mannabliss Medicine for the Soul November 2016 | Page 37

According to the Hindu scriptures, the only attribute of God, is ‘Pure Consciousness’. This is the energy that infuses life in all its manifestations. A popular Sanskrit word for God is Sat – Chit – Ananda ‘. ‘Sat’ means eternal or all pervasive; ‘Chit’ means consciousness; and ‘Ananda’ means cosmic bliss or pure form of energy. Thus, the fully composed word, Satchidanand means, “God is eternal, pure consciousness and, cosmic bliss or perfection.”

Cosmic Consciousness is same as Cosmic Intelligence or life infusing force. Consciousness and intelligence are inseparable attributes of eternal reality, which we call God. Just as gravitational force is magnetic energy applicable to material forms, God is cosmic energy that infuses life, consciousness and intelligence in the material world. One cannot say that gravitational energy is one or many. Similarly, the Hindu paradigm of God has no numeral attached to it. God Is. The term does not lend itself numerical definition just as one cannot assign numbers to space, air, energy or water.

According to the Hindu concept, God by its very definition has no form, dimension or an abode. It is omniscience and omnipresent. In all Hindu scriptures, it is described as shakti, which literally means “energy”. None of the five elements – ether (space), air, fire (heat) water or earth that compose the human body have the attribute of consciousness in their pure forms, yet, we know that to be human means to be conscious. The soul energy that imparts consciousness and intelligence to the human being is the same shakti as is attributable to God. energy, or a pot of clay is to earth.

According to Hinduism, the only difference between soul and God is the missing factor of Cosmic Bliss. Since soul is attached to a particular material body, it is subjected to stresses and strains originating from sense perceptions and karmas, that is, right or wrong actions. In Buddhism, it is called dukha, or sufferings, the first realization taught by Buddha.

According to Hinduism, the soul is to God, just as a bucket of water is to the ocean, or a ray of sunlight is to solarenergy, or a pot of clay is to earth. That is, the soul partakes of Cosmic Consciousness. “Thus the momentous statement is made in the Upanishads that God must not be sought as something far away, separate from us, but rather as the very inmost of us, as the higher Self in us above the limitations of our little self.” It is referred to as ‘TAT TWAM ASI’, ‘Thou art That’. “Only the Eternal in us can lead us to the Eternal.”

In Hindu philosophy, breathing in its refined form is called pranayama. In the Yogic system, Prana, is not only the process of inhaling oxygen, but it serves as the feeder to activate the coiled dormant cosmic energy lodged in the body, called kundilini. In the science of Yoga, breathing has five components, the most sublime and the subtlest of which is prana. It is the pure cosmic life-giving force that enters body as a part of each breath.

According to Yoga, controlling the breath and calming the nerves is a prerequisite to controlling the mind. It is only the focused mind that can direct the prank through spinal chord to activate the dormant coiled spiritual energy and put the mind in the proper meditational mode to connect it with the Universal Energy, we call God.

MANNABLISS

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Satchitananda:

Pure Consciousness

and How to Connect

God: The Hindu Concept

The Path of Yoga to Connnect with God:

"...God must not be sought as something far away, separate from us, but rather as the very inmost of us, as the higher Self in us above the limitations of our little self.”

- Vijay Kapoor

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