Liberation: Here and Now
One of the remarkable contributions of Hindus is that they not only crystallized the concept of Ultimate Liberation but also established its immediacy. In other words, mokṣa is not restricted to a post-death stage but can happen here and now.
This glorious conception—of being liberated during one’s lifetime—is called jīvanmukti.
Indeed, the Hindu conception of liberation is not a post-dated cheque but a demand draft. The jīvanmukta (one who has attained Liberation while alive) remains as a witness to wakeful state, dream state, and dreamless sleep state.[1] What an ardent seeker tries to practise with tremendous effort is the very nature of the jīvanmukta, who leads an ‘effortless,’ ‘choiceless’ life. The conduct of a jīvanmukta becomes the prescription for the seeker.[2]
The idea of jīvanmukti presupposes the futility of holy book, prophet, heaven, hell, last judgement, apocalypse, etc. Mokṣa—the highest ideal—can be potentially attained by anyone, anywhere, anytime. It is within our reach without a mandatory middleman nor divine intervention.[3] This is a lofty lesson.
Jīvanmukti is the main mokṣa while videha-mukti (liberation after death) is a secondary mokṣa, for the former is reality while the latter is a belief.
That said, individual accountability and sincerity in practice are not ignored. The two opposite concepts of pāpa (evil, crime, sin) and puṇya (goodness, virtue) represent this. Everyone is expected to reduce their pāpa and increase their puṇya.
We may explain the material implications of these two concepts using entropy. We know from our high school Thermodynamics that entropy is the measure of disorder or chaos in the universe. In this backdrop, we may define pāpa as something that recklessly adds to entropy and puṇya as something that sincerely avoids adding to entropy.
To follow the ideas presented thus far, there is no need to invoke a scripture or authority of any kind. The reason is simple. Every religion claims that it is the most superior one and employs revelations of its scriptures as authority. The proof provided and that which is to be proven are one and the same.[4] This is absurd, because any book – scripture or otherwise – is the product of the human mind, which is in turn conditioned by its own spatiotemporal limitations.
While on the one hand, there is no need to disrespect any scripture, on the other, it is imperative to go beyond all scriptures. We can realize the one underlying spirit in existence only with the universal experience of oneself, not by merely reading a book or listening to a lecture.
As has been said before, the Ultimate Objective is realizing the Self and whatever aids a person in the process of Self-realization is always valid for him.[5]
Mythology
At the dawn of civilization, humans grappled with understanding themselves and the world around them. The primal fear, wonder, joy, sorrow, love, helplessness, disappointment, hope, and a host of other emotions arising from their situation gave rise to myths. It was perhaps a time when all mental faculties were seen as one—no distinction between intellect and emotion, no separate analytical mind to think and sensitive heart to feel. It was just human beings fending for themselves and discovering the earth with the power of their intellect and intuition.
What arose from these early explorations were myths. Myths are basically complex metaphors with many layers of meaning, created in a bid to understand the world around. There is always an element of wonder and secrecy in myth and the cultural metaphor has an essential poetic quality to it. In fact, at different levels, myth is connected to culture, art, society, nature, love, spirituality, and can be used for all these. It provides wonderful raw material for any artistic or cultural pursuit.
Myths are a part of a collective consciousness and naturally they are shared by members of a society. Thus they help in binding people together, forging relationships not just with one another but with a long-standing and unbroken tradition. This is why ancient myths continue to interest people.
Myth is rooted in philosophy that emerges from a holistic understanding of nature. It can also be called the common cultural idiom of a people.
Like many of the other ancient civilizations, the Hindu civilization also gave rise to several myths. In the case of some civilizations, their myths vanished and in the case of others, myths transformed into dogma and religion. Whereas in India, the myths were absorbed seamlessly into art and culture owing to the robust philosophical foundation of Vedānta.
[1] This is a ‘state’ known as turīya. See Māṇḍūkyopaniṣad 7, 12
[2] See Śaṅkara’s commentary on Bhagavad-gītā 2.55.
[3] In our spiritual quest, our guru and the śāstras no doubt play an important role. Similarly, belief in the Supreme offers great solace. The view of our seers is simply that there is always the possibility of a seeker realizing the Truth by himself without having to depend on anyone.
The Avadhūta-gītā (Bhāgavata-purāṇa 11.7) narrates the story of how the innumerable animate and inanimate beings instruct a young ascetic about mokṣa, thus giving a new meaning to the term jagadguru (‘world teacher’) as ‘to whom the world is a teacher’ (jagad-eva guruḥ)!
Similarly, we see in the story of Satyakāma Jābāla that he is instructed on the nature of Brahman by a bull, fire, swan, and an acquatic bird. (Chāndogyopaniṣad 4.4–9)
[4] This is technically known as ‘anyonyāśraya-doṣa’ (‘the fallacy of circular reasoning’).
[5] yayā yayā bhavet-puṃsāṃ vyutpattiḥ pratyag-ātmani।
sā saiva prakriyeha syāt-sādhvī sā cānavasthitā॥ —Sureśvarācārya’s Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad-bhāṣya-vārttika 1.4.402
To be continued.
