There was a king called Padma, who had all great qualities. His wife was Lila, a very loving and devoted wife. She wanted to constantly be in the company of her husband, even after his death. So he prayed to Saraswati and asked for two boons. First that her husband’s jiva should not leave here even after his death and second Saraswati should appear to her whenever she wishes. Her boons were granted. Her husband in due course was severely injured in a battle and died. As per saraswati’s instructions she preserved her husband’s body in flowers. But she wanted to see what his jiva was doing. So she prayed to the Devi.
Devi asked her to meditate and in her meditation when Lila dropped her thoughts could see her husband in other world ruling as a mighty king called Viduratha, addressing his ministers in the court. Lila could recognise some of them and she was sure that they were not dead yet. So she came out of meditation and immediately summoned the council of ministers. When all of them turned up she was confused as to how come these people could be in two places at the same time. She prayed to Devi again to clear her doubts.
Devi asked - what do you think as real?
Lila replied – I consider me talking to you in my kingdom real and the vision in which I saw my husband unreal. Devi smiled and said. Both are unreal. To clarify, I will tell u the story of a sage called Vasista (a different one!) and his wife Arundhati. Vasista lived in a small hut on the top of a hill. Once he saw the king on an elephant followed by a procession of people. He thought how grand it would be to be a king? He later became old and died. Arundhati had also taken boon that she be with her husband all the time. Because of his strong desire, vasista was reborn as a king and arundhati again as his wife.
O Lila, this vasista was born as ur husband and u r arundhati. What u call ur kingdom is inside the hut of sage vasista and vasista’s hut in another kingdom which in turn is in another. In this way there are many layers of world relating to each other. But all this is again an illusion as none of the worlds actually exist. They were born out of thoughts and were sustained by memory and latent tendencies in the mind. You are what u think because of ur memory. You think you are a woman, u are fair, u are tall and u r devoted and that’s what you will be. When this happens repeatedly, egotism is manifested. Just like when your dream ends you become aware of ur physical body, in the same way, when the memory subsides, ego is annihilated and u become aware of your ethereal body (chidakasha). Just like when dream ends, deep sleep ensues, in the same way, when thoughts end, liberation happens. This can happen only through abhyasa.
What is abhyasa?
Always focussed on, talking about, conversing about and dedicated to that infinite space is abhyasa. When one’s intellect is filled with bliss and peace, when one’s vision is broad, when craving for sensual pleasures subsides, that is Abhyasa. When one is firmly established in the truth that all that is changing is unreal and thoughts such as “this is the world, this is me” do not arise- that is abhyasa.
Lila and Devi then once again went into Samadhi and reached the palace of Viduratha, where the king still in his palace was discussing the counterattack against the king of Sindhu, who was threatening his kingdom. Then the king went to rest. Lila and Devi entered the king’s rest room through the key hole
Rama asked – o guru, how did these two people enter through a key hole?
O Rama, all this is nothing but consciousness. Whatever the consciousness, thinks, it manifests. If you think you cannot pass through the small hole, you cannot. If you think, you can, you can. One who dwells in the physical body (bhootakasha) finds obstacles along the way, but one who dwells in the ethereal body or pure space (cidakasha) has no obstacles. It can enter anywhere, anytime. Everyone’s consciousness has this power, because all consciousness is the same. However, due to differences in perception, each one’s world is different. When one’s false perceptions fall, his world collapses. This is called death. Immediately after death, the consciousness becomes inert for a brief period. After this brief inertia, it slowly awakens and tries to identify itself. It is then the ego manifests. The ego then perceives the five elements which condense into the physical form. It then perceives space and time that is needed for existence. And thus rebirth occurs. During dreaming and awake states, the perception of ego is strong and hence the physical form assumes reality. And all this occurs at the time and place of death itself.
The two ladies entered the king’s rest room and revealed to him his own identity and their identities. Surprised, king viduratha asked
You tell me that I died yesterday as king Padma, but I have already lived seventy years as king viduratha?
O king, at the very moment of your death (as Vasista) and at the same time, all this has manifested. What you think is your kingdom is within the palace of king Padma which itself is in the hut of sage vasista. U think that u r viduratha and that’s what u see, u think this is ur kingdom, these r ur ministers, u r engaged in a war and that’s what you see. This is like a dream within a dream. As you can dream about ur entire life time in a few seconds in your dream, in the same way, within a day it appears as if you have lived for 70 years. This universe is nothing but a long dream. The ego strengthens the belief that you have a separate existence and then in ignorance you seek other beings and that’s what u see. U think you are seventy years old and that’s what it appears to you. You think that u r having a conversation with me in your palace and that’s what it appears to you. You think that I will grant you a boon and you are going to be liberated and that’s what will manifest. All this is but a dream. Just like there are infinite possibilities within one’s dream, so also this consciousness can manifest in infinite ways. Just like everybody’s dream is not the same, the universe is different for different individuals and what appears to be common is an illusion. Therefore what you dream about and what you see in the awake state, both are unreal. In the dream state, the world does not exist and in the awake state, the dream does not exist!!!
O Devi let me stay with my family and ministers even after death
O king, may your wish be granted. You, your family and your ministers will all die in this battle and then will go back and take the body and kingdom of King Padma.
So, king viduratha was killed in the battle, and he went to the kingdom of death. There he was absolved of any sins and as per his desire before his death; he was allowed to return to the kingdom of Padma along with his wife and his ministers who had also died. As the original Lila’s body was already cremated, the second Lila (King viduratha’s wife who looked exactly like the original Lila) took over as the original Lila and stayed as King padma’s wife. King Padma woke up as if from sleep, and the whole kingdom rejoiced thinking that by divine miracle, the king has come back from death.
The original Lila who was now enlightened asked Saraswati
Kindly enlighten me how the physical elements got their nature. How did cold come to ice, heat to fire and so on?
At the time of cosmic dissolution, there was only peace. And then there was a small vibration from which the feeling of I am arose. Then the feeling that I am an atom of light arose; and hence forth all these characters you ask of became embedded in different elements in nature. This was the original order created from Brahman and this order (characteristic of cold in ice, heat in fire, movement in wind) has persisted; just like gold is embedded in an ornament and continues to stay so.
Tell me about birth and death
O Lila, there are three types of human beings – the ignorant (caught in the world), the seeker (one who can drop the body at least momentarily as in meditation) and the enlightened. The seeker and the wise can depart from this body without any anguish and with freewill. The ignorant one suffers immeasurable anxiety, pain and anguish when death approaches. His breathing becomes laboured, his senses start faltering. He becomes delirious and sees unreal things. He tries to express his suffering, but is unable to do so. Ultimately his suffering overwhelms his senses, he is unable to think and becomes passive and turns blue.
That part of consciousness which assumes an identity due to ego sense and mind stuff and is sustained by memory and latent tendencies is called a jiva, when the life breath is active in it. When this life breath moves out of it, the same consciousness is called a preta (departed soul). At the time of death, the jiva and preta stay at the same time and space as the dead body.
Immediately after death, this consciousness (preta) becomes passive or inert or shocked and stunned for a variable period of time. After this period of passivity, the preta starts imagining another body, another world and another life span. The life breath then enters it again (the consciousness becomes more active from its passive state) and the preta now becomes a jiva. Depending on the memory and latent tendencies at the time of death, the jiva seeks the space to its memory and latent tendencies, thus creating the ego sense, which then gives rise to the mind and thereafter the five elements. Thus rebirth happens
This time of passivity of the consciousness (preta state) depends on the virtuosity of the dead being. Accordingly the pretas can fall into 5 categories. Worst sinner—moderate sinner—mild sinner - moderate righteous and highly righteous.
- Worst sinner – the consciousness stays inert for a long time and then slowly regains its identity and then undergoes enormous suffering in hell before being reborn as rocks and trees
- Moderate sinner – the consciousness stays inert for some time and then undergoes some suffering before being reborn as worms and animals
- Mild sinner – stays in the preta state for a brief while and then is reborn as a human being
- Moderately righteous – stays as preta briefly, then experiences bliss for a variable period and is reborn as a human being in rich and affluent family
- Highly righteous – stays as a preta only momentarily, before experiencing great bliss and peace and then is reborn as a human being of high virtue in the house of a Brahmana (or a spiritual seeker)
But remember o Lila, all this is imaginary; the consciousness never rises or diminishes. It is infinite. It only changes in a very subtle manner, giving rise to an illusion of form (cf. Newton’s theory on matter - matter can neither be created nor destroyed. It only changes form). The assumed form depending on its memory and latent tendencies assumes a high quality birth or a low quality birth, assumes experiences of heaven or hell. Whatever this consciousness thinks, it takes that form. The physical body is only an imagination of the ignorant. (cf. Newton’s theory of relativity. Nothing is absolute in this world. Everything is relative and perceived. What you perceive is what you see and experience. Your perceptions make your beliefs and convictions, which may be based on certain assumptions. If your assumptions are wrong, then you are living in an illusion, but assuming that your illusion is real)
What happens to the jiva if the funeral rites are not performed properly?
It once again depends on the jiva. If the jiva feels that the rites have been performed appropriately, then however the actual performance, the jiva feels contented and relieved.
Rama asked - O sage, how does the notion of jiva attain apparent reality?
When there is an agitation in the infinite consciousness, this agitation gives an illusion of apparent separateness, just like a wave appears separate from the ocean. This limitation of consciousness is the jiva. Creation is nothing but agitation in the consciousness, and the world (separate identity) appears to exist in this agitation. It appears to exist because of imperfect vision and imperfect understanding. Just like a psychotic person sees things that are not ( hallucinations), so also the mind conjectures things that are not and through thoughts and subsequent actions gives an idea of the world. It is only when you become free of the mind, that you can realise the existence of the non existence. For some people, it happens in one lifetime, for others it may take more than a thousand life times.
The infinite consciousness appears different in different states. In the waking state, consciousness appears as the world, in dream state it appears as ego, in deep sleep it appears as the mind and in the fourth state (Turiya) it appears as the non contradictory truth. Beyond the fourth state, there is only pure consciousness. One who is established in this goes beyond sorrow
Kindly enlighten me about the mystery of time
Time is unreal. It is relative and based on individual perception. For a happy man, a year passes like a moment while for one who is suffering, even a moment appears like a Yuga. Also in a dream, the duration of a moment and a life span are the same. The entire life of Manu (mortal king) is 1 ½ day for Brahma (creator). Brahma’s life span is a day of Vishnu (living in the moment) and Vishnu’s life span is one day for Shiva (beyond time). For a king who is involved in daily worldly activities, who has to interact with many people and achieve many goals, life span appears long. But for somebody who is creative, time moves much faster. For someone who is living in the present moment (awareness), time moves even faster as he is tuned only to this moment and for someone who is beyond time (meditation), time is an illusion. Only through self effort and self knowledge can one realise this.
So why is self effort not to everyone’s liking?
This is once again because of wrong understanding that things that give joy and peace are in the objects of creation. It is untrue, everything appears as one thinks. A wise man realises this and by changing his perception of the source of peace involves more and more in self knowledge, and then starts liking it, therefore continues doing more of the same. Self knowledge is the panacea to all ignorance. Absence of self knowledge makes one strongly believe in the unreality of the world and the sense organs, thereby seeking pleasure from the senses. When knowledge arises, craving drops. So O Rama, when craving arises in the mind realise that a strong tendency is pulling you towards the world and do not fulfil it. A man is pulled in two directions – towards realisation of the Brahman and towards ignorant acceptance of the world. That which he strives to realise only wins!!!
If everything is an illusion why do sages and wise men exist?
The inherent power of the infinite consciousness is dynamic and is the source of all existence. This power is called the Mahachiti (supreme intelligence). It is also called the Mahasatta (supreme existence), Mahashakti (supreme power), Mahakaala (supreme time), Mahadrishti (supreme vision), Mahakriya (supreme action), Mahodbhava (supreme happening), Mahaspandana (supreme vibration).The sages for the purpose of understanding make a verbal distinction between the consciousness and its power and say that the creation has come out of that power. When the consciousness becomes aware of its inherent power, this awareness is called niyati (fate) which determines nature. That you should ask me these questions is due to niyati and that I answer your questions is also by niyati. Someone is a worm and someone is a sage is also by niyati. Even gods are unable to change niyati. Niyati has two forms –human and super human. Human can be modified by self effort and superhuman cannot. If one remains idle leaving everything to niyati, the power moves out of him due to inaction as niyati is dynamic. Such a man can by entering higher realms of consciousness, stop breath and achieve liberation, but this is indeed is the greatest self effort!!!
If everything is indeed an illusion and nonexistent, then why should I strive for liberation? Liberation from what?
O Rama, this is a very significant question. But just like fruits fall from the tree only when ripe, you will get the answer at the right time
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