EE7.5 - The Causal Matrix

The Causal Matrix

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Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 24

Notes:

Many words and phrases were not clearly audible on the tape, so in this discourse many of the square brackets represent the most likely inferences (from the context) as to the meaning.

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Yato vá imáni bhútáni jáyante yena játáni jiivanti;
Yat prayantyabhisaḿvishanti tad vijijiṋásasva tad Brahma.

“The Supreme Entity from whom everything cometh, in whom everything remaineth, and to whom everything goeth back, is Brahma. The spiritual aspirant is to know Him.” He is the Transcendental Entity. He is the Supreme Entity. He is the creator of this Cosmological order.

Kálah svabhávo niyatiryadrcchá bhútáni yonih puruśa iti cintyá;
Saḿyoga eśáḿ na tvátmabhávád átmápyaniishah sukhaduhkhahetoh.

[It is debatable whether time, nature, fate, accident; or the five fundamental factors of matter; or unit consciousness – any of these separately – is the ultimate cause of creation. Even collectively they are not the cause of creation, although the átman, unit consciousness, is the catalytic agent. The unit consciousness is not the cause of creation, because it can be affected by virtue or vice.]

This Transcendental Entity, this Creative Principle, cannot be the time factor. Time is not an eternal factor. Because what is time? It is mental reckoning of the motivity of action. This mental reckoning of the motivity of action [means that] where there is no action, there cannot be any time. The earth moves around the sun; that is how we get the solar year, the solar month, the solar day. The moon moves round the earth; that is how we get the lunar month, the lunar year, the lunar [day]. And the solar year or lunar year, the solar day or lunar day, are mental reckonings of their movements. Wherever there is no action, the possibility of measurement does not arise. And where there is action but no personal entity, no personal factor to measure the motivity, there cannot be any time. So the time factor is a relative factor; there cannot be eternal time. Time cannot be the absolute factor; so it cannot be the Causal Matrix, it cannot be the Creative Faculty. So time should not be the object of meditation. Time should not be your supreme desideratum. Time is not the Transcendental Entity.

Next item, svabháva. What is svabháva? You know, the functional side of this universe, the most important factor, is the Operative Principle. Now, what is the Operative Principle? At a particular time,⁽¹⁾ the particular style followed by the Operative Principle is called nature. So nature cannot be the Creative Faculty. Some people say “[The entire universe] is the creation of nature. It has come from nature.” No, no, no. Nature cannot create anything. Nature is the mode of work of the Operative Principle. The style followed by Prakrti, the style followed by the Operative Principle, rather the Creative Principle, is called nature, svabháva. So svabháva, or nature, cannot be the Creative Faculty. Nothing cometh from nature; nature is the style of working. It is due to the misguiding effects of defective materialistic philosophy that people say that everything has been created by nature. Now, this nature [is the creation] of the Operative Principle.

Kála, svabháva, then niyati. Niyati means “fate”. Is fate a guiding factor? No, it is not at all a guiding factor. Fate does not control human movement. What is fate? It is the unexpressed resultant momenta of your past actions. You have done something good or bad, so you will have to suffer the consequence, you will have to face the result. And unless and until the reaction in seed form is properly satisfied, you cannot get salvation, you cannot get emancipation. Now, these [reactive momenta], these unquenched reactive momenta, come before you in the form of fate. You committed some bad thing, now you will have to undergo punishment. The reactive momenta take the form of punishment.

And [usually] somewhere on this earth or on any other planet, [there will be] a particular structure or [configuration] of the stars and planets. So-called astrologers say that because you were born when the moon and such-and-such star or planet were within the jurisdiction of such-and-such zodiac [sign,] you took birth in this way. No. Because you committed this type of action, you were born within such-and-such structure or such-and-such zodiac [sign]. It is because of [your] actions that you were born on the earth and should suffer like this; not because of the [influences of] the stars. Do you follow? These actions brought you within the structural limits of such-and-such zodiac [sign] and such-and-such planets. So the stars do not [control] you; your original actions control you. And where [the original action] is not known to you, but the result is known to you, the result is experienced by you, you say it is niyati. It is also called adrśt́a in Sanskrit. Adrśt́a means “not-drśt́a, not seen”. Where you feel the reaction, where you witness the reaction, but you cannot see the original action, it is called adrśt́a, that is, unseen. You do not know what the original crime was that you committed, but you are [driven by] the reaction. So you say, “It is my adrśt́a.”

So fate cannot be the controlling factor, cannot be the creative factor, and so fate must not be your object of meditation, your object of adoration, or your object of worship. Human destiny is not controlled by fate. A human’s destiny is his or her own creation.⁽²⁾ You have to fight against bondage; you have to fight against fate and do something original by your personal [effort].

After kála, svabháva, niyati: yadrcchá [accident]. Some people [of misguided intellectual outlook] say, “It is something accidental.” Just to conceal their ignorance, they say it is accidental. You know, there is nothing accidental in this universe. For each and every incident there is some cause. We may or may not know the cause, but we must not say it is accidental just in order to conceal our ignorance. Everything is causal. Nothing is non-causal in this universe of causality.

Sometimes it so happens that the cause is translated into effect in a very short span of time; the translation period is very short. In that case, the effect is called “accidental”. [But is it really accidental?] And sometimes you see the result but you do not know the cause; in that case also you say it is an accident.⁽³⁾ You do not know the cause, so you say, “It is an accident, it is an accident.” No, there is no accident; everything is incident. So yadrcchá means “accident”. The accident cannot be the real cause, cannot be the causal factor. An accident cannot be your object of meditation or object of adoration.

Kálah svabhávo niyatiryadrcchá bhútáni… [“Time, nature, fate, accident, matter…”] Some people say, “You know, the original cause [is] matter – this quinquelemental universe came from ádibhúta, from matter.⁽⁴⁾ Matter is the rudimental cause, matter is everything.” If matter is everything, how does the Causal Mind come from matter? The mind is something superior to matter. So matter is not the ádibhúta. Human intellect, the human spirit, is far superior to matter, so matter cannot be the rudimental cause. Matter cannot be the Causal Matrix. And by worshipping matter, a person will be converted into matter. A person will be degraded to the status of animal and finally to the status of matter. So matter cannot be your object of ideation.

… bhútáni yonih puruśa iti cintyá [“… matter, the jiivátman (unit consciousness) – it is debatable”]. Now, is the jiivátman the rudimental cause? No. The jiivátmá cannot be the rudimental cause, because there are so many jiivátmás. For each and every entity there is one jiivátman. And even in matter there are jiivátmás. Because of their undeveloped mind,⁽⁵⁾ the existence of the átman is not experienced, but the átman is there. A particular jiivátman, a particular entity, cannot be the supreme causal factor of the entire universe. So the yonih puruśa [unit consciousness] is not the causal factor.

You know, whenever any mind, any microcosm, feels any good or bad experience, the concerned jiivátman is affected by that feeling.

Suppose there is a football match. There are two parties, and you are the spectators. You are not the players, remember; the results of the match [will not directly affect you. Yet you will feel affected.]

Similarly, whenever pleasure or sorrow is experienced by the mind, the [human] mind, the concerned jiivátman is affected by that particular pleasure or sorrow. Suppose there is a red flower and there is a looking-glass. That looking-glass has no colour, while the flower is [red], but because of its proximity to the red flower, the looking-glass will also become red. Similarly, the jiivátmá gets assailed by the pleasures and sorrows of the human mind. That entity that gets assailed by pleasures and sorrows cannot be the Causal Matrix, cannot be the supreme cause; so it cannot be your object of ideation.

Saḿyoga eśáḿ na tvátmabhávád átmápyaniishah sukhaduhkhahetoh – “nor can the combination of these factors – kála, svabháva, niyati, yadrcchá – be the causal factor.” Why? Because in each and every item we find there are certain imperfections. Imperfect entities cannot be the supreme cause of this universe.

Then is Prakrti the supreme causal factor, is the Operative Principle the supreme causal factor? No, certainly not. When the triangle of principles, the triangle of rudimental principles, gets unbalanced, its equipoise is lost. Then the resultant faculty comes out from one of its vertices. That resultant is the first phase of creation. But that resultant, the basic faculty, cannot do anything concrete without the help of the Cognitive Factor. In the second phase, in the primordial stratum, it requires the presence of the Cognitive Principle still more. And in the final stage of creation, in the case of the vibrational faculties, it requires the presence of the Cognition still more. So the Operative Principle (or, when helped by the Cognitive Principle, more popularly known as the Creative Principle, or Mahámáyá, in Sanskrit) cannot be the creative force, cannot be the Causal Matrix. Mahámáyá cannot do anything without the help of Shiva [Cognitive Principle]. Only with the permission of Shiva can She do something. So Mahámáyá, or the Operative Principle, is not the Causal Matrix, Shiva is the supreme cause.

Kśaraḿ Pradhánamamrtákśaraḿ Harah kśarátmanáviishate Deva ekah;
Tasyábhidhyánát yojanát Tattvabhávát bhúyashcánte Vishvamáyánivrttih.

[Pradhána, or Prakrti, is mutable, but Hara, or Puruśa, is immortal and immutable. That Deva controls both Prakrti and the attributed Puruśa. Through abhidhyána, through association with the Supreme, and through Tattvabháva (half-meditation on the Supreme while in the midst of action), one can overcome the powerful spell of Vishvamáyá – the universal Máyá.]

Kśaraḿ Pradhánam [“Prakrti is mutable”]. Prakrti, the Operative Principle, is also known as kśaram. Kśaram means “waning”, “undergoing changes”, “undergoing metamorphosis”, “transient”, “transitory”. Prakrti is not something transcendental, something intransient; She has to undergo changes.

[That which liberates through a] code of discipline is shástra [scripture] – Shásanát tárayet yastu sah shástrah parikiirtitah. In the shástras it has been said that Prakrti is nityanivrttá. Every day at each and every moment She is waning, She is dying out, She is being transformed into Puruśa. It is just like the condition of ghee in fire. Ghee helps the fire to maintain its existence, but the ghee itself is metamorphosed into ashes.

Kśaraḿ Pradhánamamrtákśaraḿ Harah [“Prakrti is mutable, but Parama Puruśa is immortal and immutable”]. But Hara means [Shiva]. Shiva is the root cause; Parama Puruśa, the Transcendental Entity, the Supreme Puruśa, the Supreme Cognition, is the Causal Matrix, and not the Operative Principle.

Amrtákśaraḿ Harah – “Hara is amrta and akśara.” Hara: Harati pápáni ityarthe Harah [“He who steals one’s sins is called Hara”]. Harati in Sanskrit means “to steal”. “He who steals pápa [sin] from you is Hara.” He is stealing something from you. And that something is what? Pápa. Amrtákśaraḿ Harah – “Hara is amrta and akśara.” That is,⁽⁶⁾ Hara is akśara. He undergoes no transmutation.

And amrta. Amrta means “immortal”. Do you know what death is? Death means a change of form. A boy of five years became a young man – now, the body of that boy underwent death. That young man became old – the body of that young man underwent death. That old man died and he again came here in the form of a little boy – the body of that old man underwent death. Death means a change of form.

Vásáḿsi jiirńani yathá viháya naváni grhńáti naro’paráńi;
Tathá shariiráni viháya jiirńányáni saḿyáti naváni dehii.

“Just as you change the old cloth for a new cloth, similarly you change the old body and you reappear in this world in a new body.” This is what death is. Amrtákśaraḿ Harah – “This Hara is akśara and amrta – immortal, undergoing no change, undergoing no metamorphosis.”

Kśarátmanáviishate deva ekah [“that immortal and immutable Deva also controls the mutable Prakrti”]. But this Hara is the Attributional Consciousness, Attributional Entity, Attributed Entity. Why Attributed Entity? Because of Its proximity to the Basic Principle, the primordial principle, and also because of Its proximity to the vibrational principle. You know this Basic Principle is called Kaośikii Shakti or Mahásarasvatii in Sanskrit. And the primordial principle is called Bhaeravii shakti. And the vibrational principle is called Bhavánii shakti. When Hara is in contact with the Basic Principle, He is Paramashiva; when He is in contact with the primordial principle, He is Bhaerava; and when He is in contact with the vibrational principle, He is Bhava. So because of His proximity to, because of His close contact with, the creative faculties, He cannot be the supreme factor, although He is the Supreme Causal Entity. He has got something to do with the created universe. That’s why although He is the Causal Entity, He is not the Supreme Beatitude. Because of His proximity to the Operative Principle, He is an attributional entity, not the Non-Attributional Entity. He is savisheśa [attributional], He is not nirvisheśa [non-attributional].

Kśarátmanáviishate deva ekah. Both these faculties, the Operative Principle, Mahámáyá, and Hara, are controlled by a third factor, and that third factor is the supreme factor, and that third factor is Puruśottama, the hub of this Cosmological order.

Tasyábhidhyánát yojanát tattvabhávát bhúyashcánte Vishvamáyánivrttih – “and for liberation, for psycho-spiritual salvation, one is to ideate on that third factor, and He is Puruśottama.”

How can one attain that supreme stance? How can one ensconce oneself in that Supreme Beatitude? Tasyábhidhyánát [“by abhidhyána on Him”]. [Tasya means “His”. What is the meaning of abhidhyána?] In abhidhyána there are two phases: prańidhána and anudhyána. Prańidhána means “withdrawing the mental [flows] from all objects and guiding that collective strength unto one object”. This is called prańidhána. You know Iishvara prańidhána.⁽⁷⁾ Withdrawal of the mind from all other entities and guiding that mental power unto the Singular Entity is prańidhána. Ananyámamatá Viśńormamatá premasauṋgata – “Withdrawing from all other entities and guiding towards Viśńu is prańidhána.”

And anudhyána.⁽⁸⁾ Suppose a spiritual aspirant suffers either from an inferiority complex or from a sinner’s complex. “I am a sinner I am a sinner. I am a degraded man. How can I attain that supreme position?” [Sinner’s complex.] Or “I am an ordinary jiiva, how can I be one with my Lord?” Inferiority complex. Because of these complexes, one notices that it is a very difficult job for him to become one with the Lord, to merge with Him.

[Then what is anudhyána?] Suppose that because of one’s past sins, the Lord may not agree to be one with him or her. [The Lord may not encourage a person to be one with Him.] It may be like this. But even then, by practising anudhyána, the sádhaka is to say, “O Lord, I may be a sinner, I may be a degraded person, but still I am Yours. I am Your child.⁽⁹⁾ I won’t spare You. [I will take refuge in You,] till I become one with You.

“I won’t spare you. I am a sinner.⁽¹⁰⁾ I am a sinner, but even then I will not spare You, because You are a sinner’s Father!” [laughter]

Tasyábhidhyánát – that is, prańidhánát and anudhyánát. Tasyábhidhyánát yojanát Tattvabhávát [“through abhidhyána, through association with the Supreme, and through Tattvabháva (half-meditation on the Supreme while in the midst of action)”].

What is anudhyána and prańidhána? The sádhaka comes in close contact with Supreme Puruśa. In the Rgveda it has been said:

Puruśa evedaḿ sarvaḿ yadbhútaḿ yacca bhavyam;
Utámrtatvasyesháno yadannenátirohati.⁽¹¹⁾

[Puruśa knows whatever happened in the past and whatever will happen in the future. He is the Lord of all, because He has created everything.]

“This Supreme Puruśa knows everything, each and every incident of the universe.” And for Him there is no difference between a puńyaván and a pápii, a person of virtue and a person of vice. Because the virtuous and the sinner both are His children, both are His progeny. Because He is the Supreme Progenitor, all are His children. He cannot hate anybody, although He knows everything. He knows what you did, He knows what you said, He knows what you thought, because everything is within His mind. [Everything is] a Macropsychic conation.

Yojanát means “by dint of your sádhaná”. By Iishvara prańidhána and anudhyána you come in close contact with Him, and this is yojanát. For yojanát in Sanskrit there are two verbs.⁽¹²⁾ One is yuj and the other is yuiṋj. Yuj means to come in close contact but maintaining one’s individuality. It is [just like] a mixture of sand and sugar. There is close contact between the sand and sugar, but they maintain their individual identities. And then there is yuiṋj. Yuiṋj means [not just] to come in contact, but to become one with each other. One is addition and the other is unification. The root verb yuj means “to add” and the root verb yuiṋj means “to unify”. Here, yojanát means unification. When a river comes in close contact with the ocean, yojanát takes place, and that yojanát is of the root verb yuiṋj, that is, “unification”.⁽¹³⁾ Similarly, when a sádhaka comes in contact with Him, that is, yojanát becomes established, one becomes one with the Supreme Self. [Let us say] his name is Mr. X. Mr. X was his little “I” and [God was] his big “I”. His little “I”, X, becomes one with his big “I”, God. Do you follow?⁽¹⁴⁾ The little I becomes one with the big I.

Yojanát tattvabhávát. Tattvabhávát. In Sanskrit, tat means “that”. Here “That” means Parama Puruśa. For Parama Puruśa, Paramátmá or Parama Brahma it is [normal] usage to use “It” as neutral gender. Neither masculine nor feminine, neuter gender. So here the word “He” has not been used, the word “That” has been used. Tat means “That”, and tva is [a suffix to make] an abstract noun [meaning “ness”]. So Tattva means “Thatness”. For example, mahattattva. So Tattvabhávát – that is, “one is to establish one’s mind in the idea of Thatness.” Whatever I see,⁽¹⁵⁾ everything is That; everything is Parama Puruśa. By constant meditation, by constant repetition of your guru mantra – [what you learned in your] second lesson⁽¹⁶⁾ – [you perform] Tattvabhávát. [Ascribing] Brahma-hood to each and every entity is Tattvabhávát.

So, Tasyábhidhyánát (that is, prańidhánát and anudhyánát) yojanát Tattvabhávát!

Bhúyashcánte Vishvamáyánivrttih [“one can overcome the powerful spell of Vishvamáyá, the universal Máyá”]. The Vishvamáyá – the Supreme Creative Faculty is called Vishvamáyá. When She works within the scope of all the strata of expression She is called Mahámáyá, and when She [works within the physical stratum], She is called Vishvamáyá. When one becomes one with this Causal Matrix, this Causal Faculty, the Supreme Cause, what happens? The insurmountable Máyá surrenders before him or her. For an ordinary mortal, this Máyá is insurmountable, very difficult to cross. Lord Krśńa said,

Daevii hyeśá guńamayii mama Máyá duratyayá;
Mámeva ye prapadyante Máyámetáḿ taranti te.⁽¹⁷⁾

“This Máyá of Mine.” Whose Máyá? “My Máyá,” says the Lord. “[It is] insurmountable, very difficult to cross.” But, Mámeva ye prapadyante – “He who has taken My shelter,” – Máyámetám taranti te – “Máyá surrenders before him or her.”

Bhúyashcánte Vishvamáyánivrttih. [For] one who takes shelter, ensconces oneself, in Parama Puruśa – in the Supreme Puruśa, in the Supreme Cause, in the Supreme Controlling Faculty of this Cosmological order – what happens? Vishvamáyá surrenders before him. He becomes a free man, a muktapuruśa; he or she attains salvation. Now by individual effort it is very difficult to fight the overwhelming effect of Mahámáyá. The easiest way is to take shelter in the Supreme Puruśa. As Máyá is the faculty of Parama Puruśa, when one has taken shelter in Puruśa, naturally Máyá will surrender before him or her, and actually Máyá surrenders before him or her.

How to become one with Parama Puruśa? By prańidhána, by anudhyána, by yojanát and by Tattvabhávát. And how are all these things, all these [treasures] – anudhyána, prańidhána, yojanát and tattvabhávát – established? With the help of only one faculty, not mentioned in this shloka, and that faculty is devotion.

(4) Ádibhúta, in materialistic philosophies, is matter conceived of as the “primary factor”. –Eds.

(12) I.e., the one word yojanát can be derived from either of two verbs. –Eds.