Om Gurubhyo NamaH

In this lesson we will discuss the terms Yoga, Guru, Veda, and Mantra & Tantra.

At first, we will discuss yoga. It is well known that the word yoga has two distinct
meanings: 1. a set of physical postures and Pranayamas and 2. the merger of Atma into
Paramatma. At the level of physical body & mind, the practice of yoga brings good
health & happiness. At the highest level, yoga brings to us the eternal bliss. For the
following discussion we will work with the second meaning: the final merger of atma and
paramatma. We will discuss the physical aspect of yoga at the end when we discuss
mantra and tantra.

To achieve the yoga which is merger of atma and paramatma, we need some guidance.
We need to learn subjects that we do not know so far. What can be the source of these
subjects? How to acquire them? There are various opinions regarding this question. Some
say you need a guru. Some say you need to study books & literature. However, the books
& literature were authored by a person who would be the guru. Some say, learn from
nature, in which case nature is the guru. Lastly some say, even though you observe
nature, it is finally you who needs to analyze what you observe, explore and learn, so the
faculty to learn must be within yourself. In other words there is a part of yourself (skt.
Ams’a) which is the real guru. Adi Sankara brilliantly argued in his upanishat
commentaries that there is no final cause of liberation (meaning it is yourself), and even
the duality of guru and shishya must vanish. So finally it all boils down to guru, whom
you would ultimately realize as yourself.

Now, what is Veda? In any modern subject such as sciences, economics or management,
there is an established tradition of writing research papers and publishing them as
journals. As the subjects consolidate, we print them as text books. Every few centuries
when there are major ground-breaking changes, the text books are revised. In the same
way the subject of yoga and the process how to achieve it were researched by ancient
Rishis, and their opinions are recorded in the form of Vedas. The word Veda means
knowledge, or that which can be known. Veda is a corpus of literature that had been
established after thoroughly evaluating all the alternatives to any topic that concerns this
knowledge (of achieving yoga). In situations where a decision could not yet be made
about which alternative is more accurate, Veda had recorded multiple opposing opinions
that would be probably answered by a future Rishi.

The possibility that there could be future Rishis brings us to several questions: Are the
Vedas complete as we have them? Is Veda a rigidly defined “The book” as many other
religions have it? Is it possible to challenge the Veda? And so on. The one best answer to
all these questions is that Vedas are infinite and timeless. The structure of knowledge that
surrounds the Paramatma is eternal, and what exactly the Jivatma sees at any point
depends on where and how close the Jivatma is to Paramatma. As you can now
understand, there can be infinite possibilities. Civilizations discover Vedas, they lose
them or forget them and the Avtar purushas like Vishnu bring them back and so it goes
on.
Now, what are Mantra and Tantra? There are conflicting opinions on this question:
Some say mantra and tantra are greater than Veda. However the controversy is needless.
The most appropriate answer is that mantra and tantra, as well as the physical aspects of
yoga (such as Asanas, Pranayama, dhyana etc), are all tools that are used to explore the
frontiers of research concerning this subject of Yoga. The answer to the question whether
these techniques & tools are greater or whether Veda is greater depends on the answer to
the question “who” is the person practicing these subjects and what is the level of
understanding of that person? In purunas, we read that Bhagwan Vishnu, Bhagwan Shiva
and other devis stay in various postures, use mudras and meditate. What do they meditate
on? What frontiers of research they are exploring? For these devas and devis, the
techniques they use such as yoga, tantra and mantra are greater than veda, as their
meditation is meant to discover new Vedas. However, for people who have not yet
reached the level of these devas and devis, the techniques and tools they employ in
achieving the yoga are lower than the Veda as we have it so far. Finally, since we have
forgotten the real meaning of the Vedas nearly 4000 years ago (some time after
Mahabharata war), we now have to employ mantra, tantra and physical aspects of yoga,
struggle, and rediscover the meaning of the Vedas. In other words, ironically speaking, to
understand the meaning of Veda we once knew and later forgot, we need to take the help
of various research tools and techniques like mantra, tantra and (physical) yoga.

Regarding mantras, tantras and yoga postures & practices there are two opinions: Were
they designed by knowledgeable persons out of their expertise? Or did the Rishis
discover the mantras, tantras and practices first and then found the highest reality?
Actually it works both ways. For example, Rishi Vishwamitra discovered the Gayatri
mantra before he understood its meaning. Rishi Trisanku first foresaw the possibility of
mukti being in ones own body and then achieved it with the help of Vishwamitra.

The words tantra and mantra often bring up scary thoughts and exotic practices that
invoke fear and disgust, due to popular interpretation of these terms. These popular
opinions are mostly wrong. In fact, the word mantra means ‘protecting the mind’, and it
was named so because our elders wanted us to stay cautious and protect our mind while
exploring the unknown. The word tantra means ‘protecting the body’. In other words, our
elders advised that we should take responsibility for our body and protect it while
experimenting with the unknown. Therefore the veda mantra says ‘sahanaavavatu’: Let
us protect ourselves and let us protect each other, because we do need protection until we
realize the unity with Paramatma, after which there is no need for protection any more,
because there would be nothing to be scared of.

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