WHAT ARE THE TWO PATHS OF YOGA (Pipeelika Marga and the Vihanga Marga)?IS THERE ANY LINK BETWEEN TU

PEEPLIKA MARG;--- 1-Just as the ant slowly marches, so also the aspirant slowly marches on in the spiritual path. He practises Karma Yoga to purify his heart and then takes up Upasana to steady his mind. Finally he treads the path of Jnana Yoga and eventually reaches the goal of life. This is Pipeelika Marga or the ant-path. 2-VIHANGA MARG;-- Marga Just as the bird flies in the sky at once, so also the aspirant of the first class type at once practises Jnana Yoga and attains knowledge of the Self. This is the Vihanga Marga or the bird-path.

WHAT IS JIVANMUKTI?

09 FACTS;--

1-Jivanmukti is that state in which the sage gets established in Satchidananda Brahman. He becomes the Brahman. The phenomenal universe does not vanish from his vision. Just as the man who was duped (deceive )in the beginning by the water in the mirage knows that it is only illusion after careful examination, so also the liberated sage fully knows that this world is mere illusion though it appears to him. Freedom from the Kleshas or afflictions is Jivanmukti.

2-The liberated sage is not affected by pleasure and pain. He knows fully well that pleasure and pain, action and enjoyment are the attributes or Dharma of the Antahkarana. He has now separated himself from the mind. He now stands as a spectator or witness of the mind.

3-Avarana SHAKTI & Vikshepa SHAKTI ;---

There are the two Shaktis of Avidya. As soon as knowledge of the Self dawns, the Avarana Shakti is destroyed. Avarana Shakti is the veiling power. Vikshepa Shakti is the protecting power. The world is protected through the power of Vikshepa Shakti. On account of the destruction of Avarana Shakti, a Jnani is freed from birth and death. But Vikshepa Shakti (Lesha Avidya) remains like a burnt seed owing to the strength of Prarabdha. Therefore, there is appearance of the world for a Jivanmukta.

4-Just as trembling of the body on account of fear remains even after the illusion of snake in the rope is destroyed by the knowledge of the rope, just as the mirage appears even alter the illusory nature of the water is understood, so also the world appears for the Jivanmukta even after he has attained Self-realisation, even after he has clearly understood the illusory nature of the world.

5-But just as the man who has understood the nature of the mirage will not run after the mirage for drinking water, so also the Jivanmukta will not run after sensual objects like the worldly minded people though the world appears to him. That is the difference between a worldly man and a liberated sage.As soon as the Prarabdha is fully exhausted, the Jivanmukta attains the state of Videhamukti, just as the pot-ether becomes one with the universal ether when the pot is broken.

6-Jivanmukti is a very exalted state of eternal bliss. Words cannot adequately describe this state. You will have to realise this state of supreme knowledge and highest illumination on yourself.Certainly it is not a state of inertia (dullness). It is a state of perfect awareness.

7-The individual soul has become now one with the Absolute.He has no individuality. His egoism, mind and senses have been burnt in the fire of wisdom.He is freed from the trammels of mind and matter. He is absolutely free, perfect, independent. He is absolutely free from hatred, lust, cares, worries and anxieties.

8-Everybody will surely like this state of beatitude or final emancipation. It is the final goal of life. It is the end of all human aspirations.In the state of Jivanmukti, there is no consciousness of the body and the world. There is consciousness of the Absolute.

9-The sage beholds Brahman everywhere. All dualities, differences have vanished for him in toto (as a total ) mind can get entire satisfaction and rest very peacefully only if this state is attained.There is fulness in this state. All desires are burnt. It is a state of Plenum or absolute satisfaction. There is no gain greater than this, no bliss greater than this, no wisdom greater than this.It is the be-all and end-all of existence. LINK BETWEEN TURIYA & JEWANMUKTA;--

04 FACTS;-- 1-Just as one comes back to the waking state after experiencing the sleep , one may come back to waking state after being in the Turiya. The person who has experienced the Turiya is called the Jiwan Mukta. Though for a Realized person there is an awareness of the world, there remains no doubt about it’s illusory nature. Hence there is no identification with the world nor is there an identification with the body, mind and intellect. He looks at the world as being just an appearance. For him only the Atman is Real 2-Just as one recollects the sleep state and speaks about it. The Jiwan Mukta revels in the Turiya state and speaks about it in the language of the mind. 3-Man can be compared to a plant. He grows and flourishes like a plant and dies at the end but not completely. The plant also grows, flourishes and dies at the end. It leaves behind the seed which produces a new plant. Man leaves when dying his Karma behind, the good and bad actions of his life. The physical body may die and disintegrate but the impressions of his actions do not die. He has to take birth again to enjoy the fruits of these actions.

4-No life can be the first for it is the fruit of previous actions, nor the last, for its actions must be expiated in the next following life. Therefore, Sansara or phenomenal existence is without beginning and end. But there is no Sansara for a Jivanmukta or liberated sage who is resting in his own Sat-Chid-Ananda Svarupa. Man destroys the Samskaras which bring him again and again in this earth to reap the fruits of his actions by acquiring knowledge of the Self and becomes free. IMPORTANCE OF UPANISHADS TO ACHIEVE THIS STATE;--

11 FACTS;-- 1-A SADHAK should have a deep study of the Upanishads. In the whole world there is no study so inspiring and so beneficial as that of the Upanishads. Every Mantra is pregnant with deep, original, sublime and soul-stirring thoughts. They are the products of the highest wisdom of the ancient Rishis of India. They bring solace, inner strength, peace and courage to the readers. They infuse hope to the hopeless, strength to the weak, joy to the joyless and serenity to the restless.

2-The system of Vedanta takes its origin from the Upanishads which contain the ancient wisdom of the sages of yore. A deep study of these wonderful Upanishads will clearly indicate as to what magnanimous heights those Rishis of yore had climbed in the spiritual ladder. The Western scholars and philosophers pay their homage to the Rishis and appreciate the grandeur and originality of the Upanishads. 3-Do not argue--- Give up lingual warfare, intellectual gymnastics and quibbling. You will be nowhere if you enter into disputations and discussions. Have living faith or unshakable conviction in the existence of the immoral, All-pervading Brahman or the Eternal, the words of your preceptor and the Srutis. Learn from your preceptor the fundamental tenets of Advaita Vedanta.

4-The Advaita Vedantin admits six Pramanas but the final court-of-appeal for Srutis. To understand and know the Truth, much logic and argumentation is not necessary. Truth is very simple. It can be realised by simple meditation. Intellect is a finite instrument only. It is an automatic and routine faculty. It is not self-sustained and self-luminous. It will betray you. Intuition only is infallible or unerring. 5-Those aspirants who are well qualified and well equipped will be really benefited in the path of renunciation or Nivrittimarga. Many renounce the world and take to Sannyasa in their temporary zeal. They do not make progress in the spiritual path, because they lack the preparation and qualifications without which spiritual life is not possible. 6-The man who sits by calming the mind, who does nothing at all physically, is the most active man in the whole world; whereas that man who runs hither and thither and who is always very busy, does nothing in substance. This may be paradoxical to you. Very few can comprehend this. 7-Husk is natural to rice and rust to copper, yet they disappear through efforts! Evan so Ajnana which clings to the Jiva or individual soul can be made to disappear through the ceaseless Atmic enquiry. Destroy the Avidya. May you rest incomparably firm in your own Self! 8-Do not mistake deep-sleep for Nirvikalpa. The glory of the state of Turiya or Bhuma is ineffable. Its splendour is indescribable. If the body is light, if the mind is clear if there is cheerfulness, know that you are meditating. If the body is heavy, if the mind is dull, know that you were sleeping while meditating. 9-Through ignorance and lust comes death. Through knowledge the deathless state or the immortal Atman is reached. Both life eternal and death abide in the body. Life is a lightning flash or breath. Time is but a thunder-clap of death. Live in Atman. You will attain immortality. Go beyond time. You will attain eternity. 10-Withdraw the Indriyas. Meditate. Live in the Self. Your whole being will be uplifted into a kind of rapturous delight or mystic ecstasy. You will feel the divine thrill of joy. Wonderful peace will envelop you. You will be drowned in the ocean of bliss. All desires will melt into nothingness all names and forms will vanish. You will behold the Self only everywhere. This wonderful state is indescribable.

11-You will have to feel it yourself. Just as the dumb man cannot express his feeling of joy when he tastes the sugar-candy, so also you cannot express the bliss of Samadhi or Union with the Supreme Self. Words are finite to describe this state. Language is imperfect to express this experience. It is the language of the supreme silence. It is the supreme stillness of the immortal soul. It is the peace that passeth all understanding. This is Turiya or the fourth state. May Turiya be our centre, ideal and goal-

.......SHIVOHAM...........