Nobody, Somebody and Everybody

To begin with you are a nobody, a no-body. This nobody gave rise to the feeling of being somebody or rather this body. Actually, it is the nobody getting confused and thinking it is somebody.  With the notion of being a somebody,  this same nobody which was the essence of peace and bliss, started suffering. Because the notion of being somebody meant being separate from other bodies, it started feeling insecure and vulnerable. As a somebody, it felt alienated in this world of other bodies, which it assumed are not itself since they appear to be separate from this body. This somebody became the embodiment of suffering. This somebody started searching for an answer, an answer to the end of suffering. Thereby started the search and this somebody became a seeker.

At some point in time, this somebody was told by a Guru (who also appeared to be somebody but was established as a no-body) that the True Nature of this somebody was actually nobody.  "All along, you have been nobody but you have falsely believed yourself to be somebody and hence you have been suffering", were the words of the Guru. This somebody started meditating on what the Guru had told. In a fraction of a second, suddenly and without any effort on part of anybody, this somebody suddenly Realized that actually everybody is nobody and just because they think they are somebody, they feel that they are independent and separate from other bodies and hence the suffering.  As soon as somebody Realizes that they are nobody, then the suffering stops, and the seeking stops, for the seeker is the sought. 

It becomes clear to this somebody, that there is nothing to be sought and all that is necessary to put an end to this suffering is to establish the false identity of this somebody. Everybody arises from and subsides into nobody.  Therefore, nobody is the source of everybody. Nobody is also the source of everything since one has to be somebody to perceive the world of things as objects. 

Just SEE that you are no-body and stop pretending to be some-body.

(Maybe this clarification will help some readers. No-body = Consciousness. Some-body= Ego or Jeeva or body-mind entity called "me". Every-body= all Jeevas.)

Pure Consciousness, Self Consciousness and Consciousness of Objects

There is often a lot of confusion about the use of the word consciousness. While it can loosely be defined as 'awareness of one's own existence, sensations, and surroundings', when used in Advaita literature, it can have a whole different connotation. We will explore the meaning behind consciousness as used in Non-Duality literature.

In your unmanifest natural state, you are Pure Consciousness or the Absolute. In this so called state, there is no awareness of being or not being. This state is beyond description but definitely one that is intuitively known to a Jnani (Realized).

Then, there is the state of Self Consciousness or the state of Awareness of Being, or knowing that I am. It is this state of Self Consciousness which is experienced by all but ignored by almost all but a few.  It is the state which is always known to everyone as the sense of Presence. No one reading this blog right now can deny their own existence at this very moment. It is simply the state of Being. Not being this or that. Just Being.

The next state is the state of Consciousness of Objects or the state of being a Jeeva (individual or ego). In this state, one thinks of oneself as being this or being that and attaches attributes to the original state of being.  In this state, the primary knowledge "I am" gets further translated into the concept "I am so and so" or "I am this body" or "I am John".  Simply put, one attaches a name and form to the primary concept "I am".  The "I am" gets polluted with multiple and constantly changing attributes such as " I am happy", or "I am sad" or "I am rich" or "I am poor" or  "I am enlightened" or "I am ignorant" and so on and so forth. What is evident is the fact that the attributes are limitless and always changing veering from one opposite to the other.  A state of utter confusion and delusion.

Most seekers are stuck in the state of a Jeeva until they meet or somehow come across the teachings of a Guru, who then shows them their True Nature as being other than the body or the mind.  Some will realize the state of Self Consciousness and fewer still will abide in their ultimate state of the Absolute.

While these states and classifications are meant to make it easy for the ignorant Jeeva to understand, in essence they have no such demarcations. It is all ONE and there can be none other than the One. All these states etc. are only to get the Jeeva to understand the essence of One-ness of all. All questions arise in the state of Consciousness of Objects.