It has emerged quite clearly that what affords nobility of character is existence as founded upon Totalistic  Philosophy or Hermeneutic  Totalism  that seeks  UNDERSTADING  and not Existential Totalism that seeks mere ACQUINTANCE. The existent philosophic understanding must be disconstructed so that the inadequacies   are overcome and a new understanding that is an improvement upon the earlier is  allowed to emerge and serve as new horizon of existence. In this,  the process of gaining CLARITY was emphasized considerably. It is the consciousness in the Ilaatam ,  consciousness of absolute clarity that breeds apodictic certainty and indubitability.  It is not the mythical and metaphorical forms of consciousness that can provide this clarity and thereby remove doubts and uncertainties and through that afford a firmness of commitment, a certainty on the meaning of authentic existence. Now inquiries are directed at the attainments of such CLEAR CONSCIOUSNESS that is so crucial  for securing the right horizon of existence. So now questions are raised with respect to  the  constitution of the different existential states and how they are related to the attainment of clarity of consciousness.

¦Á¡Æ¢ó¾ «Åò¨¾ Ó¾ø «Ê§Âý ¿¢ýÈ¡íÌ
´Æ¢ó¾ ¿¡íÌõ ¯½Ã - ­Æ¢ó¾È¢óÐ
²È¢üÚ ­íÌ ­ø¨Ä ±Æ¢ø ¦Åñ¨½ ¦Áöò§¾§Å
§¾È¢üÚ ±ý¦¸¡ñÎ ¦¾Ã¢òÐ?

mozin-tha avaththai muthal atiyEn n-inRaangku
ozin-tha n-aangkum uNara ; izin-thaRin-thu
ERiRRu ingku illai ezil veNNai meyththEvE
thERiRRu enkoNtu theriththu?

In order to bring into absolutely clear and indubitable conscious understanding the meanings of what I experience in the lower states of Being in which what are experienced are essentially mythical or metaphorical,  what procedures or utensils are used?  The processes by which CLARITY is attained remains a puzzle because the cognitive utensils in these regressive states of Being are not available during the states of vigilance and conscious alertness.

[The cognitive tools at work during the regressive states of Being are not available during states of wakeful vigilance where absolutely clear consciousness is sought after. The cognitive processes that configure the dream states, for example, are not or should not be available during states of wakeful vigilance where there cannot be anything mythical or metaphorical. Should these mechanisms  still be available and active, the state of dreaming cannot be overcome and alertness installed. The consciousness remains clouded and unclear. The puzzle and metaphysical dilemma emerges when it is stated that within the wakeful the remaining regressive states must be attained- caakkiraththil  ain-thu avaththai eythal-  as a way of understanding in HERMENEUTIC TOTALISTIC way the whole of existence. The problem is: while awake how the states of dreaming and so forth can be attained so that the NEED to enter dreaming and related states are overcome?]

These dilemmas are posed in greater detail in the following lengthy akaval.

¦¾Ã¢òÐ ±ý¦¸¡ñÎ ±¨É ¯Õò¾¢Ãô  ÀÍÀ¾¢
¦ºÊ§Â¨ÉÔõ «Ê¨Á ¦ºöÂô
ÀÊÅí ¦¸¡ñÎ ÓÊ× ¸¡ðÊ ­øÄ¡ô
¦Àñ¨½ ¡Ùõ ¦Åñ¨½ ¦ÁöÂ,

theriththu enkoNtu enai uruththirap pachupathi
chetiyEnaiyum atimai cheyyap
pativang koNtu mutivu kaatti illaap
peNNai yaaLum veNNai meyya,

Oh BEING! Thou discloseth Thyself as  AGENT OF DISCONSTRUCTION and simultaneously the Lord of the creatures. And in order to humble and thereby possess as Thy servant even my sinful self ,  Thou hast appeared in the visible form by possessing Meykand Deva of VeNNai girdled by the river PeNNai. Thou hast shown  ENDS that  are not  the real END and thrown me into chasing after the false. How within these inauthenticities an understanding of the TRUE END is disclosed and I am made to understand it most clearly?

«Åò¨¾Â¢ø ¦¾Ã¢ò¾Éý ¬Â¢ý «Åò¨¾
¦¾Ã¢ò¾¡íÌ ­Õò¾Öõ ­Ä§É;
 

avaththaiyil theriththanan aayin avaththai
theriththaangku iruththalum ilanE;

If it is stated that I was illuminated as to the real END during these various  existential states, I am not aware of these instructional processes;

 ..................¾¢ÕòÐõ
¸¡Äõ ӾĢ ¸ÕÅ¢ ¡¢ý
Á¡Öõ À¢÷ÁÛõ Å󦾫¨É «¨¼Â¡÷;

      -thiruththung
kaalam muthaliya karuvi yaayin
maalum pirmanum van-thenai ataiyaar,
 

If my understanding is developed with the use of such categories as TIME, Space , Desire and so forth, then the archetypal presentations of BEING as  Thirumaal, the lord of the manifest world, and Brahma the Lord of the Word or Logos would be beyond my reach as they are ahistorical and hence beyond the historical cateogories of Time Space and so forth;

µÐí¸¡¨Ä ´ý¨È ´ýÚ ¯½Ã¡
§º¾Éõ «ýÚ «¨Å;
 

Othungkaalai onRai onRu uNaraa
chEthanam anRu avai;

And furthermore these categories of Time Space and so forth being insentient cannot inform and understand each other; in themselves they are incapable of generating consciousness;

.................§À¨¾î ¦ºÂÖõ ­î
§º¾É ¬É¡ü ¦ºÂø ¦¸¡Ç §ÅñÎõ

                                -pEthaich cheyalum ich
chEthana aanaR cheyal koLa vENtum

These categories of understanding become active and functional only in the understanding of a sentient being infected with ignorance (and because of which desirous of learning and understanding);
 

§À¡¾õ «Åü¨Èô Ò½÷ÅÐ «È¢§Âý

pOtham avaRRaip puNarvathai aRiyEn

Now even though they are constituents of understanding and serve the generation of consciousness, how exactly it happens is beyond my comprehension; the way they serve consciuosness is not known to me, I am supremely ignorant about their functioning.

¸ÕÅ¢ò ¾¢ÃÇ¢Ûí ¸¡ñÀÐ µ÷ ´ýÈ¡õ

karuvith thiraLinung kaaNpathu Or onRaam

And when I set myself meditatively to understand these apriori elements that configure my understanding and consciousness, I can intuit only one at a time; cannot  grasp  all the categories in their totality;

´Õ×¾ø «È¢§Âý ¯½÷Å¢Äý ¬¾Ä¢ý

oruvuthal aRiyEn uNarvilan aathalin

I am not also conscious of these categories  coming into my understanding and leaving it; their installation within my understanding and expulsion therefrom appear to be something happening unconsciously, in a mysterious way.

¿¢ü¦¸¡Î ¸ñ¼Éý ¬Â¢ý ±üÌì
¸ÕÅ¢ ¬Â¢¨É ¦ÀÕ¨ÁÔõ ­Ä§Å

n-iR kotu kaNtanan aayin eRkuk
karuvi aayinai perumaiyum ilavE

Now if  Thy sayest that these categories of understanding are in fact bestowed by Thyself for the purpose of instituting understanding as such, then it is not clear the purpose for which it is done.  Furthermore such an act whereby the human understanding is constituted as finite, becomes something incommensurate with your loftiness and total unboundedness
 

¡§É À¢ÃÁí §¸¡§É §Åñ¼¡

yaanE piramang kOnE vENtaa

Now  on the other hand, if it is said I am in fact Brahman, the supremely radiant, then Thy being-there as present in the world becomes redundant and useless;

­ýÛí §¸ñ§Á¡ ÁÉ ¿¢ýÉ¢ý
ÓýÉõ ±ýÈý ¯½÷Å¢Äý ¬¾Ä¢ý
±ý¨Éì ¸¡ñÀ¢Ûõ ¸¡ñÒ «Ä; ¸¡½¡Ð
¯ý¨Éì ¸¡ñÀ¢Ûõ ¸¡ñÒ «Ä; ¯ý§É¡Î
´ÕíÌ ¸¡ñÀ¢Ûõ ¸¡ñÒ «Ä; «ÕóШ½
¸ñ¼Å¡Ú ²Ð ±ÉÐ ¸ñ§½
«ñ¼ Å¡ý «Õð¦ÀÕí ¸¼§Ä

innung kENmO manna n-innin
munnam enRan uNarvilan aathalin
ennaik kaaNpinum kaaNpu ala; kaaNaathu
unnaik kaaNpinum kaaNpu ala; unnOtu
orungku kaaNpinum kaaNpu ala; arun-thuNai
kaNtavaaRu Ethu enathu kaNNE
aNta vaan arutperungkatalE

Oh Thou the Supreme Lord, the most dear to me and a vast ocean of GRACE who permeates the whole universe, please listen to me further.
Because when fully immersed in Thy radiant presence , I lose self -consciousness, even if Thy graceth me by showing me to myself, I cannot see. Without being able to see me as such if Thou discloseth  Thyself , I cannot even then see Thee. Now if I am the Same as Thee and SEE along-with-Thee, I still cannot see Thee as being there. If such is the case where SEEING Thee as such as being there is impossible on all accounts, in what sense art Thee a rare and supreme companion ( who continuously facilitates seeing and through that develop  my understanding itself?)

¸¼ø «Ó§¾ ¦Åñ¨½ì ¸Õõ§À ±ý ¸ñ§½
¯¼ø «¸ðÐ ãÄòÐ ´Îí¸î -- º¼Äì
¸ÕÅ¢ ¡¾íÌ ¯½÷ò¾ì ¸¡ñÀÐ ¾¡ý ±ý¨É
ÁÕÅ¢ ¡¦¾ýÚ ¯¨Ãì¸ Áý
 

katal amuthE veNNaik karumpE en kaNNE
utal akaththu mUlaththu otungkach ; chatalak
karuvi yaathangku uNarththak kaaNpathu thaan ennai
maruvi yaathenRuu uraikka man

As I develop in understanding and finally withdraw  completely into the MUULAM, the most primordial, the original HOME of absolute understanding, absolving along the way the finitising instruments of understanding, what physical instrument affords this absolute understanding and with what I see without really seeing?

The answers to these dilemmas are contained in the words :    <  ¯¼ø «¸òÐ ãÄòÐ ´Îí¸ º¼Äì ¸ÕÅ¢ ¡¾íÌ ; utal akaththu mUlaththu otungka chatalak karuvi yaathangku>, which is made the point of departure for a further series of questions. The solutions is available in greater detail in the following verse of S.B sutra 5:

Å¢ÇõÀ¢Â ¯ûÇthÐ ¦ÁöÅ¡ö ¸ñãìÌ
«ÇóÐ «È¢Â¡ ¬íÌ «¨Å  §À¡Äò
¾¡õ¾õ ¯½÷Å¢ý ¾Á¢ «Õû
¸¡ó¾õ ¸ñ¼ Àº¡ºòÐ «¨Å§Â

viLampiya uLLaththu meyvaay kaNmUkku
aLan-thu aRiyaa aangku avai pOlath
thaamtham uNarvin thami aruL
kaan-tham kaNta pachaachaththu avaiyE

: The senses do not perceive or see and judge unless ordained by the anma. In an analogous manner, the selves remain ignorant of themselves unless they are given to understand themselves by BEING that is LOVE itself. And this happens when BEING draws unto HIMSELF the anmas like a magnet would the pieces of iron in its vicinity.

The final understanding, the Siva Jaanam, is  the absolute illumination that breeds nothing else but apodictic certainty, an understanding shorn off the finitising categories of understanding such as Time, Space, Desire or Intentionality and so forth. There is no instruction or pedagogy at this limiting point. The bounds of reason are transcended by a Magnetic Pull emerging from BEING itself: BEING lifts up the anma that is within this enclosure and throws it into the realm of the ABSOLUTE through this pull. The anma does not become a BRAHMAN by its own  efforts , it becomes so only because of the IRRESTIBLE PULL of BEING that never ceases to act upon the anmas.
 
 

COMMENTARY Part 1:

1) In the process of being attracted irresistibly to BEING and thus the anma in moving closer unto BEING, there is a process of absolution, the leaving behind the various categories of understanding and values that provide the foundation for worldly existence.  Unknown to the anma, there  are underground forces at work in this odyssey of the anma unto BEING, which relieve  the anma the various categories of REASON within which understanding functions,  consciousness gained and life is lived through. This is simultaneously the anma moving psychologically towards the MUULAM, the archaic, the most primordial or the bottommost kaRRaLi or DWELLING and being-there enjoying absolute understanding, something fully translucent with absolute illumination. The SEEING in this limiting situation which cannot be categorical at all and infected by value systems whatever, becomes the issue for Arunandi in this chapter. The distinction between showing and seeing ceases to hold here and hence the dilemma. While all seeings are categorical, the limiting SEEING WITHOUT SEEING is devoid of categories as it lacks <cuttu>  an Otherness.

2)  The first question < thERRiRu en kondu thEriththu?>  seeks to understand how within the various existential states , there are processes of ABSOLUTION whereby the anmas are  cleansed of the various categories of REASON and understanding so that deeper and deeper realms of the concealed world are accessed and explored and finally the absolute SEEING is enjoyed. The hidden and subterranean cannot be accessed unless the burden of the spatio - temporal categories and phenomenal existence  are transcended and the structure of REASON and UNDERSTANDING itself is transformed or transmuted. There is a process of CLEANSING that occurs in the course of various existential states the exact nature of which is made the object of inquiry by Arunandi here.
.
3) One of the commentators, Sikazi Tattuva Nathar mentions the following lines to unravel the dilemma.

¸ñ½¡Ê ¾¡É¢¼Á¡ì ¸ñ «¾¨Éì ¸ñ¼Ð§À¡ø
¯Ç ¿¡Î ´Ç¢  ¯ý ´Ç¢

kaNNaati thaanitamaak kaN athanaik kaNtathupOl
uL n-aatu oLi un oLi

Consciousness, absolved totally of all the categories and values becomes absolutely PURE  and it is this that affords absolutely TRUE UNDERSTANDING of self itself. The are no more deauthenticating,  distorting forces at work. Because at this point there is no more an Other, it sees itself with a seeing that is not really seeing as there are no configuring categories and values. There is a collapse of the subject-object dichotomy and polarity; there is no objectivity and the self understands itself without positing itself as a THAT. The eye sees itself by having reflected in a mirror. In an analogous manner, the self sees itself as  reflected in this pure consciousness; the self understands itself as that which is this PURE CONSCIOUSNESS.

4) The purification of understanding is not something that happens because of the efforts of understanding or because of the powers that configure the various existential states. The absolutional is not lived as such or at least one is not conscious of it as such: < avaththai theriththaangku iruththalum ilanE> It happens however because the self gravitates  irresistibly towards BEING. The movement , being displaced or transported from dwellings to dwellings is engineered by BEING by the archetypal presentations and possession of the anmas. It is  led by a form of existence in which it is the SAME as an archetype which in its onward march discloses the END: <padivang koNdu mudivu kaaddi illaa>. Existence is a voyage, a yaaththirai, an odyssey  that is immensely complex and in which one is taken to experiencing deeper and deeper worlds each as conditioned by an archetype that provides the access as well as the boundaries. Where there is  a progressive movement in the voyage, the categories of understanding are overcome, the bounds of reason dissolved and understanding definitized. What is accomplished is not the deprivation of the categories but a reconstitution of the subject so that there is a disinclination to use them even when made available. What is accomplished is a <kazarcci>, a disengagement  which is simultaneously  a cleansing or purification.

5) Consciousness as founded upon the use of the spatio-temporal categories such as Time Space and so forth do not provide a TRUE consciousness of self. For consciousness is self-reflexive and it is pure consciousness that can provide a true understanding of self. The Pure Consciousness, the cuththa caithanyam, shows everything as it is in itself- there are  no distortions, disfiguring constructs and fabricating the false to sooth the pains, the imagining the fantastic and irreal to avoid  the ego disintegration. The cuththa caithanyam also discloses everything in totality - there is no more concealment, hiddenness,  covered-upness, abconsciousness and so forth. Everything is made available in a transparent manner  so that  an absolute translucency comes to prevail. The   self as that which enjoys this consciousness and whose behavior is determined by this, is a <cEthanan>, a sentient being whose understanding is fabricated and to which he just simply submits himself: <pootham avaRRai puNarvathu aRiYEn>: the self is not  aware of the processes that introduce the various categories and values of understanding and self.

6) The attainment of the ultimate in philosophic understanding, the attainment of  Hermeneutic Totalism or Tatoalistic Philosophy i.e. Siddhanta through a process of discontruction that was dealt with in the last chapter is not the END of existential development.  The Totalistic Philosophy only clarifies what   authentic existence is through pointing out the real MEANING of existence, what existence is for. This is an important achievement in the odyssey but certainly is not the END of existence as such. It is in fact the proper beginning of the YATTIRAI, the journey and hence  forth it becomes a PILGRIMAGE and in which the purificatory processes set in. Existence ceases to be simply philosophic but  becomes genuinely RELIGIOUS.  The transposing the existence of an individual to the religious is the purpose and function of the phenomenal existence as shaped by the numerous archetypal presentations of BEING and possession of the anmas in terms of these and introducing thereby the various categories of understanding. And this appears as to be inconsistent with the greatness of BEING and the fact that BEING becomes instrumental somewhat by his archetypal interventions. Why should BEING so totally ABOVE and absolutely PURE, come down to the phenomenal level and thereby provide understanding to anmas with various categorical instrumentality ?

7) Religious existence is an existence in which the anma seeks to be with BEING, to unite and fuse and be the same as BEING, to glow in its SANNITHI, in its radiant PRESENCE. The dialectics is that of LOVE or BAKTI that manifests itself as unflinching   devotion , total abandonment and always seeking an intimacy that is fulfilling. Where there is rupture and distance there is sorrow, depression , melancholy and longingness ; there is  pining and whining for the reinstitution of the intimacy. It  is a life of rupture and fusion,  disunion and union, and love and hate. It is life Transcendental Existential, analogous to that that obtains between a man and woman deeply in love. There is self purification through this dialectics-  existence  as WHOLLY-FOR SELF-ITSELF is transformed into  WHOLLY-FOR-OTHER and through that the self becomes egoless.  The ego-centeredness takes a blow and egoless anma is a purified anma, absolved of all the elements that configure it as a finite self. The human EROS that founds sexuality gets transformed into BAKTI, love for BEING and through that love for humanity. The self ceases to exist for itself, seeking out ways to fulfill its own desires and becomes something that concerns itself with the Others. The life of Bakti is simultaneously a life of THONDU, selfless service to humanity where whatever that is done is done out of  PURE LOVE.  And this explains the phenomenal presentations of BEING.  BEING comes down and presents itself in numerous archetypal forms for the benefit of the anmas because it is LOVE itself, anbE Sivam;  BEING  does whatever done out of a spontaneity that arises  because of LOVE SUPREME that shows itself in PURE GIVING, the AruL. This answers Arunandi^s question : eRkuk karuvi aayinai? : Why hast Thou become a vehicle for the phenomenal entanglements of the anmas?
 

8) It is this transcendental LOVE or Bakti and nearing BEING through this Bakti that remains unflinching and unvacilitating, that facilitates  the purification or inner cleansing that brings about existential transpositions from lower dwellings to the higher. The horizon of existence changes so that it is purer now and because of it more blissful. As the highest horizon is attained, in the immense Radiance of BEING that captures the anma totally, there is forgetfulness of self. <n-innin munnam enRan uNarvilan>.  Even shown as to what the self is, there is no seeking to see and hence no seeing because of the total concern only with BEING that genuine Bakti implants.<ennaik kaaNpinum kaaNbu ala>. In seeing along with BEING, the seeing of self as it is in itself does not occur too as there is no fissure or alienness or alterity from anything at all. The seeing remains seeing without seeing i.e. without a thatness or <cuttu>; the self is supremely one with everything under the dominance of LOVE supreme. And this poses a problem for Arunandi: If it is so then how one sees the presence of BEING as the rare and inseparable companion, a guide, a GURU? The answer to this dilemma consists in noting that in Being in PURE LOVE,  BEING itself is understood not as a THAT but rather as the ONE who has taken over the self existentially; BEING is understood in existing as PURE LOVE itself; it is a way of knowing by Being. And in this, the  self is also  understood as that which is nothing if not for the  archetypal presentations and possessions of BEING itself. Whatever the self is in phenomenal existence, is so because of the archetypal presentations of BEING; when devoid of such archetypal configurations of self and made NOTHING in terms of archetypal possessions, BEING itself in itself possesses the self thereby disclosing what is in itself existentially. The <corUbam>; what BEING in itself is ,is disclosed here. Because  of this, knowledge of BEING is neither< caththu>,  the permanent, nor  <acaththu> the impermanent but rather the <civacaththu>, the absolutistic.

9) We may note here that the dialectics of Bakti as related to EROS, may be linked to the esthetical: the plays dramas poetry literature visual and other forms of plastic art that are related in various ways to dreams mythologies and metaphors. These nonlogical forms of consciousness are expressions of EROS both human and divine. All these expressions make a person confront the elements in the depths that configure   the dramas of life, the existential struggles of the anmas in Being-One-with  - the-WORLD. The ways of Being-in-the-World that touch upon EROS or Bakti and that which somehow reaches  consciousness,  are expressed in  these forms in order to appropriate them as nonalien, transparent and part of what one is, what one knows and understands.  The depths accessed and owned thus cease to be MYSTERIOUS or alien and hence something that arouse interest. What is thus appropriated and made a tissue of the self itself ceases to be alien and strange. It is in these EROS related productions ; in how they are configured, changed, delimited and constrained, distorted and reformed, ruptured and discontinuities introduced and overcome with the formation of new unities and totalities that we recognize a PLAY enacted forever tirelessly and which in turn discloses to us the Agency of BEING in all these, BEING as the tireless DANCER who forever dances the DANCE of BLISS.

10) Now it is disruptions in the life of EROS, of sexuality that important  transmutations take place and which result in cleansing and purifications that ultimately lead to dissolution of existent categories and normative values. The erotic life that is disrupted introduces pains that are similar to the death pangs and because of which serious attempts are made to overcome the melancholy and depression and in that process allow oneself get transported to higher dwellings with the attendant new horizons of Being.  The presence of BEING is not seen in the manner in which the objects are seen but rather as that which disrupts the erotic life and reinstitutes   it at different level quite often with the erotic desire softened and the Bakti element heightened. The transmutation of the human EROS into divine Bakti is the work of BEING and it is in these transmutations the invisible presence of BEING is noted and understood. The presence of BEING is recognized in the transformation that is effected upon the erotic within oneself and its transmutation into BAKTI. There is a cleansing of a sort, dissolution of a sort that  these disruptions always effect and because of which the concealed and hidden become available now for seeing. It is not an accident that the ascetic ideal remains an important component in the genuinely religious life.

1i) It is in the course of infinitely painful problems in erotic life with their attendant conflict with morality, existing value systems and so forth that BEING as GRACE , as SUPREME LOVE is understood and grasped.  The intrinsic eroticism of the selves are exposed and through that the human frailty, the fallenness of the anmas. The presence of the EROS is that which emerges against all pretensions to the   contrary; is that which makes one nonautonomous; is that which makes one seek out the enjoyments of worldly life. And in the painful    experiences of disrupted erotic life, things happen that afford one to overcome the pains, excruciating most of the time and completely demotivating. Things happen that restore either the erotic at higher level of existence or transmuted into a life of Bakti in which the human Eros is overcome and divine Eros is instituted.  It is in these processes that BEING is grasped as <arun-thuNai>,  a rare and very special friend who can , because of that, be  loved as the most dear to oneself<enathu kaNNE>.
 

12) The unflinching love towards BEING also follows from the fact it is BEING who illuminates as to the real nature of self ; the GURU who brings about the most authentic self understanding. This follows from the observation Meykandar makes in the following sutra:

¸¡Ïí ¸ñÏìÌì ¸¡ðÎõ ¯Çõ§À¡ø
¸¡½ ¯ûÇò¨¾ì ¸ñÎ ¸¡ð¼Ä¢ý
«Âá «ýÀ¢ý «Ãý¸Æø ¦ºøÖ§Á

           kaaNung kaNNukkuk kaattum uLampOl
           kaaNa uLLaththaik kaNtu kaattalin
           ayaraa anpin aran kazal chellumE
C.B. Sutra 11

The anma is allowed to BE, exist by being provided a dwelling and while continuing to be so, shown as to what it is Being for itself to see.  Such disclosures continue and deepen, and as illuminations become more and more profound they become simultaneously closer to TRUTH. There comes a point where when sufficiently deep TRUTHS about self are appropriated, the excruciating doubts and confusions overcome, there comes to prevail a flexibility, humility, sympathy, kindness, generosity, altruism and so forth and which are products of self purificatory processes. There dawns the vision of sUnyam, a simple NOTHINGNESS, a cuththa paaz, the ThiruciRRampalam. The religious existence has as its goal the gaining of self-understanding, the anmajnanam,  and Bakti, genuine and unflinching, grows towards BEING because it is BEING that affords this. Like self that dictates and determines what the eyes should see, so does BEING who SEES as to what the self is without distortions and discloses what IT thus SEES towards the anma and because of which, overcome with infinite gratitude and LOVE,  the anma remains completely devoted to BEING unflinchingly. The self is made to see what is in itself through the various tiikkai, activities of cleansing so that the self is made to extricate itself from involvement in the worldly matters and attain a PURITY in which shines forth the true essence of the self itself.
 

COMMENTARY Part 2:

1) The essential problem raised in this chapter is with respect to the seeing of self itself that gains authentic self understanding and the presence of BEING as the most reliable and dependent companion of immeasurable value. We have seen that it happens through the disrupture of the life of EROS in which takes place the purificatory processes that transform and uplift the anmas towards dwellings that are higher and less thick in terms of obscurants. We have to understand this dynamics even at a deeper level for the presence of sexuality and it enormous importance in the religious life remains still unexplained. Why is there EROS as an important element in the psychic interiority of the anmas and is present in such a manner that a disruption in it brings about excruciating pains so that the anma is driven to alternatives that remain normally unthinkable? Sometimes chastity and fidelity are also forsaken and the immoral does not appear repelling anymore. And why it can get transformed into Bakti, unflinching LOVE towards BEING? We shall attempt to explain these in terms of the concepts of psychotropism or <n-aati> that the  Siddhas in the Tamil country articulated to explain the psychodynamics of the anmas.

2) The psychotropisms are the Charmenotropism (pingkalai n-aati), Lumenptropism (itakalai n-aati), Numenotropism (cuzimunai n-aati) and Giggotropism (maraNa n-aati). These are instinct -like pulls unto BEING that exist in  the interiority of all anmas, including the nonhuman. The Charmenotropism is that which pulls the  anmas  towards the enjoyment of worldly pleasures, particularly the sexual. The Lumenotropism is that which seeks out philosophic illumination and through that severance from worldly ties. The Numenotropism is that which urges on the religious pattern of life in which the anmas encounter the archetypal presentations of BEING and through that enjoying various forms of cultic existence. The Giggotropism is the pull unto the DARKNESS and hence towards the immoral, bestial, banal and so forth that make the anmas sinful and  suffer the tortures of hell leading to death or death-like experiences. Over and above these and as underlying these is Muktotropism or GURU NAATI, the most archaic psychotropism that emerges when the worldly ties are severed and the only remaining dwelling is BEING and no other. The existence becomes solely concerned with being with, uniting with BEING and hence a form of existence   in which genuine Bakti come to prevail as the dominant existence determining factor.

3) When we analyze further we can note that these psychotropisms are instituted in the interiority of the anmas by the PLAY of BEING in which HE uses the tatvas Bindu and Naatham. When the Natham is concealed and Bindu made to be present, we have the Charmenotropism; when Bindu is  concealed and Naatham allowed to be dominant then Lumenotropism; and when  both are allowed to be equally present then Numenotropism; when both are suppressed or withdrawn or made only weakly present then Giggotropism in which bestial existence is experienced.  In this when only Bindu or Naatham are present and hence an imbalance in existence,  the urge to remove this imbalance emerges as sexual desire, the Naatham dominant Male seeking out the Bindu dominant Female and vice versa. When there is a balance in sexuality we have EROS in a state of fulfillment and the presence of Numenotropism as the dominant pressure. However when the life of EROS is disturbed or ruptured, the anma is forced to seek out a mate of a suitable kind to recover the existential balance without which the normal functioning is impossible. Each rupture in sexual existence brings about a disturbance of a serious kind and in the wake of deep thinking and reflection that ensues a profound changes in personality, value systems and so forth take place. Each such experience, though extremely painful, is also purificational for it introduces a change in sexual dynamics: carnal sexuality is transformed into divine sexuality through the attainment of purer forms of existence
 

4)  The rupture of EROTIC LIFE  that changes EROS into Bakti completely takes place when the phenomenal tropisms are overcome and the Muktioropism or Guru Naati comes to prevail as the dominant desire determining element. This happens when the life EROS of a deep and profound kind is disturbed so severely that INTEREST in human form of existence itself is disliked and a higher, a purer form of existence   is sought after. The worldly desires are overcome and spiritual desires, particularly UNIVERSAL LOVE,  emerge as that which determines the MEANING of existence. The worldly forms of enjoyment are overcome and existence comes to be seen as for the attainment of MUKTI, being one with BEING, to shine resplendently in the glow of BEING, to be forever in the Sannithi of Being , the presence of BEING and so forth.

5)  It can be seen that the mechanism that affords deeper and deeper accesses and visages are  the changes introduced in the EROTICA of a person. Thirumular uses an apt term to describe this process: madaimaaRRam, rechannelling the psychodynamics from the worldly sexual to the divinely spiritual, from seeking out sexual pleasures through copulation to uniting with BEING through intense Bakti in which ecstatic experiences with BEING  become the source of infinite pleasure: the ciRRimpam of sexual copulation becoming the pErimban of union with BEING. And this transformation is something that takes place in ordinary existence itself and is brought about by BEING itself through the enactment of DIVINE PLAY that we call phenomenal existence and struggles to seek out sexual pleasures. The EROTICA is periodically ruptured by the PULL of BEING that is always exerted on the anmas so that ultimately all are rescued from the worldly entanglements    and become  liberated, purified  and universalized.

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