Closing remarks at Adhyasa Bashya Retreat, Jan 2019,
by Zarina Kaji
HariH om Swaminiji
Harih om everyone.
Our short yet very enjoyable time with you Swamini is coming to an end and I speak on behalf of everyone here ,that it has indeed been a weekend of
gaining many insights into the teachings of Vedanta. Swamini ,your teaching is succinct and easily understandable with some examples we have heard before and many others which were new. You shed light on principles of Satyam and Mithya with examples like the shadow of yourself and yourself. You kept us engaged with your humor and rhymes always getting back to the point you were making with finesse and skill, like our dear Pujya Swamiji. With the study of the Adhyasa Bhashya from the Brahmasutra, we learnt to break the associated, patterned thinking that plagues our mind and instead cultivate clear thinking by staying in the present moment.
With clarity, we understand the need to create space between ourself, the atma, and the mind the anatma and not permit it to take us for a ride. Your explanation of the Purvapakshi as being none other than our own unconscious duality lurking in our minds, often shrouded by our shradhha was an “ah ha” moment for myself. i used to think that the purvapakshis were other people who only wanted to stir up conflicts and create misunderstanding., I stand corrected with your explanation. Your apt descriptions of the purusharthas of Dharma, arsha and kama which all ultimately resolve into the purushartha for Maksha is reassuring to us who are here on this path., to understand that Moksha is a sidhha vastu , praptasya PraptiH, not requiring action or effort ., just understanding.
You clarified for us the nature of the imminent Sat as the all pervading presence of Brahman in the jagat and the trancedental Sat which is asanga and remains untouched.
That the imminent Sat along with Maya Shakti manifests as the jagat which is Mithya but in reality is none other than the Trancedental Sat which is asanga and the truth of all, the Atma. Thus proving that Satyam and Mithya belong to two orders of reality and have nothing in common.
In meditation we contemplated, the glory of the Ishwara as the marvelous Creator of the physiological and physical order of our bodies and minds. May we learn to accept and surrender to the infallible order that is Ishwara, regarding events in our lives, our relationships and see the dissolution of the hrdaya granthi in our hearts as we see more and more of Ishwara and less and less of the “i.” You taught us not to take our selves so seriously., Knowing all this is the insidious adhyasa and not the Truth., understanding the collective power of avarna and vikshepa of Maya Shakti. The Jiwa’s vikshepa Shakti being adhyasa. The unconscious mind with frozen childhood needs, is the source of the avarna shakti in the jiwa.
On the collective level, we must remove the avarna and on the individual level we need to remove the projection or vikshepa. We are grateful and fortunate to be here to reconcile our inner child ‘s unmet needs. May we see the error of our ways by knowing that the aham and idam are at two separate levels on reality., that aham and Idam can never be the same.,
With the classic rope snake example, you showed us the power of adhyasa with the äaropa of the snake in the adhishthana, the rope. Similarly, for the jiwatma, the adhyasa is on the Sat Chit Ananda atma because we project the anatma attributes upon the infinite atma as the atma ni anatma adhyasa. Similarly there is the adhyasa of anatmani atma adhyasa where we project the infinite on the finite. Th Adhyasa disappears once the truth of the rope is known., In Gyana adhyasa, once the doership disappears, like in a gyani who knows the truth as Sat chit Ananda atma, but who may as though continue to function in vyavahara. Resolving this mix up is the atma gyanam which we are all seeking.
May we with your Guru Krupa know that Moksha is my SwarupaH and purnatvam my Reality. As our guru, you have shone the light of knowledge upon the adhyasa, the collectively projected false reality , that dispels the darkness of self ignorance.
We are indeed blessed and humbly bow down to your lotus feet with reverence and love as we continue our shravanam, mananam and nididhyasanam to sharpen and clarify our understanding of the shastra .