The perception of oneness in the pluralistic world

Sarva bhoothastham atmanam sarvabhoothani cha atmani |

Eekshathe yogayukthatma sarvatra samadarshinah || 6.29 ||

"With the mind harmonised by YOGA he sees the Self abiding in all beings, and all beings in the Self; he sees the same everywhere."

Yo mam pashyathi sarvatra sarvam cha mayi pashyathi |

Tashya aham na pranashyami sa cha me na pranashyathi || 6.30 ||

"He who sees Me everywhere, and sees everything in Me, he never gets separated from Me, nor do I get separated from him."

Sarvabhootha sthitham yo mam bhajathekatwamasthitah |

Sarvatha varthamanopi sayogi mayi varthathe || 6.31 ||

"He who, being established in unity, worships Me, dwelling in all beings, that YOGI abides in Me, whatever be his mode of living."

Atmaoupamyena sarvatra samam pashyathi yo arjuna |

Sukham vaa yadhi vaa dukham sa yogi paramo mathah || 6.32 ||

"He who, through the likeness (sameness) of the Self, O Arjuna, sees equality everywhere, be it pleasure or pain, he is regarded as the highest YOGI."

Meaning:

The man of perfect self-knowledge, is not merely one who realized his own divinity, but is also one who has equally understood and has come to live in an experience of the divinity inherent in all creatures, without any distinction whatsoever. The awareness in us is the awareness everywhere in all names and forms. To contact the infinite in us, is to contact the Eternal everywhere. Just as the mud in all mud-pots, the gold in all gold ornaments, the ocean in all waves, the electricity in all bulbs, the Self is the Essence in entire world of objects.

The meditator, on transcending his intellect, becomes the Self, and to the Self there is nothing but the Self everywhere. To the mud, there are no pot; to the gold, there are no ornaments separate from itself. Such a Perfect One, who has realized the Unity in the world of diversity, can afford to entertain the equality of vision in all circumstances and conditions. On transcending the intellect, the experience of the ego is not that it sees or perceives the Eternal but that it discovers itself in essence to be nothing but the Self(Shivoham). The dreamer, on awakening, himself becomes the waker, the dreamer can never see the waker as separate from himself.

The Lord also says that, not only the seeker come to feel the Self-hood, But I, the Self, become one with him. An actor playing the part of a beggar, is not really a beggar. The moment he drops the part he is playing, he becomes what in fact he is. In fact, even while he was playing his role, he was not a beggar. Work, in fact, can be performed only when the worker is established in the Self. Such an individual, whatever be his activities in the external world, ever established in Self through a conscious awareness of the Self. He can maintain his divine consciousness in all states of existence, in all conditions of life and under all happy or unhappy circumstances. Everything experienced in the gross world outside, and in the subtle realm within, is nothing but an emanation from the Eternal Self.

The Yogi, after his experience of the Self, comes to recognise the whole world as nothing but himself. As all the limbs and parts of one's body are equally dear to an individual, one can easily experience one's intimate identity with all the different parts of the body. If your tongue were to be accidentally bitten by your own teeth, you would never think of punishing the teeth for the crime they had done, for, both IN the tongue and IN the teeth you pervade equally. Such an individual, who has in his realisation come to feel the entire universe as his own form, is called a true Yogi.

My meaning:

The true Yogi, experiences the Self everywhere, in everything, in every circumstances. He comes to realize the Self in everything, and everything in Self. With the pure awareness this can be experienced. We are all part of the that big ocean, the Self. For everything happening good or bad, we are only responsible since one wave affects the other wave in the big ocean. If we give pain to others, it also hurts us and if we share the happiness, we also feel happy, why? Why because we are all connected in inner world. So If we realize this, there is no more wars, no more complaints about others, no more sorrows, all these are ended. The true Yogi experience the Self in all circumstances,equally in pleasure or pain. He accepts everything as they are. If we realize this truth, we are free from ego, and liberated ones.

Stages of Progress accomplished through Dhyana Yoga

Yada viniyatham chittam atman eva vathishtathe |

Nihspruhah sarva kamebyo yuktha ithi uchchyathe tadha || 6.18 ||

"When the perfectly controlled mind rests in the Self only, free from longing for all (objects of) desire, then it is said: "he is united" (YUKTAH) ."

Yatha deepo nivathastho nengathe sopamasmrutha |

Yogino yatha chittasya yunjatho yagam atmanah || 6.19 ||

" As a lamp placed in a windless place does not flicker" --- is a simile used to describe the YOGI of controlled-mind, practising YOGA of the Self (or absorbed in th e YOGA -of-the-Self) .

Yatroparamate chittam niruddham yogasevaya |

Yatra chaiva atman atmaanam pasyan atmani tushtathi || 6.20 ||

"When the mind, restrained by the practice of YOGA, attains quietude and when seeing the Self by the self, he is satisfied in his own Self;"

Sukham athyanthikam yaththath buddhi grahyam athindriyam |

Veththi yatra na chaivayam sthitashchalathi taththvanthah || 6.21 ||

"When he (the YOGI ) feels that Infinite bliss --- which can be grasped by the (pure) intellect and which transcends the senses --- wherein established he never moves from the Reality;"

Yam labdhva chaparam labham manyathe na adhikam tatah |

Yasmimsthitho na dhukhena gurunapi vichalyathe || 6.22 ||

"Which, having obtained, he thinks there is no other gain superior to it; wherein established, he is not moved even by heavy sorrow."

Tam vidhyah dhukha samyoga viyogam yogasamjitham |

Sa nishchayena yuktavvyo yogoh nirvinana chethasa || 6.23 ||

" Let it be known: the severance from the union-with-pain is YOGA. This YOGA should be practised with determination and with a mind steady and undespairing."

Sankalpa prabhavaan kamamsthyaktva sarvaanasheshathah |

Manassaivendriya gramam viniyamya samam tathah || 6.24 ||

"Abandoning without reserve all desires born of SANKALPA, and completely restraining the whole group of senses by the mind from all sides."

Shanaishanairuparame udhbudhdhya dhruthi gruhitaya |

Atmasanstam manah krutwa na kinchith api chinthayeth || 6.25 ||

"Little by little, let him attain quietude by his intellect, held firm; having made the mind established in the Self, let him not think of anything."

Yatho yatho nishcharathi manah chanchalam asthiram |

Tathah tatho niyamaith atmanaiva vasham nayeth || 6.26 ||

"From whatever cause the restless and the unsteady mind wanders away, from that let him restrain it, and bring it back under the control of the Self alone."

My understanding:

The mind which is perfectly controlled, is not interested in type of enjoyment. It is only established in Self. Thus any person having such type of mind is named as Yogi. He is free from all longing behind desires of enjoyment. He always rests only in Bhrahman. Here desires in themselves are not dangerous and actually they will not bring sorrow unto us. But our clinging to those desires brings the pain in the life. The Geetha only advises us to renounce yearnings for all objects of desires. The limited and finite sense-objects, agitate the mind, while the unlimited and infinite Self brings peace and joy into it.

Thus for a Yogi, any type of attractions in the world, can not attract him, in any ways. His mind is like a lamp of Light, which is placed in a windless place. It will not get flickered. Here, the example of flame is appropriate because, mind is also fickle and unsteady like a tip of the flame. Thoughts appear in the mind, every second like a continuous stream, and these constant thought distrurbances gives the apprehension of a solid factor called the mind. Similarly, the tip of the flame also is never constant, but the flickering is so fast that, it gives the illusion of a definite shape and solidity.

When this flame is protected from the wind, it becomes steady. In the same fashion, the mind should be protected from the constant flowing thoughts. If this is accomplished by an individual, then such an individual is called Yogi, and he has a fully integrated personality.

For such a person, what would be the Stages of progress accomplished? This is described below.

When the mind is under control, because of constant Yoga-Practices, then it sees self by the self and attains peace and bliss in its own self. In that silence it gains the experience of the 'self'. so he is satisfied in his own self.

This Bliss of Self recognition is perceivable only through the pure intellect. When he feels that infinite bliss, by controlling/transcending the senses, he never moves back from reality. He rests in reality. He never gets disturbed in the world.

When he attains this state, he thinks that, there is no other thing to gain superior than this. When he established in this state, he never get disturbed by any type of sorrow and sufferings.

Thus one should know that, "This method of separating from the union with the pain is called Yoga". This Yoga should be practiced with determination and steady mind. To get detached from the mechanism of perceptions, feelings and thoughts, would naturally be the total detachment from the pain. Krishna here insists, "The yoga is to be practiced with an Eager and Decisive Mind". To get away from the limited objects and their joys, one have to enter the realm of Bliss which is the Self. This is the Yoga.

Krishna further gives some instructions regarding Yoga are explained here.

Renouncing the all desires fully by the mind, one can control all the sense-organs from their sense-objects. Even the desire for this perfection in the Yoga, is to be, in end, totally renounced. Once this this renounciation of all disturbing desires has been accomplished, the individual's mind gains strength, to assert itself. When the seeker attains quietude as a result of his withdrawal from the world of sense-objects, slowly, the mind gains more and more quietude.

With the pure intellect and patience, the mind is to be controlled and rested in the contemplation of the 'Self'. The mind is "Thought-Flow', therefore the constant thought of the Nature of the 'Self' is to be exercise for the mind, by which mind should be restrained by the intellect. He should not think of any other thing other than 'self', when once he has reached this state of peace within.

The mind is, by its very nature, "restless" and "unsteady". Every seeker realize this nature of mind, when it wanders away from the point. So Krishna instructs here that, "whatever be the reason because of which the restless and unsteady mind wanders away, the seeker is not to despair, but should understand that it is the nature of the mind to wander, and that the process of mediation is only a technique to stop wandering. Then he should bring his mind back under the control of self alone. His mind should be applied in the contemplation of the self alone. "