Fw: SOME THOUGHTS ON ATMA---4

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----- Forwarded Message ----G Balasubramanian <gbsubviprasamhitha (AT) googl (DOT) comSent: Sunday, August 30, 2009 9:33:54 PMSOME THOUGHTS ON ATMA---4

Dear friends,Great seers of Bharath(India)advise us to separate the pure innermost Self(Atma) from the enveloping sheaths through discriminative thinking, just as we separate rice bran and husk from the paddy by thrashing with a pestle. By withdrawing our identification with the matter layers

we can regain our real and true nature of the Atman. The thrashing or pounding of the paddy suggess a comparison to the hard and gruelling experiences in the world which makes us more mature and introvert in life. Thus gradually, we

come to detach ourselves from the physical body and the external world. When our mind turns introvert and if we take to discriminative self-analysis and logical thinking, we recognise the pure Atman beyond the layers of matter. With the help of the discriminatory faculty we should distinguish the real from the unreal. Thereby the individual gets dexterity in withdrawing his mind from the unreal. Agjnaanena aavritam gyanam tena muhyanti jantavah says the Bagavad Gita. It means that the real is veiled by the unreal and so the creatures suffer delusion. For achieving such an intelligent discrimination, we need to possess what is known as

Vyavasaayaatmic Buddhi or one-pointed determination as again, the Gita declares.

 

Even though Atman is always all-pervading(Sada Sarvagatah), it does not manifest everywhere. It manifests only in the intellect like a reflection in an immaculate surface. Buddhi is to Atman what a reflecting medium is to the Sun. Sunlight is all-pervading. It falls everywhere but the reflection of the Sun`s rays take place only in a reflecting surface. When a reflecting medium is covered with dust or when it is disturbed , the reflection is not clear or is distorted. Similarly, when the intellect is veiled by ignorance or when the mind is agitated, the Atman expressing through the thoughts is also disturbed. When ignorance is removed from the intellect and the agitations are subdued, then in a perfectly serene and tranquil mind, the Atman is recognised. Atman is said to be recognised objectively through the intellect. Intellect is

the last equipment which man utilises to come in contact with the Atma. Here buddhi does not refer to the sense-bound intellect which is conditioned by the waking state, but that buddhi which has the light of Atma playing upon it. Gita pronounces Atma as Buddhigrayhyam Ateendriyam. It means "grasped by the intellect but beyond the senses". Buddhi refers to the philosophical reasoning faculty. Vedanta holds that Buddhi or pure intellect is man`s most precious possession and that it should be kept bright and pure and that nothing should be indulged in, which weakens or destroys it.

 

(to be continued)

 

G.Balasubramanian