KAWALYA PAAD SUTRA -23

                       DRASTRI  DRUSHYA  UPARAKTAM  CHITTAM  SARWARTHAM

                               CHITTA  BECOMES  ONE  WITH  SEER  AND  SEEN

     This Sutra is trying to remove the paradox or the problem that one may have with the explanation that was given to us in past .We are told that the PURUSHA or the SPIRIT is the ultimate SEER  and not the Chitta . So How can WE KNOW the PURUSHA or SPIRIT with the help from Chitta . The Chitta is unable to see  and it is the Purusha , which is the ultimate seer . This the dilemma that one faces when we say that the ultimate seer is not the Chitta or the MIND STUFF. If Chitta can not see the objects then how can it see the PURUSHA  OR SPIRIT?
     So in this Sutra  we are given the explanation. In past there was an example of the SUN 's image being reflected in the mirror  and that can light up the room and then we can see the objects in the room . The mirror is not the ultimate source of the light but it is the medium for the reflection of the SUN. So without the SUN we can not see , but without the mirror we can not see the objects either . So we used the mirror to get the SUN lighten up the room .One can us the example of the Moon in the same way . The moon does not have the light of it's own and all that it does is to reflect the light from the Sun  and then we see at night . So without Sun  we can not see , but without the Moon reflecting the Sun's light at night , we will not be able to see . So both are needed . Now if we change the direction of the mirror  and we point it to the SUN itself. Now we will have the SUN'S rays will be reflected back to the SUN. In symbolism CHITTA (the mirror) is trying to KNOW the PURUSHA (in this case the SUN),
     The Chitta is borne out of Satwic Goona  and it is used to KNOW the Purusha . So even though Purusha is the ultimate knower and the Chitta has to be used to know the Purusha . So we have action of SEEING and the object that we SEE  and the SEER all in one . But the CHITTA has to be used to see the seer and seen .(It may feel like play of words, but it is not.As with refection of Sun's rays in the room , the objects in the room get  get lighted even though the mirror (symbolizing  Chitta ) does not have the light of it's own,similarly the Chitta which does  not have ability on it's own to SEE, , the reflection of the PURUSHA the Chitta can SEE Purusha.) 

KAIWALYA PAAD SUTRA - 22

CHITEH  APRATISANKRAMAYAH  TAT  AKARA  APATTAU  SWABUDDHI  SAMVEDANAM

       THOUGH  THE  PURUSHA (SELF PERVADING CONSCIOUSNESS)  IS WITHOUT     

        ACTION  AND DOES NOT   CHANGE, BECAUSE  IT IS  ASSOCIATED  WITH

                OR  IDENTIFIED  WITH  CHITTA  IT CAN  KNOW  THE  CHITTA 

     This is interesting Sutra. We know that the PURUSHA  and nature are different . The PURUSHA or the SPIRIT , does not have  any Gunas. So it has no desires  and it can not do any action. The NATURE or the PRAKRUTI, has the Gunas.. The mind , ego and intellect and the so called CHITTA is not part of PURUSHA , but they are part of NATURE or PRAKRUTI. If the PURUSHA  has no mind or intellect, then how can it KNOW about what CHITTA perceives.When we see an object , we have mind and intellect to identify it as an particular object . Then with our past experience , we realize the qualities of the objects. For example we see a dog.Even though it may not be our dog, we recognize the dog and from our past experience of the dog (that we were exposed to ) we conclude that it is going bark or bite or wag the tail etc . Here the mind and intellect are involved. The PURUSHA ,appears to be involved in this process. When we refer to 'I' as the the one that reacts . that 'I' must be associated with the Chitta - Intellect - Mind -  and so that 'I; must perceive the MIND and the INTELLECT .But to perceive - to be affected by the object or by MIND or Intellect one must have GUNAS or Qualities and the PURUSHA does not have them as it is not part of NATURE or PRAKRUTI.. So the answer is in this Sutra. The example that is given to explain this contradiction is that of a mirror or Moon . If we have a mirror and the SUN from the sky is reflected in it , the room will be lightened by the REFLECTED Sun . But the SUN in the sky is not directly involved . If the SUN is not there, there is no reflection and there is no light in the room or objects in the room are not seen.The same can be said about the Moon in the sky and the SUN . The moon gets it's light from SUN . But we do not see the SUN  and if there is no SUN there is no light from Moon . So in both cases although the SUN in sky is responsible for the effect through mirror or Moon , it is not part of the mirror or the Moon . So it does not have  any Gunas or Qualities .
      To understand an object , we need three things , namely an object , Chitta  and the PURUSHA. But in this case we talking about KNOWING the KNOW ER. So the CHITTA - intellect is part of it so is Mind - has to understand the PURUSHA or the SELF . As long as our mind is thrown outside we can not do this . So it must be NIRUDHHA as described in starting of Patanjali Sutra Yoga.The only the Reflection of the SELF or Purusha in Chitta will be UNDERSTOOD by Chitta , So going back to the example of the mirror, when we reflect the Sun from sky in the room , we see the objects in the room . This is the status of our Usual activity . The objects in the  room are the objects , the mirror is the CHITTA  and the Sun is the SELF. or Purusha . So our Mind is external or thrown out or KSHIPTA . But if we would reflect the image of the SUN from the mirror to the SUN in the sky , there is no object that we are trying to identify other the SUN in the sky . So the CHITTA or the mirror is reflecting back to the SELF trying to Understand it  and perceiving it . This is the level of SAMADHI that one has to attain, then we will KNOW the SELF OR THE PURUSHA .

KAIWALYA PAAD SUTRA - 21

                                   CHAITANYA   DRUSHYE  BUDDHIHIH BUDDIHEH

                                       ATIPRASANGAH  SMRUTI  SANKARASHCHA

             IF ONE CHITTA IS PERCEIVED BY ANOTHER CHITTA  THEN THERE WILL BE 

           INNUMERABLE CHITTA  AND THEN THERE WILL BE INNUMERABLE BUDDHIS     
                 AND THAT WILL ADD THE CONFUSION DUE TO DIFFERENT MEMORIES

      This Sutra is continuation of the same thought process or the argument that was seen in the last Sutra. In Sutra 20 , we were told that the Chitta can not see itself . There has to be a SEAR and there is OBJECT that is SEEN . So in Sutra 20 we were told that the PURUSHA or the SPIRIT IS the SEAR. One could argue that when we see an object  and we get the knowledge of it , that is by one CHITTA  and when we have emotions like anger , pleasure , happiness or sad feeling , that is perceived by another CHITTA . One could also state that one Chitta is perceived by another Chitta . But then we will have a third Chitta to perceive second Chitta  and then a 4th one to see 3rd and so on and so forth . This will create endless or infinite number of Chitta . There is also another problem with this thought process . When the Chitta gets the KNOWLEDGE, that part of Chitta is called BUDDHI or intellect. So if there are more than one CHITTA , there will be more than one BUDDHI  and then we will have more than one memory and that will conflict with the function as different intellects having different memories will conflict with each other.

      When we have  an 'experience' , that creates a memories  and then the part of the Chitta, that has the knowledge called intellect makes  decision in future based on THIS memory . Let us say I have touched a hot stove  and  had burned my hand , next time that memory tells my Buddhi or intellect not to touch any object that looks like hot stove. But if I have different Buddhis for object and the feeling for getting burned  and having pain , then there will not be coordination and there will be confusion in making decision to avoid the touching of the hot stove. Since this does not happen, there is only ONE CHITTA and only ONE BUDDHI (which is part of the CHITTA ),and since the CHITTA can not see or perceive itself there must be something else that PERCEIVES .This is the PURUSHA or the SPIRIT  and it is self illuminating. If the Sun is not there , the Moon will not be seen as it gets light from the Sun. Similarly the SPIRIT or the PURUSHA is the self illuminated  and the Chitta is not self illuminated.   

KAIWALYA PAAD SUTRA- 20

                                    EKA  SAMAYE  CHA  UBHAYA  ANAVADHARANAM

                                        AT  ONE  TIME  BOTH  VAN  NOT  BE  KNOWN
       
                                                    (CHITTA  AND  OBJECT- BOTH)

          This Sutra is telling us that there is a difference in CHITTA  and the PURUSHA or the Spirit . When we see something , we know what it is . So if I see a dog I know it is a dog , but at the same time "I" know that "I KNOW " that it is a dog . So I know that the object is DOG  and I also know that I have the knowledge of DOG - it.s look , it;s behavior , it;s barking etc . So there are 2 different things . In this Sutra they are saying that CHITTA can not know both things at the same time . i.e.knowledge of the object and the knowledge that I have the knowledge. So the CHITTA knows that the object is dog and the CHITTA;S feelings and the knowledge is actually known to PURUSHA or Spirit. So when I say I am happy or I am sad it is CHITTA which is feeling it , but the Purusha is aware of this.This is due the fact that CHITTA can not FEEL what it is FEELING .
     So this Sutra is to differentiate between CHITTA which comes or is part of PRAKRUTI or Nature  and the SPIRIT or the PURUSHA is different from it.

KAIWALYA PAAD SUTRA - 19

                                          NA TAT  SWABHASAM  DRUSHYATWAT

                                      IT (CHITTA)  IS  NOT  SEER  AS IT  IS  SEEN

         This Sutra is continuation of the previous theme. So far we are told about the Chitta as being different that the object and the object continues to be there even if the Chitta does not see it or perceive it . So one may think that the Chitta is the seer and the object is the seen. But in the hierarchy of the human body, and I am not referring the body as limited to physical body only , but also to include the mind , intellect and the ego. But with this information and our day to day behavior , one may think that the Chitta is the supreme being and the seer. So in this Sutra we are told that the Chitta itself is 'SEEN'  and so it can be the REAL SEER. We often say 'I am happy' or 'I have pain' and 'I know'. Here we are referring to the physical body and mind  and intellect- all of them being part of nature  and the the PURUSHA OR SELF. So in this Sutra we are told specifically that the one that is SEEN can not be the SEER.
     So when I see a pot or a bird I am SEER and the pot is SEEN . But here the 'I' that is seeing is not the MIND OR INTELLECT OR THE EGO . The real seer is the SELF or the PURUSHA .The SELF or the PURUSHA is separate from the NATURE or the PRAKRUTI. The physical body and the mind  and the intellect and the ego and the Chitta are all part of Nature  and have Qualities or GUNAS.Contrary to that the SPIRIT or SELF or PURUSHA is different than Nature or PRAKRUTI.The SELF is SEER  and the NATURE and all that originates from Nature is SEEN . So even though in day to day life we tend to refer our MIND or CHITTA as the seer , it is not  as the CHITTA itself can be SEEN and whatever is SEEN can not be ultimate SEER. 

HONESTY IS IT THE BEST POLICY ?

   There is saying that the Honesty Is the Best Policy , but is  it really true?In life we have incidences where the honest answer may be crude or cruel or not pleasing . In Ganapati ATHARWASHIRSH, it is state the 'I will say Pleasing and Truth'. In personal relationships between the husband and wife and children and friend, this is true.But even in many other aspects of our life we don't have ti lie but we can still say truth without hurting the other person or the relationship.Sometimes we can not tell our boss what we 'feel ' about him or his decisions. We still can say the fact or the truth. In medicine this holds very well. I have come across this on number of occasions. This more often happens when we have a patient who has cancer . This brings me to the today's story.
      I had seen this 75 years old lady who was smoker and had some lung issues . Over course of my follow up she developed a mass in the lung . In all probability it was cancer and so we did do the work up and then i sent her to surgeon  and it was taken out. She did well- had some problem post op. But overall did OK. She needed oxygen after surgery , that was arranged at home . She was doing better and then may be 18 months or so after the surgery , when we did the follow up CT scan she had a mass . We had her see radiation  and oncologist . She had needle biopsy and then the recurrence of the cancer was diagnosed. She had localized mass and so she received radiation. She then saw oncologist , who decided to start her on some chemo . In spite of the chemo she developed new nodules and so the chemo was changed . Now she had multiple nodules in both lungs  and radiation was not option and so she had continued the chemo. She has been old  and has some dementia . She has COPD  and does need some oxygen .She was admitted to hospital with multiple issues , including anemia related to chemotherapy and also had low salt and worsening kidney function and also had swelling of the legs . Further work up showed that she had clot in the legs  and  for some unknown reason (at least to me ) someone ordered a CT SCAN of the belly and that showed a mass in colon.
She was in no shape to do any invasive procedures for diagnosing colon cancer , but more than that , diagnosing colon cancer would alter any treatments . Due to fear of bleeding from colon mass if she was started on blood thinner and with her low blood counts , we decided to do insert a filer in one of the blood vessel so that clot from legs would not travel to lung- embolism..
   When the radiologist went to insert the filter he realized that the entire blood vessel was filled with clot. So he could not do the procedure. But more of  a problem was that the clot occurred in the blood vessel as it was compressed by external tumor. So the narrowed blood vessel developed the clot and that was blocking the drainage  and so she had swelling of the legs . So then we had a catheter inserted in that blood vessel and clot busters were started . Now she will have to be on blood thinners too.
      So we have 80 years old patient  who has spread of a lung cancer , who also has anemia  and kidney failure and oxygen need for COPD , and has possible colon cancer and the a tumour that is pressing on one of the major veins that has clot. You get the picture. No matter how successful we are in treating the clot , her long and may be even short term prognosis is not very good . I did try to talk to her family as she has some dementia about this . But the cancer doctors and their nurse practitioners have not said a word about bad prognosis and so we are doing the bandage approach without being able to treat the underlying cause of the problem . The need to be honest but not blunt  and compassionate but still telling truth.

KAIWALYA PAAD SUTRA -18

                                 SADA  DNYATAH  CHITTA  VRUTTAYAH  TAT

                                 PRABHOH  PURUSHASYA  APARINAMITAWAT

       THE  PRABHU  (SELF)  WHO  IS  IN  CHARGE  OF  THE  CHITTA,  KNOWS

ALL  THE TENDENCIES  OF  THE  CHITTA  AS  THE  SELF  DOES  NOT  CHANGE

      In the last SUTRA we were told that the CHITTA is aware of the objects sometimes  and not aware of the objects some other time . In this Sutra , we are told the difference between the Chitta  and the SELF or the Spirit. In regular science we have no SELF recognized. We know mind  and brain and intellect , but beyond there is no ATMA -SOUL-SELF. The science states that the Mind Thinks  and the information provided to the Brain  and the past experiences lead to a decision by the brain . Beyond the brain there is nothing . So when we die , there is no preservation of the impressions that have occurred in this life , nor there is any likes and dislikes continued beyond THIS life . In this Sutra we are told that the SELF is ALWAYS there  and is UNCHANGING.It is AWARE of the objects even when the CHITTA or mind stuff is not aware of it. We were told that object continues to be there even when the mind or the Chitta is not aware of it. But the Self is not AFFECTED by status of the CHITTA. So the SELF is above  and beyond the mind and intellect and brain and is UNCHANGING and is aware of ALL the things. We have a tendency to mix up the 'I' with SELF . Usually when we refer to 'I' , we are talking about the present physical body and the mind  and the intellect . When I say 'I have headache'.I am referring to my physical body-pain. When I say 'I feel sad or happy ', I am referring to status of my MIND. When I say 'I am intelligent', I am making a statement about the intellect or Brain. We have no concept that the SELF or the SPIRIT is separate from all these things which are related  and are products of NATURE OR PRAKRUTI. The SELF or SPIRIT is separate from nature or Prakruti  and is UNCHANGING or UNAFFECTED by the changes in the Nature OR PRAKRUTI .
    So in this Sutra this separation is stated again .