Moment to Speak

The frailty of this world lies in its vanities . Vanities are phenomenological experiences understood by the mind through sensory perception, which may not correspond to the thing-in-itself; they cannot be proven or disproven, nor directly perceived or interpreted, but can be inferred from the nature of experience. The individual ego, perceived as the "I," serves as a facade of ignorance, excluding the consciousness of Ātman , or Self, from seeing its unity within the continuum of the universal-particular. Through its misadventures, "I-ness" associates itself with the Ahamkara , or ego. This erroneous identification of Ātman with the body, mind, and cognitive sensory systems obfuscates a sense of "I-ness." Swami Sivananda asserts that this misidentification encompasses three deficiencies: Avarana , or obscuration; Vikshepa , or distraction; and Mala , or contamination. Karma Yoga is a method that cleanses the mind of impurities via altruistic service....

The vanity of the mind is synonymous with the vanity of the world. The more the mind modifies itself, the more it projects itself outside, and the more it becomes aware of the outside world. Vanity revolves around the display and appearance of all things worldly and earthly. Māyā , or illusion, is a veil that gives illusionary reflections to our sensual perceptions. The more one externalises through sense-perceived perceptions, the deeper one sinks into the whirlpools of Māyā . It is a conceit that displays distorted proportions in order to conceal the material beneath the ephemeral glitteration. The awareness of the outside world, according to Swami Krishnananda , is primarily due to the presence of Vrittis , or psychoses of the mind. This is caused by the multitude of thoughts that the mind generates in a matter of seconds. The mind, if it remains uncontrolled, has a tendency to move outward to savour the sense perceptual enjoyments emanating from the objective dimensions of the t...

Existence is Absolute, eternal, plenum, imperishable, and infinity of the infinitude. Limited adjuncts of space-time encapsulate the rest, if any, and are transient, evanescent, illusionary, and finite in finitude. This also applies to perception, cognition, and consciousness. Sage Vasistha, in his discourses with Sri Rama in Yoga-Vasistha  (3.64.1-3.64.2), says the Supreme Being is the all-pervading Spirit and the Supreme and Absolute in every respect. He is infinity and is identical to Himself in the boundless happiness of His transparent introspection. The living soul and the active mind, or mens, which formed the world, have their origins in this ultimate felicity and essentially intellectual essence, which is what existed before the creation of the universe. This is Brahma , the eternal and inert happiness. This state of supreme bliss, which is always tranquil and full of the pure essence of God, is completely indescribable and unfathomable, even for the most knowledgeable i...

Fate is preordained, fixed, and set by Supreme Being without any deviation whatsoever. Fate is preordained, immutable, and merely the consequence of our past actions without any variation, asserts Yoga-Vasistha (2.6.1). It is feasible to detach from it and liberate oneself from its constraints by engaging in virtuous companionship and the study of sacred scriptures. Simply put, destiny is the result of an already exercised freedom of choice, also known as free will (William Kingsland, Rational Mysticism, London, G. Allen & Unwin, 1924, p.353).Time along with space is a projection of Cosmic Self, states sage philosopher Swami Krishnananda . He goes on to say that the Absolute Existence, or the Cosmic Self, appears to be engaged—in an act of externalising itself—and space and time are only names for the force of externalisation. Time is an active potency in the past, present, and future as part of cyclic processes of creation, growth, decay, dissolution, and reincarnation as part ...

Time is pervasive, invisible, indescribable, and incomprehensible to a being who is a very participant in the structure of this phenomenal world. That put a limitation on his intellectuality, as that is involved in the structure of the externality of his being. To understand at a miniscule level, one needs to transcend from particularity to universality by expanding his consciousness to the level of universal. It can be initiated by contemplation from outward to inward based on meditation or yoga. Time, according to Ramana Maharshi , is only an idea. There is only the Reality Whatever you think it is, it looks like that. If you call it time, it is time. If you call it existence, it is existence, and so on. After calling it time, you divide it into days and nights, months, years, hours, minutes, etc. Time is immaterial for the Path of Knowledge (Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realising Abiding Peace and Happiness, Ramana Maharshi, Munagala Venkataramiah). Sage philosopher Swami Krishn...

Every being in the phenomenal world cannot remain idle even for a moment without doing some activity, whether physical or mental, manifest or unmanifest. Self-action, or self-effort, is basic to a being's trajectory of existence momentum. Is there any destiny in the trajectory of existence? The Yoga-Vasistha categorically invalidates the concept and belief in destiny. It claims that destiny has no form, act, motion, or might, but is merely a myth perpetuated by stupid people. It is a word that has gained popularity from the concept of future retribution for one's previous actions, or retributive justice, and the like, which is known as "destiny." If the idea of destiny differs from that of an agent, it must signify something else; if it is the same as the agent, why give it a new name like destiny? If it is proven to be an imagined phrase, it is preferable to consider one's exertion as the agent of one's actions. As a past misdeed is remedied by a good acti...

Existence is one only that is the basic premise, or conception, that we know, that we do not know, or that we are not capable of knowing. It's because our existences are embodied, finite, and conditioned by time, space, and causation. Whereas Existence is Plenum, Absolute, Infinite, Eternal, Imperishable, Immutable, and Immanent, as well as Transcendent, Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss), Complete, Full, Nirakara (formless), Nirguna (qualityless), and Nirvisesa (attributeless), and unconditioned by time, space, and causation. We can at best strive to realise, but that realisation cannot be expressed as expression involves identification through medium of parts. We as part cannot express the Whole, or created cannot describe the creator. The fact is that we are in forms that are subject to limited adjuncts of birth, growth, decay, death, dissolution, reincarnation, and so on. If that is so, forms are facts in a state of flux, objectification, and finitude of the ...