Question.

[Guest guest]

Can anyone tell me, please, what exactly is the Antakarana?

 

If I could, I would live forever at the beautiful of the Maharishi.

 

Ibrahim.

[Guest guest]

> Can anyone tell me, please, what exactly is the Antakarana?

 

 

 

Talk 392.

 

 

(Swami Lokesananda continued another series of questions).

 

 

 

D.: They say that Kundalini must be roused before Realisation and that its

awakening makes the body feel hot. Is that so?

 

 

 

M.: The yogis call it Kundalini Sakti. It is the same as vritti1 of the

form of God (Bhagavatakara vritti) of the bhaktas and vritti of the form of

Brahman (Brahmakara vritti) of the jnanis. It must be preliminary to

Realisation. The sensation produced may be said to be hot.

 

 

 

D.: Kundalini is said to be of the shape of a serpent but vrittis cannot be

so.

 

 

 

M.: The Kundalini of jnana marga is said to be the Heart, which is also

described in various ways as a network of nadis, of the shape of a serpent,

of a lotus bud, etc.

 

 

 

D.: Is this Heart the same as the physiological heart?

 

 

 

M.: No, Sri Ramana Gita defines it as the origin of the 'I-thought'.

 

 

 

D.: But I read that it is on the right of the chest.

 

 

 

M.: It is all meant to help the bhavana (imagery). There are books dealing

with six centres (shadchakra) and many other lakshyas (centres), internal

and external. The description of the Heart is one among so many lakshyas.

But it is not necessary. It is only the source of the 'I-thought'. That is

the ultimate truth.

 

 

 

D.: May we take it to be the source of the antahkaranas?

 

 

 

M.: The inner organs (antakaranas) are classified as five: (1) Knowledge -

Jnana; (2) Mind -Manas; (3) Intellect -Buddhi; (4) Memory -Chitta; and (5)

The ego - Ahankara; some say only the latter four; others say only two,

namely (1) Manas, mind and (2) Ahankara, the ego; still others say the

Antahkarana is only one whose different functions make it appear differently

and hence its different names. Heart is thus the source of the Antahkaranas.

There is the body which is insentient; there is the Self which is eternal

and self-luminous; in between the two there has arisen a phenomenon, namely

the ego, which goes under these different names, mind (manas), intellect

(buddhi), memory (chitta), the ego (ahankara), power (sakti),

 

 

 

1. vritti = mode of mind life current (prana), etc. Seek your source; the

search takes you to the Heart automatically. The antahkaranas are only ideas

(kalpana) to explain the subtle body (sukshma sarira). The physical body

(sarira) is made up of the elements: earth, air, fire, water and ether; it

is insentient. The Self is pure and self-luminous and thus self-evident. The

relation between the two is sought to be established by positing a subtle

body, composed of the subtle aspects of the five elements on the one hand,

and the reflected light of the Self on the other. In this way the subtle

body which is synonymous with the mind, is both sentient and insentient,

i.e., abhasa. Again, by the play of the pure quality (satva guna) on the

elements, their brightness (satva aspect) manifests as the mind (manas), and

the senses (jnanendriyas); by the play of rajas (active quality), the raja

(active) aspect manifests as life (prana) and limbs (karmendriyas); by the

play of dullness (tamas) the tama (dark) aspect manifests as the gross

phenomena of the body, etc.

 

 

 

D.: But the mind is reputed to have these three qualities also.

 

 

 

M.: Yes. There is purity (satva) in satva (in the pure quality); activity

in it (rajas in satva); and dullness also (tamas in satva); and so on,

Suddha satva is quite pure; misra (mixed satva) is a combination

 

 

 

of satva with other qualities. The quality satva implies only its

predominance over the other two qualities. Later Sri Bhagavan continued:

The intricate maze of philosophy of different schools is said to clarify

matters and reveal the Truth. But in fact they create confusion where no

confusion need exist. To understand anything there must be the Self. The

Self is obvious. Why not remain as the Self? What need to explain the

non-self?

 

 

 

Take the Vedanta for instance: They say there are fifteen kinds of prana.

The student is made to commit the names to memory and also their functions.

The air goes up and is called prana; goes down and is called apana; operates

the indriyas and is called something. Why all this? Why do you classify,

give names and enumerate the functions, and so on? Is it not enough to know

that one prana does the whole work?

 

 

 

The antahkarana thinks, desires, wills, reasons, etc., and each function is

attributed to one name such as mind, intellect, etc. Has anyone seen the

pranas or the antahkaranas? Have they any real existence? They are mere

conceptions. When and where will such conceptions end? Consider the

following: A man sleeps. He says on waking that he slept. The question is

asked: 'Why does he not say in his sleep that he is sleeping?' The answer

is given that he is sunk in the Self and cannot speak, like a man who has

dived in water to bring out something from the bottom. The diver cannot

speak under water; when he has actually recovered the articles he comes out

and speaks. Well, what is the explanation?

 

 

 

Being in water, water will flow into his mouth if he were to open the mouth

for speaking. Is it not simple? But the philosopher is not content with this

simple fact. He explains, saying that fire is the deity presiding over

speech; that it is inimical to water and therefore cannot function! This is

called philosophy and the learners are struggling to learn all this! Is it

not a sheer waste of time? Again the Gods are said to preside over the limbs

and senses of the individual (vyashti). They are the limbs and senses of

Virat (samashti). So they go on explaining Hiranyagarbha, etc. Why should

confusion be created and then explained away? Ah! Fortunate is the man who

does not involve himself in this maze!

 

 

 

I was indeed fortunate that I never took to it. Had I taken to it, I would

probably be nowhere - always in confusion. My purva vasanas (former

tendencies) directly took me to the enquiry "Who am I?" It was indeed

fortunate!

 

 

 

11th April, 1937

 

 

 

 

 

--

 

 

Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.12.4/146 - Release 10/21/2005

[Guest guest]

I believe it means "psyche".

 

On 10/22/05 1:31 AM, "Linda Sherman" <lsherm wrote:

 

>

>> Can anyone tell me, please, what exactly is the Antakarana?

>

[Guest guest]

mahatman,

 

If you will practice introspection surely you get answer.

 

Unnikrishnan

 

"Ibrahim." <konyatogo wrote:

 

Can anyone tell me, please, what exactly is the Antakarana?

 

If I could, I would live forever at the beautiful of the Maharishi.

 

Ibrahim.

[Guest guest]

RamanaMaharshi, "Linda Sherman" <lsherm@s...>

wrote:

>

>

> > Can anyone tell me, please, what exactly is the Antakarana?

>

Thank you all for answers, I will look inside for clarification,

depending upon Him for light.

 

Ibrahim.

[Guest guest]

Dear Ibrahim,

 

Below is the definition of Antahkarana from the Encyclopedic

Theosophical Glossary:

 

*Antahkarana* (Sanskrit) [from /antar/ interior, within +

/karana/ sense organ] Interior organ or instrument; defined

variously as the seat of thought and feeling, the thinking

faculty, the heart, mind, soul, and conscience. In Vedanta

philosophy, it is looked upon as a fourfold inner instrument

or intermediary between spirit and body, with mind being the

go-between or bridge. One could say that there are several

antahkaranas in the human septenary constitution: one for

every path or bridge between any two monadic centers. Man is

a unity in diversity, and the antahkaranas are the links of

vibrating consciousness-substance uniting these various centers

(cf OG 5). Blavatsky describes it as "the path that lies between

thy Spirit and thy self, the highway of sensations, the rude

arousers of /Akankara/" (the sense of egoity); and that when

the two have merged into the One and the personal sacrificed to

self impersonal, then the antahkarana vanishes because no longer

useful as a functioning bridge between the two. Further, the

antankarana is "the lower /Manas/, the Path of communication

or communion between the personality and the higher /Manas/ or

human Soul. At death it is destroyed as a Path or medium of

communication, and its remains survive in a form as the

/Kamarupa/ -- the 'shell' " (VS 56, 88-9).

 

Antahkarana also has the general sense of an intermediary between

something or someone that is low to one that is high. Every

messenger of truth and light is an antahkarana between the Masters

of Wisdom and mankind. Likewise every great and good man or woman

is an antahkarana between humanity and the spiritual essence of

his or her own inner god. A person living in the noblest and

loftiest part of his being, becomes such a bridge between the

spiritual realm he is in touch with and all other entities and

things contacted by him which belong to human life.

 

Regards,

saidevo

 

 

RamanaMaharshi, "Ibrahim." <konyatogo> wrote:

>

>

> Can anyone tell me, please, what exactly is the Antakarana?

>

> If I could, I would live forever at the beautiful of the Maharishi.

>

> Ibrahim.

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you, you are all so very kind. I will tell you why I needed to

know.

 

It was only months ago that I came to 'know' Him, I thought then "Why

has it taken me so long, 75 years, to fnd Bhagavan, and the Holy

Hill, Arunachala." I am a Sufi, a Dervish, and I have a Shaykha (a

teacher) whose husband pointed me to the that Beloved One by asking

me a question, he said to me one day "Ibrahim, who are you, look

inside yourself and you will find out who you are, it is there in

your heart." It was then I found Bhagavan.

One day before he asked that question I turned on my PC monitor and a

desktop background appeared which I did not put there, filling the

entire screen was an image of the Antahkarana, for a while I tried

all means to remove it, but it would not go, it left of it's own

accord later. I rather think, it was then He was drawing me to Him, I

have realised since that He was there even before I was born, and

before that, always He was there, now, and for eons to come He will

be there.

 

Thank you again for the explanations.

 

Om.

 

Ibrahim.

 

 

RamanaMaharshi, "saidevo" <saidevo> wrote:

>

> Dear Ibrahim,

>

> Below is the definition of Antahkarana from the Encyclopedic

> Theosophical Glossary:

>

> *Antahkarana* (Sanskrit) [from /antar/ interior, within +

> /karana/ sense organ] Interior organ or instrument; defined

> variously as the seat of thought and feeling, the thinking

> faculty, the heart, mind, soul, and conscience. In Vedanta

> philosophy, it is looked upon as a fourfold inner instrument

> or intermediary between spirit and body, with mind being the

> go-between or bridge. One could say that there are several

> antahkaranas in the human septenary constitution: one for

> every path or bridge between any two monadic centers. Man is

> a unity in diversity, and the antahkaranas are the links of

> vibrating consciousness-substance uniting these various centers

> (cf OG 5). Blavatsky describes it as "the path that lies between

> thy Spirit and thy self, the highway of sensations, the rude

> arousers of /Akankara/" (the sense of egoity); and that when

> the two have merged into the One and the personal sacrificed to

> self impersonal, then the antahkarana vanishes because no longer

> useful as a functioning bridge between the two. Further, the

> antankarana is "the lower /Manas/, the Path of communication

> or communion between the personality and the higher /Manas/ or

> human Soul. At death it is destroyed as a Path or medium of

> communication, and its remains survive in a form as the

> /Kamarupa/ -- the 'shell' " (VS 56, 88-9).

>

> Antahkarana also has the general sense of an intermediary between

> something or someone that is low to one that is high. Every

> messenger of truth and light is an antahkarana between the Masters

> of Wisdom and mankind. Likewise every great and good man or woman

> is an antahkarana between humanity and the spiritual essence of

> his or her own inner god. A person living in the noblest and

> loftiest part of his being, becomes such a bridge between the

> spiritual realm he is in touch with and all other entities and

> things contacted by him which belong to human life.

>

> Regards,

> saidevo

>

>

> RamanaMaharshi, "Ibrahim." <konyatogo>

wrote:

> >

> >

> > Can anyone tell me, please, what exactly is the Antakarana?

> >

> > If I could, I would live forever at the beautiful of the

Maharishi.

> >

> > Ibrahim.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

List Moderator's Message: Please delete all unnecessary portions of the

previous message when replying to posts - as was done in the message below.

Thank you for your co-operation.

-------------------------------

 

Dear Ibrahim,

 

If you have spiritual access to Bhagvan Ramana, you are very

lucky, and your spiritual progress will accelerate. God bless

you.

 

Regards,

saidevo

 

 

RamanaMaharshi, "Ibrahim." <konyatogo> wrote:

>

> Thank you, you are all so very kind. I will tell you why I needed to

> know.

<snip>