Realize the self:- What does it mean to realize the self? I know that I am male or female, Indian or American, Hindu or Muslim, Christian or Jew, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, intelligent or dull, black or white, educated or illiterate, saint or sinner, atheist or believer, compassionate or cruel, generous or mean However, the tantric & vedic sages say that all of these criteria are irrelevant, immaterial & unimportant as far as the quest for self is concerned. In this quest one’s sex, nationality, class, creed, social status, dogma & religious beliefs hold no away. The self relates to a different dimension altogether. Exploring the self, they say, is not a social, cultural or religious affair. Transcendent or immanent:- Paraaparaayaah sakalam aparaayaashcha vaa punaha; Paraayaa yadi tabvatsyaat paratvam tad virudhyate. Anvay :- Paraaparaayaah: transcendent cum immanent; Sakalam: complete; Aparaayaashcha: also the immanent; Vaa: or; Punah: again; Paraayaa: transcendental; Yadi: if; Tadvatsyaat: be like that; Paratvam: transcendence; Tat: that: Virudhyate: contradicted. Translation:- (Is your reality) transcendent & immanent or is it completely immanent or completely transcendental? If it is immanent (then the very) nature of transcendence is contradicted. Commentary:- Devi next inquires about the nature of reality. The immanent reality is perceived as form & the transcendent reality is beyond. This relates to the age-old question in the quest for truth: whether the reality is with form or within, sakara or nirakara; or is it nirakara? Different philosophies & religions have developed theories to resolve this question. However, the tantric approach is more experiential. It does not give much importance to speculation, but advocates a sincere effort to experience the reality for oneself. In fact, at the very outset Dive has expressed her apprehensions in calling that ultimate reality immanent, because in transcendence there is no room for immanence at all. When you transcend something, you leave it behind. That reality in the ultimate transcendence which has left behind all the familiar associations of name, form & idea, along with the sensory perceptions of sight, sound, smell, taste & touch, which connect us with the external world, or the immanent reality. Indivisible & indefinable:- Nahi varnavibhedena dehabhedena vaa bhavet; Paratvam, nishkalatvena, sakalatve na tadbhavet. Anvay:- Nahi: not; Varna: colour; Vibhedena: divisions; Dehabhedena: divisions of forms; Vaa: or: Bhavet: exist; Paratvam: transcendence; Nishkalatvena: indivisibility; Sakalatve: composite parts; Na: not; Tat: that; Bhavet: to be. Translation:- Paratva, or transcendence cannot exist in the divisions of varna (colour), shabda (sound) or roopa (from). If transcendence is indivisible, then it cannot be defined or co-exist with composite parts. Commentary:- The immanent reality, or finite world, is made up of shabda, varna, & roopa, or sound, colour & form. We know this experience very well, as we have ample experience of it in our daily life. It is the transcendent reality that we are unfamiliar with. Here it has been described as indivisible, undefinable & unmanifest. Therefore, these aspects of sound, colour & form, which together shape our perception of the manifest or finite world, have no existence or role to play in transcendence. Dharana on oneself in the form of space:-******************************** Vyomaakaaram snam aatmaanam dhyaayed digbhir anaavritam; Niraashrayaa chitih shaktih svaroopam darshayet tadaa. Anvay :- Vyoma-aakaaram: into the form of space, ether; Svamaatmaanam: one’s own; Dhyaayet: when one meditation; Digbhih: directions; Anaavritam: unlimited; Niraashrayaa: being supportless; Chitih shaktih: shakti in the form of consciousness; Svaroopam: form of one’s own self; Darshayyet-tadaa: is then revealed. Teanslation:- When one meditation on one’s own self in the form of unlimited space (in all) directions, the mind is suspended & shakti in the form consciousness is revealed as the form of one’s own self. Commentary:- In this dharana the vast, unlimited space assists you in transcending the mind. First of all, imagery is so striking. Just think of yourself out in space with no boundaries. In whichever direction you gaze, there is nothing but endless space. There are no horizons, no reference points, no landmarks, no objects & no definitions. In that state every thought is nullified because there is no prop to support it. This leads to suspension of the mind because the downward movement is prevented or the pull of energy is halted. If this imagery is further developed into suspended animation, the mental energy begins to move upward to the higher centres, touching eacg one, until chitishakti, the suoreme energy consciousness, is revealrd as one’s own self.