The Bhagavad-Gita on the Development of Enlightenment

The Bhagavad-Gita describes each of the three stable states of enlightenment identified by Maharishi Vedic Psychology: cosmic consciousness, God consciousness or refined cosmic consciousness, and unity consciousness (Alexander & Boyer, 1989). This discussion focuses primarily on the first of these, the state of cosmic consciousness, and briefly refers to the state of unity consciousness.

Cosmic Consciousness

Maharishi explains that the Bhagavad-Gita describes cosmic consciousness, the first state of enlightenment, as the state of life that results from repeated experience of pure consciousness, through which the Self becomes realized as the permanent basis of all other experience. The Self, pure consciousness, is maintained along with dynamic activity in the waking state, as well as with the dreaming and sleep states. The inner bliss and fulfillment associated with the permanent experience of the Self, unbounded awareness, spontaneously results in lack of bondage to any circumstances or external sources of reinforcement. The consequence of this development, according to the Bhagavad-Gita, is evenness and more effective action based on more accurate comprehension of the environment. This is the state identified by Maharishi Vedic Psychology as cosmic consciousness.

Lord Krishna describes the permanence of the Self characteristic of the first state of enlightenment as follows:

 

For him who has conquered his self, who is deep in peace, the transcendent Self is steadfast in heat and cold, in pleasure and pain, in honor and disgrace.

(VI. 7)

Elsewhere, Lord Krishna characterizes this state of enlightenment as a state of great self-sufficiency arising from this stable inner peace:

 

Neither has he any profit to gain in this life from the actions he has done or from the actions he has not done; nor is there any living creature on whom he need rely for any purpose.

(III. 18) The quality of contentment is also ascribed to this state:

MODERN SCIENCE AND VEDIC SCIENCE

He whose every undertaking is free from desire and the incentive thereof, whose action is burnt up in the fire of knowledge, him the knowers of Reality call wise.

(IV. 19)

 

Having cast off attachment to the fruits of action, ever contented, depending on nothing, even though fully engaged in action he does not act at all.

(IV. 20)

A superficial reading of these verses might suggest that the enlightened person is not engaged or successful in activity. However, Maharishi (1967) states very strongly that this is a misunderstanding. In contrast, Maharishi outlines the mechanics of experience in cosmic consciousness, in which thought and action are truly powerful and effective because they are in accordance with all the laws of nature:

The Lord mentions the special qualities of the action of an enlightened man. The action must certainly have impetus and an effective start, but the " wise" man is not motivated by personal attachment in beginning the action any more than during its process or at its completion. Nor does he depend on its fruits. Thus through the whole range of action he is involution Veda yet not involution Veda.

... Commonly a man begins an action only when he has become aware of the desire for it. The level at which a desire is appreciated differs according to the level of the conscious mind of the individual. Men of purer mind appreciate thought and desire at a much subtler level during the process of thinking. It should be understood that a thought starts from the deepest level of consciousness and develops into a desire when it reaches the conscious level of the mind. A man for whom the level of transcendental consciousness has become the level of the conscious mind appreciates the thought at its very start before it actually develops into a desire. His thought becomes transformed into action without expressing itself as a desire. This explains how, when a man succeeds in harmonizing his mind with transcendental consciousness, his " every undertaking is free from desire."...

A man for whom the level of transcendental consciousness has become the level of the conscious mind has gained cosmic consciousness, and in this state he experiences Being [pure consciousness] as separate from action. This experience creates a natural condition in which there is action on the surface and a state of inaction within. Desire is the link between the doer and the action. But when a natural state of separation is established between the doer and action, there exists no link between them. In such a situation between a doer and his action, desire has no place. This is how it is possible for " every" undertaking to be free from desire....

In the state of cosmic consciousness, where one finds eternal contentment within oneself, the Self is self-sufficient — It can have no want. In this state, therefore, every undertaking is free from the incentive of desire.

THE BHAGAVAD-GITA: A CASE STUDY

The question may then be asked: What is responsible for initiating action in such a man?

The answer is the almighty power of Nature, which is the cause of the vast and incessant activity of creation and evolution throughout the cosmos.

Being forms the basis of nature. When the mind comes into full unison with Being, it gains the very status of Being and thus itself becomes the basis of all activity in nature. Natural laws begin to support the impulses of such a mind: it becomes as if one with all the laws of nature. The desire of such a mind is then the need of nature, or, to put it in another way, the needs of nature are the motive of such activity. The Self has nothing to do with " desire and the incentive thereof." This is how it becomes possible for " every undertaking" to be naturally " free from desire and the incentive thereof." (pp. 281-286)

As Maharishi comments, Lord Krishna emphasizes that each state of consciousness has its own integrity, and that cosmic consciousness, in which the Self is permanently maintained with dynamic activity, is a higher state of consciousness, described as a state of wisdom.

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