Summary of the Previous Day

- The positive impact of limitation
Yesterday we spoke about The Motivating Power of Limitation. This is what I will like to describe it as, the fact that you have come into limitation which means you have lost power. You have not realized it, but you have lost power and have come into limitation.  And the fact that you have come into limitation gives you motivation to want to come out of limitation. I said to you when I was not able to control my mind, it made me powerless because I wanted to control my mind. So it is that limitation of not being able to control my mind that pushed me into wanting me to control my mind.  A great desire came within me to want to control my mind. The fact that I did not feel love though I saw love around me, made me want to experience love at its deepest.  There was an intense desire to experience love because of the fact that I could not feel it.\

 The same applies to the quest for Self-knowledge. The fact that I did not know who I was, that ignorance just pushed me into wanting to know. So limitation had a powerful impact on me – the fact that I felt so limited and some part of me seemed to know that there is more. That’s what I  spoke about yesterday: that there is a greatness hidden inside.  That there is some part of us that resonates to greatness so that when we see greatness and power around us we begin to feel inspired by it.  That means that some part of us has this concealed greatness.  I also spoke about concealment.

Yesterday’s message was meant to look at that limitation.  We have become embodied and the embodiment that creates limitation should motivate or spur us on, or push us to want to go into a space of no limitation. That is the space we call freedom.

Grace exist around us
Yesterday I introduced you to another verse of Guru Gita   which means the Song of the Guide. That is the inspiration behind these 40 Days – the idea of seeing the Guide not as a human person, but to see that in the entire Universe this Guiding Principle exists. If we can open our eyes to see that, then life becomes filled with grace. 
We also said that one cosmic process of the Universe is to conceal our greatness, to hide it. Another cosmic process in the Universe is the existence of grace that allows us to liberate this hidden knowledge or ignorance.  So these are two cosmic processes in the Universe. One is the power to conceal or hide that greatness.  The other is the power to liberate. The fact that we have this liberating power in the Universe is a motivating influence. So we need to   recognize that grace exists around us. This is what I have been saying in the last two days. 
The idea of Guru is the idea of grace.  The fact that grace, Anugraha, exists in the Universe, means that there is a power in the Universe that is supporting us,   that power to help us to come out of ignorance and to come into freedom. It is what is called Guru.

What Guru Gita said
Here is the verse that I introduced you to yesterday: 
Gudha-vidya jaganmaya    dehas cajnana-sambhava
Vigyaanam  yat prasadena   gurusabdena kathyate
Gudha-vidya – means concealed knowledge, that somewhere inside there is concealed knowledge or power. 
Jaganmaya – means the world , the  illusion ,  limitation or  the maya
Dehas chajnana-sambhava – I am the body; all of this originate because of the false idea we have because of ignorance or Agyana.  So all these things are arising because of the basic ignorance that we have:  when we think that this world is real, that knowledge is gone, that this world of false appearance is real. So it goes on to say
Vigyaanam – the knowledge of Self
 Yatprakasena  – the grace

Gurusabdena kathyate-Sabdena means the word. That which brings this grace of Self-realization, of having direct realization of our Self.  The grace that brings it, that is referred to as Guru.  So that grace which reveals that inner greatness, that gives us a direct realization of the inner greatness is what is called Guru.

The fact that we have come into a body, into this flesh being, incarnate is what has lead us into this ignorance that we have become embodied.  And having become embodied what have we lost?  That’s what maya tells us.  Maya tells us what we have lost. 

In the Shaiva philosophy maya is seen as a limitation.  It is a contraction of the consciousness. It is a limitation and these are like coverings over the truth.  So how have we been reduced in our consciousness? This is also important and interesting to know.

 Maya – The 5 limitations of being

• Kalaa: That great consciousness that is hidden within us has the power to create in the Universe.  Kalaa is that part of Maya that reduces us to the idea that we cannot create. This is the limitation with respect to that.
  
  
• Vidya: One of the limitations that maya creates again is the idea of knowledge.  Though our inner being knows the truth, we think we don’t know.  We are in the limitation that we don’t know. That is another limitation.  This other limitation of knowledge is Vidya.
  
  
• Raaga: Another limitation of the maya is the fact that desire is created in us raaga. We have lost that contentment or sense of fulfilment, that we now crave and have become creatures of limitations.
  
  
• Time: Because we have come into a body now we exist in time, so the body is caught in the past, present and future. It is caught in time- kalaa. That is another aspect of limitation.  That which resides within us exists beyond time, but we, as embodied beings, feel trapped in time.
  
  
• Niyati: The next limitation is that we are bound by space and causation. We exist in a certain space and held in a certain form, and that limits our experience of freedom, that a part of us can be omnipresent. Suddenly we are caught in a limited space. This aspect of maya or limitation is called Niyati.

These five limitations: Kalaa – the limitation in terms of our ability to create and have effect in our world, Vidya the limitation of knowledge, Raaga - where we have desire, Kaala – where we have become time base, and Niyati – where we are bound by space and form. So this maya concept is that we have come into limitation because we are embodied.  

Going Beyond Limitation
So if this describes our limitation, it also describes what freedom will bring. If we have lost our power to cause, to create, to have effect, when we begin to tap into that space of concealed knowledge, when we begin to realize that space – vigyanam- when we begin to experience that space, we begin to feel the power to create, the power to affect, the power to cause.  And those beings who are very powerful they make things happen. When you get into that consciousness you make things happen.  And then knowledge – you know!  You get into a space of knowing. When knowledge reveals itself automatically, it arises in your being. Whatever you want to know, it arises in your being.  Then you command the power of knowing.  That power of knowing is deep within our soul.
Then there is the idea of fulfilment. Somewhere deep inside there is the space where we are already fulfilled; where there is contentment already. But we have been reduced to the feeling that we are not happy, that we are not fulfilled.  So somewhere deep inside there is that feeling that happiness is already there, contentment is already there. And the idea of time, we are so caught in time which is another of the maya concept. Aging – I am growing old, I am diseased, I am dying.  The body will go away and that is the idea of the limitation of time.  But there is that part of me, when I begin to experience that, I begin to feel immortal. There is no more fear of death; there is no more fear of change.

 Beyond Time and Space
And the idea of space and time- we are held and we feel ‘I am here’.  And now I am in this space and I can’t be elsewhere. But the truth is when you tap into that Universal Consciousness, that greatness within you, you feel connected to the Universe. When you go deep inside you feel that you can connect with anything in the world. And for those of you who have really begun to touch that space, you know that if another person is existing somewhere in this Universe and you go deep inside, you can actually feel that person.  It does not matter where that space is.  That is the idea of the soul’s omnipresence.  It is not tied down to a physical location.  Its impact can be anywhere in the Universe, or even in another plane of existence. So these are the limitations you have come into.

Strive to regain your power
It says that grace will take us back to that realization-vigyaanam- that we need to go back to that space of realization.  The idea of grace is the idea we are going to carry throughout these days.
Vigyaanam yat prasadena- by whose grace this realization or direct perception comes.
Gurusabdena kathyate – is refered to as Guru, so it has the idea of grace.

Do you recognize that you have become bound? That which is great within you has become bound.  If you don’t recognize this and you live in the limitation and you accept the limitation, you will never rise to your greatness.  Do you realize that you have lost your power?   You have lost your power to create. You have lost your power of knowledge. You have lost your power of contentment and being fulfilled. You have lost your power of living beyond time.  You have lost your power that you can impact the greater space by your soul’s omnipresence.  You have lost that!  Does it have meaning to you that you live as a creature in poverty, in limitation, in powerlessness?  Does it mean anything to you?  And if it does, then another verse says:

Gurur buddhy aatmano na anyat satyam satyam veranane
Tal laabha artham prayatnas tu kartavyo hi manishibhih

This says:  I am telling you with all emphasis, and of course the Enlightened One is speaking, the Cosmic Teacher. The great one is speaking to his companion, the one who asked the question.  He said: Satyam satyam veranane.  He calls her Veranane- the beautiful one.   Satyam satyam - with all the emphasis that I have.
Gurur buddhy aatmano na anyat – the Guru is no different to the Atman inside of you.  The Guru is no different to that Self inside of you.  There is a Guru inside of you.  There is an aspect of grace inside of you.  There is a guide inside of you.

Tal laabha artham prayatnas tu kartavyas cha manishibhih - therefore every effort should be made by the seeker, by the wise for this attainment.  Every effort! That’s what this verse says, which is so beautiful.    It says what you are seeking is inside of you.  That guide is inside of you.  It says, I am saying this to you with the full power of truth - Satyam satyam veranane.  And he says the true seeker, the one who seeks wisdom, should make every effort to attain this. 

Tal laabha artham prayatnas tu - Every effort
Kartavyas chi - should be made
Manishibhih – the wise seeker

Make every effort !
I leave you with the idea that the wise seeker will make every effort to connect with that inner Guide, with that inner grace to come into a space of liberation. So we have come into limitation, into embodied beings. Are we going to accept this?   Are we going to accept this reduction in power? Even when you get a demotion in your job how do you feel?  When you are recognized as being less how do you feel?  When you live with less how do you feel when more is available?

So how do you feel as an embodied being living in limitation?  Is it acceptable? Are you happy?  And the fact that right inside of here, this embodiment is the greatness.  The verse says to make every effort, don’t spare any effort, make every effort to come out of it.