THE SUPREME SWAN -- KRIYA YOGA DISCUSSION BOARD

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Date Posted: 15:42
Author: Bill - 19 Oct 2001
Subject: THE SUPREME SWAN

"Narada, approaching the Lord, asked: 'Now, what is the path of the yogis who are supreme swans (paramahansa), and what is their state?'

The Lord said to him: 'The path of the supreme swan is most difficult to find in this world. There are not many, but even if there is only one of them, he abides in that which is ever pure; he indeed is the man of the Vedas. Thus think the sages. This great man has his mind always abide in Me, and therefore I abide in him as well. Renouncing his own sons, wife, relatives, friends, and so on, and giving up his hair tuft, sacrifical thread, study, and all works, as well as the world at large, he should take up a staff, loincloth, and other covering for the maintenance of his body and for the good of the world. But this is not of foremost importance. If asked what is foremost, it is this:

'The supreme swan does not carry a staff, tuft, sacrifical thread, and covering. He neither knows cold nor heat, neither pleasure nor pain, neither honor nor dishonor. He is beyond the six waves (of the world ocean, namely, hunger, thirst, grief, delusion, decrepitude, and death) by giving up censure, pride, jealousy, deceitfulness, haughtiness, longing, hatred, pleasure, pain, desire, anger, greed, delusion, elation, envy, egoism, and so on. He looks upon his own body as a corpse, because the body's degradation is the cause of doubt, perversity, and erroneous knowledge. Always turning away from the world and always understanding That, he enters that state himself. 'I am that peaceful, immutable, nondual, blissful Mass of Consciousness. That alone is my supreme Home; that alone is my tuft; that alone is my sacrifical thread.' Through knowledge of the unity of the self and the supreme Self, the distinction between them vanishes. This is the dawn (of true gnosis)."

Paramahansa-Upanishad
quoted in Teachings of Yoga
translated and edited by
Georg Feuerstein

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