Basics of Spirituality

By
Kalyan Malshe
Pune, India
kalyan.malshe@gmail.com
+919823196788

Disclaimer:

I am trying to present here my understanding of the spiritual

world. This is based on a lot of reading of Indian spiritual
literature I have done over the past decade and a lot of 'chintan'
or reflection on the literature.
Reading and reflection, over a period of time, crystalizes the
thoughts. It is difficult to say what have I have read from which
literature. I can only say that most of what I am presenting is
available in some literature but there are certainly a few things
which are original

Perspective 1
What is Spirituality?

To start the discussion let us look at two very different worlds

which we experience
One, the Physical world which is also called the external world
or the objective world
Second, the subtle world ('sookshma srishti') which is also
called the internal world or the subjective world
Let us try to understand these two worlds and their
characteristics

Physical world external world - objective world

Perceptible to 'panchendriyas'

Can be seen, touched, heard, tasted, smelled

Consists of galaxies, solar systems, stars, planets

Consists of 'khanija vishwa, vanaspati vishwa, prani vishwa and

manushya vishwa'
To study the physical world there are different streams of
scinece physics, chemistry, biology etc. One takes help of
gadgets like microscope, telescope etc to investigate
Science discovers the laws of nature and using the laws creates
things to achieve the goal - betterment of the physical world

Subtle world - Internal world subjective world

Not perceptible to 'panchendriyas'

Can not be seen, touched, heard, tasted, smelled

Consists of things far bigger in size but far subtler (sookshma)

Consists of number of worlds and dimensions 'lokas',

'bhuvanas', hiranyagarbha, mahakaran etc etc
To study the subtle world one has to use the power of the mind
and intellect (maan and buddhi). No gadgets exist for this
purpose
Mind discovers the laws of internal world and using the laws it
attempts to achieve the goal 'mukti', or salvation

Physical world external world - objective world

Can be shared with others

One scientist can start from where the previous scientist left

Scientific experiments can be repeated and discoveries can be

verified by others
Science does not acknowledge presence of God or the subtle
world since it can not be proven
Current scientific knowledge is far too limited to investigate into
the subtle world

Subtle world - Internal world subjective world

Can not be shared with others it belongs to each individual

One scientist can not start from where the previous scientist left
every wheel has to be reinvented by each individual
Scientific experiments in the internal world can not be repeated
and discoveries can not be verified by others unless others
develop their own faculties* (*pl see next page for explanation)
An individual can experience the presence of God or the subtle
world but he can not share the experience with others or prove it
to the others
Scientists of the subtle world are called the 'rishis', saints,
mystiques

Let us look at an example to understand the term 'faculties'

Suppose there is person who is blind by birth. He has never
seen the light
You have seen a rainbow, you are very excited and want to
share your experience with some one. Only the blind man is
around
Try to share your experience with him convey the concept of
rainbow, 7 colors etc to him
You will fail miserably you will realize that words, the
language, fails completely in sharing your experience
You will also realize that unless the faculty of 'seeing' is present
in him that person will never believe what you are saying

He will challenge you - 'prove it to me there is a rainbow or

accept that there is nothing called a rainbow in this world'.
You will fail to prove it to him. There is no way of proving it to
him unless he has the faculty of seeing and has an ability to
understand the meaning of words like red and violet
Similarly, a scientist of the physical world does not possess the
faculty to seeing the internal or the subtle world and therefore it
is impossible to prove the presence of God or internal world to
him
Either you deny the presence of internal world or have a faith
('shraddha') in someone who has experienced the internal world
'Shraddha' is the strong belief in something without asking for
an evidence

What is Spirituality?

Spirituality is pure science

Science of the subtle world

Discovering the structure of the sookshma srishti or subtle world

(like planetary system, oceans, forests, desserts)

Understanding the laws of the subtle world

Using the mind by making the mind sookshma (microscopic)

And then use the natural laws to achieve the goal 'moksha,
mukti, salvation, nirvana' etc
Spirituality has nothing to do with any religion though all
religions deal with spirituality in some way

Perspective 2
Gross comes from the subtle

Consider a human body

It consists of cells

Cells are formed by complex molecular strings

These strings are formed by molecules

Molecules are formed by atoms

Atoms consists of subatomic particles - proton, neutrons and

electrons
These particles are formed by even subtler particles quarks,
leptons, bosons etc
Our current scientific knowledge stops here

With these discoveries we are going from gross to the subtle

If we proceed we may discover the basic particle a single
particle the building block from which the matter and entire
physical world is created
The subtlest physical entity from which the whole physical world
is created

But from where does this subtlest physical entity come?

E = MC2

Matter has come from the energy mass is nothing but

solidified energy
Energy gets converted into matter and vice versa

Energy belongs to the subtle world as it does not exist in

physical form

It means that the physical world comes from the subtle world

The subtle world is called 'Hiranyagarbha'

The gross or the physical world is called 'Virata'

Virata comes from hiranyagarbha at the begining of a 'kalpa'

Virata will eventually merge back into hiranyagarbha at the end

of the 'kalpa'

Perspective 3
Subtle controls the gross

If you fall sick you take a medicine and you are cured

But how does the medicine work?

Scientists worked at the subtle level of the body the cells

They discovered the basic reasons for the diseases at the

cellular level
They created substances which worked at the cellular level to
remove the malady
Body gets cured due to an action at cellular level
To control the gross you have to find the relevant subtle
phenomena and manipulate it
Thus, the subtle controls the gross

Take the example of a computer

There are several layers of softwares

The user applications are on the grosser side and the basic
machine applications on the subtler side
But everything ultimately gets converted to zeros and ones at
the machine level
To achieve anything on the computer you have to ultimately go
down to these basic zeros and ones
Thus, the subtle level controls the gross level

Perspective 4
Matter and Spirit

The gross or the physical world consists on living and non-living

things

The non-living things are pure matter

The living things consist of matter and spirit

Imagine a person one nano second before and after his death

Practically nothing has changed in one nano second

What has changed is that the spirit or the soul which was
attached to the physical body right from the conception till now
has left the body
What is that soul?

The soul belongs to the subtle world

Therefore it can not be perceived thru 'panchendriyas'(eyes etc)

You can never perceive the light unless it falls on some object
and is reflected. The light can be known by its effect only
Similarly you can not perceive electricity. Its presence can be
known by its effect like an electric bulb or a fan or a shock
Similarly the soul can be known only by its effect an otherwise
inert physical body comes to life only when a soul gets attached
to it
The body becomes inert again and starts decomposing the
moment the soul gets detached

So, there is something called a soul or spirit

One of the aims of spirituality is to understand the soul

What does it consist of? How does it work? Does it need any
food? Why does it get attached to a body?
This enquiry and corresponding discovery is a spiritual practice

Perspective 5
Concept of God

Human body consists of 100 trillion cells

Each cell is alive. It is born, it lives for some time and then it
dies

Each cell has specific work allotted to it

It keeps doing the work faithfully

In 7 years time you have an entirely new set of cells.

How many of these cells do we control?

None!! You have no control over a single cell

Then who runs your body?

The body manufactures thousands of chemicals every day

In each cell over a million operations take place every second

Who co-ordinates this?

Who digests your food?

Who pumps blood in your body to feed all 100 trillion cell
continuously?
Who creates a baby in the mothers womb? Can you imagine
the complexity of creating a new baby from nothing?

Who makes the Earth go around the Sun?

Who makes an electron go around the nucleus in an atom?

Who packs gillions of data bytes of genetic information in a tiny

seed which eventually becomes a tree?
Who gives the power of seeing to our eyes? Power of hearing
to our ears?

That universal power which does all this is the GOD

God is not a person with 4 heads or 4 hands

God is not that idol ('moorty') we worship

God is not the one we visit in a temple and offer a bribe

('navaas') to get what we want
God is that universal power, energy, intelligence which is
present everywhere, which has created this world, which
controls this world

Perspective 6
Nature of God

Let us look at gravity

Its one of the laws of nature

Expressed as F = Gmm/R2

This law works everywhere earth, moon, planets, galaxies

This law works in the smallest of spaces nano-centimeters or

even smaller at electron level
Who has created this law? Who implements it very faithfully?
Every-where, every-time, consistently?Without fail? Of course
the God
Thus the God is omni-present

The law is implemented without fail. Every-time, every-where

Whether the object is tiny like a virus or gigantic galaxies with
billions of stars

The God has the power to implement it

He is therefore omni-potent

There are millions of such laws and many laws work

simultaneously across gillions of objects in the world
HE knows about the laws and the objects on which to apply
these laws
HE is thus omni-scient

Thus the God is omni-present, omni-potent and omni-scient

HE has created the laws of nature and HE implements all the
laws all the time

HE implements every law ruthlessly

HE applies the laws to every object without exception

All objects are equal to HIM

There is no discrimination. HE is fair to all

Perspective 7
We control very little

I have no control over the color of my skin, my features etc

I have no control over the parents to whom I was born

I have no control over the country I was born into USA,

Ethiopia etc

I have no control over the rich/poor family I was born into

I have no control over most major events in my life

I have no control over my death

I have little control over the major health issues or accidents I

face

Thus we have very little or no control over our own life

We are in a prison, facing bondage

If we are lucky enough we will lead a good life a golden cage

But there are billions of underprivileged in this world who lead a

miserable life

They don't get two meals a day

They suffer from disease, pain

They are exploited by others

We could have been one of them

Why does this happen?

Why some are rich and some very poor?

Why some are healthy and others suffer from disease?

Why some are happy and others miserable?

These are the questions we try to answer thru spirituality

Perspective 8
Why are there differences between people?

God works as per His laws and rules

HE does not discriminate. All are equal to Him

Then why is someone born in a rich family and someone in a

beggar's family, why someone is born blind?

Why someone is beautiful and someone ugly?

Why someone is healthy and someone suffers from disease?

Why someone loses his parents when he is a child and

someone is fortunate to have parental protection for long?
WHY THESE DIFFERENCES?

This brings us to the theory of karma

In the physical world we have 3rd law of Newton for every
action there is equal and opposite reaction

In the subtle world this law manifests as the law of karma

What you sow so will you reap

Differences in the world we see are due to the karmas of the

past life/lives

The God has designed a life for you or has programmed your
life based on your entire history so far
Based on this you face different situations in life
God expects you to fulfill your duties ('kartavya') in the
circumstances he has created for you honor your obligations
Not performing these duties is a bad karma
God will make sure that if you do not perform your duty willingly
(that means you are deviating from His program designed for
you) He will force you to do it by creating harsher situations in
the next life/lives

An illustration (hypothetical) -In one life, say, you had the duty to look after your ailing parents
in their old age
You had the freedom of action to perform the duty or to run
away from it
Say, you ran away
In the next birth, God programed you to have a retarded child.
(Normally one tends to look after one's child much more that the
parents). You were thus mildly forced by Him to serve the child

You had the freedom of fulfilling your obligation or run away

Say, you ran away

In the next birth, you were born in a poor family, you did not
have enough intelligence and money to get proper education
and therefore you had to get an unskilled job as a ward-boy in a
hospital
Now, God has forced you by the circumstances to perform the
service you ran away from in the past two births
God gave you the freedom of action in the past two births, but
you misused the freedom by not fulfilling obligations. Now you
have no choice but to serve since your livelihood depends on it
If you still refuse, you will starve
You still have the freedom of running away and becoming a
criminal to earn your livelihood
But then you will have to face very serious consequences

Thus, not doing your duty (programed by him for you) is a bad
karma

Hurting others intentionally in any way is a bad karma

Taking selfish actions is a bad karma

Helping others is a good karma

Spending your money, efforts and time for the betterment of

others without expecting anything in return (not even thename
and fame) is a good karma
Giving unconditional love to others is a good karma

What is fair behavior? Look at any given situation involving two

persons and mentally reverse your roles. Does your action now
look fair from the other side? If so, you are on right path. This is
natural justice. This is 50:50
You can create a good karma by doing more than the 'fair' mark
Follow a 70:30 rule in a relationship. You give 70% and expect
30% in return. You are now moving from selfish to selfless
behavior
Whatever is your situation carry out your duty ('niyata karma')
110%, without regret, without grudging. As a task given to you
by the God. Fulfilling your obligation under the God's program

Perspective 9
Vasanas / Desires

God is very kind

HE gives you what you want always without fail He fulfills
all your desires - but there are some conditions which we need
to understand
We live in 3 dimensional space and we have a concept of time.
This is a characteristic of the physical world
However, the God's concept of time is different from our's in the
physical world. This point must be understood
HE will give you what you want when? That is not known. We
have no say in the matter. It will be as per HIS programing rules
HE will definitely include all our wants and desires into his
program for us. When will the program run? As per his rules

The second condition is that you must accumulate enough

merits ('punya') before HE can program the fulfillment of your
desires
Merits or 'punya' accrues to you due to your good karmas
Suppose, there are two persons A and B with very strong desire
to eat sweets
Person A has a lot of 'punya' accumulated to his credit while B
doesn't have any
The desires are built into their respective programs but the
fulfillment will happen only in case of A who will be programed to
be born in a good family, will earn well, will enjoy good health
and thereby fulfill his desire of eating a lots of sweets

B's program has built in desire to eat sweets. However, he will

be born in a poor family where getting a square meal itself is
difficult.
Or, he may be a well to do person but is diagnosed diabetic
early in his life and therefore can not eat sweets in spite of
affordability
Thus, the fulfillment of desires will take place only if there are
accumulated merits
B's desire will be carried forward to his next lives and will be
fulfilled only when he has accumulated enough 'punya' in his
account

Thus, The God has programed the world to fulfill your every
desire HE indeed wants you to fulfill every of your desire
But you must help HIM by doing good karmas and accumulating
them in enough quantity
God's program records and stores all your desires there is a
mechanism for storing them and carrying them forward to future
lives

Perspective 10
Vikara's

In the above example of person B he has a strong desire to

eat sweets but the circumstances don't permit him to do so
He may become angry ('krodha') on his circumstances, on
himself, on the society, on his parents for being poor
He gets angry at the sight of a sweet shop and many people
enjoying their sweets
Non-fulfillment of desires lead to 'krodha'
He will not be able express this krodha near the sweet shop due
to the situation there and therefore it will get recorded in his
program. Every thought and action gets recorded

Alternatively, his krodha may be expressed by way of beating of

the wife or children on an inconsequential point. This way he will
accumulate bad karma or demerits ('paap') and that too will get
recorded into his program
Another possibility is that he may start stealing or cheating
others to get money to eat sweets thereby creating bad karma
In both these cases above the krodha has led to 'moha'
(delusion) which leads to a great spiritual downfall of a person
Or B can accept the situation as his fate/destiny and desist from
wrong actions to fulfill his desire. He will not create any bad
karma
Freedom of action is available to all

Thus vasanas (desires) may lead to krodha (anger) which may

lead to moha (delusion) which in turns lead to bad karmas
Thus one gets trapped in to a vicious circle
In the process he will suffer for centuries or millenniums through
repeated lifetimes of suffering and miseries

Let us go back to the case of person A

He was able to fulfill his desire of eating sweets

But the nature of desires is insatiable. He wants more and more

This is called 'lobha' another vikara we see so many people

with tons of money but still want more and more

Though fulfilled to a great extent it still remained unfulfilled

It will get recorded and carried forward again

However, person A may have spent lots of his accumulated

merits in fulfilling his desires. If he exhausts his merits he may
land himself in the shoes of person B in the next life

When person B sees person A eating sweets at a sweet shop he

develops another vikara 'matsar (envy)'. B is envious of A all
the time since A has got something which he does not have. B
constantly thinks ill of A and is always grudging about A. So, he
accumulates more vikara and bad karma
When A sees B as a poor person not able to afford the sweets
which he is buying A becomes proud and develops a vikara
called 'mada'. He starts looking down upon B and persons like
B. A also starts thinking himself as superior and becomes
arrogant in his behavior. Thus he also accumulated demerits

Thus, Vasana ('kaama' or desires), with or without punya, leads

to the vikara like krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsara etc
Both the vasana and vikaras are stored and do get carried
forward to future lives
As long as vasanas and vikaras are in the store one has to keep
coming back to the physical world to discharge them
That is how the God's program works
But this causes the bondage - the prison of the physical body
and physical world
Spirituality is about getting rid of this bondage which is called
moksha or mukti

Perspective 11
The Storages

Each individual has a storage chitta

It stores all karmas, vasanas, vikaras etc

The storage also includes smriti the entire past lives physical
as well as sookshma states
Every word you uttered, every thought you entertained and
every action you carried out is recorded
Its amazing how HE is able to store almost infinite amount of
information for infinite number of beings

Each storage type is unique and can not be squared off against
other types
For example, the bad karmas and the good karmas can not be
squared off
The only way to remove anything from the storage is thru a life in
one of the three 'loka's (mrityuloka, swarga and naraka)
That means one has to keep coming back to the physical world
till the storage becomes nil
After the storage becomes nil one does not return back to the
physical world
So, mukti means nullifying the storage of karma, vasanas and
vikaras

When the good karma or the bad karma is of humungous

proportion it is difficult to discharge these karmas in the physical
world. In such cases the soul is born in 'swarga' or 'naraaka' to
discharge the huge good or bad karma respectively
In swarga or naraaka souls do not acquire new karmas. They
only discharge them. On the other hand, in the physical world its
a two way process while souls are discharging the
accumulated karmas they are also acquiring new ones
Once the quantum of karmas are reduced to the normal limits
during the tenure in swarga or naraaka the soul returns back to
the physical world
Thus the soul has to return back to the physical state from
swarga or naraaka sooner or later

Perspective 12
Different 'Sharira's or 'Deha's

There are 3 Dehas and 5 koshas

Our Physical body is called 'sthoola deha'

The second deha is called 'sookshma deha' or subtle body.

Death of the physical body is nothing but the delinking of the

sookshma deha from the sthoola deha
So, the sthoola deha represents the matter and sookshma deha
the spirit
When we say the soul has left the body we really mean that the
sookshma deha has detached itself from the sthoola deha
After leaving the physical body you continue as the sookshma
deha. Thus there is no death for anyone really speaking

You only change the form from the physical existence to the
subtle body existence

'You' never die. What dies is the physical body

Thus the principles of spirituality derived from the above are

You are not the physical body

You are only an occupant of the physical body
Its like living in a leased house. House is not
yours. It's given to you for the lease period. You
vacate the house after the lease period is over
You never die. After leaving the physical body you
continue in a different form the subtle body
As per HIS program you will acquire another
physical body based on karmas, vasanas etc. Like
going from one leased house to another one

Due to ignorance of the subtle world we think of ourselves as the

physical body
Who am I? I am what I see in the mirror - is our assumption
This assumption, which is far from truth, leads to an entirely
different behavior we tend to become selfish, do everything to
pamper this body, strive for the physical pleasures, we are so
scared of death
When we realize the truth our behavior will undergo massive
change the physical body will become a means to an end
rather than an end in itself we will start doing good karmas, will
become less selfish, will devote our efforts, wealth and time to
help others, will not be afraid of death
The third deha is the karana deha

There are 5 koshas

They are -

Annamaya kosha created from food

Pranamaya kosha 64000 nadis - linkage to
annamaya kosha
Manomaya kosha the mind
Vidyanamaya kosha the intellect
Anandamaya kosha the seat of Jiva

Sthool deha is Annamaya kosha

Sookshma deha consists of -Pranamaya kosha

Manomaya kosha

Vidyanamaya koshas
Karana deha consists of Anandamaya kosha

The sookshma deha is connected to the sthoola deha thru

64000 nadis they belong to the subtle body ( they are like
arteries of physical body) thru them the energy (prana) flows
from subtle body to the physical body
The action at the physical level takes place thru the flow of
information / instructions coming thru the nadis from subtle body

Different parts of the body get affected as per program stored in

subtle body thru these nadis
The mind gets outside information from panchendriyas thru
these nadis
So nadis are the communication and action conduits between
the sthoola deha and subtle deha

The storages are at two levels

The storages pertaining to the current physical life are stored in
the sookshma deha
Storages pertaining to the future lives are stored in the karana
deha
Why this distinction?
A being may have large amount of storages. It is impossible to
discharge them in one physical life. Before the birth of a being in
the physical world his current life is programed by transferring
small part of data from karan deha to the sookshma deha
Thus the program for the current life is stored in the sookshma
deha

Let us look at the karmas

The karmas stored in the sookshma deha are ripe for fruition in
the current life and like the contents of a CD the things will
unfold in the life one by one

This is called the 'prarabdha'

Thus, all major events in the physical life are programed

The storage in the karana deha which is not taken up for fruition
in the current physical life is called the 'sanchita' which will be
used only in the future lives
It's like the 'forward base stores' and the 'main stores' in an army

We commit karmas in three ways

Karma of the mind, karma of the speech and karma of action

All these karmas in the current physical life are stored separately
in a temporary storage
At the time of the death this storage is merged with the main
storage
Thus the karmas of our current physical life has nothing to do
with the reward or punishment in this life
If we suffer in our current life it is not due to our karmas in this
life but it is the effect of our past lives
This phenomenon if not understood properly leads to great
amount of misunderstanding amongst people

We see around us many corrupt people who commit many

crimes but lead a very wealthy, lavish and apparently a happy life
This leads many of us to believe that there is nothing wrong in
this kind of behavior
At the same time we also see some very nice, innocent and God
fearing people suffering in life
This leads us to believe that the God is not fair
Both the above conclusions are wrong. God delivers 100%
justice not even 1% less or 1% more
But we must have an understanding of how the God's system of
karma works

Lets take an example of persons P and Q

Both are criminals and commit crimes

Person P is caught and gets an imprisonment. He receives a

punishment as per the legal system of the physical world
Person Q is never caught and continues to enjoy his freedom
It is important to understand that the punishment P has received
has nothing to do with the crimes he has committed in current
life. He has received the punishment as per the God's program
of karmas for the bad karmas in his previous lives
Both P and Q will receive the punishment for their current life
crimes in their respective future lives

It is important to understand the difference in good and bad

behavior as defined by the legal systems in the physical world
versus that of the God's kingdom
For example, abortion is a bad karma as per the God's system
since a life is being terminated for the convenience of the
mother/father. Parents and other influencers will suffer
However, today abortion is legal and not a crime at all
A few decades back abortion was illegal and was punishable by
imprisonment
So, the man made laws of the physical world keep changing and
bad behavior may become good behavior and vice a versa
But God's rules of karma never change

Sookshma deha has various storages karmas, vasanas,

vikaras and smriti
The internal process between the sookshma deha and sthoola
deha is that of constant discharge of the storages. The program
attempts to nullify the storages at every opportunity
The action can take place only at the physical level. The process
therefore converts the bits from the storage into action
The mind, the intellect and the pranamaya kosha comes into the
play to convert the bits of storage (in sookshma deha) into action
(at sthoola deha)
A person's nature, his behavior, his response to different
situations is guided by what is stored inside

We find some individuals are bad tempered always on the

edge flare up at slightest excuse. They have large storage of
krodha which gets discharged at every opportunity
Some people are greedy, want more and more of everything,
especially money. They have a large storage of lobha
Some people are afraid of water, high altitude, closed spaces etc
apparently for no reason. It is due to their smriti some
incidence in past or current life
Some people serve others dedicate their lives - they have
strong service vasana and very little of other vasanas
Some people are cool, level headed, rational. They have a low
storage of vasanas and vikaras.

Perspective 13
Vyashti and Samashti

Vyashti means the individual

Samashti refers to the vast outside world in the same dimension
as vyashti
For example, our physical body is the vyashti in the physical
dimension while the entire physical world consisting of the Earth,
stars, galaxies, people, animals, plants, panchmahabhootas etc
is the samashti
The terminology for the above is sthool deha (vyashti) and virata
(samashti). This is at the physical dimension
For the sookshma deha (the vyashti) the corresponding
samashti is called 'hiranyagarbha' sookshma srishti
Hiranyagarbha consists of all sookshma dehas of all beings in
the universe, various lokas, bhuvanas, tanmatras etc

For the karana deha (the vyashti) there is mahakarana deha or

the brahmanda as the samashti
Thus there are 3 levels or dimensions at vyashti and samashti
Sthoola deha, sookshma deha and karana deha as part of
vyashti and corresponding virata, hiranyagarbha and
mahakarana as part of samashti

Whatever happens in the physical world gets planned well in

advance in the hiranyagarbha
Whether it is at the individual body level (life span, diseases etc)
or at collective level (relationships, life spans/diseases of near
ones, pleasure/pain in relationships, accidents, good/bad actions
by others etc)
Therefore one talks about destiny or fate - since it is already
planned and programed in hiranyagarbha. The CD is just playing
out at the physical level
There are advanced people who have 'siddhi' are able to predict
an individual's future accurately since they are able to read the
program in hiranyagarbha

Perspective 14
How does the Mind function

Mind is a processor like the CPU of a computer.

It has a large number of inputs. They are -Five Dyanendriyas

Buddhi

Karma

Vasana

Vikara

Smriti

Anandmaya kosha which supplies energy

Output is to the pranamaya kosha which directs action at
physical level and to the storages

The storages are in the form of small packets like seeds

For example the vasana of eating sweets is stored in the form of
a number of small packets or seeds
The intensity of a vasana determines the number of seeds in the
storage. A strong vasana will have a large number of seeds in
the storage compared to a weaker vasana
In the natural emptying process the stronger vasanas with large
number of seeds will show up in the processor (mind) more
often than a weaker vasana with much smaller number of seeds
Thus the natural process impels the person to act accordance
with the strength of different vasanas

The seeds enter the processor in the form of various thoughts

The thoughts can be based on specific opportunities to fulfill the
vasanas based on the information provided by panchendriyas.
Like you see or smell a mithai and the mind identifies the
opportunity to fulfill a vasana of eating sweets
Or the thoughts can be random - The mind constantly chatters
the packets or seeds from various storages are thrown into the
processor randomly. This is a natural emptying process
Or one thought leads to another one with some connection and
that leads to a third thought and the chain of thought continues
Now let's see how the thought gets converted in to an action

Suppose a random thought has entered the mind. The thought is

in the form of a seed
The seed has to be developed into a shrub or a bush or a tree
This is done by paying attention to the thought and getting
involved with the thought. By this process the seed gets the
mental energy (like minerals, water and sunlight in physical
world)
The thought is developed from a seed form to an actionable
form by generating different possibilities. This is the creative
process of the mind. Each possibility is checked out by buddhi
for its feasibility and consequences. Buddhi uses the smriti as its
database

One of the alternatives is chosen and the output is fed to

pranamaya kosha to implement
The necessary instructions are given to the brain and many
other glands in the body by which the action is taken at the
physical level
At times no action seems to be feasible and buddhi rejects all
possibilities
In that case the developed seed which results in a shrub is
stored back for future use
At times the thought gets so much energy (passion) or the
previously stored shrubs come out in numbers. The resulting
drive of the energy is too much to be contained

So, even if buddhi rejects the action it gets overruled due to the
sheer quantum of energy associated with it
Thus, many times a man ends up taking an action even though
he knows that the action is wrong from moral or legal point of
view
For example, we see this in a traffic quarrel when people start
hitting each other over a minor issue
From the above it is clear that every seed that comes in to the
processor ends up in an action at physical level or the seed is
developed into a shrub and is stored back which will come out
stronger in the future
If an action is taken it may lead to a good or bad karma. If it is
stored back it will come out stronger at the next opportunity
leading to a possible action in the future

However there is one more possibility

If the thought is ignored completely, no attention is paid at all and
one does not get involved with the thought the seed gets starved
of the vital energy. It is like a physical seed not getting water or
mineral or sunlight
The seed dies
It means that one seed in the storage is emptied without any
consequences at all no good or bad karma or no storage of the
shrub
When our mind concentrates on something, like say writing an
exam, many thoughts are thrown in the processor but are
completely ignored and therefore die out
The process of dreaming is similar. It helps in emptying a few
seeds from the storages

Perspective 15
Prakruti and Purusha

All that is manifest is called prakruti

Entire creation whether at gross physical level or at different
subtle levels is prakruti
So, mahakaran, hiranyagarbha and virata are a part of prakruti
Similarly, the physical body, the sookshma deha and karana
deha are a part of prakruti
All five koshas is prakruti
Panchmahabhootas (gross) and corresponding tanmatras
(subtle) is part of prakruti
The unmanifest, nirguna/nirakaar/ananta, sat-chit-ananda, the
spirit (non-matter) is the purusha

The entire system of storages (vasanas, vikaras, karmas and

smriti) and the process of converting the storages into action thru
the processor (mind) is part of prakruti
Prakruti keeps emptying the storages by converting the bits
(seeds) of storage into thoughts and then converting thoughts
into action at the physical level
Prakruti needs energy to survive. This energy is provided from
the subtler levels of the system
Mahakaran deha provides energy to the Karan deha of each
individual which in turns feeds the sookshma deha which in turn
feeds the physical body. This energy is called prana shakti
Physical body gets the supply of energy at physical level thru
food intake and subtle energy (prana shakti) thru sookshma
deha

It is said that most of the karmas are actually committed by the

work of the prakruti since what happens at physical level is
manifestation of the storages in the subtle body and the process
of emptying of the storages
The purusha is represented in an individual by the Jiva which
resides in the karana deha (anandamaya kosha)
As said earlier, Jiva is nothing but the solidified purusha
manifestation of the purusha at the level of an individual being
Jiva has the 'I'ness and 'My'ness Ahankara associated with
it which is essential to sustain the creation
Due to this Ahankara an individual becomes selfish, desires
many things, wants to be ahead of the others,

At the level of sookshma deha the Jiva manifests in three ways

a) Ahankara, b) the knowing/cognizant principle (outward in)
and c) attention at the level of the mind (inward out)
Ahankara represents an individual's karma account. Actions
taken with the involvement of Ahankara lead to the karma being
credited to the individual's karma account
When the prakruti is at work, converting the storages into
action, the Ahankara gets involved and takes the credit for all
actions
Due to this, the karma created by the actions is stored back in
the individual's karma account as the temporary storage which is
merged back with the main storage at the time of death
This accumulated storage creates the bondage as the
birth/death will continue till the storages are completely emptied

By the same logic if the Ahankara is not involved in the actions

the corresponding karmas are not stored in the individual's
karma account
The prakruti will continue to empty the storages and generate
actions even if the Ahankara is not involved
In absence of Ahankara's involvement the actions do not lead
to karma being credited the individual's karma account
Thus no new karma will get created
This is the principle behind 'Nishkama Karma' taking actions
without the involvement of the Ahankara and without expectation
of the fruits of action

Perspective 16
The Process of Meditation

Meditation is designed to help you empty the storages without

any consequences that is without taking any action at physical
level leading to good/bad karma or without converting the seed
into a shrub and storing it back in the storage
In meditation, first you cut off yourself from the physical world by
sitting comfortably in a quiet place and closing your eyes.

Ideally all inputs to the panchendriyas should be cut off

This ensures that there are no distractions of the physical world

Next, slow down your breathing. Focus on the breathing, give

suggestion for it to calm down and witness it slowing down
Next, try to calm your mind by observing the mind and giving
suggestions for it to calm down

Next, focus on something a word (mantra), a picture

(deity/guru), a jyoti etc. Concentrate your attention on it
The thoughts keep coming to mind. You have to learn to ignore
the thoughts completely by keeping your attention on the mantra
You get carried away, at times, by the thought and after a while
you realize that you gave attention to a thought and got involved
in developing the thought. The moment you realize this come
back to the mantra and focus on it again
It is not an easy process. Takes a lot of determination and
practice.
It takes a long time before you achieve some progress. Give
yourself at least 6 months. Most people give up after a while
since they can not master the process

By doing this again and again, after a lot of patience and

practice, you learn to keep your attention focussed on the
mantra and ignore all thoughts
The thoughts (seeds) keep entering the mind (processor), they
are starved of vital energy and therefore they die out without any
consequences
More seeds are thrown into the empty processor and they also
die without consequences
The storages then start emptying fast since the emptying is the
natural process you encounter bigger volume of seeds being
thrown into the processor. Your task of concentration may get
difficult. But if you succeed in ignoring them and remain focussed
on the mantra all those seeds (thoughts) will die without
consequences

At times you get involved with the thoughts and since the
thoughts now are coming in big numbers you may witness
outburst of vasanas or vikaras. This phase is very disturbing to
you and your near ones (remember Vishvamitra and Menaka?)
They will wonder if your meditation is going the wrong way
Please remember that the reason for the outbursts is your
involvement with the strong flow of thoughts. You must remain
focussed on the mantra and not get carried away in the thought
flow
By regular practice you not only keep emptying the storage but
also ensure at the same time that nothing is added to the
storage. It means you are not creating new vasanas, vikaras and
karmas

If you follow this long enough the storages will indeed become
empty
Earlier, we have seen that one comes into the physical world due
to the vasana, vikaras and karmas
Empty storage means you can not come back in the physical
body as there is nothing to achieve as a physical body
Of course, You have to remember there is a storage in the
karana deha also. So, it is possible that you may still have to
keep coming back to the physical body till all the storages in
sookshma deha and karana deha are over
Emptying the storage is one aspect of meditation. The other
aspect will be covered after introducing few more concepts

Perspective 17
Concept of Brahman

We have discussed 5 koshas earlier

Kosha means covering, an outer layer

All koshas are made up of matter of varying degree of subtlety.

They are all matter envelopments
Annamaya kosha is made of gross matter while Anandamaya
kosha is made of very subtle matter
They all are called 'upadhi's
The spirit part for an individual is called the Jiva which resides in
Anandamaya kosha
So Jiva is the vyashti
The corresponding samashti is called Shiva, Purusha or
Brahman

Brahman is omni-present, omniscient, omni-potent

It is nirguna, nirakar, ananta

It is beyond time and space

It is called sat, chit, ananda

It is complete in itself

Earlier we referred to it as God

The God is nothing but the Brahman

Perspective 18
Jiva and Brahman

Let us take an illustration

Suppose there are a number of ice cubes in a pan

Each ice cube has a distinct size, shape, color etc which is
different from any other ice cube
Thus each ice cube has an individuality
Let us now start heating the pan. All the cubes will melt to
become water
Ice cube's distinct identity and individuality is now gone. We
can say that the ice cubes have merged into water
Water has no shape but has other characteristics. You can see,
touch, smell, taste water

Let us continue to heat up the water

Now it will turn into vapor

We can say that the water has merged into vapor

We can not see, touch, smell, taste the vapor

Water is subtler than the ice cubes and vapor is even more
subtle than water

Cubes are 'saguna', 'sakaar'

Water is saguna , nirakaar

Steam is nirguna, nirakaar

Let us now start the reverse process - start cooling the steam
Slowly you will find formation of water droplets very minute
and tiny to start with and they become bigger over time will
become a small pool of water after a while
Thus the water has appeared from nowhere (as perceived by
panchendriyas). It has suddenly manifested
Further cooling will lead to formation of ice crystals. Each
crystal has unique shape, size, color etc. Each crystal has
individuality
This process shows that something can manifest from nothing
(as perceived by panchendriyas)
Essentially there was something (steam), though not
perceivable to panchendriyas, from which something else has
manifested

In reality ice cubes, water and steam are all same - H2O
The only difference is in their state of being. They look different
but essentially they all are same

Think of Jiva as the ice cubes and Brahman as the vapor

The Jiva is nothing but solidified Brahman

Essentially there is no difference. Jiva and Brahman are same

Jiva is the grosser version of Brahman

In spiritual literature they say 'you yourself are the God' and
we react with disbelief what nonsense? But its true. All Jivas
come from Brahman and essentially all Jivas are nothing but
Brahman. So its true that in essence we are all Brahman just as
all ice cubes in essence are nothing but vapor

In spiritual literature they also say 'all human beings are your
brothers' and we react with disbelief what nonsense? But
its true. All ice cubes, though each is uniquely different, have
come from vapor and all of them are essentially nothing but
vapor. That makes all ice cubes real brothers. Similarly all
human beings are real brothers. We can extend this to animals
and plants and all living beings.
We the living beings are all brothers. We may be in the form of
humans or animals or insects or trees. We may be black or white
or brown or yellow. But we all have come from Brahman.
Essentially we are all same though we look different
Each Jiva is exactly identical a replica of any other Jiva. So,
there is no difference whatsoever in Jivas
The difference we perceive is in the matter envelopments in
the koshas, in the upadhi's

In spiritual literature they also say that we all can achieve

nirvana. Is it possible?
Just like ice cubes can become vapor the Jiva can become
Brahman
The process of heating is essential to convert the ice into vapor
. Similarly thru the appropriate spiritual practices - thru 'tapa' we
can reach nirvana ('tapa' essentially means heating)

Perspective 19
Ego / Ahankar

Before the creation only the Brahman existed

As nirguna, nirakara, ananta

Then it decided to start the creation. That point is called the

beginning of a new 'kalpa'

As a first step it created Jiva's spirits of the individual beings

From one infinite Brahman it created infinite number of Jivas

It also created the subtlest form of matter matter from which

Anandamaya kosha and mahakarana is created
It also created a bond between the matter and spirit between
the Jiva and the Anandamaya kosha without which creation is
not possible

The Jiva is now enveloped by the Anandamaya kosha an

upadhi
Karan deha of an individual being is thus born
With this covering the Jiva forgets its true identity being same
as Brahman
This is essential for sustaining the creation. If every Jiva
realizes that it is same as Brahman it would like to merge back
in it and the entire creation will merge back into Brahman
Therefore, for sustaining the creation, the Jiva is enveloped in
the Ananadamaya kosha also known as the 'Adnyana kosha'
ignorance envelopment

Due to this ignorance a being starts perceiving itself as a

separate entity different from all other beings
Thus the ego or Ahankara is born it is the separateness - the
'I'ness and 'My'ness
Ahankara creates the 'bheda' division or difference between
different beings

Ahankara provides each being with a unique individuality

Ahankara makes the being oriented toward the gross

Ahankara makes the being selfish

Now the world is ready for the creation

Vasana's are born due to ahankara. Vasanas lead to vikaras

Emptying of the storages (vasanas, vikaras, karmas etc) ensures

that you do not come back to the physical state as there is
nothing to be achieved in this physical world
However, this is not what salvation or nirvana or mukti is. It is
only a pre-requisite
Mukti or moksha means merging with the Brahman becoming
one with the Brahman
This necessitates complete elimination of ego or ahankara since
Ego means separateness or 'bheda'
In mukti the individual Jiva does not remain separate and it
merges back with the Brahman.
Its like the ice cube becoming vapor never to become an ice
cube again during the current 'kalpa'

Perspective 20
Second Aspect of the Meditation Process

This is where we come to the second aspect of meditation

Emptying of storages allows the mind to become calm and
quiet. There is very little or no chattering of the mind. There are
no external distractions of the physical world since there are no
aspirations/passions/ambitions - nothing to be achieved in the
physical world
With this the mind and intellect change their orientation from
the gross to the subtle. From external to internal
Mind and intellect now start focusing on subtler aspects of
existence
The meditation practice now moves to expand the awareness
gradually to cover the Brahman to merge with it
The ice cube starts melting and proceed to become vapor

In this meditation imagine that you are expanding to cover the

room you are sitting in, then the entire building, then the entire
locality
Continue to imagine that you are expanding to cover your city,
your state, your country, your continent
Expand to cover the Earth first the surface, then the solid
sphere, and then the entire atmosphere
Continue to expand to the solar system, the milky way, then the
entire virata

Now expand to the subtle world the hiranyagarbha

Continue to cover the 'Mahakarana' the Brahmanda

It is said that to achieve this state you require grace of the guru
Without the Guru you can reach swarga but you can not
achieve the state of mukti
The reason is that the nature of Jiva is designed to be
outwards or gross-wards. The Jiva does not have enough
energy to swim against this outward stream. It requires huge
energy to achieve this. The Guru is the one who provides this
energy
That is called the grace or 'kripa'
Therefore in spirituality the Guru has very significant
importance

Once your awareness expands to the brahmanda you start

experiencing HIM everywhere. You experience HIM in every
human, animal, insect, plant, even in inert matter
You actually see HIM everywhere
With continued practice the realization changes from 'HE is
everywhere' to 'I AM HIM' 'Aham Brahmasmi'

There is no difference between HIM and I

This is called 'Turiya' state the 4th state of existence

Though this is a highly evolved state a small Aham the ego or

ahankara remains
The awareness 'I AM Brahman' has the 'I' in it though in a very
subtle state

'Turiya' is also called the first of the four 'mukti's'

You have to continue the practice or 'tapa'

You keep becoming more and more subtle

The subtle 'I' that exists in turiya state starts melting and you
slowly become one with the Brahman. The concept of 'I' goes
away
This state is called 'Unmani' state or 'manonash' or 'turiyateet'
state beyond turiya
This is the second of the four 'mukti's'

You have to keep expanding further to go beyond this

Brahmanda
There are infinite number of Brahmandas. We are part of one of
them
Once your awareness breaks thru the current Brahmanda and
goes beyond you are experiencing the 'Parabrahma' the
bigger aspect of brahmanda. You evolve to become one with
parabrahma
This is the third of the four 'mukti's'

With further practice you keep becoming subtler and subtler. All
the brahmandas slowly vanish and what remains is called
'Kevala Brahma'
There is no creation left. There is no manifestation at all.
Everything has merged back into the ultimate 'Kevala Brahma'
You have reached the ultimate state pure existence, pure
knowledge, pure bliss

'Sat, Chit, Ananda', the pure potential

This is last and the fourth of the four mukti's

Everything rests here, you have reached your ultimate

destination

Hope this presentation gives you some idea about spirituality

Spirituality is pure science

Science of the subtler worlds

We can understand the rules of the subtler worlds by making

the mind subtler and have faith in scriptures like Geeta,
Upanishads etc and in the teaching of a relized guru
We can achieve the moksha or mukti by following the rules of
the subtler worlds
Moksha or mukti is the ultimate aim of humankind
GOD bless us all

Thank You
Hope this helps you to get a perspective of the world from the
Indian philosophical view point and enriches your knowledge and
understanding which in turn will help to view the world differently
and modify your behavior towards the world