The jivanmukta is not transformed by pleasure or pain. Joy does not exalt the mukta, nor is the mukta depressed by pain. The jivanmukta no longer regards the world as real.… The jivanmukta is pure like akasha.… The jivanmukta is neither subject to attachment, nor to egoism. The jivanmukta does not fear the world, Nor does the world fear the jivanmukta The jivanmukta is at peace with the ways of the world. The mukta is free from worldly-mindedness … Finally, the jivanmukta maintains a cool head.
—Vidyaranya, The Jivan-Mukti-Viveka
I’ve always been interested in the last line “ finally , the Jivanmukta maintains a cool head “. What does it mean to be truly liberated ? The word liberation can be described as liberation (from something) the act or process of freeing a country or a person from the control of somebody else OR , the act or process of freeing somebody from something that limits their control over or pleasure in their own life . The Jivan-Mukti-Viveka has its roots in Advaita Vedanta where internal knowledge of the Self ( the Atman) as Brahman leads to liberation in our own lives . Liberated whilst living – the state of the Jivanmukta is one who has overcome their ignorance, delusion, fear and ego and is freed from all past, present and future karma. They live in their physical bodies in a state of eternal peace and connected with all living beings . This is the ultimate goal of yoga.
Jivamukti yoga evolved from this idea . In fact the name comes from the word Jivanmukta – a liberated soul . Jiva – individual soul and mukta – liberation. Jivamukti Yoga means liberated whilst living. The jiva lives through the cycle of samsara the wheel of life and death – birth, growth and death . We are born, we grow , live our lives and then we die leaving the physical body. . The individual soul then can take on another body and the cycle continues. Many thousands of lifetimes are continued like this bound in the world of maya and separation . Only when the jiva wakes up to the fact it is not individual, it is the Absolute Brahman, liberation can occur. Brahman defines what is real and unchanging . Yoga practices can speed up that process by offering the individual jiva ways to become free. As Rumi said “ why stay in prison when the door iswide open “ Who is the prisoner ? The soul your jiva. Let it become free to live as the immortal atman .
To desire to become a Jivanmukta we must radically look at who and what we want to free ourselves from . It is a revolutionary practice to examine every thought, word and action that we take and that choice can be a radical one in our times. Although we know deep down that every being regardless of ethnicity, religion, species or gender can become liberated our deeply divided and often polarised society can encourage us not to look within for inclusion and union but to divide , to conquer and to destroy . Yoga is not for everyone , only for those who want to do the inner work . To fight our own enemy , the demons that lie within our own minds is the greatest battle we will ever take on. Greed, fear, insecurity, jealously , blaming , complaining and explaining are seeds that fester and drive our behaviour. It is said our thoughts are our actions in rehearsal . Ask yourself in every moment is this taking me closer towards the state of yoga – or further away from it ? Yoga isn’t a passive practice – you have to do it to see how it works and harness the results. And can we do all of it maintaining a cool head !
We can take inspiration from the yogi Ramana Maharishi who said there were three kinds of spiritual seekers . The first realises the Self as soon as they are told about it. The second needs to reflect and develop awareness to become firmly established and the third needs many years of study. He used the analogy of combustion to describe the 3 types. Gunpowder needs a spark to ignite . Charcoal needs application of heat for a short time and wet coal needs to dry out before it can burn .
Can we learn to operate our lives with a spiritual mindset? A mind that is free from negative qualities , feeling that life is unfair and we are a victim of our circumstances .To learn to serve as an instrument for divine action . Choose compassion for all beings rather than our own personal desires and pleasure. As Padma-Ji likes to reminds us dare to care about the welfare of others . As we do this and move towards a positive mindset or catch ourselves when we fall back into the negative loopholes our way of behaving radiates out into the world and affects every one of us . This ultimately becomes the step when we realise there are no other beings and Self realisation arises naturally. It really is up to us – it always has been.
