DHEE : The Essence of Hinduness (Part II)
(Vedic Roots of Equality)
by
The question raised at the end of Part I of the article on “
DHEE” (on
http://www.swaveda.com/) was, “What is
Dhee?” The cognitive science of the Vedas views
Dhee as a faculty of the mind, which in its highest accomplishment enables one to comprehend the Ultimate in this Universe. The Ultimate in the Universe is
Brahman in
Vedic science and
Vedantic literature.
Dhee is not only vested in an individual but has a collective existence. It nurtures the entire cognate creation. The “
Mahad” or “
Mahadhee” of
Saankhya Darshana refers to the Universal Intelligence. (Please see “Demystifying
Shri Ganesha” on www.swaveda.com ). The basic eternal law (or laws) of nature is termed "
Ritam" in Sanskrit. It can be intuitively comprehended by the human mind through the agency of
Dhee. With proper tuning in of individual
Dhee,
Ritam can be directly perceived through a sub-faculty or a component of
Dhee termed “
Prajnya.” In a fully “realized” individual, who has experienced and comprehended the nature of
Brahman,
Dhee is privileged to enjoy
prajnya that is filled with a deep unconscious and sometimes conscious knowledge of all the laws of nature, as intended in a statement, “
ritambhara tatra prajnya.” (This expression is used by
Patanjali in his “
Yoga Sutras.” It means: “In that state the
prajnya is filled with all the “
rita’s” or truths.) Buddha or a “
Sthitaprajnya” would have reached that state of consciousness or evolved to attain that state of being.
Sthitaprajnya is an adjective used to describe such fully realized individual. There are other equivalent terms which convey the same state of being of a fully evolved human being. The classic quotation is from the second chapter of
Bhagvadgeeta:
"Sthitaprajnyasya kaa bhaashaa, Samaadhisthasya Keshava, Sthitadhee kim prabhaasheta kimaaseeta vrajeta kim?" Arjuna asks this question to
Shri Krishna. Here it is obvious that the terms
Sthitaprajnya, Samaadhistha, and
Sthitadhee are nearly equivalent synonyms. (Approximate literal translation could be as follows:
Keshava, what is the definition of the
Sthitaprajnya who is also a
Samaadhistha? Or, what does a
Samaadhistha Sthitaprajnya express verbally? How does
Sthitadhee exhort, how does he express himself
non-verbally – how does he sit, and how does he conduct himself or how does he behave? In essence, in this quote Arjuna wants
Shri Krishna also known as
Keshava to explain to him the characteristics specific to an individual who deserves to be recognized as
Sthitaprajnya, Samaadhistha, and
Sthitadhee. These terms refer then to individuals enjoying experiential and existential states of consciousness and/or states of being. The clinical signs and symptoms of this highest potential condition of human life are yet to be defined and criteria for diagnosing this condition, if you may, are to be offered for the first time in this special
Yogashaastra of the
Vedaantic literature,
Bhagavadgeetaa, to be offered by
Vyaasa, its author, through the character of
Shri Krishna)
Dhee is Universal Intelligence when recognized as “
Mahadhee.”
Mahadhee operates at a subconscious or supra-conscious level while individual
Dhee has more conscious recognition by those who can begin to experience it. Sub-faculties of
Dhee operating at uncoscious and conscious levels are the
Neurolinguistic faculty (
vaac), represented by
Vaageshwari, the artistic poetic inspiration and talent (
pratibhaa), represented by
Saraswati, the faculty that gives deeper understanding of the
un-manifest world (
vidyaa) represented by
Prajnya, (“
prajnyaa” is an ability viewed as a composite of
pratibhaa,
vidyaa, inspiration, intuition or a superior talent that enables one to comprehend abstract concepts or the
tatva’s including
rita’s), and finally it is
Dhee that is the container (
aayatawaan – or a receptacle) of
Jnyaana. The highest level of
Jnyaana is expected to have knowledge of
Brahman when
Dhee becomes the container to receive it and it begins to perceive the process by which
Brahman evolves into manifest world (The knowledge of this process is called
Brahmavidyaa). This highest knowledge is described as
Brahmajnyaana.
Mahadhee and
Dhee are, in a manner of speaking, the highest and the subtlest information storage and cognitive systems in
Prakriti to say the least. Since the
tatvas described as
Brahman,
Prakriti, and
Mahadhee (or
Mahad) are all-pervasive subtle entities (
tatvas) present in the entire manifest and
un-manifest universe, there is no locale for these entities. On the other hand, the individual
Dhee is dependent on the brain, the most evolved and complex organ in the Human organism.
Dhee and
Mahadhee are
qualitatively similar or same. However, the complexity and capacity of
Mahadhee is beyond the grasp of ordinary individual
Dhee. Mahadhee is magnificent in its magnitude. It is quite possible that the intuitive
appreciation of such similarity could have led to statements like “man being created in the image if his creator (Western concept)” or “
Nara and
NaaraayaNa” being conceived as similar in nature in their noblest forms (Eastern concept). It is the individual
Dhee that has the potential to experience the presence and nature of
Mahadhee, Prakriti or
Purusha (or
Brahman). It must be mentioned and clarified at the outset that in
Saankhya the entities identified as
Purusha, Prakriti and
Mahad have not been given any status of deities.
Saankhya is an ancient natural science, and therefore,
Saankhya does not bother to deify these entities or
tatvas.
Saankhya is not a theology but only a cosmogony.
Saankhya can be conceived as the philosophy of natural science or metaphysics elaborating upon the
tatvas underlying the nature of
physico-chemical universe and the biosphere. The awe and sacredness attached to these concepts (
Purusha, Prakriti and
Mahad) would make them
Paramaatman, Shakti, Ganesha in a different context where the divine qualities are attributed to these simple “physical” concepts, principles or
tatvas described in Saankhya. Basically the sentient and non-sentient universe is
de-constructed in
Saankhya without
contaminating Saankhya as a “spiritual,” “religious” literature addressing gods or god like concepts. Therefore,
Saankhya philosophy could easily be
misrepresented or
misinterpreted as “atheistic”. Like science it is neither theistic not atheistic. Unlike science it attempts to reconcile and integrate cognate, sentient, and the non-sentient aspsects of the
Universe in a single frame of reference. At its sublime level Saankhya view of the entire Universe, or all existing universes if there are many, in any form, as entirely contained in the radiating sentient energy or Purusha. This frame of reference makes Saankhya look reductionistic yet the jury is not out to confirm or disprove its thesis. The question as to how the mass appears in the Universe and how energy is converted into mass are questions physicists are still grappling with although they have convincingly demonstrated how mass can be converted into energy. This said, one has to wait for scientific developments in the Quantum physics or Elementary Particle physics to arrive at the appropriate appreciation of the basic concepts of Saankhya. In the true Indian philospophical or Vedic tradition there is room for corrections or revisions of theory and the truth will prevail as there is no conflict between Vedic philosophy and science. Vedas are a pursuit of knowledge in the same scientific spirit and rests on "facts" as they exist and not on imaginary non-exitant entities (Sat and Asat). Asat is to be discarded.
The following discusstion regarding the etymology and different aspects of Dhee may be skipped at first reading, yet it would be of value to read it for the second reading of this article by a serious student.
_____________________________________________________________________
What is missing in the usual expositions on the
Vedic Philosophy is emphasis on “
Dhee (
Dheehi).” It is important to understand the etymology of the words that have “
Dhi” or “
Dhee” in them to get a full picture of what is implied by this concept of
Dhee. The words ending in “
dhi” are sometimes viewed as not related to “
Dhee.” Many Sanskrit scholars may not fully agree with this writer’s breakdown of the Sanskrit words to illustrate the pivotal presence of the concept of
Dhee in the
Vedic and Buddhist spiritual literature. It may be the initial criticism of the Part I of this article on
http://www.swaveda.com/ by some Sanskrit scholars that some of the words (in Part I of this article) this writer has chosen to illustrate ubiquitous references to “
Dhee” as drawing attention to this concept of “
Dhee” do not have “
dhee” in them in the strict grammatical sense except as a homonym. For example, the root “
Dha” (“
Dhri” or “
Dhru”) stands for “holding,” and therefore, “
Bud” in the word “
Buddha” (
Bodhati- Bodhate) refers to “to understand, to know” and “
Buddhah” (one who holds the knowledge) in the sense of “enlightened” has no relation, it may be argued, to the word “
Dhee.” Likewise, “
Buddhih” is a term used for intellect as a faculty of the mind. The fact that the
Dhi in this word is a
rhasva (i) and not a
deergha (
ee) “
dhee” makes it a word not related to “
Dhee.” Also, the word “
Vidhi” has a
rhasva (“i”) “
dhi” and as such only stands for “a method” “a rite” or a ritual. “
Vidhee,” with
deergha (“
ee”) “
dhee,” may stand for fate, “destiny or luck,” and neither is it
related to “
Dhee” as proposed by this writer. So, such somewhat legitimate scholastic arguments could lead to linguistic objections pointing to the fact that it seems the
Rhasva dhi is more (
dhiyati) related to “
Dha” meaning simply to hold or to possess. For example, “a receptacle,” “
dhi,” as in “
jaladhi” (
jala means water and
jaladhi means a pond or a lake, literally a water reservoir) has nothing to do with “
Dhee.” Such derivations and variations of the meanings of
rhasva “dhi” and
deergha “dhee” have lead to probable
disconnection of “
Dhee” from “
dhi.” Such
considerations in the scholastic semantic
interpretations of “
Dhi” and “
Dhee” tend to offer these two homonyms as two separate concepts.
______________________________________________________________________
The effort of this author in this article is to tie in the two concepts (
Dhi and
Dhee) with focus on the quote from “
Kaamandaka’s
Neetisaara or
Kaamandakineetisaara.” The reader is asked to focus on the words “
grahanam” and “
dhaaranam.” “
Grahanam,” meaning “
incorporation”, and “
dhaaranam” meaning “holding” (
Dhi- as related to
dhaaranam – also note the closeness and connection of this concept to the concept of
Dharma) as the necessary qualities of “
Dhee” in the following
authoritative definition of “
Dhee” in “
Kaamandakineetisaara.” (“
shushrooshaa shravanam chaiva grahanam dhaaranam tathaa, uhaapohaartha-vidnyaanam tatvajnaana cha dheegunaah”). Approximate translation of this definition could mean something as follows: The qualities or
characteristics of
Dhee are
nurturance, auditory
comprehension, as also
internalization and
incorporation (
grahanam) too, and in addition, retention (or holding in) (
dhaaranam), scientific or logical reality based analysis or critical thinking (
uhaapoha), and cognition or
understanding of
Tatvas (“
Tatva jnyana” – For more detailed discussion about the nature of
Tatva and
Tatvajnyana see this author’s previous article on “
Demystifying Shri Hanuman Part II” on
http://www.swaveda.com/). This quote from
Kaamandakineetisaara defining
Dhee, if understood properly, will not only get one closer to
understanding what “
Dhee” stands for but also it will illustrate the closeness of the concept of
dhi (holding faculty) to the
comprehending internalizing faculty (
dhee) and it beautifully illustrates how “
dhi” as holding faculty is connected with the much larger concept of
comprehensively viewed plenary faculties (
tatvas), “
Dhee” and “
Mahadhee.” A cognitive framework as formulated here for
understanding Dhee is considered absolutely essential to gain insight into the
philosophical, metaphysical, and
psychological underpinnings of “
Saankhya” and "
Yoga.” “Thinking out of the box” is essential to understand the drift of this article and many other previous articles on “
www.swaveda.com” by this author.
So let us take on the giants among the Indian and Western translators of
Vedic and Vedantic concepts first. They have been extensively preoccupied with
Atman and
Purusha as the perceiving and
comprehending agencies of the mind and also have been attributing an active role to them. The
illustration below is to demystify the terms “Self” and “Person” used by these giants of English versions of
Vedas and
Vedanta and see these “
tatvas” as merely nodes of
consciousness. These individual (Purusha) nodes of
consciousness or fields, by definition are passive until their “
nirguna” nature becomes "
saguna." That is to say, the individual as well as the Cosmic
consciousness is devoid of any qualities that would be
differentiating IT from anything else. It is only when IT begins to
differentiate that the qualities or
gunaas become discernible. (See the article on “
Demystifying Shri Ganesha” and “
Hinduness for World Peace and Harmony” on
http://www.swaveda.com/ ) The active faculty of the mind for the practice of Yoga is “
DHEE” (not
Atman or
Purusha). Yoga as a discipline to achieve integration of the personality is focused on
Dhee, a faculty uniquely evolved in human beings.
Buddhi (
vyavasaayaatmikaa buddhi or pragmatic intellect, for example) refers to problem solving cognitive abilities with mechanical,
mathematical, verbal, performance, social, musical, and other synthetic creative functions of the intellect as well as
visuao-spatial and
visuo-motor perceptions and abilities (
coordination) and the organizing and executive functions of the brain.
Buddhi is, of course, essential for
Dhee to evolve. In fact
Shri Krishna advises Arjuna to start with this very first step, by saying, “
vyavasaatmikaa buddhi eka-iva kuru Nandana.” (Bring together all the faculties of your pragmatic
intelligence as if they are all one and concentrate).
Dharma usually refers to refined moral development of the mind through
incorporation of “good”
samskaaras and use of a
Viveka Buddhi.
Viveka is the faculty of
Buddhi or
Dhee that enables one to be sensible, just, and appropriate in personal, family, social and global context responsible for what may be considered “judgment.”
Saara-asaara Viveka Buddhi (This is the faculty that
distinguishes relevant from irrelevant, essential from non-essential and recognizes the context and
relationship of the background to the foreground, or the figure focused upon) or
sad-asad Viveka (
distinguishing real from unreal) is a sub-faculty of
Dhee. Viveka can thus intuitively distinguish “
Sadaachaara from
Duraachaara (good conduct from bad conduct).” "
Manas" in Yoga refers to the “emotional mind” and is considered lower in hierarchy, with its being assigned the status of an "
indriya" (rough translation- “sense organ”) of
Dhee along with five other
indriyas. It is only proper considering that “
manas” is, since infancy, an elaboration of the
interoceptor derived information and memories that form the substratum for emotions which discolor current and past perceptions, cognition, memories, actions, and
relationships and even the nature of reality as perceived by an individual.
Manas has its language of the heart and often is not logical. It is not the
intelligence by itself and it is
Dhee that raises
Manas derived input by processing it to render an emotional maturity to an individual. Yoga has special techniques to tame, modulate, and regulate
manas and one of those techniques is
Pranaayama.
Dhee regulates the
buddhi (intellect),
manas (emotional
intelligence), and the moral compass (
Viveka and
Dharma) to navigate oneself in one’s life (in the microcosm). Every child has a deeply seated sense of fairness and justice, compassion and love, and sensibility in its rudimentary form which emanates from this faculty of
Dhee which develops and matures into the
Dharmic tendencies of
Dhee. Just
intelligence alone does not make a mature human being. Refined
Buddhi, Manas, and
Viveka are the minimum three components of
Dhee for a human being to be considered civilized and mature human being. These three components then sharpened by
vaac, pratibhaa, prajnya, etc., blossom into fully evolved
Dhee that attains the potential for
comprehending Brahman,
Atman or
Purusha.
If one does not understand the reasons for this deviation from the traditional English
translations by any of the giant scholars of the past, one will go back to spinning one’s wheels on the cultural
miseducation (for
understanding the implication of this term see “Antiquity of Cultural
Miseducation” on
http://www.swaveda.com/ ) that has
inadvertently crept into the voluminous literature on Hindu or
Vedic (
Yoga philosophy and
Yoga psychology) precisely because of the
translational flaws. In this area it is next to impossible to determine who followed whom in this
translational conundrum. Was it that the Indian scholars, who were limited in their usage of the English language, that
mistranslated the key words initially while
communicating with their Western students and scholars, or is it the Western scholars who were struggling to find the right words for
Vedic Sanskrit concepts which they had not quite fully
comprehended yet, while they were using their Western software to find the English equivalents? Is it too late to admit that there were no real equivalents for many Sanskrit words in English language? The
translational flaws have, therefore, persisted in the English
translations. The current English usage and verbiage have distorted the basic views of the English dominated “
Vedic” culture which is
unfortunately learned and discussed in English language by many who do not understand Sanskrit and also by those who understand Sanskrit. This is because one
inadvertently gets caught up in the
translational ruts that for some tends to provide an internally consistent body of knowledge based on consensual agreement and
unquestioning acceptance. This leads to the perpetuation of original translational flaws in the literature.
There is so much (legitimate) emphasis on “
Brahman” and “
Purusha” in the Indian philosophy that a reader loses track of the fact as to which “faculty” of the “mind” is trying to describe these concepts and/or perceive them. The translation of the word “
Purusha” as “person” or “self” has also caused enormous confusion. The words “person” and “self” are used in voluminous Western scientific and
psychological literature with entirely different
connotations and meanings than those implied by the
Vedic scholars. The
psychological phenomenon or a theoretical construct described as “self” evolves when the infant interacts with its social and inanimate environment as well as his own body to begin to form its internal image as a continuing stable separate entity, separate from its mother or primary love object. The
Vedic “Self,” on the other hand, stands for the imagined,
hypothetical, theoretical or postulated “
experiencer” in each individual and is ordinarily equated with the English word “soul.” This “
experiencer” is said to have an eternal existence separate from the body and the brain. So the “Self” in
Vedic context is a
philosophical entity or
tatva (
aatma-tatva) whereas in
contradistinction the “self” in psychology is a mental construct every infant will develop to visualize or comprehend itself as a separate person(
asmita and
ahankara are necessary for this
"self" whereas the
Vedic "Self" and "SELF" are beyond the realm of
Asmita and
Ahankara). One finds many Indian as well as Western authors expounding
Vedic Philosophy going back and forth with these two entirely different disciplines (Indian Philosophy and Western Psychology) using these same words as if they are
interchangeable or by attempting to separate these two by
capitalizing self as Self and person as Person to denote “
aatman” or “
purusha”
respectively, (the terms,
aatman of
Vedanta, and
purusha of
Saankhya, are considered here as equivalent synomyms) yet discuss the attributes of
Aatman or
Purusha as if it is a person or self as denoted in the parlance of Western Psychology. In actuality there is no English equivalent for the word
purusha as used in
Sankhya and later in
Yoga. Similar
translational flaws seem to occur in translating the word “
Aatman.” Once the words “person” and “self” are used, with or without
capitalizing the first letter, they create problem with the words “
Purushottama or
Paramaatmaa.” What then can be the equivalents for these? “Super-person or Supreme Self”? Or “Super-self”? Once such
translations occur there is an illusion created by
translational flaws which generates spurious logical arguments and discussions dragging the readers or audience into a conundrum of circular, convoluted, logic which
superficially sounds so profound that serious students spend years trying to disentangle knots therein. Is person inactive and inert? Or, how can person be inactive and inert when those who understand the word “person” will normally view it to be an active agent? Then one would go looking for evidence to show that
Purusha is active in some other
Vedantic discipline that differs from
Saankhya. Such treatises and discussions are mostly word plays (play on semantics) and are mostly generated by the semantic confusion caused by the translational flaws. Besides creating a cognitive confusion and lack of clarity these kinds of translations have made Indian philosophy appear either too profound or a veritable inconsistent gobble de goop in its English or Western “trans-presentation.” When such translations fall into the hands of some basically insincere mischievous Western Indologists, or so called “scholars” of religious studies, etc., they provide for them the grist for the mill for their “monkey business” as described in the articles on “Demystifying Shri Hanuman.” (See three articles on
http://www.swaveda.com/ )
Another look at
Dhee will help one understand why the concept of
Dhee is essential for scientific humanism. The very comforting preschool concept that all human beings are the children of God have not had any impact on the human race especially as reflected by the atrocious practices of the two major monotheistic religions that have inflicted untold miseries on the children of God that they believed or still believe not to be the favored children of God as they themselves were or are. There is another concept, that could, when assimilated by human civilization and comprehended by all educated and uneducated global citizens of the world, put a stop to Man’s inhumanity to man. That alternative paradigm, which is likely to be more scientific and plausible, needs to be fully explored. In this respect the connectedness of all human beings attains a paramount importance. “
Dhiyah samagraah saa guneirudaaraadheeh” is definition of
Dhee in
Raghuvamsha of Kaalidaasa. An approximate translation of this quote is as follows: “Collectively all ‘
dhees’ form
Dhee (
Mahadhee) which by its very nature is generous or noble.” This definition, therefore, clearly indicates that
Dhee has singular (individual) as well as a plural (collective) connotation, for example, as one would understand by the word “faculty” of a university. “
Guneirudaaraa” means: By nature it is noble or generous. The nobility of
Dhee is in its highest potential to perceive and comprehend
Brahman and/or
Purusha.
Dhee is by definition noble and “high-minded” (and therefore broad-minded).
Dhee that has been illuminated or guided by
Brahman (
Tat Savitruh) will see no reason to condemn anyone to hell. Therein lays the secret strength of the Eastern “religions,” including Buddhism and Jainism (that use “
Namaste” as a greeting). These religions or cultures have fully comprehended the human mind as endowed with
Dhee. There is no need to elaborate on Hinduness here for those readers who have read this writer's article on “Hinduness for World Peace and Harmony.” (
http://www.swaveda.com/). How then,
Dhee is the essence of Hinduness?
As stated in the article referred to above, the word “
Namaste” carries in it this very essence. It is a gesture with hands, with eyes, with mind and
Dhee, with a smile, with all acceptance and warmth with all noble feelings and emotions towards the other human being as equal, radiating love (Agape) through body language and expression, sincerely accepting all human beings and all people regardless of their religious, racial, socioeconomic or national background, with no consideration for caste, creed, or color. (A living example today of this may be in individuals like Sri Sri Ravisankar and many like him). This gesture of “
Namaste” communicates in a very simple manner a “connectedness” of two individuals as equal (
samaana). The ability to recognize the “
Aatman” in one individual as the same as or similar to the “
Aatman” in another is also a function of
Dhee.
Dhee recognizes its collective existence when it invents and puts into practice a simple social “gesture” for greeting that expounds a profound philosophical truth. That gesture is “
Namaste” with joined hands to illustrate the “
samaanata” or “equality” of two individuals.
It would be corrupt to translate the Namaste or Vande as a mere greeting or a salute. There is utmost respect and affinity expressed in this gesture. The fact is that it is directed towards the human beings, mothers, fathers and even strangers leave alone the mother land and God that sustains the very existence of the individual. The concrete minded goons take objection to the use of the word "Vande" when addressing the mother land without comprehending how much love there is in a patriot when he/she appreciates what mother land has provided, the very nurturance to sustain life. These goons have not been silenced by explaining the humility involved therein rather than posing the mother land as being in competition with their God as they would want to corruptly interpret it. So, they take something traditional and simple and make it objectionable and offensive to themselves, and furthermore, irrationalyy bully others by imposing their will on others. Of course, goons will always find rationalization to bully others and impose their ways on others and explain away their antisocial behaviors. Sensible people with self respect must put a stop to it and ask them to leave the premises if they have objection to such reverence for the mother land. It is not and never is an insult to them or their God for one to say Vande or Namaste to their mothers or mother land.
Imagine
Mahadhee as the equivalent of the Internet with each individual
Dhee manifesting the potential to be a “search engine,” if you can accept such analogy of IT or “Information Technology.” There is, however, a vast difference between information storehouse and knowledge or wisdom.
Purusha, Brahman, Atman are all-comprehending (not necessarily in the sense of information storehouse but a different type of knowledge that is called “
jnyaanam” in contradistinction from “
vijnyaanam”) or their nature itself is
Jnyaanam. Therefore, when
Dhee acquires this
jnyaanam with its sub-faculty
Prajnyaa leading
Dhee to it,
Dhee comes to a fulfillment of its designed, destined, or designated function and becomes the
Dhee of a “
Sthitadhee.” The individual who attains such a state of mind or state of
Dhee is also called “
Sthitadhee.” This function in the evolution of human beings may be conceived as the ability or potential for the highest possible cognition and maturation of
Dhee to attain
Brahmajnyaana according to the
Vedic or
Sanaatana dharma. The
Vedic and
Yogic science then is primarily devoted to refinement, evolution, and culmination of
Dhee into a state of
Samaadhee (state of consciousness or a state of being) where
Dhee comes to rest in a state of balance and fulfillment of the individual Dhee as “
Sthitadhee,” an adjective based upon the functional status of
Dhee. Thus the
samaadhistha by nature eventually becomes
Sthitadhee. Likewise, the fulfillment or culmination of the sub-faculty of
Dhee,
Prajnyaa, in the most “spiritually evolved” individual leads to his/her becoming a “
Sthitaprajnya or a
Sthitaprajnyaa (as applied to a female)” This is also a similar adjective based upon the functional status of
prajnyaa. The “
sanskaaras” or impressions (or memories) imprinted on the individual
dhee in this state of
samaadhi are so very profound, strong and dominant that the other frames of reference in comprehending reality predicated upon previously ingrained
sanskaaras begin to weaken naturally (
tanjanya sanskaraa anyasanskaara pratibandhee – per Patanjali’s Yogasutras.)
Samaadhi is a transcendental state, but repeated experience of
samaadhi is consequential in leading to the state of being which itself deserves to be termed “
samaadhi.” This is a slightly confusing aspect of
Yogashaastra. This confusion can be relieved by understanding the fact that the highest integrative process (
sanyama) in the evolution of
Dhee is termed
Samaadhi and the state of consciousness attained through this process of
samaadhi is also termed “
Samaadhi.” An individual who is consistently and perpetually in a state of
samaadhi in the “usual wakeful” state is experiencing
samaadhi as a state of being. This is termed the
Sahajavastha (Natural State).
Samaadhee is, thus a process of transformation through evolving higher states of consciousness. The (transcendental) states of consciousness finally lead to transformation of the aspirant’s maturation into a persistent highest evolved “state of being.” The individual who has attained that state of being is also called “
sthitaprajnya.” The Buddhists call him a “
Buddha” who has attained the “
Bodhihi” (enlightenment).
Bodhisatva, a practicing aspirant, has a potential to become a
Buddha. So also, an aspiring
Yogi who becomes
samaadhistha experiences the transcendental state of
samaadhi and attains a potential to become a
sthitadhee or a
sthitaprajnya through his “
saadhanaa” (
practice of yoga). Science of yoga is considered central to all Hinduness related spectrum (or groups) of “religions” or
Sanaatana Dharmic traditions. Focus on
Dhee is central for the practice of yoga. Therefore,
“Dhee is the essence of Hinduness.”
Dhee is usually highly evolved in all highly talented artists, musicians, mathematicians, philosophers, and individuals who have contemplative nature. However, its tuning itself with
Mahadhee is what leads to its fulfillment. There is disproportionate importance given to the faculty of “intelligence” in the Western culture at the expense of emotional maturity and
Dharmic, superior moral or spiritual development. It is needless to say that it is lopsided and sometimes leads to disasters in social and occupational spheres as exemplified by the recent event in the finance market. There is an enormous emphasis on the all round development of
Dhee in the Eastern culture. This leads to some de-emphasis of individualism. It leads to
Sanskritization or civility or civilization of an individual as contemplated by Freud (see “Hinduness for World Peace and Harmony” in
http://www.swaveda.com/ ). It is always implied that there is
Dharma in Dhee but there may not be
Dharma in Intellect or
Buddhi. Science and mathematics as well as the highest technological advances of the human civilizations applied in real life while not guided by Dhee
can lead to disharmony and destruction, whereas the advances of the civilization guided by
Dhee lead to peace and harmony. This is the master mystery of the
Vedas transmitted through the secret
Gayatree Mantra which contemplates on the individual
dhee to be guided and inspired by
Dheemahee (more on this word later) or
Mahadhee originating in the
(tat savitru) Brahman the source of all wisdom and knowledge
.(see Part I of this article on
http://www.swaveda.com/ ). This is a legacy of all
Bhaarateeyas.
Finally, “
Dhriti Shamaa Damo Asteyam Shoucham Indriyanigraha Dheehi Vidyaa Satyam Akrodho Dahshakam Dharmalakshanam” (Manusmriti VI-92) “
Dhruti (fortitude);
shamaa (patience);
dama (self-restraint);
asteyam (non-stealing, not taking anything that belongs to others by deceit or force, or through unfair trade);
shaucham (cleanliness of mind, body and environment);
indriyaanigraha (restraints of sense organs and greed);
dhee (well defined exahustively in this article);
vidyaa (knowledge);
satyam (truth);
akrodha (non-anger) are the ten characteristics of
Dharma.” (Courtesy Dr. Srinivas Kalyanaraman). This quote amply illustrates the pride of place
Dhee occupies as one of the ten essentials for
Dharma. The cultures devoid of
Dhee destroy one another as they lack an important component of
Dharma which holds the human society or earthlings together.
Your feedback is encouraged and will be highly appreciated. Congratulations for struggling through a complex subject that ended up becoming so very simple. That is typical of Hinduness. This knowledge about
Dhee belongs to all
Bhaarateeyaas and it should be the hope of all
Bhaarateeyas to strive to bring all knowledge to all
Bhaarateeyas. The ideal goal of BHAA-RATA (
Rata - Engrossed in
Bhaa-Light-Knowledge) is to make all knowledge available to all deserving
Bhaarateeya students on the basis of merit and “
samaanataa” regardless of caste or class. Losing sight of this meaning of
Bhaarata and the
Vedic roots of equality or
Samaanata over the millennia and the emergence of corrupt class and caste based social system in the Hindu society (one should understand that historically all Western and Eastern societies except perhaps the ancient Buddhist society in China have been guilty of encouraging education for certain privileged classes and this trait is not at all unique to Indian history nor for Hindu society as is being promulgated by some “secularist” media) have led to a cultural mis-education and misrepresentation that
samaaanata in education is a Buddhist invention though Buddhism rediscovered the old Vedic principle that was not practiced in reality by the Hindus at the time of Gautama the Buddha. It is time for
Bhaarat to rediscover its roots and eliminate
asamaanata in
Bhaarata in its educational systems, in both private and public sector, without the politicians’ vote-bank motivated divisiveness that will tear asunder the
Bhaatateeya Society or
Bhaarateeya Janam. Vedic knowledge is the inheritance of the entire human race and needs to be shared freely but it is the duty of Bharateeyas to own and protect it as they have done it for more than five thousand years.
ll Vande Maataram ll
P.S.: The author acknowledges the superb editorial contribution by Seshachalam Dutta, Ph. D.
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