Form and Formlessness
We must caution each and all not to think of the external mind as God, which would be a self-deception. Man’s personality or individuality is not God—neither is the ego, the intellect or the emotions. Though the unenlightened sometimes make this mistake, I believe you will readily ferret out the difference. Paraśiva, the Self God, lies resident at the core of man’s existence, far beyond the reach of the external phases of consciousness; yet these exist only because That exists, the timeless, causeless, spaceless God Śiva beyond the mind.
The other perfection inherent in the soul of man is Satchidānanda—Being, Consciousness and Bliss. When mind force, thought force and the vṛittis, or waves of the mind, are quiescent, the outer mind subsides and the mind of the soul shines forth. We share the mind of God Śiva at this superconscious depth of our being. In entering this quiescence, one first encounters a clear white light within the body, but only after sufficient mastery of the mind has been attained through the disciplined and protracted practices of yoga.
Hearing the vīṇā, the mṛidaṅga, the tambūra and all the psychic sounds is the awakening of the inner body, which, if sādhana is pursued, will finally grow and stabilize, opening the mind to the constant state of Satchidānanda, where the holy inner mind of God Śiva and our soul are one. I hold that Satchidānanda—the light and consciousness ever permeating form, God in all things and everywhere—is form, though refined form, to be sure. Satchidānanda is pure form, pure consciousness, pure blessedness or bliss, our soul’s perfection in form. Paraśiva is formless, timeless, causeless, spaceless, as the perfection of our soul beyond form.
Though it is supreme consciousness, Satchidānanda is not the ultimate realization, which lies beyond consciousness or mind. This differs from popular interpretations of present-day Vedānta, which makes these two perfections virtually synonymous. Modern Vedānta scholars occasionally describe Satchidānanda almost as a state of the intellect, as though the perfected intellect, through knowledge, could attain such depths, as though these depths were but a philosophical premise or collection of beliefs and insights. This is what I call “simplistic Vedānta.”
To understand how these two perfections differ, visualize a vast sheath of light which permeates the walls of this monastery and the countryside around us, seeping in and through all particles of matter. The light could well be called formless, penetrating, as it does, all conceivable forms, never static, always changing. Actually, it is amorphous, not formless. Taking this one step farther, suppose there were a “something” so great, so intense in vibration that it could swallow up light as well as the forms it permeates. This cannot be described, but can be called Paraśiva—the greatest of all of God Śiva’s perfections to be realized. This, too, can be experienced by the yogī, in nirvikalpa samādhi. Thus, we understand Paraśiva as the perfection known in nirvikalpa samādhi, and Satchidānanda as the perfection experienced in savikalpa samādhi. By the word formless I do not describe that which can take any form or that which is of no definite shape and size. I mean without form altogether, beyond form, beyond the mind which conceives of form and space, for mind and consciousness, too, are form.