that it is the power of manifestation or
energy of projection or manifestation. This is
the most powerful force or energy from which all
creative processes proceed. This thought, having
arisen, comes into contact with energy particles
which are of the subtlest nature in the
beginning. This thought itself proceeds from the
divine fire or will which is eternal, from which
all things or thoughts arise and to which all
return.
The energy particles coming into contact with
thought get heated up and move out; and in this
moving out they irradiate the entire universe,
forming rings and rings and individuating
themselves.
If we can conceive of each particle of energy as
a soul or ego coming into contact with the
original thought arising from the eternally
existing divine will it will be seen that each
of these has produced for itself a series of
rings which as they become distant from the
centre, become grosser and grosser. Further they
get caught up in these rings which are indeed
their cocoons so to speak.
It must be seen that the process of creation or
daytime starts with this push towards grosser
and grosser existence, as the divine heat
becomes operative in converting subtle energy
into gross particles. Thus the necessity to see
that this precise time of our grossening must be
taken advantage of for realising subtility
becomes clear. We have to reverse this process
by the practice of connection or maintaining
through the divine thought with the centre or
central thought or condition which is Tam* or
that (accusative singular of Sah). This
condition may be said to be the ultimate state
or God. It is absolute peace or Santi, beyond
that nothing is.
Man strives for this Santhi, or peace within.
There is resemblance with this santhi at the
time of creation or rather dissolution. The
times of conjunction (Sandhi) between creation
and dissolution are both early morning before
sunrise, and sunset in the evening and this
Santhi deepens as the night advances and reaches
the maximum about midnight. Great union which is
protective of peace is thus had in the night or
Laya periods. It is the time of absorption in
the peace. The diurnal peace is taken advantage
of even as the Chandogya upanishad states that
one verily indeed goes to him every night during
his sleep (one's sensory and motor quiet,)
though one does not remember this. Yoga is the
process of remembering this conjunction and
union through practice of remembrance making use
of the times that grant such a possibility. The
midday is not utilized as it is the period of
intensive activity for moving forward and only
slightly points to the path of return.
It is perhaps well to remember that ancients had
two paths - the path of the day and the path of
the night (the latter path is well known as the
pancharatra or the path of the five nights,
whereas the former must have been known as the
path of the five day-times). Divine evolution or
creation proceeds by the path of the day-times
whereas dissolution or laya proceeds by the path
of the nights. Yoga as Nivrtti or return to the
original Ultimate Being is, therefore naturally
the path of the nights. Sri Krishna is indeed
the teacher of this path of the five nights. We
attach ourselves to the ultimate being in our
thought which is in a sense identical with the
original thought centering round the energy
particle or soul which has become our body and
our being. This connecting ourselves with the
ultimate being is possible at the points or
times of connection between the nivrtti and
pravrtti, day and night tendencies or movements.
Thus the meditation on the ultimate is best made
at the Sandhyas, and more especially at, the
night sandhya. In fact, the master speaks of the
necessity for prayer and meditation at bedtime.
This time the Pancharatra calls the time of yoga
and samadhi, which is the final portion of the
five times it has set apart for worship. It is
then that one connects oneself with the
transcendent original state.
The coolness that one experiences in the return
reveals that the heat (friction) that has
entered into one is now going out and one is
slowly returning to the heaven of peace which is
the ultimate.
The practice of early rising is to help feel the
refreshing oneness with God during the early
period expressing itself in and through the day.
It is possible to experience that coolness of
laya, absorption, even during the day when the
heat seems to be increasing. It is this that has
to be remembered as the Karma in Akarma and
Akarma in Karma, the quiet in action and action
in the quiet, the living in the ultimate fully
which develops sahaj samadhi, natural
absorption, in the ultimate who verily is the
source of both creation and dissolution. Thus
one develops the vision of the transcendent.
Master has also suggested the connection between
the seasons; as we have stated it refers to the
moving of the earth round the sun and marks out
the periods of heat and cold, expansion and
contraction, manifestation and absorption.
Master does not mention the metaphysical views
separately. It will be clear that we accept (i)
that there is an original divine fire existing
eternally into which all enter and from which
all emerge through the first original thought.
This prime state or existence is at back of all
existences but it cannot be described in terms
of these existences. Master calls this zero or
nothingness. This is the goal of all human
beings, and as such it is God. (ii) There are
very subtle entities or particles which are of
the very nature of energy. They too are eternal
in a sense but they are withdrawn into the
ultimate at Laya or Pralaya. Individual souls
exist eternally. They reach upto this state
during their attainment and realization, and in
pralaya are just withdrawn indistinguishably
into the centre, and in srishti or creation they
come into manifestation. But it is not at all
necessary to hold whether the realised souls of
the previous creation period return to bondage.
Only those that have not reached this highest
condition return to the manifestation and get
grosser and grosser conditions which means a
return to sorrow. The ancient view is that those
who have attained oneness with God do not return
to the world of gross manifestation and sorrow.
There are thus particles of energy arising from
Thought action which forms the world of our
gross experience and rings or sheaths and knots
for the souls as they proceed to move outward
and outward.
Nature, souls and God are thus the three eternal
entities in essence. Thought is the force of the
divine in which every soul shares, which leads
to all process of manifestation, and it is with
the help of this force as given by the Master
who has reached the ultimate identity with his
thought that one can return to the same directly
and without great effort. What is necessary is
the finding of the Master who will do this for
the individual. He knows the times and hours and
powers of the divine nature. He makes one pass
from one's little private being to a God's and
Master's world of reality. Surrender to the
godhead and willingness to pursue the path are
absolutely necessary. Cold promotes in some
activity, in some sloth, and death. One should
seek that activity which leads to liberation and
not gross sloth and gross death.
(2)
Shri Ram Chandraji introduces into this topic an
important principle, namely, 'invertendo' or
inversion. This consists in the peculiar process
or inverting the arrangement during the passage
from one place of experience or existence to
another. *The left of an object becomes the
right and the right becomes left at a different
level.
In logic we speak of conversion as the process
by which we make the subject of a proposition
the predicate and the predicate the subject. But
inversion proceeds further and in it we make the
contradictory of the subject, the subject and
the contradictory of the predicate, of the new
proposition. Undoubtedly there is a change in
the signs affirmative and negative in conformity
with the principle of keeping up the meaning.
There is, of course, as intermediate step in
this process of arriving at the inversion,
namely, the contrapositive. The idea, however,
is that these are but ways of expressing the
meaning of proposition in terms of subject and
predicate and in terms of their negatives.
We are not concerned with this logical process,
for we are not attempting to keep the meaning
the same, rather we are attempting to reveal the
inner dynamics of movement which leads to either
the expression or passage of ascent or descent.
We know in physiology there is the arrangement
of the nervous paths in such a way that the left
side nerves move over to the right side of the
brain and the right-side nerves move over to the
left side of the brain. This is called decussion.
There is also in respect of the eye, semi
decussion, one group of left side nerves move to
the right side, and similarly with right side
group of nerves.
Shri Ram Chandraji has written in the Efficacy
of Rajyoga about this decussion or inversion of
the sides in respect of the upper and lower
parts of the heart and brahmanda, parabrahmanda
and the central region. The upper becomes the
lower and then once again becomes the upper and
so on.
This seems to be so general or universal a law
that it is perhaps possible to apply it to the
knots which seem to operate in this manner
because of the twist that enters into every
knoting.
Sri Ram Chandraji has explained in the context
of the first commandment that the sattva, rajas
and tamas of the times or matter are but the
inversions of the higher levels. Thus Tamas (or
Tam) which is nearest to the Ultimate appears to
be the farthest from reality in the appearance
and is the lowest in the scale of matter. Sat or
truth is seen to be highest from our point of
view but it is indeed left far behind when we
enter the realm of spirit. Rajas activity,
however, retains its place being always the
middle. It is consciousness-force, activity and
so on. Tamas is called inertness, so too Tam is
activity less and is peace, free from all change
and so on.
Tam (anand) The inversion is as in a mirror
Consciousness (cit)
Truth (sat)
Sattva sattva is the image of sat.
Rajas rajas is the image of cit
Tamas tamas is the image of tam.
Thus the coolest portion of the day is that of
Tam, and the hottest portion of the day is rajas
or Cit. The state of laya is nearest to Tam when
calm and peace can be easily attained. And it is
unfortunate that this period at cool hours is
utilised for the most indolent and slothful if
not perverse occupations. The night is usually
the time when asuras (nisacharas) are said to do
their dirty work, but it is also utilised by
saints for attaining the highest peace by their
meditations and absorption in the highest. The
night resembles the period of laya or
dissolution, mergence and union, rather than the
day-time, which is for creation, emergence and
separation.
(3)
Earlier I spoke about the importance of choosing
the Sandhya or the meeting time between the
external heat and the cooling off of the same as
the best time for meditation as it will
considerably help in the attainment of
Laya-Avastha, which we are all seeking with the
ultimate reality beyond time. The times that we
know as the Sandhyas are, of course, relative to
the sun, the earth and perhaps the moon also,
and finally our own time as determined by our
waking and sleeping hours. In a sense this is
spoken of by the Prashnopanisad which describes
the day times and night times *but it does not
clearly indicate the Sandhyas as important.
However, the most important hours for meditation
are the cooling hours of the night - both at the
time of going to bed and at the time before
sunrise. These are naturally helpful and we
utilise the natural time for meditation for our
purposes. The times follow the laws of influence
of external heat.
It must be clearly noted that in this Natural
way of union with the ultimate reality which is
our goal, the transcendence of even the levels
of existence or sat or truth and consciousness
is aimed at.
A brief restatement of the important mystic law
of invertendo or the law of inversion can be
given to illustrate how the mystic or yogi aims
at the tam (that) stage beyond the sat (satya or
truth). It is the stage beyond philosophy from
which philosophy springs, it is the basis of
real experience which makes for the judgements
of sat. Shri Ram Chandraji Maharaj has stated
clearly that we all think of the three gunas
sattva, rajas and tamas as being placed in a
particular order. Tamas is the lowest, which
means inertia, very much similar to the stage of
inconscient things, rajas is activity and motion
and passion, whereas sattva is the acme of
harmony, light and so on. This is the order of
the phenomenal life. We all seek to attain
sattva which will help us to know truth. The
yogi going beyond the nature sees that these
three gunas are but reflections so to speak of
the highest nature and in this reflection we
find that sattva or Satya is the nearest and
lowest whereas tamas or tam is the highest and
is what we have to reach. Rajas is what remains
in the middle always. It is in fact the common
point. It has the nature of activity in the
lower and consciousness at the higher. That is
why consciousness mediates between peace of
attainment and perfection which is unchanging,
and truth which is constantly being modified by
further experience and is also a test of
existence.
The necessity for purity is very clear. Purity
of the body is helpful for meditation. Thus one
should be pure and clean in every respect when
he gets into meditation. Thus there is necessary
preparation for meditation such as cleaning
oneself fully. It makes the meditation healthy
and one's attention is not diverted to the body.
There is also needed the selection of a pure
place which is clean. One has to choose a place
where there can be no disturbance atleast during
the period of meditation. The time of meditation
being regularised one habitually turns towards
it when the time arrives. So also when one
approaches the place of meditation, the
meditative mood will return to him.
The next important step is asana or posture.
Master has stated that the natural posture (siddha
or ready posture) which we take when we squat is
best. There are mentioned many postures or
asanas such as padma, sarvanga, sirsa, hala,
bhujanga, kukkuta, matsya etc. But not all of
them are useful for our meditation, though they
may be good for health and other purposes. For
purposes of meditation and prayer we ought to
take up the sitting posture which is steady and
easy and which can be maintained for at least an
hour without discomfort. It is clear that siddha
and padma asanas are the only two good asanas
that one can assume. In these two asanas the
head must be kept erect and the back must also
be straight and not curved. It is to be pointed
out that it helps the descent of the grace to
the heart much more easily and has probably no
connection with the kundalini ascent as such,
though it is not ruled out.
In the asana we assume a posture of withdrawal
of our sense and motor movements corresponding
to our aim, namely, laya with the highest. As
Sri Krishna has stated one has to withdraw one's
limbs into oneself (sense-organs, motor organs
and mind) even as the tortoise does. Thus asana
which is uniformly assumed helps the meditation.
There is similarity to the deep sleep state in
asana since as the Mandukya upanishad stated the
sense organs, motor organs and manas in their
gross as well as their subtle conditions are
withdrawn. These operate in the waking and dream
states of the individual.
Now the contraction of the activities or
withdrawal of the activities leads or helps
towards recapitulating the original conditions
of the tam or latent state prior to
manifestation. The individual will thus make
effective his unity with that latent condition.
The master shows that once these are attained
and one begins to meditate on his heart which is
the meeting place (sandhi) of the acit and cit
conditions or the gross and the subtle
conditions of the original force, then thanks to
the grace of the master and his transmission,
the gross particles begin to become subtle and
subtler till they are finally recovered and
merged into the latent state. The heart's
importance in this is clear because it is at the
heart that one really perceives, so far as man
is concerned, the meeting place and conversion
of the gross particles and paramanus into the
energy that finally become latent or merge into
the ultimate. The yatra or travel to the source
becomes automatically started once the prayer is
made at the appropriate time and place and in
the appropriate manner.
The whole commandment in a nut-shell states that
for the speedy purposes of realization it is
best and advisable to choose the conditions
which will not interfere with our abhyas. The
time to be chosen must be the time when external
physical or gross heat of the sun is not active;
thus bed time and early morning are very good
periods. Cleanliness of the body and mind is
necessary. One must have the yearning for peace
which one seeks when going to bed after a hard
day's labour or work. A fixed place and fixed
pose are additional helps. Meditation on the
heart is most useful and imperative for speedy
approach to the ultimate state.
Above all Master's grace is to be sought
integrally. All the others such as time, place
and pose are relatively helpful and one should
not drop abhyas just because one has no time, no
place and no convenience and is unable to sit in
the siddha or the padma asana. Master will help
all if there is aspiration for the ultimate and
its descent in oneself.
Therefore the first commandment is comprehensive
as it covers almost the yama, niyama, asana and
dhyana stages of the yoga-sastra.
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