You are a spiritual dynamo, manifest the electricity within
It is said if you don’t know Brahmarishi Vasistha, one of the seven sages, you cannot understand the science of spirituality. Vasistha practised what he preached and became the guru of Vishwamitra and Lord Ram.
His contribution to the Vedic thought has been immense as he could harmonise the opposing approaches of various spiritual paths by researching, practising and identifying the intrinsic unity among them. His contribution has been as indispensable as that of Ramkrishna Paramhansa, who harmonised all paths to God by highlighting the intrinsic unity among them. According to the Vedic-Puranic thought, the power which seeks to harmonise diversity to their inherent unity is called Vishnu—the unifier! By that definition, Brahmarishi Vasistha can be said to have the Vishnu spark!
And rightly so, he was the first Maharishi who talked about the unity of thought as advait. He is the one who brought to the fore the scientific and liveable spirituality, which was rephrased by Swami Vivekananda, whom his guru called the avatar of one of the seven sages, as practical Vedanta.
His contribution
Yogvaasishtha, Vasishtha Dharmasutra, Yogasutra are some of the great works of the Brahmarishi, whose wife Arundhati too exhibited high spiritual ideas. Agni Puran and Vishnu puran too are attributed to his brilliance. His discourse with Ram has been recorded as Yogavasistha, which is considered to be the highest spiritual science of Vedanta. However, Mandal 7 of the Rigveda is his great work. But, what his name really signifies. What can be a better explanation but himself.
He says:
वसिष्ठोऽस्मि वरिष्ठोऽस्मि वसे वासगृहेष्वपि।
वसिष्ठत्वाश्च वासाच्च वसिष्ट इति विद्धि माम्॥
I am Vasishta. I am called the senior most as I am the greatest of all. In the body complex, take me as, the giver of all the wealth and fame ( potential and expressed energies). That means he is the energy channeliser. Guru alone has this job. Guru also means what's hidden and profound.
Vasishtha also means the hidden one who lives in perfect loving harmony with the universe. The person, who has attained this harmony, alone can harmonise the diverse streams to their unity. Varishtha ( इष्टभावेन् सह यो वरणीयम् सो वरिष्ठम् ) means the one who has to be followed with love and reverence is called Varishtha. If you follow harmony with love, you too reach the same destination. But, love is impossible without the knowledge of the object of love—may that knowledge be intuitive or expressive. Therefore, right knowledge alone can evoke right love in you. If you try to know the Creator, you will first have knowledge about Him and then will have love for Him. The more you know Him, the more you love Him. The Gopis first knew Krishna and then they loved Him more than themselves! Knowing doesn’t mean you know about somebody like an object or like cramming a book. It means know whatever you can and love what you know of Him. That love is called Bhakti. That is the reason, you will find a fusion of supreme knowledge, supreme love and supreme science in Brahmarishi Vasistha’s approach. Look how he taught Vishwamitra with love, dispassion and supreme wisdom (already discussed in the earlier blog). Vishwamitra had no option but to accept Vasistha as his guru. He received the Brahamarishihood from Vasistha and not from Brahma, the Creator. That is what he told Brahma.
Therefore, the definition of Vasistha is “The one who lives in loving harmony with the universe and is worth following as one follows the senior most by adopting right knowledge, expressing right love and practising right science in perfect harmony is on the way to becoming a Vasistha.
Supremacy of Vasistha
Brahmarishi Vasistha was the first great sage who declared the unity of the world and the Creator. He didn’t say, like some great scholars wearing robes still say, the world is false and God is real. Vasistha told Ram that it appears false, but it is not. Because, the same Creator is continuously present in everything. All forms appear different and divided on the surface. But, they are like the waves in the sea. The waves assume a form and are made up of the sea water, but appear different so do all the created things look different in the sea of Consciousness. Yes, you can say the wave is a manifestation of a force of the sea—it has a direction and hence is a palpable reality, which stays for sometime and then merges back into the sea. It rises now and falls then, but it remains the same stuff through out. This is called practical Vedanta. All the divisions that you see are forced out bubbles of the water of life, nothing else!
What great ideas! Even negative energy is nothing but the expression of the same Energy and cannot be rejected as bad. The division is apparent, not inherent! This is the greatest harmony idea which beats throughout Varishtha's philosophy. Whatever he says is not different from what Krishna says in the Gita. In Chapter 11, God is shown as a harmonic unity of the Asuras and the Suras, the negative and the positive entities. All of them are seen merging into God. This only shows that negativity and positivity are apparent, not inherent.
Scientific spirit of Vasishta
In the Rigveda, Mandal 7, Mantra 1, Brahmarishi Vasishtha lays down a scientific approach to spirituality. He says--
अग्नि नरो दीधितिभिररण्योर्हस्तच्युती जनयन्त प्रशस्तम्। दूरेदृशं गृहपतिमर्थयुम्॥
“ The fire is created by constantly rubbing two stones or pieces of wood, or hands against each other. It lights up the area far and wide by creating electric pathways (vidyut). The same way the Energy Resident of the body should be expressed all around.
Now the words used in the mantra are condensed with multiple interlinks, which shows the standard of Vasistha’s scientific perception. Deedhittibhih, means which emanates like rays of electricity and spreads all around electrifying every particle in the way. What he is trying to say is the goal of practical spirituality is manifestation of the Energy within outside like rays of electricity. This is the goal of every spiritual person—not to be a weakling but to stand up and manifest the Intelligent Energy all around. How? Through repeated efforts. Like what? Like you rub your hands together or rub fire stones together and the fire flames forth. As the Intelligent Energy resides in the stone, wood or hand, it does reside in you the same way. All you have to do is to become a good conductor through constant frictional process. What is this frictional process? Abhyas, constant practice of what you are doing. Therefore, constancy of effort is the friction which evokes the Intelligent Energy within you. Once it is evoked, it expresses itself like the fire does. How? through vidyut—making electric pathways. As the fire depends upon your frictional capacity so would Intelligent Energy express through you. A 40 Watt bulb cannot burn like 10000 Watt bulb! Therefore, if you keep improving the human content then you will express the energy more and more! Here in the mantra, Vasistha has established that Intelligent Energy is like electricity —it can energise particles of all kinds with its power. In the next mantra, he says:
तमग्निमस्ते वसवो न्यृण्वन्त्सुप्रतिचक्षमवसे कुतश्चित्। दक्षाय्यो यो दम आस नित्य:॥
The Intelligent Energy is already present in everybody. It is working out through the senses and running out towards the objects of senses and discharging itself. However, Dakshshayyo, the expert ones contain it within themselves as a dam contains water through dam (sense control). Therefore, one should conserve the energy and use it for self-manifestation. Through this alone one experiences various uses of this energy.
What it all means?
Vasishtha says Intelligent Energy stays in everybody. Manifesting it to the fullest, like the fire is the goal of human beings, the electric power of this Energy can be used for practical purposes—material and spiritual both. He also indicates that the same Energy is wastefully radiating through all through the senses. A man is a source. He should use it to experience and see under its light the reality—which is nothing but interplay of this Intelligent Energy. Once you know, you can manipulate things positively. But, only an expert can do it. Buddha manifested this energy. Christ too manifested it. Swami Vivekananda once said he could light a gas stove from many feet by emitting this electricity through his finger. This is not to show off power. This is as natural as the light is with the sun. Chinese call it Chee. Many of them have been using it for good purposes--mostly in healing.
Manifestation of the divinity within is what practical vedanta is all about. The world must bow to Brahmarishi Vasishtha for giving it the electricity. The concept has been used to generate power--by converting the mechanical energy into electrical energy. Vashishtha says your body already has the dynamo mechanism. Just keep a good intent and manifest it, as the sun cannot ever be dark and yet shed light. The same way dark minds cannot use this energy. If they try, first it will burn down the darkness of their mind through the friction-to-fire-to-
Vivek Sharma
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