FORM IN SPACE AND TIME

The human being, a form in space and time, is in an existential battle of succession. This battle of succession has been ongoing since time immemorial. Nobody knows how long this will continue. But it is there and will go on. The human being is encapsulated in a body-mind-intellect system. He is forgetful of his sentient nature, or inner self, and moves outward towards the insentient world to realise his psychophysical nature. It is because humans never feel secure in their existing state of nature. They feel insecure about the changing spectrum of the world that may manifest at any moment and in any time space before them. Latency and a sense of insecurity are the pervasive dimensions of death. The fear of death remains a subliminal level for every being and creature. It does not matter whether he is the weakest of the weak or the mightiest of the might. No amount of physical fortification can do away with the call or force of death. It is so; we are in a samsara of birth and death. When birth is there, death cannot be far behind. That is why a human being, or for that matter any creature, draws his apparent strength, security, recognition, and identity from a psychophysical relational ecosystem imbibed by familial, cultural, social, political, economic, and so on values or networks. The entire conception of “I” revolves around that systemic fabric that germinates the notion of ego. The manifestation of ego as a derivative of “I” rooted in the fabric of the body-mind-intellect system propels the being to move further outward to satiate the insatiable desires emanating from that systemic fabric. It is because the human being regards this body-mind-intellect complex as the ultimate reality, and everything connected to it is equally real. Equally valid are sensual reception and perception. Due to Avidya, or ignorance resulting from the body-mind-intellect system, there is a sensuous enchantment and perceptual enlivening of elevated security. As a result, the being experiences the cycles of birth and death as part of the reincarnation cycle. The idea that we are our physical bodies is only one aspect of the belief in reincarnation and soul transmigration. That's how one submits to the life and death that are the endless turnings of the ocean of material existence. Reincarnation, on the other hand, serves to awaken the soul to the fleeting nature of material identification with the body-mind-intellect system, or incarnation, enabling the atman to discern it by uncovering the veil of ignorance and seeing it as a derivation of the Supreme Self, or Absolute Reality.

The famous English writer and philosopher of the 20th century, Aldous Huxley, asserts that man has two natures: an everlasting Self, or the inner man, the spirit, and the spark of divinity within the soul, and a phenomenal ego. If a man so chooses, he might identify himself with the spirit and hence with the Divine Ground, which is identical to or comparable to the spirit. The sole aim of man's existence on this planet is to unite with his eternal Self and thereby arrive at a unitive understanding of the Divine Ground.

 1. Outline

Form changes, as does every being, in relation to space and time. Change is the unchanging law of nature. Nothing remains static, and everything is in a state of flux. The physical manifestation that is constantly changing is called adhibhūta, says the Srimad Bhagavad Gita.

What remains formless, changeless, and beyond the subjugation of space-time causality is the Paramātmā, the Absolute Reality, the Supreme Self, or the infinity of the infinitude. This has been verily declared in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, as the Supreme Indestructible Entity is called Brahmān and one’s own self is called adhyatma.

The atman, or inner self or spirit, is non-different or non-separated from the Paramātmā, or Brahmān, or Supreme Self, or the Supreme Being. Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, I, who dwell in the heart of every living being, am called Adhiyajna, or the Lord of all sacrifices.

The pertinent issue is how one becomes conscious of one’s self. Somehow, how does one realise one’s self in a drive of centripetal and centrifugal forces, one moving towards the centre, or the inner self, and the other moving away towards the outer self perched on the body-mind-intellect complex? Realisation of the self accelerates the elevation processes of a being. Consciousness of the self is easier said than done. Just as a fire is covered by smoke, a mirror is masked by dust, and an embryo is concealed by the womb, similarly, one’s knowledge gets shrouded by desire, says the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. This discrimination resides in the intellect. However, desires and lust are formidable adversaries that cloud the discriminatory ability of the intellect.

The mind is the thought-making factory of the form that requires some attachments to produce a multitude of desires in any space-time context. Any being who is in the samsara of birth and death is subjected to desire. Desireless is Brahmān, the Supreme Self. I am the basis of the formless Brahmān, the immortal and imperishable, of eternal dharma, and of unending divine bliss, as Sri Krishna axiomatically says in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita.

brahmaṇo hi pratiṣhṭhāham amṛitasyāvyayasya cha

śhāśhvatasya cha dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya cha

Brahmān is pure intelligence, infinity bliss, and beyond space-time-causation. Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "Activities do not taint Me, nor do I desire the fruits of action. One who knows Me in this way is never bound by the karmic reactions of work." He is transcendental to the fruitive reactions of work.

The veil of ignorance, bondage, and insatiable desires are impediments to the cultivation of knowledge to realise the self. The cultivation of virtues of sense abnegation, equanimity, indifference, detachment, forbearance, etc. strengthens the centripetal movement towards the realisation of the elf. Adi Shankaracharya emphasises the application of Vivek to discriminate between the inner and outer selves. The outer self gives sensual gratification, whereas the inner self gives Sat-Chit-Anand (Eternal Truth-Eternal Consciousness-Eternal Bliss). To Shankaracharya, the ātman, or inner self, is only relatively real. Its individuality lasts only so long as it is subject to unreal Upadhis, or limiting conditions due to Avidya, or ignorance. The ātman identifies itself with the senses and perceptions, deluded by Avidya, or ignorance, emanating from the limiting body-mind-intellect system. It thinks, acts, and enjoys on account of avidya. He says that the man who discriminates between the Real and the unreal, whose mind is turned away from the unreal, who possesses calmness and the allied virtues, and who is longing for liberation, is alone considered qualified to inquire after Brahmān. One should recover oneself, immersed in the sea of birth and death, by means of devotion to right discrimination.

2. Scriptures

Forms always, in space-time, bind a being to the moorings of birth and death through a continuous cycle of incarnation and reincarnation. Formless is not subject to the causation of space-time. It is Eternal, Absolute, Infinite, Real, and it exists and pervades every microcosm to the macrocosm. The veil of ignorance acts as a limiting factor in realising one's true self. It acts as an impediment to becoming free from the cycle of birth and death. "Death does not end your personality or self-consciousness. It merely opens the door to a higher form of life. Death is only the gateway to a fuller life. Birth and death are the juggling acts of Maya. He who is born begins to die. He who dies begins to live. Life is death, and death is life. Birth and death are merely doors of entry and exit on the stage of this world," says Swami Sivananda.

Each cycle of incarnation of the ātman is an opportunity on its part to apply the Vivek to unfold the veil and perceive its true being, or self, as an undifferentiated self of the Supreme Self. The birthright of man is moksha, or liberation, says Swami Krishnananda. It is the fundamental right of every being to become conscious of his own self. There is a constant struggle for a being in a multitude of reincarnation cycles to uncover the veils of avidya, or ignorance, attachments, impatience, prejudice, and every kind of bondage to realise the self consciously for moksha, or liberation. He tersely says that there is nothing anyone needs in this world except freedom to the largest extent possible and for the longest duration conceivable.  Ultimately, freedom from ignorance, bondage, attachments, all types of pathological moorings, and finally, freedom from death. A man's bondage is his incapacity to know where he is standing. Ignorance is bondage; knowledge is freedom. But man aspires for freedom only. He does not bother about birth or death. The fact that we are after a positive attainment of ultimate freedom, infinite and eternal in nature, irrespective of the impending difficulty of birth and death, demonstrates that we are finally destined for this freedom. We are bound in a way—perhaps bound in every way here—yet this is not the final word in the history of man.

The scriptures declare that all human miseries and sufferings are caused by people misidentifying with the three bodies (a. the Gross Body—Sthula sarira; b. the Subtle Body—Sukshma sarira; and c. the Causal Body—Karana sarira) and the five sheaths (a. the Annamaya kosha—physical sheath; b. Pranamaya kosha—physiological or energy sheath; c. Manomaya kosha—psychological or mind sheath; d. Vijnanamaya kosha; and e. Anandamaya kosha—bliss sheath or wisdom sheath) and the three sheaths. The basis of all behaviours and responses is this ignorance, often known as causal ignorance. We can only return to our original condition of non-dual, happy, eternal existence by annihilating this ignorance.

The Srimad Bhagavad Gita prophetically affirms that the sage who becomes free from desire and fear always lives in freedom by shutting out all thoughts of external enjoyment from the outer self and thus controlling the senses and perceptions derived from the body-mind-intellect complex.

 The Bhagavad Gita reiterates that the wise, endowed with equanimity of intellect, abandon attachment to the fruits of actions, which bind one to the cycle of life and death. By working in such consciousness, they attain the state beyond all suffering.

The Mahāvākyas succinctly emphasise the essential identity between the individual self and the Supreme Self:

Prajnanam Brahma (Aitareya Upanishad, Rig Veda)– Consciousness is Brahman.

Aham Brahmāsmi (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajur Veda) - "I am Brahman", or "I am Divine."

Tat Tvam Asi (Chandogya Upanishad, Sam Veda)– That Thou Art.

Ayam Atma Brahma (Mandukya Upanishad, Atharva Veda) – This Self is Brahman, Absolute.

The Mahāvākyas, according to Swami Krishnanada, state aphoristically that Brahman, Supreme Self or Absolute Reality, is Consciousness and that Reality is one, "Prajnanam Brahma." To describe Brahman would be to describe its supra-essential essence rather than to characterise it in terms of accidental qualities like creatorship, etc. All of our sensory experiences, including sight, hearing, and so forth, are ultimately the result of consciousness. Even since Consciousness cannot see or hear directly, these sensory functions cannot exist without it. Therefore, it ought to be seen as the ultimate significance of our mental and physical endeavours. Brahmān is that which is absolute, that which occupies all space, that which is complete in itself, that which has no second, and that which is ever-present in everything, from the lowest matter to the creator. It is present everywhere.

3. Remarks

Form in space-time is an illusory superimposition on Formless, Brahmān, the Supreme Self. Brahmān is immutable and eternal. Therefore, He cannot change Himself into the world of form in space-time. Maya, Brahmān's enigmatic, mysterious power, makes Him the cause of the world. Understanding oneself dispels illusions by using discrimination to discover one's own self. Real knowledge of the Brahmān, the Supreme Self, or Absolute Reality, which radiates in his true, pure, glorious splendour and majesty, eliminates ignorance and destroys the veil of ignorance, or avidya. Adi Shankaracharya promoted the idea that the world is only partially real (Vyavaharika Satta), known as Vivarta-Vada, or the doctrine of appearance or superimposition (Adhyasa).

This world and body are superimposed onto Brahmān, the Supreme Self, in the same way as a snake is projected upon a rope at twilight. The illusion of a snake in the rope will disappear if one learns about the rope. Nevertheless, the illusion of body and world will vanish if one learns about Brahmān, or the imperishable. In Vivarta-Vada, the cause doesn't alter in order to produce the effect. Snake is merely a rope appearance. The rope hasn't changed into a snake, just like milk doesn't become curd. One's fear goes away when they realise that it's just a rope.

Just as a snake is superimposed on the rope in twilight, this world and body are superimposed on Brahmān, or the Supreme Self. If one gains knowledge of the rope, the illusion of a snake in the rope will vanish. Even so, if one gets knowledge of Brahman, or the imperishable, the illusion of body and world will disappear. In Vivarta-Vada, the cause produces the effect without undergoing any change in itself. Snake is only an appearance on the rope. The rope has not transformed itself into a snake, like milk into curd. When one comes to know that it is only a rope, one's fear disappears. It is not something one flees from. Nevertheless, the occurrences, names, and forms of this universe have no effect on one who realises the everlasting, unchangeable Brahman.

-Asutosh Satpathy