tasavazakku

   .

Dear Friends,

I am glad to begin the translations of Tasavazakku Cintanai, the Ten Meditations of Civanjaana YogikaL who lived around the 14th century and probably the great grand son of KaNNudaiya VaLLal of Ozivil Odukkam fame who by some is considered the son of Meykandar or at least one of his disciples. However this tradition is better known for their efforts to interpret the Upanisadic Mahavaakkiyas in line with the Fundamental Ontology of Saiva Siddhanta and hence quite open to the Vedantic thinking as was the case with Thirumular himself. This VaLLal has to his credit more than 20 books but hardly known even to Saiva scholars though were studied actively in the past. The world famous Arut Pirakaasa VaLLalaar comes in this tradition or at least assumed it by his love for Ozivil Odukkam that he rescued from oblivion and published with his own forward towards the close of 19th cent.

This Civanjana VaLLal has to his credit a massive Cattyanjaana Bootam in prose and thus he stands out as the first major Philosopher among Tamils who wrote in prose a basic work . The other basic works in verse include 'Patipacupaaca ViLLakkam" "Curuticaara ViLLakkam" " Cittaanta Tarisanam" "NjanaviLLakkam" and so forth.

I have chosen now a text called "Tasa Vazakku Cintanai" ( Ten Fold Mediations) by way of introducing some of the philosophical thinking of Tamils when they were philosophically alive active and bold. I have taken the liberty to separate the words from word clusters to make the reading easier.

I hope you enjoy this text as much as the earlier ones.

Loga.

  Ten Meditations

Prelude:

 ,   .  ?  ,   .  ,      .  :

    
   
    
    

Deep metaphysical reflections exist as the words in Agamas. If asked how many basic kinds of philosophical trends, it can be said to be TWO - nondualistic and the dualistic. In these the nodualistic came in order obliterate the dualistic. And the evidence for this is the following:

When one reflects on BEING who made me reflect deeply and
Through that enable me to become Absolutely Pure (Civam)
there comes to be a Clear Light that one obtains on cleaning the mirror tirelessly
When my understanding becomes ruled by this Pure Radiance
All the darkness within me depart as this Light becomes more and more intense.

Notes:

Saivism is NOT a religion that arrests the mind into dogmas and traditions. It is a disciplined way of life that encourages bold metaphysical journeys and through that enable a person become PURE. Hence it cultivates a life of deep metaphysical reflections allowing maximum freedom for this so that each person on his own would encounter BEING and through becoming closer and closer to Him also develop as person. Only deep metaphysical thinking focused on TRUTH can clarify the mind and only in the mind that is PURE there will be more and more of the PRESENCE of BEING.

The author proposes to critically examine the various claims in the Agamas, mostly in Sanskrit and said to 28 in number. They are very ancient books and have been studied from ancient times in the South as well as the North of India. At the moment they are being collected together and published by The French Institute of Indology in Pondichery. Some of them have been translated into Tamil. These constitute a vast body of Philosophical literature , concerned with temple worship and hence what can be called Agamism, a kind of religious practice centering on idol worship and building of temples for this purpose.

This became immensely influential in SEAsia, prior to Islam, where the word religion is still 'agama/ugama' and where many original texts in Saiva Siddhanta ( in Java kuno) have been written.

But the author here is concerned with TWO basic philosophic trends -- that which upholds an absolute ALIENNESS between BEING and self and that which denies, called here the tuvita cintanai and eekacintanai. The eekam here is NOT monism of a kind but rather the ONENESS that comes to prevail when the alienness that separates the individuals and the self from BEING is overcome.

  

  ; ? ,     .         .    ,    ,     ,      ,      .

     !   ;   . !    ?     . 

   
  

   
 

   
   

'  :    : "    

The First meditation: On The Forms BEING Assumes

BEING has no (archetypal) forms whatsoever. And if asked how? it is said: the Vedas affirm that only Space is the Form of Brahman. Furthermore from ancient times till today, BEING has NOT been witnessed to show Himself in some forms. But if the descriptions Addamuurtti ( The Eight- Form Archetype) and ANNaamalai ( The Hill of Divinity) and the claim that the archetypes are mantra-complexes are false and that they are useless outside the deep meditative practices, then you should learn that for anyone who stands with delimited understanding like yours filled with sexual and all kinds of other desires, inner darkness that breeds ignorance, this is how they would understand and think of BEING (Civan)

The Guru who taught you this a Blind Guru and you who follow him (unthinkingly) is a Blind Disciple! Oh Ignorant fool! Don't you realize that it is only because of the impoverished understanding of yours that you suffer existential repetition? The TRUTH is that BEING has Forms ( and a countless number of them). The evidences are as follows:

aruLeet tirumeeni aanmaat tirumeeni
kuruveet tirumeeni koL

The Grace is the Form of BEING and the various forms of the soul is also His form
His Form is also the Guru ( who instructs on Civanjaanam)

aRivukku aRivaay aRivippaan cilloorkku
aRivuru koNdaruLuvaan

HE instructs standing within as the deep structure of Understanding and for delimited people
assuming intelligible forms HE enlightens them also

engkumilai enpaar itayantoRum aRivaay
engkum iruppaan emmiRai

My God stands even in the heart of those who deny His presence as their intelligence
And hence present everywhere

Notes:

In Saivism and as the irrefutable axiomatic truth, it is taken that while it is INDETERMINATE as to which archetypal form constitutes essence of BEING, it is NOT denied that He assumes a countless number of archetypal forms and all just to redeem the souls. He assumes a form for each and according to his intellectual capacities just like an effective teacher who presents rather concretely the relevant matters for young children but sufficiently abstract for the more matured. There are people who are the 'cilloor', people of limited cognitive abilities and who may NOT understand BEING if presented as the Formless Light , as the 'agnim ellee" ( Brilliance that Destroys all -- Rig Veda hymn 1.1) and later called the Brahman , the Pure Radiance. Such presentations may be suitable for the philosophic but for the ordinary people who are NOT forsaken by BEING who is Love Itself, HE assumes various forms that make sense to such individuals ( aRivuru) and thereby redeems them in stages. There is an evolution of understanding and hence BEING is said to assume various forms consistent with evolutionary maturity of the anmas. No one is forsaken and cast aside as unfit for divine instruction

  

  ,    ; ? ,         .   " ,  "    .

   ? ?   ;    "     "   . !  .   ? ?   ? .     ?  ,       .

   ,     .    ;      .

The Second meditation: On the Truth of Anma

If BEING has infinite number of (archetypal) forms then it follows that besides BEING there are no individual anmas or souls. Now if asked how this follows, then it could be said: in every physical body it is BEING who is present there and does the actions of eating dressing up and so forth. Also as the Sruti (the Vedas) have declared " The bodies are many but Paramatma is One ", there are NO individual anmas distinct from BEING( Sivan)

This means that you are a Maayavaati or Aniiccuravati (one who does not believe in BEING, the iicuran) or both. Isn't because of this aberrant mind that you were criticized severely by Manikkavasakar when he declared " The storm of maayavaatam would swirl you and beat you down". Oh you the foolish! There is anma ( distinct from BEING) . Tell me : for whom is the hell and heaven ( of the religions) ? Is it for BEING or for the anmas? If it is for BEING then what happens to the jivaas ( the souls) ?. If asked whether my tongue belongs to me or not, it is said it is yours in a way and not so in another way. You must understand self in relation to BEING in the same manner.

And furthermore, because the ignorant ones are jivatmas ( the living anmas) and the illuminated the Paramatmas ( the Great anmas) , it can also be concluded that there are jivas distinct from BEING. You must also understand that the jivas coming to be with the various cognitive utensils is birth, being separated from them is death

   ,     .      ,    .           ?  :

    
        
    
   
   
    
        
       



      
     
     
    

(. )

"   .. ..   "  ( )  .

Like the faultless and true judgment that the hair is on the head, is the judgment that in the body of the devoted exists the soul (as distinct from BEING). The judgment that there is no soul as in your thinking is akin to the wrong and faulty judgment that there is hair in bunches growing in the palm of your hands ( which is purely a fantasy) . With the delimited understanding of yours if you say thus , no one will assent to it as they would not if the blaring Owl (that sees only at night) declares that there is no sun .

The evidences ( for the truth of anma as distinct from BEING ) are as follows:

uuman oLi illai enil oppuvaroo maRRatu pool
eema uyir inRu enpaaril uvan uvaL utu
enum urai muccuddaayt
toonRi niRazi muttozil uLa atanaal
civan uNdu avanaal ciivan uNdaangku
aRivinai maRaikku aviccaiyum uLavee

udal izantu azutiiroo uyir izantu azutiiroo ?

udal izantu azutiiraakil udal tanai anRung kaNdiir inRung kaNdiir
uyir zatiiraakil uyir tanai anRung kaaNiir inRung kaaNiir

If the blind says there is no light, who would agree with him? And in the same manner,
are the words of those who say there is no soul (distinct froom BEING) . The the-tic consciousness
as shown by the pronouns uvan (the man yonder) uvaL ( the woman yonder) utu ( the thing yonder)
show THREE different kinds of references and as such show that all the things in the world
come into being, sustain themselves and then get dissolved disclosing the presence of BEING there
(as the Deep Structure of the world) and hence also the presence of anmas. And furthermore
the presence of IGNORANCE as a constiituent of the anmas

Now when you cry ( when someone is dead) do you cry because of the lose of the body or because of the lose of the soul?

If you cry because of the lose of the body, that;s becuase you have seen the body earlier and can see even now.
If you cry becuase of the lose of the soul, you haven't seen it earlier and even now you cannot see ( with your physical eyes) but real nevertheless.

And also:

illai enRu uraikkum uraikkuL irukkum uyir
tollai uyir ilai enpavanee uyir toonRidalum
walla malar manam pool uyir naatan naNNumnRaan
kalliR puRappadda kaiyudaiyaan kacci eekabanee

The Kacci EEkamaban, with a hands that issued forth from a rock has declared
You who assert that there is no soul that hides within such satements of negations
understand that like the pleasant fragrance of the flower, the soul exists
desiring to be with BEING as its Lord.

Also refer to ( Meykandar's) sutra:

uLatu ilatu enRalin .. maaya iyantirat tanuvil aanmaa

And furthermore refer to (Meykandar's) sutra where he brings out the truth of anma as inhabitting the machine-like body by the fact that it negates it being identified with the physical body.

   : The Third Meditation on the Nature of the Atomizer( of the mind)

 ;      .   ?   ,  ,  , , , ;   .

Well it is agreed that there are souls distinct from BEING. But it is NOT the case that the atomizer aaNavam immerses the anma in the five fold bondages ( panjsa paasam). But why it is said so? Because the essence of anma is that it is intrinsically of Pure Light, bodiless, that which does not become phenomenal (anaami) , that which does suffer change ( avikaari) , a partless whole ( niravayan) , of Infinite Bliss (anatanantan) and hence the aaNavam is incapable of obscuring or defiling the anma.

     . ! ,    ,  ,   ,   ?    . !     ?   !   ,      .

The great ones will say that you are Akampiramavaati . You will degenerate ( and suffer immensely) . Haven't you heard of the mythological accounts of the sufferings of Brahma who claimed that He is Brahman and that of Purudoottaman ( a form of Vishnu) who met the same fate and for the same reason? Thus your words have become the strong evidences (for the falsity of your views). You ignorant fool! How did you survive with this kind of mentality? It is IGNORANCE that has given rise to such demands. Like distracting young children by calling their attention to something nearby, the Atomizer aaNavam calls you forever to process the physical elements ( and thereby be unaware of BEING)

 '   ?'     .  :

   
  .

And on top of that you can understand this truth by examining the worldly practice where people say " haven't your aaNavam encountered defeat and weakness?". The evidence for this is as follows:

anniyattaik kaaddiya nanniyattai taan
maRaikkum ennee malattiniyal

The Darkening Atomizer conceals the Excelllent Good
that shows what it is being alienated! How fascinating
this function of the Dark?

        ,

    
    
 ,  

If you say it is not because of the Dark Stuff that there is being shown the alien and hence the presence of ignorance in the understanding full of this ALIENATION but rather because of being one with the Physical World, then listen!

mala kuNam maRaittal maayai viLakkal
aLai pukku odungkiya aravin vaal uLa
talaiyilai ennal, cavalaic collee

The function of aaNavam is to conceal while that of the physical to illuminate
(denying this is equivalent to saying) there is tail but not the head on seeing a snake
that has entered a hole and well settled there. Such statements are meaningless really!

  ? ?  .    .   ,   .    .  ,      ,   .

But is aaNavam unoriginated or originated? If it is said to be unoriginated then it will not depart (from the anmas). If said to be originated, then it will return after departing. The whiteness is natural for milk and blackness for the coal. For the Pure waters it is natural for it to make dirt go away. But for me, caught by this aaNavam that is neither unoriginated nor originated , the way to go ( to be free of this) is to be in service to a Guru for 12 years.

Notes: The VaLLal here declares that the question about the originated and unoriginated nature of this root malam, the darkness breeding stuff, that which introduces a Metaphysical Blindness is UNDECIDABLE. This goes against the generally accepted view that aaNavam is just as unoriginated as Pati ( BEING) and Pacu ( the souls) . The vaLLal has argued out in detail about this view in his massive Cattiya Njanabootam.

   The Fourth Meditation The Maayai

 .  ?     .  , , , ,          .       ,         ,     ,     ,              .  !       .    .

There is no Maayai ( as the root source of physical). How it is so? Because the Vedas declare " everything is Brahman indeed". Furthermore it may apear to agree with the experience of whatever seen heard, eaten worn and such objects of pleasures and pains . But then there is the story of the namesake Kokku ( a bird that eats fish) that ate all the fish in the ponds lakes and pools . You too claim to be unaffected by such stories, but in practice read books on the exploits of Krishna (with the Gopies) and enjoy them and in that get caught with the physical world. On top of that you also in that process lick the women with your tongue! Oh you fool! You are indecisive. You simply blabber not knowing the BEING In-Itself and the experiences of other people like yourself. Your own ACTIONS have become that which show the truth (of maayai)

Note: The language is not clear but the overal argument is reasonably clear. Mayaai, the Root Matter underlying the physical is denied only in words by those who declare that everything is Brahman and hence there is NO maayai as a separate element of Fundamental Ontology. But as a matter of fact such people chase after physical objects and pleasures. The men who seek sexual pleasures by embracing women and they enjoying stories amorous in nature is a fact of life and which contradicts the assertion that it is irreal etc.

:

   
   
   
   

;

   

;

    
    
     
   

    .

From the citations from philosophical texts learn that Maayai exists as a distinct category of Fundamental Objects. The citations are as follows:

orumala vazakkum iruvinait todarum
mummalac cerukkum naalvita vaakkum
aivakaip pulanaum aRuvakaik kuRRamum
aRRaal anRi aRivu aaKaayee

You will not become of Pure Intelligence unless you free yourself
From the aaNava Malam, the Karma that continues with you and the
Egotism that arise because of the three fold darkeners of the mind
the Four fold languages the five sense perceptions and the six fold
psychic defects (that makes one ignorant and evil)

maayaiyee udalamaakum yaavaiyum maayaiyaamee

The body is phyiscal and everything in the world is physical

aakaiyaal inta maayai aRivinai muzutum muudit
teekamee aanmaavenRunj ceeyizai madavaar tangkaL
pookamee mookkamenRu puntiyai tirivu paNNunj
cookampaavanaiyaal ittai tolaipparkaL nalloor.

And thus this Maayai will overpower fully the understanding
and twisting the mind it will make the person feel that
the self is the body and nothing else and the Moksa is
nothing but sexual pleasures with women. The wise ones
will free themselves from such predicaments by practicing
Oneness with BEING

    ,

   
   - 
    
  

  .

Now if it is said that this Maayai only obscures understanding and does not illuminate, then note the following and be clear;

Oh My King! you have given a pillar- like torch
to me in the form of my body and please bless me
with Transductive Perception while being awake so that
this aaNavam and the physical body do not
offend me and make me suffer everyday

    ? ,  .   ?  ,  .

And if asked where does this Maayai originate? it can be said in the mind. But where does this mind originate? Somewhere between the planets Viyaazan and Guru ( ?)

 :   The Firth Meditation: The Karma

 ,  .   ,        .       .         .

   ,    . !        !  ,   ,     .

'   " --

         .     . !

    ,      . " ? ?"    .

It is karma that brings about everything and there is NO AGENT distinct from the Karma. It is Karma that brings about birth and also that which brings about development and growth from early childhood to adolescence old age, disease death and so forth. When the positive and negative karmas equalize each other , at that point Karma will also afford Mutti. Only those who do not know the essence of karma as such, will say that there is BEING who plays the anmas using Karma as a rope to bind them and play them.

But you are known as the Karmavaati, the brother of Kaalavaati ( the one who attributes everything to Time). Oh you ignorant fool! It is because of this despicable misunderstanding that you have assumed repeated births for so long! You are really the ignoramus, widely read but without the proper understanding. You are of the sort of person who would plunge into the filthy drain waters even when next to the pure and sacred Ganges.

Even though you have heard of the Suruti ( Thiruvaasakam here) and have listened to" bound by the rare rope of karma arising from the ethically good and bad actions of the past" ( aRampaavam enum arungkayiRRaal kaddi), you still don't understand. You are like the one who holding the torch but nevertheless plunges into well ( in blindness) . There are NOpeople comparable to you in this wide world encircled by the waters. You will degenerate and rot
!
The Karma is simply insentient and generates or becomes instrumental in making you effect actions that are either pleasant or unpleasant . However it is BEING whose chooses what karma must affect you and through that in fact become free of it. : Listen to people who exclaim: Don't I have the karma? isn't there the AGENT? and learn this truth from an analysis of such complaints.

   / ?  , :

    
    

  .     ? , 

   
  

But is this Karma an independent (niraakaaram) object or something dependent (saakaaram) ?

You can attain clarity on this issue by reflecting on the scriptural utterance:

Oh my Lord the destroyer ( arar) who dwells in AvaduTaNduRai,
Bless me so that I am NOT infected by this abstract karma

Now f it asked whether Karma has physicality as well as the functional capacity, the evidence is from:

Karma is immanent presence and in this unlike the physical pot
It will generate the effectuation of actions

Notes:

It is noted here that while Karma is insentient but it is not so like the pot that remains a concrete physical object occupying a definite region of Space. Compared to this Karma is a Viyaabi, present everywhere like the electromagnetic waves . It is also such that when it pervades the anmas, creates internal pressures for the anma to effect actions. Actually these are mantra-complexes something like the cognitive demons of modern cognitive psychology. Once they come to pervade the anma, the anmas are compelled to act is some way or other. In this way they can be equated with archetypes that take possession of the souls and make them behave in a certain way, the pattern of behavior depending upon the nature of archetypes. However here we should note that Archetypes are NOT simply mantra-complexes but rather BEING as with these mantra-complexes. The POWER that impels karma to make the anmas effect action comes from BEING but the actual definition of action comes from karma.

Also it has been pointed by many Saiva philosophers that Karma though spread out throughout space , cannot on their own pervade a particular anma-- being insentient it is simply incapable of that. It is BEING who does this -- measuring out what kind karma belongs to whom and that too according to Niyati, a regularity and justice pervading such decisions. a person receives only the Karmas he earns through the actions of his own in the past.

 :   () The Firth Meditation: The Karma (Continuation)

   ? ? , :

    
  ?

,

    
   -- 
   
  

,

     
    
     
   

,

   
    
    
     .

   .

Now if it is asked as to whether the Karma will get destroyed or will not be and hence will be there (afflicting the souls) forever, the following scriptural utterances indicate that Karma will be destroyed ( or dislodged) from infecting the anmas

When BEING has severed the condition of being born again and again because of Karma
by singing it to ashes, should we continue to pluck flowers ( for arcanas)?

Because of Karma there is this body and because of the body there continues to be Karma
And because of Karma that descends there is this world - They continue historically
Like a tree yielding the seeds and seeds growing into trees and will not cease to be thus
Till the point of Mutti where even seed germs are sundered.

The Canjita Karma will depart with Graceful Glance of Being and the Parartta with being free of the body
The reaming aakaamiyam will be dislodged by assimilating as the various kinds of earthly experiences
When I the doer understands that all that are effected are in fact the praxis of BEING
the various outcomes of the actions effected will not come afflict me!

Practicing Deep Silence and contemplating BEING with Cinmuttirai as the language of communication
I burnt all the karmas deposited within my soul by the actions in the past;
Dissolving in the Grace of BEING I prevented the further accumulation of karma;
The karmas that still continue fabricating my Being , I dislodged by giving them over to Siva
Will there Oh Kacci Ekamabane! any more births in the world?

 ,   ?  ? ,     ?  ,  , ,  .      :

     
   

     . "

   
    
     
    !

 

But is this Karma originated or unoriginated? This Karma that comes as the words of a Guru , where does it originate and die off? Such questions cannot be answered in words for such a truth is beyond language. Thus Karma will accrue one even if actions effected that are mental in addition to through language and the physical body.

Thinking of something is the first, then comes speaking as the second
Then comes recalling (or reflecting) what is done as the third; all actions are of these types.

When one ceases doing any one these ego actions, the Karma will not attack and afflict the soul. The following is the evidence for this:

Now if one continues to live neutralizing love and hatred,
understanding the truth as unfolded by the scriptures and live accordingly
Escaping births and deaths by being fully in the Radiance of the Great Beings
What the Cupid with sugarcane bow and Yama, the God of Death can do?
Will the worms grasp the Fire ? Oh Thou Ekamba in Kaanci?

   : The Sixth Meditation: On Unorigination ( or Fundamental Ontology)

   ,     ,  ,  ,  ,      .

   ,  ? ,      .

,          ?  ,        , , , ,    ,    ?      ,              ,       ,      .

The three Malas, ( aaNavam Kanmam and Maayai) that have been pointed out as there afflict the anmas intrinsically like verdigris in copper, saltiness in the sea waters, like the inherent defects in the crystals , like the skin that covers up the seed radicals , like the cataract affection of the optic nerves of the eyes and so forth, would block off a true perception of self as well BEING.

Well if asked , the Darkness can block off the eyes but will it also block off the sunlight?, as these pasaas distract the anmas so that they do not attend to BEING, it can be said that they block off understanding of BEING in a way.

But if the anma is unoriginated, essentially Blissful, autonomous and already with Love unto BEING, how did then aaNavam Kanmam and Maayai managed to eclipse it all?

Now following the Vedanta texts if you say that these are irreal like the horns of the hare, the Lotus in the sky, the son of a widow , the mirage and the pole looking like a man and so forth , why should a certain doubt emerge in your understanding about they being unoriginated?

You heard through word of mouth that a woman was possessed by a ghost. You also hear that a shaman priest exorcised that ghost from that woman by shaking her up beating her and forth. In this way he transformed her from being evil to being good and honest by driving away the evil forces by installing the divine in her head. And because of this if you thinks that there are divine forces within you and with that severe the ties of self with ego and bring about there being Civahood, it is pointless to inquire how egotism came into being and departed from the self.

         ?    ,          .  :

   
   



   
  



     
      
    
    

 .

What can a mother do when she pats the buttocks of a child to put him to sleep but the child on the contrary becomes restless lifting its head and so forth? When the Guru keeps on saying that the truth of Fundamental Ontology will dawn when the self destroying the ego sleeps in BEING, the person becomes restless and doubly inquisitive about it. The evidences for this come from the following:

Earlier I could not the see the Truth of three Paasam pacu and Pati
But strange even now I don't see it; what of magic is this?

Thou hast cast me into the maayai said to be inexistent but
the miserable me cannot stand this ambiguity

Oh the Lord of Centil! The young woman with darkly painted eyes, the young men
kith and kin and the existence thus have become like your
manifest archetypal forms
irreal, old and vague stories , simple dream experiences and thus slowly but definitely
just nothing at all

Notes: The worldly existence is so REAL and meaningful only because we are caught in the exorcist exercise of BEING. The anmas are infected with virus-like germs devil-like evil forces and because of which they are DISTRACTED from seeing BEING. These distracters cause there to be EGO and hence an arrogance that turns away the self from seeing and Being-with BEING. This much is clear and eminently empirical and something we canmake sense with our normal intellectual abilities. But the VaLLal says that the further clarities about these distracters infecting the self inherently and the manner they are made to depart can be known only in the final stages of spiritual development, at the point Civanjaanam is enjoyed and which is characterized by a state of transcending all languages and hence only Deep Silence as the mode of communication.

,     ?      ?

     ,         ,         ,     ,  .   .    ,  . ? ,    . , .   ,  ; :

   
  

,

   
   

 

But now if such things are said to be Mittai, delusions of a kind then what will happen to the conclusions of the Agamas ? Even if the the Blackening ( or defiling) Power is dead , can it be said rightly to survive somewhere ineffective ?

Such declarations are confusions of various kinds such as : my father continues to survive as a deity after his death; the elephant that Bima threw into space continues to this day to drop down one by one; for sometime there was a ghost inhabiting this tree but now for sometime it is no more there; at the end of Kaliyuga, the stone cockerels will cackle and so forth. If after saying the Night is no more but Darkness still persists, it is all only a matter of words , there is no meaning at all. If you say there is then, it is so for you but not for me. There is darkness still persisting for the bound souls but not for the absolutely Free. For Vayu ( the metaphysical Wind) there is form but not for Space.

The evidences are :

When there cease to be motion, the vayu is indeed Space and then
When movement returns, there comes to be again the Vayu

When there are desires the self becomes the Ego self but when
those desires are sundered , self becomes BEING itself.

Notes:

The presence and absence of Malas or the Dosha Vastu (of Rig Veda) is related to self being with Ego and without it. When there are desires of all kinds and INTENTIONALITY as such, the self functions as Ego-self and hence NOT one-with or the SAME as BEING. It remains ALIENATED from BEING and hence sees itself as Different. The self remaining alienated is the non-advaitic state of the anmas in the Saiva Agamas. When this alienation is sundered and overcome, the self stands with its inherent advaitic union with BEING i.e. SAME as BEING. This SAMENESS of self with BEING is the meaning of advaita in Saiva Siddhanta.

And this understanding and Being in the world as such is arrived at NOT by dismissing the Malas or the Dhosa Vastu as mere mental fabrications , mental constructs without any substance, mittiya as the Advaita Vedanties would claim from the days of Sankara. Such statements are taken as so many purely speculative utterances as enumerated above. They are simply verbal but being various fictions fantasies and unfounded beliefs, carry no weight at all. So claims this Civanjaana VaLLal

    ?   ? .  ? .      .  ,   ,      . '   '  ,   .

When you already become a Mukta , can there be anymore any infection with the mummalam, the defiling matters?

Well after sunrise, is there darkness? No, certainly not. But before the sunrise , was there darkness? Yes there is. If you are one who says no darkness anymore , then examine yourself through deep introspection and ascertain it. According to Saiva Siddhanta and according to the scriptures, the isolated anma assuming a posture of One-with-BEING ( civookam) and that the five fold defilers of perception are not intrinsic to it and continuing to learn is what is required. Those who plead " What is the day when I will become free of the fetters?" are actually people who are still in doubt.

 

      
    
   

,

  
     
    
   

,

  
 

,

    
    --  
   
  

,

  
   

 ,

      

The evidences for all these as follows:

Those who see the jiva and BEING as different would
Suffer endless existential repetition and because of that
Those who are desirous of Mukti, the Absolute Liberation
Would encourage the Same- as- Civa posture for jivas.

Those who understand that the essence of jiva is in fact the same as BEING ( Paraciva)
No matter what kind of experiential states they get into they would certainly
Attain the Absolute Liberation and it should be noted that
There is no gain greater than this.

Those who realize that the jiva in essence is Civalingam
Would with that destroy every evil within by attaining illuminations

Once you have realized you are in essence Pure Consciousness and with that
Attain Genuine Bliss and freedom from aaNavam, then even if
You go along with the utensils that generate experiences that are
Either enjoyable or not so, everything would becomes false false and false.

Once the TRUTH is understood, there will be no Ignorance and
Having severed it thus, it is wrong even to speak of anything

The Posture of Civookam is assuming that one is Pure Crystal of Faultless Radiance and all only because none of the Five defiling stuff is part of one genuine self.

   The Seventh Meditation : On Religions

, , , , , , , , , , ,    .    .        .        .   , , ,   ,      .

The common religions are twelve in number: Caivam, Paacupatam, KaaLaamukam, Vamam, Makaviratham, Ulakaayutam, Puttam (Buddhism), CamaNam (Jainism), VaiNavam, Mayavatam and Aniiccuravaatam . A jivanmukta is one who transcends all these religions. The study of religious scriptures, the various ritualistic observations, the worship of different deities and so forth are ropes tied to people to make them mature spiritually. Understanding the truth of Self , of BEING and such forms of consciousness constitute the state of being transcendent to all religions. It is with this kind of Metaphysical Illuminations that the ancient Rishies like Sukar, Vamatevar, Vashista et al Kapilar and the Nayanmars Sambantar Manikkavasakar and so forth attained Moksa

Notes:

The Fundamental Ontology of Saiva Siddhanta demands that to be liberated fully we must rise above all religions, and this constitutes the most ancient understanding of metaphysics that has shaped the Tamil mind. The world religions , the various ritual observations scriptural studies and so forth are pedagogic, only tools for the spiritual maturity of the anmas and NOT the END of religious life. Only when all religions are TRANSCENDED the anma reaches the state of Absolute Purity and Freedom , that it can attain Paramukti, that for which existence is. It is noteworthy that the philosophies of Lokayata and that of the Atheists ( aniiccurvaati) in genral are included and considered religions of a sort. The 'matam' that I am translating here as 'religion' for want of a better word, simply means a metaphysical system, a thought product (< mati: to reflect and evaluate)

,

   
  

   .

   
 

 .

The words of Tirumular wherein he says:

The Understanding that illuminates self is the real Understanding
All else are like those of the ghosts and demons

are really the redeeming words. Such declarations as :

The troublesome religions and their scriptures
Are actually oceans of miseries

are also agreeable to the above.

Notes:

Religions particularly the scriptures can become the source of social strive through giving rise to fanaticism of all kinds. The word 'matam' carries also the meaning of "madness" "religious frenzy" and so forth. The immature minds hook on to scriptures and with a mind of an infatuated individual become irrational claiming only their religion is THE religion while all else are false and hence something that deserves to be wiped out. With this attitude aperson becomes a propagandist, a proselytizer, and politically theocratic and so forth. Such individuals and people with such mentalities can only spread strive and discord and hence miseries of all kinds.

The solution to all these lie in bringing back the LEARNING dimensions of religious life and where what is learnt is Metaphysics specially that pertaining to SELF UNDERSTANDING. When religious life is organized as for Metaphysical Learning, fanaticism does not show its ugly head. But this is possible only when the motivational dynamics is conditioned towards attaining real Spiritual Freedom through ascending and transcending all world religions, the present as well those that would be born in the future.

   
   
  
  

,

   

,

   
   -  
    
  

,

    ,   ,   ,    ,    ,              .

It is said by the mystics that :

Even if the six fold religions differ among themselves
Agreeing on some but disagreeing on others, if one keeps
steadfast in the gaze on the ONE then that which is already in the mind
Will come forth and disclose its presence as the Formless

The Absolutely Transcendent Light that the
Twelve religions do not submit too

Oh you who stand still with the Tatvas, uncommitted ( to BEING)
Without saying that is good or evil, there is the Ego-self and self in itself
and thus fully undecided in all these issues except in the affirmation of the self
What you are doing is like while harvesting but being concerned only chasing away the crows.

The different dramas of the religious individuals wearing different types of attire saying things such as " God is good because he blesses one with what one desires", " God is evil because He does not help out thus" , " I am in fact the Absolute BEING", "without BEING there is no anma", "Inexistent because beyond the reach of the mind language and bodily praxis", "can there be days and nights if not for Isvara" and claiming that" this has to be true because of traditional lore " , are also just meaningless.

     ;              ,        ,  ,   ,    ,   ,        ,   ,        .

It is understanding that gives place and accommodates itself to all these different propensities. And those of you who are philosophical and just glance at these different follies without being serious about them, and those who have gone a long distance away from inquiry into the essence of self going along with the flow of water and hence without struggling towards self understanding , listen! All these people are like those who seeing a person harvesting successfully and tying the crops , speculate vainly and shamelessly whether it is better to fasten them with a long log, water snake or the eel or the long stone pillar and bewildered not knowing which way to proceed, they do not see that all these forms of thinking are implanted by BEING Himself.

Notes:

There is an attempt here to analyze and understand the DIVERSITY of religious forms of life and how without denying such a diversity one has to STRUGGLE to maintain oneself in the ESSENCE i. e self-understanding. The TRUTH emerges only against the many untruths and one has to struggle AGAINST them and refuse to remain complacent with all these falsities. We just also should NOT remain bewildered thinking that the way of human understanding is something like the way of waters that flows freely in all directions. The critical thinking must be made an essential component of metaphysical thinking for otherwise we can easily be taken a long distance away from the main concerns of metaphysical inquires.

 :

   



"    "   ,

    



   
    -  
   
  

.

 !     .

The evidences are as follows:

Unless the self is Civa there is no Civa in isolation

The utterances in worldly speech such as :

The Five lettered mantra ( na-ma-ci-va-ya) and the posting self as Siva are like BEING Himself

Siva of the jiva, Siva Himself the True Jiva and the Siva as the Concealed

The understanding that is absolutely Transcendent , above all the three types of Tatvas
Is the Sivam, and That thou Art -- The Understanding that escapes even those who
Seek it with the SAMENESS with BEING is that , Oh! PaNdaaram from Mazapaadi
What you must seek to understand.

My dear Mazapadi Pandaaram! This understanding that transcends all religious definitions and totally transcendent and constitutes the Absolute releasement is what you see.

              .    .   .   .            .

The understanding that emerges as beyond the magical fabrications by the ego-tatvas, cognitive-tatvas and civa-tatvas and where there is total purity and emptiness of any restricting element and hence totally autonomous is Sivam. And that thou art. There is no doubt at all about this. This is also the true meaning of Maka Vakkya ( Tat tvam asi?) . Here what is being communicated is what the Great Yogis who have withdrawn all the five senses completely see without really seeing.

      .  ,   .           . "   " ,    .    .   ,     . :

     
   



    
  

 .

When it is said that understanding is THREE types, it can also be taken as meaning the states of consciousness -- wakeful vigilance, dream states and that beyond it, the dreamless . What the above verse implicates is that the authentic self is that which remains the Pure Witness during all such states of Being. Such an understanding is being implicated by pointing out something gross in order to convey something very subtle. The declaration "The Understanding that escapes even those who seek it with the SAMENESS with BEING " simply means that BEING is NOT something that can be comprehended as 'such and such' by the intellect. The Mazapadi PaNdaram is any disciple who seeks divine wisdom. The reason such disciples are requested to investigate and see is : such people should not go the way , like the Maayaavaati , just purely with linguistical considerations.

The evidences for such elucidations are as follows:

Like the shadows inside the water, seek to see with the inner eyes
BEING who stands within your understanding itself.

BEING who fills all must be known as the all pervasive
and hence neither as the One nor as the Dual

:     : The Eighth Meditation : Perceiver Perception and the Agentive Cause of Perception

 - ,  --   ;  - .      .    .    .  . .

  .     .

    
   

  ,      .    . ? ,             .

The perceiver ( njaaturu) is the anma, the self. The perceptual consciousness ( njaanam) is what is generated out of the ten fold cognitive utensils. The Agent is BEING ( iiccuran) and it is because of this BEING that the anmas become conscious of the perceptual objects generated out of the cognitive utensils. This form of conscious is available even in Mukti, the Absolute Liberation. Now such if a state of Being for the anma is denied, then there will be no selves enjoying the Bliss of Liberation and also the production of scriptures.

Well and good. The state where everything become ABSENT is the natural mukti. Now if you quote the scripture :

I when I and He in deep embrace and enjoying the Bliss of Union
I am not there He is not in fact nobody is there!

not knowing the true import of these words you say there are no souls and so forth. In such a deep embrace the entities are there without really being there . ( There is only ABSENCE of such consciousness) This is due to a state of forgetfulness such as a man experiences when he enjoys a deep embrace with a woman where even in the jungle he is forgetful even of the tiger and such beasts that come near him.

    ? ,        .   ? ,  .     .        ? .  ? ,    . :

   
  .

But if it is asked, how can mukti be attained while still with these bodily cognitive utensils, it should noted that attaining mukti is NOT entering a location such as Kailash Vaikuntam, The Circle of Golden Wall and so forth. The self is the location for attaining mukti. When the cognitive utensils of ordinary perceptions get transformed into that of Transcendental Perception , then we have this state of dying without dying.

Then when an ignorant person becomes the enlightened, where go the ordinary cognitive utensils?

Well they don't go anywhere.

But how? if you ask, then it is just like the principle at work in the story about Devatata:

Those ignorant fools who do not know the Bliss is within
Search for it all over the world

,      ,   ? ?     .         .    ? ,   ,  ,    ,   .  .      . , , ,  . :

    
    
   
    

 .

But if a sculpture transforms a stone ( paadaaNam) into a deity, is there still or is there not the earlier stone? If it is said it is no more, then it must be out of the reach of the hands. Know that it is something like a vile woman ( kuNungki) remaining backgrounded by the chaste woman -- it is there but backgrounded and hence absent at the surface level.

But isn't present without being thus backgrounded?

The Siddhanta is that , it is not there without thus being backgrounded and this is because there is no meditation over the sculpture as a stone, such sculptures have the capacity to afford Mukti and on the mediations of them the deities appear as there ii transductive perceptions.

The transformation ( talked about earlier) must be understood along these lines.

The stories of Vanmiiki, Vashsita, Mathankar, Kapila and so forth is the evidence for this. We should not worry about the origins of the rivers, seers, guru and the divine woman. The evidence is as follows:

Like transforming the iron into the gold and further
Into the deities that all good people worship, does BEING
Transform the mean persons like me and shine forth Absolute BEING itself.

Notes: BEING effects a transformational magic, alchemical in nature, in which, like base metals becoming resplendent gold, the ordinary or even evil individuals are transformed and made to shine forth as divine individuals and where the total past is backgrounded completely. When the stone becomes a Deity through the skills of sculpture, it is in a way no more simply a stone. We become forgetful of that being a stone and attend to it as if it is a deity itself and because of which we manage to gain VISIONS of BEING in some archetypal forms.

   The Ninth Meditations on Deities.

  ;   ? ,  , , , ,   ,  .      .   ? ,    .  , ,     ?    ,    ,       .  , ,     (  )      .

The term 'deity' is general ( applicable to all archetypes) Who has seen the deity? And such things as Kailash, The Circle of Golden Walls, SriRangkam, , The Ocean of Milk, The Cosmic Sound and so forth appear sometimes and then disappear. One archetype may become another , appear and disappear.

Now if you ask: Because of these , isn't there absence certainty in the realities of these archetypes? then you should know such a certainty is required only for those who have NOT witnessed the deities directly. Furthermore the one who has seen his self itself as the Supreme Consciousness, the Ever Blissful, and the really of divine essence, which deity will he worship? He will not worship any particular deity. So like little children who worship different deities, there are also big children who will also do likewise. These people who go along with the crowd even though they know the idols are made of wood stone copper bronze and so forth.

:

    
    

,

   
  

,

" "    .     .    .   .

The evidences are as follows:

In this world where people say wrongly
this is god that is god he is god etc.

Many hide their search for wealth behind
The search for flowers and incense

Thus all these (falsities and pretenses) apart the Sameness with BEING ( Civookam Civookam) that the Vedas and Agamas proclaim is the Axiomatic Truth. The Saiva puranas declare the becoming witness to all is attaining the Sameness with BEING. Even Gita will declare that the individualized anma experiences the Sameness with BEING. And ths this is the Siddhanta.

Notes:

A developmental view with respect to idol worship is brought out here. Young children would require concrete objects as aisd in the grasp of the abstract notions like stones and sticks in the mastery of arithmetic of counting multiplying and so forth. Once the skills are mastered such aids become irrelevant . The same goes for idol worship which is concretizing the abstract and invisible archetypes. While the mystical individuals directly witness the deities, the ordinary people do not and because of this go around taking this and that as deities. Such people are said to be grown up children in spiritual matters and , not being sufficiently matured in such matters, are said to follow the crowd in an unthinking manner. The philosophically matured do not worship any deities for such people having seen the archetypes in their mystical visions do not mistake the idols of stone bronze wood and so forth for the archetypes which are really mantra bodies. Such people metaphysically inclined will seek to attain the Sameness with BEING and which is possible by transmuting the ordinary self into the Divine Self and that too by gaining the Grace of BEING.

  :

   
 

,

  
  

,

  
  

;

    

.

   .     

This is also the definitive conclusion of the Vedas too.

The Foundation is the heart and Pure consciousness is
The Civalingkam that merges there.
Such is the way the clearheaded Worship BEING

For those who have grasped the truth that
The jiva is in fact the Civalingkam
There will be immediate destruction of all the evil karmic deposits.

As my wounded and fleshy body matures in stages
As the Golden and great Temple, BEING entered my heart

My mind will contemplate that
The Heart is in fact a Temple

There are many such evidences. The Siddhanta is that only those who experience it will understand all these and the rest may not.

   ,       .  .  '    "    

The metaphysical entities like Kailash VaikuNdam The Circle of Golden Walls and so forth are not objects beyond the mental and in a way the fabrications of the mind. If some say they are real then they are in fact people who have NOT experienced Mukti. The statement " It is the self that becomes Civa and there is no Civa- Experience outside this" is the absolutely final Siddhanta of the Agamas.

Notes: The metaphysical entities -- the numerous archetypes and such concepts as Paradise Golden Fort and so forth -- are entities that are presented to the mind on its way to the Ground Level experience that constitutes the Mukti, the Viidu PeeRu or the final Home Coming. This is possible only when every mind fabricated entities are cast aside and the soul denuded of all mental constructs. It is at the level of such Purity of the Mind that the self can realize its SAMENESS with BEING, that it can itself become and be in essence Civa - Like Thus the Civa experience is possible only within the realms of mind and hence beyond the normal worship to deities and so forth. One must RISE ABOVE the level of the mental and hence the idol worship and so forth and contemplating that the self itself is a temple, i.e. the place where BEING discloses Himself , one must direct the mind towards self purification. The external and gross temple worship must be INTERNALIZED and the heart itself transmuted into a Temple for the direct vision of BEING.

   The Tenth Meditation on Asceticism

   .   ?       ()  .   ? ,     ;    :   ;   .

  ;      ,  ? ,

    

 ,    .    ? ,    .      .

The ascetic life requires relinquishing all desires and worldly attachments. But this requires overcoming Karma and how to attain that? This is attained by leading the life of such significant figures as Paddinataar, Pattirakiri, Cukar, Vamateevar, Sadaparatar and so forth. Is it true that unless a person is destined as such one cannot enjoy this ascetic form of life? The real asceticism is living without the any kind of desires that are intrinsic to the anmas. Living still with some kind of desires means living the worldly kind of existence ( samusaaram). Existing in Pure Consciousness is true asceticism; living still attached to the body is worldly existence.

But who has ever really given up all? Even those who have given up women are subjected various kinds ( of sexual) fantasies and hence there is no giving up at all. And so it would appear that such claims are false and there cannot a true asceticism .

Now it is true that sexuality is very difficult to overcome and men even when seeing the genital organs of the dogs get sexually aroused. But this is not true asceticism ( even though there may be such pretenses ) : over and above the external and sensory matters there are also the internal and mental matters ( that need to be given up). But because of all these can we say there is no real asceticism? Well the Vedagamas, the scriptures will not condone that. And because of all these ( conflicting opinions on the matter) existence in general is noted to be TWO types -- the ascetic and the homely.

Notes: Paddinataar is a well known business ( 11th cent?) man who towards the end his life gave up all his wealth family and so forth and wondered around as an ascetic on the outskirts of the city till the time he could cremate his mother. Pattrakiri was his accountant and later his faithful follower. Both have written magnificent classics in Tamil mystic literature which are widely read even to this day.

 :

   
  

;

    
  

,    ;  .

The evidences are as follows:

The Ascetic are those without any attachments and also
If those that can bind them again falls off ineffective.

Only when you escape from the Karma that you really become truly ascetic
How can you be ascetic as along as there is Karma affecting you?

Thus the Siddhanta is that being still bound by Karma is worldly existence and being free of it is True Asceticism.

  ,

    
   
  
    

    .      .   -- ;  -- .  ,      . :

     

  - ,  -- ,  --  ,  -     .

The meaning of 'becoming free of desires" is as follows:

The pleasures experienced reappear in memory
How one lived in the past keeps on returning
Whatever seen in the past is repeatedly seen
If this is the case won't the heavenly beings shy away
hating such a state of Being bound to sensual world?

As long as one has not become free of desires mentally , there is still bondage. The world knows how the great Rishi Pirungki suffered even after he absolved himself thoroughly of all desires. The Siva, the Male is psychic essence while the Sakti, the female the bodily essence. And therefore the Siddhanta is Sakti will never depart from Sivam on any occasion. (The Female lives always with Male and vice versa) The evidence:

How the BEING-as-Male stands so will BEING-as-Female

Therefore you must learn to see the world in terms of inseparable presence of both Male and Female, like the Brahmin- the female brahmin, the King- the Queen, the business man- his consort , the servers - his consort and so forth.

Notes:

Saivism doesn't condone the kind of asceticism where there is mutual hatred and avoidance between the males and females. As exemplified by the Androgynous Archetype BEING assumes, it is necessary for mental and physical well being that both live together in some kind of relationship where there can be mutual interaction and which may not always be sexual. A male and a female can transcend sexual interests and still be in serious love. The bodily interests can be transcended and LOVE established purely on spiritual grounds. The female in true love with a male can always assume form of Being consistent with that of the man she loves. It should be noted that this VaLLal comes from a tradition of Saivite scholars who were all married men and encouraged "illarat tuRavaram" a kind of asceticism within family life where both , husband and wife, gradually evolve into the state of desirelessness, the state of non-attachment to the worldly

       .     .        .   . :

  
 

     .      .

    
    
   
     



  

I have sought to explain the generally understood difference ; the householder is one still with worldly attachments while the ascetic is one who is seriously in search for metaphysical illuminations. This difference is noted not in terms of karmic determinations but rather in terms of the kinds of things that are of concern to them. When people are dead, it is terms of their mental qualities that they are judged as having been good or bad and not terms of the qualities of the corpses they are now. The various social differences also do not apply ( for such a distinction). The evidence is as follows

All the anmas that are the same because they attain human birth
Do not deserve to be classified high or low because of their professions

Whether asceticism or family life , it does matter as long as Metaphysical Illuminations are attained. The Siddhanta is : Neither ascetic life nor family will hide and conceal the absolutely transcendent Metaphysical Illuminations.

Concluding Remarks ( Perhaps added by a disciple)

This Guru with a name of Siva who helped me to attained the Sameness with BEING
Did so by allowing to escape from the painful condition of being born and dying
Explained to me the Civanjaanam through the language of Sin Muttirai and in the
Ten fold meditations buried and eliminated my false understanding and ignorance.

The Ten Meditations of Civanjana VaLLal Concluded

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