ARISE, AWAKE, DON’T SLEEP GET UP!

Man is in deep slumber under the veil of ignorance. Every dimension of his being is swayed by his sense of ego. The ego is the false sense of identity of the body-mind-intellect system of a being. There is an outward sense of perceptive feeling emanating from the body-mind-intellect system. The conception of "I" is transplanted into that system by juxtaposing everything in a unipolarity of objects with disregard for the subjective dimension.

It makes him forgetful of his true identity, the atman, as Sat-Chit-Anand. It exists in all time dimensions—past, present, and future. It is eternal, imperishable, and not conditioned by time, space, or causality.

The human being goes on to replicate himself through the cycle of ephemeral transmission of samsāra chakra (the wheel of birth and death) rather than searching for a way out to get out of that cycle by realising the self within. There is a little time in this birth, human being needs to arise and awake to search for right knowledge to uncover the truth. Waste not the time but use the time to search for knowledge to discover the truth, and that is the great realisation.

1. Outline

Arise, awake; having reached the great, learn; the edge of a razor is sharp and impassable; that path, the intelligent say, is hard to go by declares Katha Upanishad (1-3-14)

Therefore, to know that, the Katha Upanishad  says arise, Oh, living beings sleeping in beginningless ignorance, i.e., turn towards the acquisition of the knowledge of the Ātman; and awake, i.e., put an end to the sleep of ignorance, horrible in form and the seed of all misery. How? Having approached excellent preceptors who know that, I realise the Ātman taught by them, the innermost and in all, thus ‘I am he.’ This is not to be neglected. Since the object to be known is very subtle, the road of knowledge leading to that is not easily attainable.

The human being needs to come out of deep slumber, arise, awake to search for Jñāna, or knowledge, to realise the Truth. Several scriptures, including the Mahāvākyas (Great Sayings) of Sanātana Dharma (eternal righteousness and order), have bluntly stated this. The Truth transcends space, time, and causality and is eternal. What kind of thing is it? The Brahmān  (Supreme Being) is Sat-Chit-Ānand (Truth-Consciousness-Bliss). The Brahmān has three facets: Sat (truth), Chit (awareness), and Ānand (everlasting bliss). Discovering the supreme consciousness through self-realisation, or understanding the true essence of existence, is the ultimate purpose of all knowledge. Spiritual practices, including meditation, contemplation, and scripture study, are often employed to accomplish this. The elevating process towards self-realisation is accelerated by meditation and contemplation. The realisation of oneself is known as self-realisation. It progresses from the understanding of divine consciousness to the higher self. An essential component of elevating experiences is self-realisation. There are highlights for the path and those who follow along in our ancient scriptures.

2. Scriptures

The scriptures say don’t fritter the time and be perfect on the Mahāvākyas (Great Sayings):  “Tat Tvam Asi,” or Thou art That, Chandogya Upanishad (6.8.7), Sāma Veda; “Aham Brahmāsmi,” or I am Brahmān, Brihadāranyaka Upanishad (1.4.10), Śukla Yajur Veda; “Ayam Ātmā Brahma,” or This Self (Ātman) is Brahmān,  Mandukya Upanishad (1.2), Atharva Veda; and “Prajñānam Brahma,” or Consciousness is Brahmān, Aitareya Upanishad (3.3), Rig Veda.

The Srimad Bhagavad Gita says that the purpose of knowledge is to understand the truth and the true essence of existence. Learn the Truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire of him with reverence and render service to him. Such an enlightened saint can impart knowledge to you because he has seen the Truth.

The Srimad Bhagavatam is equally emphatic about learning the Truth and realising the self consciously through a spiritual master, as a person in ignorance cannot understand the knowledge of Truth or of the Self.  Since someone who has lived in ignorance all of their life is unable to achieve self-realisation, there must be another personality who is able to teach them the Absolute Truth based on factual knowledge.

The Pañchadaśhī states: “Only through a Guru can you understand the Vedas.”

tatpādāmburu hadvandva sevā nirmala chetasām

sukhabodhāya tattvasya viveko ’yaṁ vidhīyate (1.2)

3. Remarks

Swami Vivekananda beautifully expanded from the Katha Upanishad, "Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached!” Advance like a hero. Don’t be thwarted by anything. When you have the human body, then rouse the Ātman within and say, I have reached the state of fearlessness! Say—I am the Atman in which my lower ego has become merged for ever. 
Arise and awake; let minor things, quarrels over little details, and fights over little doctrines be thrown aside, for here is the greatest of all works; here are the sinking millions.
Awake, awake, great ones! The world is burning with misery. Can you sleep? Let us call and call till the sleeping gods awake, till the god within answers to the call. What more is there in life? What greater work? The details come to me as I go. I never make plans. Plans grow and work for themselves. I only say, awake, awake!

-Asutosh Satpathy

 

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