At the beginning of creation there was SUNYATA– void, empty space. Sunya, however, does not mean "nothing", on the contrary, it is an immeasurable potential of dormant energy, a "space" in which the universe exists as an unmanifested but manifestable possibility. Everything imaginable can come into existence, just like writing a text or painting a picture on a blank piece of paper.
Creation began when the Divine Consciousness manifested itself in the primordial vibration, in the primordial sound OM.
Sound is vibration and energy just like light. Light and sound are the forms that the Divine Self takes upon itself in the universe. OM is a reflection of Absolute Reality, OM is ÁDI ANÁDI – without beginning and without end. In the Vedas it is said:
NADA RUPA PARA BRAHMA – The form of the Supreme is sound.
The OM vibration symbolizes the manifestation of God in form. The silence between the two OM sounds reveals the formless principle of God.
OM embraces "all that is", past, present, future, all spheres of the cosmos, the world and the Truth behind the universe, matter and spirit, path and destination. The all-pervading and all-embracing mantra OM is the divine name, the highest vibration. The punishment of all knowledge lies in this very tone. In the triad of A-U-M, three basic aspects of divine energy, SHAKTI, are united:
BRAHMA-SHAKTI – the creative force that gave birth to the universe.
VISHNU-SHAKTI – the protective force that sustains the universe.
SHIVA-SHAKTI – liberating power, power of transformation and renewal.
When the OM sound divided the unity of the Shunyakasha, two powers arose from it:
PURUSHA – primal consciousness;
PRAKRTI – primordial nature.
Prakrti is a continuous flow of divine energy. Purusha, on the other hand, is the unchanging, omnipresent and omniscient witness of all events and all changes that take place in prakrti. Purusha is the Divine Self. Prakrti developed the power of attraction as one of her aspects to maintain her connection with consciousness.
The desire for cohesion as well as the drive to multiply and spread are "natural" - i.e. intrinsic to nature - prakrti. Why does a seed placed in the ground germinate? Because the drive for growth is embedded in it. To grow, to develop, to unite, to reproduce, to protect, to nourish - in short, to love, is the basic existential feature of prakrti, primeval nature. Love contains the impulse to develop and reproduce, and love is a part of God's being.
From prakrti came three GUNAs or three basic qualities and five elements - TATTAS.
TATTAS:
PRTHIVÍ – earth;
ÁPAS – water;
TEJAS – fire;
VÁJU – air;
ÁKÁSHA – space.
Tattvas, however, are not to be united by themselves. This requires the action of the gunas.
GUNAS:
RAJAS – activity, movement, restlessness, passion;
TAMAS – stiffness, dullness, darkness, ignorance;
SATTVA – harmony, light, purity, knowledge.
The tattvas and gunas are prasikas that function in both the material and astral planes. The material, psychic and spiritual influence of tattvas and gunas acts on all living forms from the beginning to the end of their earthly existence. The multidimensional interaction of these elemental forces shapes the complex functions of even such complex organs in the human body as the nerves and brain, shaping the human psyche and the spiritual dimension of man.
The various variations that arise when the five gross tattvas take part in the formation of the physical body are called 'prakrti', the forces of nature. Prakrtis regulate body systems.
If the tattvas exist in space as separate, unconnected entities, they do not manifest in any way. Only when multiple scattered and uncontrolled forces come together and concentrate at a certain point does something qualitatively new emerge. First, however, it is necessary to create that collection point in such a way that cosmic energy can be connected and assimilated with it. The most highly developed organism endowed with the greatest number of abilities on this earth is man. Just as bees cluster around their queen, so all forces and tattvas cluster around the atma and follow it when it enters the human womb. An immense number of creative forces participate in the creation of a human being. Similar forces are also at work in the creation of plant and animal forms, but with much less intensity.
In the human body cosmic forces meet in certain centers called CHAKRAS. Chakras act as power plants. They draw cosmic energies into themselves, transform them, store them, distribute them and send them back into space.
The tattvas unite in the body to form the seat of the soul, and when the body dies, they again separate and flow into the universe. The soul travels on to be reincarnated in material form under suitable conditions. This cycle is referred to as (LAKH) CHAURÁSÍ KÁ CHAKRA, "the wheel of rebirth".
According to traditional yoga teachings, there are eight million four hundred thousand animal forms on earth. They are divided according to the environment in which they live:
NABHASHCARA – in the air;
TALACARA – on the ground;
JALACARA – in the water.
The criterion for further division is the way in which living beings reproduce:
o JARAYUJA – is born from the womb (humans, mammals);
o ANDAJA – they hatch from eggs (birds, reptiles, fish, etc.);
o SVÉDAJA – reproduces by division (lower animal forms, e.g. bacteria);
o UDBHIDDJA – arise from the seed (plant).
Members of each of these groups have specific abilities and prerequisites. They are called KALÁ in Sanskrit. Plants available they possess one Kala, lower animal forms two, creatures hatching from eggs three, mammals and humans four. While animals have stagnated at the stage where evolution has taken them, humans can develop up to sixteen kalas within themselves through exercise, concentration and adherence to yogic principles. Thus, humans have the chance to multiply the four natural kalas they share with other mammals by an additional twelve "supernatural" abilities.
Therefore, being born in a human body is the greatest happiness that can befall a soul. Countless cosmic forces work with God's blessing. Their cooperation can be compared to a big fire. Qualitatively, the souls of all creatures are equal. However, they differ in quantity or degree or degree of development. So even a flickering candle flame represents a certain amount of fire - however, a bright, intense light is only created by the connection of many flames. It is the same with man. Man lives more intensively and more consciously than an animal, and he differs from an animal mainly in that he was endowed with intellect - BUDDHI.
The wheel of birth and death turns endlessly and the soul passes through a series of existences, moving according to God's plan and according to KARMA. The only way out of this circle is provided by human life. Although man is bound by the laws of nature, reason allows him to search for those "supernatural" forces within himself. Only man is capable of understanding God. Only man is capable of realizing God in himself, freeing himself from the cycle of rebirth and helping others in this.
If a person follows the rules of yoga, he accelerates his development. Yoga helps to know the real dimensions of life, illuminates the meaning of human existence, the role of man, leads man to realize all his human potentialities.
The development of consciousness ends with reaching the "state of God" - SAMÁDHI. This is the state when the knower, the process of knowledge and the object of knowledge are united. From the beginning of existence, the Self longs for self-knowledge: who am I? When, in the state of samadhi, he realizes that he himself is what he seeks and what he wants to know, a supremely blissful experience of oneness spreads within him, and the delusion of duality dissolves.
Two spiritual tattvas help mediate the path to Supreme Consciousness: ANUPADA-TATTVA and ÁDI-TATTVA. Anupada-tattva, also called GURU-TATTVA, realizes the cosmic Divine Principle of the journey "from darkness to light", it leads living beings from unconscious to conscious being. Ádi-tattva is the Divine Self itself, ATMA. That is why it is also called ATMA-TATTVA or ATMA-JNANA.
A yogi who has attained self-knowledge is a BRAHMANISHTHA SROTRIYA or one who has known God, and a TATTVA-DARSHI - one who has seen the tattvas. His knowledge and his experience are limitless. They transcend time, space and intellect. He is a BRAHMA-JNANI - or one who has realized God. His own self dissolves in God and becomes one with Him.
Sri Mahaprabhuji wrote in one bhajan:
The experience of tattva-darshi-gurudeva is infinite
and blessed is the disciple who realizes
for it succeeds in crossing the ocean of ignorance.
I've searched everywhere, I've searched heaven and hell,
I searched in all three worlds
and I found no one anywhere
who could match gurudev.
A yogi is braver than a warrior on the battlefield,
for he resolved to overcome the four fiercest enemies:
anger, attachment, lust and pride.
