Yoga Vashista–The Path to Enlightenment

Om Maharishi Bramha Rishi Satguru Vashistaya Namaha

Salutations to Sage Vasishta!

Welcome to this blog about spirituality and the journey towards enlightenment. This blog is based upon the teachings of Sage Vashista to Lord Rama. Sage Vashista is known as Guru among the Gurus and the scripture, “Yoga
Vashista” is propounded in the form of a dialogue between the Master or Guru and the disciple or shishya. Most of the scriptures were narrated by God to his devotees but the Yoga Vashisita is narrated to God himself. The God is none
other than Rama, the Avatar among Avatars. He is the unique incarnation of the Lord Vishnu (the God who protects and sustains), the unique incarnation of God capable of complete identification with the human personality even to the extent of total unconsciousness of divinity.

I have come across this timeless gem–the ancient scripture about Self Realization, written about the teaching of the Sage Vasishta to Lord Rama.In this scripture, the guru is Sage Vashista, the son of the creator God Bramha, and the student is none other than God himself, Lord Rama, who has taken a human form to teach us ordinary humans how to lead a righteous and pure life. Lord Rama is therefore called Purushottama, which in Sanskrit means the “ideal person”.

What is the Best Version of Yoga Vashista to Read?

After reading many versions of the scripture Yoga Vashista, I found the following book the easiest to understand and meditate upon–”Yoga Vashista translated by Swami Venkateshananda”. This is available from Amazon.com also called “The Supreme Yoga”. If you are looking for further detailed insights, then take a look at the compilation by B.L Atreya, translated by Samvid--this book is entitled "The Vision and the Way of Vashista (Vashista Darshan)". It provides a summary of each shloka allowing further insight into this scripture.

Who is Vashista?

He is Lord Rama’s kula guru or family guru and the son of the creator god, Lord Bramha. among the seven sages (sapta rishis): Vashista, Agastya, Brighu, Shukra, Vishvamitra, Bharadwaja, and Chudala. Sage Vashista is the greatest of siddhas with divine compassion and love for all. He teaches Lord Rama, who as a teenager loses interest in all the pleasures of life and develops dispassion. He begins to question “who am I? why am I here” etc.

Consciousness is Light and is the Life of all Beings:

Sage Vashista says:
“There exists only Consciousness which is free from the pursuit of objects to be known; which is alone and mere Light entirely equal and undivided. The eternal undivided mass of Consciousness is Brahman. This is the Self and Supreme Lord which is free from the pursuit of objects to be known, all pervading through its totality. It is the Consciousness Principle which is beyond name or communication.”

Consciousness is still like an ocean. It is non-moving consciousness of Light which is non-volitional. It is the self and the creator of the three states of existence: waking, dreaming and sleeping. All objects are its reflections (dream city). It is conscious light pervading the infinite space and is the performer of all actions in us. Consciousness (Self, Brahman, Reality) is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent and is witness to all actions.

According to Sage Vashista, Lord Brahma (First thought body/Subtle jiva) who is the Deity half male and half female) exists within the Cosmos and is the supporter of all beings. Brahma is therefore declared as the cause of this Cosmos. He is the form of the creation from a sacrifice and is settled in the function of the world. As the Lord of Cosmos, Brahma is the one established in the five subtle elements (of sound, touch, form, taste and smell) in the beginning (prior to the dissolution of Cosmos as their presiding Deity). The world exists free of name and form in the subtle body of the unmanifest primary substance (or germ of nature). According to Sage Vashista this unmanifest substance exists without name and form as Nature, Maya or as Atoms.

It is the energy of the Self, Consciousness or Brahman that has created this world appearance by combining with the five elements (air, water, earth, fire and ether) by using the process of division in consciousness. It is Consciousness alone that appears as objects in nature and as senses in a person.

The mind alone is the doer.

Thus after creating the universe by his thought the creator Brahma rested in deep meditation.

On creation Yogin Bhusunda said thus to Sage Vashista :

“First there arose a notion of a creation. Then light and the divisions of universe arose. Then one after the other the diverse beings were created, as also the stars and planets.

I saw that during one epoch it was Lord Vishnu (generally considered the protector) who created the universe, during another it was Brahma who created the universe and in another it was Siva who became the creator.”

From there the created beings left alone on their own.

They acquired the character of things they associated with. By associating with the good they became good. By associating with worldly they became worldly.

Each jeeva/Soul swims in the light of infinite consciousness. This light of infinite conscious is the sustainer of life, power and the provider of everything required for the survival in this planet.

After the creation of the world appearance, the living beings that arose in the ocean of the infinite consciousness like waves and ripples, entered into the physical space. And the jeevas, by interacting with the five elements, came down to earth riding the rays of moon and entered into plants and herbs and animals. After that they became ready to incarnate. Some of them evolved and became humans. Those with pure nature became satvic and gave rise to various actions.

Mind or Conditioned Consciousness

The mind is objective consciousness though it is cosmic and omniscient. Unlike the Infinite consciousness, the mind is conditioned by thought which brings division in the Infinite Consciousness leading to duality (positive and negative attributes). Thought waves that arise in the mind are unsteady like the surface of the ocean. Thoughts can be both positive and negative. Good thoughts instill discrimination and wisdom (intellect) for judgment. Bad thoughts lead to ego leading to the sense of separate identity from the infinite Self. Sorrow and grief are the result. The mind is tied to the external senses and the information it gathers from the senses change continuously leading one to bounce again and again like a ball. Thus the mind jumps from one object to another like a monkey.

It is the notion (thought) originating in the mind (sense-directed) such as “I am the doer”, “I am intelligent”, “I am the enjoyer” which cause both sorrow and grief as they are limited by body consciousness (ego) alone.