Kathy: I am right in the middle of some nidhidhyasana stuff: the Subtle Body having absorbed the knowledge of me being Existence Consciousness Bliss (studying not being a problem for me). But the body and vital forces not yet evolving at the same rhythm. The story of the fan still turning, while the button is off. I obviously still need more karma yoga with this body, to allow knowledge to be assimilated and personal control to be released. Sadhana is an amazing never-ending journey, whatever the itinerary you take!
Sundari: You cannot study Vedanta because it is who you are; it is not an object of knowledge. Self-knowledge, not the ‘studier’ removes ignorance in a purified and qualified mind dedicated to moksa. I know what you mean though, it does seem like sadhana is a never-ending journey from the jiva perspective. The nididhysana stage takes as long as it takes, there is no rushing it. However, self-inquiry does end once Self-knowledge actualizes and the jiva is finally and permanently negated by Self-knowledge. There is no sadhana for the Self, though the gunas still need to be managed for maximum peace of mind for the Subtle body, even though they are objects known to you.
It can seem like the Gross body is lagging behind in manifesting the assimilation of Self-knowledge, but the body does not assimilate knowledge or evolve, it is inert. It is simply a counter across which experience is transacted. The body does not experience directly because it is not conscious, although consciousness pervades every atom, so it appears to be conscious and to experience.
Kathy: I am confused about the connection between the Gross body and the Subtle body. Could you clarify it for me please?
Sundari: The Gross Body (and all it (apparently experiences) is an object known to you, Awareness. The body exists as a thought in the Subtle Body. In deep sleep, or when your attention is on a thought, a feeling, or an experience that does not involve the body, the Gross Body does not exist for you. The Gross body only exists for you in the waking state when you pay attention to it—such as when a pleasure or fear/pain thought appears in the mind. The Gross Body is called the sthula sharira in Sanskrit; it refers to the five elements because it is made up of them and sustained by them. It is basically just food. It is a means for Awareness to have contact with objects and to (apparently) experience pleasure and pain. The emphasis is on apparently because Awareness is not an experiencing entity but the knower of the experiencing entity, the jiva. The Gross body depends on the Subtle to exist but all the same, if the Gross body breaks down or is in pain, it affects the Subtle body (mind), as all experiences take place in the mind, even the ones that seem to come from the body.
The Subtle body has a similar relationship to the Gross Body as Consciousness has to mithya (the apparent reality). There is an interdependence from the jiva’s perspective—but not from Consciousness’s point of view because the body and Consciousness exist in different orders of reality. As you probably know, the Subtle body, which contains the Gross body, is mithya or apparently real (not always present and always changing) and Consciousness is satya, real (ever-present and unchanging). The Gross Body is ‘within’ the Subtle Body and the Subtle Body is ‘within’ Consciousness, in a manner of speaking, because there is nothing ‘in’ the Self. It is a partless whole.
The body you get comes from the Causal body and belongs to Isvara, who is called karma phala datta, which means “the one who delivers the fruits of the action”. It is subject to the momentum of past actions (prarabdha karma) which plays out as long as the jiva is alive. When prarabdha karma is finished, the body dies. But because the body is inert there is no karma for it. The karma seems to take place in the Gross body because it is “attached” to the Subtle Body, but karma is only ever “in” the Subtle Body, not the Gross body.
If we super-imposes what belongs to Isvara onto the individual or jiva then we are thinking as a person, not as Awareness. This means that you think the karma comes to you and therefore the suffering belongs to you—because you are identified with it. If you know that you are Awareness, you see the suffering taking place in the mind (Subtle Body). So, you are free of suffering, both mental and physical. There is no karma for an enlightened person (jnani) because they are the Self, not the jiva. When moksa has obtained ‘in’ the Subtle body, whatever the Gross body experiences is taken as prasad. Please note, again, I use the word ‘in’ the Subtle body in italics. Though actualizing Self-knowledge requires a functioning and purified Subtle body (mind) in which Self-knowledge has assimilated, moksa does not obtain anywhere. It is simply the removal of ignorance by Self-knowledge and the hard and fast recognition of your true nature as the unborn and undying Self.
It is auspicious to be born with a strong healthy Gross body as the Subtle body you get is the result of “good or bad” karma. Even once moksa has obtained it takes great dispassion and karma yoga to deal with chronic illness or any pain we can do nothing about. We can work with Isvara regarding illness and pain by our attitude to the thoughts that give rise to illness/pain and to the thoughts which come as a result of illness/pain. Coping with chronic illness or pain, which is rajas, makes the mind dull, tamasic. Even though it is difficult to maintain a sattvic mind when the body is suffering, it can be done with the right attitude and guna knowledge.
Kathy: I suddenly realised how important it was to include the love and the acceptance of the body, and how useless it is to realise “I’m Consciousness”, if it is not to honour this life and physical presence as a blessing.
Sundari: It is important to love the body we have, which means accepting it and taking appropriate care of it. But that still does not guarantee any particular result. Nothing does in mithya. The results of any action depend on the nature of the action and not necessarily on the state of mind of the person taking the action. It is possible to get a negative result from a positive action and vice versa. Very importantly, the results of actions also depend on the nature of the Field, i.e., Isvara. There is always something ‘wrong’ with the body, even when our lifestyle is perfect and we are experiencing good health. The body is not static but fluid, like a river, always changing and in a state of flux. Being a product of the gunas (prakriti) it is in a constant symbiotic relationship with the environment (Isvara). It seems like we all have a discrete body but in fact there is only one body and that is the five elements seemingly taking individual forms.
The body you had a year ago, a month ago, or yesterday is not the same body you have today because the gunas are always changing, constantly revolving; nothing in mithya ever stays the same. We have no control over it ultimately because Isvara is the final (and only) determiner of how healthy the body is or how long it will sustain life. The body is on loan to us we can and should love it while we surrender it to Isvara, who will take care of it. The right attitude, which is an attitude of gratitude for the gift of life ‘in a body’, is the best and sanest approach to the body and to life, along with a knowledge-based lifestyle. It is a privilege to be born with a human body because only in a human body can moksa obtain. And when the time is right, the body will be withdrawn and returned to the five elements from whence it came, and you as Awareness, will not be affected by that one bit.
When the five sheaths are accepted as is for what they are, ceding all control to Isvara, the body does what it does and is no longer a problem. Isvara, the factor known to Awareness that generates experience, is doing it all anyway. Isvara is not the same as Awareness, but it is not different from Awareness either. It is responsible for experience, not the jiva. And as I-Awareness, you don’t care. Why would you waste your time trying to control something that is already controlled by Isvara?
The prarabdha karma for the body is all in the pipeline anyway, there is no escaping it. Isvara is generating everything all the time. As Ramji says: ‘generate as you will, Lord. Go ahead! because it has nothing to do with me, Awareness! I’m just a witness!”’
That’s called freedom from experience, freedom from the jiva. Let God, let Isvara, whatever you want to call the factor that generates experience, generate experience, because it’s generating experience anyway whether you like it or not. Why concern yourself!? Certainly, love the body, it is an amazing piece of equipment, and not loving it shows such a lack of gratitude. Even though it can be difficult to love sometimes, what to do but accept it?
Love
Sundari
