Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati by Guru Gorakhnath : About the Book and Author

Click on above link to read an overview of the book and about Guru Gorakhnath, the author

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In this blog, I am the concept of Sat-Cit-Ananda or the Absolute Reality or Brahma as given in the book.

I quote from Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati and explain how Guru Gorakhnath defines this reality:

Na brahma vishnu rudrau na surapati surah naiva prithvi na capah
Naivagnirnapi Vasu na ca gaganatalam na diso naiva kalah.
Na veda naiva yajna na ca rabi sasinau na bidhir naiva kalpah.
Swa-jyotih satyam ekam jayati tava padam sacchidananda-murte

Translation: (Explanation as given in ‘Philosophy of Gorakhnath’ by Akshaya Kumar Bannerjee)
There is neither the existence of Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra or any other deities, nor is there fire, water, air, sky or earth. Time and direction (space) also do not exist. The Vedas, Vedic rituals or yagnas, sun, moon, cycles of time are also non existent. Only you exist as the self luminous truth and reveal Yourself as the pure, perfect Sat-Cit-Ananda.

While words or language based explanations are close to reality, they cannot express the full truth of what is The Absolute Reality, since it is beyond words, expressions, logical and analytical understanding. It can be only completely understood as a transcendent experience.

In order to express, as best possible, what The Absolute Reality or Sat-Cit-Ananda is, I have explored each aspect in detail to arrive at what is the complete reality.

CONCEPT OF SAT : EXISTENCE 

The Mahayogis have, from time to time, given us insights about Sat through the Vedas, Upanishads and other sacred texts. Hence, many types of explanations exist and we shall briefly touch upon them here.

Vedas & Upanishads – Sat or Pure Existence is an existence which has no beginning, no end – so is eternal. It is changeless, differenceless, absolute, and self existent. In other words, it is Perfect Existence. All forms of existence which is finite, changing, relational, derived from something else, spatial, exists in time, material or mental and all things existing which can be perceived by the human senses or normal planes of consciousness get subsumed within this Perfect Existence.

Yoga Sastras – The yoga sastras define this as that existence which is Sunya or void and at the same time Purna or full and expressed as follow:

Anatah sunyo vahi sunyah sunya kumbha ivamvare Antah purno vahih purnah purna kumbha ivarnave

Translation – (As explained in Philosophy of Gorakhnath by Akshaya Kumar Bannerjea):
Void within and void without, like an empty vessel in the sky Fullness within and fullness without, like a vessel full of water and immersed in the ocean

Hence, it is both a void where nothing exists and also contains everything so it is full.

It could also be explained as an experience where there is no subject-object relationship so the consciousness has no experiences, separateness or of being within or outside something, so it is a void. Since it is also experienced as a state of complete bliss, liberation, no limitations and there is nothing more to be found or discovered, it is also a state of completeness. This is the experience of Perfect Existence or Sat.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written by Swatmaram Yogindra, is another important text of the Nath Sampraday, which says:

Sunya asunya vilakshanam sphurati tat tattwam param sambhavam Bhavet citta layanandah sunye chit sukkah rupini

Interpretation:
The Absolute radiates forth and is neither Sunya / Void nor Asunya / Full. It is an experience of dissolution of the mind in Sunya or experience of consciousness-bliss

All explanations of Perfect Existence or Sat expressed above, explain the experience of Absolute Reality in the transcendental state. When not in this state it would be impossible to experience it.

 

CONCEPT OF CIT / PURE CONSCIOUSNESS

To explain this undefinable concept is no easy task. For this purpose we will take explanations provided to us through the Upanishads. To delve into the Upanishads, I have used the research work and book Cit: Consciousness written by Bina Gupta. It is a work of great depth and her exposition of this elusive concept is lucid. This work was studied along with the explanations as given by Akshaya Kumar Banerjea which is our main reference text.

Let us start with the story Aruni Uddalaka and his son Svetaketu, as given in Chandogya Upanishad. Svetaketu is sent by his father to a teacher to learn the vedas. He comes back a learned man after 12 years. Uddalaka notices that his son has come back as an arrogant man with great pride in his learning and achievements. He asks Svetaketu , “do you understand the implications of that teaching by which the unheard becomes heard, the unperceived becomes perceived, the unknown becomes known?” Svetaketu is unable to answer and requests his father, Uddalaka to explain:

By knowing the nature of clay, all things made of clay are known. The modifications/forms of clay may be given different names but in reality it is all clay.

Similarly by knowing the nature of gold, all things made of gold are known. The modifications/forms of gold may be given different names but in reality it is all gold

So he tells his son, that by knowing the qualities of clay or gold he can know all the qualities of all forms created from it, as they will reflect all the qualities of the gold or clay of which they are made.

Then Uddalaka asks Svetaketu if he knows about the reality of which all things are made and through which they are known. Svetaketu again answers in the negative. So the father explains as follow:

In the beginning there was nothing but being only, the One only existed. This One expressed his desire to be many and projected from himself the Universe and entered very being within that universe.

That One or Being is the only essence of all beings.

He explains that the One is the subtle essence of everything that exists. Everything exists within this subtle One and it is the self within each being. He says that is the true self.

Tat Tvam Asi, Thou art that, Svetaketu

This is consciousness that underlies empirical awareness and also underlies the whole world. But it cannot be perceived through empirical modes of knowing. Though it provides us the ability to experience the world, it is not tainted or affected by any experience.

The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad contains the dialogue between Sage Yajnavalkaya and King Janaka, where the King asks Yajnavalkaya what makes human beings function in the world. He is informed by Yajnavalkaya that it is the Sun. So the King asks what happens after the sun has set, Yajnavalkaya says it is the light of the moon. The King further asks that when neither sun or moon are there what light makes one function. Yajnavalkaya says it is fire. So the king asks what happens when even fire is not there. So Yajnavalkaya says then it is Vac or the word. The king further persists and asks that when even the word is not there what guides the person? It is then that Yajnavalkaya tells him that the Self is his light, this is a self luminous and self effulgence light.

The Mandukya Upanishad says that there are 4 states of consciousness or Cit as follows:

• Visva which is manifested in the Waking state. Here, a person’s consciousness is directed outwards and it is the Self which makes her move around and do all her work as she desires
• Taijasa which is manifested in the Dream state. Here, a person’s consciousness is directed inwards and it enjoys the objectless world of dreams. This self luminous Cit spreads the light to see the dreams
• Prajna is manifested in deep, dreamless sleep state. In this state, the mind & senses are at complete rest and so there are no dreams, or recollection of any subject or object, desires, pain, the person knows nothing within or outside of self, neither wants or needs anything and seems to be in a state of bliss. When she wakes up she is conscious of having had a good sleep. This knowing/awareness comes from Cit/consciousness which is the witness or seer
• Turiya State – This is a transcendental state of pure undifferentiated consciousness. All empirical knowledge disappears in this state and it is above all conditions and limitations. The individual reaches a state of perfect identification with the Sat-Cit and is illumine by it.

 

Consciousness or Cit is:

• the basis of all awareness & self or I but is never the object. It is an immutable, indivisible reality different from the individual who enjoys the states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep.
• the seer in the waking, dreaming & deep sleep states but is not any one of those states self luminous, independent, eternal, unchanging
• the basis of all empirical experience but cannot be known through empirical understanding

Pure consciousness is called Para-Sambit by Guru Gorakhnath in SSP (IV.28) and we quote his shloka below which most beautifully describes it.

Sattwe Sattwe Sakala-racana rajate Sambid era
Tattwe tattwe parama-mahima Sambit eva-vabhavati
Bhave bhave a hula-tarala lampata Sambit eka
Bhase bhase bhajana-catura brimhita Sambit eva

In all substances there is One Sambit, it is the unifier of all parts and attributes, in all realities it is the all glorious Sambit that reveals itself. In all orders of phenomenal existences it is One Sambit that manifests itself in finite, diverse, objective forms. In all kinds of mental experiences it is the One Sambit that appears in many subjective forms and assumes limiting characteristics. (As explained in Philosophy of Gorakhnath by Akshaya Kumar Banerjea)

 

CONCEPT OF PURE BLISS / ANANDA

In our temporal, phenomenal, limited and conditional world it is difficult to experience pure bliss or perfect bliss or Ananda. All our moments of happiness, joy, bliss are experienced as dependent on something beyond ourselves – as all events and consequences are dependent on some external object or some external or internal circumstances and limited by time. There can also be feelings of fear of losing what gives us pleasure or we may want more of it. Pleasure also comes with effort put into a task and so is felt only occasionally. Sorrow and worry seems to be a more natural characteristics for people rather than Ananda.

Pure bliss is that where there is no experience of limitation or bondage, no dependence on any other object or circumstance, no fear, no sorrow, no wants/desires or no existence of any other thing or circumstance which limits our experience of that Ananda. Hence, these limiting conditions may be understood as imperfections of life which limit the experience of perfect bliss.

If these limitations did not exist, we can visualize an ideal life where we can have perfect knowledge, perfect beauty/goodness, perfect power and perfect/eternal life. These also constitute the characteristics of the Supreme Consciousness and that is the final goal of all souls. Hence, when we are able to develop ourselves to that level of perfection and become a Siddha, we are able to experience Ananda as we become one with the Supreme consciousness.

But it is important to note that Ananda does not mean absence of limiting characteristics listed above but also the presence of consciousness of blissfulness, awareness of the feeling of perfection, infinity, immortality, beauty/goodness, self enjoyment. Just the letting go of the impure/negatives characteristics does not lead to the state of Ananda.  The individual must rise above this and embrace the positive characteristics and become completely identified with the Supreme consciousness.

A contradiction we must understand when reflecting on the concept of Ananda is – in the elevated Samadhi or transcendental state all subject – object relationships disappear, then who is the enjoyer of bliss and how can bliss be experienced in such a state? However, this is the ultimate ideal of our constant search for joy. This contradiction can possibly be understood when one has gone through the experience of that state.  Hence, it would be wise to accept the explanations as given by the Mahayogis who have walked through that experience and have been compassionate enough to share it with us even though they know it would be impossible for a lay person to fully grasp the truth.

To end the discussion on Ananda, I would like to quote Akshaya Kumar Banerjea – “the realization of absolute Ananda means the perfect Self-realization of the empirical consciousness”.

Sat-Cit-Ananda are one and often called Sacchidananda. I separated the 3 parts of the whole to help understand each concept.

Sacchidananda is the nature of the Supreme Reality. It is the ideal towards which all seekers strive to reach rather than continue to live through limited consciousness, governed by space, time, relativity and causality.  This is the perfect state, which we hope to achieve when we seek self realization.

As a seeker, we often feel a restlessness  to let go of a life dependent on a constantly changing and destructible nature of our world.  The key features of life are it’s finiteness or death, and a constant struggle to maintain our bodies and lives in a conditional and dependent environment which is beyond our control. Seekers seek to move from this imperfection towards a Perfect state of Perfect Existence, Perfect Consciousness, Perfect Bliss or Sat-Cit-Ananda. This is the place where we are able to transcend our given conditions and limitations of the human body and the physical world.

Sat-Cit-Ananda, however, is a reality beyond logic, empirical conception, speech and thought. So dwelling on this intellectually offers limited understanding, binding us into seeming contradictions which we will find hard to resolve.

The path to Sat-Cit-Ananda that leads you to understanding and achieving the Perfect state, comes through the hard path of complete discipline, purification of mind and body, the senses, the vital forces, mind, intellect, regular practice of deep meditation and contemplation.  Those who are able to attain this state of deep concentration or Samadhi and break the limitation/barriers of life, experience the transcendental, Sat-Cit-Ananda.

Even after experiencing the perfect state, all living beings must come back to the time-space-causality-relativity world. However, the Mahayogis assure us that while the elevated, perfect state of Samadhi may not remain upon return to the temporal world, a limited experience of that remains with us, as a faint memory or dream,  even in the state of empirical consciousness.

To conclude, Guru Gorakshnath in SSP, enlightens us to what is the Absolute Truth realized in the highest state of Samadhi.  He refers to it as Para-Brahma, who is without name, without form, without ego, without causality, without activity, without self-manifestation, without any internal or external difference. It is indescribable, unknowable, unthinkable empirically but completely realizable in the state of Samadhi.

Next I have explored the concept of Para-Sambit