Nityananda Institute presents Nityananda.us
Selected Sutras, Part I
These sutras were selected from The Sky of the Heart: Jewels of
Wisdom from Nityananda, published by Rudra Press, the publishing
division of Nityananda Institute. The accompanying commentaries are
by Swami Chetanananda.
SUTRA 1
The real sunrise is in the sky of the heart;
It is the best one.
Just as the water jar reflects the sun,
So the entire universe shines
In the heart-space of the Self.
When you are in a train, the whole world
Appears to pass by.
Similarly, the whole universe can be known
Within the Self.
Commentary:
Atman is used interchangeably with Self in these Sutras. Atman refers
to the universal Self that manifests as a proliferation of rays
emanating from itself. These rays are not different from the nature
of their source, but only take on the appearance of separateness.
Kundalini is the supreme conscious energy manifesting as an
individuated person (jivatman). Paramatman is the Absolute. Both are
Atman. It is the merging of Atman into Atman, like the merging of
waves into water, that is the goal of spiritual practice: the union
of the individual and the Divine. The Absolute, the Supreme,
Paramatman, Brahman, the Self are all synonymous with Atman in these
sutras.
The image of chidakash is also central to Nityananda's teaching as
given in these Sutras; the word is formed of the roots chit,
consciousness, and akasha, space or sky, and is thus poetically
translated as the sky of consciousness. It is synonymous with
hridayakasha, sky of the heart. Chidakash is an experience; it is a
state of consciousness in which perception is objectless and
limitlessly vast, a state in which the individual and the universal
are in complete union. In various disciplines, this experience of
Oneness may be called samadhi, turiya, nirvana or shunya.
Nityananda also called this heart-space of the Atman the
Brahmarandhra, and the sahasrara chakra, the thousand-petaled lotus;
for him, these were all the same. They all refer to that secret point
in the head where the light of consciousness shines in its purest
form. When an individual's kundalini energy is completely roused, it
merges into this place in the head. The awakening that occurs in our
understanding at that time reveals our complete and total unity in
the Divine. When we realize that we are in God and that God is in us,
then there is nothing outside of us. All knowledge is accessible from
within.
SUTRA 6
Why do you hold an umbrella?
For protection from the rain.
The illusion of duality is the rainMaya,
Truth is the umbrella,
And a steadfast mind is the handle.
Truth is in everything but few people realize it.
Maya, the cosmic power responsible for our
Sense of duality, comes from the Self
The Self does not come from Maya.
The prime minister is under the king,
But he is not the king.
The mind is not the Self
It is a reflection of the Self.
The mind is two grades below the Self.
The mind has an end,
But the Self has no end.
The mind is often deluded,
But the Self is not deluded, and not subject
To three forms of manifest reality
The dense, the dynamic, the still.
Such qualities apply only to the mind.
The mind is to the Self
As the river is to the sea.
The Self is the sea, its water measureless.
The Self is without beginning or end.
The Self does not come and it does not go.
Wherever you turn, it is there.
Nothing else is seen.
The Self is there before you and it is there
After you;
Even before you were born, there was creation.
Only you are unaware.
Commentary:
The three primary gunas are sattva, rajas, and tamas. Collectively,
they are Prakriti, cosmic Nature, the stuff of all manifestation.
They are simply three different forms of manifestation: still,
dynamic and dense. Sattva guna is pure space, pure light, pure peace.
Tamas guna is the opposite; it is density, darkness and inertia.
Rajas guna is fire and dynamic activity. They are at once
hierarchical and not hierarchical, since the peace exists in
everyone, everyone has dynamic capability, and there is also inertia
in everyone. It is just another way of speaking about the spectrum of
manifestation. Tamas guna (inertia, thickness) is one end of the
spectrum, sattva guna (pure light) is the opposite end, and rajas
guna is the meeting of the two, for when pure light and pure density
meet, the result is fire. Yet upon reaching sattva guna, there is no
more hierarchy. In the pure state of sattva guna, everything is seen
as equal; there is no separate mind, no chakras, no nadisnothing is
separate. Sattva guna is pure and perfect balance.
In man, these gunas are found in a state of instability. Sattva
causes moments of inspiration, meditative calm, quiet joy, and
disinterested affection. Rajas brings out constructive activity,
energy, enthusiasm, and physical courage as well as ambition and
rage. Tamas is associated with the lowest qualities such as sloth,
stupidity, helpless
