Varanasi (India)

Republic Day

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           January 26, 2006

Saankhya propositions are some of the intense understanding (not intellectual undertakings) of humanity which is indeed potent to bring about a radical change in the embodied consciousness of human beings, setting them totally free without any trace of fragmentation. Fragmentations are outcome of basic neurological malady in a human body which prompts and promotes oscillation in opposites, confusion in choices, classification and conflicts, dilemma in divisions galore at every level of human affairs; due to the separative phenomenon in the consciousness.

Saankhya perceptions are such liberation from fragmentations of the embodied consciousness that the pioneer and the pace-setter in these perceptions, Maharshi Kapilacharya, the great ancient sage of Bharatvarsha (India) from that part which is now called West Bengal, appears as one of the thousand names of the Un-nameable (Vishnu Sahasranam, vide message 63, 57th  verse, 1st name or 531st name in the running list). Even now, to commemorate this great sage, Ganga-Saagar Mela (great gathering of people) is held every year on Makar-Shankranti (January 14) day in West Bengal where holy Ganga river merges in Ocean (Saagar) known as Bay of Bengal. Maharshi Kapilacharya (also known as Kapil Muni) lived near this junction of Ganga (river) and Saagar (Ocean).

Saankhya perceptions must happen in the body, blood cells and bone-marrow. These perceptions are not intellectual entertainment and excitement of philosophers with their own narrow world of concepts and conclusions. These perceptions belong to life and its freedom in energy of comprehension without the ladder of conjectures, not belonging to the games of the mind with its search for glorification and gratification. Saankhya truths must be re-discovered by each one, not repeated as ideas. Idea is ''I'' and, therefore, a lie ! Truth can be repeated with advantage in the conceptual and technical world, but not in the area of comprehensive and transformative understanding. In the sagacity of ancient Indian Understanding, Saankhya-Yoga-Vedanta is placed at a level senior to Vaishisiki-Mimansa-Nyaya as the former transcends the limitation of separative consciousness and its structure of  knowledge, experience, motive and logic. Reality is existence and love, not experience and logic. Awareness of actuality is not to be asleep in ascriptions and abstractions of the mind.

Five sensory organs (Eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin) may function as five 'Tanmatras' as also as five 'Gyanendriyas'. 'Tanmatras' are live sensory perceptions --- just a disturbance, a ripple in the organic apparatus. For example, eyes as 'tanmatra', as a picture in the retina, do not see any division in colours (not even black or white), do not see any depth or distance or time as measurement . Intervention of memory with its image-formation, naming and catagorisation, is the  beginning of the role of the eye as 'Gyanendriya'. This intervention is the impartial and intellectual functional value of the sensory organ –eye– sans prejudice and pretention. Then culture, convention and conditioning superimposes classification as pleasant or unpleasant, likes or dislikes, preference or aversion, justification or condemnation with psychological residues and sediments. And the corruption of 'Gyanendriya' then commences to build up an experience-structure (mind) alongwith the vulgarity of vanity and  vested  interest ! In the impartial memory structure, ''I'' exists as reference-point and co-ordinator with utter simplicity ; whereas in the biased experience-structure, ''I'' entangles itself as ego re-iteration-point and continuity with all complications and conflicts. In the memory structure of 'Gyanendriya', there is adequate response and thereafter silence. But in its experience structure, there is assertive reaction and the consequent separative agitation. Catagorisation is intellect, choice is mind and conflict is ego. Similarly, ear as 'tanmatra' does not care more for music from human beings than sounds from animals. But as 'Gyanendriya', it does. Tongue as 'Tanmatra' does not differentiate between bitter and sweet, but as 'Gyanendriya' it likes sweet more than the bitter. And so on.

Five 'Karmendriyas' ----speech, hands, legs, passage for shit and that for urine are basic functional apparatus of body for proper use whenever necessary.

Then there are five vibrations (vayus) in the body----Pranendriyas ---- Pran-Apaan (respiration), Samaan (survival instinct, usually degenerating into fear due to mind), Vyayan & Udaan (Procreation instinct, usually degenerating into demands of sexuality, because of ego). Navi-Kriya prevents degeneration of survival instinct of life into fear of mind. Mahamudra prevents degeneration of procreation instinct of life into sexuality of ego.

After these twenty basic pointers from Saankhya, there are seven more profound pointers : Mastiska (brain), Smriti (memory), Buddhi (intellect), Mana (mind),   Ahankaar (ego), Prakriti (Shakti manifesting as Gunas) and Purusha (Chaitanya connected in the body as chetana). Indepth understanding of these profound pointers happens during spontaneous commentaries from Shibendu during Kriya-Yoga retreats or during conferences on the nature of human consciousness in various countries of the world.

Jai Maharshi Kapilacharya