Mandukya Karika Lecture 063 on 10 August 2022

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Shritva Pranamami Moho Moho Om Bhadram Kanne Vishrunyama Devaha Bhadram Pashye Makshavirya Jatraha Sthirai Rangai Stushtu Vagum Sastanu Bhe Vyase Ma Devahe Tanyadayo Swasthina Indro Vridhashravaha Swasthina Pusha Vishwa Vedaha Swasthina Starksho Arishta Nimi Swasthino Brihaspati Hridadhatu Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Hare Om Om Oh Gods, may we always hear with our ears what is auspicious. Oh worshipful ones, may we with our eyes always see what is auspicious. May we live our allotted life, hail and hearty, offering our praises unto Thee. May Indra of ancient fame bestow auspiciousness on all of us. May the all-nourishing potion be propitious to all of us. May Garuda, the destroyer of all evil, be well disposed towards all of us. May Brihaspati ensure our welfare. Om, peace, peace, peace be unto all. In our last class, we have completed the mantra 8 with the relevant 19 karikas. And in this, we also have introduced the 8th mantra of the Mandukya Upanishad. And I have mentioned that from the 8th until the 12th mantra, 5 mantras, the main summary is Upasana. Subject matter is Upasana. Until the 7th mantra, what is the goal of human life? What type of experiences we go through? And why we need to get out of this Mithya superimposed unreality has been beautifully described in the form of Atma Vichara. That is, the Atman has got four quarters, four types of experiences. The Jagrat, the Swapna Sushupti, of which the fourth one alone is the final, and the three are what really causes suffering, bondage, and it is intolerable. Our unconscious is always longing. It is always longing how to attain and retain that fourth state called Turiyam. It is also said Omkara is everything and this Atman is Brahman. Omkara is everything. Brahman is everything. Brahman is Omkara. Omkara is the Atman. That is the angle which from now onwards, the what is called Upanishad Kara is going to take it. The Rishi is going to take us. And what is that process? It is called Upasana. What is Upasana? In simplest language, Upasana is that process by which we move away from our present state and move slowly towards God until we attain complete identity with Him. And whatever language we use, this is the essence. And for that purpose, we have to adopt certain particular methods. One component of this method is Shraddha, faith. The second component of this process is concentration. And the third process of the third element in this process is to develop a tremendous amount of what we call dispassion towards all the objects, including the body-mind, towards which we have been clinging all through from the beginning of creation. Now we have to make an effort to move away. And that process, we move away from the unreal to the real through the process of concentration on the highest reality. And that is called Upasana. Upa and Asana. And Shankaracharya, he comes to our aid here, commenting on the first chapter, third section, ninth mantra in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Shankaracharya is writing, Upasana is mentally approaching the form of the deity or the light as it is presented by the eulogistic portions of the Vedas relating to the objects of meditation and concentrating on it, excluding conventional notions till one is as completely identified with it, as with one's body, conventionally regarded as one's own self. The essence of this is, first of all, it should be complete concentration. Secondly, it is not concentration on any subject, but on a subject that is clearly given to us by the scriptures, not anything outside the scriptures. Third, we must practice concentration until we feel that I am that object upon which I am concentrating. For example, somebody is concentrating on Indra, he should feel I am Indra and never, even for a millisecond, the idea should come that I am not Indra. For that, Shankaracharya, great that he was, he was giving an example that we all consider ourselves as absolutely our body. I am the body. I am the body and this conviction is so strong that even for a millisecond, we never stop to think that we are not the body. So naturally it comes. And in the same manner, a person who succeeded in Upasana, he will feel complete identity with the object of his meditation and then he will not, he will feel I am that deity. Even this description, he feels that is only for the sake of conveying the message, I am Krishna, I am Rama, I am Brahma. And we get this beautifully when Gopis wanted to meet Krishna on that full moonlit night in the atom on the banks of the Yamuna. Somehow, some pride had entered into them and then because of that pride, pride means Ahamkara. Ahamkara is like a huge curtain that made Shri Krishna disappear. Not that he could disappear, not that he would disappear, but that Ahamkara, as if I am covering my own eyes with my own hands, that's what Shri Ramakrishna also did. That's what Shri Ramakrishna also gives, if you remember, once he was talking with the devotees and he said, it is this Ahamkara which doesn't allow us to see God. How? He took his towel, which he always used to keep nearby and put it in front of his face and said, look, we are so near, but you can't see me, I can't see you because of this towel covering my eyes. So, this is the Ahamkara. What is the towel? Ahamkara. In Prahlad's story, it is the pillar, Ahamkara. So, this Ahamkara becomes so identified, Aham, Deham, Deho, Asmi, so identified that he doesn't feel, even for a millisecond, we don't feel that we are anything other than the body. So, that way the Upasaka will be there. This is the definition he gave. Now, this Upasana is of various types and in the Vedic times, they have divided them into two types, but in modern times, we can divide them into three types because of the changed circumstances. We will discuss about these three kinds of Upasanas. I hope you have got the definition. Through concentration, we will have to feel our oneness with our chosen deity, Ishta Devata. And when we succeed completely, then there will be no I and my Ishta Devata. There will be only one either I or his I or my I. Now, Upasanas according to the capacity of the Sadhaka can be divided into three categories. First of all, Pratika Upasana. Second is Nama Upasana. And third is Ahamkara Upasana. Three types, Pratika Upasana, Nama Upasana, Ahamkara Upasana. Let us discuss briefly because this is a marvelous subject. When our Gurus initiate us giving a mantra, Mantra Deeksha, we are supposed to do Upasana. That is why after initiation, all the disciples get a small booklet. It is called Upasana Paddhati. A methodology of the Upasana. One by one, we will talk about Pratika Upasana, Nama Upasana and Ahamkara Upasana. And there also, there are some divisions are there. We will discuss about it. But what type of Upasana I have to adopt so that it can help me move forward for that every aspirant should know or his Guru should guide him what type of mind a disciple has got. Either it is form-oriented, name-oriented, or guna-oriented, or self-oriented, etc. First, we will talk about Pratika Upasana. Pratika means a symbol. Literally, Pratika means Pratigachchandam. That is moving towards, going towards something upon which our mind is focused. A child sees a plaything and he moves towards it. Child sees his mother from a distance and runs. That is called Pratika, moving towards. Pratika is generally used to mean visual symbols which include images, pictures and natural objects but used as symbols. But we have to remember, during the Vedic period, there are no such Pratimas or Pratikas. Whatever Pratikas, they practiced Upasana with the fire, the moon, the air, the earth, the water, the mind, etc. They were treated as natural Pratikas. So how are these Pratikas? Now related to Brahma. Because even if we say, I am meditating on Saguna Brahma, our goal is not Saguna Brahma because Saguna Brahma and me will always remain separate. It is the Nirguna Brahma. That is why Sri Ramakrishna says, Advaita Siddhi, the lost world. So there are two ways of doing this. One is according to Vedic Pratika Upasana, Sampad Upasana and Adhyasa Upasana. These details, you can later on do a bit of research and find out. I am only indicating very briefly. So Sampad Upasana and Adhyasa Upasana. In the Vedic times, this is how Pratika Upasana used to be. What are these? Sampad Upasana, Sampad means enriching, Sampada. So what does it mean? Take an inferior object and use it as a symbol to represent the superior reality. In this, the symbol is unimportant but the superimposition of the attributes of the highest reality dominate the meditative field. To give an example, Saligrama is a small bit of stone. Vishnu is worshipped or Shiva Linga. Shiva is worshipped or take a pot of water. Mother Shethala is worshipped. Durga also is worshipped there or Swastika, etc, etc. So this is called what we call Pratika Upasana. This is the lower type of Upasana and there is a higher type of Upasana and this is called Adhyasa Upasana. What does it mean? The symbol chosen here is a very superior object and dominates the concentration or the meditative field. Upon this symbol, attributes of the reality are superimposed. But the symbol is also as important as the attributes. For example, meditation on the sun, one of the most beautiful meditations ever conceived by the human mind is an example of this. So in Krishna Upanishad also, we have entered into 6th, 7th and 8th mantras talking about Aditya, the sun god, as Upasana. He is everything. Everything is the sun. The sun is everything. It is for the purpose of Upasana. So the Upanishad also teaches, this is not merely Krishna Upanishad, many Upanishads. In fact, there is one Upanishad called Maitri or Maitrayani Upanishad. This Upanishad belongs to the Yajur Veda and there elaborate description of the sun is given and very near to Krishna Upanishad both and also this Mandukya Upanishad that is the sun, Surya as well as the Omkara have to be meditated upon. This whatever we are going to discuss in the Mandukya Karika, in the Krishna Upanishad, it gives help more elaborately in this Maitrayani Upanishad. So look, the sun with its dazzling brightness, a striking resemblance to Brahman because Brahman is all light, light represents consciousness, that is why light represents knowledge. When it is dark, we don't have knowledge of anything else excepting I am. But as soon as light comes, light and knowledge are two sides of the same coin and knowledge and consciousness is two sides of the same coin and therefore light and consciousness are two sides of the same coin. So the sun, how much dazzling brightness, how fortunate we are in India, practically excepting for a few rainy days, 365 days we are dazzling, in fact the heat is much more than we can tolerate and so many people who are deprived of it, they develop what is called special diseases. One of those diseases is called SAD, S-A-D, Seasonal Affectation Disorder and the cure for that is an artificially dazzling light nearly 10,000 watts which is prepared and several hours we have to bask in it, then only our sanity is retained. So the sun, without the sun there is no moon, without the sun and moon there is no food, without food there would be no energy, without energy there is no activity, without activity there is no life. So everything depends upon the sun and sun gives both light as well as heat and these two are the most important characteristics of life wherever it is there, Prana. So Chaitanya is the knowledge, Prana is the energy to use that knowledge in whatever way we want, sometimes for evil also. So all that we need to do is to superimpose upon the sun the attributes of Brahman like infinity, like consciousness, bliss, ultimate causality as our creator etc. But in modern times most of us have forgotten about these things. So we use what is called Pratikas. Pratikas in a way of speaking is images but here also there are two types. What are they? Aniconic and Iconic. Aniconic means that they don't have like a resemblance with the living things. For example, Hanuman's image is there, Krishna's image is there, a divine mother's image is there, a lion's image is there but this Aniconic means not Iconic. That is they don't represent living, the three-dimensional body etc. Instead Yantras, Mandalas, Saligrama, Shiva Linga, water pot etc. These are symbolic but not image like. Image like and all these are very much used in ritualistic worship than in meditation. But there are certain things, a lotus symbolizing a chakra or center of consciousness, the flame of light symbolizing the self, the sky symbolizing space and these are called impersonal symbols which are often used in meditation. Then these are all can be included what is called Aniconic. What about Iconic? This word is much more familiar to us. So Iconic group Pratikas include anthropomorphic images that means human looking or if it is Hanuman, human only but face would be like a monkey and Ganesha body will be a human, extraordinarily intelligent but face will be like an elephant. So even if you see Mahishasura, the whole body is like a buffalo, only the head will be like a Rakshasa, like a human being. So this Pratima, an image may be a picture drawn on paper or cloth or a three-dimensional idol made up of, temporarily if it is made up of clay or if it is wooden like Jagannatha at Puri or made up of stones, most of the places are made up of metals what is called Panchadhatu, Saptadhatu, etc. These are in a way a little lower type of Upasanas. Now we are going to get higher type of Upasanas. These are called Aham Graha Upasana. You can understand Aham, Graha. Aham means I, myself. Graha means to hold, that is to say like octopus, we want to envelop something and feel that I am that object which I am enveloping. Enveloping, this Aham Graha literally means self-grasping which means self-identification. So like the Pratik Upasana, Sampada Upasana, etc. that is described earlier is Aham Graha Upasana, the most important Upasana practiced especially in the olden days. Simple example is the mind should be meditated upon as the self, the intellect should be meditated upon as the self, etc. So this is a meditation on the self as the object. It is an attempt of the self to identify itself with the Supreme Self. In a way of speaking, Ramakrishna wanted to merge deeply into meditation. He used to show sometimes the Bhairava image on the top roof of the Nata Mandir and then it is a small carved image made up of stone. He used to show, look O mind, when you sit for meditation, you should be like this Kala Bhairava, absolutely unconscious, unmoving in one posture. And that's what he used to tell. I prayed to the mother to make me successful and then because it is such a sincere prayer, as soon as he sat for meditation, he used to feel as if somebody entered within his body and he used to lock his joints, etc. so that he cannot move either his legs or his hands or his head, etc, etc. So this Aham Grahopasana, that is what we are talking about. Then I identify myself with Brahman. I means what? So one of them, the lowest of them is my body is the temple and God is within me. Deho devalayo proktah. Deho devalayo proktah, the simplest form of Aham Grahopasana is to intensely think in our imagination, visualize the Atman as a brilliant point of light and meditate on it thinking I am this light. However, the individual self is a part of the infinite supreme self. So Aham Grahopasana means, really speaking, meditation that I am one, I am a small light, God is a bigger light, God is a bigger light of which I am a small speck, like one of the rays of the sun, rays of the moon or a spark from the fire, etc, etc. And the whole idea has been so beautifully, unimaginably beautifully depicted in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 3rd chapter, 7th section, 3rd mantra onwards. There are so many mantras, I am just quoting a few. Why am I quoting? Because this illustrates beautifully what is called Aham Grahopasana. This is called Antaryami Brahmana. God or Brahman, supreme reality as the indweller in everything, everything. When we say everything, everything, not only me, in the earth, in the water, in the fire, in the air, in the water, in the space, everywhere, there are 13 or 14 identificatory descriptions are given. I have just chosen, you can fill up the gap. Here it goes. He who inhabits the earth, but is within it and whom the earth doesn't know, whose body is the earth and who controls the earth from within it. He is the internal ruler, your own immortal self. This is called, he is the internal ruler, but he is not separate from you, your own immortal self. Similarly, I have skipped many, but I am coming to the mind. Yo manasi tishtan and rest is the same. He who inhabits the mind and is within it, whom the mind doesn't know, whose body is the mind and who controls the mind from within, is the internal ruler, your own immortal self. This has been the gist of that beautiful Bengali poem. Or, Sri Ramakrishna very often use it, quote Bhagavad Gita and say, The idea is exactly the same. And then he is also sitting in the intellect. That is why when we say that, O Mother Gayathri, I meditate upon you. Gayathri here means, that which by chanting saves a person from this bondage of samsara is called Gayathri. Amritah, every one of these mantras and this is your own self. This is your own inner self. And this is Amritah, immortal. He who inhabits the intellect, but is within it, whom the intellect doesn't know, whose body is the intellect and who controls the intellect from within, he is the internal ruler and he is who? Your own immortal self. This is what he states. And Swamiji used to declare about our Sangha, Ramakrishna Sangha. He says, the Sangha is the body of Sri Ramakrishna. And that is why Sri Ramakrishna has to be meditated upon as who is dwelling within us. Instead of saying Brahman, instead of saying Antaryami, as it is done in the Brihadaranyaka, or Ishwaraha, who is the indweller within. Here we have to take Sri Ramakrishna as our Antaryami. He is sitting inside it and that is what is called everything is done according to your own will. Shokali Tumari Iccha, Iccha Mai, Tara Tumi. Now, what is this Upasana? I am just summarizing whatever he said, various ways of Upasana, but the goal of the Upasana is we must become, identify with our Ishtadevata, become one with the Ishtadevata, like a river emptying itself into the ocean and it gives up its own name and form. And then, thence forward is called only as the ocean. It goes by the name ocean. Until that time, this is Ganga, this is Yamuna, this is Saraswati. But once it enters into the ocean, it is that ocean only and nothing else. And that ocean in this instance is Brahman and everything, the whole Jagat is nothing but mistakenly thinking that we exist separately, but it is not true. And the goal of life is this Moksha. Moksha means to recognize I am Brahman. This is the purpose of Upasana and according to the capacity of the mind, the Guru directs him, either you do it, Namo Upasana or Prateek Upasana or Aham Graha Upasana. Really speaking, Aham Graha Upasana is nothing but suitable for the highest mind. Just now I remembered a beautiful incident. There is a beautiful description of Praasaleela in the Bhagavatam. And many so-called intelligent people misunderstand it as a play between two sexes. Nothing doing, it is a divine play between the Jeeva and Jeevatma and the Paramatma. And this is not ordinary Jeevatma, but a completely devoted Jeevatma. So what happened, once Ramakrishna was at Dakshineshwar, he was sitting on the cot and maybe, I don't know, I am guessing, inferring, maybe some people, they are devoted to Bhagavatam. In fact, Yami himself was devoted to Bhagavatam. But maybe he did not understand or he did not like, because so many missionaries are preaching against it. So many so-called modern educated people were ridiculing. It is nothing but a very inferior book like that. Then one day, Ramakrishna definitely wanted to remove these misconceptions from the minds of all his disciples. So one day, he was sitting at Dakshineshwar on his own bed and there must have been quite a number of people. I do not know, we do not know. He called all of them, said, all of you, wherever you are, come, sit surrounding me. And then you meditate that you are me and this is called Rasa Leela. All the gopis, what do you think they are doing? They are doing nothing but this particular thing. That is why some examples are also there. We will appropriately, we will give there. Now stages, there are stages in spiritual progress because a person's progress is according to his progress in Upasana. I told you, Upasana, approach. Asana means here, Brahman. And as we approach Brahman, slowly some people approach very near, some people still some distance is there, some people very far away, some people very, very, very far away. So stages are there. So what are the stages? First stage is Pratika, Pratika or Pratima Upasana, meditation on a divine form. Second is Namo Upasana, meditation on a divine name. And third only, when a person is sufficiently pure, sufficiently he has become dispassionate towards worldly things, he has complete faith, Shraddha, he has developed tremendous capacity to meditate, to concentrate and such for such a person, this Aham Graho Upasana, as just now as I said, meditate upon me as Ramakrishna indicated to his disciples. So they must be quite advanced people. So how can these things help us? For example, in Namo Upasana, means what, this meditation, taking the name as the symbol and trying to progress. Name means just you sit and go on singing Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. That is absolutely fine. It will help us. It will definitely take us, but much more is involved there than merely doing this thing. So practice of the repetition of mantra passes through three stages again. In the first stage, the mantra has to be repeated for a long time with great effort. We will be sleeping also. And so after even many years, Japa appears to be mechanical. And that's what Holy Mother is telling, even if you feel it is mechanical, it is a divine name. So it is not like a machine. Thinking of a machine, you are likely to become a machine. But thinking of the divine, even unconsciously, you will definitely become like Brahma Rakshita. So the second stage, the mantra bubbles up spontaneously from the depths of the heart at all times and the aspirant finds a part of his mind constantly joining it, joyfully joining it, sometimes listening to it as if he is the audience and somebody is chanting this from within and he is listening to it. Remember the story of the pilgrim's progress, the pilgrim's way, the way of the pilgrim. The Guru, a Christian saint, has given him the Jesus mantra. He said, repeat a thousand times. And then it came very easy. Second day, he increased the number, maybe 3000, 5000, 10,000, 15,000 and joyfully this man was doing it as if it was not enough. And then something very strange happened. He did not need to do any repetition. Just like after cranking up the old jeep with a self-starter, it catches, the engine catches and then it starts moving on its own. Then the man has nothing to do but to sit inside. So the first stage is the mantra has to be repeated with effort and after some time, it spontaneously bubbles up from the depth of the heart at all times, even while we are in deep sleep. The aspirant finds himself just as a witness. Sometimes he joins it, sometimes he listens to it. That's why I was referring to the way of a pilgrim where the person is trying to repeat the name. First 1000, then 3000, then 5000, then 10,000, then 15,000 and at that stage, his heart started repeating the mantra as if I was giving the example, an old jeep, so there will be a crank will be there, self-starter, after some time, it becomes completely, the engine takes over, nothing needs to be done. This is what is happening. So this is the second stage. So in the third stage, the repetition stops. Then what happens? The mantra becomes merged in the the Nama becomes merged in the Namni, the Named, becomes united with the eternal, uncreated, cosmic sound rhythm known as Anahata Dhwani, which is the same thing to say for Brahman. So this is why Patanjali Rishi says, the repetition of the mantra leads to the destruction of obstacles and the attainment of the inner self. Now we will talk a little bit about Rupa Dhyana. This is actually one stage lower than Nama Upasana. So what happens? The people whose mind is still very much disturbed, attached, practice of meditation on any human-like form, sometimes even animal-like form. I hope you remember that what is called Upanishadic story. A Guru instructed a disciple to meditate upon Brahman. After a few minutes he came and said, I cannot do it. Then the Guru asked him, What do you love? He said, I have a she-buffalo. I love it very much. Alright. You meditate upon your she-buffalo, but do not think it is she-buffalo. Think that God is appearing in that form. And then joyfully the meditation started. After several hours, the Guru came to check the disciple and found him absorbed. He called him out. Come out. There was a very small door. He had to crawl to exit or enter. So he said, Guruji, I cannot come out. Why? Because my horns have become too big. That means he became identified with the she-buffalo. That is a marvellous story. So this is what happens. Rupa Dhyana merges in Nama Dhyana. Nama Dhyana merges and becomes automatic. And Nama Dhyana finally merges in the named, pure consciousness. So here also, for ordinary people like us, for devotees, there are several ways. So first comes Rupa Dhyana, because it is much easier. Just open your eyes, see at a photograph of Thakur Mahasamiji or an image of Rama, Krishna or Buddha or Jesus and then go on visualising whatever a person has read about them. So visualisation of the form of a chosen deity and that is why the scriptures are very meticulous about saying that the description of the Ishta Devata should be given so much. So practice of meditation on any God or Goddess which looks like a human form. It could be image or it could be a photo or there is no photo actually, a picture etc. So this will be. Then comes Nama Dhyana. What is that Nama Dhyana? You take the name of God, close your eyes and focus much more. Rupa Dhyana requires more attention to imagine all the various parts of the body but Nama Dhyana doesn't require but Shabda Artha, that the meaning of the name and names of God are to be deeply dwelt upon. This is the second stage called Nama Upasana. Rupa Upasana, Nama Upasana. Then comes Guna Dhyana. That is, if we are lacking in some particular spiritual qualities, we have to imagine our Ishta Devata as an embodiment of that particular spiritual quality and as we go on dwelling upon it, that quality slowly percolates into our mind and then thereafter we will also acquire. This is the psychology by Holy Mother commands us not to find fault because if we go on dwelling upon other people's faults, then it is like meditating upon their evil behavior and slowly that same behavior becomes automatic, natural to most of us. The same psychology can be taken advantage of to turn it towards God. This is called Guna Dhyana, meditation, continuous meditation on required spiritual qualities. Then what happens? When we go on meditating upon it, I will give some examples also. It is like opening the chambers of our hearts to the purity, love, compassion and other auspicious qualities of the deity. The mind becomes still and just becomes a great sponge allowing these qualities upon which we are dwelling to soak inside like a sponge absorbs all the water. The mind becomes like a sponge because all the impure waters which were before have been totally removed from there and then this purity, joy and so much of love, seeing everything in the light of God and bestowing whatever we have got what is called renunciation all these qualities like a gang they just come and it becomes natural. So this is one example let us take. So suppose somebody is a devotee of Holy Mother image of Shri Sharada Devi about whom the greatest hymn has been written by Avedananda Swami Pavitram Charitam Yasyaha Pavitram Jeevanam Tatha Pavitrata Swaroopinye Tasyai Devyai Namo Namaha Again and again I salute her whose deeds were holy, whose life was holy, who was the embodiment of holiness and let us think of the tremendous purity immaculate purity of that life and think of that great mother who held so much of power a source of refuge to thousands of weary devotees and there was no distinction of sex, race, caste, creed install that holy image in your heart banish all our thoughts and then keep the mind open to purity, love and power and service radiating from that luminous image. This is the 4th stage and then comes the 5th stage. So what did we talk? Roopa Dhyana, Nama Dhyana, Guna Dhyana sorry this was the 3rd one Guna Dhyana now comes Swaroopa Dhyana in this 3rd stage of Upasana that we have to meditate on the real nature of the chosen deity as our supreme self you know before meditating upon any God or Goddess we always have some Dhyana Shlokas for example if we are doing Puja of Shri Ramakrishna or Holy Mother for that matter or let us take Shri Ramakrishna as an example Pradaya Kamalam Adhe Rajitam Nirvikalpam Sada Sada Kila Bheeda Ateetam Ekaswaroopam Prakruti Vikruti Suryam Nithyam Anandamurtim Vimala Paramahamsam Ramakrishnam Bhajaamaha I meditate on Shri Ramakrishna the embodiment of everlasting bliss whose real nature is non-dual unity beyond existence and non-existence of the Prakruti and its evolutes and who shines in the lotus of the heart as the stainless supreme self Paramahamsa this applies to practically suppose a person is meditating upon the Sun we get it in the Aditya Hrudayam Dhyaya Savitru Mandal Varti Narayanah Sarasi Jayasana Sannivishtah Sivaravan Kiriti Hari Dhrita Shankha Chakra and then so many gunas are also there so this kind of meditations lead actually Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram or Satyam, Gnanam, Anantam etc so this is an example of Swaroopadhyana the real nature but even you cannot say they are real nature because anything we think, imagine through our mind is also far short that's why Shri Ramakrishna says that when he enters into the 7th chakra I will tell you about it he said and then when he came down to the 6th chakra he could not tell because how could he describe that which is really so we have to meditate upon that supreme reality and in course of time it is most marvelous thing we become one with it even then realization will not come for that we have to surrender totally that is why Krishna exhorts Arjuna that Sarva Dharma means all efforts take complete refuge in him and believe that without my grace nobody can know me that's why Shri Ramakrishna again and again says only God can let you know what he is no human mind is ever capable how does God do it? not by teaching an Upadesha like Gita but by destroying the mind when the mind is not there no Ahamkara is there when there is no Ahamkara a person directly experiences I am that and this is the only way by God's grace one can obtain it so there are marvelous descriptions are there I will discuss about it in my next class this is from the Maitra in Upanishad as I mentioned earlier this Maitra in Upanishad is a part of the Yajur Veda and marvelous meditations on the especially on the Surya is there and that is very useful for us and we will talk about it so that we can understand Prashna Upanishad we can understand Mandukya Upanishad we of course will understand Maitra in Upanishad and many other Upanishads and especially what is Upasana etc. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Saritva Pranamami Mohor Moho May the Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti Jai Ramkrishna