(Spoken on Christmas Eve 1994)

Therefore Yajnavalkya says to Maitreyi, “Nobody loves anything for its own sake.” All love is love of the Self, in the pure spiritual sense. Not this self or that self, myself or yourself, itself - this kind of self is not the point. It is the universal Self that is actually pulling you in some form, and you are not able to catch the point. There is an illusion that is presented to the sense organs, and under the impression, due to the delusion you go to the object thinking that it is beautiful, that it is necessary, that it is meaningful. There is no meaning in anything in this world except the meaning of the Selfhood of that object. If the Self is absent in that object, it is a non-entity, and a non-entity cannot attract you. So if the Self it is that pulls you, it is yourself only that is pulling you.

After having said this much, Yajnavalkya continues by saying, “After departure, there is no consciousness.” “I cannot understand,” Maitreyi says. “What are you saying, ‘There is no consciousness’? You are confusing me by saying this.” “No, Maitreyi. I am not confusing you. You do not understand what I am saying. When I say there is no consciousness, I mean that when the consciousness departs from this individuality of the bodily personality, there is no particularised consciousness.”

To us, all consciousness is psychological consciousness; to us, every consciousness is sensory consciousness. When we make a statement like “I am conscious”, we mean that we are conscious of something - which is psychological perception, sensory perception. Consciousness by itself does not perceive anything. It is the Self, the universal perceiver. “So why did you say that there is no consciousness after the absolution of consciousness from entanglement in this body?” The reason is: yatra hi dvaitam iva bhavati, tad itara itaram pasyati (Bri.U. 2.4.14). ‘You will see another only when there is duality’. If there is something outside consciousness, consciousness can see something; but if there is only consciousness everywhere, what will it see? What does God see, for instance? You can put a more poignant question to yourself, in a more intelligible manner:  Does God see anything? What does He see? If the entire creation is pervaded by God, what does God see? He sees nothing; He sees Himself only. The awareness by God is awareness of Himself. The so-called omniscience of God, which we attribute to Him, is actually an all-knowledge of Himself. The very quality that is attributed to God is actually connected with Himself, His own existence.

Therefore when there is no duality, no consciousness outside Its Self - It is Itself all things - there is no knowledge of anything. It is pure Being-awareness.

Yatra tv asya sarvam atmaivabhut, tatra kena kam pasyet, tatra kena kam jighret, tatra kena kam manvita, tat kena kam vijaniyat? vijnataram are kena vijaniyad (Bri.U. 2.4.14): Who will know the knower? Who will think of the thinker? Who will understand the understander? Who will be conscious of consciousness? Yad vai tan na pasyati, pasyam vai tan na pasyati.You will be wonderstruck. What kind of thing is being told? No knowledge of anything? All-knowing and yet not knowing anything outside? Knowingly It knows not anything, not-knowing, It knows all things. It knows all things because It alone is everywhere. It does not know anything because outside It, nothing is. You understand the point. God does not know anything, because outside Him nothing is; but God knows everything because He Himself is everything. That is the meaning of this interesting instruction of Yajnavalkya at another place: yad vai tan na pasyati, pasyan vai tan na pasyati; na hi drastur drister viparilopo vidyate (Bri.U. 4.3.23). There is no gulf between the seer and the seen. Therefore the seer alone reigns supreme.

These are all Sanskrit verses I am quoting. You may not be able to understand them. Anyhow, they are interesting.

Salila eko drashtadvaito bhavati, esa brahma-lokah, samrad iti. Hainam anuhasasa yajnavalkya (Bri.U. 4.3.32): This is the sole seer, the sea of consciousness. Salila: Like the ocean it is. It spreads itself like the sea. Eko drashta: Single seer is that. The entire sea of consciousness, the universe, which is all seeing, is aware of itself. Eko drashta bhavati, esa brahma-lokah: This is called the supreme Brahma-loka, the region of the Absolute. Yajnavalkya tells Janaka here, in another context, esa brahma-lokah samrad iti: O your Highness! This is Brahmaloka. Esasya parama gatih: This is the goal of life. Esasya parama sampat: This is the greatest treasure that you can think of. Eso’sya paramo lokah: This is the greatest possession you can imagine. Eso’sya parama anandah: This is the supreme Bliss. With a drop of this universe of Bliss, the entire creation is sustained. All the joys of this world, of all the creation put together, are said to be one drop of this universal Brahman Bliss, the Bliss of the Absolute.

Having said this, Yajnavalkya retired. This is a famous conversation in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad called Yajnavalkya-Maitreyi Samvada: conversation between Yajnavalkya the sage and Maitreyi, his consort. No teaching can go beyond this. This is the highest pinnacle of human thought. All philosophy is crushed into the essence of this teaching. However much we may think philosophically, our mind will not go beyond this thought. Indian thought has reached its peak in this teaching of Yajnavalkya, recorded for us in his conversation with Maitreyi.

Can we attain this state? This question will arise in your mind. Why should you ask such a question? It must be attained, because it has been already declared that this is your goal, this is your aim, this is what you are asking for. Even when you are asking for the silliest joys of life, you are actually asking for this infinite Bliss - asking unknowingly, not knowing what is happening to you.

How will we get it, if we want it? Great discipline of the consciousness is necessary. At the present moment there is an outward trend of consciousness. We are extrovert sensorily, objectively, spatially and temporally. We are causation-bound, and we are living in a relativistic world – one part hanging on something else. A daily practice of the abstraction of consciousness from its involvement in the senses is to be practiced. It can be done as a natural habit of your life, if you are mature enough and your mind is strong enough - that is, it can think only in this way and there is no other way of thinking. Now why should you not think in this way, when this is the aim of life? Have you any suspicion that there is something else also in this world other than this?

Or if your mind is not strong enough that it can think only in this way, you can find a time for your own self. This analysis that we made just now should be the analysis that you to carry on during the process of this wisdom meditation. Be seated in a particular posture and deeply think over this issue. “What do I want?” One hundred questions will arise in the mind. “I want all kinds of things.” Yajnavalkya has given the answer to your question. Do you really want all kinds of things? What are those all kinds of things? “So many things, so many objects.” Do you love objects? “Yes, Sir.” Is it true that you are in fact loving the objects? Now comes Yajnavalkya to your assistance. You are not loving objects for their own sake. Neither building, nor land, nor property, nor relatives, nor people, nor any blessed thing, not even this body itself. You do not want any of this. It is the great Bliss of Universal Existence that is summoning you, and the establishment of oneself in that Consciousness is the liberation of the spirit, moksha. This is moksha yoga that Yajnavalkya speaks – the yoga of the liberation of the spirit.

This sage, Yajnavalkya, is very famous in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Very powerful person was he. I can tell you a little story as an example of how powerful he was. Yajnavalkya was one of the disciples of a sage called Vaisampayana, and Vaisampayana was the promulgator of the Yajurveda Samhita. There are four Vedas – Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. Yajurveda was the prerogative of this particular sage called Vaishampayana. They say there was a conference of sages on a mountain, and they stipulated a condition – all the invitees should come. If any invitee did not come, he would incur the sin of killing a Brahmin. This Vaisampayana somehow or other could not attend that conference. He had some other occupation that day, and the sin came upon him. He called all his disciples. Yajnavalkya was one of them. “You see, my dear boys, this sin has come upon me in accordance with the ordinance, because I could not attend that meeting. Will you do some prayaschitta, something to expiate my sins? All of you!”

Yajnavalkya stood up. “Why these little boys; I can do it myself,” he said. “These are little boys. What can they do? I will do it myself.” His Guru got very upset. He said, “You are a very proud boy. You are insulting the others by saying that they know nothing and you yourself will do everything. Give back all the Yajurveda, whatever I have taught you!” Yajnavalkya vomited out the Yajurveda in the form of some exudation from his mouth. The other disciples took the form of some birds - tittiris as they were called, -and  sucked up that which he vomited. That black stuff which is the embodiment of the knowledge which Yajnavalkya gained from his Guru, which he vomited, was partaken of by the tittiris - the form assumed by the other students assumed, and so that particular Veda became Taittiriyaveda. Tittiri’s Veda is the Taittiriyaveda, and it is also called the Black Veda because he vomited some black stuff.

Yajnavalkya decided: “I shall not have any teacher any more. I shall go to the supreme teacher for getting new knowledge.” He went to the Sun directly and prayed to the Sun: “Give me fresh knowledge of the Vedas which nobody else knows. Whatever I learnt from my Guru, I have given back. I do not want to have any further Guru. Surya Bhagavan! You are my Guru. Give me a fresh Veda.” And it seems that Suryanarayana appeared before him in the form of a horse and spoke unto him a new Veda, a new Yajurveda - white Yajurveda, not black - and it is called Shukla Yajurveda. It is also called Vajasaneya - connected with ashva, or horse - because he came in the form of a horse. The last Skanda of the Bhagavata Purana narrates this story, and a beautiful prayer that Yajnavalkya offered to the Sun also is recorded there - worth committing to memory. Yajnavalkya then became the teacher of a new Veda, called White Yajurveda or Shukla Yajurveda. He also wrote a Smriti, called Yajnavalkya Smriti, and there is also a yoga text under the name of Yajnavalkya, which is not very much known to people. It is called Yoga-Yajnavalkya, and a special psychic method of meditation is described there.

Yajnavalkya is the highlighting feature in the central portion of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. He once went to the court of king Janaka. Janaka was a learned person, and he invited learned people to his court to have discussions - learned discussions or arguments on lofty themes in spirituality. Hundreds of these great learned Brahmins were seated there in the audience, and the king stood up and said, “Great ones! Lords of learning! Here is large number of cattle, with gold decked horns, looking as big as bulls or elephants. Whoever among you considers yourself as the best among the knowers may drive all these cattle to your house.” Nobody uttered a word; all kept quiet, because who can get up and say “I know everything” and “I am the best”? Yajnavalkya stood up and told his disciple. “Boy, drive all these cows to my house.” All were agitated. “What kind of person are you? You consider yourself as the most all-knowing here. We will put questions to you. Answer all the questions. Let us test you.” One of them stood up. Another stood up. Some eight people bombarded Yajnavalkya and threw arrows of complicated questions at him, which were difficult to understand ordinarily, and every one of them he answered on the spur of the moment. So Yajnavalkya actually justified the driving of the cattle to his home. We will not go into the details of all these arguments, as it is not necessary for you. I am just mentioning casually, for your information, the greatness of this wonderful master Yajnavalkya.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is the vehicle of the teachings of this great master. Many questions were put to Yajnavalkya. One of the questions raised by a person in the audience was, “What is it that is inside and outside? What is its nature?”

“Yes, I know that,” said Yajnavalkya.

“What is the good of saying ‘I know that’?” said the person asking the question. “Tell me what it is. Everybody can say ‘I know that, I know that’. Let me hear what it is.”

Then Yajnavalkya gives a description of antaryami brahmana, as it is called. Much of the Vaishnava theology of Ramanuja Sampradaya is based on this doctrine of the interconnecting consciousness, or antaryami consciousness delineated by Yajnavalkya in one of the sections of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Everything is connected to everything else.

To Maitreyi, he told something different, which actually landed us in the conclusion that all existence is scintillating with awareness, and One Reality alone sees itself, and it loves itself, and nobody loves anything else. Now here, he gives another sidelight of this issue: The fact of the unitary existence of this sole sea of consciousness also implies the interconnection of all things. There is one entity in us – the Atman. Because of the presence of this Atman, which is the consciousness in us, every limb of the body appears to be connected to every other limb of the body. Isn’t there interconnection of the limbs of the body? There is an organism, which is our physical personality. The word ‘organism’ implies an interconnected body, an organisation which is complete in itself, of which every part is connected to every other part. Modern science has confirmed this truth of everything being connected to everything else. Scientists today tell us that every cell of the brain of a person is connected to every atom in the cosmos. Can you imagine this astounding conclusion? Every cell of your brain is vitally, organically connected to every atom in the cosmos, so that in your head you are carrying the entire cosmos, but because of a blockage, you are not omniscient.

So Yajnavalkya mentions here, in answer to another question, that everything is connected to everything else. The inwardness and outwardness of things is a fallacy. There is a totality of interrelation, and all things are everywhere; you can find anything at any place. Everything is everywhere at any time. Remember this interesting recipe: Everything can be found at any place, at any time. You need not go to any distant place for getting things; it is just here. Wonderful is Yajnavalkya! Glory to his teaching! Blessed are you all!

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