ATMAGNYANAM UTTAMA

MARGAM

The Path to the Highest

Spiritual Realisation

A collection of 108 slides to

reflect upon, meditate and
realise.
 In the beginningless
beginning, there was
nothing; everything
that had existed,
evolved and been
maintained in existence
was reduced into non-
existence, nothingness,
nowhereness.
This No-thingness, No-
whereness is
represented by
Absolute Darkness.
Yet this No-thingness,
this Unmanifest, this
boundless Void, is a
State because It
exists.
It is the Original State
that precedes
existence and
evolution, and the
Final State that
follows dissolution of
the whole field of
existence.
What is That which is the
Life-Soul of this
Unmanifest which keeps
shifting in recurring
cycles between the
Original State and the
Final State of the whole
existence?
What is That Supracausal
Principle that lies hidden
within or beyond this
Causal Void, this
Nothingness &
Nowhereness, the Cosmic
Sleep of Totality?
That which is the Life-Soul of the
Great Void or Unmanifest is called
AUM and Paramâtman in the
Vedas. Aum is the Imperishable,
Immutable, Eternal,
Transcendental, Absolute Life of
the Unmanifest Nothingness
Nowhereness, the Indistinct
State. It is Unknowable,
Unthinkable, Inconceivable,
Indescriptible.
 AUM is knowable as the
Absolute, Underlying,
Maintaining Principle
sustaining the Unmanifest
Source and Destination of all
existence, and of the
diversified field of the
Manifest.
In Its transcendental State,
Aum is beyond Everything,
Anything, Something and
Nothing. It is beyond
Everywhere, Anywhere,
Somewhere and Nowhere. It
is unknown and
unknowable.
 In Its divine State, Aum
shines as Asti (Lifefulness or
Being), Bhâti (Lightfulness),
Priya (Delightfulness), when
Aum reveals Itself through
the boundless formidable veil
of the Absolute Darkness.
At the Time appointed for the
transformation of the
Unmanifest (Sleep) State into
distinct Manifestation, AUM
activates and impregnates
the Lifeless State of
Unmanifest with Its creative
potency (Prakriti).
 The Awakening,
Unravelling and
Motivating Power of AUM
is called Shabda-brahma:
the Cosmic Vibration. This
is echoed in the AUMkaara
chanting by yogis and
seers.
 The awakened,
impregnated Unmanifest
rises from Sleep, from
Inexistence or Darkness. It
then loses its
indistinctness and
activates to generate
distinctness through
 Then triggers off self-
actualisation of all cosmic
potentials, latent in the
impregnated Unmanifest
(Prakriti) via differentiation,
evolution, expansion,
objectification,
individualisation, and
diversification.
The Animating, Underlying,
Maintaining Power of
Transcendental AUM, that
has been reflected within
the Unmanifest-turned-into-
Manifest, is called the
Universal Immanent Being.
 It is called Adhidaivam or
Vishvâtman, the Life-Soul of
the whole field of becoming
and recycling (samsâra). It is
the Life-Soul of the whole
field of the Manifest and of
every manifested object and
entity.
 This Macrocosmic
Immanent principle is
reflected in a very subtle
state within each and every
particle of the universe that
It animates, underpins and
maintains into existence.
 Through cosmic processes in
the Supreme Activated Source
[Prakriti], Aum as the
Immanent Being, gets
reflected within all individual
beings as the Animating,
Underlying and Maintaining
Energy, sustaining them from
deep within.
 The Immanent Being is
called Sarvabhutâtman, the
Life-Soul of all living
beings. It is the Unity
within the field of diversity.
It is revealed only through
levels of consciousness.
 In mental individuals,
endowed with different
states of consciousness,
the Universal Immanent
State is reflected as an
individual centre of being
and is known as Jivâtman.
 The Universal Being
manifesting as the
Microcosmic Super-conscious
Being, at a very subtle
supramental level, Animates,
Upholds, Motivates the
individual structure or Jiva in
an automatic and
unconscious manner.
 Though appearing as
manifold, It is still one and
undivided. Ayam âtmâ
brahma: the centre of the
Superconscient individual
being is simply the reflection
of the Universal Macrocosmic
Being.
 Self-conscious mental
beings or human
personalities endowed with
self-consciousness or a
psychological ego-centre
rarely apprehend the
subtlest level of
superconsciousness.
During their daily rounds of
life, they cognise only the
conscious (waking, sensory
and thinking),
subconscious (imaginary/
dreaming) and unconscious
(sleep, absorption)
dimensions during their
whole lives.
Thus the reflected Universal
Being (Atman) within us is
veiled by a dark causal
unconscious state of sleep
and death. The reflected
Atman is thus said to be a
dormant potential as we are
unconscious of the
supracausal dimension.
 Arising from the state of
unconscious, human beings
finally dissolve, after a
psychic discharging process,
into darkness, being
subjected to the inevitable
process of samsâra.
 Human consciousness operate
mostly at bodily, mental,
imaginative, emotional, egoical,
instinctual, interpersonal,
moral, material, environmental,
waking, dream and sleep levels,
subject to conscious,
subconscious and unconscious
forces.
 It is an automatic, natural
way of functioning, ordained
by natural laws. The Light of
the Universal Being hardly
has space to operate, blocked
by the opaque mind and ego,
ruling over this domain.
 People live mostly as
mental beings within the
confines of their natural
mental consciousness,
which is made up of
objects of mental light,
shades and darkness.
 Normally, individuals live
within the borrowed,
shadowy light of the
Universal Being, which is
like moonlight, and within
their own mental
darkness.
 When they die, the
moonlike mental light
within their mind
dissolves like a raining
cloud and individual
consciousness sinks into
dark causal
unconsciousness.
Physical bodily elements,
such as skin, flesh, blood,
bones, and organs are
recycled into nature.
Biological materials are
transmitted to the next
generations through the
genes.
 Materials from
consciousness haunt other
living person’s
consciousness as images,
words, and memories. This
is why people’s mind after
death is called a ghost or a
spirit.
 The Universal Immanent
Being animating, underlying
and motivating the
Macrocosmic Manifest
(Mâhâmâyâ) triggers three
main forces to guide the
actualisation of the Universal
Plan.
The three forces are Gunas
(Cosmic Qualities: order &
convergence, flux &
divergence, chaos & decay),
Dharma or Ritam (Universal
Laws) and Karma (Cosmic
Activity). These three
principles are also manifest
at individual or microcosmic
level.
 People are endowed with
gunas such as rationality,
clarity & goodness
(sattva), impulsivity, ego
& passion (rajas),
irrationality, negligence &
evilness (tamas).
As their consciousness evolves,
they devise and adhere to
rules and laws of social life
(dharma) of culture, and they
perform activities (karma) for
their own survival, expansion
and development at personal
and social levels.
Their activities (karma) are
tinted by their dominant
gunas and internalised
dharma. Thus dharma
becomes their moral
conscience at the
mental/intellectual level and
judges their actions.
 All actions performed in
accordance with dharma
yield a sense of joy, moral
satisfaction and inner peace.
Actions violating dharma
cause moral suffering,
tension and restlessness.
All moral actions done result
in heavenly joys and dreams
while immoral actions yield
hellish sufferings and
nightmares at the mental
egoic level for any rational
individual.
 Death, the final psychic
release a movement towards
eternal sleep in
unconsciousness, produces
similar heavenly or hellish
experiences to dying persons,
morally reviewing their
lifetime actions and reactions.
 Dhriti, kshama, damo,
asteyam, Shaucham, indriya
nigraha, Dhîr, vidyâ, satyam,
akrodho, Dashakam Dharma
lakshanam. (Manu Smriti)
The ten signs of internalised
Dharma are:
 … perseverance, forgiveness,
mind-control, non-stealing,
purity, control over the senses,
alertness (intelligence), mastery
of knowledge, truthfulness
(honesty), and non-violence.
These have universal
applicability.
 Yoga is a form of moral
spiritual approach seeking to
connect individual
consciousness, via the
supracausal, to the Universal
Immanent Being and
eventually to the Absolute
Transcendental Being .
 Yoga has three main bases:
Devotional (Bhakti Yoga, path
of devotion), Actional (Karma
Yoga, path of good actions),
and Intuitional (Jnâna Yoga,
mastering spiritual knowledge
and attaining spiritual
realisation).
 Yoga, which means
connecting the lower to the
higher, is a good
combination of dharma,
guna and karma, aiming at
spiritual Attunement,
Upliftment and Mergence.
 Patanjali Yoga’s eight limbs
are: 1.Yama (universal
morality: nonviolence,
truthfulness, non-stealing,
chastity in spiritual quest,
forgoing personal advantages
and selfish interests), …
 … 2.Niyama (personal
observances: purity,
contentment, penance, self-
inquiry, surrender to the
Universal Will),
3.Asana (still posture),
4.Prânâyâma (rhythmic
breathing),
5.Pratyâhâra (sensory
withdrawal),
 … 6.Dhâranâ (focused
attention), 7.Dhyâna (silent,
supra-causal, joyful
awareness in the present),
8.Samâdhi (being well
established in Super-
consciousness, feeling
oneness with Universal
Being).
Samâdhi is the goal of Yoga:
Mergence with the Supreme
Consciousness through the
inner Superconscious
centre, where the Immanent
Being is reflected in each
person.
 This is also the supreme
goal of holy human
existence, and it extends
far beyond the realms of
ordinary, natural mental
consciousness and the laws
of death.
The four factors keeping us on
the path of Yoga are: satsanga
(spiritual company), sankalpa
(will power), swâdhyâya (self-
inquiry) and samarpana
(wholehearted surrender unto
the Supreme Being).
 Yoga has three main
stages:
 Striving stage- great
effort in understanding, in
maintaining stillness and
silence and in elevating
consciousness to the
supracausal level;
  Unfolding stage-
attaining moments of self-
realisation and intuitional
knowledge through
recurrent spiritual contacts
with the superconscious
level;
  Attainment stage-
establishment in the
superconscious dimension
and enjoying divine
communion with the
Universal Being, and a
vision of the Absolute
Transcendental Being.
For one reaching the first
stage of Yoga, death
(fading into dark,
unconscious eternal sleep
after final dreaming and
discharging of psychic
burdens) is no longer the
final goal.
 Conscious yearning to unite
with the Supreme Being
creates a new spiritual light
in consciousness at the
Superconscious level, where
the eternal Universal Being is
reflected.
 This spiritual connection
empowers the ‘awakened’
person to ‘defeat’ death and
to reincarnate eventually to
progress toward the final goal
of Yoga for the benefit of
other aspirants as well.
 Samarpana, related to
Bhakti Yoga, is loving
surrender to the Supreme
Being, which can be
idealised, for the sake of
devotion, into some form,
name or concept.
The devotee, with an emotional
need to express devotion to
the Supreme Being, may
attribute any form to the
latter, with full knowledge that
his/her devotion is towards
That through this form, name
or concept.
 Each culture having its
specific preferences. There is
no such thing as superior
name, form, concept for
devotion. All are equally
valuable when approached
with faith, love and
adherence to Dharma.
Swâdhyâya, related to Jnâna
Yoga, is self-inquiry,
attention to one’s inner
movements of
consciousness, to the
strivings of the gunas, to the
dictates of dharma, to the
effects of karma on self and
on others.
 Swâdhyâya is also the study
of spiritual knowledge.
It keeps consciousness at a
high frequency and facilitates
the blossoming of the
meditative mind when coupled
with samarpana and satsang.
 Swâdhyâya gives direction
to the spiritual quest,
keeps mind clear, and helps
the recognition and
appreciation of spiritual
experiences generated by
the superconscious state.
 Satsang and sankalpa,
related to Karma Yoga,
mean constant effort in
keeping company of
spiritual people and
resolve not to stop yoga
practice till the final goal is
attained.
 Both Satsang & Sankalpa
maintain the flame of
spiritual yearning ablaze
and reflect the seeker’s
degree of surrender to the
Supreme, reflected within,
and everywhere in, the
manifest field.
Satsang and sankalpa reflect
the seeker’s level of self-
inquiry and awareness in the
different situations of life.
Samarpana, svâdhyaya,
satsang and sankalpa are of
mostly equal importance for
spiritual progress and
elevation.
 Gayatri mantra is an
essential spiritual tool to
be used by spiritual
aspirants in order to gain
an illuminating
understanding of
spirituality and spiritual
realisation.
It depicts AUM, the Supreme
Being as manifesting at
physical (bhuh),
mental(bhuvah) and causal
(swah) levels. It suggests
loving adoration (varenyam)
of the Supreme Being as
Source of all existence
(savitur) which lies beyond
the causal (tat).
It urges meditation (dhimahi)
on the Supreme Being in the
form of uncreated divine
(devasya) effulgence
(bhargo), assuring that such
a yoga yields to us spiritual
enlightenment (prachodayât).
Mahamrityunjaya mantra:
Trayambakam yajâmahe
sugandhim pushti
vardhanam
Urvârukam iva bandhanân
mrityor mukshiya
mâmritât
(Vedas)
 *Let us meditate on the
Source of the three states
(waking, dreaming,
sleeping) deep within us;
such deep meditation will
provide us with sweet
fragrant spiritual
nourishment and vitality.
 * Just like a ripe fruit
naturally detaches from
its dried branches, such a
deep meditation will
naturally elevate us
beyond death to the
immortal state.
Aum namah shambhavâya
cha, mayo bhavâya cha
Namah shankarâya cha
mayaskarâya cha
Namah shivâya cha
shivatarâya cha (Vedas)
 *The Supreme Being is
experienced as the very
nature of peacefulness
(sham) and as the very
nature of joyfulness
(maya).
 *It is equally experienced as
the endower of peacefulness
and the endower of
joyfulness.
It is also experienced as pure
consciousness and the pure
consciousness that liberates
us from bondage and
mortality.
 Shântâkâram bhujaga shayanam
padmanâbham suresham
Vishvâdhâram gaganasadrisham
meghavarnam shubhângam
Lakshmikântam kamalanayanam
yogibhir dhyânagamyam
Vande vishnum bhavabhayaharam
sarvalokaika nâtham
*The Supreme Being is verily
peacefulness, resting above
earth and universe; It is the
originator of the cosmic
potential, and Supreme
effulgence. Basis of all
existence, It is expansive as
the sky, and of dark-blue
effulgent auspicious
appearance.
 *Owner of all magnificence,
with compassionate stance,
attainable through meditation
by yogis. Salutations to the All
pervading Being, dispeller of
sufferings & fears, Sole ruler of
all planes and dimensions of
existence.
Chap 24 An-Nur. v.35. Translation by Pickthal

Allah is the Light of the

heavens and the earth.
The similitude of Allah’s light
is as a niche wherein is a lamp.
The lamp is in a glass. The
glass is, as it were, a shining
star.
 (This lamp is) kindled from a
blessed tree, an olive neither of
the East nor of the West, whose
oil would almost glow forth (of
itself) though no fire touched it.
Light upon light. Allah guideth
unto His light whom He will. And
Allah speaketh to mankind in
allegories, for Allah is Knower of
all things.
 The regular practice of
meditation and
contemplation establishes
gradually a link between the
conscious mind and the
superconscious state, by
learning to go through the
causal state.
 Piercing the thick veil of
unconscious layer of
consciousness, facing causal
darkness, pure awareness
reaches the supracausal
sheath, wherein the Universal
Reflected Life and Light are
confined.
 Meditation is just like a
mirror of pure
consciousness; when the
mirror is clear, it reveals
the supracausal sheath and
the reflected Universal
Light and Being therein.
 Endowed with pure
consciousness via
meditation, the atmic or
supracausal sheath opens up
more and more towards the
Source of Universal Life and
Light. This is the journey to
Eternity.
 When the supercausal
sheath or Christ centre is
activated by awareness, it
shines forth as a centre of
pure consciousness and
universal life, energy and
light.
 It says to the spiritually
awakened conscious mind:
“I am the Life, the Way and
the Truth. No one can attain
the Universal Light and
Being without my support.”
The superconscious centre
from above the causal
darkness constantly
whispers to the conscious
and alert mind to move up
towards the inner Kingdom
of Eternal Life.
 Through meditation,
awareness, silence and
compassionate living, it
triggers new feelings of
love, forgiveness, charity,
virtue in the heart and
washes away sins and
pettiness.
Hindu literature indicate six
foes or enemies (ShadRipu),
gross forms of energy, that
prevent us from rising our
level of consciousness to
the supracausal dimension.
They are: Kâma (lust, desire for
pleasures), Krodha (anger,
frustration, aggressiveness),
Lobha (greed, covetousness),
Moha (delusion, false beliefs
and stances), Mada (pride,
egotism, vanity), and Mâtsarya
(jealousy, envy).
 Gita (16:21): The three
gateways to hellish
darkness that destroy
spiritual light are lust,
aggression and greed.
Therefore these three foes
should be shunned for
spiritual progress.
Gita 16:16: In this world, there
are two beings (purusha) -
perishable and imperishable.
The perishable consists of all
changing objects and entities,
while the immutable state
(reflected atman, in all entities
at individual level), is called
the imperishable.
 Gita 16:17: Different from
these two is the Ultimate
State (purushot-tama) called
the Supreme Being (param-
âtma). As the Universal Being
(ishvara), It has entered the
three worlds (physical,
mental, causal) to sustain
them.
 Gita 13:21: The purusha
residing in prakriti (material
plane and activity) experiences
the gunas (states of matter &
consciousness), born of
prakriti. The cause of its
appearance in various forms
depends on its association with
gunas at inert, sentient,
conscious levels.
Gita 13:29: One who sees that
actions are performed only by
prakriti (the forces of nature),
and likewise realises the all-
knowing purusha as the non-
doer; that person is
enlightened.
Gita 13:30: When one sees the
diversity of beings as abiding
in the one Supreme Cosmic
Source of existence, and their
emanation from that very
Source, then one attains
supreme enlightenment.
 Gita 13:31: The Supreme
Being, being without origin
and devoid of attributes, is
immutable, without any
modifications. Though
electing abode in the body, It
neither acts nor is It bound to
anything.
 Gita 13.33: Just as one sun
illumines the world of living
and inert objects (here on
earth), even so, does one
Being illumine all living
bodies, O Arjuna.
 Gita 8:3: The highest
imperishable principle is the
Supreme (brahman). Its
existence as an embodied
individual being is called
reflected being (adhyâtma).
The process by which objects
and entities are manifested
into existence is called
activity and bondage (karma).
 Gita 8:4: All perishable entities
are called material structures
(adhibhuta); the Indwelling Life-
Soul of the whole manifestation
is called the Cosmic Being
(adhidaivam); and I am the
Superconscious Being
(adhiyagnya) dwelling in the
body, o best of embodied
beings.
 Gita 8:9-10: The person,
endowed with faith and
devotion, who meditates at the
time of death with a steady
mind, having by the power of
yoga properly fixed the life-
breath between the eyebrows,
on the Supreme Being as the
enlightened One, …
 … without beginning, the
ruler, smaller than the
smallest particle, the
sustainer of all existence, of
inconceivable nature,
resplendent like the sun, and
beyond darkness of ignorance-
that person attains the self-
effulgent divine Being.
 Gita 12:6-7: However
individuals who, having
renounced all actions and
their consequences in Me, and
being spiritually connected to
Me, worship me with
unswerving faith and
devotion via meditation-…
 … these people, who have
anchored their
consciousness into Me, I do
quickly redeem from this
fearful ocean of recycling
processes, characterised by
suffering and ignorance, and
beset with death.
 Gita 7:18-19: All virtuous
devotees (distressed,
knowledge seeker, wealth
seeker, realised person) are
noble, but I consider realised
persons (gnyâni) as My very
Self; for with their focused
minds they have taken refuge
in Me alone as the highest
goal…
 … At the end of innumerable
births (of spiritual quest), the
realised person (gnyânavân)
takes refuge in Me, knowing
that all this is pervaded by
the Supreme Being
(vâsudevam). Such an evolved
soul is very
AUM rare in the world.
TAT SAT