Avalon Arthur Sir John Woodroffe Kularnava Tantra v1

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Each Deity is to be carefully installed in its own
Yantra and worshipped with all its parapher-
nalia. Should you be absent-minded, call one
Deity and worship another, you shall receive
the curses of both. Each Deity is to be received
with the honour that belongs" to it, with the
Mantra that is proper to its order. The inner
soul-force, antahsakti, shall be roused to its full
potential and dedicated to the Deity through the
several movements of the worship.
It is only when all these requirements are
learnt from the Guru and worship offered in
accordance with the rule, that the Deity is
pleased. The Puja must be full in its limbs and
full in its duration.
CHAPTER VI
YOGA*
Yoga is the main process. The Tantra seeks
to weave it into every detail of life, give a
different meaning to each of man's activities by
making all of them means for the effectuation
and expression of the inner yoga of progression
from the human into the divine.
And of yoga, dhyana, meditation, is an
important limb. Dhyana is of two kinds, gross
and subtle. When the meditation is upon a
Form, it is the gross, and when it is without
Form, the subtle. The grosser kind of medita-
tion with Form is resorted to when the mind is
very unsteady and needs to be given a prop, a
concrete object on which to fix itself so that it
may not wander away. But the object of both
the gross and subtle kinds of Dhyana is the
same: steadiness, immobility of mind.
When the Divine is conceived with form,
it is contemplated upon in its several limbs, feet,
hands etc., in the prescribed manner. When
it is conceived as without form, it is con-
templated upon as the Sacchidananda, all-
luminous, without parts. It neither rises nor
sets, neither waxes nor wanes, it shines by itself
and enshines others without effort. Infinite,
formed in Light, not perceivable to the eye but
simply existent, it can only be felt, become
aware of by the mind. Knowledge of That is
Brahman.
* Ullasa 9
62 KULARNAVA TANTRA
And he whose movement of life-breath
is arrested, who is immobile like the stone,
knowing only the supreme Self and Abode is
called the yogi who knows yoga. Where there
is not even awareness, where it is still like
blocked water, that Dhyana devoid of Form is
called Samadhi. The Reality shines by itself,
not by mental thinking. And when the Reality
so shines on its own, one instantly becomes
That Itself. He who is as if asleep whether in
the condition of dream or of waking, neither
breathing in nor breathing out, immobile, he is
truly freed. Whose senses are without stir,
whose mind and breath are absorbed in his self,
who is like one dead, he is called the Jivanmukta,
liberated while yet living. He neither hears nor
smells nor touches nor sees, neither he knows
pleasure and pain, neither he exercises the
mind. Like a log of wood, he cognises nothing
nor is aware of anything; he is only absorbed in
Shiva, he is in samadhi. As with water thrown
into water, milk into milk, ghee into ghee, no
difference remains, similarly no difference there
remains between the jivatma and the
Paramatma, the soul and the Lord. Even as the
insect becomes a bee by force of concentration,
so can man become Brahman by dint of samadhi.
And once the self is separated from the gunas,
it is never the same again, just as butter
extracted from milk even when thrown again
into the milk does not get into the old state.
Just as one in heavy darkness sees nothing,
so indeed the yogin sees not the world which
does not hold his attention. This is the true sign
of Dhyana: as one does not see the world of
objects when the eyes are closed, so even when
YOGA 63
they are open, the world is not seen. He who
knows the Brahman is aware of this world-
movement only in the manner of men being
conscious of some itching on their bodies.
Of him who has known the supreme Reality,
above forms, above change, the very Mantras
with their presiding Deities become the servitors.
Of him who is founded in the sole consciousness
of the Self, every movement is worship, each
utterance is verily a mantra, each gaze is
meditation.* When identification with the body
is gone and the supreme Self is known, wherever
the mind moves there it is samadhi.
When the supreme Self is beheld, cut asunder
is the key-knot, hrdaya-granthi, that rivets all
involvements in the many strands of nature;
shorn are all doubts, doubts of higher possibili-
ties or of the veracity of the scriptures or
utterances of the Jnanins; all karma, legacy of
past action, dwindles away. When the master-
yogin attains to this pure and supreme State, he
cares not for the status of the gods or of the
mighty Asuras. To him who sees the All-
pervading, Peaceful, Blissful, Imperishable,
what can remain still to be attained or still to be
known? When knowledge and super-knowledge
are attained, when what is to be known is there
alive in the heart and when the state of Peace is
attained, neither yoga nor dharana, concentra-
* "May Thou be pleased to accept my prattlings as
Japa, and construe my movements as Mudras. Let my
ramblings be Pradakshina, and what all I eat and drink be
offerings to Thee; my reclining be prostration to Thee,
and all enjoyments not for me but for Thee. Thus let all
actions of mine go to constitute Thy worship."
(V. 29, Saundarya Lahari)
64
KULARNAVA TANTRA
tion, is necessary. Enough of all rules once the
supreme Brahman is known. When the winds
of the Malaya mount blow, of what use is the
pal myra fan ? For hi m who sees himself as the
OM (or as the Self), there is neither checking of
breath nor closing of nostrils, neither yama nor
niyama, neither yoga based on padmasana nor
gazing at the tip of the nose. Yoga is the union
of jiva and the Atman, so declare the adepts in
yoga. And once that is achieved all disciplines
preparat ory or contributory to yoga are no more
i ncumbent .
When this Supreme so attained is meditated
upon even for a moment wi t h faith, great and
i mmeasurabl e is the good that ensues. Even
deliberation for a moment on the truth that
'I am Brahman ', wipes out al l sin as the rise of
the sun dissipates all darkness. The knower of
Trut h reaps millionfold the fruit that is held
out by observances, sacrifices, pilgrimages,
gifts, worshi p of the gods etc.
There are several states of being, so many
gradations of consciousness in this life of yoga.
The best and highest of course is the state natural
sahajavastha, in which oneness wit h the Divine
is felt spontaneously and al ways; the middle is
one of concentration, dharana and of meditation,
dhyana; the lowest is of laudation, stuti, and
j apa; and l ower than the lowest is the stage of
homa and puja, worship. Again, deliberation,
poring of mi nd over the nat ure of the Trut h is
the best, the highest; preoccupation with japa
is the mi ddl e; study of the sastra is the lowest ;
and l ower t han the lowest is occupation with
affairs of the worl d.
A billion pujas equal a stotra, laudation;
65
YOGA
a billion stotras equal a japa; a billion japas
equal a dhyana; and a billion dhyanas equal an
absorption, laya *
Not higher than Dhyana is the Mantra; not
higher than the Self is god; not higher than
inner pursuit is puja; not higher than content-
ment is there any fruit.
Free from ritual is higher Worship; silence
is the higher Japa; absence of thought is higher
Dhyana; and absence of desire is the supreme
fruit.
Sandhya without mantra or water, tapas
without puja and homa, puja without ceremonies
- these the yogin shall always perform.
Free from attachment, aloof, beyond vasanas
and associations (upadhi) absorbed in the true
nature of oneself, the yogi knows the supreme
Truth.
The body itself is the temple. The jiva
itself is God Sadashiva ! Do away with the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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