Gurudev Ranade on Sat Chit Ananda: Beatitude is our essence. The valuable Kulkarni's approach. For 2020 celebrations.

                                             
Among the main contributions of Indian spirituality and philosophy to Humanity were the attempts to understand and characterise the human being, the entity, the self, the true self, also called spirit, and living individual soul, in sanskrit Purusha, Atman, and Jivatman, which in itself would have or manifest three main qualities or attributes, called Sat Chit Ananda, meaning Sat - True being, Chit - Consciousness or intelligence, and Ananda - bliss or beatitude.
Although this vision and understanding were gradually achieved by the rishis (seers) of the Vedas, and  yogis and shramanas, as we can see in ancient texts, it was incorporated and developed by some darshanas or philosophical systems of India, especially Yoga Vedanta, as well as by the contributions of yogis who knew, meditated, and shared it. However, over time and due to increasingly complicated and artificialised life contexts, many people forgot or lost connection and awareness of the first and third qualities or levels, especially outside India, where this vision of reality was significantly hidden or manipulated by different religious and philosophical influences. Therefore, it is important to seek and strive to live more connected to this core of our innermost being, and especially to the quality or attribute of bliss, which we might even call love, at the heart of its identity.
As we know, between the scholars of Indian spirituality, Gurudev Ranade (1886-1957) was one of its last great representatives and a very special being, as his quest was at the same time that of a jnani yogi, with profound philosophical studies, a bhakta, with great devotion, a karmin yogi very active in society, and a raja yogi, through his concentrations and meditations. Thus, he became a proficient teacher and philosopher, and a true guru initiating and inspiring many disciples and leaving behind, or disseminating in his books, many signs and visions of valuable truths for pilgrims on the path of self-realization and reconnection with God.
Guru Ranade, born into a family of devotees, was initiated in 1901 by Shri Bhausaheb de Umadi, who in turn was initiated by Sri Nimbargi Maharaj (1790-1885), and his mahasamadhi, or place of disincarnation or final union on earth, is in Nimbal, a centre that is still active and pilgrimage-worthy today. And we can see such a valuable lineage of masters in the photography

 B. R. Kulkarmi, a lover or disciple of gurudev Ranade, in his valuable synthetic book Critical and Constructive Aspects of Prof. R. D. Ranade's Philosophy, Belgaum, Belgaum Samachar Press, 1974, has reflected and meditated, in many pages, some of his teachings. And so the foundation of the Consciousness as beatitude, Ananda, is well aproached, and in page 127 affirms even: «But the distinctive contribution of Prof. Ranade to methaphysical-ethical thought is his doctrine of Beatificism. In fact this doctrine pertains to mystical experiences and has methaphysical and ethical implications. It is important to remember that the subtitle of his proposed book The Pathway to God was to be The Philosophy of Beatificism. He has considered the idealistic conception of self-consciousness being the central point of existence and has shown that not human self-consciousness but divine self-consciousness should be the basic reality. Now he goes a step further and says that this central reality is not merely consciousness but bliss as well. The axiological conception of bliss and the metaphysical conception of Brahman are the same. The identification of bliss with reality is beatificism. Instead of self-consciousnes being the centre of reality, bliss becomes the centre. Instead of idealism we have beatificism».

 In this paragraph, so original and important, he see Gurudev Ranade not accepting the reduction of human beings to simple higher animals, endowed with consciousness coming from the brain, and instead proposes that we recognize that the consciousness is already God within ourselves and that is essence is beatitude. And in our days, sometimes so dark by the wars and genocides, violence and oppresions, is it not this beatific level on us so important  to be recognized and more lived by us?
Not staying satisfied with that, as it could become only a intelectual assumption or understanding, Guru Ranade, as a true sadhak, or a  soul doing sadhana, spiritual way of life and  meditation with bhakti (love-devotion-aspiration) asks us, exhorts us, to realize more by devotion and meditation the true essence of self and God as beatitude, ananda, shukam, joy, happiness.

 Indeed a great challenge to be aspired, wished, wanted and felt, with perseverance, and for that just in itself the words Sat Chit Ananda constitute indeed a good mantra, and if we repeat and meditate on it we prepare us to receive from our own atman and from the Masters some blessings or graces on our  consciousness...                                    

Consubstanciating his line of research,  B. R. Kulkarni show us the texts in which gurudev Ranade has found that identity, as the Bhagavad Gita, VI, 28, where the fruit of pure vairagya or detachment and constant awarenees of god  (brahma-sansparśham) creates or gives rise to shukam (pleasure-joy), the incipiente concept of Ananda.

 «The self-controlled yogi, thus uniting the self with God, becomes free from material contamination, and being in constant touch with the Supreme, achieves the highest state of perfect happiness.»                                                                           Also in Taittiriya Upanishad, 21, is said, with surely some rethoric exageration: «Aum brahmavid apnoti param, tad esa, abhyukta, satyam jnanam anantam brahma, yo veda nihitam guhayam parame vyoman, so, asnute sarvan kaman saha, brahmana vipasciteti» «Brahmam is Sat Chit Ananda. He who experiences it as existing hidden in the heart, is free from all his desires instantaneously and without further manifestations, as happen with the omniscient Brahman.»
Then, the measures of happiness attained by man,  an Angel (Gandharva), and of Brahman are imagined, in a rethoric way to make us more dedicated to the self-realization of atman-Brahman, the union of the spirit and the Divine Being, or the true happiness, that excels all the others by thousands...    

Also in the Brahma sutras, 1.3. 8 there is mention to Brahman being Bhunam, that is infinite Bliss, and for gurudev Ranade there is not a supremacy of Chit (inteligence-conscience) over Ananda in the caracterization of Atman, as Shankaracharya in his commentaries wanted, as both are united. 
Further, he sugests that the two types of meditation, Pratikopasana, or the one in a symbol of God, and Gunapasana where God is personally felt and worshiped with or through qualities (explaining that this means also living each day some acts with the qualities of God that we worship and want develop in us), attain their highest level in Ahamgrahopasana, the unitive meditation, the third type of meditation, in which the mantra So Ham (I am He) is experienced in the unity or union of the Spiritual Self and the Divine, making us feel that infinite bliss, ananda...
Surely to attain these higher levels of communion, bliss and unity we should develop perseverance and then receive graces,  and Ranade confirms that also by its own inner experiences, speaking for example of seeing the spiritual eye, the point or bindu of light, vastu or spiriton (a name coined by him to the spirit), as well colours, and also listening sounds, etc., etc..
Indeed these graces descending on us from the spiritual and guru's plans to our bhava, feelings, japa, prayers and meditation give us bliss, and make us be more our true essence of Satchitananda and from that realization we can serve better mankind in a harmonious society.

An interesting book from Kulkarni, indeed, from where I just wrote this small essay, as a small drop of  the great Ocean of Brahman and  Sat Chit Ananda in order to awaken us more to the inner beatitude, a so valuabe potential, actualized only in perseverant self-consciousnes, aspiration, discernement, love and unity...

May we be more in tune with gurudev Ranade and the Masters and feel more Ananda and the Divine Atman in your life and consciousness, and share it with others...
                                       Om Sri Gurabe namah