You were born to realize the Self, touch into the Self, the experience of Satchidananda. Gurudeva imparts three distinct attainments: Realization which is equated with nirvikalpa samadhi; the attainment of Parasiva-liberation, equated to moksha, freedom from rebirth in the physical body; and merger, vishvagrasa, your soul body merging into Siva's soul body. Keep striving, awaken within you a dynamic, indomitable, actinic willpower. Yogaswami: "...allow the Atma to increasingly to manifest it's power." In a 1981 talk (CAS0027Talk6-81Lesson10-A.mp3) to the monks, Gurudeva, compares the experience of Satchidananda and Parasiva.

Master Course Trilogy, Merging with Siva, Lesson 97, Awakening willpower.

Unedited Transcript:

Good morning everyone. And continuing with Master Course, "Merging with Siva" lesson, Life the Great Experience, given in 1957 in the Sutter Street Temple. "Saturday, Awakening Willpower. "This is why you were born. The one and only reason why you are existing in your material body is first to unfold into your clear white light, then penetrate deeper and deeper, touch into the Self, become a knower of the Self, Satchidananda, and then deeper still into nirvikalpa samadhi, Self Realization, preparing for the next steps on the classical yoga path--moksha, freedom from rebirth, and vishvagrasa, merging with Siva. You will soon realize that you create the mind in any way that you want. You must realize that understanding is fifty percent of control of the mind, and you have to work at it as an accountant would work to balance his books, as a musician has to work to master his instrument."

I did a search and in terms of the phrase "touch into the Self" created with the experience of Satchidananda; it's the only statement of it's kind in the whole Trilogy. So if somebody, if some of our older sishiya talk about touching into the Self this is the reference which explains that.

It's important to focus on the fact that there's three distinct attainments that Gurudeva's listing. Realization, which is equated with nirvikalpa samadhi; the attainment of Parasiva--liberation, equated to moksha, freedom from rebirth in the physical body; and merger, vishvagrasa, your soul body merging into Siva's soul body.

Each of these three attainments is a vast topic, could have three different presentations, one on each, so not going to say more today but the idea is that they're separate and they don't happen at the same time, in fact it can be a great deal of time between the three attainments.

Then we have the idea that understanding is fifty percent of the control of the mind. This idea is developed further in "Merging with Siva" Chapter 24 which I'll read a portion of.

"Why must you study the mind? Because understanding alone is fifty percent of control of the mind. This understanding is necessary to impress the subconscious deeply enough to secure awareness so that spiritual strength continues to come from within, from the superconscious through the subconscious. Before we can meditate, we have to know our way around within the mind. What part of you understands how the mind works? It is your superconscious. The subconscious can't understand how the mind works, because it's the repository. The subsubconscious can't understand. It's a collective repository. Your conscious mind can't understand either, for it is opinionated knowledge--looking at the world through the eyes of others. Only the superconscious and subsuperconscious can conceive how the mind works..."

That's a beautiful statement on the conscious mind. I'll read it again.

"...Your conscious mind can't understand either, for it is opinionated knowledge--looking at the world through the eyes of others..."

Excellent comment on opinionated knowledge.

"...When a situation comes up, I observe how the conscious mind looks at it. Then I ask how my subconscious would see it. Pondering further, I inquire how my subsuperconscious relates to it; then, how my superconscious views it. Through this process I get a clear picture of what happened, how it happened and if I would take it seriously. You might react strongly to a happening, but when you look closely you see it wasn't much to be concerned about. It was just the subconscious reacting, so you forget it. The subconscious was the problem. It is your subsuperconscious, intuitive understanding that makes such judgments."

And back to the lesson text.

"To know yourself is why you are on Earth. You were born to realize the Self. You are not here to make money, to clothe yourself or to entertain yourself. These are incidentals. You are here on this planet to realize the Self God, and the only way to experience Self Realization is to awaken within you a dynamic, indomitable, actinic will. To do this, the steps are: first, find out what and where the willpower is. Everyone has it. Willpower is that quietness within, that serenity that is likened to a light so bright that you cannot see it with the physical eyes. Second, learn to use this actinic will. Begin with little things that you do. Become satisfied with everything that you do. To you, it must be a work of art, even if it is just drying a dish, cleaning a floor or painting a picture. Your work must satisfy you, and if it does not satisfy the inner you one hundred percent, you must use your indomitable willpower and keep striving until it does.

"You must become a perfectionist unto yourself, but first decide what your standard for perfection is. You must control the quality of your work. Take on no responsibility that you cannot handle. By doing this, you will find that you have much more control over the physical body and emotions than you ever thought possible. You will begin to demonstrate to yourself your powers of control over material creations, the physical body and the emotions of the instinctive area of the mind. Demonstration comes as you use your indomitable willpower."

And we have my comment which is from a presentation on karma yoga.

All the good habits and self-control we develop in our outer life, are useful in our inner life as well. For example, if we develop good concentration in our school studies as a youth and carry this on in our adult life by being focused on the tasks we do at work, we will have developed a strong ability to concentrate. When we sit down to meditate, our thoughts are naturally concentrated and it will be easier to control the mind. However, if we let our mind wander during our studies and as an adult daydream while working, when we sit down to meditate, we will find it impossible to control our thoughts.

Another important ability we develop in our work is willpower. (Which is what Gurudeva was talking about.) Willpower is the strength to carry out one's decisions, wishes or plans. People who regularly make plans and fail to carry them out lack willpower. For example, a student plans to get up early all week to study for his tests, but when his alarm rings, he shuts it off and decides to continue sleeping instead.

Paramaguru Yogaswami talks about the relationship between discipline in our outer tasks and success in our inner striving in his letter on "Possessing Virtuous Conduct." He writes: "Whatever the work may be, a man should train himself to carry it out with perseverance, devotion and joy. By disciplining himself in this way he will acquire steadiness of mind, that is to say, the mind will become one-pointed. This will allow the Atma increasingly to manifest its power."

A shorter version of Yogaswami's idea is found in "Words of Our Master" where he says: "Whatever work you have to do, do it well. That in itself is yoga."

And we have a, Gurudeva, material from Gurudeva on comparing the experience of Satchidananda and Parasiva. It's from a 1981 talk he gave to the monks.

"Parasiva, the Self God, lies resident at the core of man's existence, far beyond the reach of the external phases of consciousness; yet these exist only because That exists, the timeless, causeless, spaceless God Siva beyond the mind.

"The other perfection inherent in the soul of man is Satchidananda--Being, Consciousness and Bliss. When mind force, thought force and the vrittis, or waves of the mind, are quiescent, the outer mind subsides and the mind of the soul shines forth. We share the mind of God Siva at this superconscious depth of our being. In entering this quiescence, one first encounters a clear white light within the body, but only after sufficient mastery of the mind has been attained through the disciplined and protracted practices of yoga.

"Hearing the vina, the mridangam, the tambura and all the psychic sounds is the awakening of the inner body, which, if sadhana is pursued, will finally grow and stabilize, opening the mind to the constant state of Satchidananda, where the holy inner mind of God Siva and our soul are one. I hold that Satchidananda--the light and consciousness ever permeating form, God in all things and everywhere--is form, though refined form, to be sure. Satchidananda is pure form, pure consciousness, pure blessedness or bliss, our soul's perfection in form. Parasiva is formless, timeless, causeless, spaceless, as the perfection of our soul beyond form.

"Though it is supreme consciousness, Satchidananda is not the ultimate realization, which lies beyond consciousness or mind. This differs from popular interpretations of present-day Vedanta, which makes these two perfections virtually synonymous. Modern Vedanta scholars occasionally describe Satchidananda almost as a state of the intellect, as though the perfected intellect, through knowledge, could attain such depths, as though these depths were but a philosophical premise or collection of beliefs and insights. This is what I call 'simplistic Vedanta.'

"To understand how these two perfections differ, visualize a vast sheath of light which permeates the walls of this monastery and the countryside around us, seeping in and through all particles of matter. The light could well be called formless, penetrating, as it does, all conceivable forms, never static, always changing. Actually, it is amorphous, not formless. Taking this one step farther, suppose there were a 'something' so great, so intense in vibration that it could swallow up light as well as the forms it permeates. This cannot be described, but can be called Parasiva--the greatest of all of God Siva's perfections to be realized. This, too, can be experienced by the yogi, in nirvikalpa samadhi. Thus, we understand Parasiva as the perfection known in nirvikalpa samadhi, and Satchidananda as the perfection experienced in savikalpa samadhi. By the word formless I do not describe that which can take any form or that which is of no definite shape and size. I mean without form altogether, beyond form, beyond the mind which conceives of form and space, for mind and consciousness, too, are form."

Have a wonderful day.