Swami Vishnudevananda Giri

The Precious teachings on the Sixteen Stages of the Increasing Moon of Inner Awareness. Collection compiled based on the materials of the master's lectures/ Swami Vishnudevananda Giri

Translation from Russian by V.V. Valyuzhenich

In this book, Swami Vishnudevananda Giri, a Russian-speaking master of Advaita Vedanta, will explain the meaning and principles of the Teachings of 16 Kalas. This book contains “The Precious Teachings on the Sixteen Stages of the Increasing Moon of Inner Awareness” and six lectures explaining in detail the essence of the Teaching.

Foreword

The teaching of "The sixteen stages of the increasing Moon of Inner Awareness" belongs to the category of "upadesha" - oral instructions on contemplative practice transmitted from the Teacher to a student in the continuous tradition of siddha yogis following the natural path of self-liberation and self-realization - sahajya-pratyabhijna.

In addition to tantric sources of oral tradition, indirect references to the teaching "The sixteen stages of the increasing Moon of Inner Awareness" are found in texts describing the philosophy of Sankhya and yoga, in particular, in the "Moksha Dharma", which in turn constitutes the second half of the twelfth book of the outstanding ancient Indian epic "Mahabharata".

Analysis of references in other canonical texts suggests that this line of instruction is much more ancient than, in fact, the tantric tradition of the siddhas, whose age researchers and historians estimate to be one or two thousand years.

Sankhya ¹ is one of the oldest philosophical systems that appeared much earlier than the tantric tradition. If the emergence of the tantric traditions of Hinduism is closely connected with a "close" to our time generation of Indian mahasiddhas, such as Matsyendranath, Gorokhonath, Jalandharinath etc., belonging to mixed tantric traditions (natha, aghora, kaula, kanphata, sahajiya, bauddha, etc.) and who at one time assimilated many features of Buddhism and Chinese Taoism (mahachina-krama), then Sankhya, as a spiritual and philosophical system, originates in a much earlier (from 5 thousand years) tradition of ancient rishis ("seers"), the Upanishads and the Vedas. The first mention of the Sankhya tradition, particularly, can be traced in Chandoghya Upanishad and Mantrayana.

The teaching "The sixteen stages of the Inner Moon" has reached to the present day, thanks to the continuity of the oral tradition of the siddha masters in a kind of “inner doing”, inherent in Laya Yoga.

Unlike references in the Moksha Dharma and other texts, where the teaching is taught in the spirit of Sankhya as a system of analytical understanding of the constituent parts of the body and mind, which serves to overcome the samsaric dichotomy - Purusha-Prakriti, jiva-Atman, Maya-Brahman, tantric tradition of siddhas sahajiya considers it precisely as a description of the stages of contemplative practices developing in the stream of consciousness of the adept yogi.

In the process of discovering the nature of the "I" and the development of contemplation, special emphasis is placed on the uncovering of non-conceptual, non-dual vision, space-like, saturated with bhava (pride of the deity) and awakening the inner powers of the yogi (ichchha-shakti, kriya-shakti), which grant him the power over the elements, time and space.

In this regard, in the tradition of the teachings of Laya Yoga, the oral instructions on “The sixteen stages of the increasing Moon of Inner Awareness" occupy a special place, being the quintessence, "central channel" of the entire teaching, describing in detail the stages of the ascent of consciousness in contemplative practice.

The “Moon” in the context of the Laya Yoga tradition means the inner “I” of a person, the nature of the mind, the fundamental void Ground of Being, primordial awareness (Prajnana), which grows gradually, phase by phase, like the young moon for sixteen "spiritual days", when exercised in contemplative practice.

The pure mind is compared to a mirror in many tantric texts on contemplation.

“Just as a mirror takes on the colors of images, so the pure Mind takes on various forms of objects by holding them within oneself.”

“Tripura Rahasya” Chapter XVI (20)

Until we start contemplative practice, our Higher Self, although it has a pure and enlightened nature, is, nevertheless, covered with obscurations resulting from fundamental ignorance.

It is like a mirror coated with a layer of resin. The reflectivity of a clear mirror remains, but it reflects only the resin. Entering contemplative practice means activating the mind's ability to recognize its Source - the "clear mirror" of the natural Mind, in which the Moon of the Inner Awareness shines.

The conception and development of the capacity for contemplative presence is likened to the process of conceiving, nurturing a fetus, giving birth to and raising an inner child. This spiritual child is the "inner moon of awareness," which the successful yogi cultivates within himself throughout his life.

As the inner child develops, increasing his power, he unites with the Supreme Source and the infinite variety of things in the universe, and giving the yogi a precious chance to enter the circle of immortal gods.

Beginning from the unawakened, suffering human state, full of obscurations, limitations and ignorance, a yogi sequentially, one after another, goes through all the stages of development of the inner child – the "Moon of Awareness", up to transformation into a deity, creating new universes, creating its own worlds – Brahma and others.

By mastering the "path of naturalness" and by nurturing contemplation in accordance with the instructions of the root Master, the yogi not only completely eliminates the klesha affects and purifies his karma during this life, but also goes much, much further – discovering the luminous void nature of the Mind, he manifests the creative powers – the power of will and the power of awakened actions (ichchha and kriya shakti) and fully realizes the Great Transition to another, pure dimension of the perfect, wondrous Being – the mandala of pure vision, into a new creative status of the liberated divine superbeing, full of inspiration, delight, greatness, purity, beauty, harmony, strength and power God-creator of their own universes, practically realizing in his experience the highest statement of Vedic philosophy in terms of boldness, humanism and flight of spirit, "Aham Brahmasmi" - "I am the Supreme”.

Swami Vishnudevananda Giri

The Precious Teachings
on the Sixteen Stages of the Increasing
Moon of Inner Awareness

I

Dissatisfaction

Oh, soul! Lost in the labyrinth of dreams

Forgetting your innate greatness,

Again and again, not recognizing yourself, you suffer,

Wandering in the jungle of illusions, entangled in the web of passions...

II

Awareness of Limitations

Bound by birth, bound by life,

Chained by death, chained by body, mind, and laws of higher powers,

Not recognizing yourself, forgetting your greatness,

You are like a bird beating in a snare,

Like a fish caught in a net,

Like a deer caught in a trap...

III

Search for the Moon

Oh, soul! Reflect now without delay,

Think and begin to investigate

Your inner "I-am"- the nature and essence of this world,

To avoid the snares of birth and death

And elude the shackles of illusion...

IV

Encounter with the light

If you happen to meet a spiritual friend,

A saint whose mind is pure and awakened,

Respectfully and humbly ask him about your "I"

And about the Supreme Being,

Until you're satisfied...

V

Broadcast

When in the process of questioning your mind is clear,

And attuned to the Master through samaya,

Then the blessing descends,

And the words of the Teacher hit the target,

Defeating the demon of ignorance,

Like an arrow shot by a well-aimed hunter,

And bloom like a magic seed,

Fallen on fertile soil...

VI

Conception and the experience of the "taste"

When the subdued mind, ceasing to wander and dream,

Contemplating its nature,

Plunges into Awareness and swings open –о h miracle!

The illusion of "I" instantly dissipates,

Exposing the mirror – the Great Foundation,

It is the "taste" of the natural mind, the great moment –

The conception of an Immortal Child of Wisdom...

VII

Gestation

Then the yogi should day and night

steadily and carefully nurture this taste,

As a mother nurtures in her womb the long awaited child...

VIII

Birth

When the naked Awareness, like a space, has gained strength,

Surrender comes naturally, goals are released,

And hopes are cut off in great non-action –

Then the yogi is born as an Immortal Child in the world of the One...

IX

Nurturing

Having made a great decision

A yogi, day and night should constantly take care of

The Immortal Child, and nurture him

Without taking breaks due to laziness, distractions,

Fatigue or pleasure...

X

Upbringing

When the Immortal Child –

The Great Moon of Awareness has grown up,

The yogi with care should give him a worthy education...

XI

Hardening

Having raised the Child of Awareness, do not be afraid to temper it with tapas,

Cutting off attachments and trials,

So that he becomes a great and worthy warrior, a yogi hero...

XII

Release to freedom

When the Immortal Child, hardened and matured,

He should not be restricted.

It's better to let him act freely,

Without forgetting the spirit of compassion...

XIII

The game

Let the yogi then act naturally,

Following the course of things and playing for the benefit of others,

Until all his karmas are exhausted in the radiance of the Great Foundation...

XIV

Mandala creation

When karmas are exhausted in games

And perfection in siddhis is achieved,

Let the yogi manifest them as the Forces of Creation,

Maintenance and descent,

Creating new worlds and pure countries by the power of reason...

XV

Transition to the Mandala Dimension

When the creation of a new world is achieved,

The yogi, rejoicing, passes into it, as into a new dwelling,

Becoming his Lord (Mandaleshwar),

And lives freely like the king of the gods himself,

Being in many worlds at the same time...

XVI

Becoming a Creator God,
Creation of a new universe

When through tapas the creative will has strengthened,

Let the perfect yogi, playing,

By the power of intention, create worlds and entire universes,

And rules over them, full of wisdom, majesty, and glory,

Like Brahma himself – the Great Creator God.

Recorded in unbroken continuity

Of the precepts of the three kinds of transmission of the lineage

of the Laya yoga teachings by a practicing yogi

Vishnu Dev, disciple of the avadhuta Acintya.

Divya Loka, 2007, 5109 Kali Yuga,

28th Maha Yuga, 7th manvantara,

age of Manu Vaivasvata, kalpa of the boar,

the first day of the 51st year

of the Great First God-the Creator

Part 1
Introduction

Vasistha said:

“Because of unawakenedness, he (Atman)

dwells in unawakened beings.

For thousands and thousands of eons

he travels countless paths.

Into a thousand mortal abodes he enters,

Taking up his abode: in the worlds of the gods,

Into human and animal wombs.

Among beings, like the moon among the stars, he (Atman)

Wanders again and again, thousands of times

because of his unawakenedness,

until he awakens.

The fifteenth part of him is the womb (of the Moon),

know – this is his abode;

But know that Soma is a constant

in his sixteenth part.

From the fifteenth part, he, unawakened,

Is continuously born again and again;

Becoming attached to it, taking it for his abode,

he continues to be born again and again.

The sixteenth part, refined,

must be accepted as the true Soma,

he does not obey the gods, but subordinates the gods to himself.

Until that fifteenth is eliminated,

man is born, excellent Lord,

After all, it is considered his nature (Prakriti),

what remains

is called Freedom (Moksha)."

"Moksha Dharma"

ch. 306 "Conversation between Vasistha and King Janaka"