UN-CLOUDING THE INTELLECT - TRANSPARENCY

We are endowed with body, senses and a mind like the animals. We were endowed with an intellect with capability to discriminate. It is this intellect that sets us apart from animal kingdom and makes the humans as the pinnacle of creation. With this intellect a person can realize ones own source and reach that source. Humans also have Atman (localized, contained consciousness) like every other  thing in creation.

The intellect is the reflection of Atman on our mind. This becomes our inner voice that keeps prompting us right and wrong. In some people this intellect is transparent and in others  it is opaque by various degrees. The amount of current opaqueness is the result of  karmic baggage that we bring into this life from past lives and the baggage we added or subtracted in this life. The purpose of all our spiritual practices is to lessen this opaqueness and make it more and more transparent. This is to become like a child. In a self realized person the intellect is 100% transparent and they reflect Atman fully.

 

The amount of transparency decides the amount of Atmic reflection (exhibited Divinity). If a person is 50% transparent , he will reflect 50% Atman and 75% transparency reflects 75% Atman and with 100% transparency they reflect 100% Atman. The people who reflect 100% transparency, continuously live in Atmic state. These are called Jeevan Muktas like our Ramana Maharshi, Shirdi Sai Baba and Sathya Sai Baba and the like. They function in the world but off the world like the lotus in the mud pool of water.

Another name for this transparency is purity (Chitta Suddhi/ Trikarana Suddhi).  In this purity they will have Atma darshan, meaning vision of Unity, Oneness and connectedness of all of creation. This is integrated vision of universe. This is also labeled as opening of third eye that destroys the normal vision of duality, separateness and brings vision of connectedness and oneness.  In this state “yad bhavam tat bhavathi”  becomes 100%. This is called “sankalpa shakthi”. This is the reason why people seek blessings from pious (transparent ) people. People talk about Rama Baana (Rama’s arrow) which always hits the target. Here Rama symbolizes a jeevan mukta (100% purity/transparent) hence his thoughts manifest in results without fail.  This power of sankalpa shakthi  attainable for all humans provided they successfully make themselves transparent by sadhana. Now the question as sadhakas is how we bring this transparency in our intellect so that we reflect Atma, our true self  well.

This opaqueness is caused by delusion (Maya). This maya has three components namely mala, vikshepa and avarana. Mala is the impurities in us. Viskhepa is the agitations in mind with memories of past and worries about the future.  Avarana is the veiling caused by ignorance, wrong knowledge, mis-information (avidhya) that clouds our mind with a cover.

MALA DOSHA:  Karmic baggage  causes  prarabda, agami and sanchta karmas that results in making the intellect opaque.  Karmic baggage is the result of Arishadvargas (six enemies) namely desire (kama),  anger (krodha), miserliness (lobha), ego (mada) and jealousy (matsarya). These are not human qualities. These are the qualities that we inherited from our phylogenies through animal kingdom. We bring some animal qualities of survival into this life. These qualities, while they help in survival, they become hindrance for  our full blossoming to our potential, to our full expansion to Oneness. 

Now the question is how to remove these six enemies. These six animal qualities survive in us in our unawareness. When we bring awareness to focus, these arishadvargas  dissipate in that awareness. As an example when we forget ourselves, we can get angry at people or circumstances. Once we are aware of the emotion of anger that is making us uncomfortable (because it is not our true human nature), in that awareness the anger slowly disappears. Hence awareness is the antidote for the six ills that pester us. Then how do we prevent these six enemies to pop up in our psyche. Forcing the bad qualities out is a difficult task since the mind always drags you back in retaliation like the alcoholics desire to drink alcohol.  When the alcoholic addict forcibly stops drinking suddenly, he constantly dwells in thoughts of alcohol, though not drinking. They use the term dry Drunk for this.

Instead of trying to force bad out, if we flush in the good human qualities of truth (sathya), righteousness (dharma), peace (shanthi), love (prema), non-violence (ahimsa) and sacrifice (thyaga) the bad six qualities gradually disappear and good only remains.  In the presence of these good qualities the six bad qualities do not survive. This process is similar to flushing the toilet where in we flush out the undesirable waste by flushing in with good water. When the good comes in, bad disappears. When the bad comes in good disappear. Rama and Kama cannot co-exist together. This is the value of good company (Sat Sangh) in early stages of spiritual journey.

VIKSHEPA DOSHA: This can be resolved by stilling the mind through namasmarana, dhyana yoga and bhakthi yoga.  Minds occupation is to dwell on thoughts. Thoughts make up the mind like yarn make the cloth. Most worries and agitations of mind stem from memories of past and worries about the future. These worries makes us lose the present. Living now with full awareness stills the mind so is ceiling on desires and moderation and middle path.

AVARANA DOSHA can be cleared  by getting rid of ignorance (avidya) by jnana yoga. A transparent intellect will make the seeker get this knowledge through revelation. The cosmic knowledge that is all pervading reveals to a transparent intellect. In order to learn we first need to un-learn the mis-information and mis-concepts. Once this unlearning is complete with pure awareness the real learning spontaneously happen on a pure heart.

EXAMPLE OF MALA, VIKSHEPA AND AVARANA DOSHAS:  In order to see the reflection of the Sun (Ātman) clearly in a lake, the impurities in the water have to be cleared (Mala), the agitations of water have to be stilled (Vikshepa) and the covering leaves on the top of waters have to uncovered (Āvarana). When the water is purified of impurities (Mala), the agitations in water are stilled (vikshepa), and the covering layers are removed (Āvarana), the reflection of Sun (Atman) is seen clearly.

Thus we should uses two tools to combat and win over arishad vargas that cloud our intellect. One by bringing in awareness and another by filling ourselves with the opposite good qualities like Love in the place of hatred, bringing in selflessness in the presence of selfishness and the like.

This AWARENESS is called by several names like witnessing, Constant Integrated Awareness and by new age writers as Living in Now.  All these different terminologies mean the same. They all talk about bringing in presence and awareness to life and living that is spent otherwise in unawareness and forgetfulness.  In this wakefulness we manifest our true self and dissipate our foreign enemies that are pestering us. 

Nishkama Karma is a potent weapon that also makes our intellect transparent.  Transparency is purity that leads to unity that leads to divinity.  The process involved are bringing in awareness to living, filling with good, stilling the wavering mind, selfless service and through unveiling the clouded mind though the light of knowledge.