- vidyud brahma ity ᾱhuḥ;
vidᾱnᾱd vidyut, vidyaty enam pᾱpmanaḥ, ya evaṁ
veda, vidyud brahmeti, vidyud hy eva brahma.
Here you have another Upāsanā
prescribed. We can meditate on the flash of lightning, the radiance which
projects itself through the clouds when there is a clap of thunder or a heavy
downpour of rain. It is a mystery by itself; it is a great beauty. You can
wonder at the beauty of nature by the perception of the flashes of lightning
and the thunder that you hear during the pouring of rain. And the beauty of
nature in the monsoons is, of course, something which needs no explanation. One
can contemplate even the beauty of nature as representing God's beauty itself.
'The flash of lightning can be taken as an object of Upāsanā,' says the
Upaniṣhad.
And in meditation we are supposed to have flashes of this kind. We have
visions, and visions come like flashes of lightning. So, the similarity between
the inward flashes that we experience in meditation and the outward flashes of
lightning in the sky is that they are both flashes. With this comparison in
mind, one can contemplate the flash of lightning as an object, so that through
this finite symbol of the flash of lightning one can raise one's conception to
the larger one which is the flash of reality itself in meditation.
Just as a flash of lightning pierces
through the darkness of the cloud, so is this flash of consciousness which
breaks through the darkness of ignorance. Vidᾱnᾱd vidyut: 'That
which breaks through darkness of any kind, that which dispels that atmosphere
where we cannot see anything, that can be regarded as Vidyut, or lightning.'
Just as lightning outside dispels darkness caused by the clouds or by the
absence of the sun in the darkness of the night, so this lightning or flash of
consciousness within, in meditation, dispels ignorance in respect of oneself as
well in respect of others.
There are two kinds of ignorance - the
external and the internal. In technical language, we call external ignorance
Sthūla-Avidyā and internal ignorance Mula-Avidyā. is the
ignorance that covers the objects outside on account of which you cannot
perceive them. The perception of an external object is made possible by the
flash of an external light, but the internal being cannot be seen like that
unless the Mula-Avidyā, or the root ignorance, is dispelled. It can be
done only in deep meditation. So, the capacity to dispel darkness is common to
both lightning inside and outside. With this commonness in mind, one can meditate
on the flash of lightning. Vidyud brahmeti: 'Where lightning is
Brahman.'
Vidyud brahma ity ᾱhuḥ;
vidᾱnᾱd vidyut, vidyaty enam pᾱpmanaḥ: 'This light of consciousness breaks through not only the darkness
of ignorance, but also breaks through the fortress of sins.' All sins are
destroyed when this flash takes place inside, just as all the errors that you
commit in dream are incapable of production of any effect when you wake up.
Even the worst of sins that you commit in dream have no effect when you wake
up, merely because you have woken up, not that you have done something else to
counteract the sins in dream. It is not one action that counteracts another
action. It is mere illumination that counteracts all actions. This is the case
with any sin, any action, for the matter of that, which is otherwise regarded
as binding. No action can bind if illumination is there, just as no action in
dream can bind you once you have woken up from the dream. But if you have not
woken up, you have to reap the consequences thereof as the law of Karma
operates. No law of Karma can operate where there is awakening from the realm
where this law operates.
So, it is this flash, this resplendence of
consciousness which destroys not only the darkness of ignorance, but also sins
of every kind. 'One who knows this secret is afraid of nothing. He becomes a
flash to every one else. He becomes a light to others. He illumines the lives
of other people also.' Thus meditate, therefore, on 'lightning as Brahman'.
This is one Upāsanā.
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