““The essential knowledge must be attained by everyone. And what is this essential knowledge? For the individual Self to know the mystery of the universal Self.” (Sutra 51)”
from the Sky of the Heart
The sutras demonstrate Nityananda’s mastery of spirituality, speaking as he does with simple conviction about the most subtle and refined points of the spiritual realm. Nityananda was not concerned about differences between systems and philosophies, and his language was certainly not rigorously philosophical.
Nityananda used terms from all of India’s great traditions without distinction. His vision was universal and he used language that common people would understand. Both the mystery and wisdom of Nityananda’s words arise from the same understanding: everything is one. To fulfill the requirement for liberation and merge the individual in the Divine, we must understand that there is no inherent difference between the two. The apparent difference, and thereby all the confusion and multiplicity of life, in fact, is simply a misunderstanding. It is maya. The life-force, the dynamic creative energy that is the source and sustenance of our individual lives, is the same creative energy that moves in all things and in all places.
Thus, the study of yoga is the study of the Self, of our own life-force. The more we study it, the more we realize there is nothing outside of it. The simple, fundamental ground of our own being permeates all that is. All experience manifests on the same field of pure consciousness, and this consciousness that moves in us moves in everyone and everything. The Self is the Absolute—to which we have intimate, personal access.
This discussion of the key points of Nityananda’s philosophy is drawn from Swami Chetanananda’s introduction to The Sky of the Heart: Jewels of Wisdom from Nityananda, published by Rudra Press, the publishing division of The Movement Center.