In2-MeC

New Delhi, India
11 December 2003

Beta Chanting

Yesterday I had a talk with one devotee about consciousness and language. That talk was based upon reading that I've been doing into the ideas of Owen Barfield, who died in 1997 at the age of ninety-nine. He was a member of the Oxford Literary Group which included C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Williams.

The example of the rainbow and the tree is Barfield's. It comes from a book he published in 1957 entitled Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry. The idol of the title is the material world; from the standpoint of Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy, Barfield's notion of the material world as an idol is most interesting, given that we find this in Srila Prabhupada's purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 3. 6. 4:

The virat-rupa or visva-rupa, the gigantic universal form of the Lord, which is very much appreciated by the impersonalist, is not an eternal form of the Lord. It is manifested by the supreme will of the Lord after the ingredients of material creation. Lord Krsna exhibited this virat or visva-rupa to Arjuna just to convince the impersonalists that He is the original Personality of Godhead. Krsna exhibited the virat-rupa; it is not that Krsna was exhibited by the virat-rupa. The virat-rupa is not, therefore, an eternal form of the Lord exhibited in the spiritual sky; it is a material manifestation of the Lord. The arca-vigraha, or the worshipable Deity in the temple, is a similar manifestation of the Lord for the neophytes. But in spite of their material touch, such forms of the Lord as the virat and arca are all nondifferent from His eternal form as Lord Krsna.

Barfield has a term for the appearance in our mind of a rainbow, tree, or whatever we perceive of the material world. His term is figuration. Figuration is the result of participatory reality. I mentioned in yesterday's entry that participatory reality is the state of affairs in which the mind participates with nature to give figure to the world. The Srimad-Bhagavatam offers us a most complete explanation of participatory reality. Srila Prabhupada summarizes that explanation in his purport to Bhag. 3. 10. 17.

The demigods, or controlling deities, are entrusted with departmental management of all the different functions of the material world. For example, one of our sense organs, the eye, is controlled by light, light is distributed by the sun rays, and their controlling deity is the sun. Similarly, mind is controlled by the moon. All other senses, both for working and for acquiring knowledge, are controlled by the different demigods.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2, Chapter 10, explains this in great detail. Figuration--the appearance of the world within consciousness in terms of hearing, feeling, seeing, tasting and smelling--is managed by the demigods. The ultimate causal factor is the Supersoul. The demigods are His empowered agents (amsas). He gives names, forms, qualities and activities to the material creation by expanding these agents from His own transcendental body.

In his purport to Bhag. 2. 10. 9, Srila Prabhupada describes participatory reality, but does not use that term. His Divine Grace's term is interdependence.

For example, the sun controls the power of our vision, we can see the sun because the sun has its body, and the sunlight is useful only because we have eyes. Without our having eyes, the sunlight is useless, and without sunlight the eyes are useless. Thus they are interdependent, and none of them is independent. Therefore the natural question arises concerning who made them interdependent. The one who has made such a relationship of interdependence must be ultimately completely independent. As stated in the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the ultimate source of all interdependent objectives is the complete independent subject. This ultimate source of all interdependence is the Supreme Truth or Paramatma, the Supersoul, who is not dependent on anything else.

Barfield and a number of other deep thinkers of the West believed that mankind of ancient times understood the world as a participatory process. In short, the reality of ancient man was very different from the "reality" of mankind today. We can detect this difference by comparing the words (thoughts) of then and now. In ancient Greek, pneuma was a word for "indwelling soul. " Nowdays we still construct modern words from that old Greek word. Pneumatic is in use today as one such word. But most modern people make no link between the "pneuma-" of pneumatic (which refers to air) and the idea conveyed by the word "soul". Readers of Srila Prabhupada's books ought to be able to make that link. From the purport to Sri Isopanisad Mantra 17:

The living being's activities are performed within the body through the movements of different kinds of air, known in summary as prana-vayu. The yogis generally study to control the airs of the body. The soul is supposed to rise from one circle of air to another until it rises to the brahma-randhra, the highest circle. From that point the perfect yogi can transfer himself to any desired planet.

Here Srila Prabhupada deftly reveals the science of space travel employed by the ancients. No metal-clad space ship housing the gross physical body was involved; rather, the soul itself would ride to other planets on the prana-vayu, the life airs by which the living entity participates in bodily movement. Sanskrit prana is obviously related to Greek pneuma; vayu is the name of the demigod who has authority over prana.

Writing in Saving the Appearances, Barfield tries to convey what we would know reality to be if we had the consciousness of the ancients.

We do not see it as an empty space. . . if it is daytime, we see the air filled with light proceeding from a living sun, rather as our own flesh is filled with blood proceeding from a living heart. If it is night-time, we do not merely see a plain, homogenous vault pricked with separate points of light, but a regional qualitative sky, from which first of all the different sections of the great zodiacal belt, and secondly the planets and the moon. . . are raying down their complex influences upon the earth. . . We know very well that growing things are specially beholden to the moon, that gold and silver draw their virtue from the sun and moon respectively, copper from Venus, iron from Mars, lead from Saturn. And that our own health and temperament are joined by invisible threads to these heavenly bodies we are looking at.

From a 1973 book entitled The Origin and History of Consciousness by Erich Neumann is a word, uroboric, which denotes the cosmic intimacy shared by ancient man and the universe. Srila Prabhupada indicates that uroboric state in his purport to Bhag. 2. 9. 36.

Indirectly it is said that the whole Vedic social construction of human society is so made that everyone acts as a part and parcel of the complete body of the Lord. The intelligent class of men, or the brahmanas, are situated on the face of the Lord; the administrative class of men, the ksatriyas, are situated on the arms of the Lord; the productive class of men, the vaisyas, are situated on the belt of the Lord; and the laborer class of men, the sudras, are situated on the legs of the Lord. Therefore the complete social construction is the body of the Lord, and all the parts of the body, namely the brahmanas, the ksatriyas, the vaisyas and the sudras, are meant to serve the Lord's whole body conjointly; otherwise the parts become unfit to be coordinated with the supreme consciousness of oneness. Universal consciousness is factually achieved by coordinated service of all concerned to the Supreme personality of Godhead, and that alone can insure total perfection.

In ISKCON, we do have our proponents of varnasrama-dharma who argue why our Society must conform to the system of four social and spiritual orders. But from what I've heard, their arguments mostly revolve around human concerns: stable occupation, economics, law and order, prosperous family life, etc. I would say sudras are very concerned with stable occupation (that's what communism is basically about, and communism is a social order invented by and for sudras). Vaisyas are clearly very concerned about economics, and ksatriyas about law and order. In general, all people in bodily consciousness are concerned with prosperous family life. But these concerns fall short of what Srila Prabhupada is stressing in the purport above: the uroboric concern, the God-centered concern, which insures the complete perfection of life.

The uroboric consciousness of intimate participation in the universal form of the Lord is contrasted by modern consciousness. As I presented yesterday, and explained even more elaborately in the In2-MeC entry of 24 October, modern "reality" is said to be of two kinds, consensus and objective. The difference between the two is not as substantial as modern man would like to think.

Owen Barfield has nicely accounted for modern consciousness in his writings on what he terms "alpha-thinking. " Scientists do alpha-thinking to a much more acute and disciplined degree than does the common man, but everybody educated in the modern way is stuck in the alpha headspace. It is thinking that is limited to the representations of the world that figure in consciousness out of the participation of our mind and senses with material nature. Srimad-Bhagavatam 5. 11. 9 includes this type of thinking within vrtti. Vrtti means the mind's material engagement. There are eleven vrttis that are divided into three categories. When the mind is absorbed in hearing, touching, seeing, tasting and smelling, it is engaged in sense objects. When the mind is absorbed in grasping, walking, talking, urination/defecation and sexual intercourse, it is engaged in organic activities. When the mind is absorbed in mental concoction and self-importance, it is engaged in abhimana (false egoism).

In alpha-thinking, we take the mental representations of the sense objects at face value. We understand them to be independent things in a world that is external to us. The underlying assumption of the alpha thought process is that the mind is a tabula rasa, a "blank slate. " Nowadays we might say "an empty CD". The external world "writes" to our mind's empty CD, and we view the representations of that data within consciousness. The world so seen is impersonal and mechanical, like the images seen on a computer or TV screen. TV images hypnotize their "couch potato" viewers. So does the world-image hypnotize the modern mind. That mind less participates in what it observes; rather, it is more controlled by what it observes.

Again, modern reality is said to be of two types. In consensus reality, the data is represented in our minds is somewhat ambiguous. Remember the rainbow, which seems not as real as a tree. Walk from a distance toward a tree, you get closer; walk from a distance toward a rainbow, you get no closer. But we agree that the rainbow is over there, that it is a beautiful sight, and that it signifies the end of a storm. In In2-MeC of 24 October, I mentioned justice as an item of consensus reality. Grind up the universe into fine powder. . . will you find justice? It does not exist as a physical object external to ourselves. Justice is a human ideal. Still, society could not stand without justice. Daily in the courtrooms of the world, judges and lawyers cite innumerable examples of justice. We agree that justice is a real thing. That is consensus reality. Objective reality pertains to physically measurable things we figure are unambiguously external to ourselves: a tree, another human being, a city, the moon. Consensus reality is not measurable in the same way. Its rule of measure has more to do with public opinion than physics.

Modern man deems consensus and objective realities as "real" by distinguishing them from "mental rubbish" like dreams, visions, and hallucinations, which alpha-thinkers believe have no objective reality at all. Alpha-thinking is the rationalist-mechanistic viewpoint. It views human destiny as the result of the pushes and pulls of objective, outside forces. At the end of the day even items of consensus reality are considered by alpha-thinkers to be forces that are outside us. Take history for example. Have you ever bumped into a history while walking down the street? History is not a physical "him," some person you met on the street; it is "his story. " Or it is the story of a community, nation, race. Still, the consensus of modern materialists is that history is a factual objective force that shapes human events. This is a central tenet of Darwinian evolution and Marxist communism. In these philosophies, history is all-powerful. Human beings are less participants in history, rather they are more pawns of history.

Above and beyond alpha-thinking, Barfield says, is beta-thinking. It is thinking about the representations of the world (both the consensus world and objective world) as representations. In short, beta-thinking is the cognition of participatory reality, or interdependence, as Srila Prabhupada would say. When developed to perfection, beta-thinking is Krsna consciousness.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 11. 24. 20 presents the ultimate truth of participatory reality: that the interdependent variegatedness of the material world exists only due to the perception of the independent Supreme Personality of Godhead.

As long as the Supreme Personality of Godhead continues to glance upon nature, the material world continues to exist, perpetually manifesting through procreation the great and variegated flow of universal creation.

The Supreme Lord's standard of perception is the standard of reality itself. This is real knowledge, or Krsna consciousness, as confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam 4. 29. 69.

Krsna consciousness means constantly associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in such a mental state that the devotee can observe the cosmic manifestation exactly as the Supreme Personality of Godhead does. Such observation is not always possible, but it becomes manifest exactly like the dark planet known as Rahu, which is observed in the presence of the full moon.

To perfect beta-thinking, we must constantly associate with the Lord by constant chanting of His holy names. Beta-thinking without chanting is jnana-yoga, not bhakti-yoga, and jnanis who rely merely on their own intelligence fall down (see Bhag. 10. 2. 32). Chanting cleanses the mirror of the mind. Caution: that mind-mirror is not the tabula rasa of the modernist thinker. The real mind-mirror, the one that partakes in participatory reality, reaches into nature to seize imagery according to its desire. The real mind-mirror is a place of mental chain reactions, in which one thought triggers another thought and then another. The real mind-mirror goes out of its way to find new and unusual things to reflect. The real-mind mirror contains more than just the image in front of it. For example, the real mind-mirror reflects on why it reflects the world. It even shows more than it reflects. It can produce its own images. It is not merely a blank, shiny surface waiting for something to stand in front of it. Moved by deep undercurrents of emotion, the mind (or heart) "is a lonely hunter" in the great forest of nature.

Because the mind's involvement with nature is participatory, our chanting should be participatory too. We should not be "alpha-chanters" who mechanically impress the syllables of the Hare Krsna mahamantra into an inert mind. An inert mind is an impersonal mind. It is impersonal because it is dull: abuddhaya (see Bg 7. 24).

Nama-kara bahir haya nama nahi haya, states Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. "Merely reciting the external syllables of the holy name does not mean that one is actually chanting the holy name. " When we chant, our minds should be engaged in the Lord's internal potency--the divine, ever-fully-enlivened nature of transcendence.

In Sri Sanmodana-bhasyam, Thakura Bhaktivinoda writes:

In this way, the soul's consciousness is like a mirror: just as it is impossible to see one's face in a dusty mirror, it is similarly impossible to see the real self in the mirror of consciousness when it is covered by the dust of ignorance. But if one begins to render loving devotional service (particularly hearing and chanting the holy names and pastimes of Sri Krsna) under the influence of the Lord's hladini pleasure potency, the material contamination of nescience is completely eradicated.

Then jiva's pure consciousness, which is a function of his pure ego, manifests itself. He sees reflected on the mirror of his pure ego the five principles of the Supreme Lord, the jiva, prakriti (nature), kala (time), and karma (action), with absolute clarity. He sees the reflection of his original identity without any distortion, and this helps him to know his inherent nature as an eternal servant of the Lord. When one becomes truly expert in serving the Lord, the propensity to enjoy material life is converted into a loving devotional mood of service.

. . . . .

As it is said, "devotion gives birth to devotion": the sincere and faithful devotee must therefore follow the principles of elementary bhakti by regularly hearing and chanting the holy name until the first light of pure devotion begins to dawn in the heart. The closed lotus flower touched by the moon's rays awakens in full bloom, and similarly, when the congregational chanting of the holy name spreads the rays of bhava (the essence of hladini) and impregnates the soul's heart, rati (conjugal love for Sri Krsna) then lights up his consciousness, bestowing the highest benediction. This is what is meant by the "rays of the benediction moon. "

When does a person, having attained this level of pure devotion, acquire his pure spiritual identity? Lord Caitanya answers this question by saying, vidya-vadhu-jivanam, "the life of all transcendental knowledge. " The Supreme Lord's sakti has two aspects, vidya (knowledge) and avidya (ignorance). Yogamaya, the svarupa-sakti, is the Lord's internal spiritual potency. This potency is called vidya, whereas mahamaya, His external energy, is avidya; it is the latter that creates the material universe and covers the soul's svarupa.

When, by his sincerely following the process of hearing and chanting, the first rays of pure devotion finally appear on the horizon of the sadhaka's heart, then the Bhakti-devi, the eradicatress of all unwanted material desires detrimental to the Lord's service, eclipses the avidya potency. By suffusing the soul with spiritual knowledge, Bhakti-devi destroys both the gross and subtle coverings of the soul. Simultaneously, the jiva's original spiritual form becomes manifest so that he acquires the form of a gopi, for example, if his pure devotional propensities are steeped in the conjugal mood. Thus it stands proven that Krsna's holy name is the life and the soul of all transcendental knowledge (vidya-vadhu-jivanam. ) Svarupa-sakti is therefore often said to be Krsna's wife.

When the gross and subtle material bodies of the jiva are completely destroyed, the infinitesimal soul regains his original pristine purity. Although the jiva is anu or minutely small, his capacity for spiritual happiness is not minute. To remove any doubt about this fact, Lord Caitanya adds, anandambudhi-vardhana, "It is an ever increasing ocean of bliss. "

The Holy Name of the Lord, through the hladini potency, endlessly expands the natural bliss inherent in the soul; thus his happiness increases by leaps and bounds, fixing the soul eternally in one of the spiritual mellows (of dasya, sakhya, vatsalya or madhurya). When thus established in his eternal spiritual mellow, he continues to relish the limitless nectar at every step of the exchange of loving emotions in his transcendental relationship with the Supreme Lord.

Lord Krsna's enchanting beauty, His divine qualities, and His sublime pastimes are eternal and ever-fresh in ecstasy. Inebriated with divine prema, the pure jiva continuously drinks that ecstatic nectar, yet still the Lord's captivating beauty is forever new.

What Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes above is no dry, rationalist-mechanistic, stereotyped process. One does not chant Hare Krsna like one watches TV. The Thakura tells us that in pure chanting, the mind participates in the transcendental nature of the Lord: His hladini-sakti, His svarupa-sakti, His Yogamaya potency. Of course, as Srila Prabhupada points out, the full-blown symptoms of spiritual ecstasy are later developments, not to be imitated. But the bliss of chanting--if done properly--is immediately experienced within the mind.

And enjoy the transcendental bliss within the mind by chanting and dancing. Unless you become blissful, very happy, you cannot dance. It is not. . . Artificially, you cannot dance. These dances, they are not artificial. They feel some transcendental bliss. Therefore they dance. It is not they are dancing dog. No. They dance from the spiritual platform. Vaditra-madyan manaso rasena. Romanca-kampasrutaranga-bhajo. And there are sometimes transformation of the body with spiritual symptoms. Sometimes crying, sometimes there is, I mean to. . . swelling on the end of the hairs. There are so many symptoms. These are later. These are not to be imitated. [Lecture on 9 September 1973 in Uppsala, Sweden]

<< Back