Consciousness, intelligence, spirit. (Glossary for the Vahinis)

The unique Jnana of the Brahman is known by a variety of names like Jnana,Vijnana, Prajnana, Cit and Chaitanya. Chaitanya means Pure Consciousness; its opposite is the Unconscious or the Jada, the inert. The Atma jnana makes everything Conscious, Active; Brahman is Eternally Conscious, Nitya Chaitanya. The Consciousness, which becomes apparent when it is limited by certain bounds or vessels that Chaitanya is Brahman. Chaitanya is attachment-less, but, yet, when associated with objects like the physical body, it gives the impression that it is attached......When the body undergoes growth, decay, destruction, etc., it gives the impression that the Atma, too, is so affected, but the Atma is unaffected. (FG, p. 129)

The true ‘I’, which gives rise to this ‘my’, is really the deepest consciousness in every one and in everything. It is called Chaitanya, the divine consciousness. Consciousness is all pervading. It is within you, around you, below you, and beside you. Truly, it is you. This Chaitanya is to be found everywhere, in everything in the world. But to realise it, the mind must be turned inwards. You must become inner-directed and search out your truth, by realising that you are not this, you are not that Neeti, Neeti, Neeti. Then who are you?’ The answer comes; ‘I’ am I.... Aham Aham!’ This is the right path to follow for self-realization. This path can only develop out of the path of love, the path of devotion. To search for God there is no other way. (DBG, p. 3)

The materialist doctrine proceeds on the assumption that Chaitanya (Consciousness) is a product of sensory experiences and that the evolution of Consciousness is dependent on and is based on the evolution of matter. Inanimate matter is the basis for the materialist doctrine. Matter is finite. The Vedic doctrine repudiates the view that consciousness can arise out of physical senses, which are limited by their origin in matter, which is finite and limited. In total opposition to this materialistic doctrine, the Adhyatmic (spiritual) view was projected to demonstrate the falsity of the concept of the primacy of matter over consciousness.

For the spiritual view, the basis is the Atma (Spirit). The Atma is infinite. The Vedantic doctrine proclaimed the infinite nature of the Self and pointed out that matter is both inert and finite. The Sruti declares: ‘Tripaadhasya-amrutam divi.’ Consciousness constitutes three-fourths and one-fourth is inert matter.

Thus, it is consciousness that animates matter and not matter that gives rise to consciousness. This is the essence of the spiritual concept.

urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham

asvattham prahur avyayam

chandamsi yasya parnani

yas tam Veda sa Veda-vit

(Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 verse 1)

urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham, says the Gita. (The roots are high up; the branches of the cosmic tree are below). This is further confirmation of the view that the material universe has emanated from the Universal Consciousness.

It is Chaitanya (Consciousness) that activates Jada (matter) and not matter that gives rise to consciousness. Modern technology has produced fantastic devices, harnessed new sources of energy and turned out spacecraft for exploring the moon and other planets in outer space. But can all these instruments operate by themselves? No. Behind them lies human ingenuity and intelligence. Greater than all the machines is man.

Man is consciousness incarnate. It is this consciousness that makes the machines move and it is indisputably clear that inert matter cannot create consciousness. Man is the highest object in creation. Man should not be a creature of instincts like the animals, which are subject to Nature, but should become a master of Nature. He should progress from the Nara (human) to the Narayana (Divine). An intelligent human being should not regard himself as bound by Samsara (worldly attachments). It is not the world that binds man. It has neither eyes to see nor hands to grasp. Man is a prisoner of his own thoughts and desires. In his attachment to the ephemeral and the perishable; man forgets his inherent divinity and does not realise that everything in the universe has come from the Divine and cannot exist without the power of the Divine.

The Cosmos is a projection of the Eternal, Infinite Reality (Brahman) and is not separate from the Brahman. Sarvam Vishnumayam Jagat (The universe is permeated by the Divine). When this truth is recognised, it will be obvious that all that one perceives or experiences is a manifestation of the Divine. Every tree is a Kalpavriksha (wish-fulfilling tree). Every place of work is the shrine of the Divine. (SSS Vol.20, pp. 258-259)