WITHIN THE LOTUS THERE IS A LITTLE SPACE: What is there?

There is an ancient verse beautifully expressed within the teachings of the Chāndogya Upanisad (8.1.1.). It explains quite simply where one may touch, as it were, the Immortal Presence to which the ancients gave the name Brahman.

The Sanskrit word Brahman is formed from the root ‘Brh’ which signifies ‘growth ‘, ‘expansion’, ‘evolution’, ‘development’, ‘the swelling of the spirit or soul’. This root gives a clue into the intrinsic meaning and perhaps the purpose of the One in Whom we live, move and have our being. Ever One, It divides into every conceivable and inconceivable unit of life, expanding and evolving through the instrumentality of time, space and form. These multifarious appearances, subtle and gross, inhabit countless dimensions, most of which are unknown to us at our present stage of development; and yet, the eyes, ears, and touch of Brahman are present everywhere, the depth of knowledge and experience being ever limited by the point of expansion achieved in time and space. The Life in the heart of all is the Will of the all-pervasive Brahman (spirit) to engage in the processes of growth and evolution towards full realisation.

The verse says:

OM Atha
Yad idam asmin brahma-pure
daharam pundarikam veshma dahara asmin antara-akaasha
tasmin yad antah tad anveshtavyam
tad vaava vijijnaasitavyam. Iti. OM

(Note: the ‘v’ is pronounced as “w”)

‘Now, in this small lotus-like dwelling (the individual soul) that is within the city of Brahman (the city being the outer casings: gross and subtle bodies), there is a small dwelling, the place for the realisation of Brahman (Who has entered into the form as an individual soul for the purpose of manifesting name and form);

In that small dwelling place is a space called Brahman; this space is called Brahman because of its similarity of subtleness and all-pervasiveness. Space is everywhere! So is Brahman, the Universal Spirit!
That which is there – in that lotus-like space called Brahman – is to be known. That, indeed, is to be realised directly with the help of Those Who know, and through such means as hearing, and meditation.

A subsequent verse explains in its commentary what the lotus-like dwelling is. It says:

The lotus is small, and the internal organ corresponding to that lotus-like dwelling and contained in it, is limited by the space within the lotus. In that purified internal organ of those who have withdrawn their senses (through meditation and spiritual work), Brahman is realised in the form of a clear reflection of the light of True Knowledge, like an image appearing in a mirror. It is in this space within the heart (anta-hrdaya-aakaashah) that one must know and realise That which exists there.

There is no other example, aside from the concept of space, which can suitably illustrate Brahman, hence the use of the word space. “Yet, it is from that Brahman that space itself is produced“, and “by this Immutable One, space is pervaded“.

The closing of the ears – from time to time – to the incessant noise of earthly sounds, and the turning of the mind’s eye away from earthly matters; these are the processes which culminate eventually in a clear reflection of the light of True Knowledge and the revelation of that One which is the All-Self.