आकाशस्तल्लिङ्गात् ākāśastalliṅgāt
The word ākāśa
refers to infinite space.
And here it refers also to Brahman, but also to elemental space.
So I'll just read a little bit from
the original text
as translated by classical commentators.
What is the goal of this world?
For all these beings take their rise from ākāśa only
and dissolve in it.
They rise in ākāśa, they appear in ākāśa
and they dissolve in
ākāśa
is even greater than this. It is their ultimate goal.
It is the supreme incomprehensible, infinite formless.
That is the source of all beings.
He who knowing this as such meditates
on
the supreme formless.
OK. So
the commentary goes on. But basically there are two types of ākāśa.
One is the elemental ākāśa. So put your
attention right here in front of you space
and you're connected to
all space, intergalactic space
and just remind yourself that is as you
gaze here with soft eyes,
you are surrounded by infinity in all directions. In fact, you're a
your recycling of infinity is this verb
this activity.
But so is everything else that you see.
So is everything else that you see
that is elemental
ākāśa, which differentiates into ...
which becomes the biosphere
into ...
which is
the energy that we associate with light
into
which is water
and ultimately into...
which is earth. And all these can be accessed
through sound, touch, side, taste and smell. Smell being the most primordial
because smell has all the elements
at the risk of sounding
gosh,
you know, I was walking in New York City the other day and I smelled cigarette smoke.
And then I realized somebody,
you know, almost half a block away was smoking cigarettes
and I was inhaling matter that was coming from that person's
not only lungs but from all his body. In other words,
every time you smell something,
you are inhaling matter
and that body is becoming your body.
Every time you drink something, you're actually
don't maybe realize you are part of the recycling of the circulation
in all sentient beings.
And every time you touch something
or touch someone,
you also exchange
microbes.
In other words,
be a part of the inter
Being-ness of
the matrix of all creation.
And just meditation on
ākāśa
can lead you
to stillness
because
in the
ākāśa,
there is no time.
ākāśa is
the eternal law.
And even as one moment unfolds into the next, it remains the present moment.
And that is the still point around which the
universe arises and subsides only to be reborn again,
fresh as a newborn baby.
And for this, in every moment, you have to step into the unknown.
And
in order to step into the unknown,
you have to
dissociate, identifying with perceptual activities that we call
objects
and
trace them back to their origin
in the infinite
ākāśa
or or chitākāśa
is the womb of creation.
I'm traveling today and I forgot to bring my computer.
but
I had my phone so I thought I'd do a short version
of the next installment or next,
next item on our,
on our Brahma Sutras, the
Brahma Sutras.
Ok.