02.23.07
Posted in Podcasts, Sri Isopanisad at 1:06 pm by David Bruce Hughes
Listen 
pusann ekarse yama surya
prajapatya vyuha rasmin samuha
tejo yat te rupam kalyana-tamam
tat te pasyami yo ’sav asau purusah so ‘ham asmi
SYNONYMS
pusan—O maintainer; eka-rse—the primeval philosopher; yama—the regulating principle; surya—the destination of the suris (great devotees); prajapatya—the well-wisher of the prajapatis (progenitors of mankind); vyuha—kindly remove; rasmin—the rays; samuha—kindly withdraw; tejah—effulgence; yat—so that; te—Your; rupam—form; kalyana-tamam—most auspicious; tat—that; te—Your; pasyami—I may see; yah—one who is; asau—like the sun; asau—that; purusah—Personality of Godhead; sah—myself; aham—I; asmi—am.
TRANSLATION
O my Lord, O primeval philosopher, maintainer of the universe, O regulating principle, destination of the pure devotees, well-wisher of the progenitors of mankind, please remove the effulgence of Your transcendental rays so that I can see Your form of bliss. You are the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead, like unto the sun, as am I.
PURPORT
In this mantra, Sri Isopanisad continues to emphasize the personal form of the Absolute Truth. As the first of the 108 Upanisads written by the author of the Vedas Srila Vyasadeva, Sri Isopanisad sets an important precedent for the interpretation of the subsequent Upanisads. There are seven contextual rules in the interpretation of difficult Sanskrit texts:
upakramopasamharavabhyaso ‘purvata-phalam
artha-vadopapatti ca lingam tatparya-nirnaye
“The upakrama (beginning), upasamhara (ending), abhyasa (what is repeated again and again), apurvata (what is unique and novel), phalam (the general purpose of the book), artha-vada (the author’s statement of his own intention), and upapatti (appropriateness) are the factors to consider in interpretation of obscure (non-obvious or ambiguous) Vedic passages.” [Nyaya-sastra]
Therefore when an Upanisadic text seems to describe the Lord as impersonal, the first principle we have to consider is whether the Isopanisad confirms this interpretation. But we see from study of Sri Isopanisad that this upakrama (beginning) of all the Upanisads always describes the Lord as personal. Sri Isopanisad treats the Lord’s glaring effulgence as an obstacle to complete self-realization; this sloka and the previous one beg Him to remove it so we can realize His personal form.
This view is confirmed by the version of the Esoteric Teaching:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate
“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.11]
The implication is that one who knows only the Brahman (the spiritual effulgence) or Paramatma (the indwelling Supersoul) does not have complete knowledge of the nondual Absolute Truth. The impersonal Brahman effulgence is only the beginning of transcendental realization. The ultimate conclusion of all Vedic literature and the goal of self-realization is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna.
The sun and its effulgent rays are qualitatively the same. The sun’s rays are certainly part of the sun, but the sun is the source, and the innumerable photons of sunlight are its energy. The sun and its rays conjointly constitute the complete sun. Still, the sun itself is superior to its light, which could not exist without its energetic source.
Similarly, the Lord and the living entities correspond in spiritual qualities. In one sense, the living entities are part of Krsna, because He is everywhere and in everything. At the same time, they are separate because both Krsna and the living entities possess eternal existence and individual identity. Krsna and the living entities together form the Complete Whole, yet Krsna is superior to the living entities because He is their source. He maintains them in all respects and they cannot exist without Him, for like the sun, He is the energetic source.
This is verified in the Esoteric Teaching as follows:
yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti-
kotisv asesa-vasudhadi vibhuti-bhinnam
tad brahma niskalam anantam asesa-bhutam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferentiated Brahman mentioned in the Upanisads, which being differentiated from the mundane universe appears as the infinity of glories of the indivisible, infinite, limitless truth.” [Brahma-samhita 5.40]
Brahman is the effulgence of the Lord, and in the supreme spiritual planet, Goloka Vrndavana, from which the brahmajyoti effulgence emanates, the Lord enjoys His eternal pastimes, described as follows:
cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa-
laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam
laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, fulfilling all desires in abodes filled with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of wish-fulfilling trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of Laksmis, or goddesses of fortune.” [Brahma-samhita 5.29]
The brahmajyoti is simply the effulgence emanating from that supreme spiritual planet, Goloka Vrndavana, just as the sun’s rays emanate from the sun globe. One cannot realize the eternal abode of the Lord until he surpasses the blinding glare of the brahmajyoti., Blinded by the brahmajyoti, more dazzling than millions of suns, the impersonalist philosophers cannot realize the abode of the Lord or His transcendental form. Impersonalists cannot understand the all-blissful transcendental form of Lord Krsna because they are limited by a lack of spiritual knowledge. In this prayer, therefore, Sri Isopanisad petitions the Lord to remove the effulgent rays of the brahmajyoti, so the pure devotees can view His all-blissful transcendental form.
Realization of the Lord’s energy in the form of the impersonal brahmajyoti is certainly auspicious. And realizing the Paramatma, or all-pervading feature of the Supreme, is even more auspicious. But meeting the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face is the most complete, wonderful and ecstatic realization of the Supreme. Since Sri Isopanisad addresses Him as the primeval philosopher, maintainer and well-wisher of the universe, the Supreme Lord cannot be impersonal. This is the conclusion of all the Vedic scriptures.
The word pusan (maintainer) is especially significant, for although the Lord is similar to the individual spirit souls in many respects, He is unlimited in potency and intelligence. Therefore He emanates and maintains all beings, especially His devotees. The Upanisads proclaim,
nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam
eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman
tam pitha-gam ye ’nupasyanti dhiras
tesam santih sasvati netaresam
“Among all the eternal, conscious individual persons, the one Supreme Lord supplies the needs of everyone else. The wise souls who worship Him in His abode attain everlasting peace. Others cannot.” [Katha Upanisad 2.2.13]
After surpassing the impersonal brahmajyoti and seeing the personal aspect of the Lord in His most auspicious eternal form of Bhagavan, the devotee realizes the Absolute Truth in full devotional ecstatic trance. The definition of the word Bhagavan is given in the Esoteric Teaching as follows:
“The impersonal Brahman feature of the Supreme is unmanifested, free from old age, inconceivable, birthless, free from decay and diminution, indescribable, formless, without hands, feet, or other limbs, all-powerful, all-pervading, eternal, the origin of all material elements, causeless, present in everything, although nothing is situated in it, the source of the material cosmos, the object of vision for the demigods, and the object of meditation for they who aspire after liberation. The impersonal Brahman is the supremely subtle spiritual effulgence and abode of Lord Visnu, which is described in the mantras of the Vedas. Brahman is the effulgence of the Bhagavan feature of the Lord, and the all-pervading Supersoul (Paramatma) is the partial manifestation of the transcendental form of the imperishable Supreme Person, Sri Bhagavan.” [Visnu Purana 6.5.66-69]
The Visnu Purana further explains:
“O sage, the word Bhagavan may be explained in the following way: the syllable ‘bha’ may be understood to mean ‘bharta’, or ‘sambharta’, the maintainer and nourisher of the devotees, and the syllable ‘ga’ may be understood to mean ‘gamayita’, the leader of the devotees, or the original creator of the good qualities present in the devotees. The word ‘bhaga’ also means ‘opulences’. There are six opulences: wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation. “Bhagavan” means the person who possesses all these opulences in full. In the word ‘bhagavan’, the syllable ‘va’ stands for the verb ‘vas,’ to reside. Because all material elements and all living entities rest within the Supreme Lord, and because He is present in the heart of all conditioned souls, He is addressed by the syllable ‘va’.” [Visnu Purana 5.6.73-75]
It is also said:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead possesses all strength, beauty, wealth, fame, knowledge and renunciation, and therefore He is known as Bhagavan. He is free from all faults.” [Visnu Purana 6.5.79]
As the leader of His devotees, the Lord fully protects and maintains His unalloyed devotees, guiding them on the progressive devotional path to spiritual perfection by His Esoteric Teaching. He ultimately awards the desired results of devotional service by giving Himself to them. The devotees of the Lord know the Lord personally and see Him face-to-face by His causeless mercy. Thus the Lord helps His pure devotees reach the highest spiritual planet, Goloka Vrndavana. The Lord can bestow all necessary qualifications upon His devotees with His unlimited potency, so they ultimately reach Him.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna is the cause of all causes. He has no cause, thus He is the original cause. He enjoys His absolute existence and pastimes by His own internal spiritual potency. He does not manifest the external material potency directly, but He creates, maintains and annihilates the cosmic manifestation through the purusas, or Visnu incarnations.
The individual spiritual living entities are differentiated expansions of the Lord’s Self, known as the tatastha-sakti or marginal energy. Because some of them desire to imitate the Supreme Lord and become controllers and enjoyers themselves, He allows them to live in the material creation to fully utilize their separatist propensity. The presence of His parts and parcels, the living entities, stirs the entire phenomenal world into action and reaction by the laws of karma. He gives the living entities full facility to enjoy and control material nature, but because they are acting for their own benefit, they have to experience the unintended consequences of karma. The ultimate controller of the material energy is the Lord Himself, in His plenary feature as Paramatma, the Supersoul.
Thus while the living entities share many of the spiritual qualities of the Lord, there is huge difference in quantity between the living entity (atma) and the controlling Lord (Paramatma), or the soul and the Supersoul. Paramatma is the actual controller, and the atma is always controlled; Paramatma is unlimited, and the atma is infinitesimal. Therefore the atma and Paramatma are in different ontological categories. Nevertheless the Paramatma fully cooperates with the atma, remaining his loyal friend in his long sojourn through the material existence. The Paramatma is therefore the constant companion of the living being.
The Paramatma is the all-pervading feature of the Lord who accompanies the spirit soul in all circumstances, in all states of consciousness, and from which the living force in both conditioned and liberated souls emanates. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan Sri Krsna is the origin of both Paramatma and Brahman. Therefore He is the ultimate origin of all living entities and all else that exists. An intelligent person who understands this Esoteric Teaching properly, engages himself at once in the devotional service of the Lord. Such a pure and fully spiritually conscious devotee of the Lord loves and serves Him with all his heart and soul.
Whenever such devotees meet, their only purpose is the glorification of the Lord’s transcendental name, qualities and activities. Those who have realized only the Brahman or Paramatma features of the Lord cannot appreciate the activities of the pure devotees of Krsna. The Lord dissipates all the darkness of ignorance from the hearts of the pure devotees by imparting all necessary knowledge. Thus He enlightens them confidentially by His special favor. The speculative impersonalist philosophers and bogus yogis cannot understand this at all. Because they more or less depend on their own strength, their limited intelligence cannot stretch to the unlimited transcendental Autocrat situated eternally in the spiritual sky.
yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas
tasyaisa atma vivrnute tanum svam
“Only one who is fully surrendered and engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord can understand the Supreme Lord as He is.” [Katha Upanisad 1.2.23]
All the Upanisads and other Vedic literatures agree that the Lord can be known only by those whom He favors, and not by anyone else. Such special favors are bestowed upon His pure devotees only. Sri Isopanisad thus gives the secret of gaining the favor of the Lord, which is discovered by the pure devotees in His eternal loving devotional service, far beyond the impersonal glare of the brahmajyoti.
Permalink
02.15.07
Posted in Podcasts, Sri Isopanisad at 1:13 pm by David Bruce Hughes
Listen
hiranmayena patrena
satyasyapihitam mukham
tat tvam pusann apavrnu
satya-dharmaya drstaye
SYNONYMS
hiranmayena—by a golden effulgence; patrena—by a dazzling covering; satyasya—of the Supreme Truth; apihitam—covered; mukham—the face; tat—that covering; tvam—Yourself; pusan—O sustainer; apavrnu—kindly remove; satya—pure; dharmaya—unto the devotee; drstaye—for exhibiting.
TRANSLATION
O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee.
PURPORT
Realization of the impersonal spiritual effulgence of the Lord is incomplete without realization of His personal form, because His personal aspect is the cause of the impersonal Brahman. The Lord explains the brahmajyoti, or dazzling effulgence of His personal form, as follows:
brahmano hi pratisthaham
amrtasyavyayasya ca
sasvatasya ca dharmasya
sukhasyaikantikasya ca
“I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and eternal, and is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness.” [Bhagavad-gita 14.27]
Without the personal form of the Supreme, the impersonal effulgence could not exist. He emanates the Brahman effulgence from His personal form as Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan are the three primary aspects of the Absolute Truth:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate
“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.11]
The Brahman aspect is most easily realized by the beginning transcendentalist; Paramatma, the indwelling Supersoul and eternal friend of the individual spirit soul, is realized by intermediate students of the Absolute Truth; and Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate realization of the Absolute Truth. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita as follows:
mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam
sutre mani-gana iva
“O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.” Bhagavad-gita [7.7]
Lord Krsna here confirms that He is the ultimate concept of the Absolute Truth: mattah parataram nanyat. Therefore Krsna is the source of the brahmajyoti as well as the all-pervading Paramatma. Krsna further explains:
atha va bahunaitena
kim jnatena tavarjuna
vistabhyaham idam krtsnam
ekamsena sthito jagat
“But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.” [Bhagavad-gita 10.42]
Thus the Lord maintains the complete material cosmic creation by a single plenary expansion, the all-pervading Paramatma. He also maintains the expansive spiritual world, and supplies the necessities of all living entities. Therefore in this mantra of Sri Isopanisad, the Lord is addressed as pusan, the ultimate maintainer.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna is always in complete transcendental bliss, and full of ecstatic unconditional love for all living entities. As stated in Vedanta-sutra, ananda-mayo ‘bhyasat: the Supreme Brahman and the subordinate Brahman, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the individual living entities, are joyful by nature. The happiness experienced in Brahman realization is but a tiny fraction of the bliss we attain when we realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ocean of all happiness.
When Krsna displayed His eternal Vrndavana pastimes in India 5,000 years ago, He was always in transcendental bliss. He displayed the full potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even from the beginning of His childhood pastimes. Killing the demons who attacked Vrndavana, like Aghasura, Bakasura, the witch Putana and Pralamba, was simply pleasurable childhood play for Him. He enjoyed continuous ecstatic bliss along with His mother, brother, friends and cows in the cowherd village of Vrndavana.
When He played the role of a naughty butter thief, all His associates experienced celestial bliss. That is the difference between the Lord and others: even when He steals, He gives ecstatic bliss to His associates. The Lord’s fame as a butter thief is beyond reproach, for everything the Lord did in Vrndavana was for the pleasure of His beloved eternal associates. The Lord created these pastimes to attract the dry impersonalist speculators, and the frustrated acrobats of the hatha-yoga system to realize the actual Absolute Truth.
The childhood play between the Lord and His cows, cowherd boys and other friends, is not ordinary or material. Actually it is the exalted destination of great devotees who have accumulated a tremendous stock of transcendental knowledge and pious activities. Sukadeva Gosvami, one of the greatest Master Teachers in the line of the Esoteric Teaching, says:
ittham satam brahma-sukhanubhutya
dasyam gatanam para-daivatena
mayasritanam nara-darakena
sakam vijahruh krta-punya-punjah
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is perceived as the impersonal, blissful Brahman by the jnanis, who is worshiped as the Supreme Lord by devotees in the mood of servitude, and who is considered an ordinary human being by mundane people, played with the cowherd boys, who had attained their position after accumulating many pious activities.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.12.11]
The Supreme Lord is not impersonal or static; He is always engaged in transcendental loving activities with His spiritual associates in five flavors of ecstatic spiritual relationships: santa-rasa (neutrality), dasya-rasa (servitude), sakhya-rasa (friendship), vatsalya-rasa (parental affection) and madhurya-rasa (conjugal love). Because these relationships are fully spiritual, they are eternal and fully satisfying to the spirit soul.
Since the scriptures state that Lord Krsna never leaves Vrndavana, how does He manage the creation and maintenance of the material creation? The answer is that He expands Himself as the Supersoul. Krsna describes the Supersoul as follows:
“Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes and faces, and He hears everything. In this way the Supersoul exists. The Supersoul is the original source of all senses, yet He is without senses. He is unattached, although He is the maintainer of all living beings. He transcends the modes of nature, and at the same time He is the master of all modes of material nature. The Supreme Truth exists both internally and externally, in the moving and nonmoving. He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all. Although the Supersoul appears to be divided, He is never divided. He is situated as one. Although He is the maintainer of every living entity, it is to be understood that He develops and devours all. He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart.” [Bhagavad-gita 13.14-18]
The Lord pervades and controls the entire material creation by His plenary expansion of Paramatma, the Supersoul. Lord Krsna is completely spiritual; He is not directly connected with material creation, maintenance and destruction. He causes the material creation through His plenary expansion, the Paramatma. Every living being is atma, spirit soul, and the supreme living being who controls them all is Paramatma, the Supersoul.
The system of God realization given in the Esoteric Teaching is a great science, but its proper application requires the comprehension of the transcendental ontology of Vedanta-sutra and Srimad-Bhagavatam. Materialistic so-called followers of the Vedas who present the Esoteric Teaching as a sectarian religion can in reality only perceive the twenty-four factors of the material creation. They have very little information and no direct perception of the purusa, or Lord. And the impersonalists are so bewildered by the glaring effulgence of the brahmajyoti that they foolishly deny the very existence of the Lord.
Anyone who wants to realize the Absolute Truth in full has to know all three aspects: Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His consciousness has to penetrate the twenty-four material senses and sense objects, and the glaring spiritual effulgence to reach the Supreme Person. Sri Isopanisad points this out by praying to the Lord to remove His hiranmaya-patra, or dazzling golden effulgence. Complete realization of the Absolute Truth is attained when He removes the impersonal effulgence, allowing us to perceive the transcendental form of the Personality of Godhead.
The Paramatma feature is one of three plenary expansions of the Personality of Godhead associated with universal creation. These three visnu-tattvas or aspects of Godhead are called the purusa-avataras, or incarnations of the Supreme Person in the material world. Among the three principal deities―Brahma, Visnu and Siva―Ksirodakasayi Visnu is the all-pervading Visnu; He is also the Paramatma in each and every individual living entity. The second visnu-tattva within the universe is Garbhodakasayi Visnu, the collective Supersoul of all living entities. Beyond these two is Karanodakasayi Visnu or Maha-visnu, who lies in the Causal Ocean and is the creator of all universes. The yoga system teaches the serious student to transcend the twenty-four material elements of the cosmic creation and meet the visnu-tattvas after attaining perfection in self-realization.
The culture of speculative empiric philosophy can at most help one realize the impersonal brahmajyoti, the glaring effulgence of the transcendental body of Lord Sri Krsna. That the brahmajyoti is Krsna’s effulgence is confirmed by Lord Brahma:
yasya prabha-prabhavato jagad-anda-koti-
kotisv asesa-vasudhadi vibhuti-bhinnam
tad brahma niskalam anantam asesa-bhutam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
“In the millions and millions of universes there are innumerable planets, and each and every one of them is different from the others by its cosmic constitution. All of these planets are situated in a corner of the brahmajyoti. This brahmajyoti is but the personal rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, whom I worship.” [Brahma-samhita 5.40]
This mantra from Brahma-samhita and the sruti-mantra of Sri Isopanisad under discussion are spoken from the platform of complete realization of the Absolute Truth. This mantra. This simple prayer to the Lord to remove the brahmajyoti so we can see His real face is a part of the bona fide process of realization according to the Esoteric Teaching. The brahmajyoti effulgence of the Lord is described in detail in the mantras of several other Upanisads:
“In the spiritual realm, beyond the material covering, is the unlimited Brahman effulgence, which is free from material contamination. That effulgent white light is understood by transcendentalists to be the light of all lights. In that realm there is no need of sunshine, moonshine, fire or electricity for illumination. Indeed, whatever illumination appears in the material world is only a reflection of that supreme illumination. That Brahman is in front and in back, in the north, south, east and west, and also overhead and below. In other words, that supreme Brahman effulgence spreads everywhere throughout both the material and spiritual skies.” [Mundaka Upanisad 2.2.10-12]
Perfect knowledge of transcendence means knowing that the personal form of Krsna is the source of this Brahman effulgence. This knowledge is given in the scriptures of the Esoteric Teaching such as Srimad-Bhagavatam, which perfectly elaborates the ontological science of Krsna. In Srimad-Bhagavatam, the author, Srila Vyasadeva, has pointed out that people describe the Supreme Truth as Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan according to the degree of their realization. Srila Vyasadeva never states that the Supreme Truth is a jiva, an ordinary living entity. The living entity can never become the all-powerful Supreme Truth. If he were one with the Supreme, he would not need to pray to the Lord to remove His dazzling effulgence so that he could see the Lord’s real face.
The conclusion is that one who has no knowledge of the potencies of the Supreme Truth can only realize the impersonal Brahman. Similarly, when one realizes the material potencies of the Lord but has little or no information of the spiritual potencies, he attains Paramatma realization. Both Brahman and Paramatma realization of the Absolute Truth are partial. However, after the removal of the hiranmaya-patra effulgence, one can realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, in full potency:
bahunam janmanam ante
jnanavan mam prapadyate
vasudevah sarvam iti
sa mahatma su-durlabhah
“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” [Bhagavad-gita 7.19]
Lord Sri Krsna, who is known as Vasudeva, is everything: Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. Bhagavan, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the root, and Brahman and Paramatma are His branches. If we comparatively analyze the three types of transcendentalists, we find that only the students of the Esoteric Teaching can realize the complete Absolute Truth.
“A yogi is greater than the ascetic, greater than the empiricist and greater than the fruitive worker. Therefore, O Arjuna, in all circumstances, be a yogi. And of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.” [Bhagavad-gita 6.46-47]
The three types of transcendentalists mentioned here are the worshipers of the impersonal Brahman (jnanis), the worshipers of the Paramatma feature (yogis) and the devotees of Lord Sri Krsna (bhaktas). Thus Krsna teaches us in Bhagavad-gita that a philosopher is better than a gross materialist, a mystic is superior to a philosopher, and of all mystic yogis, one who performs bhakti-yoga, constantly engaging in the devotional service of the Lord, is the highest. Sri Isopanisad directs us toward this perfection.
Permalink
02.09.07
Posted in Podcasts, Sri Isopanisad at 2:34 pm by David Bruce Hughes
Listen
sambhutim ca vinasam ca
yas tad vedobhayam saha
vinasena mrtyum tirtva
sambhutyamrtam asnute
SYNONYMS
sambhutim—the eternal Personality of Godhead, His transcendental name, form, pastimes, qualities and paraphernalia, the variegatedness of His abode, etc.; ca—and; vinasam—the temporary material manifestation of demigods, men, animals, etc., with their false names, fame, etc.; ca—also; yah—one who; tat—that; veda—knows; ubhayam—both; saha—along with; vinasena—with everything liable to be vanquished; mrtyum—death; tirtva—surpassing; sam-bhutya—in the eternal kingdom of God; amrtam—deathlessness; asnute—enjoys.
TRANSLATION
One should know perfectly the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna and His transcendental name, form, qualities and pastimes, as well as the temporary material creation with its temporary demigods, men and animals. When one knows these, he surpasses death and the ephemeral cosmic manifestation with it, and in the eternal kingdom of God he enjoys his eternal life of bliss and knowledge.
PURPORT
Modern civilization has made much so-called advancement, including killer satellites and atomic weapons, by increasing material knowledge. But it cannot create freedom from old age, disease, death and rebirth in this world of suffering. Foolish people do not even question this sad state of affairs. But when an actually intelligent man raises this question, the scientists very cleverly reply that material science is making much progress, and soon it will be able to free us from disease, old age and death.
Such evasive answers and empty promises prove only that the scientists are completely ignorance of the natural laws of material life. Everyone in material existence is compelled to experience seven stages of existence: conception and gestation, birth, growth, maintenance, reproduction, deterioration and finally death. No one in material existence is beyond these ironclad laws of transformation driven by the unconquerable force of time. Therefore no one―no matter how intelligent, wealthy or powerful―can survive forever in this material world.
Objectively, the duration of life varies according to the evolutionary level of the species. A tiny microbe lives only for a few hours; a human being may live up to a century; Lord Brahma, the original living being in this material universe, lives literally until the end of time. But no one in the material world can survive eternally. All material things are born or created at a certain time; they grow, exist for some interval, eventually gradually dwindle, and finally vanish. Even Lord Brahma is liable to death; then what is the chance of us tiny, weak humans becoming exempt from these laws? Therefore in the Esoteric Teaching, the entire material creation with its innumerable universes is called Martyaloka, or the place of death.
Material scientists and politicians hatch foolish schemes and make false promises to make this world of death deathless. These sound hopeful, because as spirit souls, we intuitively know that we are eternal. But the materialists have no real information of the deathless spiritual nature. This is due to ignorance of the Esoteric Teaching, which contains full spiritual knowledge confirmed by the mature transcendental experience of the Master Teachers of its ancient lineage. Unfortunately, contemporary people hypnotized by the relentless barrage of material media are averse to receiving real knowledge from the transcendental scriptures of the Esoteric Teaching.
We receive the following information from the eternal Esoteric Teaching:
visnu-saktih para prokta
ksetra-jnakhya tatha para
avidya-karma-samjnanya
trtiya saktir isyate
“Lord Visnu, the Personality of Godhead, possesses different energies, known as para (superior) and apara (inferior). The living entities belong to the superior energy. The material energy in which we are presently entangled is the inferior energy. The material creation is made possible by this energy, which covers the living entities with ignorance (avidya) and induces them to perform fruitive activities. Yet there is another part of the Lord’s superior energy that is different from both this material, inferior energy and the living entities. That superior energy constitutes the eternal, deathless abode of the Lord.” [Visnu Purana 6.7.61 as quoted in Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 6.154]
This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita:
paras tasmat tu bhavo ‘nyo
‘vyakto ‘vyaktat sanatanah
yah sa sarvesu bhutesu
nasyatsu na vinasyati
“There is another nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.” [Bhagavad-gita 8.20]
The material universe is divided into upper, middle and lower planetary systems, according to the consciousness of the beings that live there. This earth planet is part of the middle planetary system. Time is experienced differently on the upper planets: a day there equals an entire terrestrial year. The four Vedic historical ages (Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali yugas) last a total of 6,405,000 years on earth, but only twelve thousand years on the upper planets. Two thousand yuga cycles is one day and night of Brahma, and Brahma lives for one hundred such years. The upper, lower and intermediate material planets exist only for the lifetime of Brahma. At the end of Brahma’s life, the universal manifestation is completely destroyed by the dance of Lord Siva.
Some lower planets are destroyed at the end of Brahma’s day and recreated the next day. During the night of Brahma, the living beings on the material planets merge into the waters of devastation. They remain unmanifest, although they continue to exist spiritually. This unmanifested state is called avyakta. When the entire universe is dissolved at the end of Brahma’s life, the materially conditioned living beings remain in another avyakta state until the next material creation.
Beyond these two avyakta states is another unmanifested state: the spiritual world. An unlimited number of spiritual planets exist there eternally, even when all material planets are annihilated at the end of Brahma’s life. Innumerable material universes manifest during the material creation, each controlled by a Lord Brahma. But this great material cosmic manifestation is only the Lord’s inferior energy. Beyond the material jurisdiction of the Brahmas is the spiritual world, which is three-fourths of the Lord’s creative energy. The spiritual world is the superior energy, or para-prakrti.
The predominator of the spiritual world is Lord Sri Krsna, the all-powerful Supreme Personality of Godhead. We can approach Him by pure bhakti (unalloyed devotional service), and not by the processes of jnana (speculative knowledge), yoga (mysticism) or karma (fruitive work). The karmis, or fruitive workers, can elevate themselves to the upper material planets, including the sun and moon. Jnanis and yogis can attain still higher planets, such as Maharloka, Tapoloka and even Brahmaloka, Lord Brahma’s planet. However, one can enter into the planets of the spiritual sky only by attaining pure devotional service.
In this material world, everyone is trying to control and enjoy material nature; this spiritual disease is the cause of material suffering. As long as the living entity remains diseased, he has to undergo periodic changes of the material body. Whatever material form he accepts, he has to become unmanifested during the night of Brahma and the universal dissolution at the end of Brahma’s life.
The only way to end the agonizing cycle of birth, old age, disease and death is to enter the spiritual planets, where we can live eternally with Lord Krsna or His plenary expansions. Lord Krsna and His plenary expansions dominate every one of these innumerable planets, a fact confirmed in the Vedic mantras:
eko vasi sarva-go ye ’nubhajanti dhiras
tesam sukham sasvatam netaresam
“He is the one omnipresent Lord and controller; only those wise souls who worship Him obtain eternal happiness, not anyone else.” [Gopala-tapani Upanisad 1.21]
In this connection the great Master Teacher Srila Sridhara Svami prays,
sakala-veda-ganerita-sad-gunas
tvam iti sarva-manisi-jana ratah
tvayi subhadra-guna-sravanadibhis
tava pada-smaranena gata-klamah
“Because all the Vedas describe Your transcendental qualities, all thoughtful persons are attracted to hearing and chanting about Your all-auspicious qualities. Thus by remembering Your lotus feet, they are freed from material distress.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.87.16, Commentary]
No one is equal to or greater than Krsna, therefore no one can dominate Him. The foolish conditioned soul tries to dominate and enjoy material nature, and therefore becomes subject to the laws of material nature and the sufferings of repeated birth and death. The Lord kindly appears in this material world in every age to reestablish the principles of religion, and give us the knowledge we need to extricate ourselves from our precarious material position. The basic principle of spiritual deliverance is the attitude of surrender to Him.
The Lord’s final instruction is:
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
“Give up all other spiritual processes and surrender unto Me alone.” [Bhagavad-gita 18.66]
Unfortunate, foolish people misinterpret this prime spiritual directive, misleading the masses of people further into darkness. They urge people to open hospitals but not to learn how to enter the spiritual world by devotional service. They invest their interest and energy in temporary material welfare, which can never bring the living entity real happiness. They start many institutions to thwart the devastating power of nature, but ultimately they don’t know how to defy insurmountable time or avoid unconquerable death. Many false teachers advertise themselves as great scholars of Bhagavad-gita, but they change the Gita’s message. We can conquer material nature only by awakening God consciousness:
daivi hy esa guna-mayi
mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante
mayam etam taranti te
“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” [Bhagavad-gita 7.14]
Sri Isopanisad again emphasizes in this mantra that to attain the perfection of self-realization, one must know both sambhuti (the Personality of Godhead) and vinasa (the temporary material manifestation). One cannot attain release from suffering by knowing the material manifestation alone, for in the course of time devastation is certain.
Yamaraja once asked Maharaja Yudhisthira, “What is the most amazing thing in this world?” Maharaja Yudhisthira replied:
ahany ahani bhutani
gacchantiha yamalayam
sesah sthavaram icchanti
kim ascaryam atah param
“Hundreds and thousands of living entities meet death at every moment, but a foolish living being nonetheless thinks himself deathless and does not prepare for death. This is the most wonderful thing in this world.” (Mahabharata, Vana-parva 313.116)
One can be relieved from the suffering of material existence only by complete realization of the eternal spiritual life of bliss and consciousness. The Esoteric Teaching educates us in the art of attaining eternal life. People in general are misguided by the temporary attractions of sense gratification, but service rendered to the objects of the senses is both illusory and degrading.
To save ourselves and our fellow human beings from further suffering in this world of death, we must know the spiritual Absolute Truth. There is no question of personal preference, of liking or disliking the Truth. The Absolute Truth is there in the Esoteric Teaching. If we want to be saved from repeated birth and death, we must engage in the devotional service of the Lord. There can be no compromise, for this is a matter of the utmost necessity. It is literally beyond life and death.
Permalink
02.05.07
Posted in Podcasts, Sri Isopanisad at 11:56 am by David Bruce Hughes
Listen
anyad evahuh sambhavad
anyad ahur asambhavat
iti susruma dhiranam
ye nas tad vicacaksire
SYNONYMS
anyat—different; eva—certainly; ahuh—it is said; sambhavat—by worshiping the Supreme Lord, the cause of all causes; anyat—different; ahuh—it is said; asambhavat—by worshiping what is not the Supreme; iti—thus; susruma—I heard it; dhiranam—from the undisturbed authorities; ye—who; nah—unto us; tat—about that subject matter; vicacaksire—perfectly explained.
TRANSLATION
It is said that one result is obtained by worshiping the supreme cause of all causes and that another result is obtained by worshiping what is not supreme. All this is heard from the undisturbed authorities, who clearly explained it.
PURPORT
The system of receiving the Esoteric Teaching is to hear from a spiritual Master Teacher who is undisturbed by the actions and reactions of the modes of material nature. We can receive the ontological key to realizing transcendental knowledge only from a bona fide acarya, a sober self-realized peron who is never disturbed by the temporary changes of the material world. The bona fide spiritual Master Teacher has also heard the confidential Vedic knowledge from his spiritual Master Teacher. Therefore he presents everything exactly as he has heard and realized it.
yanti deva-vrata devan
pitrn yanti pitr-vratah
bhutani yanti bhutejya
yanti mad-yajino ‘pi mam
“Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.” [Bhagavad-gita 9.25]
Lord Krsna clearly declares that the destination we attain the in next life depends on who we worship in this life. Only the devotees of the Supreme Lord reach Him in His spiritual sky because they worship none but Lord Krsna, the supreme cause of all causes. This mantra of Sri Isopanisad confirms that we get different results according to our mode of worship.
Therefore if we want to travel to different planets, we can worship their demigods like the sun-god or moon-god. And if we want to remain on this miserable earth planet with its exploitive governments and temporary material sense gratification, we can certainly do that just by being cynical and faithless. But if we want the best for ourselves, we will worship the Supreme Lord with stalwart faith and transcendental knowledge, then we will certainly reach Him in the eternal spiritual world.
The bogus idea that one will ultimately reach the same goal by doing anything or worshiping anyone is not supported in authentic scriptures like Sri Isopanisad. This foolish theory originates from phony so-called spiritual teachers who have no connection with the bona fide tradition of the Esoteric Teaching. No actual spiritual master will say that all paths lead to the same goal, or that anyone can attain the spiritual world by some concocted form of worship.
Anyone can understand that a person who has purchased a plane ticket to Los Angeles cannot go to the Riviera. But unauthorized spiritual masters teach that any paths will take one to the supreme goal. Such compromising offers attract many ignorant students, who part with their hard-earned money for the insignificant pleasure of justifying their foolish dream. The Esoteric Teaching rejects this nonsense. The only way to get real spiritual knowledge is from the bona fide spiritual Master Teacher in the recognized line of disciplic succession from the Lord. Krsna tells Arjuna in the :
evam parampara-praptam
imam rajarsayo viduh
sa kaleneha mahata
yogo nastah parantapa
“This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.” [Bhagavad-gita 4.2]
Lord Sri Krsna appeared on this earth planet about 5,000 years ago. At that time, as today, the principles of the Esoteric Teaching had become distorted. Therefore the Lord reestablished the disciplic system by speaking Bhagavad-gita to His most confidential friend and devotee, Arjuna. The Lord told Arjuna that he could understand the principles of the Bhagavad-gita because Arjuna was His devotee and friend.
In other words, Bhagavad-gita is understandable only to the Lord’s devotees and friends. It is inaccessible to those who are critical and doubtful. Only one who follows the path of Arjuna and hears Bhagavad-gita with faith and love can understand it, because it is a transcendental mystery.
At present many misinterpreters pose as translators and teachers of Bhagavad-gita who understand nothing of the transcendental relationship between Lord Krsna and Arjuna. Such unqualified teachers explain Bhagavad-gita in their own way, ignoring the authorized conclusions of the Esoteric Teaching and speculating all kinds of nonsense. They do not believe that Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, nor do they know anything about His eternal spiritual abode. One whose mind is disturbed by the whirlpool of material energy is not qualified to become an acarya. So how can they explain Bhagavad-gita to anyone if they cannot understand or realize it themselves?
Krsna states in Bhagavad-gita 7.20 and 23 that only those who have lost their intelligence worship the demigods, or work hard for temporary material rewards. Ultimately He instructs us:
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah
“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” [Bhagavad-gita 18.66]
We can have such complete faith in the Supreme Lord only if we are cleansed of all sinful reactions. Unless we become purified and surrender completely to the Lord, we will continue hovering on the material mental platform. Thus we will be misled from the path of real spiritual knowledge under the false impression that all paths lead to the same goal.
The word sam-bhavat, “by worship of the supreme cause,” is very significant in this mantra of Sri Isopanisad. Everything that exists emanates from Lord Krsna, because He is the original Personality of Godhead. The Lord says,
aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah
“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” [Bhagavad-gita 10.8]
Here the Supreme Lord describes Himself. Sarvasya pra-bhavah means that Krsna is the creator of all other living entities, including Brahma, Visnu and Siva. And because He creates these three principal deities of the material universe, He is the creator and proprietor of all that exists in the material and spiritual worlds.
The Atharva Veda [Gopala-tapani Upanisad 1.24] states, “He who existed before the creation of Brahma and who enlightened Brahma with Vedic knowledge is Lord Sri Krsna.” Similarly, the Narayana Upanisad [4] states, “Devaki’s son Krsna is the Supreme Lord.”
The identity of Narayana with the supreme cause has also been accepted by Sripada Sankaracarya, even though Sankara is famous as the acarya of the impersonalist cult. The Atharva Veda [Maha Upanisad 1] also states, “Only Narayana existed in the beginning, when neither Brahma, nor Siva, nor fire, nor water, nor stars, nor sun, nor moon existed. The Lord does not remain alone but creates as He desires.”
Krsna Himself states in the Moksa-dharma, “I created the Prajapatis and the Rudras. They do not have complete knowledge of Me because they are covered by My illusory energy.”
It is also stated in the Varaha Purana: “Narayana is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and from Him the four-headed Brahma was manifested, as well as Rudra, who later became omniscient.”
isvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
“Krsna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.” [Brahma-samhita 5.1]
Thus all Vedic literature confirms that Narayana, or Krsna, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the cause of all causes. Those who are learned in the Esoteric Teaching know this from evidence given by the great sages and the Vedas, and thus they make a firm determination to worship Lord Krsna. Such persons are called budha, or truly intelligent and learned in transcendental wisdom, because they worship only Krsna.
The conviction that Krsna is everything is established in one’s heart when he hears the transcendental message from the undisturbed, self-realized Master Teacher. One who has no faith or love for Lord Krsna cannot be convinced of this simple truth. Krsna describes the faithless in Bhagavad-gita [9.11] as mudhas: fools or asses. The mudhas deride the Personality of Godhead because they do not accept complete spiritual knowledge from the undisturbed acarya.
Before hearing the Esoteric Teaching of Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna was disturbed by his affection for his material family, society and community. Thus he decided not to fight, but to become a philanthropic, nonviolent man of the world. But when he heard the Vedic Esoteric Teaching of Bhagavad-gita from the Supreme Person, who had Himself arranged the Battle of Kuruksetra, he changed his decision. Arjuna surrendered to Krsna and accepted His instruction. Arjuna worshiped the Lord by fighting with his so-called relatives, and became a pure devotee of the Lord.
Such great spiritual accomplishments become possible for anyone who worships Krsna as He is. Such great spiritual progress is not possible by following some fabricated misinterpretation of Bhagavad-gita invented by foolish men. The intricacies of the science of Krsna described in Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam form the core of the powerful Esoteric Teaching.
According to Vedanta-sutra, janmady asya yatah: the original transcendental ontological science, the independent Supreme Personality of Godhead (sambhuta) is the source of birth and sustenance, and the reservoir of all emanations who remains after the annihilation of the material world.
“O my Lord, Sri Krsna, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Sri Krsna because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahma, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Sri Krsna, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.1]
Srimad-Bhagavatam, the natural commentary on Vedanta-sutra by the same author, Srila Vyasadeva, maintains that the source of all emanations is abhijna and svarat, or independent and fully conscious. The primeval Lord, Sri Krsna, also says:
“O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows.” [Bhagavad-gita 7.26]
So-called “spiritual leaders” who are affected by the changing influences of material existence and have no real spiritual training can only know Him superficially. They advance some compromised speculation of making humanity the object of worship, but humanism is ineffective because human beings are imperfect. Worshiping humanity instead of God is like watering the leaves of a tree instead of the root. The natural, effective process is to water the root, but the ignorant leaders are more attracted to watering the leaves. Therefore, everything dries up for want of nourishment.
Sri Isopanisad advises us to pour water on the root by worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original source of all germination. Humanism may render nice service to the body and mind, but they are always imperfect. Such material service is far less important than service to the soul by disseminating transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Lord is the root of all existence, and the soul is the root of generating different types of bodies according to the law of karma. Therefore the best service is devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as recommended in the Esoteric Teaching. Serving humanity with medical care, social welfare and material education while cutting the throats of innocent animals in slaughterhouses is no service at all: in fact it is noting but blatant hypocrisy.
The spiritual living being is suffering from the miseries of birth, old age, disease and death in one material body after another. The human form of life offers us a chance to get out of the round of birth and death by reestablishing our lost relationship with the Supreme Lord. The independent Lord comes personally to teach us the art of surrender and service unto the Supreme. Real service to humanity is teaching surrender and devotional service to the Supreme Lord with full energy and love. Sri Isopanisad gives that most essential instruction of all religion in this mantra.
The easiest process of worshiping the Supreme Lord in this age of unnecessary quarrel and disturbance is to hear and chant His Holy Name, transcendental qualities and wonderful pastimes. The false spiritual teachers speculate that the name, form, qualities and activities of the Lord are imaginary. They refuse to hear and chant them and instead invent some word insubstantial jugglery to divert the energy attention of the innocent masses of people from the bona fide worship of the Lord. Instead of hearing and chanting the Holy Name, fame and glories of Lord Krsna, the pretentious gurus and false avatars induce their followers to glorify them. Today such cheaters considerably outnumber sincere transcendentalists, leading people in general to reject all religion. In such a contaminated atmosphere, the pure devotees of the Lord labor with difficulty to save the masses of people from this unholy propaganda.
The Vedas and Upanisads indirectly draw our attention to the primeval Lord, but Bhagavad-gita, also known as Gitopanisad or the summary of all the Upanisads, directly indicates Sri Krsna. Therefore one should hear the Esoteric Teaching of Krsna from Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. This will induce the ontological transformation required to cleanse our minds and hearts from material conditioning and restore our consciousness to its natural spiritual state.
srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt satam
“Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.17]
Bhagavad-gita confirms this:
tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” [Bhagavad-gita 10.10]
People who do not know the Esoteric Teaching cannot avoid the influence of passion and ignorance. One who is influenced by passion cannot become detached from material desire, and one who is in ignorance cannot understand what he is or what the Lord is. Such unfortunate people have no chance for self-realization, however religious they may pretend to be.
The Lord removes the modes of passion and ignorance from the devotee by His grace. The Lord directs His devotee from the inner chambers of his heart, cleansing him of all contamination. The devotee becomes situated in the quality of goodness, becoming a perfect knower of Brahman, the Absolute Truth. Anyone can reach this exalted state if he follows the path of devotional service under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.4.18 says:
“Lowborn races and others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.”
Anyone can be purified by the guidance of a pure devotee of the Lord, for the Lord is extraordinarily powerful. When one attains this qualification, he becomes happy and enthusiastically renders loving devotional service to the Lord. The esoteric science of God is unveiled to him without separate effort. This transcendental science gradually frees one from material attachments, and the unstable mind becomes crystal clear by the grace of the Lord. One who attains this stage is a liberated soul, and can see the Lord in every step of life. This is the perfection of sambhava, as described in this mantra of Sri Isopanisad.
Permalink
02.01.07
Posted in Community News, Esoteric Teaching, Transontology at 10:15 am by David Bruce Hughes
Dear Disciples, Students and Friends,
Welcome to the second edition of our spiritual community newsletter. Wow, it’s February already; time sure is flying by! It must be because we are fully engaged in preaching the Holy Name and teaching the principles of spiritual life.
There’s a whole lot going on, and many topics to cover.
-
- Secret Teachings of Jesus video released
- Introductory Course at BioCyber Institute
- Exciting new developments in Transontology
- Esoteric Teaching site updates
- Your free spiritual music download
Secret Teachings of Jesus Video Released
Many of you know that my spiritual master Srila Prabhupada instructed me to preach to the Christians, and even authorized chanting the name of Jesus Christ. (If you have access to the VedaBase, look up letter 76-09-08.) Now in my old age―60 this month!―I am finally getting around to implementing this extremely merciful instruction. Along with serializing The Book of Gethsemane in podcast format, we have released a 10-minute online video titled The Secret Teachings of Jesus. More videos on similar subjects are in production.
Introductory Course at BioCyber Institute
We will present an introductory course on “Spiritual Teachings of the Vedas” at BioCyber Institute beginning on February 6. The course will total 15 hours of instruction, presented over a five-week period. The focus of the course is taking control of your life and improving your experience by upgrading your consciousness. Topics to be covered include:
Background and History
-
-
- The Esoteric Teaching
- The Celestial Christ (Brahma)
- The Vedic Lineage
- The Book of Gethsemane
The Laws of Karma
-
-
- Mode of Goodness (Elevation)
- Mode of Passion (Mediocrity)
- Mode of Ignorance (Degradation)
- Karma-yoga (freedom from reaction)
Health and Happiness
-
-
- Hatha-yoga
- Xigong (Chi K’ung)
- Vegetarian Diet
- Sex and Relationships
Work and Worship
-
-
- Scriptural Study
- The Holy Name (japa and kirtan)
- Home Worship
- Spiritual Community
Exciting developments in Transontology
Transontology is an expression of Vedanta in formal scientific terms. You could think of it as an interface between the original Vedic tradition and Western empirical scientific thought. Srila Prabhupada always referred to “the science of Krsna consciousness.” That is precisely what Transontology is.
We noticed during our travels around the world that most people who study the Vedic literature don’t really understand it very accurately. When we researched why that was so, we found that they were misinterpreting what they read. This misinterpretation was due to using an inappropriate ontological background, leading to subtle redefinitions of the esoteric Vedic terminology. Therefore the solution to the problem is to educate people in the Vedic background ontology; then they can understand and get the full benefits of the amazing wisdom of the Vedas. Thus Transontology was born.
What is most often missing in Westerners’ understanding is a high-level picture of the entire Vedic system of thought. In Kali-yuga, most people’s memory and attention span are quite limited. Therefore by the time they read and understand one fact, they have forgotten most of the information they read previously. This leads to a lack of understanding how all the pieces fit together into a complete system of thought. We also noticed a lack of semantic rigor among preachers and teachers of Vedic spiritual lore; they often redefined the terminology to fit their preconceptions, reducing its effectiveness while apparently keeping the words the same.
Transontology corrects these problems by creating high-level verbal and graphical representations of the Vedic philosophy, such that anyone can see and understand the entire system of dynamic relationships between and among the material world, sense objects, the bodily senses, mind, intelligence, false ego, the soul and Supersoul. This in turn provides the ability to change and improve those relationships for optimum spiritual advancement.
Our Transontology research began with a detailed analysis of the terminology of Vedic metaphysics, especially the ontological works of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami, using the advanced tools of General Semantics and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. This provided an accurate view of the ontological background and structural relationships among the various Sanskrit terms used in the Vedic theory of consciousness. Once that was clear, it became possible to express these relationships in both formal scientific and mathematical notation, and ordinary Western language without changing the original meaning.
Using non-Aristotelian mathematical logic to encode the acintya-bheda-abheda philosophy of Lord Caitanya turns out to be a very successful approach to preaching to the educated philosophical and scientific community. We are also developing an advanced course on practical applications of Transontology, including semantic analysis and counseling for attaining personal goals, and how to radically improve your experience and quality of life by changing your consciousness.
Recent updates to the Transontology site include:
Esoteric Teaching site updates
We have been hard at work updating the site to better serve our user community. Recent changes include:
-
- New Esoteric Teaching Home Page writeup using semantic principles of Transontology.
- New guestbook for visitors to sign and leave comments.
- We are continuing the Sri Isopanisad series at the rate of about one new post per week.
- Complete content of Your Perfect Body podcast archives and Introductory Seminar Videos now available online (previously we were selling them on DVD).
- Integration of the current Your Perfect Body podcast with Odeo.com, digg.com, del.icio.us technorati.com, scape.com and facebook.com, giving our work much broader exposure. Now there are handy links below each post for you to subscribe to our RSS feed and share posts with a large online community.
- Reorganization of Secrets of the Soul podcast series into an online course.
- Our public forum for open discussions has been migrated to a new forum software package.
Free Download
This month’s free spiritual music download is Where Are You Now? This orchestral-rock-kirtan track recorded in 2000 is a musical tribute to His Holiness Visnujana Swami, my personal kirtan mentor. I was his backup kirtan leader on the Radha-Damodar bus party or over a year. He taught me a great deal, not only about kirtan, spiritual integrity and leadership, but also about what it means to be an ecstatic devotee. We all love him and miss him very much.
I hope you have enjoyed this month’s newsletter; we try hard to make every issue meaningful and enjoyable. Of course you can always email me your feedback at questions@esotericteaching.org; we use this feedback to improve our offerings.
Until next time, in the Lord’s service
Much love,
David Bruce Hughes
Master Teacher
Permalink