The Desire for Transcendence.
" . . . the aim of science is to become philosophy, the aim of philosophy is to become religion, the aim of religion is to seek God, and thus the aim of Humanity is to become Divine."
- Sri Ananda Acharya, Brahmadarfonam, p. 65.
Reaching Beyond the Ego Personality.
1 . The impulse toward transcendence is innate and universal.
2 . This impulse has urged seekers to contemplate the Reality beyond the phenomenal world.
- The following three characteristics of this ultimate Reality are almost universally recognized:
• It is an undivided Whole, singular and complete.
• It is of a higher degree of reality than our ordinary perception of the physical realm.
• It is the highest good (nihshreyasa) to be realized.
3 . Realization of the Absolute is the forte of lndia's great spiritual traditions.
- In the quest for ultimate freedom, India's sages and pundits have explored the scope of human experience and articulated profound and diverse answers.
- Thus, the spiritual heritage of lndia provides us with vast psychological and spiritual models of existence.
4 . Yoga, in the broad sense of the term, denotes all of the practices and theories of lndia's spirituality.
- The purpose of Yoga is to bring about freedom from suffering, or spiritual liberation (moksha).
5. We are essentially free.
- We realize this when we transcend our limited notion of self or ego (ahamkara ).
6 . Not only do we as individuals have the potential for realizing our innate freedom, the cosmos itself appears to have a tendency to move toward the Real.
- Evolution seems to be programmed not only for veiling the Truth from us but also for transcendence of our limited human condition.
- Aurobindo Ghose, with his philosophy of integral Yoga, distinguished himself from other great mystics by incorporating modem evolutionary concepts into his metaphysics.
7 . Art, philosophy, theology, science, and technology can all be understood as expressions of humanity's innate impulse to transcendence.
- These pursuits characterize the human search for and expression of wholeness, happiness, and understanding.
Ego Transcendence
When the soul itself grows quiet, and rests from its own weariness;
When the witness releases its final hold, and dissolves into its ever-present ground;
When the last layer of the Self is peeled into the purest emptiness;
When the final form of the self-contraction unfolds in the infinity of all space;
Then Spirit itself, as ever-present awareness, stands free of its own accord, never really lost, and therefore never really found.
With a shock of the utterly obvious, the world continues to arise, just as it always has .
In ever-present awareness, your soul expands to embrace the entire Cosmos, so that Spirit alone remains, as the simple world of what is.
The rain no longer falls on you, but within you; the sun shines from inside your heart and radiates out into the world, blessing it with grace;
Supernovas swirl in your consciousness, the thunder is the sound of your own exhilarated heart; the oceans and rivers are nothing but your blood pulsing to the rhythm of your soul.
Infinitely ascended worlds of light dance in the interior of your brain;
Infinitely descended worlds of night cascade around your feet;
The clouds crawl across the sky of your own unfettered mind, while the wind blows through the empty space where your self once used to be.
The sound of the rain falling on the roof is the only self you can find, here in the obvious world of crystalline one taste, where inner and outer are silly fictions and self and other are obscene lies, and ever-present simplicity is the sound of one hand clapping madly for all eternity.
In the greatest depth, the simplest what is, and the journey ends, as it always does, exactly where it began.
You may also want to read more about Gnani Yoga here.
You may also want to read more about Kundalini Yoga here.
You may also want to read more about Yoga here.
You may also want to read more about Yoga Asanas and Exercises here.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.