The Cosmic Necklace
7.1 Thus spoke the Blessed One: Arjuna, devote your whole-self to me and practice the Divine Unborn Yoga. In so doing take me as your exclusive-refuge; it is only in this solemn fashion that you can truly know me as your Supreme Self.
7.2 I will reveal to you the direct-gnosis which will openly reveal to you the inner Self-realization of Noble Truths, besides which no-thing more need be known.
If a yogin merely practices meditation-techniques without also offering them in absolute-devotion to the Unborn Lord, they only inherit the pathway and forfeit the eternal and supernal prize of the Lord’s Blessed-Self. An exceptional way in coming to know and to unite with the Lord’s Blessed-Spirit is to intone his sacred-vibration—OṀ (Aum). Incurring Right Meditation on this Sacred Sound, one comes to know the Lord as one’s own Best and Beloved-Self. Yea, it is through this Sacred OṀ that the Lord’s Spirit becomes vibrantly manifested. The Blessed One also states in 7.2 that through this direct and Absolute-Gnosis, the yogin, too, shall come to know omniscience.
7.3 Who dare seek this Supreme Self-Perfection? Scarcely one in a thousand will succeed in coming close to truly knowing me AS I AM in MY-SELF.
A most profound statement. Very few even make the attempt to Self-realize the Supreme-Spirit-Self AS IT IS IN ITSELF. Yet the Blessed One will never reject a single soul who willingly and authentically makes the effort. All prodigal sons and daughters are welcome to return home to the Beloved-Source, yet how many will humbly make the effort? Yea, one’s Buddha-nature is ready to awaken and reveal Its Essential Suchness inside all sentitalia—the Lord’s grace is deposited in everyone, yet who dare make the effort to find and embrace it?
7.4 My Prakriti consists of an eightfold composition: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and manas. This concerns my manifestation in all the elements of existence.
7.5 Yet even these eight, Arjuna, are mere gross elements when compared to my highest Prakriti which gives life to the Universe Itself.
Prakriti and its highest principle were covered in our series on the Yogasūtras of Patañjali as the “the full spectrum and fundamental (natural) matter of Mind materialization.” As the next verse states, it is out of this Absolute Principle that everything originates from:
7.6 Everything originates out of my Prakriti. Everything manifests and eventually dissolves through this principle.
7.7 Verily, apart from my Essential-Substance no-thing exists. The Whole manifested Universe is strung upon me like a majestic necklace filled with precious gems.
Think of it, all the infinities of stars and galaxies are a composition of the infinite Sky of Spirit. As it is one thread that supports all the row of beads in a necklace, just so is the Immaculate Consciousness (Amala-vijnana) alone that sustains all of the dream-like appearances within the created order.
7.8 Arjuna, the essence of pure-water IS-IN-ME, just as are all the galactic-clusters of the heavens. I AM the Sacred Sound: OṀ. I AM the deathlessness in the soundless-sound (Parato ghosa). I AM the potency and virility of mankind.
7.9 I AM the scent of spring and the decaying-fragrance of autumn. I AM the brilliance of Fire and the Austerity of all ascetics.
7.10 Know me-thus, Arjuna! I AM the Eternal Seed of all Being. The Intelligence of all THAT-IS intelligent. The very Splendor of the Resplendent Glory of the Cosmos.
7.11 I AM the Power of Strength in all those who are resilient, of all those who are free from attachments. O’Arjuna, I AM the Right Desire of Righteousness Itself.
7.12 Whatever the nature of sentient beings, whether pure in spirit or grossly ignorant, they are all IN ME but I AM NOT in them.
7.13 All of the inhabitants in countless realms and in countless desire-bodies are all mislead by the qualities (*gunas) which are inherent in their chemistry. Yet, in the very midst of all that changes I AM the One THAT does not move nor change.
*The gunas were covered extensively in our Yogasūtras of Patañjali series:
The three gunas are essentially the manifestations of one Primal Substance. This is the gut of the Sankhya system, which Patañjali drew heavily upon. Amidst their interaction, sattwa (striving for perfection), rajas (restless activity), and tamas (dullness or inertia), they govern the ebb and flow of all materialized things; henceforth they manage their origin and dissolution as well.