Moksham

ATTAINMENT OF MOKSHAM IS THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A SELF SUSTAINING ENTITY WITH NO DEPENDANCE ON ANYTHING OR ANYONE.

THERE IS NO BIRTH AND DEATH. NO PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS.

WE PERCEIVE THE WORLD ONLY BECAUSE OUR SENSES HAVE THE ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN BETWEEN COLOR, TOUCH, SOUND, TASTE AND SMELL THAT EMANATES FROM THE DIFFERENT OBJECTS THAT WE PERCEIVE. SO IF THERE IS NO DIFFERENTIATION BASED ON THESE PROPERTIES, WE WILL NOT PERCEIVE OBJECTS. 

THESE CHANGES AND DIFFERENTIATION ARE IMPERMENANT BECAUSE THE OBJECTS CHANGE COLOUR, SIZE, SHAPE, SMELL, TASTE AND TOUCH AS TIME PASSES.

IF THE STATE OF MOKSHAM IS ATTAINED, THESE WORLDLY OBJECTS WILL NOT BE PERCEIVED SIMPLY BECAUSE THE PERCEIVER (THE HUMAN MIND) NO LONGER LOOKS FOR CHANGES OR DIFFERENCES THAT ARE ESSENTIALLY IMPERMENANT. 

Can one imagine a state of existence with no physical needs?  

Unattached to any material object or person, with no needs or wants (for self assurance, self protection/projection or subservience), with no boundaries of time that define birth and death?

That is just a glimpse into what MOKSHAM probably means.

The focus of the Puranas is  concentrated almost exclusively on the working of the mind and the possible means to move it onto the correct pathway(s). 

The Puranas want us to pursue to attain moksham by THINKING OUR WAY TO THE HIGHER STATE.

According to the Puranas, the mind, left to itself, will go in the direction which generates either mental or physical pleasure.

The Paramathma wants us to learn to restrain the mind from seeking worldly objectives and turn it inwards.

For this to happen, the FOCUS and DIRECTION of thought must be reoriented.  This in turn would mean that the Individual must REALIZE the reality of the inner self. Having attained this realization, the mind must be restrained to stay steady on this path by constantly exercising CONTROL, checks and balances.

Realization and self control are the two prescribed paths to attaining our objectives. The Puranas provide a lot of analysis on what initiates, sustains, motivates, drives and also impedes the thought process. 

It is clear that Realization will set in when all doubts regarding the Truth are eliminated from the mind.

In order for realization to set in, the knowledge of the forces that drive the thought process must be learned.

What about self control?  What do the Puranas say about exercising effective self control when the world presents us with temptations and illusions?

The Paramathma's permanent solution to self control is through development of DETACHMENT.

The teachings in the Puranas are  targeted only at acheiving this evolutionary objective.

The Puranas emphasize the point that the primary objective of human existence is to attain the feet of the Lord.  That would be the highest state that the mind can reach. 

Moksham is the immediate higher stepping stone from the human condition. 

According to the Puranas, Moksham is a state (of the mind) that should be acheived after life on Earth is transcended.

The teachings emphasize that the purpose of human existence is to transcend the physical world and reach the feet of the lord (MOKSHAM and higher states).  

The Human Mind is born with limitations. But it is also born with the capability to grow.  As it grows, it begins to discard its limitations.  It transcends its body shell,  and gets rid of its physical needs to be fed and nourished.

Most importantly, it learns to evolve the motivators and drivers with which it was born.  In the process, it learns to discard basic worldly sense based drivers of thought such as hunger, thirst, physical comfort, insecurity, fear etc., with intellectual pursuits such as the seeking of knowledge, seeking the truth etc.

More on Realization, the forces that drive the mind, and detachment in the following sections. 

Control of the mind/desire is the essence of success in the process of evolution.

According to all our Puranas,  life as it is only the starting point of a long journey that culminates in the individual becoming one with Easwara.

The state of moksham implies that there will be no rebirth on Earth.  It means that the Atma discards the body. Mind and all physical limitations imposed on it,  permenantly.

The difference between Moksham and attaining the feet of the Lord is brought out in the expressions of  the Asura Vritra during his battle with Indira.

The difference relates to Moksham being the existence of the conciousness in a state higher than on Earth.  Attaining the feet of the Lord would mean reaching a causeless, timeless state of existence which would only mean pure awareness.

Moksham represents the attainment tranquility,  lack of conflicts of the opposites,  a state of bliss as opposed to just happiness,

Moksham can also be termed self realization.

The mental states to be attained to obtain Moksham, relate primarily to the control of the mind. 

The emphasis is on the conscious invoking of Easwara by the thought process and holding on firmly, while going about daily activity and discharge of Karma without any attachment or expectations of reward.  

Moksham is a state of existence that frees our true self (Atma) from the limitations of the physical world (such as birth & death, sorrow and happiness, wealth and poverty etc.).

The attainment of Moksham {o elevate one's existence to a higher level} is considered to be the primary objective of this existence.

The Paramathma's teachings are all directed to us learning and becoming Masters of our own inner selves to attain Moksham.  

The flow of life that we all experience (known as Karma) subjects us to the pull and push of the opposites - Happiness/Sorrow, Wealth/Poverty, Health/Sickness and so on.  The nid (and our thoughts) are swayed all the time by these opposites. 

It has been proponded by the Paramathma that if we turn the intellect onto itself, and observe and understand how we are swayed by the external world events, the mind would transcend in its existence from a mere physical organism and transform into an etheral state of existence that would not be subject to repeated cycles of birth and death.

The human thought process is identified as the primary tool for attaining moksham. 

When we are born into this world, all our thoughts and actions are centered around the self.  This enables sustenance and protection of the physical form  from worldly dangers.

Throughout our lives we are unable to remove this self centered approach.

The thought process, anchored on the protection of the self, is fearful, insecure, and contemplates means to enhance its own stature relative to other beings.

The Paramathma's main requirement from his devotees is that they discard this self centered orientation from their thought process. 

The Puranas refer to this self centered approach as "I" and "Mine".

"I" and "Mine" referred to by the Paramathma is often understood as the human tendancy to claim ownership of material objects and also relationships with other people.  

Actually, while  the Paramathma would not mind it if we did give up our material possesions and relationships and took to sanyas (as some of our noble ancestors have done) this is not the  intent of his teachings.

In the days when the Puranas were written, life styles were such that a King could walk out of his Kingdom with only his clothes on and leave all material possessions and relationships behind. 

The Puranas, being timeless, one should adapt it to suit the age that we are living in.    

The Paramathma's focus is the mind. 

His primary Upadesam is to release the thought process from the limitations that come with taking ownership of our perception of this universe.

More on this in the sections that follow. 

The Paramathma is a vast "DATA BASE" of GNANAM.  All of us can connect with him and access this storehouse of all knowledge, past, present and future. 

This access to Paramathma's "data base" represents MOKSHAM as it raises the conscious mind to a higher plane.

The puranas contain the requirements for making this connection.  

THE PRIMARY MEANS TO ATTAIN MOKSHAM IS THROUGH THE EVOLUTION OF THE THOUGHT PROCESS.

The continual evolution of the thought process until the goal is reached, is the purpose of this existence.

UNTIL MOKSHAM IS ATTAINED,  WE WILL CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE REPEATING CYCLES OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS.

THERE ARE THREE PRIMARY PATHS THAT WILL LEAD TO MOKSHAM:  GNANA YOGA,, BHAKTHI YOGA AND KARMA YOGA.  GNANAM (the path of knowledge of the self), and BHAKTHI (the path of devotion to the almighty), ARE  CLEARLY RELATED TO THE EVOLUTION OF THE MIND. 

In a nutshell, the requirement for making this connection is to realize the truth about one's self.  

MOKSHAM THROUGH ALL THREE PATHS ARE THEREFORE ARE ATTAINED ESSENTIALLY THROUGH THE EVOLUTION OF THE THOUGHT PROCESS. .  

The three paths to attain moksham are explained in greater detail in later sections of this web page.

The following are further elucidations of the state of mind in which life is to be lived (in order to have a chance at transcending it).  These requirements will help the individual to stay out of the web of Karma:

1.The ability of the mind to recognize the difference between transient and permenant (objects and thoughts).

2. The ability of the mind not to be swayed by the vagaries of time that causes it to dread the future,  recall unpleasantness from the past or be captivated by the Maya of the present.

3. The ability of the mind to stay unattached to objects of the material world while engaged in the disacharge of Karma.

4. The ability to disassociate action, and the results of the actions from the desires of the mind. Never perform actions for the sake of obtaining perceived rewards. Action should always be driven by Dharma.