Letter 117

(117) SEEING A LION IN A DREAM
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18th May, 1947
This afternoon, at 3 o’clock, another series of questions started. “Brahman is said to be Sat-Chit-Ananda Swarupa. What does that mean?” said one.

“Yes. That is so,” Bhagavan replied, “That which is, is only Sat. That is called Brahman. The lustre of Sat is Chit and its nature is Ananda. These are not different from Sat. All the three together are known as Sat-Chit-Ananda.

It is the same in regard to the attributes of the jiva-satvam, ghora and jadam. Ghoram means the quality of rajas, and jadam means the quality of tamas. Both these are parts of Satvam. If these two are removed, what remains is only Satvam. That is the truth which is eternal and pure. Call it Atman, Brahman, Shakti or anything you like. If you know that that is yourself, everything is lustrous. Everything is Ananda.”

That questioner said, “The ancients say that for a person who wants to know that real state sadhana, sravana, manana, and nididhyasana are absolutely necessary till the very end.” Bhagavan replied, “They are necessary only to get rid of the various things that come from outside and that too for purposes of sadhana only, but not for realising the Self. One’s own self is there at all times and in all places. Sravana, etc., are to be resorted to only to get rid of external influences, but if they are regarded as the most important things they will be the cause of the development of the feelings of ahankara, such as ‘I am a pandit’ (learned man), ‘I am a great man’ and the like. That is a big samsara (family). It is difficult to get rid of it later on. It is bigger than a wild elephant. It will not yield ordinarily.


“For that wild elephant, it is said that Guru Kataksham (the Grace of the Guru) is like seeing a lion in its dream,” said the questioner. “That is true. If an elephant sees a lion in its dream, it wakes up startled and will not sleep again that day for fear that the lion might appear again in a dream.

In the same way in a man’s life which is also akin to a dream, it is not Guru Kataksham alone, but also sravana, manana, nididhyasana, etc., that are akin to the sight of a lion in a dream. As they go on getting these dreams they wake up, and again go to bed and by efflux of time they may some day get a lion’s dream called Guru Kataksham in an intense manner. They get startled and obtain jnana. Then there will be no more dreams and they will not only be wakeful at all times but will not give room for any dreams of life but will remain alert until that true and real knowledge is obtained.


These lion’s dreams are unavoidable and must be experienced,” said Bhagavan.

With some surprise, that questioner said, “Are sravana etc. and Guru Kataksha akin to dreams?”

“Yes, that is so. For those who realise the truth, everything is akin to a dream.

That being so, what do you now say is the truth? During sleep you have no control over this body. You wander about in various places with different bodies. You do all sorts of things. At that time everything appears real. You do everything as if you are the doer. It is only after you wake up that you feel that you are a Venkiah or a Pulliah, that what you had experienced in the dream is unreal and that it was only a dream. Not only that. Sometimes you go to bed after eating your fill at night — sweets such as laddu and jilebi.

During sleep you dream that you are wandering in all sorts of places, cannot get food and are about to die of starvation.

When you get up startled, you will be belching. Then you will realise that the whole thing was a dream. But during that sleep, did you remember about this (your overeating)? Another person goes to bed suffering from starvation. In his dream, he enjoys a feast, eating laddu and jilebi. Will he remember at that time the fact that he had gone to bed hungry? No, he wakes up and finds himself terribly hungry.

‘Oh God! It is all illusion, a mere dream,’ he thinks. That is all. You were existent in the wakeful state as well as in the dream state and also in the sleeping state. When you are able to understand your state which had been existent all the time, you will then understand that all the rest is like a dream. When that is known, the feeling that the Guru is different from you will disappear. But then, since this realisation must come about because of Guru Kataksha, that Guru Kataksha is likened to a dream of a lion. That dream must be intense and must imprint itself in one’s mind. It is only then that a proper wakefulness will come about. For that, the time must be propitious. If sadhana is performed relentlessly, some time or other favourable results turn up.

That is all.” So saying, Bhagavan assumed a dignified silence.

The clock struck four. The people in the hall who were completely absorbed in this spiritual discourse of Bhagavan, came back to their own consciousness. The voice of Bhagavan was ringing in my ears. I returned, wondering whether at any time in this life I would get that lion’s dream of Guru Kataksha and get it imprinted on my mind.

Letter 90

(90) THE JNANI’S MIND IS BRAHMAN ITSELF
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8th February, 1947
I went to the Hall at about 7-30 this morning. It was all silent inside. The aroma of the burning incense sticks coming out of the windows indicated to the new visitors that Bhagavan was there. I went inside, bowed before Bhagavan and then sat down. Bhagavan, who was all along leaning on a pillow, sat up erect in the Padmasana pose. In a moment his look became motionless and transcendent and the whole hall was filled with lustre. Suddenly someone asked, “Swamiji! Do the Jnanis have a mind or not?”

Bhagavan cast a benevolent look at him, and said, “There is no question of one realising Brahman without a mind; realisation is possible only if there is a mind; mind always functions with some upadhi (support); there is no mind without upadhi; it is only in connection with the upadhi that we say that one is a Jnani. Without the upadhi, how can one say that some one is a Jnani? But how does the upadhi function without mind? It does not; that is why it is said that the Jnani’s mind itself is Brahman. The Jnani is always looking at Brahman. How is it possible to see without a mind? That is why it is said that the Jnani’s mind is Brahmakara and akhandakara. But in reality his mind itself is Brahman. Just as an ignorant man does not recognise Brahman within but only recognises the external vrittis (things), so also though the Jnani’s body moves about in the external vrittis, he always recognises only the Brahman within. That Brahman is all- pervading. When once the mind is lost in the Brahman, to call the mind Brahmakara is like saying that a river is like the ocean; when once all the rivers get lost in the ocean, it is all one vast sheet of water. Can you then distinguish in that vast sheet of water, ‘This is the Ganges, this is the Goutami, this river is so long, that river is so wide’, and so on? It is the same with regard to the mind also.”

Someone else asked, “They say that satvam is Brahman, and that rajas and tamas are abhasa; is that so?” Bhagavan replied: “Yes! Sat is what exists; Sat is satvam; it is the natural thing; it is the subtle movement of the mind. By its contacts with rajas and tamas it creates the world with its innumerable forms. It is only due to its contact with rajas and tamas that the mind looks at the world which is abhasa, and gets deluded.

If you remove that contact, satva shines pure and uncontaminated. That is called pure Satva or Suddhasatva.

This contact cannot be eliminated unless you enquire with the subtlest of the subtle mind and reject it. All the vasanas have to be subdued and the mind has to become very subtle; that means, subtle among the subtlest --- they say anoraneeyam (atom within an atom). It should become atomic to the atom.

If it becomes subdued as an atom to the atom, then it rises to the infinite among infinities, ‘mahato maheeyam’. Call it the mind seeing, or the mind acquiring powers; call it whatever you like. By whatever name it is called, when we sleep the mind, with all its activities lies subdued in the heart. What do we see then? Nothing. Why? Because the mind lies subdued. We wake up from our sleep, and as soon as we wake up there is mind, there is Sat and Brahman. As soon as the mind that is awake is attached to the gunas, every activity emerges. If you discard those guna vikaras, (vagaries of the mind), the Brahman appears everywhere, self-luminous and self-evident, the Aham, ‘I’. Then everything appears thanmayam (all pervading). See the technical language of the Vedanta: they say, Brahma-vid, (Brahman-knowing), Brahma Vidvarishta, (supreme among the Brahman-knowing), and so on, and then they say, Brahmaiva Bhavati, (he becomes Brahman itself). He is Brahman itself. That is why we say that the jnani’s mind itself is Brahman.”

Someone else asked, “They say that the Jnani conducts himself with absolute equality towards all?” Bhagavan replied, “Yes! How does a Jnani conduct himself?”

Maitri (friendship), karuna (kindness), mudita (happiness) and upeksha (indifference) and such other bhavas become natural to them. Affection towards the good, kindness towards the helpless, happiness in doing good deeds, forgiveness towards the wicked, all such things are natural characteristics of the Jnani.

-- Patanjali Yoga Sutra, 1: 33

Letter 69

Photo shows Annamalai Swamy standing on left with arms crossed, and Major Chadwick (in white) sitting on steps.

(69) BRAHMAN IS REAL --- THE WORLD IS AN ILLUSION
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24th August, 1946
Sometime ago a new arrival to the Ashram asked Bhagavan something in English, which I could not follow, being ignorant of the language. But Bhagavan replied in Tamil, and I give below his reply to the extent that I am able to grasp.

Bhagavan said, “It is said that Brahman is real, and world an illusion; again it is said that the whole universe is an image of Brahman. The question arises: how are these two statements to be reconciled? In the sadhak stage, you have got to say that the world is an illusion. There is no other way, because when a man forgets that he is the Brahman, who is real, permanent and omnipresent, and deludes himself into thinking that he is a body in the universe which is filled with bodies that are transitory, and labours under that delusion, you have got to remind him that the world is unreal and a delusion. Why? Because, his vision which has forgotten its own Self, is dwelling in the external material universe and will not turn inward to introspection unless you impress on him that all this external, material universe is unreal. When once he realises his own Self, and also that there is nothing other than his own Self, he will come to look upon the whole universe as Brahman. There is no universe without his Self. So long as a man does not see his own Self which is the origin of all, but looks only at the external world as real and permanent, you have to tell him that all this external universe is an illusion. You cannot help it. Take a paper. We see only the script, and nobody notices the paper on which the script is written. The paper is there, whether the script on it is there or not. To those who look upon the script as real, you have to say that it is unreal, an illusion, since it rests upon the paper. The wise man looks upon both the paper and script as one. So also with Brahman and the universe.

“It is the same in the case of the cinema. The screen is always there; the pictures come and go, but do not affect the screen. What does the screen care whether the pictures appear or disappear? The pictures depend upon the screen. But what use are they to it? The man who looks only at the pictures on the screen and not the screen itself, is troubled by the pains and pleasures that occur in the story. But the man who views the screen, realises that the images are all shadows and not something apart and distinct from the screen. So also with the world. It is all a shadow play,” said Bhagavan. The questioner took leave and went away, happy at the reply.