Despicable Me

Most will read this blog and other such material on Advaita and wonder "what does it have which will benefit me?". Well, before you begin to read any further, let it be clear that there is nothing here that will benefit you. In fact, be warned that the more you read and digest what is being said here, the more likely is it that it will result in you losing all that you valued so far. The one thing that most people value is their identity with the body and mind- the "me".  Just try insulting someone and you will get an immediate taste of what is being pointed to! Or how about if someone insults you.

As a result of the belief of being the body, one caters to the body and become a slave of the desires of the body. They become a slave to the demands of the mind.  As is obvious, the mind can be a dominating and ruthless master. The "me" that is being pointed to here is the identity of being an individual. One may call it the ego, if they wish.

This individual identity is the well established feeling of being this body and this mind. Since early childhood, this has been ingrained into one's psyche by family, school and society. So strong is this individual identity that despite being convinced that one is neither the body nor the mind, the identity still persists for almost all but the very rare few.  The three pillars of faith, devotion and surrender to the Guru are absolutely essential, in the opinion of this author, to dispel this idea of being the body and the mind i.e. an individual.  Without the three pillars of faith, devotion and surrender to the Guru, this despicable "me" is not willing to give up the battle.

By constant inquiry into the nature of one's own self (vichara) and with the support of the three pillars, the despicable "me" will eventually subside.  With the subsidence of the "me", one is in one's own Natural State which is beyond any description but always available to all. It is just a matter of seeing the false as false. The "me" is a false entity and should simply be recognized as such.  Otherwise, this despicable "me" will make one dance to its tune. Hopefully the one reading this is that rare one to realize the false as false.

Dead and Gone- Part 3

Staying on this same topic, let us further explore how we can investigate the subject of birth and death and get to the Truth.  As we already learned, the body is nothing but the combination of five elements (earth, water, fire, air and space). After so called 'death' of the body, the elements mix back with the universal elements. Meaning thereby that there is no such thing as "my individual water" or "my individual space" (although myspace.com may object to that statement!!) or "my individual air". Air is air, water is water and space is space. In the same way, consciousness is consciousness. There is nothing like individual consciousness or universal consciousness.  However, for the sake of understanding and clarity, a Guru may use such terms. After so called 'death', the consciousness no longer having a vehicle for its expression (i.e. the body), returns to universal consciousness. There is no actual return as such.  For example, the space inside an earthen pot is the same as the space outside the pot.  On breaking the earthen pot, the space inside does not actually 'return' to the space outside.  Space inside mixes up with space outside, really? You get the point.

As already explained elsewhere in this blog, consciousness is like electricity. Electricity is electricity. There is no essential difference between electricity in Mexico and electricity in Holland or electricity in China or Russia.  Just like electricity can function in different forms and produce different effects, consciousness does so too.  Electricity functioning through a fan produces a breeze, through an oven produces heat, through an air-conditioner produces cooling, through a radio produces sound, or through a motor produces motion. In the same way, consciousness expressing through different forms like humans, dogs or worms produces different effects. The consciousness expressing in the body through various permutations and combinations of the gunas (attributes or gunas are Sattva, Rajas,and Tamas) give rise to unlimited personalities in the same species. The effects can be many but the cause is one.

For something to die it must be born.  Keeping it simple, we can see that the elements are not born for they were there before the so called birth of 'my body'.  Similarly, the consciousness is not born with the birth of "my body".   So, what exactly is born?  Can you not SEE the obvious? Nothing is born and therefore nothing dies. What happens is that the consciousness no longer expresses itself through that particular body.  Where is the question of birth and death other than a concept created in the mind based on the primary concept of being 'born' as a separate and independent body-mind entity called "me"?

Having heard and digested all of the above, who and what are you?  In what capacity are "you" going to change or do anything?

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.

The Simplest Inquiry into the Self- Part 2

If you had stopped after the first part of this discussion, you could perhaps see the simplicity of it all. However, as you will perhaps notice, when we explore the false, we begin to complicate the issues. As you go on reading this part 2, there is no doubt that talking about the false "me' gets things complicated. It takes no effort to just BE. It takes a lot of effort to be some-thing or the other.

Now, let us explore, who is this "me" or "you"- the individual that we believe ourselves to be. If we are indeed this no-thing, then why do we believe ourselves to be individuals with a notion that we are the one in-charge of all the functioning of this body-mind entity. Further inquiry will reveal that in fact, there is no individual at all. So, this belief is precisely that- a belief-acceptance of an alleged fact without evidence or direct proof thereof. Unless, one does the inquiry on his/her own, there is no way any one else can convince him/her of this fact of non-existence of an individual. One has to constantly and sincerely inquire into the nature of this "me".

This "me" was not present in deep sleep. Then, in the dream state, a different kind of a "me" ( a dream "me") along with the dream world and dream objects and dream functioning appeared. Remember that this dream world includes a "me", a functioning dream subject, who is in the dream and thinks that he/she is doing all the actions. Please understand that the dream world appeared real when it was occurring. On waking up in the morning, the dream world, along with the dream objects, the dream subject (the dream "me" or the individual in the dream) are absorbed back into the mind from where they arose. Meaning, that the dream disappeared. On waking, a new 'dream' has begun. This time, there is a different type of "me"- an individual once again- with a name and form (just like the individual in the dream) who thinks he/she is the controller of the functioning of the body (just like the individual in the dream thought so). We falsely call this waking state the real state, since it appears to be continuous-the same objects appear everyday. However, the fact of constant change in everything in this waking state cannot be denied. We just do not notice the subtle changes occurring at the molecular level of all objects.

After the wakeful state comes the deep sleep state and once again, the world (which we call real!) and the individual "me" are absorbed back into the mind from which they arose. Yet, in all these states of the mind, the deep sleep, the dream state and the waking state, there is no denying that there is one unchanging Awareness/ Existence. Even in the deep sleep, when there is no world or a "me", I still exist! It is clear to anyone that the one who is awake now is the one who was asleep last night.

It becomes clear from the above that the waking state of the mind, creates a world with a subject called "me" and various objects. It is the mind, which is the creator and also the destroyer of this creation. And, this is experienced by all of us every 12 hours or so.

In the waking state, the first knowing is that of being. This beingness appears from that no-thing. Once it is there, this beingness gets translated into a thought "I am". This beingness falsely assumes ownership of this body, giving the impression of being the body-mind entity, a person. With this "I-thought" being established, all other thoughts are assumed to be owned by this "I-thought". This "I-thought" gives rise to the thought of " I am this body". This "I-thought" gives rise to "I am this' or "I am that" or "I am so and so" etc. This "I-thought" is what is known as the ego. The ego is nothing but the concept of being an individual, a "me" who is in-charge of this body-mind entity and who believes is the do-er of all actions. On inquiry into the nature of this "me', one discovers that it has no independence or substance whatsoever apart from this beingness. Meaning that this "me" appears in the waking state and disappears in the deep sleep state and strangely another type of "me" (a whole different personality) appears in the dream state. Yet, the real "I" is the one who is aware of these three states of the mind and does not change or appear and disappear. In the absence of a world or a "me" in deep sleep state, there is still existence. There is no denying that the heart is still beating, the lungs are still moving air in and out, the digestion is still going on and functioning is still happening. But, there are no thoughts and therefore there is no "I-thought" (or a "me"), no body or a world for that matter, and hence there is experience of peace and happiness. Anyone who emerges from deep dreamless sleep will testify to the fact that they "slept happily". Your True Nature is your state of absence of thoughts. In that state of absence of thoughts (as in deep sleep), you are still aware-for on waking up you know you were asleep. This Awareness is your True Nature. You are prior to the thought "I am". In that state of absence of thoughts, what can you say? In that state of absence of thoughts, no questions arise, no question of the presence or absence of a world, of a "me" or a "you", of this discussion, or of this functioning or the absence of functioning. All this discussion is in the mind- a bundle of thoughts- with no existence or substance or independence apart from the no-thing.

Remain as that no-thing.

Just STOP THINKING AND BE!

Still have questions and comments? This author will try and answer them. Do not hesitate to ask. Inquiry is the way to freedom.