For the attainment of Final Liberation while one is alive, the importance of having an adequate intellect is vital, as I have previously explained. When one’s intellect is not up to the task of reasoning properly about the Highest Reality or even about the teachings and practices supposedly leading to that Highest Reality, there will always be trouble in the form of everlasting confusion and wasted time on useless things. False guru-s and false or obsolete philosophies easily capture a lot of aspirants because they lack the right kind of intellect to reason from a spiritual viewpoint. I will show a series of examples in order to prove my point:
(1) In this first example, I am returning to the matter of the nonsensical philosophy known as Advaitavedānta. As I explained in the previous post, this system postulates that Brahma (the Highest Reality) is only Knowledge devoid of all activity. It is pure Consciousness, like a crystal, but without any type of activity. All activity comes from the illusory Māyā which is indescribable/indefinable. This Māyā projects the entire universe where there is really only Brahma. These statements look good to so many intellects, because they are not reasoning rightly. Many people have dedicated their entire lives to following these nonsensical teachings.
Reasoning adequately now: If the Highest Reality is only Knowledge or Consciousness devoid of any activity, what is the point of realizing It? Because when It is realized one will become completely pure but static like a crystal, with no capacity of action. What is the use of becoming like a statue then? It could sound funny, but I am speaking seriously. The funny thing comes from Advaitavedānta and its absurd statements. Also, if Brahma is only Knowledge, He is devoid of I-consciousness in the form of “I am”, i.e. He doesn’t know He exists. If someone says that Brahma, as declared by Advaitavedānta, knows that He exists, that is nonsensical too, because in order to experience “I am” there must be a constant self-referential movement in the form of “I am”. This self-referential awareness implies a subtle activity indeed, but if Brahma has no activity, He cannot be experiencing “I am” ever. So, what is the point of abandoning this state where one knows his own existence in order to embrace a Highest Reality who knows nothing about His own Existence? This is absolutely insane, but so many people still cannot notice the obvious flaw.
Besides, even Knowledge implies a subtle activity in the form of “I know”. Consequently, why to say that Brahma is only Knowledge devoid of any activity? If Brahma lacks activity, He has no I-consciousness, and if He has no I-consciousness then He doesn’t realize He exists. In this way, He is Knowledge but at the same time He does not know He exists. Who could postulate this? Someone joking evidently. Most aspirants do not perceive these holes in the theory of Advaitavedānta since the system looks impressive. It is extremely scholarly and complex. Anyway, if a great tree endowed with myriads of branches has rotten roots, it will fall quickly if you know where to strike. One’s ax must always hit the roots, not the branches.
Next, there is this indescribable/indefinable Māyā which is as elusive as a squirrel. If Māyā is a power of Brahma, then she must be describable or definable because she should be Real as Brahma. And if it is not a power of Brahma, she does not exist at all. In this last case, what is the use of worrying about a Māyā that does not exist? The statement “Māyā is indescribable/indefiniable” was merely a way to escape a philosophical problem located at the root itself of this nonsensical system called Advaitavedānta. If the founder of the system had postulated, from the very start, that Brahma has activity, the entire question (philosophical acrobatics) about an indescribable/indefinable Māyā would have been unnecessary.
(2) Continuing with this divine joke called Advaitavedānta, this system states that with the dawn of Knowledge, Māyā vanishes and the universe (the illusory outcome of Māyā) is annulled. Though the teaching looks impressive, it is false. Listen up:
Reasoning adequately now: There are people saying that Advaitavedānta does not specify that the universe is thoroughly “unreal” but rather it is “relatively real”. So, the word “illusory” would mean “relatively real” then. There is an entire theory showing this truth, which was written by the very founder of the system. Anyway, the main point is not dealt with properly yet, viz. “Brahma has no activity”. As this is so, the philosophical hole is merely patched but not definitively fixed. Returning to the matter of the universe being annulled. The founder of Advaitavedānta was an enlightened/liberated sage. Then, on his attainment of Final Liberation the entire universe would have been annulled with the emergence of Knowledge in him. However, there is still universe messing around here. How is this possible? And if the founder could not achieve Final Liberation, how is it supposed that there were other saints who attained Final Liberation by following his philosophy? Even if this crazy situation was possible, these liberated sages would have annulled the universe through their own attainment of Final Liberation several times over the centuries. Anyway, the universe is still here. This shows another flaw in this strange philosophical system, right?
Adequate reasoning is necessary for people who still haven’t attained Final Liberation and are desirous to do so, or else for people who are liberated but need to present arguments to people who are not still liberated (e.g. a gurú teaching his disciples). Nonetheless, in the experience of a liberated one it is completely obvious that Final Liberation as postulated by Advaitavedānta is thoroughly untrue. I am not speaking through the minds of others here, but I have direct experience about the Truth. I never saw the universe being annulled that way in my entire life. Has somebody else seen that happening? NO. Every time one uses his memory to remember, there is always universe, whether in the form of multiples objects and beings in wakefulness, or in the form of objects and beings seen in dreams, or even in the form of a void during deep sleep. Whether the universe is full of objects and beings in waking/dreaming or devoid of them in deep sleep, it remains “a universe”. Nobody can remember a moment when there was not any universe. Try it now and see this truth by yourself.
As one is the Eternal Self who is always endowed with Freedom and Bliss, one can never remember a state where the universe was absent. Why? Because the universe is his own Body, it is his own Power appearing in that way. As the Self is never separate from His own Power, the presence of the universe is constant. Even if one travels to paradise, that paradise is also “universe”. There is no way to escape the universe then, and why should the Self (oneself) do that in the first place when all this universe is nothing but the blissful Play of His own Power? But even if the universe could be withdrawn by this Power of the Self someday, the very Power would remain as I-consciousness in the Core of Reality. This I-consciousness is a subtle activity anyway. Therefore, the Self (Brahma) is never without any activity. Brahma as postulated by Advaitavedānta simply does not exist. The entire question about getting rid of the universe somehow only emerges in the minds of people who are not mature enough to understand what real Final Liberation is. As I will explain later on, Final Liberation is not getting rid of the universe but rather seeing it as the Self and the Self alone. This truth is established by Trika and supported by my own experience.
The founder of Advaitavedānta is a real saint who is considered to be an incarnation of Śiva Himself. Consequently, it was lastly Śiva who created this system as a sort of booby trap in order to hide the Truth from the fools. The very Śiva who set the trap is now deactivating it. And all that people who have dedicated their entire lives to worship that trap which is now deactivated, are gently invited to join Trika. In this way, they will finally get Liberation. Real Final Liberation and not that mayic mockery. If they want to keep trying to get Final Liberation through Advaitavedānta, they will not get anything at all because the entire system is now deactivated. This has not been a human act but a divine one that emerged spontaneously from the Core of Reality. I am speaking the truth. Enough of revealing this for now!
(3) Patañjali’s Yoga postulates that in order to get Final Liberation, one must go through eight limbs or stages (hence the system is also known as Aṣṭāngayoga or Eight-limbed Yoga). Aphorism II.29 of the celebrated Patañjali’s Yogasūtra-s states which these stages are:
Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna (and) Samādhi (are) the eight limbs –aṅga– (of Yoga)||29||
The Sanskrit names of the eight limbs mean: Restraints, Observances, Posture, Suspension of the flow of inhalation and exhalation, Withdrawal of the powers of perception and action, Concentration, Meditation and Perfect Concentration (Trance). I have great respect for this philosophical system founded by Patañjali, but now it requires urgent review because it is obsolete. Yes, in the West it is very popular, especially because the vast majority of people practicing it have no real idea of what they are doing, and I am not joking. If this system were to be taught and practiced to the letter, only a few could go through the first two stages, viz. Yama and Niyama (5 Restraints and 5 Observances). The five Restraints are: non-injury (generally translated as non-violence), veracity, abstention from stealing, continence and non-possession. The five Observances are: cleanliness, contentment, austerity or penance, study and recitation of sacred scriptures, and devotion to the (Supreme) Lord. The reader can “read” a complete explanation of the meaning of those 10 practices from the very commentary composed by the sage Vyāsa.
This system is Saccit, i.e. Final Liberation is postulated as a state where the Self remains as Existence (Sat) and Consciousness (Cit), but there is no Bliss. In other words, Liberation is complete absence of suffering but with no Supreme Joy. One can undertake the study of this system in order to get Final Liberation but if he reasons adequately he will notice that the very system shuts itself from the very start.
Reasoning adequately now: Restraints and Observances imply that the disciple must be almost a sage right from the beginning, which is almost impossible at this time due to the very low quality of the aspirants. One can take just one Restraint to see my point. For example: non-violence… better not because this lifts the bar too high, right? Let us take, for example, “veracity”. In order to be really truthful under all circumstances, a person must have a solid “I” that is able to vanquish the constant mental tendency to lie. But how will this be possible when the aspirant is just starting and he is a rookie in spirituality then? This is nonsensical. NO, I am not saying that this system is nonsense like Advaitavedānta… NO, because Patañjali’s Yoga contains great truths and is very uplifting in all respects despite its description of Final Liberation is a little limited in comparison to that postulated by Trika, where there is presence of Supreme Bliss. Anyway, there is something wrong with those Restraints and Observances getting in one’s way from the very starting point. The current teachers of this system will say that Restraints and Observances will have to be mastered gradually as one advances through the rest of limbs such as Posture, Concentration, etc., but this is not what Patañjali formulated in his celebrated aphorisms.
As you can see, Restraints and Observances turn into a formidable barrier for most aspirants nowadays. A great deal of the followers of this system are really practicing Ṣaḍaṅgayoga or “Six-limbed Yoga”, because the first two limbs of the original Aṣṭāngayoga are simply too much. And there you can see them practicing and practicing concentration, meditation, etc., but the requirements (5 Restraints and 5 Observances) to practice all that were never met. So, all their effort will go nowhere in the long run, because they missed the target at the very beginning. For example, coming back to “Veracity” (Truthfulness)… if the aspirant is sincere, he will notice that he cannot stop lying every time he says: “I” (e.g. I love, I want, I hate, I have, I opine, etc.). An aspirant has no “real I” consciously realized, but rather a mass of changing thoughts which he ignorantly call “I”. That is why he is an aspirant in search of Final Liberation. If he could be completely truthful at will, he would be already a liberated one and there would not be any need to practice Posture, Concentration, etc. in his case. This is completely absurd, isn’t it? Let alone if he has to be non-violent the whole day and night in order to meet the requirement called “non-injury”. The remaining 8 Restraints and Observances just make his burden even heavier till it becomes mission impossible.
As you can see, Patañjali’s Yoga looks good and certainly contains great truths, but it is obsolete for the current age. Why? Because it requires disciples in the category of real apostles from the start or no Posture, Concentration, etc. will be possible. Portions of this system are very valuable, but as a whole, if followed strictly from beginning to end, it is practically obsolete due to the very low quality of the current aspirants. It was designed for a different time, when people were wiser. The sage Patañjali has not merged into the Supreme Self completely but he lives in a higher world. I know this from my trances. Therefore, it is my sincere wish that he would be born again in this world to reformulate his old system in order to meet the current conditions of the aspirants.
(4) There are other two vedantic philosophical systems in India stating that Final Liberation will be:
“a) To live in the abode of Viṣṇu experiencing ineffable bliss all the time while one contemplates the form of God there by means of nonphysical eyes, b) to remain eternally separate from the Supreme Self but residing in one of the four levels of bliss.”
In the end, both systems are mostly dualistic and assign a form to God’s essential nature, which will be eternally contemplated by the aspirant when he achieves Final Liberation. You can get more knowledge about these two kinds of vedantic systems in First Steps (3) (read the section dealing with the last two types of Vedānta, qualified non-dualistic and dualistic ones).
Reasoning adequately now: I have direct experience of those higher spiritual worlds mentioned by those philosophies and they are completely real and extremely blissful. People there live in a state of joy that is really ineffable and beyond the understanding of a mere ordinary mind. There is no doubt about it. Still, to live there is not real Final Liberation because of the presence of dualism in the form of the Lord and oneself. The final Truth is always non-dual, such as those very systems affirm. So, why to retain a separate individuality when one attains that Truth. Besides, to establish that one will attain the non-dual Truth through dualistic methods is a contradiction in itself. Nobody can do that because if someone really attained the non-dual Truth, how could he have managed to remain separate from this Truth?
Therefore, the souls that are not truly liberated in the fullest sense of word still feel separate from their Lord. If they affirm to be completely liberated anyway, then either their Lord is not completely non-dual or they are wrong. This is a constant contradiction not only in these two types of dualistic Vedānta but in all dualistic systems. Also, dualistic systems in general are mostly too demanding regarding moral conditions in order to attain Final Liberation. For example: one should eat this and not that, one should have sex only for procreation and so on. There is an erroneous conception in all those demands: they consider that the aspirants to be capable of meeting all these requirements from the very start of their spiritual journey. But this is a common misconception. If these aspirants were really capable, they would not be aspirants, i.e. limited individuals in search of Final Liberation, but they would be almost liberated. If an aspirant could really meet all those requirements, he would not be a limited individual in the first place. The constant error in the form of considering limited individuals as capable is pretty usual on this planet. In the end, all those aspirants will look like they meet those demanding requirements, but none of them will be able to actually do it and the ghost called “lie” will emerge again. This explains why there are very often so many quarrels in spiritual communities based on dualism. Because aspirants are trying to be and do something they cannot at that stage. If they could be and do all that, they would already be like angels from the very beginning. Absurd.
When the burden on the back of the aspirants is already very heavy, they do not need philosophical systems putting more rocks there. The conditions should not be so strict at first or the guru-s will risk running out of pupils except for if everybody starts to lying and saying that they are meeting all those requirements. Nobody can reach the Truth through lies.
Nonetheless, in spite of the problems of all dualistic systems in general, I am not saying that they are completely untrue or nonsensical. NO. They contain great truths too, but they fall short always when it comes to the matter known as Final Liberation. The non-dual Truth can never be realized through dualistic methods. If someone thinks that he will be able to do so, he should continue trying and see by himself that his efforts will never bring about Final Liberation that way. It is about time and experience then.
(5) I have heard that people who follow dualistic systems very often raise the question of non-dualistic systems like Trika being very arrogant, because “how could one say that he is God and not to be arrogant?”
Reasoning adequately now: In the case of Trika system, that statement would be true if one aspirant was told that he is the Supreme Self, but next aspirant was told that he is not the Supreme Self. In this context, there would be dualism again in the form of one aspirant being the Supreme Self while the rest not being Him. This would be quite a flaw and a contradiction in itself as Trika inclines towards non-dualism and not dualism. Therefore, this never happens because Trika considers everybody to be the Supreme Self, even those who are not spiritual aspirants. Where is the arrogance then?
In fact, dualism is more arrogant because who are all these individuals that managed to remain separate from their Lord when this Lord is the only Inhabitant here? They are only arrogant people. This is again another divine Play of the Lord, of course. Dualism is His Play while non-dualism is the Truth.
(6) There are guru-s and schools of thought stating that Final Liberation is:
“To get rid of ego, mind, body and so forth”.
Next, one of those guru-s comes and says: “I am liberated while living”. This is extremely contradictory. Why?
Reasoning adequately now: In the universal manifestation there is a series of categories (Trika teaches that there are 36 categories while other systems specify 25 categories in general). The presence of one category, for instance “ego” (category 15) makes the existence of the next categories possible (e.g. mind, powers of perception, powers of action, etc.). The physical universe, physical body included, consists of the last five categories (categories 32 to 36). Consequently, if there is no ego, there will be no mind, no power of perception and even no physical world. If someone achieved Final Liberation while living in the form of “complete getting rid of ego, mind, body, etc.”, then how could he say that he got rid of all that without the presence of all that at the same time? It is as if someone says: “I have gotten rid of my tongue”. How could he say that in the first place? By using his tongue so, he “still” has a tongue after all.
Am I being clear enough? I meant that if one could say that he is liberated while living, he had to use his ego, powers of perception, powers of action, body, etc. in order to affirm that “he is liberated”. But he shouldn’t have any of that or there is contradiction with his concept of Final Liberation. How to get rid of ego, for example, and at the same time to retain ego in order to say that one is liberated while living? Therefore, all those guru-s stating that Final Liberation is “complete getting rid of from ego, mind, body, etc.” should either remain silent or change their concept of Final Liberation once and for all.
FFinal Liberation has nothing to do with getting rid of ego, mind, body, etc., but rather it’s realization that all those things are one’s own Self. When one realizes that all those categories (ego, mind, powers of perception, etc.) are the Self and the Self alone, he is really liberated whether he retains or discards his body in the process.
(7) Systems affirming that the Highest Reality is absolute Void.
Reasoning adequately now: If that is true, who perceived that absolute Void? There had to be “someone” perceiving it or that statement would have never arisen in the first place. If someone perceived the absolute Void, this Void is not complete because of the presence of that one perceiving it. In this way, absolute Void can never be proved, because if it were total Void there would be nobody perceiving it and in this case the entire question about an absolute Void would have never emerged. I have extensively dealt with this topic in previous articles and on my main website.
Besides, if the Highest Reality, i.e. the Supreme Self, were a Void, there would be problems with explaining the processes of memory because you would have one thought and then… Void… after that, you would have another thought and then… Void, and so on and forth. If that Void is a real Void, there would be no connection between one thought and the next one, and the entire process of memory would be impossible because one would forget everything at every instant due to the presence of an absolute Void in the middle of his thoughts. Oh yes, this is absolute senselessness because if there were no memory, one could not be an individual endowed with personality, etc. If there were no individual, there would not be any family, quarter, city, country, world, civilization! The entire thing is crazy, as you can see, and it is constantly proven wrong by facts. Anyway, there are “serious” systems still affirming that the Highest Reality is an absolute Void… and they have followers too!
And even if someone says that that Void is not complete Void really… but “a void”, then what is the point of making all these efforts in the form of daily concentration and meditation in order to attain a void that is naturally attained every night while one is in deep sleep? Total foolishness.
The truth is that the Highest Reality is not a real Void. It may look like that to most human beings since the Highest Reality is beyond their understanding. Still, there must be “Someone” between the thoughts, for example, in order to keep the thoughts united with each other. This “thread” in which all the thoughts are strung together like beads in a necklace, is the Self. He is not a void… not even the Void. NOT AT ALL! He is the Free and Blissful Lord who is the Core of everything. This is the way one should think about Him. Yes, the systems postulating that this Awesome Self is a Void are also as a kind of booby trap hiding the Truth from the fools. Oh well, the Play of this Supreme Lord is so amusing, you know.
(8) There could be an objection with reference to my criticism of Vedānta in the form of: “Are you saying that Upaniṣad-s, Bhagavadgītā and Brahmasūtra-s (also known as Vedāntasūtra-s) are wrong then?”
Reasoning adequately now: First of all, those scriptures form the three pillars on which Vedānta is essentially based. You can read a rather complete explanation of the topic in First Steps (2). Those scriptures are very ancient and they were composed many centuries before the foundations of the three kinds of Vedānta I was speaking about. The respective founders of these three philosophical systems who lived in the Middle Ages “interpreted” Upaniṣad-s, Bhagavadgītā and Brahmasūtra-s (also called Vedāntasūtra-s) according to their own viewpoints. In fact, more often than not there is even lack of agreement between these three medieval vedantic systems regarding important subject matter dealt with in Upaniṣad-s, Bhagavadgītā and Brahmasūtra-s. My criticism is directed toward these three sorts of medieval vedantic philosophies and NOT toward Upaniṣad-s, Bhagavadgītā and Brahmasūtra-s. Am I clear enough? Good!
(9) There is another common objection that some people devoid of strong knowledge about Trika very often raise: “In Trika, the Supreme Self is called Śiva. But Śiva is a demigod!”
Reasoning adequately now: “Vedic” Śiva is a demigod or god (as you want to call him). You know, that Śiva who is in charge of destroying the universe and so on. However, in Trika, the concept of Śiva comes from the Tantra-s and not from the Veda-s. Trika is not AT ALL based on the Veda-s (the four sacred books). It is based on the Tantra-s instead (a long series of sacred books). Trika, nonetheless, has only a few of those Tantra-s in high esteem. So, the entire question about Śiva in Trika being a demigod is totally silly. The world of Yoga in the West is quite a stew full of misconceptions in general, due to the vast ignorance displayed by myriads of half-teachers and their respective half-pupils. It is like a plague that is to be mitigated by the right way of reasoning.
(10) Another objection: “If one is essentially Śiva, he is never bound and as a result does not need Liberation because he is beyond the duality of bondage/Liberation”.
Reasoning adequately now: That is completely true! But if it is said by someone “before” getting Final Liberation, it is just mere “statement”. The truth contained in phrases such as “Śiva is beyond bondage/Liberation” is only understood “after” having attained Final Liberation and not “before”. After one realizes he is Śiva and Śiva alone, he also realizes that he always realized he is Śiva. Accordingly, he can finally understand the great truth that Śiva (i.e. himself) is beyond bondage and Liberation. All that understanding emerges in him “after” Final Liberation (also known as “Self-realization” or “Self-recognition”) and not before that. If he speaks so in bondage, his statement is mere chitchat because that truth is still in the field of theory and is not something the person has actually perceived in practice.
This is one of the perils when one teaches Trika to someone: the pupil starts to speak as if he had attained complete realization of the Truth. So, his statements will be totally true but for want of an actual realization of his own Self such statements are mere words. Next, the Power of the Self draws Its sword, symbolically speaking… say, such a pupil of Trika learns that his wife cheated on him and he wants to kill her or commit suicide or he is a bundle of nerves and is full of wrath and so on. At that moment his Trika teacher could appear and tell him: “Why are you so upset by this trifle if you (Śiva) are beyond the duality of bondage/Liberation? Moreover, since there is only one Śiva, the lover of your wife is Śiva too, i.e. you yourself”. As you can see, the situation becomes absolutely ridiculous. This is very usual in the case of pupils learning Trika. No, as a teacher, I never experienced such a great drama as in the example, but I have seen sometimes as some of them become “smart” and begin to speak as if they had achieved Final Liberation already and fully understood the great statement “I am Śiva”. Their statement remains a statement when the Power of the Self becomes terrifying… even slightly terrifying… and all these false Śiva-s simply vanish.
In Trika, the Power of the Self is called Śakti. When this Śakti becomes dark and fearsome… oh my God… you false Śiva-s had better run away quickly! Hahahaha! The question is then: “So, a Self-realized person never experiences fear, as if he was a kind of superhero or something?”. NO, absolutely NOT. He experiences all human emotions but Śiva in him, as it were, will end up assuming the control. For example, he experiences fear when his physical body is in danger, but Śiva (his real “I”) overpowers him in the end. This does not mean that he will not run away if an immense lava flow is coming directly toward him… not even if a little lava flow is coming directly toward him really… he is not stupid, you know… but as he is the possessor of a real “I” (Śiva), he will retain his Bliss even in the middle of all those ugly situations. In fact, he will be more joyful at that time than when he is completely safe. This is very difficult to understand if one has not got Final Liberation, i.e. an actual recognition or realization of his own Self.
I called Śiva “real I” though He is much more than that. I did so only for the sake of convenience in order to teach the reader in a simple way. Therefore, the final conclusion is that most aspirants very often mistake a liberated person for a superhero. A superhero, even the greatest of them, is simply an ordinary person but “reloaded”, viz. full of superhuman powers or abilities. But a self-realized person is not like that. A liberated one is a different type of human being and NOT another human being but endowed with special superhuman powers or abilities. And I am completely sure about it. When you watch superheroes on movies, you can notice than they can defeat, for example, superb enemies, but at the same time they are at the mercy of the caprices of a woman. It is in this sense that they are ordinary human beings but “reloaded”. A liberated person is not like that because he has autonomous Bliss that is able to overpower him even if his body is in great peril or pain. Another example: he can be experiencing tremendous physical pain as well as Supreme Bliss flowing from his own Self. This is certainly superhuman in the truest sense of word. No limited individual can be upset and supremely Happy at the same time.
Therefore, aspirants should stop speaking as if they are fully liberated if they have not realized their Self yet. Mere chitchat souds “great” but it is always useless. This happens not only in the case of pupils of Trika, but also in the case of many disciples learning a non-dualistic philosophical system. For example, I have read an e-mail sent by a follower of Advaitavedānta where he said something like “Final Liberation never happens because the person looking for it does not exist really”. Oh, sure, and I am Santa Claus, you know, hahaha. Oh the rookies are always so funny. If there is no person trying to get Final Liberation, then there is no person sending me that e-mail either… oh, this Advaitavedānta is so absurd when read from the original scriptures in Sanskrit, but some followers of that system can lift the bar to such levels of nonsense that it’s quite amusing.
In order to escape all that misery which is mere chitchat, the aspirants should resort to a proficient guru then and strive to attain real Final Liberation at all costs. After Final Liberation, they can do as they wish, even to affirm that “there is no person because all this is illusory”, hahaha, so funny! So, all my readers do not exist either and I am wasting my time with this Bible-size post. Ah, true, I do not exist either! Good Joke, Śiva!
(11) Some philosophical systems include the theory of pariṇāma or transformation. The topic is complex and has some variants, but basically, this theory states that the Cause (i.e. the Self) is constantly transforming itself into Its effects (e.g. the universe). The theory looks “good” but it is false because it does not come from the level of the Divine but from the level of a human intellect which is always prone to error.
Reasoning adequately now: The Self cannot transform Himself into anything because if He moves even a millimeter away from His essential nature as the Subject, He would stop being the Self and would become “something else”. Also, the by-product of the Self transforming Himself into something else would be that one wouldn’t find Him “as the Self” at the moment of Final Liberation because He had become something else. Absolutely stupid, as you can see.
It is the Power of the Self who becomes the universe but not through transformation (pariṇāma), since the Power of the Self is one with the Self, if It moves even one millimeter away from Its own essential nature It would stop being the Power of the Self in complete unity with the Self Himself. The theory of the transformation looks good but it is human and not divine. The divine explanation for the presence of the universe (the effect) is that it is the very Power of the Self and not Its transformation. This is difficult to understand without the presence of a completely polished intellect. But if you reason this way, your intellect will be forced to work divinely. God does not think as the ordinary human intellect thinks. This intellect must go up to a level where it can work divinely or no Final Liberation will occur. An example:
If you take clay and make a pot, that would be the transformation of clay into a pot, right? But the Power of the Self does not work like that. It does not leave Its form or nature behind in order to become the universe. NO. It is the universe right now such as it is. No transformation. Yes, it is difficult to grasp. Another example of bad reasoning:
“The Self is the Subject, the Witness, while His Power is the entire universe. The Self is completely immutable, but His Power is changing and changing, hence this universe is constantly changing too.”
NO, that is not true. There is no change or transformation. The Power of the Self is just… the immutable Power of the Self… and the Self is just… the immutable Self. Neither is changing even a millimeter, nor are they transforming themselves into “something else”. The forms in this universe change and change but the form or nature of the Power of the Self never changes. You see changes, but it is always the same immutable Power of the Self. If the Power of the Self was changing, It could not be one with the immutable Self. This way of reasoning is divine and not human. That is why your intellect must climb up to a new level in order to get my point. This is the way God reasons. The theory of transformation was created and postulated by human beings and not by Śiva (the Supreme Self). Then its logic applies to “objects” but not to the Highest Subject and His Power. When one realizes his own Self, who is Śiva, one sees clearly that this Self and His Power never change. There was never a transformation as far as the Self and His Power are concerned. The notion of “transformation” only emerges in an intellect that is not working on the divine plane.
All in all, the Self and His Power are completely immutable and divine. These two are really only one Reality that does not transform Itself into anything ever. If they were to transform themselves into something else even for one second, they would stop being the immutable Self and His Power. This truth is very subtle. All these arguments are not merely presented for winning a philosophical discussion but they are presented for making your intellect work properly so that you can get Final Liberation. All those theories created by ordinary human minds will become a hindrance in your way in the long run if you are not careful enough. They look great but prevent your intellect from performing as it should in order to achieve Self-realization. One just cannot realize God by thinking as an ordinary human being. One must think as God thinks, so to speak. It is only then he will touch the level of the Divine and not otherwise.
“The Supreme Self is the universe” and not “the universe is a transformation of the Supreme Self”. The former is the way God thinks and the latter is the way a human mind thinks. Enough of revealing these mysteries!
(12) Another question could arise: “Is Trika the best philosophical system for the current age then?”
Reasoning adequately now: NOT in its original form, i.e. as Non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir. The subject-matter is even more complicated because Non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir is not exactly Trika as it includes other schools of thought too. Well, but for now it is more than enough for my readers to call Non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir “Trika” in order to simplify things. And why was my answer NO? Simple: If the answer had been “YES”, then Śiva would not have refounded Trika in Rosario because it would not have been necessary. The problem with Trika of Kashmir obviously does not lie in its statements about Final Liberation and so on. I fully agree with all those statements because when I got Self-realization I could confirm the truth of all those great teachings. The problem is in the way the teachings are formulated. To make my point clear: it is extremely scholarly to the extent that most current aspirants simply cannot cope with all that scholarship. This is especially true in the West, where culture is pretty different from that of India. If you take an original scripture teaching Trika, e.g. Parātrīśikāvivaraṇa by Abhinavagupta, you will notice that it is pretty difficult to understand even with all the explanations given by modern teachers. At present, Gabriel Pradīpaka delights in reading that scripture every day, but he has solid formation in Sanskrit and Trika which was forged by means of decades of efforts studying all those things. Most aspirants will not be able to understand such a scripture, except for when teachers like Gabriel Pradīpaka take the trouble to explain it with millions of notes at every step. But this is extremely time-consuming, you know.
Therefore, that is the problem with Trika of Kashmir, especially in the West. It is for the elite of seekers endowed with a strong intellect and great tenacity. On the other hand, Trika of Rosario is the same Trika as always but simplified to the maximum so as to be especially useful for the aspirants in the West. Philosophy should serve aspirants and not vice versa. Trika, as formulated originally, if given to all these western aspirants, would mostly not be understood rightly and distortions of the original teaching would start to arise out of mere ignorance. Philosophical schools should move with the times. And this is what Trika is doing right now. Non-dual Shaivism of Rosario (also known as Trika of Rosario) is an experiment that I am doing in the West. The main goal is always to help so many aspirants as possible through the ancient teachings passed on this humankind by the Supreme Self. This is just the beginning of the experiment here. As times goes by, Trika of Rosario will spread throughout the whole West and many other things will happen in due course. It’s a matter of time.
(13) There is always the question about why doesn’t Śiva give all His divine Knowledge to the entire humankind?
Reasoning adequately now: But He is doing it right now through by this very long article which took an insane quantity of hours to write. People who believe that Gabriel Pradīpaka is different from Śiva are the same people who believe that they themselves are different from Śiva. This is also a Play of Śiva, obviously. There is no state that is not Śiva as Trika scriptures affirm. Therefore, even these thoughts of duality between oneself and Śiva are also Śiva. There is no contradiction here.
That is the right way to reason. Another example: I am meditating and experiencing supreme Bliss… but I remember that I have to go to a certain place at that time. So, I abandon meditation and rush to that place. Who did that? Śiva. And why did He do that? Because He just wanted to do so. There is no “first Śiva” experiencing Bliss and next a “second Śiva” abandoning that Bliss for some reason. NO. Even His leaving Bliss is also Bliss. Most aspirants that have achieved a certain degree of spiritual progress know this by direct experience. There is nobody else “forcing them” to leave Bliss but they themselves do that of their free will, i.e. of His Free Will. This might sound puzzling to many readers but it is completely consistent with the teachings established by Trika. It was Śiva who became all those aspirants in the first place, and it is Śiva the One who is looking for Śiva’s Bliss now and leaving Śiva’s Bliss later. There is never a “second entity”, except as a mental formulation to describe processes.
When one attains Liberation one finally realizes that “oneself”, i.e. Śiva, remained the same the whole time. One was not ever affected by anything at all. One’s own essential nature (Śiva) has remained the same forever. This is realized when Final Liberation arrives. And the universe does not disappear either, but it is perceived as Śiva and Śiva alone, viz. as Oneself. The presence of the universe is not an “obstacle” but on the contrary a source of divine Bliss. There is no confrontation between Oneself (the Self) and the universe (an expansion of the Power of the Self), but rather everything is seen as the Highest Reality, as a compact Mass of Freedom and Bliss. This is what Final Liberation is all about.
And when will that Final Liberation come to an aspirant? When Śiva decides so. Of course, there is a process to be followed to get Final Liberation but in the end it is all about His Will. When I say “Śiva”, I am not speaking about “someone else” but the reader. Nonetheless, Oneself (Śiva) does not want to get Final Liberation for the most part. How is this possible? For example, imagine this: I am watering my garden happily… and all of a sudden Supreme Bliss emerges in me spontaneously. I am blissful for about half an hour, but also suddenly I remember that I have to keep watering my garden. And Bliss leaves me at that time.
That is a clear example of how the things work regarding Final Liberation. Even if it were to appear suddenly, one has to do this or that and refuses to totally surrender himself to the Experience. This is also the Śiva’s Play, viz. He removes all limitations at will and next He decides to assume limitation again. There is nobody forcing Him to do that. Śiva is a great Mystery always.
Now you have more tools to reason adequately. Use them not to fall prey to the constant nonsense, half-teachers and false guru-s fooling around in this world. It has been my lengthiest post so far but it was worth the effort, no doubt about it. This post was written by Śiva and for Śiva.
I will see you on my next post!