Shiva Sutras 3.32 & 3.33 - The God-within is unchanged, untouched, and unaffected by any act or thought.

Shiva Sutra 3.32

tat pravritavapyanirasah samvettribhavat

The enlightened yogi feels that this “entire universe is the expansion of his own glory. [SLJ]” Having entered into God consciousness and Become immersed in his true nature, the Oneness, the yogi experiences the powers of creation, protection, and destruction. These three metaphysical forces characterize the functions of the Oneness, which in Kashmir Shaivism is named BHAIRAVA.

The Sanskrit word Bhairava is a composite of BHA, meaning the maintenance and protection of the world; RA - the destruction and withdrawal of the world; VA – the creation or projection of the world. Those who have achieved entry into God consciousness feel expanded into these three omnipotent metaphysical principles.

The yogi experiences and expands his own awareness into these three universal powers, but he is not changed by their fluctuations. The enlightened are appeased, nestled in the Heart of their own Self. For “him the reality of the Self remains…This yogi is never separated from the state of the Knower…the bliss of TURYA. [SLJ]” The truly enlightened remain in Bliss.

The state of the ‘Knower’ implies that his consciousness is never again lost in the external world of objects. As the Knower he is beyond these three states of creation, protection, and destruction. He is not altered by the recurring cycles of these three metaphysical forces. The happy implication of this understanding is the enlightened yogi is not affected and destroyed when the world is dissolved in any cyclical Dissolution.

“There is no creation and there is no destruction of that Self (the yogi). Therefore, if that being is one with this universe, then in reality, nothing is destroyed. It is imagined that ignorance is created and ignorance is destroyed, but ignorance itself cannot exist without knowledge of truth. So ignorance cannot be created or destroyed because it is one with the real nature of the Self. [SLJ – Kalikakrama Shastra]” Even ignorance is the Oneness.

The Knower always exists, while the known is created, sustained, and inevitably destroyed throughout the cycles of time. The Real nature of the Self, the God-within can never be altered in any way. The Oneness is eternally beyond all temporal appearances of fluctuating cyclical frequency waveforms cresting and subsiding on the Ocean of Consciousness.

“In the two states which are termed ‘doer’ and ‘done’ the aspect known as done is destroyed, while the aspect known as doer always remains and can never be destroyed. Only that force, which is the effort to create that which is to be done (the external hologram), is destroyed. [SLJ - Spanda Karika]”

The known and the ‘done’ can be destroyed. The Knower and ‘doer’ as the God-within Self remains unchangeable. The God-within is pure, untouched, unaffected by any act or thought. Nothing that the small personality identity-self has done over its multiple lifetimes has touched or altered the God-within ever.

The Oneness is never altered

If God could somehow be diminished by our actions, the universe would quickly collapse. The Oneness can never be altered. All temporal manifestations of multiplicity and five-sense material solidity are powerless to increase or diminish the absolute Totality. The One remains the eternal invisible substructure that upholds the world and transcends the sense organs and is beyond all words to describe.

The Creator desires to create Maya’s illusions of ignorance and delusion in order to Veil Itself for the purpose of generating this universe as a Divine Play, a sort of virtual reality hologram. The Oneness has absolute free will - and intentionally conceals and reveals Its own nature in all living beings, us as we move through time from one desire and adventure to another.

This is the point where many balk. Why would the imperishable, immutable, immensity that is now and forever the perfection of God consciousness, Veil Itself in the ephemeral illusions that ultimately conclude in misery, sickness, and death? I can only answer in this way – when you are in God consciousness, the question does not arise.

God consciousness is not experienced with the sense organs, the five senses, the intellect (buddhi), and the mind. You can utilize the sense organs to ‘approach’ an understanding of the Oneness, but any true experience will transcend these. So the question does not arise.

However even when you are not in God consciousness, ask yourself if you have enjoyed being alive. Even the most unfortunate has no wish to relinquish life. Intense instincts for survival overwhelm depression. Most of us have treasured memories, accomplishments, and feelings of having learned or created in ways that elevated us and brought us feelings of joy. Is Life worth the sorrow and suffering? Most will answer yes.

After enjoying so many lives you become weary of the ‘play’ and feel that you have seen it too many times. Bored and tired of all conversation, the constantly shifting knowledge of the external manifestation, and all worldly pursuits of wealth, beauty, power – it is then that you know that you are ready to find your way back Home. You have sailed on the Ocean of Consciousness quite long enough and eternal Bliss becomes very appealing once again.

Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita II.52: When your enlightened intelligence shall cross over the delusion-thicket, then you shall become disgusted with what you have heard and what is yet to be heard. As Swami Lakshmanjoo puts it: “You will be hearing you own voice.”

Shiva Sutra 3.33

Sukha-duhkhayor bahirmananam

The Sanskrit words sukha meaning pleasure and duhkha pain are often written as one word. “Pleasure-and-pain is a metaphor for everything that exists in this world. [SLJ]” The sages of India understood that pain inevitably follows pleasure. In this sutra we learn that for the enlightened yogi, pleasure-pain are considered as something external.

Established in God consciousness, the enlightened one no longer identifies with the body, which is seen through the state of non-attachment as ‘this’ temporal vehicle that is external to his ‘real’ Being. We have all moved through time-space in many diverse bodies. The yogi makes the distinction between the ‘this consciousness’ of the body - and the ‘I-consciousness’ of the God-within, the Knower, the subject as opposed to the object.

The body is perceived as an external object, separate from his being. Joy and sadness are also experienced just like an object, separate from his being. [SLJ] The understanding implied is that the yogi has achieved the state of non-attachment to the body and its sense organs. He has destroyed attachment to the subtle body (puryastaka), which has kept him bound in Samsara, the repeating rounds of births & deaths.

In the Bhagavad Gita II.58, Krishna uses the image of a tortoise withdrawing its limbs to illustrate non-attachment. Standing firm, established in Wisdom, the yogi withdraws the senses (indriyani) from their objects, like the tortoise withdrawing its limbs. Even the ‘taste’ (rasa) for the objects of the senses ‘turns away’ from the ones who have reached God consciousness [II.59].

Even though the enlightened are still engaging with and moving among the objects of the senses, they are nevertheless unaffected tranquil within the Self [II.64]. Wisdom stands firmly established in those who have withdrawn their senses from their objects [II.68].

Such a yogi “is never individual being, he is always universal being, he experiences his nature as universal being and not as individual being. [SLJ]”

“Those yogis who have crossed the boundary of individuality, who have achieved the real state of universal being…although in their daily lives they experience pleasure and pain, these experiences do not affect them at all. [SLJ – Sri Pratyabiijnana]”

Here we understand that the enlightened do experience pleasure-pain; but unlike ordinary human beings, they remain unaffected by these sensations, emotions, and even corporal illness, pain and death. They have achieved a state of detachment from these by remaining in God consciousness.

Swami Lakshmanjoo

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Bhagavad Gita, In the Light of Kashmir Shaivism, Chapters 1-6, revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo, edited by John Hughes; Universal Shaiva Fellowship, 2008.

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