The Anugîtâ
N.L.Vas
The world and all there is in it, is for the experience of the Soul. Nature has a design; this is to bring about the experience of the Soul. There is an old saying written above gateway to the oracle of Delphi it says: gnooti seaton “man know thyself.”
The Anugîtâ has been recently translated into the Dutch language for the first time, by my friend Rudi Jansma, it is one of the Upanishads and a very occult discussion. We take up the challenge of life over and over again, experience after experience, life after life, never completely defeated if we always look to our Higher Self as in the Anugîtâ, Krishna. The Anugîtâ comes after the Bhagavad-Gita. It is an account of Krishna (our Higher Self) walking with Arjuna (he could be any human) through the palace of Maya, or illusion. The battle is over for a time and Arjuna asks his friend to repeat what he had told him in the Bhagavad-Gita as he had forgotten what had been said.
Here a short description of the Bhagavad-Gita is called for, literally called song of the Lord . It is taken from the Mahábhárata and said to have been written by Vyasa, a name given to one who gives a detailed revelation. The Mahábhárata is one of the two celebrated poems of India (one of the longest in the world), and includes the Bhagavad-Gita “song celestial” —the other is the Ramayana. The poem Bhagavad-Gita opens and remains throughout, on the field of battle of a Holy War. A war to help “personalities” to become “living souls.” It is a dialogue where Krishna —the “Charioteer”— and Arjuna, his student, have a discussion on the highest spiritual philosophy. It is a highly distinguished esoteric work and has been called the book of devotion.
In the Anugîtâ Krishna gives a fuller unfolding of the teachings with many mystical suggestions and places emphasis on jñãna yoga, the yoga of knowledge through concentration. It could be called the book of concentration. In the Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky refers 20 times to the Anugîtâ. It is not my intent to give a book review on the Anugîtâ, but to more or less try and interpret its hidden message. For this a few common sense questions are needed. (1) Why should we know our selves, (2) how do we do this, (3) what do we do when we know our selves?
(1) Why should we know ourselves? Is it really necessary to know ourselves? According to the ancients it is. They insisted on this, for the simple reason that when one knows himself, he then knows God. Man is a Microcosmos of the Macrocosmos. Nature repeats herself and by the law of correspondences, the ancients have discovered that man is a copy of the Universe in miniature. What is the purpose of our lives on Earth? We are confronted in this world with false ideas, wrong philosophies and untrue religions. The western people have been taught that they are poor miserable sinners because of Adam and Eva and that they can’t save themselves. Therefore they assume that they are miserable sinners and act that way. We are afraid of death and disaster and are always trying to support or guard ourselves. The dogma of heaven and hell when quitting life brings fear into our hearts. The eastern religions have a deeper philosophy. They have a doctrine of hope through re-imbodiment and the law of Justice because of cause and effect. It has brought them closer to nature. According to eastern philosophy, the purpose of life is emancipation of the soul. Their ancient eastern literature is a storehouse of knowledge, an example of this is the Anugîtâ.
All the great saviours of all times have never asked man to rely on an outside God, or fear some devil, believe in any book or church. They have insisted he know himself, his true nature and be responsible for himself. Our true nature never changes, it existed before this life. This is difficult for us in the West to understand; thinking that without change there is no progress. We are never what we see, know, feel, hear or experience. There is that which is beyond speech, description, and beyond conception—the highest there is in the universe. Where do we look for this, in the heavens, seas, secret places on earth or is it nearer to us, within ourselves? All anyone can know of god is what he knows in himself, through himself and by himself. At the same time God is omnipresent, in everything, from a grain of sand to a speck of dust, sustaining the whole universe. The whole world is not a creation of God, but an emanation of the Absolute. Everything in the Universe is the Absolute that is manifested.
The ancient knowledge is available for those that want it, but it doesn’t come as a present, those that are interested in finding wisdom should study the subject and learn to think for themselves. We are in need of knowledge that is greater than all the forms of religion that man has invented, knowledge of the nature of man. By widening our knowledge, we gain wisdom while we learn to practise the old precepts. But what good are ten thousand precepts to one that does not practice them?
2. This leads us to our second question, how do we learn
to know our selves. Here are three keys to start with.
(i) To become profoundly aware of our ignorance and feel deeply that we
are being continually self-deceived.
(ii) To be deeply aware that knowledge and wisdom is obtainable through
effort.
(iii) To be thoroughly determined to obtain and face that knowledge.
To do this we have to go deeper into our own natures. No one can give another person knowledge, it has to be seen and known by the person himself. There is a pure spiritual power, to see and know in any direction. The masters of Wisdom have this power. This power is hidden within everyone. It is acquired when the mind no longer sees itself as the knower or experiencer, but becomes one with the soul. The masters of wisdom are no longer subject to reincarnation; they may live here on earth, but are not subject to their bodies, their souls are perfectly free at every moment.
The Universe and all there is in it is for the experience of the Soul. We should study well the principles of the Cosmos and ourselves, dividing the group into permanent and temporary, the higher and the lower, thus making us able to guide the lower towards the higher being. We are comprised of body, soul and mind. The body is comprised of senses and this is elaborately explained in the Anugîtâ. The senses of hearing, tasting, feeling and seeing, can mislead us and distract us from our true identity. But the real experiencer and knower is the Soul and not the mind. Mind is an internal organ, a thinking principle. It is much higher and subtler than the body, but yet it is an instrument used by the soul to gain experience, just like an astronomer using a telescope to study the heavens. It is a tool by which the soul acquires experience and knowledge. It cannot enlighten itself, as it is coloured and modified by experiences and objects. Mind is a very important factor in the search for concentration. Without it concentration cannot be obtained. It has a plastic quality, for it can be modified by any object or subject brought before it or to which it is directed. It is like water, when poured into any reservoir it adapts to the shape it has been poured into. It can become round, square, long flat, whatever shape it’s in, it adapts. This plastic moulding state of the mind is called “modification.” While the mind does this modification it transmits the information to the soul.
The way the mind approaches a subject or objects is
through the organs of sense, hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell.
The Anugîtâ gives us another two which are higher, being mind
and understanding. Sensations like heat and cold can modify the mind directly
and when we think of heat or cold we modify the mind indirectly. When
we listen to music or read a book we modify our minds. We are flooded
with information nowadays, through the T.V. billboards and adverts. Most
of the information we get is designed to tickle our senses. Wherever we
go in shops, restaurants, out on the streets we hear music, designed to
make us feel at ease and enjoy the sensations. People selling their products
and promising enjoyment and satisfaction. The modern day advertising agencies
have become experts in manipulating the senses of sight, sound and touch.
It has been said that this thinking principle, which is constantly being
modified can be controlled and stilled into a state of absolute calmness.
This is called hindering the modification.
We are taught in esoteric theosophy that real life is in spiritual consciousness
and not in matter. The objective universe is a passing illusion, because
it has a beginning and an end, life and death are also an illusion. But
life is not the opposite of death, birth is the opposite of death. Life
is continuous, like consciousness it is a continuum. When we die we leave
the current of life for a state of bliss called Devachan in Sanskrit.
We must first recognize our own immortal Principle and then only can we
conquer, or take the kingdom of heaven by force. Real life is in the spiritual
consciousness of that life, in a conscious existence in spirit and not
in matter.
In the Anugîtâ we come across references to sacrifices of animal. Reading this esoterically, we could take our senses to represent the animals and that we should sacrifice them to our higher selves, who is the true knower and experiencer. In it is stated that we should not take the lives of the animals for sacrifices. We reimbody life after life under the law of cause and effect, or Karma. Reimbodiment has always been taught to mankind throughout the ages, it is part of Nature’s cyclic laws. It is a doctrine as old as the world. What is it that reimbodies? Is it the false personality with its desires, aspirations, affections and hatreds, during this one incarnation? Hardly likely, the occult doctrine teaches that the Ego or Soul is the root of every new incarnation and it has a string on which are threaded, one after the other, the false personalities or illusive bodies called men.
All our thoughts and actions have a cause and effect. And until we have reached the emancipation of the Soul we will return to earth life after life to reap what we have sown. In theosophy we are taught self-sacrifice (for the welfare of others) as the basis for further progress in knowledge. Following the path of jñãna yoga, the yoga of knowledge through concentration, as in the Anugîtâ. To progress we have to sacrifice our senses by concentration and meditation. Buddhist and theosophical literature has as the highest ethical truths to try and live in harmony according to the seven pâramitâs the seven virtues.
The pâramitâs are the keys to jñãna
yoga, 1. Charity and love immortal, 2. Good character or harmony in word
and act, 3. Patience, 4. Indifference to pleasure and to pain, 5. Forbearance,
6. Profound spiritual-intellectual contemplation and 7. Understanding
and wisdom.
There is a way to the emancipation of the soul but it cannot be reached
in one life time, it is the work of many life times. Being humans with
awakened consciousness our evolutionary path will one day lead us all
to the emancipation of the Soul. It is our human evolutionary destiny
to become fully spiritually awakened in the far future. For some who are
ready, the journey can start now, it is for those who want it and cannot
be given to all and sundry. The Anugîtâ teaches us to develop
devotion; it will protect us in future. Devotion makes us confident, relaxes
us and keeps us moving forward. A constant and regular life in right speech,
right thought, right feelings and right actions are the Path to practical
theosophy.
3. What do we do when we know our selves? Then we are confronted with a choice, to follow the illusion of pure enlightenment or to follow the truth of compassion. This choice comes to us when we have learnt to see and use pure spiritual power, to see and know in any direction. There is one Path that leads us into the pure light of Nirvana, the light of pure enlightenment. And there is another Path, that of compassion for the help and guidance of humanity. No one can make this choice for us but ourselves, our own free will. Throughout all of nature’s kingdoms there is the power of the free will. Free will is a neutral, colourless power and belongs to all.
Following the path of jñãna yoga, brings us the knowledge of the interconnectedness of all there is. There is nothing in nature that is separate and apart from the rest. We are all interconnected through consciousness. It is the mind that misleads us and gives us the illusion that we are separate from our fellow men. That we are our bodies and not living souls. This illusion that we are our bodies is the great cause of all our suffering. Humanity is a great orphan and sadly in need of help due to living a life of illusion, thinking that they are their bodies and separate from nature. The Universe is imbodied consciousness collectively; and imbodied consciousness or monads individually.
Te recap on what has been said up till now;
1. Why should we know ourselves? Because of the amount of false Ideologies
we have had in the past, it is time to discover the truth about ourselves.
Man is a copy of the universe and the path to know God is by first knowing
ourselves. An example of this is from the ancient doctrine that we are
in our heart of hearts truly divine and go through a spiritual evolution
by periods of activity and rest, birth and death.
2. How do we get to know ourselves? Realize that we are ignorant and are
being constantly self-deceived. Knowledge and wisdom are obtainable through
perseverance, determination and facing up to it.
3. Having attained self-knowledge what do we do with it? Here our free
will becomes very important. How much compassion have we developed during
our cycle of births, deaths and rebirths? The realization that by helping
others become better humans we are helping ourselves to become better
humans.
In conclusion I will quote a passage from the Anugita at the end of chapter
8,
“You are all greatest, and not greatest.
You are all possessed of one another’s qualities.
All are the greatest in their own spheres,
and all support one another.
There is one moving life-wind.
There are others moving about, which are five,
owing to their specific qualities.
My own self is one only,
but accumulated in numerous forms.
Being friendly with one another,
and pleasing one another, go away happily.
Welfare be to you! Support one another.”
Sources; The Anugita.
Patanjali’s Yoga Aphorisms,
Blavatsky’s collected writings.
The Friendly Philosopher.
The Voice of the Silence.