A commentary on Paramahansa Nityananda’s Chidakasha Gita
The coconut kernel, detached from the shell, makes a dull sound when shaken. So also the atman and the body must be thought of as separate. The first is light. By that light all vices are consumed. (Chidakasha Gita 5)
When any nut is ripe, the inner part is separated from the shell. Before that the inner part and the shell adhere to one another and it is difficult to separate them–and it cannot done without damaging the inner part. So although the Self (atman) and the body are never the same thing, when the individual’s consciousness is not ripe–is undeveloped or unevolved–the Self and the body seem to them to be the same thing and they believe that their body is their Self. If they are really deluded they believe that there is no Self, that only the body is real.
In the Chandogya Upanishad we find this account:
“The gods and demons both thought to themselves, ‘Let us seek after and realize this Self, so that we may obtain all the worlds and all desires.’
“Thereupon Indra from the gods, and Virochana from the demons, went to Prajapati, the renowned teacher. For thirty two years they lived with him as pupils. Then Prajapati asked them why they had both lived with him so long.
“‘We have heard,’ they replied, ‘that one who realizes the Self obtains all the worlds and all desires. We have lived here because we want to learn of this Self.’
“Then said Prajapati: ‘That which is seen in the eye–that is the Self. That is immortal, that is fearless, and that is Brahman.’
“‘Sir,’ inquired the disciples, ‘is that the Self which is seen reflected in the water, or in a mirror?’
“‘The Self is indeed seen reflected in these,’ was the reply. Then Prajapati added, ‘Look at yourselves in the water, and whatever you do not understand, come and tell me about it.’
“Indra and Virochana gazed on their reflections in the water, and returning to the sage, they said: ‘Sir, we have seen the Self; we have seen even the hair and the nails.’
“Then Prajapati bade them don their finest clothes and look again in the water. This they did, and returning to the sage, they said: ‘We have seen the Self, exactly like ourselves, well adorned and in our finest clothes.’
“To which Prajapati rejoined: ‘The Self is indeed seen in these. The Self is immortal and fearless, and it is Brahman.’ And the pupils went away well pleased.
“But Prajapati, looking after them, lamented thus: ‘Both of them departed without analyzing or discriminating, and without truly comprehending the Self. Whosoever follows a false doctrine of the Self will perish.’
“Now Virochana, satisfied for his part that he had found out the Self, returned to the demons and began to teach them that the body alone is to be worshiped, that the body alone is to be served, and that he who worships the body and serves the body gains both worlds, this and the next. Such doctrine is, in very truth, the doctrine of the demons!
“But Indra, on his way back to the gods, realized the uselessness of this knowledge. ‘As this Self,’ he reasoned, ‘seems to be well adorned when the body is well adorned, well dressed when the body is well dressed, so will it be blind when the body is blind, lame when the body is lame, deformed when the body is deformed. When the body dies, this same Self will also die! In such knowledge I can see no good.’
“So he returned to Prajapati and asked for further instruction.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8.7.2-8.9.2)
Virochana was of unripe understanding, whereas Indra’s was ripe enough for him to eventually see through the fallacy of mistaking the body for the Self.
- The atman and the body must be thought of as separate.
Keeping in mind that the body and the self are not the same is not just a matter of holding a philosophical concept. Rather, it is a matter of maintaining spiritual awareness throughout external experience, to center our identity in the Self and not in the body. This is accomplished through yoga. “Because they understood this, the ancient seekers for liberation could safely engage in action. You, too, must do your work in the spirit of those early seers.” (Bhagavad Gita 4:15) In the thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna speaks of the difference between the “knower of the field,” the Self, and the “field,” which is the body, saying: “I regard discrimination between Field and Knower as the highest kind of knowledge.” (Bhagavad Gita 13:2)
- By that light all vices are consumed.
The followers of external religion, unless their conscience is blunted by ignorance and frustration, are inwardly tormented by the fact that their beliefs and their religious observances cannot purify or correct their minds and hearts. “What lack I yet?” (Matthew 19:20) is their cry. But their religion will never give the answer. They will find it in the vision of the Indian sages–only by the light of the Self, only by entering into and experiencing the Self, will their impurities and the impulse to negativity be destroyed. For Krishna is speaking as the Self in each one of us when he says: “Flying from fear, from lust and anger, he hides in me his refuge, his safety: burnt clean in the blaze of my being, in me many find home.” (Bhagavad Gita 4:10) There is no other answer but experience of the Self.
Further reading:
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