All about spirituality

 

The neverending physical and emotional turmoil in life makes all of us disgusted and dissatisfied with it.

The basic instinct of life is pleasure. There are glimpses of happiness scattered through life. But, the permanent State of happiness eludes everyone. 

We engage in all types of activities, money, power, position, sensual pleasures, adventures... and so on to find this sense of pleasure in our lives. But, it results only in a mixture of pains and pleasures.

Our ego pushes us to struggle to overcome episodes of pain in our lives. We devise new means, rules, and technologies. But only see exponential growth in pains along with pleasure. 

The struggle never ends. The pains never end. The duality of pains and pleasures continues.

We experience the pains and pleasures at the body, mind, and intellect levels. It's these three entities that you consider being "Me" and the things associated with these as "Mine". 

The body is the only means of perception and action through the five organs of action and perception. But the body is only an instrument to carry signals to and from the mind and intellect and is inert by itself. Without contact with mind and intellect (through nerves) it can’t experience anything (as during paralysis). Just deadwood. 

So it's our mind and intellect which give us all the experiences of pains and pleasures. 

The mind is a storehouse of our totality of experiences, values, desires, passions, emotions, and... It's vast in its scope and has a conscious and subconscious state. 

We gather the inputs through the senses and analyze them with the store of experiences and desires in our minds. That makes us either happy or sad. 

We all differ, in our set of experiences for interpretations of the situation, and to act. We all behave differently in the same situation due to our different sets of experiences in the past. Therefore, we all differ in our reasons and magnitude of pains and pleasures.

There is no perfect situation. There is no perfect reaction. There is no perfect world either. This is the limitation and it's a crude fact of life we all live.

We live in the mind and assume it to be ourselves. The mind, as described above, is an imperfect and limited tool to perceive and react. Thus, we all face this imperfection in our behavior and the surrounding world. But is there no way out then?

There is. The only way out is to transcend the limitations of the mind. That is possible only if we realize ourselves to be something superior to it. But is that possible?

Yes, if we know our true nature as a spirit and not the mind or body. Here the Spirituality comes into play its role.

There is abundant material available on the internet or otherwise on this topic. But we get lost in the forest of dogmas, values, language, beliefs, rituals, ceremonies, spirituality vs religion, spirituality vs science... It's all extremely confusing and ambiguous. 

Most of us, looking towards spirituality to find the truth or means to overcome the problems of life, have come across a glossary of terminologies like Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Om, chakras, prana, five koshas, seven bodies... which is really overwhelming and enough to get lost in the jungle of words and terminologies. 

All this makes it tedious to understand the basic truth of life in all beings, the outer material world, and the interaction between these two eternal realities- life, as we know it.

This blog is, therefore, an attempt to make things understandable in a layman’s language. It's about the Science of Spirituality.

Science is a systematic study of knowledge through questioning. We must have the same basic queries of what, how, why, etc. answered, to study the science of spirituality as well.

Spirituality is about universal and eternal truth beyond the limitations of time and space. It's the fundamental reality of the entire creation both animate and inanimate. There are not different types of spiritualities but only one. One truth for the entire existence; transcending the time and space barriers.

The Genesis

A brief description of how this entire creation has come to existence will be helpful as an insight here. The scriptures, written by the great spiritual seers and exponents of all times, shall be a useful guide in this context. 

There are variations in terminologies used by different sages, scholars, and scriptures but the essence is the same.

Brahman, Parashiva, Mahavishnu, Narayan, God... are a few names ascribed to the ultimate truth. It's one without qualities, form, and beyond intellectual comprehension. It's Absolute Consciousness, The Eternal Light. It knows ‘I’ am but being absolute there is no concept of time and space (relativity required) or ego.

The creation began with the appearance of a gloom (Tamas) in it like mist or fog appears in a clear sky. This was luminous with the eternal light of the absolute, the Cosmic Consciousness. This is the “Hiranyagarbha”, the Golden Egg. This was the beginning of creation. One turned into two. This is the Ardh-narishwar form (consciousness and creative aspect combined). Since it was only a part of the absolute, it had a relative existence and initial qualities of time and space. It was Consciousness with qualities, the Mother Goddess ( The creative energy before creation)

Vibrations started to appear in this mass of relative existence. It was Prana (The primordial life energy form). The first outcome of this Prana was Mahat, The Cosmic Mind. With the mind came the ‘I’-ness or Ahamkara.

Prana is the cosmic energy and the basis of all creation, animate or inanimate. The basic unit of matter, an atom, is also charged with energy or prana. Through the vibration in prana, the foundation for consciousness transforming to matter was laid. Even the mind, the center of our thoughts is matter. For thoughts are waves and waves have characteristics of matter.

Through vibrations in the prana ‘OM’, the primordial sound (Pranav) was born. Next came the matter by modification of the sound.

The Prana and Cosmic Consciousness, the material and consciousness causes, intermingled to form all the living creatures.

Prana is the material cause of creation and has a relative existence in time and space. Cosmic Consciousness is the consciousness cause of creation. It is beyond time and space. 

This combination of consciousness and material cause (Shiva and Shakti ) is what animated life is.

It does so to create a multitude of life forms. One Cosmic Consciousness becomes many individualized consciousnesses. The ocean of names and forms, we call diversity in life, starts to play and interplay. 

The phenomenon of names and forms thus came into existence. From singularity, a multitude of forms was born. The creation had begun in time and space.

The creation thus took place from subtle to gross to grosser. From consciousness to gross matter. From formless to forms, from timelessness to phenomenon of time and space. But throughout it's only Prana taking different forms by its modifications.

In fact, it's The Absolute Consciousness itself, which has got modified into prana and has BECOME TRAPPED in its own creation (Philosophically defined as Dvait, Advait, and Vishishtdvaita).

The details will be shared in a separate blog. Please subscribe below to stay informed.

The individual and cosmos are built on the same plan of creation. Both have the same elements of Consciousness, mind, prana, and physical elements.

A separate blog will be posted on Microcosm and Macrocosm later. Please subscribe below to stay informed.

Now, let us go back to the problem of our life’s miseries.

It's obvious and as explained, the mind is the source of all problems. We all are a spark of divine consciousness, The Absolute. We all are alive and conscious, we know and experience it every moment of our lives. But we live and exist fully established only in the mind. If we can establish ourselves in the pure consciousness of our being, the problems will be over. But how?

Easier said than done.

This is where the science of spirituality starts.

The spirituality meaning may be defined as looking at life from a "Spirit" (Soul) point of view rather than its materialistic perspective.

Common sense: You walk out of the prison through the same route you came in.

The microcosm is the individual entity, who suffers, and the problem has to be tackled here alone.

A brief description of the microcosm will be helpful to understand the root of the problem.

After the formation of the individual, the residual creative cosmic energy, lies dormant at Muladhara (The root chakra). The location is near the end of the spinal column. Here it's called "The Kundalini" (At the cosmic level of creation it's called “Sheshnaga”). The word is derived from the Sanskrit word “Kunda” which means a hollow space or cavity which can hold something.

Being cosmic energy, it's full of potential energy. Although individualized, it's originally from the Cosmic Consciousness, The Absolute (called differently as Shiva, Narayan, etc.). Now it lies isolated from its source after creating the individual entity. 

After the creation of individual life forms the kundalini energy lies dormant. The individual, though functioning with the help of cosmic energy,  interacts in the world through body, mind, and intellect. As these three are intimately joined and work together, the sense of “I” ness develops. I see, I feel, I think, I believe... This is the false ego interacting with the world with limited records of experiences. The mind has taken over.

The imperfection begins. The truth of our being a spirit and pure consciousness is hidden. The mind starts to rule us. The kundalini lies dormant. We're trapped. The real connection with our original source- pure consciousness is lost. We lie trapped in our individual cages of mind and body.

Now starts the play of karma. The sense of “I” ness creates a false sense of doer-ship. Every thought entertained, every act, every perception becomes a new impression in the individual mind. It's stored there as a seed, looking for an opportune moment to sprout. This forms the subconscious mind. 

The seeds of karma may come to fruition immediately, after some time in this life or the afterlife as they need perfect conditions for the same. This requires rebirth for the discharge of stored karmas. The cycle of life and death starts incessantly. Some karmas are discharged in every life in the form of pains and pleasures. But we add fresh karma to the inventory by acting out of ignorance of “I”- ness.

The animated individual life form can be divided into Gross Body, Subtle Body, and Causal Body. The real self “soul” is trapped within these three bodies.

The real problem of life is that the real self starts assuming itself to be “ The Body”. And the body, mind, and intellect which is non-real-self starts considering itself to be the “The Real-Self”. This happens because of an intimate connection between these two at three places in the body.  These are called granthis (knots): Brahma granthi, Vishnu granthi, and Rudra granthi. Opening these knots is necessary to make progress in spiritual awakening.

The gross body is the physical anatomical structure that all living beings have. The causal body is the storehouse of our sanskaras (Psychic impressions ) in the seed form.  The subtle body lies between gross and causal bodies and associated with both on either side. This subtle body is subject to an individual's experience although having no physical entity. This is the place where we actually live, experience, and interact.

The subtle body is made up of eight elements (Five great elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space; mind; intellect and ego). This can be further expanded to 17 (also 19 and 24 sometimes) elements. These include five senses of action; five organs of perception; five great elements; mind; and intellect (addition of Chitta and ego makes 19. Further addition of five ‘Tanmatras’ makes 24). But the organs of action and perception are modifications of five great elements only and hence eight is the basic number. The causal body is nearest to the soul and is the basis of the development of a subtle and gross body.

The individual being is also described as having five koshas (sheaths) and seven shariras (bodies).

A separate blog will be posted on these constitutional details later. Please subscribe below to stay informed.

The gross body and the subtle body are limitations to be overcome to reach the real individual self, the “Soul”. Reaching up to the soul level is a possibility with effort. The great sages of the past devised various methods and techniques to reach it. 

Beyond soul level- reaching up to the cosmic level is an undefined path. Much depends on the grace of the “God” and the leftover karmas to be cleared in the causal body. The causal body is a thin film of ignorance or “Maya” that covers the cosmic self- “God”. 

This set of methodologies and techniques are collectively known as “YOGA”(derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Yuj’ which means 'to join'). These are known by different names e.g. Karma yoga, Jnana yoga, Bhakti yoga, Siddha yoga, Raja Yoga, Hath yoga…....

These branches of yoga differ in their methodologies and often appear contradictory or overlapping. But, they all have “Kundalini awakening” as the common basis of all spiritual achievements.

Kundalini once awakened has a definite route to follow and has a characteristic way of working through the gross physical body. It passes through a linear order of seven metaphysical entities called Chakras. These Chakras lie along the axis of the spinal cord. 

The seven Chakras are :

1. Muladhara Chakra ( Root Chakra)

2. Swadhisthan Chakra ( Sacral Chakra)

3. Manipur Chakra ( Solar Plexus Chakra)

4. Anahat Chakra ( Heart Chakra)

5. Visshuddh Chakra ( Throat Chakra)

6. Agya/ Ajna Chakra ( Eyebrow Chakra)

7. Sahasrara Chakra ( Crown Chakra)

Kundalini is not a physical entity and is thus described in metaphysical and metaphorical terms. Moreover, its grandeur and stature of the motherly creative energy is highly venerated and described in a devotional manner. The persons with highly evolved kundalini also develop mystical and poetic attributes after being graced by it (kundalini is the mother of all expressions and speech).

A separate blog will be posted on the details of kundalini and its route later. Please subscribe below to stay informed.

Kundalini’s awakening and its rise to the top of one’s head make one realize his cosmic stature. Once attained, the materialistic existence of desires, greed, passions.. seems to be a puppy’s play. It's a state of permanent bliss to the individual who knows his imperishable, and eternal cosmic personality now.

This is the permanent relief from the eternal cycle of pains and pleasures, gains and losses, birth and death.

THUS, AWAKE, REALIZE YOUR TRUE SELF, AND BE FREE FOREVER.