Chidakasha
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Chidākāsha in which all gross and subtle activities of the consciousness take place; it is the sky of consciousness, everything dies and evaporates in this space of consciousness, everything is reduced to its essence in this space.[1] Even the mind (conditioned consciousness), along with intellect and ego, merges in this space of unconditioned Pure Consciousness through the paths of devotion, knowledge and action.[2] It is also associated with the ajna chakra, the guru chakra, positioned in the stomata behind the centre of the forehead.
Chidākāsha also means the space of consciousness and the space behind the forehead which is the seat of visualization that links man with the conscious, subconscious and super-conscious and also the object of meditation or is control of speech, then cessation of sense organ activity, control of mind and control of intellect. He states:-
- समाहितायां सति चित्तवृत्तौ परात्मनि ब्रह्मणि निर्विकल्पे |
- न दृश्यते कश्चिदयं विकल्पः प्रजल्पमात्रः परिशिष्यते ततः ||
- "If the mental functions are established in the true, unchanging, Higher Self, Brahman, this awareness of the phenomenal world is not experienced. What remains thereafter is merely a matter of meaningless word. " – (shloka 399)
Then all wrong identifications and knowledge of the
- हँसः शुचिषद्वसुरान्तरिक्षसद्-होता वेदिषदतिथिर्दुरोणसत् |
- नृषद्वरसदृतसद्व्योमसद् अब्जा गोजा ऋतजा अद्रिजा ऋतं बृहत् ||
- "The Immortal Self (Ātman) is the sun shining in the sky, he is the breeze blowing in space, he is the fire burning on the altar, he is the guest dwelling in the house; he is in all men, he is in the gods, he is in the ether, he is wherever there is truth; he is the fish that is born in waters, he is the plant that grows in the soil, he is the river that gushes from the mountain, - he is the changeless reality, the illimitable. " – (Katha Upanishad II.ii.2)
and,
- अग्निर्यथैको भुवनं प्रविष्टो रूपं रूपं प्रतिरूपो बभूव |
- एकस्तथा सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा रूपं रूपं प्रतिरूपो बहिश्च || २.२.९
- "As the one fire, after it has entered the world, though one, takes different forms according to whatever it burns, so does the internal Atman of all beings, though one, takes a form according to whatever He enters and is outside all forms. " - (Katha Upanishad II.ii.9)
In other words, Nachiketa is told about the pre-eminence of the all-encompassing Brahman who is everything and who pervades all things. He is told about Brahman shining brightly in the sky ( akasha ) in subtle ether, in the sky of the Chidākāsha the infinite all –pervading subtle space of Consciousness ; the Self which produces all movement in the universe, shines in the Chidākāsha lighting up all worlds gross and subtle because of the emanation of Om.[9]
References
- ISBN 9780834824546.
- ISBN 9788175971936.
- ISBN 9781411614222.
- ISBN 9780791406793.
- ISBN 9780835604475.
- ISBN 9781134667895.
- ^ Kapila Vatsyayan (31 December 2013). Concepts of Space Ancient and Modern. Abhinava Publications. p. 47.
- ^ Sri Samkara's Vivekacudamani. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. 1979. p. 270.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Upanishads. Islamkotob. pp. 118–119.