As detailed in the last post on who is Sakti, and how she unfolds from within the spiritual transcendent Siva. This unfolding creates the Supreme Spiritual body of Siva and it is called Para Pinda by Guru Gorakshanath. Sakti now exists within him in her 5 forms of Nija, Para, Apara, Sukshma, Kundalini as explained in the last post.
The creation of Para Pinda means the self manifestation of the Supreme Spirit (Siva) as the Supreme Individual (Parama Purusha). This Cosmic Purusha or Parama Purusha contains within himself, all the eternal and infinite powers and attributes of Siva but has full consciousness of all these powers. But he also retains the perfect calmness and tranquility of Siva. So Siva now enjoys Nirbikalpa Samadhi alongwith an active waking or conscious state.
So, completely contradictory qualities exist in perfect balance within him. He is perfectly active and perfectly inactive. He perfectly enjoys the bliss of his transcendent nature within himself, but still there is in him the urge to manifest and enjoy diversities of names and forms in the spatio-temporal cosmic order. He is perfectly tranquil but still feels a tremendous upheaval of creative action for diversification. He is in perfect Samadhi but also the doer behind the creation of the cosmos. So he dwells in the phenomenal and the transcendental planes at the same time.
The word Pinda means an organized whole, a living unity or many parts, a one consisting of diverse plurality and unifying this plurality within itself. Within it, the whole exists in every part which may all have different characteristics. Each of the diversified parts may be an organized whole of smaller parts within itself and they may undergo changes and transformations themselves. All these parts and wholes within the Para Pinda self multiply, divide and transform and contribute to the unity of the life of the whole. So there is a unity in all the diversity.
The Para Pinda is also called Anadi Pinda or Adi Pinda, meaning that it is without any beginning or origin, without any cause. This is the Adi or the Supreme Source of all that exists.
The Para Pinda has 5 forms of consciousness which exist within it at the same time without overshadowing each other:
1. Aparamparam – In this state of consciousness there is no difference between Siva and Sakti. It refers to the pure consciousness of the Absolute in relation to his Nija-Sakti, when she is completely hidden within him. The dynamic nature of Siva is not evident in this consciousness state
2.Param-padam –This state of consciousness exists when the subtle unfoldment of Para Sakti. It is at this moment that there is a subtle reflection upon her. Siva experiences his Sakti subtly, and this inspires in her a creative urge. Yogis meditate on this concept of Parama-padam or Supreme Ideal state to realize this state within themselves
3.Sunyam – This is a state of pure self existence. This consciousness is evident when Sakti unfolds as Apara Sakti. At this stage, Sakti seems to be vibrating to fulfill her creative urge and manifest the phenomenal world. At this stage Siva is hidden behind her and becomes the pure empty background or the Void but also continues to enthuse within Sakti, a creative urge as her Soul and lord. Yogis meditate on Siva as Sunya to liberate themselves of feelings of me and mine. They practice to let go of all forms of bondage and sorrow by extinguishing all feelings of self or mine.
4.Niranjana – It is this state of consciousness which makes Siva experience himself as Pure “I”, which is different from his Sakti. He becomes conscious of himself and is also the seer of his Sakti. This is what creates a duality or what is called the Dwaita-adwaita relationship. Here Siva is now conscious of the subtle distinction between himself as the eternally changeless spirit and himself as the eternally self evolving Sakti. So he is both completely still as Siva and also vibrating or pulsating as dynamic Sakti. But his still Self is completely unaffected by the vibrations of his Sakti. This state of consciousness occurs when Sakti manifests as Sukshma Sakti, and it is this state in which Siva experiences his I-ness without limitation, impurities or bondages. So yogis meditate on this
Niranjana to experience the pure, free, blissful I-consciousness within them.
5.Paramatama – This means the Universal Soul and lord of the Divine Mother or Kundalini Sakti. In this state Siva feels infinite power, beauty, love, wealth, wisdom, goodness, etc. He now wants to delight in playing with his Sakti using all these infinite attributes to create the phenomenal, cosmic universe. As Paramatama, Siva is conscious of the Perfect Spiritual Personality which is the Siva-Sakti combine
This Para Pinda or Anadi Pinda or Adi Pinda, whatever you may choose to refer to it as, goes through some revelations or experiences which can be divided into 5 stages or revelations:
1) Paramananada – this means there is an upheaval of emotional delight in his tranquil nature. He experiences the following vibrations or Spandan:
Harsha – A thrilling sensation
Utsaha – enthusiasm within
Nishpanda – perfect calmness
Nitya-sukhatwam – An unemotional enjoyment of the eternal bliss within
So, he experiences waves of delight and thrill without disturbing his inner tranquil self.
2) Prabodha – He seems to be newly awakened from a state of deep sleep or Samadhi. His self illumined consciousness now starts to illuminate all aspects of his glorious nature, which now seeks to self express the phenomenal cosmos. This stage is characterized by:
Udaya – Rising of the consciousness above the tranquil, non-differentiated state
Ullasa – A kind of upheaval in the tranquil nature of Siva to self manifest
Avabhasa – experience of the spiritual contents of his own nature as objective realities
Vikasa – experience of self evolution of His Sakti
Prabha – shedding light on all aspects of his all-pervading existence
3) Cid-udaya – this means the self manifestation of the Siva as the self knowing and all knowing, self reflecting and all reflecting, self determining and all determining conscious subject. Here he starts to know himself and all that exists and his attributes are:
Sadbhava – knowledge of Self as the sole Reality
Vicara – reflects on himself as the Source of all possible phenomenal realities
Kartritwa – Is conscious of himself as source of all possible actions
Jnatritwa – Is conscious of himself as knower of all objects
Swatantratwa – Is conscious of himself as perfectly free and governed by his own laws
4) Prakasa – Inspite of the vibrations due to Sakti’s creative urge, the Anadi Pinda remains untouched and unmoved by them. His consciousness eternally dwells above the plane of phenomenal manifestations. So he experiences:
Nirbikaratwa – freedom from all kinds of changes
Nishkalatwa – freedom from any sense of partition within himself
Nirvikalpatwa – Freedom from any uncertainty in knowledge or doubt
Samata – perfect harmony, calmness and unity
Visranti – perfect rest
5) Soham Bhava – This means He-I-am-ness. Can be better understood with the following: attributes
Ahamta – The Anadi Pinda experiences himself as the perfect, all knowing ego. Everything manifests from within him and is an integral part of him. So his ego expands into everything and so his nature becomes manifest in all this exists.
Akhand aishwarya – Due to this expansion of his ego he starts to experience undivided, unlimited power and prosperity. He feels absolute control over it
Swatmata – He also feels this power and prosperity as no different from his self. So while he becomes conscious of the cosmos created by the working of Sakti, he is always conscious that he is himself the Universe
Viswanubhava – So while he becomes conscious of the cosmos, it creates no disturbance or vibration in his undivided, self luminous character behind all creation
So he creates the cosmos through the play of his Sakti and pervades everything but also transcends it, while he becomes manifold, he also remains as One, while everything is constantly changing he remains changeless and the cosmos is experienced as phenomenal he remains transcendental. All this is integrated within him in perfect harmony. So he becomes Sarvajna, the one who knows all within Himself and Himself in all.
These 5 types of consciousness are perfectly harmonized and unified.
The Concept of Parama Purush, Anadi Pinda or Adi Pinda appears to be the same as what is called the Hiranya-Garbha in the Vedas. The Rig Veda says
Hiranyagarbah samavartata agre, bhutasya jatah Patir eka asit
Translation as given by Akshaya Kr Bannerjea – The Divine personality with the entire cosmic order in an ideal form in his womb, manifests Himself first of all and he became by nature the sole Lord of all existences (which evolve out of his being in the spatio-temporal system).
Sa vai sariri prathamah, Sa vai Purusha uccayate
Translation as given by Akshaya Kr Bannerjea – He is the first embodied being and he is called Purusha or Person or Divine Personality. In the Vedanta philosophy he is also called the Saguna-Brahma.
The Yogis conceive the Purusha or Divine being as the eternal Maha Yogishwar, the perfect embodiment of the Yogic Ideal which they are seeking to realize themselves. So they refer to him as Adi-Nath, Adi-Guru, Adi-Siddha.
As the one Self illuminated One, Siva Pervades the entire Universe and enjoys Himself within it through the play of his Sakti and her self-expressions which manifest as infinite, varied phenomenon.
Next….Chapter 3 – Evolution of the Cosmos from the Para Pinda
