We have seen that the Body and Mind play such an important role in our life. They provide the wherewithal for all our daily actions and the information and knowledge for managing our interactions with the world at large. They are intricately intertwined and work closely together, informing each other and influencing each other. They are like two close friends.
But is that the whole human being?
The Purusa Suktham and the Mandukya Upanishad indicate that there is something more. There is definitely one more entity in the human being. That is the third level of the human being and in fact, the whole Universe as well. This third level is called the Soul or Atma. And just as the Mind correlates with the Subtle Universe, the Bhuvarloka, and the Body correlates with the Physical Universe, the Bhuloka, the Soul correlates with the Causal or Supersubtle Universe, the Suvahaloka.
Let us once more look at a pictorial presentation:
Soul M Suvahaloka Super subtle or Causal Universe
Mind U Bhuvarloka Subtle or Mental Universe
Body A Bhuloka Gross or Physical Universe
This is further proved by the three states of consciousness, the Waking (corresponding to the Body), the Dreaming (corresponding to the Mind), and the Deep Sleep state
(corresponding to the Soul).
In the Waking state, the Body is aware of the Physical Universe through its sense organs and its Brain and relates and interacts with it. The Upanishad calls it ‘Bahirpragna’ or Outwardly Conscious. The Upanishad also calls this aspect of the human being ‘Vaisvanara’ or the consumer of all inputs from the outer world including food and drink.
In the Dreaming state, the Mind is disconnected from the Body, and is aware of its Memories and Thoughts and reacts and interacts with a Universe it creates within itself. The Upanishad calls this ‘Antarpragna’ or Inwardly Conscious. The Upanishad also calls this aspect of the human being ‘Taijasa’ or the ‘Luminous’ because the dream images which symbolize the mind in action are luminous like a TV program.
In the Deep Sleep state, the Mind is withdrawn or simply vanishes and of course, the consciousness of the Body has already vanished. Then what is there? Only plain Awareness or Consciousness. The Upanishad calls it just ‘Pragna’.
Often when a person wakes up from Deep Sleep, he will remark that he ‘slept like a top’. If he was in Deep Sleep and the Mind was absent and the Body was not perceived, then how does he say he ‘slept’? That awareness that he slept is ‘Consciousness’. It is plain Awareness. Just awareness that he slept. And it is interesting that the sleeper experiences a state of Bliss and remembers it! Deep Sleep is the most important experience for everyone as it refreshes and re-invigorates a person. People may do without food or drink, but they need to sleep for survival. This automatic program that comes into action everyday without fail is absolutely necessary for a person to be active and normal the next day. It is a daily program.
So the two characteristics of Deep Sleep are ‘Awareness’ and ‘Bliss’. The Sanskrit terms for these are ‘Chit’ and ‘Ananda’. This state of Deep Sleep is considered to define and describe what is called the ‘Soul’ or ‘Atma’. Thus this third level of the human being is the state of pure Existence characterized by Awareness and Bliss. It is thus called the ‘Sath-Chith-Ananda’ Swaroopa, that is, the embodiment of Existence-Awareness -Bliss.
In modern times one of the scientists who realized that there was something beyond the Mind was Dr Sigmund Freud. While studying certain cases of depression and hysteria amongst his patients, he got interested in their train of thoughts and later their dreams. He was fascinated by these studies and started studying his own dreams. From this study came his definitive thesis called ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ where he posited or theorized the existence of an ‘Unconscious’. Through his experiments and studies he found that the Unconscious realm of the human being was the source of deep-set memories that managed to trickle through into the Mind and was the cause for most of the disabilities that the patients suffered from. He found that the memories usually came in a distorted or disguised form and could be even detected during the waking condition apart from the dreams. He studied what he called ‘a slip of the tongue’ in people and found that these slips were actually caused by deep memories and revealed the state of the mind of the person being studied. His work has opened up the field of ‘Psychology’ and a kind of formal treatment called ‘Psycho-analysis’ and ‘Psychiatry’ have developed to help people understand their minds.
But what Dr Freud did not realize was that the Unconscious was not only the receptacle of the memories but also the Atma or Soul. Vedanta recognizes that the third part of the human being, the Pragna, is in fact the source of the Mind and the Body. No doubt it contains within itself the stored memories of past lives which color and characterize the individual human being. But the memories lie quiescent in the Atma and do not affect the Atma itself. That is why the state of Deep Sleep where one experiences the Atma is Blissful and not full of any thoughts or memories.
These memories of past lives are called ‘Karmas’ or ‘Vasanas’. A great Vedantic psychologist called Patanjali Maharishi calls them ‘Kleshas’. Some Vedantic treatises use the term ‘Samskaras’. All these refer basically to the same thing. The explanation is that these memories come from actions (Karma) performed during an earlier birth. They are subtle fragrances, as it were, of those earlier experiences hence the term ‘Vasanas’. Patanjali considers them as hindrances and so calls them ‘Kleshas’ or afflictions. We will study them in greater detail in a future blog so for the moment suffice it to say that while the Vasanas are present in a very subtle form encased in the Atma they do not affect the Deep Sleep state which remains Blissful and full of peace and serenity. These Vasanas or Karmas are the essential cause for the human birth and so they are the ‘Karana’ or Cause. That is the reason why this third level of the human being is also called the ‘Karana Sharira’ or Causal Body.
This Causal Aspect of the human being is thus described as ‘Jeevatma’ to allude to the causal aspect as the reason for birth as a living being or ‘Jantu’ or ‘Jeeva’. It is described as Atma conditioned by the Vasanas to work as a Jeevatma. This implies that there is a difference between the Jeevatma and the Atma. The difference is of course the presence of the Vasanas in the Jeevatma. It is the Vasanas or Karmas which essentially differentiate the Jeevatma from Atma.
So in Vedantic thought, most of the time the Pure Atma is described as ‘Paramatma’. The question will naturally arise ‘What is Paramatma? How does it differ from Jeevatma? What are its characteristics? Can one independently experience the Paramatma?’. We will try to address these questions in the next blog.
We have understood the three aspects of the human being as the Body or Vaiswanara, the Mind or Taijasa and the Soul or Pragna to use the Upanishadic definitions. These aspects of the individual human being relate and are in fact a part of corresponding Universal aspects called the Jagat or Physical Universe, the Hiranyagarbha or Subtle Universe and the Iswara or Super Subtle Universe.
Don’t worry. Vedanta is full of such terminologies but once one understands the terminology, then the basic concept is simple. Many people who are interested in spirituality get confused by the terminology and think there is contradiction. We have already seen the huge expanses of time we are looking at (see Blog on ‘Time Line’). In India, thanks to some very special circumstances, these descriptions have survived the ravages of time. They were expressed at various times to different civilizations. They are all descriptions and commentaries of the same Vedas and Vedanta. There is actually no contradiction and no need for confusion once we have understood it in our language. The concept is all important not the terminology.
We will progress to understand what the Paramatma concept is in the next blog. Meanwhile we hope you are enjoying these blogs and will continue to post your comments so we also learn how to communicate better and clarify matters as we go along.
This month we remember a great embodiment of the Paramatma concept called Sri Krishna. He was very much closer to us and lived and worked just over 5000 years ago.
The monsoons open up around June every year in India nowadays and the intensity progressively increases. By August the whole sub-continent is being drenched in rain and in the northern parts of India the main rivers are invariably in spate. That is when Sri Krishna was born in a prison where His parents were incarcerated by a villainous uncle who had usurped the throne of Sri Krishna’s grandfather. Under miraculous circumstances Sri Krishna arranged for His father to transfer Him to a small village on the other side of the River Yamuna where He grew up amongst cowherds. In due course the real objectives of His life became apparent when at a tender age He killed the uncle and re-established his grandfather as the King. All His life was a struggle against inimical forces and the grand culmination was the great Mahabharata War when He organized the separation of those who espoused the Vedic way of life and those who couldn’t be bothered and guided the former to success. Thus the world which had degenerated into depths of degradation was saved and the Vedas and the Vedantic way of life were re-established.
He was born on the eighth day after the New Moon in the constellation Rohini and that day falls on Sept 1 this year. He was not only a reformer but a philosopher too and graced His friend Arjuna with the great Bhagavat Gita just before the war started. His most poignant injunction was to have unsullied and continuous faith in Him and proceed to wage war. This injunction is said to refer to all human beings and applicable to all life situations.
Contemplating on Him itself is said to give a glimpse of the Paramatma concept. So even though the world may seem in a confused state and full of challenges of various types, we urge you to think of Him and proceed to do your duty with courage and conviction and we are sure He will show the way, protect you and yours and take you to victory.
The beautiful sloka from the Gita comes to mind:
Ananyaschintoyanto Mam Ye Janaha Paryupasathe
Thesham Nithyabhiyuktanam Yogakshemam Vahamyaham
To those who see Me everywhere and continually think of Me
To them I assure the provision of their needs and protection of their possessions. B.G. IX - 22
On this Sri Krishnashtami may His Blessings pour on you all and fill you with joy and peace!
Warm regards and God Bless
