Esoterics of GOD: Esoterics of GOD-The Reality! And How to Realize IT!?

(By Sudhakar V Reddy)

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Does GOD exist?..........

'God' generally has two meanings: 'Creator' or Pure-Consciousness/'Brahman.' 'Creator,' a Supreme Being outside of 'Creation,' a Personality, who creates the world from nothing, of the dualistic and theistic philosophies and 'Brahman,' an Impersonal Infinite Intelligence, a Quality/Presence, which manifests the world in itself and as itself (world='jagath'=born of movement or modulation or vibration=light+space+time+objects=cosmos), of the non-dualistic (or 'Advaitha Vedantha') seeing. Brahman/Ultimate Reality must be the Source of All. Vedantha defines Brahman/Ultimate Reality as that which is never subject to negation (contradiction) and/or reduction (change and/or decay) at any time or in any state (i.e., Reality must ever be Non-Negatable and Non-Reducible; In other words, Reality must be independent of man's conception of it; must be Absolute and Fundamental; Reality=Unchangeable Independent Presence; Reality=Permanency that is Non-Dismissible). Krishna sets the criterion for Brahman (Bhagavad Geetha, 8.3) as "Paramam Aksharam Brahman!" 'Paramam' means The Supreme/The Highest/Qualityless/Dimensionless Source, or 'Sampoornam,' which means Non-Dependent (or Independent Existence, 'Sath') and Non-Negatable (or Ever-Present, Non-Reducible, 'Nithya') Source and 'Aksharam' means Non-Changing (or Immutable, 'Nirvikaara' or 'Kootastha') and Non-Perishable (or All-Pervading/Limitless, 'Anantha') and Causeless ('Nir-Nimittha' or 'Nir-Guna'). 'Para' is the opposite of Relative ('Apara' or 'Aadhaara' or 'Saapeksha'). In other words, Reality must be the Eternal Presence that is Non-Dependent, Non-Negatable, Non-Changing and Non-Perishable! Reality=Limitless Knowing Presence (called 'Brahman' in Sanskrit)!

The only thing (the most fundamental of all manifestation) that is never negated is Pure Existence/Is-ness which is also Pure Awareness/Knowing; everything else gets reduced to something or the other. Dualistic philosophies' first fallacy is that something can be created from nothing or a void. It is against science, reason and common sense; it is simply impossible. How can something come out of nothing? Secondly, they also cannot answer, "Who created the Creator?" in a rational way. If the Creator existed on his own outside of Creation without being created, then what is the problem, why can't the world/nature exist on its own without being created? You have already accepted in principle that something can be there without being created, so why unnecessarily go from A to B and from B to C? See, the moment you accept an outside agency to create the world, you fall into a vicious circle. This is not convincing to reason.

On the other hand...Brahman which is The Cause of the non-dualistic seeing (which manifests the time-space-world), by definition, is beyond time-space-property (free of all limitations; beyond=/means in and through the world but not affected by the world or unreachable to the world - like light pervading a hand; 'asangathva'; beyond/transcendent means it is both the absolute and the relative at the same time) and, so, Unlimited/Infinite, Unchanging, Eternal, Formless, Attributeless and Actionless. But, then, how can an Unchanging, Actionless Presence manifest a changing world? How can an Infinite/Unlimited Presence manifest a finite ('parichhinna') world? Advaitham cannot become two or many or cannot become a cause of anything. Well, the Advaitha Vedantha has a profound and, yet, a convincing answer!...It says that the world - the ever-changing Material Principle - is an appearance in Brahman - the Uncreated-Eternal Spiritual Principle - like a dream, and is possible because of its non-separable power or energy called 'Maya' ('Maya'=The Unmanifest-Potential=All-Intelligence and All-Power; just like an individual's dream is possible because of his non-separable power or energy called sleep; unmanifest is beyond all senses; 'maya' means that which measures and limits everything)! Since matter can neither be created nor destroyed, world appears, disappears (goes dormant) and reappears throughout eternity, nothing is brought from outside and nothing is lost from within. And this is not anything bizarre because we experience this ourselves daily, on a micro scale. Don't we manifest a whole world in our dreams within ourselves in an illusory space and time without bringing any outside material and then enjoy it as if it is real.

World as an appearance/projection/illusion/superimposition/'mithya'/'aabhaasa'/reflection/'vibhoothi'/as-if-it-is-real or belonging to a lower order reality ('mithya'=dependent existence; experientially there but actually not there like a snake superimposed on a rope; appears without birthing) is the only way we can explain the presence of a Changeless, Eternal, Actionless Reality which in, itself, cannot be the actual cause of this world (cause=maker, effect=made). Dream is the only way Reality could apparently manifest a world without compromising its intrinsic nature ('swaroopam' or true-self) as Infinity and Immutability. Remember: Something not being one with Reality is impossible in Reality. What is not impossible, however, is the illusion of not being one with Reality! Physical world is, thus, manifested as an illusion (more precisely, mithya, a dependent and/or reducible or transcendable reality; mithya=something that exists but is not what it appears to be=temporary appearance of a permanently underlying reality=real until it is not) and Reality can now apparently experience a finite object ('padhartham') by imagining itself as a finite subject - all in appearance, all in illusion! Why?...Because experience ('anu-bhava'=in accordance with the absolute existence or being) is the only way Reality can express itself; know-and-feel its magnificence in relative terms. Infinity (Infinite in space and time) can never "become" finite, but can "seem" to become finite! Gold can never "become" an ornament, but can "seem" to become an ornament, yet, remaining as gold. So the world appears in Reality, made out of Reality and known by Reality!

Brahman/Reality/Existence is All There Is! All there is to your dream - is you. All there is to a movie is the screen!

Once the seeming/illusory nature or the insubstantiality of the individual and the world (as ideas-and-forms only) is established through the systematic teaching of Advaitha Vedantha and reason, the Brahman (Infinity) as The Cause of the (finite) world is withdrawn or automatically loses its status just like our dream loses its status upon waking. This is known as 'Adhyaaropa Apavaada' in Advaitha Vedantha (superimposition and de-superimposition). What is the birth date of the twilight's rope-snake and how is it born are irrelevant because there is no finite rope-snake to begin with. Once the questioning-mind claims its identity with Eternity, the illusory ego (ignorance) falls away and with that the other concepts such as body, world, Creator/Creation, cause-and-effect, part-and-whole will also dissolve. The Maya, which is a mystery, will be understood for what it is - a mystery, illusory and insubstantial. The world/matter is there only from the standpoint of an illusory ego, but in reality, world is just a word for transactional purposes (whatever you can observe and/or experience and/or conceptualize=matter=ideas and forms; the observer, or more precisely, the observing-ness=the Witness=Consciousness). Ring, bangle and necklaces are just ideas for the real substance, which is gold (sub-stance=stance or stand underneath). Just like golden ring, golden bangle and golden necklace reveal the essential gold; existent man, existent plant, existent sun, etc. reveal the essential Existence. The only real substance/essence/substratum left, then, would be the Existence/Impersonal Brahman alone, One without a second (essence=the aspect of a thing that cannot be removed from it). If there is no second thing, then Brahman cannot be even called Absolute because there is no relative ('Paramam' means it is non-reducible ('nithya' or permanent or ever-present or eternal), non-contradictory ('nirvikaara' or 'nirviruddha' or non-changing), non-dependent ('aprameya' or 'swathanthra' or known by itself, 'sath') and so, essentially, non-negatable ('a-niraakaraneeya') and limitless/dimensionless ('anantha').

Thus, Brahman/Reality/The Cause, in ultimate understanding, is neither finite nor infinite, is neither relative (no finality in knowledge; no conclusion or culmination of knowledge; cannot solve the problem of death) nor absolute, is neither in time nor eternal. Reality is the substratum of both the polarities that illumines/validates them both. Reality IS! We say Reality is infinite and eternal in relation to space and time because we take space and time for granted. That's the reason, because the dualistic mind cannot get to the non-dualistic Truth. Mind can only lose its misconceptions that it is not the Reality, so Reality can recognize itself in the presence of the mind/intellect. Just like a mouth is needed as the medium for the mind to say/claim, "I am happy," intellect is needed as the medium for the Reality to realize/claim itself. In the wave-ocean example, we say that the ocean is the cause and wave is the effect. If we remove the ideas-and-forms (concepts-and-shapes or mind-and-matter; the unexpressed concept or thought becomes sound or word when expressed which then becomes a form; creation always happens with thought, word and deed - the three tools of creation) from the ocean and the wave, we are left with water alone and we see that water is neither the cause nor the effect, neither changing nor unchanging, neither a finite wave nor an infinite ocean! Liberation ('Moksha'=freedom from anything other than yourself) is nothing but the change in perspective, first from a wave to the ocean and then from the ocean to the water (from relative to absolute and then from the absolute to non-duality).  Creation is not like a painter where the painter and the painting are two separate things; it is more like a dancer: the dancer and the dance are one!

Brahman/Ultimate Reality is Non-Duality which is neither a duality nor a singularity!

This Unchanging, Formless and Attributeless Brahman/Truth is given a super-form with attributes - 'Creator' or Personified-God - to explain the 'Creation' in mind's terms (for the mind to grasp initially), but which, is to be negated at a later/advanced stage of understanding (when you realize True God is Formless and it is You).  Reality will have to be perceived as an object until we understand that it is "Me," the subject.  That is the purpose of 'Creator-God.'  The word 'God' is misleading because the word personifies. God is a mumbo-jumbo word invented by the priesthood. Existence is not a human production, 'Creator-God' is. That which is shared equally by all things and by all beings and that when taken away from the so-called entity turns out to be the essence/entirety of that entity is Existence/Is-ness, 'Asthithva,' (ornament minus gold is just a name). Since it is the common factor in everything, including space, Existence must be Infinity That's why there is only one Existence/Is-ness, but hundreds of Gods. Each, according to one's needs, one's suffering and one's expectations, creates a God or accepts an old belief about God.  Creator-God or a Personality of God is a concept and a contradictory concept because it is not agreeable to all (because it is an object).  God must be beyond any belief and/or concept although beliefs/concepts are an expression of it.  Existence is that which IS and Creator-God is that which is not. Creator-God is a fiction because it is created by man.  Therefore, do not be obsessed with my God, your God, his God etc. The belief of a Creator-God of your own make and choice, a duality, is an immature concept as it cannot offer a permanent solution to limitedness, insecurity (incompleteness or identification with limitedness), bondage, lack of peace, etc. If you are either promised or brain-washed that you will get eternal peace in heaven after you die, forget about it. It is illogical to have a beginning in heaven that is eternal in itself; it is a contradiction in terms. God-Existence is Here-Now!

So, what is the best definition of this Non-Dual Existence/Reality?...Omnipresent-Omniscient-Omnipotent! God (as the Ultimate Reality/Truth or the First Cause) must be ever-present (omnipresent, ever-true, permanent/real, real in all the three states of time; =eternally-unchanging presence-existence, non-negatable, non-contradictory; must be the source of life), all-knowing (omniscient, changeless, self-shining, self-aware and independent knowing principle; ultimate subjectivity, =unchanging-knower without a knower-status, non-dependent) and pure/limitless and/or quality-less as the First Cause which is beyond space and time (omnipotent, limitless in space-time-property means it is all-pervading, eternal and non-dual/complete, =non-limited, non-dual, dimensionless).  God must, in other words, satisfy these four conditions/criteria: ever-present, non-changing, known-by-itself and non-limitedness. That is the only God that would be agreeable to all. Otherwise it is not qualified to call it God. God must be the non-contradictory source of life!  How do we then define the best pointer to God that is ultimate, all-inclusive and non-contradictory?...God-The Reality is Infinite-Existence-Awareness-Completeness!  They are not different parts, but they are different names for the only one "thing" from different angles. Reality is available in the form of Existence in all living beings and in all non-living objects and everywhere and is also available in living/sentient beings (ones with subtle bodies; sentient=be able to perceive, think and feel things) in the form of Knowing-Awareness. And being aware of Existence without objects (or without the "other"), being one without a second, is itself Infinity/Completeness or Love/'Aananda'/'Moksha'/Godhood! Since Reality is beyond words and concepts, this definition can be the best pointer to that Reality, the "one" that is aware of this teaching.

>>>The oldest words for Ultimate Reality are 'Sathyam', 'Aathma' and 'Brahman' from Sanskrit and 'Tao' from Chinese.  The literal meanings of Aathma are all-pervading source, indestructible, irreducible and 'I' and that of Brahman is limitless. Aathma=Self-Evident Consciousness/Existence Principle in an individual; Aathma=Sath+Chith; 'I,' the Source, 'Swaroopam', true-self. 'Sathyam' or 'Sath' (=Is-ness/Independent Presence; Truth/Reality/Existence which holds/controls the mortal and the immortal together; in actuality there is a difference between Sath and Sathyam, Sath=Being and Sathyam is Truth; a dream is Sath or existential but not true; mathematics is true but not existential; the Ultimate Reality is both Sath and Sathyam) is the most essential element/aspect of the Upanishad's definitions/pointers of Brahman and Aathma: 'Sathyam-Gnyaanam-Anantham=Brahman,' or 'Sath-Chith-Aananda=Aathma,' meaning unlimited Presence/Existence plus unlimited Awareness/Intelligence (Unlimitedness/Aananda implies the knowledge /knowing that I am full and complete; 'gny-a-na'=complete knowing or complete knowledge; na=no and a=no and ana=positively yes). Reality/God supports the manifestation by giving it Existence, Awareness and Aananda. This fits the definition/pointer of God the best as it is a non-dependent, non-limited and non-contradictory principle. Anything else would be a concept or a belief. Western world's definition of Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent is similar. Contemporary words for Reality are Awareness/Consciousness/'Sphurana'/'Gnyaanam' (which are the most direct, impersonal and accurate words for understanding the Absolute) and Being-Knowing-Loving. 'Spirit' is the religious word for Awareness/Consciousness (Root word for Spirit is Sanskrit's 'Sprutha' or 'Spruha' meaning Consciousness). So, what is the nature of God?...Sath-Chith-Aananda-Anantham (four 'swaroopams')!>>>

We have defined God from the perspective of macrocosm, the whole. What is God from the perspective of microcosm, the individual, the experience?...That which can never be known/experienced objectively and that which can never be negated by anyone, anywhere and at anytime is God! And what is that from our own experience?..."I!"  "I" is called 'Aathma' or 'Saakshi' in Sanskrit, the in-variable reality of an individual which is a witness or aware of waking, dreaming and deep sleep states ('Saakshi'=The Seer/Witness of Oneself as the One and Only; more precisely, Witnessing; 'saa'=with, 'aksha'=eyes or senses or wisdom; impartial/impersonal witness of life; Saakshi=The True "I"; Saakshi witnesses all thoughts, words and deeds without interfering with them or being affected by them; Saakshi is the position Pure Consciousness takes in an Embodied-Enlightenment; 'a'=opposite of, 'ksha'=decaying or changing or retractable; When the mind is active, the apparent Aathma component of a Jeeva is called Jeevaathma; Jeeva/ego=identifies with a body and Jeevaathma/soul=associates with a body). "I" is the only one that is not a concept or thought because "I AM" (the sense of being plus knowing) is the most essential, primary, constant and impersonal experience of ours that is continuous (thought is discontinuous). "I" is the knowing-witness of thoughts, knowing-witness of experience. "I" is the self-shining light by which everything else is lit up!  The simplest and the most practical name for God-The Reality, therefore, is "I, Aathma!" When each one of us says "I," we think there are so many "I"s, but they are all referring to the same one "I" which is Awareness (only Awareness can be aware). The knowledge "I" is always Awareness' knowledge of itself and shines equally and brightly in everyone, whether you are a sage or a criminal, whether you are a theist or an atheist. Who can deny "I?!" Even an atheist could not disagree with this definition of God/The-Reality. Investigate the nature of this"I!"

Sathyam/Aathma/Brahman/Truth/Reality (Truth=What IS) is that which is never negated and which must never be experienced objectively.  Anything you experience is a state and therefore is subject to time, place and condition. If Brahman/Aananda is eternal bliss, how can you expect to experience it? True-God is the Ultimate Subject ('Aprameya'); you never experience the Ultimate/Original Subject, just as, you never experience your own original face. If you can think it (or, in other words, make it an object), it is not Sath because two Realities cannot exist side by side (one has to be less real than the other).  Sath/Existence, the continuous and independent knowing presence (in which all experience appears and thus not limited by any experience) is not an object, must be everywhere; it must be Infinity or Totality.  True-God, thus, is not a thing or a person; it is Pure Existence, Pure Presence; not a Creator but Creativity, not a God but Godliness!  Here is the equation for the subjective, non-dual, ultimate knowing/experience: Being=Simultaneous experience of knowing+loving Who You Really Are!

Kashmeeree Shaivism: "Our Self (God) is the most obvious than the most evident of things and yet most concealed than the most hidden of things!"...You do not have to see the eyes to know that you can see (you know it just by seeing; you are a seer just by seeing); Awareness does not have to know a particular object to know that it is aware (it is aware just by being; you are Awareness just by being aware)! Awareness does not need mind to know itself; yet mind is searching all over the world to find Awareness! What is the proof you have eyes?...because you can see (you are the seer). What is the proof you are Awareness?...because you are aware (you are the awarer). The seeker is the sought. The distance between you and Pure Awareness is zero. So simple, but Maya (Universal Mind, The Unmanifest-Potential, All-Intelligence+All-Power) with its greatest power of veiling hides this truth (Fullness/Aananda) in an open field (the most closest to you) to make the impossible possible...Life! What a miracle!!

God is not a thing; it is thing-ness...To say God exists is wrong, God is Existence. God means Presence or 'Is-ness.'  We can destroy a form, but not its Is-ness. Is-ness will remain forever (science says nothing real can be destroyed). Ice may become water, water may become steam, steam may condense to become ice again, etc.; but its Is-ness remains the same.  Is-ness is more like a quality that is common to all things and selves, an existential/non-dual presence - like pure love. So, you cannot talk to or pray to pure love or Is-ness, you can only understand it, be it, live it. You need not create temples of love, and bowing down to those statues will be meaningless. And that's what has been happening in the churches, in the temples, in the mosques.  If the main goals of the religion - ethics ('dharma'=disciplined karma), meditation ('dhyaana') and samaadhi ('Aathma Vichaara' and 'Aathma Anubhava'=exploration, realization and abiding of/in your inner, non-physical, true nature leading to universal welfare; anu=along with, bhava=to exist, to be; anubhava=to be knowingly; co-existence of knowledge and feeling; 'sam'=well, 'aadhi'=placement=well-placed) - are ignored, what results is organized religions and belief systems fueling separatism, hatred and violence which is quite evident today. Religion, by far, has been the number one cause of destruction and death throughout the history, as we all know.

Having a blind belief/faith in a Personal-God and staying there without any spiritual progress is the problem. Personal-God is your imagination, your/human creation; it is a device to help you to pray. Once you have learned to pray, forget all about God. Get rid of that walking stick and walk on your own feet (If God doesn't answer our prayers to relieve misery, he is cruel; if he answers our prayers it means he interferes and thus changes and he can't be relied on as the unchanging eternal one: he may even die if he can change). True-prayer means gratitude, bowing down to the uncreated/constant element in you, the Existence/Consciousness. The only prayer you ought to make is that for Truth (=I AM, the intersection point of space and Infinity, time and Eternity; the doorway to Reality; the closest place for which...is your heart/soul; why go too far? Start with the self which is the only certainty in life, there is no room for someone else to come in between you and your self!). Do not pray to God to give you this or that, it will be useless and wrong. Ask only for Truth and you will be put on the path towards it. Perform Karma Yoga or selfless service ('nisvaartha-seva' leading up to compassionate-mind or 'nisvaartha-manas'). Do selfless prayer which must lead one to meditation, stillness. In ancient times, temples (as pyramid structures) were built for meditation, not for congregation.

Dhyaana (meditation, still-mind, no-mind, ='nischala-manas'), in turn, will take you to merged-mind or withdrawn-mind (samaadhi=thoughtless awareness; sam=total, aa=merged, dhi=buddhi; ='nirmala-manas'; pure-mind; mind merged in soul/silence/anandamaya-kosha/chidhaabhaasa='oneness'; buddhi in the right place; 'sam'=well, 'aadhi'=placement=well-placed) and then to gnyaana (Self-Knowledge, non-mind, ='nirmoha-manas' meaning free of binding desires or in spite of desires but not the absence of desires; self-correction; also free of raaga-dveshas; raaga-dveshas or like-dislikes are psychological dependences on external factors) through Self-Inquiry/Self-Investigation ('Aathmaabhyaasa'; tracing the source of 'I' and abiding in it; application of Self-Knowledge to the subtle body). Self-Knowledge is owning up the fact that I am the Self/Aathma/Awareness. Self-Knowledge is the knowledge by knowing which nothing else needs to be known (effects are different ideas-and-forms of the the "one" cause). Why?...Because anything you know in the relative world will always be changing/varying and will not be valid some day (change requires the dependency on something else as the cause of that change which makes the changeable as dependent and temporary), whereas the Self-Knowledge is Invariable/Absolute that will remain the same for eternity. "Facts" and "Awareness" are not the same thing. We can know all the facts about gravity, but if we do not have an awareness of why gravity works, we know nothing. Likewise, we can know all the facts about Change/Life, but if we have no awareness of what Change/Life is and why it occurs, we know nothing. Hence, there is no greater purifier than knowing Who You Really Are! Now, despite the variable, you know that "I am not that variable, let the experience go on, it is not under my control (just like our personal dream is not under our control)." Reality/Life is a paradox: Self is a Causeless-Cause, the Unmoved-Mover (more precisely, the Unmoving-Moving), Infinity and Zero at the same time. Without Self, the appearance/dream is not possible. Yet the Self did not cause the manifestation/dream!

<<<Once you realize Non-Duality, however, prayer to a Personal-God is not a problem. Duality co-exists with Non-Duality like the blue sky co-exists with the (understanding of) the true colorless sky, because they exist on two different planes of reality. Duality exists on relative/transactional level and Non-Duality exists on absolute level; there is no contradiction there but it is important not to mix them up. Sages say that the duality imagined for the sake of true-prayer (love, worship, 'bhakthi') is more beautiful than the Non-Duality! You can appreciate and be thankful to Maya without a sense/feeling of 'samsaara!'>>>

God is also not a person because the Total, Infinity, cannot be a person; it is Impersonal...If God was a person, different selves having different fortunes/karma cannot be explained, because God, by definition, is Impartial and All-Loving. Infinity has nothing opposite to it, nothing distinct from it. God cannot say "I" because there is no other that exists as thou. In contrast to whose ego can it create its own ego? God is aware but not aware as 'something.' God is not even 'one;' it is more accurate to say God is 'not-two' because one implies two, three or multiplicity. God is the whole, all alone (Non-Dual), so it cannot be related to anyone. All apparent relationships exist in it and cannot exist beyond it. The intense and continuous movement of sub-atomic particles happen in a rock, but rock as a whole has not moved or changed. From the point of view of a sub-atomic particle, the rock does not seem to exist. From the point of view of the rock, nothing other than it exists!

Things/selves (objects, ideas-and-forms, appearances, 'naama-roopa'; 'naama'=concept/idea, 'roopa'=limit/form/percept; 'roopa' also means beauty) may or may not exist, but Existence always is. Things/selves exist because they may go into non-existence some day, but Existence can't. Because Existence (Sath, Being, Is-ness, 'ashtithva') can never not exist. Existence is intrinsic to Existence and it lends seeming existence to everything else just like Awareness is intrinsic to Awareness and it lends seeming consciousness to selves/subjects. Existence/Awareness doesn't require any means of knowledge for its existence; so it is self-existent, self-evident. No-existence is a self-contradictory concept; illogical. It is like saying out loud, "I don't have a tongue." It is like if someone knocks on your door looking for X (i.e., you), you answer saying that X is not home. The denial of existence/awareness becomes the proof of existence/awareness. You can never have the experience of no-existence. Existence/Awareness cannot lead us to no-existence/no-awareness, for, the moment no-existence/no-awareness is known, it becomes Existence/Awareness itself! Existence, therefore, has no birth or death. Existence, thus, is beyond time and space (hence, Infinite), self-existing (Independent) and lends existence to the world. The Totality of Existence is God. So it cannot be asked whether God exists or not. That is like asking whether Existence exists or not, which is absurd. The question cannot even exist if there was no Existence, nor can the questioner.

<<<"I may not exist" is, therefore, an irrational statement because you know that you can never not-exist.  The experience of no-existence is never possible because you can never be aware of not being aware! The experience of "I am unaware" is impossible for Awareness, "I," because its intrinsic nature is to be aware (fire can never say, "I am not hot"). The "I" that you truly are is Existence/Awareness, not the body-mind (anything you can be aware of - is not you; anything that requires a means of knowledge to know - is not you; so you are not a waker or a dreamer or a sleeper - you are the witness and the substratum of all three; seeing proves that you have eyes and reflected light proves that there is pure light and the fact that you have conscious experience proves that you are Awareness). Didn't you exist (and, hence, were aware) in deep sleep without (the awareness of) a body-mind-world? Well, there is no essential difference between deep sleep and bodily death or even the 'gap' between two mentations in the waking state because they all lack objective qualities to be differentiated among themselves. Whether you are in deep sleep or death, you are always aware and existent. Existence/Awareness only exists in the form of "I" and not in any other form!  If it were to exist in any form other than "I," then it becomes an object. But Awareness is the ultimate subject, always knowing. Existence/Awareness is our true/intrinsic nature, so we can never be not-that! What cannot be changed and is there without any mediation or effort is called our intrinsic nature. Awareness (the real you) can never ever be unaware; it is choiceless! It is not something you do, it something you are!>>>

Therefore, God exists - God is the only "one" that exists...but not as a thing or as a person, even though a thing or a person is not not-God. 'Naama-roopa' (ideas-and-forms) is 'Sath-Chith-Aananda' but 'Sath-Chith-Aananda' is not 'naama-roopa.' Naama-roopa are superimposed on Existence like a shadow is superimposed on a man; i.e., naama-roopa are not away from Existence, but they are not part of Existence (Existence/Brahman has no parts). Images are not away from a TV screen, but they are not part of the TV screen. A golden ring is not away from gold, but it is not part of gold. A golden ring is gold but the gold doesn't have to be a ring. Gold is independently existent and can take the shape of any ornament. Ornaments are simply ideas-and-forms of the only substance there is...gold! Ornaments are not, only gold is. Waves are not, only water is. Waves are not away from water, but they are not part of water either because they are water. Similarly: All else is not, only God/Existence is.  The existence of the effect is the proof for the existence of the cause because the cause exists in the form of the effect (the "is-ness" of the objects and the "is-ness" and the "conscious-ness" of the selves belong to God whereas the ideas-and-forms aspect is illusory/'mithya'/has borrowed existence/non-substantial/false/irrelevant/exists only at the verbal level); effect can not exist separate from the cause. In the cause form, substance (with unmanifest ideas-forms) dominates and in the effect form, only name-form dominates. Searching for God is exactly like a dreamer searching for the waker in dream; a TV character searching for the screen in the movie.  Every experience proves 'Existence-Consciousness-Infinity.' Just like seeing anything proves that you have eyes; just like seeing any object through reflected light proves that there is pure light.  Do not say there are many Gods, do not say there is only one God, but say there is only God! God is 'Eka, Saara, Nithya, Sathyam' meaning God is One, the Essence/Truth, the Eternal/Changeless and the Independently-Existent-Only-Reality.

God is, therefore, Existence itself and the only way to know...is to "BE" THAT knowingly! True-God/Existence is that which alone exists and allows the entire cosmos to appear within itself as itself. Existence/Consciousness is our true/intrinsic nature and the most common and the simplest word for it is "I, Aathma!"  God/Brahman has to be recognized as "I," the witness of the presence and the absence of thoughts in the mind.  Investigate to find the source/nature of "i/ego" to know that there is only God, "I." "I" is self-existent. Theism and atheism are both beliefs. A theist believes in the Personality of God without experience/understanding.  An atheist's "Prove me God?" implies that God is separate from him and the moment he considers himself separate from God, he has reduced God from Infinity to a finite entity (=a belief) which cannot be (because by definition, God/Existence is Infinity which precludes the existence of any second entity). When you say, "There is no God," you have already made up in your mind what it looks like, where it is, what its properties are (you already have a belief system about God). You have already decided that God is not currently here.

Neither the theist nor the atheist has searched all of experience (all states of mind) to conclude whether God exists or not.  In order to avoid this fact, that "I am not interested in my own being," theists and atheists are creating all these questions and beliefs about God. Why? Because belief eliminates the need to think, discriminate and inquire. A concept is an idea or knowledge about an object.  A belief is a concept that refers to reality without any substantiation or reasoning.  Belief is a kind of slavery because it is a conditioning imposed upon you by others.  Belief is blind, it is part of ignorance.  To believe something means you don't know it and yet you think you know it. Belief systems destroy the very possibility of knowing higher truths.  These questions are strategies to avoid their central question: "Who am i?" True religion consists in the inquiry "Who am i?," "What am i?" and "What is the world?" "i" is the closest "thing" to you and nobody else can answer it except you. If you focus on the other, you will not reach the dimension of the unmanifested. You will remain in the world of forms - because you can touch another person only from outside, you cannot reach the inner dimension of that person. We can touch the other only from outside. As a gold bangle, you need to look at yourself first to know that you are actually gold and then you can easily look at others (like a ring, or a necklace, etc.) as also gold. Only if we look within ourselves, we can reach our own inner dimension. You will have to go digging deeper and deeper into your being. Since Reality is Non-Dual (there is only "one" Self), Self-Knowledge is the only solution to the sense of separation/limitation. One day, when you reach the very source of your life, you will know.  Not as an object, God can only be known as "I am God!" It has to be a first person experience, subject knowing/feeling the subject.  Complete Awareness is achieved with the simultaneous experience of knowing+loving Who You Really Are!  Self alone can see Self in pure intellect. That day, the real question (whether God exists or not) and the real answer (there is only God/Existence) will have happened simultaneously!

Jalaal Ad-Deene Muhammad Baalkhi Rumi: "I searched for God and found only myself. And I searched for myself and found only God!"...13th Century AD.

Jesus Christ: "I and my Father (God) are one!"...1st Century AD.

Krishna (Bhagavad Geetha, 7.12): "All states of being—be they of goodness, passion or ignorance—are manifested by my energy. I am, in one sense, everything—but I am independent. I am not under the modes of this material nature!"...Every "thing" (matter/mind/energy) is Me (Awareness), but I am not any "thing!"...33rd Century BC.

Eeshavaasya Upanishad, Verse 16: "Sah-Aham Asmi!"...(So Hum), I am What He is, 33rd Century BC.

Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad (by Yagnyavalkya): "Aham Brahma ’smi!"...I am Brahman/God-The Reality...73rd Century BC.

>>>Since God is all-pervading, we must be experiencing God/Brahman (in the form of "I") all the time, but not knowing for what it is. We have partial knowledge and partial ignorance: I am present, I am aware are the reflections of Existence-Awareness aspects but we lack the understanding of the Infinity/Completeness aspect of God. In complete darkness there is no rope and no rope-snake. In complete light there is only rope and no rope-snake. In twilight, however, where there is partial darkness and partial light, there is only rope-snake and we are scared of it. A common man is in this situation and is imagining a rope-snake's bite and suffering. That's the reason we need light, we need knowledge of our intrinsic nature as also full and complete, ever peaceful and happy. Ignorance=I am not Limitless/Infinite Awareness but limited/finite Awareness within this body-mind; not knowing that all is non-dual. In order to understand this Unconditional Infinity/Completeness aspect of God, here are some important pointers to contemplate on, meditate on (clues, koans or riddles) and to investigate the nature of "I," Brahman/Reality/Awareness:

1. God-The Reality or Brahman or Pure Awareness=Existence-Awareness-Infinity-Completeness, Sath-Chith-Anantha-Aananda, the most important equation of life.
2. World is an apparent or a second-order or a dream-like reality. World is Brahman but Brahman is not the world. Shadow is You but You are not the shadow.
3. God-The Reality is not an object, but objects are experienced because of it.
4. Reality is inseparable from objects; you can only separate Reality intellectually.
5. Original/Pure Awareness can never be experienced objectively (just like we cannot experience our original eyes objectively), but can be "claimed" as you.
6. Whatever you can experience or aware of, is not Awareness.
7. Whether Awareness is experiencing an apparent object or not, it is always experiencing itself or knowing its own being.
8. Enlightenment is not knowing/achieving something 'new,' but discarding the misconceptions that you are not-God. Enlightenment=The simple Recognition of our Being as the Unlimited Awareness!
9. Enlightenment is a cognitive shift, not an experiential shift.
10. God-The Reality is neither known nor unknown nor knowable and yet it exists.
11. Awareness does not require a proof because every thing else is proved by Awareness.
12. Awareness only is aware and it does not require mind to be Awareness, but it requires mind to claim that "I AM Limitless Awareness."
13. Pure Awareness is not available for any transaction until it reflects in a mind just like pure light is invisible until it reflects on an object.
14. Deep sleep is the absence of duality; God-The Reality is the knowledge of the absence of duality.
15. God/Awareness is self-revealing like the sun; brightness is not something the sun does, it is something that it is. Awareness is on 24/7.
16. God-The Reality is the substratum of both the relative and the absolute and lights up both.
17. Reality is the eye of the eye, ear of the ear, praana of the praana and mind of the mind.
18. Reality is other than what changes and what doesn't change and that is What You Are!

So, what will you gain from this inquiry?...Self-Knowledge. Self-Knowledge is the knowledge that you are God and there is nothing other than God. Self-Knowledge is that by knowing which there will be no need to know any other knowledge. And what will you gain from Self-Knowledge?...Freedom! More precisely you lose ignorance. Losing ignorance is like gaining Freedom. Confucius: "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance!" Freedom from the finite person that is involved in 'samsaara' that you mistakenly thought you were. Time and space appearing in you is Peace-Happiness and you appearing in time and space is misery-suffering. The world is in Me, it is nothing other than Me, but I am independent of the world...that's the knowledge. So knowing that the world is not real (not real as matter and mind), you now can now enjoy the life as a play, playing different roles at different times, which will in no way affect the real-you! However, the laws of the relative reality do apply in that plane for any body-mind complex, so respect those laws. Do not underestimate or overestimate life/Maya. Your actions will, then, be automatically in line with Totality/Love because there is, essentially, only One of You. Won't that be fun?!>>>

>>> Table of Contents >>>

Introduction
What is the purpose of Life?
What is God-The Reality?
In what other ways can the Reality be expressed?
Why don't we experience/understand Reality?
What are the mechanics of ignorance?
How do we remove (the illusion of) ignorance?
What is the reality of the world and how did Reality create it?
How are Reality (Brahman) and matter-mind (Maya) related?
What is the proof of Reality?
What is the difference between I-I, I AM and I AM THIS?
What are the levels of Reality?
What is Thuriya?
Why did the Infinite Non-Dual Reality (Brahman) become finite and dual (self and world)?
Are time, space, causality, choice and separate-self real in this Manifestation?
What is Maya? Is the world unreal?
What is the most accurate pointer to Reality/Brahman?
How is Truth-Absolute the background of Brahman or Sath-Chith-Aananda?
What is our true nature?
What is the clue to better understand Life?
What is the cause of suffering or misery? And what is the clue to experience Peace/Fullness?
Is waking state (transactional reality) like a dream?
How is the creation of soul negated in ultimate understanding?
How does Self (Jeevaathma) equal Reality (Brahman)?
Know your Self (Jeevaathma) to know Brahman (Reality)?
How is God-The Reality a mystery for the mind?

Where can Reality/Self/Brahman be found?
What are the required qualities for liberation?
How many are the basic means or paths to Reality/Brahman?
What are the steps in Self Realization/Actualization?
How to Experience/Realize Self/Aathma (Part-I)?
How to Experience/Realize Self/Aathma (Part-II)?
Who are what realizes this Awakening?
Where does the knowledge of Brahman arise? In the Aathma or in the Anaathma?
Is Awakening a knowledge or an experience?
What is the next step after Awakening?
How to Experience/Realize Reality/Brahman?
What is the most significant statement that can lead us to Enlightenment?
What are some common Enlightenment myths?

Conclusion

_________________________________________________________________________

Introduction.........

A single cell in our body is relatively ignorant, while the composite consciousness of all the cells of an organ is an intelligent being and an expert in its field. Now, if we put together the consciousness of all the organs in our body we end up with even a higher intelligent being who is the total consciousness of all the living cells in our body. Soul is that intelligence plus power of an individual body. In the same way, Personified-God or Creator or Cause is the soul/intelligence-power of the entire universe/cosmos. In other words, Pure-Consciousness or Brahman or 'Paramaathma' or the Supreme Reality (seemingly) limited to and pervading a body of an individual is called Jeevaathma/Jeeva or Soul; Pure-Consciousness extended to and pervading the whole cosmos is called Eeshwara (Creator/Cause). Eeshwara is Pure-Consciousness plus an impersonal and insentient principle called 'Maya' or 'Maya-Shakthi' that is apparently creating the selves and the world. 'Maya' or 'Maya-Shakthi'=The Unmanifest-Potential like Potential Energy=Causal Matter. Maya is the intrinsic power of Eeshwara. Eeshwara may be defined as the cause of the universe, the one because of which everything exists in manifestation. Eeshwara is the First Cause of the universe/cosmos, the Unchanging Consciousness+Changing Existence. Eeshwara is Pure-Consciousness with attributes. Eeshwara is called 'Mayaavi,' the wielder of Maya. Eesh=Power/Energy, Wara=Supreme/Master, Eeshwara=Supreme Power/Energy=Absolute/Total=Energy endowed with Intelligence=Energy plus the Reflection of Pure-Consciousness=Master of three gunas (satthva, rajas and thamas or Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva).

Pure-Consciousness=Conscious-Presence that is Dimensionless or Qualityless.

=Whatever you are conscious of...is not Consciousness.

=Intelligence Principle=Brahman.

Maya=Maya-Shakthi=The Unmanifest-Potential/Power of Eeshwara=All-Power

=Causal-Matter=Whatever that can be observed or experienced is Matter.

=Inert Principle=Matter/Energy.

Eeshwara=Absolute/First Cause=Absolute Self=The Creator/Manifester=The Master.

=Reflection of Pure-Consciousness in Cosmos+Maya=The Wielder of Maya.

=Mixture of Intelligence Principle and Inert Principle=Master of Ignorance.

=All-Intelligence+All-Power=Consciousness-At-Rest=Self-Aware Existence.

World=Consciousness-In-Movement.

The main difference between an individual's dream and Eeshwara's dream is that an individual forgets his nature while dreaming whereas Eeshwara knows that its nature is Pure-Consciousness. An individual is under the influence of Maya while Eeshwara is the wielder of Maya. Eeshwara is a lucid waker. When we limit ourselves as the individual ego, in our limited view Pure/Absolute Being/Truth seems to be other than ourselves and looks limited as the Creator - which is a concept (the highest human concept). However, anything you can think and aware of is imaginary and not the Truth. Truth is not objective because it is everywhere. So, Impersonal apparently looks personal. Non-Dual apparently looks dual. In ultimate understanding, there is no ego, there is no world and there is no Creator; only the Truth. Because when the illusory ego falls away, other concepts (body, world and Creator) will dissolve with it.

Intellect's way of dealing with Pure-Consciousness is to personify it and call it God because intellect can only think objectively. Reality will have to be perceived as an object until we understand that it is "Me," the subject. So, the two terms are basically one and the same.  Consciousness/Awareness/Existence, "I," Truth/Reality, Self/Aathma/Brahman, Source/The All and Is-ness/Godliness would be more preferable words for God. They are less ambiguous words than God, especially after the word 'God' has been beaten up so badly in recent times (there is so much of a religious baggage). God means different "things" to different people. And it often comes with preconceptions and funny notions. 'Soul' is also one such corrupted word (In Sanskrit, soul is known as 'Jeevaathma' or 'Jeeva' or 'Chidhaabhaasa' or 'Chithchhaaya' or Reflected-Consciousness or Identified-Consciousness). Vedantha uses the term Eeshwara for Creator-God and Brahman/Awareness/Consciousness/Existence/Self/Aathma for the Ultimate Reality. This convention is followed here.

Sanskrit words are used/indicated for proper meaning in places where English words (coming from materialistic cultures) don't do any justice.  In cultures where a deep search has been made into the inner (existential) reality, there are many words describing different phenomena.  Those languages are clearcut about the words, their meanings. They have worked and found these subtle differences. Hence the beauty of going to the Sanskrit words - right meanings are hidden in those words.  Imprecise definitions or words will not work in Self-Inquiry/Self-Investigation ('Aathma Vichaara' meaning Self-Inquiry+Self-Abidance; Self-Abidance is renouncing the identification with the activities of the body-mind as a separate-self and staying with the Unchanging-Self as the Witness of activities as a singular experience; staying repeatedly in Self means repetition which produces re-cognition meaning - knowing again) because they are open to interpretation.  For instance, the root meaning of ego (from Latin) is 'I.' In Sanskrit, ego is called 'ahamkaara' which means I-concept or 'I' with the notion of doership (aham+kara, me-ness). Ahamkaara basically means ignorance, a separate-self, a separate consciousness. 'Aham' means 'I' which is used for the only 'I' or 'Pure-I' or Self in the highest teachings (for worldly transactions body and mind are included in 'I' but for one's self-image, the body and mind should not be included). And this is an important difference! On another note, the word 'love' is used in English for all forms of love. But, Sanskrit has distinct words for the phenomenon of love: 'kaama' (=sensual pleasures, sex, it only takes), 'prema' (=love for the other, ordinary love, it gives and takes), 'karuna' (=compassion, it only gives) and 'aananda' (=causeless/unbroken love, unlimitedness, it only knows itself; it is the substratum of all feelings, 'poorna').

Absolute=/means it is total and non-contradictory (beyond the relative, first-cause, universally valid, beyond space+time+causality, omnipresent, still a state of Consciousness-at-Rest). Paramam=Supreme=Absolute+Independent=Not confined to space, time, properties and dependency; 'desha, kaala, vasthu paricchhedha shunyam paramam'. Supreme Reality is not a state. From the Ultimate Perspective...Reality is Non-Dual. And Experience/Manifestation/Life is not possible. All there is, is Reality.  From the Relative Perspective...Life is duality. Non-Dual somehow "appears" dual. There is the feeling of a real subject (ego) and a real object (world). The insentient and ever-changing mind and matter (subject and object), however, cannot be absolutely-real.  From the Enlightened Perspective...Life is Enlightened-Duality.  World is an appearance (Maya, ideas-and-forms), not factual. Experiencing is real, but not real as matter and mind. Life is an (apparent) Impersonal Functioning.  There is the observer object (impersonal ego) and the observed object (world). Self is the only subject (an object is anything other than the Self). The Enlightened Perspective is the integration of the Absolute and the Relative Perspectives for daily living.  Since it is not practical to deny the experience of the world, it is wiser to take the Enlightened Perspective to handle Life.

We are aware of our head only when we have a headache. If we are aware of our misery means there is something deeply wrong with our living. Why? Because we are living from the point of view of a "me;" we are not living our lives naturally/spontaneously. Spontaneous living is living as the Impersonal Consciousness, as a Witness. There is no liver of spontaneous life, only living. There is no judgement (good and bad, right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, etc).  Therefore, act with a feeling of freewill knowing that it's all God's will! Because what we feel like doing is what is destined to happen and yet we do not feel like slaves.  In other words, live in the "doing" world without a sense of personal doership (me-ness) and/or personal enjoyership (mine-ness)! Accept Life as is.  With the disappearance of sense of separation as a doer, our behavior will be in line with the Totality and serves the Totality.  Life, then, becomes a play, fun and joy.

Jiddu Krishnamurthi: "What is the secret of life?...I don't mind what happens!"

Enlightened Perspective is the shift from life's triangular format of ego--world--Creator ('samsaara') to a seeker's binary format of I/Awareness--Ideas and Forms (Aathma-Anaathma; Self-Aware Being vs. Objects).  Karma-yogi is in triangular format (depends on God/Creator) and gnyaana-yogi is in binary format (depends on Self or independent). This binary format is called the internalization of knowledge in day-to-day life ((advaithic meditation, 'nidhidhyaasana', 'samaadhi abhyaasa', 'nithya saadhana'; seeing multiplicity (matter-mind) in unity (Sath-Chith) and seeing unity in multiplicity; seeing the world in you and you in the world (BG:6:29))). Formed external God (Creator) is nothing but our own formless internal higher nature or knowledge. God is like a walking stick. We can now draw strength from within and walk on our own feet. Now you see both sides of the coin. Our journey needs to be from World-dependence to Creator-dependence to Self-dependence. Self-dependence is Inner-dependence or Independence!

The following presentation is in line with this Enlightened Perspective.

What is the purpose of Life?..........

Life as a whole is purposeless. Life is the expression of Awareness through body-mind-complexes.  Life is goal-less; that is why it is eternal. Goal implies a limit. If there is a goal to life then life cannot be eternal, because when the goal is achieved life is dead. But we know that life can never be dead. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. Purpose means an impediment. Purpose/goal is in the future but life is now. If you are looking for a goal or a purpose, you will miss it, you will lose it. A flower blooms joyfully whether there is a passer-by or not; there is no meaning in its flowering, yet it is beautiful. It can only bloom fully if it blooms without any purpose.  Is love not enough?  Life is not a business, not a school. Maya, with which Eeshwara manifests this world, is the greatest power and the greatest wonder and it is impossible to understand its purpose or workings.  How can an ever-changing mind understand an ever-changing matter? Parallel tracks never meet. Life/Maya is a mystery. However, You (Awareness) are not a mystery! You (as the ego) just need to drop your mis-conceptions that You are bound and limited in this illusory world and realize your true nature as Awareness. Let the life/world ('samsaara') go on its own way. Life/experience happens when Awareness shines, which is always. Life is Awareness but Awareness is independent of life!  Purposeless Life is Reality's greatest gift to us. If Reality had given Life a purpose, Life would have no choice but to obey. Then the point of everybody's Life would have had to have been the same! Life would be monotonous and boring.

So Reality, in infinite wisdom, imbued Life with no purpose whatsoever, in order that each and every one of us might imbue it with a purpose of our own, thus to define and create, experience and demonstrate, announce and declare Who We Really Are! Or we may say that the purpose of our (individual) life is peace/happiness or freedom. Freedom from the sense of bondage, from the wrong notion that one has suffering.

What is God-The Reality?.........

God is Absolute Reality and Reality is Non-Dual.

<<<How is Reality Non-Dual?...If there were two independent realities, they would either be the same or one would be more real than the other and therefore the 'other' could not be said to be as real as the first.  Dualism is the belief that the experience is divided into two realities - a subject that experiences/knows and an object that is experienced/known and that the security and the peace/happiness is in the objects. Another name for dualism is separatism.  Dual Reality of the subject (mind/ego) and the object (matter/world) is untenable because they interact with and depend on each other. They rise and sink together, always. Hence, both are untrue in themselves. They cannot be the same thing either, for they have contrary natures.  To prove the ears, you require a sound. To prove the sound, you require ears. Which proves which one?  So, mind and matter must depend on something else. Twin brothers cannot be the cause of each other. They require a substratum. Changing mind and changing matter require an unchanging substratum because whenever we see something that is illusory, we are, by definition, experiencing its reality or substratum even though we may not know it for what it is. All we have in life "apart" from matter (=grossified mind) and mind (=subtle matter) is Awareness/Consciousness. Everything in experience can be reduced/resolved into Awareness.

Awareness, "I," is the only independent, absolute proven constant in this whole experience. You can strip off everything you know from you but you cannot strip off the essential you, Awareness, "I."  It is impossible. Try it!  Absence of Awareness (or an unaware "I") is a self-contradictory concept. Awareness, as the (apparent) Cause of the world, as the Cause of time and space, must be beyond time and space, must have no limits; no limits in time-space-attributes. Because Awareness' knowledge of itself (=the presence of being aware=I AM) is a constant, immediate, direct and continuous experience/knowledge under all conditions and all states (=not subject to any limits).  Unlimitedness in attributes/property means it is Non-Dual (Object limitation implies this is the object and there is nothing else like this in the whole cosmos. Unlimitedness in object-ness/property implies there is nothing in the cosmos which is different from it, =Non-Dual).  This Awareness, this Reality, this Universal "I," is known as 'Brahman' (=Limitless="I-I") in Sanskrit. In the context of an individual, it is known as 'Aathma' (=Self="I"=Essence). Aathma and Brahman are, ultimately, one and the same; "I"="I-I." This is the greatest truth discovered by the Vedic seers.  Aathma is Brahman known from within (=Truth); Brahman is Aathma known from without (=Reality).  Aathma derives from the root word 'aap' meaning 'all-pervading.' All-Pervading, unenclosed, open Awareness is Brahman; the same Awareness seemingly enclosed in a body-mind-complex is Aathma. In the context of the individual, that is micro, Brahman (the macro) is given the name Aathma. Aathma is the nickname for Brahman.>>>

Let us dig deeper into Reality. What is Reality? This is the mother of all questions. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Reality as "something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily." Oxford Dictionary defines Reality as "the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them." In other words, Reality is an independent presence (must always be true) beyond the influence of thought! (Because mind's view of Reality is filtered through the limitations of the thought; thought is in time and the sense organs are significantly defective/flawed, so mind erroneously thinks that time and space belong to Reality.) Reality is not subjective, it is objective (=independent of time and space, must be agreeable to all, cannot be negated).  Reality is the Independent Knowing/Conscious Presence that never changes (true at all times)! This means Reality has an Existence of its own; it is Absolute, Uncreated, Eternal, Indivisible, Self-Luminous, Attributeless and Actionless.  Reality/Truth ('Sathyam', 'Sathya' or 'Sath', Sath means what IS (Absolute Is-ness), Sath is that which is never negated and never experienced objectively), therefore, is none other than Awareness ("I") and Awareness, by nature, is Infinite or Limitless. Because there is nothing other than Awareness to limit Awareness.<<<Awareness is the knowing-witness of space which is infinite; Awareness is the knowing-witness of deep sleep state which is infinity and eternity; it is impossible to know anything "outside" of Awareness; if you can think of journeying forward in time a billion billion light years, will you ever journey outside of Awareness?>>>

What is the test of Reality?  Reality must be non-contradictory!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 2.16: "That which is changing (dependent) can't be real and that which is real (independent) never changes!"...Reality exists the same way forever!

If Reality is Non-Dual, Changeless and Limitless, then what/where is this world? (The next big question!) World/objects are ever changing, unreliable, temporary and dependent, so they don’t qualify as Reality. (Because the external world is impermanent from the point of view of the dream and deep sleep states. And the experiences of the dream and deep sleep states contradict the experiences of the waking state).  The laws of thought dictate us that the universe cannot have been always existed (in physicality) because infinity (=cause of a cause of a cause...) can never be actualized in physicality. The manifest world can never be infinitely old.  If the manifest world is only temporarily existent (means existence is not its intrinsic nature), its existence must be borrowed from somewhere else (like the heat in a hot water is borrowed from fire). Existence cannot belong to the innumerable objects because there cannot be innumerable Existences. Existence is one homogeneous presence, like space (except that it is independent, permanent and attributeless). Doesn't a room temporarily borrow space-ness from space? Therefore, the world must have a "cause" (change requires a cause) and must depend on something else which is independent and capable of lending existence. World must have (somehow) "emerged" out of this Independent, Eternal Reality. Since Reality is Permanent, Infinite, Changeless and Exists first (prior to "Creation"), any and all other existences (world, body and mind) are relative or temporary (finite things are dependent and are subject to change), and, therefore, are mere appearances or seeming modulations/vibrations or ideas-and-forms of that "One" Non-Dual Reality. Seeming, because the movement of thoughts gives the apparent motion to Reality. The entire world is a seeming motion of Reality caused by the motion of the thoughts/mind or Maya. The fact that the world/matter and the ego/mind are changing every moment in synchronicity implies that it is all an appearance. The complimentary pair of mind-matter is nothing but the seeming motion of One Maya only (it is a virtual reality); therefore there is no object for Reality.  World as an appearance or belonging to a lower order reality is the only way we can explain the presence of a Non-Dual, Changeless, Actionless Reality which is, itself, not a cause of this world!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 9.4 and 9.5: All beings are in Me; still, I am not in them. In fact, the beings are not in Me!...These two paradoxical statements only reveal that the world has a seeming existence (=appearance=name-and-form).

<<<How?...because a non-existent and/or a "new" world can never originate (matter can only change form, matter being beginningless cannot be created, matter was there in potential form "before" the Creation) and an existent Permanent/Changeless/Indivisible Reality can never transform/change to create a world/body/mind; whatever the explanation for Creation is, it is falsifiable. Creation is illogical. (The closest word for Creation in Sanskrit is 'srishti' which means 'intelligently arranged.' Another word is 'adhyaasa' which means 'superimposition.') If the world does not originate and does not factually exist, it must be an appearance...a projection or a superimposition that is intelligently put together.  World is neither existent nor non-existent; it does not originate from Reality but appears in Reality and can be experienced (like a city in a mirror).  The Sanskrit word for it is 'mithya,' conditionally-real, dependently-existent, virtually-real. What is experienced but cannot be proved is mithya, a mystery. How can you prove a rope-snake?  Rope cannot be the cause of the snake. If rope is really the cause of the snake, that snake creation must only be a seeming one.>>>

Since we cannot deny the experience and utility of the world/body/mind, the world must appear to a temporary subject only (as something "other") because there is no "other" for Reality. Separate-self (an apparent person, ego, 'jeeva'; anyone with three bodies of gross, subtle and causal is called a jeeva), "i," is the exclusive identification of thought with a body-mind complex (=Awareness plus Reflected Awareness plus a subtle body).  In the highest understanding, Reality never "becomes" finite and dual. Reality never veils itself.  Reality does not generate experience...because it lacks nothing...except indirectly by its presence. But when it illumines unconscious/inert content, which is constantly, experience is produced. This is why life is an unbroken stream of experience. So...from the point of view of an inquisitive mind, Reality does produce experience owing to Maya/Universal-Power. In other words, the veiling of Reality is only real from the point of view of an illusory self. The disappearance of the TV screen is real from the point of view of one of the characters in the movie. It does not find the screen but finds itself in a world even though the character and the world are both made out of the screen. The ego then thinks that it and the world are real in their own right. The Reality in disguise of an ego had to forget its own nature in order to be aware of a world. Why? It does it for experience! To experience more of itself! It is a non-binding desire.  It is the nature of the Reality to express and experience its magnificence in infinite ways but in finer details, we could say. (Knowing without experience stays as concept only. Is having sex not different than knowing all about sex? At the sexual climax, you are into eternity; you simply "be" knowingly.  Knowing plus feeling equals being. Reality wants to "be" through experience. Pure Awareness is 'use-less' without expression, expression of...being-becoming-being-becoming...)

Since Infinity cannot become finite to experience itself, Reality has to create by assuming another form without surrendering/disturbing its intrinsic nature as Infinite Awareness (by a process called 'vivartha' or seemingness like desert appearing as a mirage where the cause is hidden in its effect; desert has never actually transformed into a mirage; the effect is merely a superimposition/illusion of its cause; vi-vartha means special turning).  Creating an entire reality based on illusion or dream was so ingenious and spectacular in that it produced a solution to Reality's "dilemma" (dilemma, because there is nothing other than Reality). Something not being one with Everything is impossible in Reality.  What is not impossible, however, is the illusion of not being one with Everything! The Realm of the Relative (the physical world with its conscious beings) was, thus, manifested (all at once) as Maya/Appearance/Mithya/Illusion.  Reality, as a result, can now apparently experience a finite object by imagining itself as a finite or separate subject - all in appearance, all in illusion! The world is just an instantaneous projection on the All-Pervading substrate. Instantaneous, because mind (subject) and matter (object) are always co-created (like in a dream).  The world seems to be solid and real because you do not know who you really are and you take your body to be solid and real. 'Illusion' does not convey the same meaning as the Sanskrit words Maya or mithya, but it is the closest word in English. Eastern seers had meant that the world is mithya, meaning a 'not-real', a dependent-reality, false, an appearance, a mystery. Its underlying reality is Awareness. The features of mithya are four: 1. It has no existence of its own, 2. It has no origination, 3. Mithya has appearance and ETU (experienced, transactable and useful), and 4. The appearance is because of Maya/Universal-Power. Brahman/Reality is 'Eka-Saara-Nithya-Sathyam' (meaning God is One, the Essence/Truth, the Eternal/Changeless and the Independently-Existent-Only-Reality) and the world is 'aneka-asaara-anithya-asathyam' (meaning many-insubstantial/product-impermanent/has parts and changing/dependent)

Reality has to apparently ignore/lose its inherent magnificence (its Infinity aspect) to experience/reclaim magnificence. So, perception extracts space (finite matter/objects) and thought extracts time (changing mind/selves) out of infinite-existence and immutable-eternity of Reality into a seeming or a dream-like existence called "life." This is necessary to bring about the Manifestation. Since space and time are concepts, everything inside of them are also concepts or imaginations. Time limitation brings desire ('rajas') to seek for infinity (love, peace, joy, happiness; time limitation brings fear of misery) and space limitation brings fear ('thamas,' fear of disappearance or fear of death or fear of losing existence) to seek for eternity. Love and fear form the basic fabric/duality of life, the greatest duality that fuels life.  Manifestation/life is the play of an impersonal, insentient, inert, material principle or a mysterious power of the Reality called 'Maya.' Maya is neither existent nor non-existent because it is not-real (ever changing and dependent) and yet it exists (like a shadow). Matter/energy/mind exists in Maya in a dormant or a potential or a causal form ('avyaktha'). So, Maya exists "prior" to Creation along with Awareness; the material principle and Consciousness principle conjoined. They are inseparable even though Maya is a second order or a dependent reality (you cannot separate gold from an ornament). Maya is composed of three elemental energies or 'gunas': 'thamas' (lethargy, inertia, material, fear, veiling power), 'rajas' (activity, desire, energy, projecting power) and 'sathva' (purity, knowledge, reflecting consciousness, revealing power, identification with limitation). Sathva is directly associated with Sathyam (Reality) and is the balancing point of the Triune Reality, whereas the rajas and thamas seem to be the polar opposites of that Reality (in duality).

All experience/life consists of the play of these three energies. Why three?...Because for any creation to happen, the minimum number of forces/elements required are three: knowledge, power/energy and material. (When Reality apparently divided itself into portions, 'souls', for the purpose of Manifestation, for the first time this and that existed quite apart from each other. Thus, three elements suddenly existed: That which is here. That which is there. And that which is neither here nor there - but which must exist for here and there to exist.) But, what creates the world since Maya is insentient? Neither you, the apparent person (ego, "i"), nor you, Awareness (Reality, "I"), can directly "create" the world/life (Awareness cannot cause any Creation as it is Changeless). However, if Awareness doesn't have the power to create, it can't be called Limitless because it would be limited by its inability to create. So, where do we go from here?

Advaitha Vedantha says: Awareness plus Maya seemingly creates the world out of itself (like a dreamer creates a dream out of himself)! No action is possible without Awareness even though it, itself, is Actionless. When Maya/Illusion operates (as knowledge, energy and matter), Awareness "seems" to create. (Quantum physicists say that energy, in the presence of a conscious observer, appears as matter.)  Awareness plus Maya is called Eeshwara or The Unmanifest Potential or The Universal Mind (Time) or The Universal Causal Body (which, in final understanding, is also an illusion because it is dependent on Awareness). The closest word for Eeshwara in English is God, although they are not quite the same.  Eeshwara=Awareness+Maya. Eeshwara is not a person. Eeshwara is an intelligent, impersonal principle and power of Totality that follows dharma (disciplined karma): certain physical, psychological and moral laws (like the laws of gravity and karma; gravity comes from Sanskrit's 'graha vritthy' meaning planet's nature/characteristic) but not any preferences. Just like individuality is the conscious principle of a body-mind complex, Eeshwara is the conscious principle of the cosmos or Totality. Eeshwara is Awareness identified with everything (Original Pure Awareness identifies with nothing). Eeshwara is also known as the wielder of Maya and is pure sathva. Eeshwara/Maya/Universal-Potential is the missing link between the individual and Awareness and is the most essential element needed for understanding. Eeshwara is the apparent cause of this cosmos like "your" deep sleep is the cause of your dream world. Religions, the ones that are faith-based, stop at Eeshwara and make it a Personal-God (with form, 'ekaroopa') and the Ultimate Reality (=God creates the world). Religions, the ones that are experience-based, go beyond and recognize Reality in the personal experience of yoga and meditation (=God becomes the world, 'aneka roopa,' experience God within the self). It is only Advaitha Vedantha, a means of knowledge ('pramaana'; "Vedantha Naama Upanishad Pramaana!") based on the universal experience and reason, that goes beyond faith and personal experience and recognizes Reality as the Non-Dual Knowledge/Awareness and proclaims: You are That (=God is the substratum of the world which it transcends or God appears as the world, formless or 'aroopa', combines the advantages and eliminates the disadvantages of the other two approaches, the certainty of your own existence and the infinitude of God become one)!

Maya on an individual level is known as ignorance ((=misunderstanding, forgetfulness, 'avidhya' or 'agnyaana', or not-knowingness, which makes you think that you are limited to this body-mind; temporarily forgetting or limiting your limitless nature in the interest of expressing and experiencing your magnificence through objects that are apparently other than yourself; ignorance is infinite ('anantha') and beginningless/causeless ('anaadhi') because it is only apparently-real—meaning it is always changing into something else—since something that isn’t real can never be born; it can only appear and disappear like a dream object. Ignorance shows you what is not there and hides what is actually there)). Eeshwara takes Awareness and turns it into an apparent dream-like material and "creates" (just like an individual does it in his personal dream). Remember, Awareness is Causeless and Actionless ('Nir-Nimittha' or 'Nir-Guna'). Awareness lends existence to the world by its mere presence without any change whatsoever. And Eeshwara manifests Awareness; lets one experience and recognize Awareness.  So, Eeshwara is the material cause (upaadaana kaarana, =power/energy/material=dependent cause=insentient; 'upa'=by and 'daana'=given' or supported='Sath'=Existence, changes into ideas and forms) as well as the efficient cause (nimittha kaarana, =knowledge/intelligence=sentient; mittha=insentient and ni-mittha=sentient='Chith'=Consciousness, unchanging witness of ideas and forms) of this apparent world. Material comes from thamas, power/energy from rajas and knowledge from sathva.  Eeshwara, ego and the world are a second order reality (only apparently-real); they exist only from the point of view of an ego.  When the ego (the questioning mind) is understood to be what it is - an illusion - the concepts of Eeshwara, the world, the "Creation" and the cause-and-effect will fall away with it. (But until then...in the first stage of understanding, Reality is one-form and creates the world; in the second stage of understanding, Reality is all-forms and becomes the world; in the final stage of understanding, Reality is formless and appears as the world.)

What is there in the world is Eeshwara's 'creation.' How one reacts to it, is ego's 'creation.' Awareness plus ignorance 'creates' personal perceptions/dreams. Just like Awareness is there everywhere in your personal dream (as mind), Awareness is there everywhere in the waking world (as Eeshwara's/Universal Mind). There are actually no two things there (as in the personal dream). Quantum Physics says that the invisible, intangible energy appears as the visible, tangible matter. Advaitha Vedantha goes one step further and says that Awareness, in apparent motion, appears as the world.  All objects, their origination and their movements are nothing but the seemingly intense motion of Awareness. Seeming because it is the thoughts that are moving. This manifestation is a seeming display of sound and light, a display of the three basic energies. Life is a virtual reality.  When Awareness wants to know something apparently other than itself, it reaches an object through a mind (pseudo-subject).  It is the mind/ego that apparently divides Reality into two for experience (it is the nature of the mind/ego to do so; it is not Reality's fault because we are looking at Reality through mind that is caught in time)!  Metaphorically: waves are individuals/world, ocean is Eeshwara, water-vapor/wind is Maya and water is Awareness. There is no second substance other than water/Awareness. Multitude of waves and ocean exist from the point of view of an individual wave but water alone exists from the point of view of water. An individual, world and Eeshwara are simply ideas-and-forms (or mind-and-matter) and their essence is nothing but Awareness. And remember, waves and ocean are dependent on water but water is independent of waves and ocean!

Therefore, the world is an appearance in Awareness; mithya, a projection, a superimposition seen by the ego only (due to ignorance). Do I see the world because it is there or is the world there because I see it? From the individual’s point of view I see the world because it is there. From a higher point of view the world is there because I see it. But actually I, the Self, am ‘seeing’ itself with or without a world. Remember, Reality never does "become" anything other than itself (like a TV screen never becomes the images). Reality is free from birth, motion and all the objects. Reality does not even know Maya. Reality knows only itself!  Origination of this world or creatures cannot be explained by any system including modern cosmology, quantum mechanics and biological science because it has not originated. What is the birth date of the twilight's rope-snake and how is it born are not relevant because there is no rope-snake.  So, Eeshwara/ego/world (Eeshwara/jeeva/jagath='thriputi', 'puti'=funnel-shaped vessel) are also eternal like Awareness but not-real! Eeshwara is sathva predominant name, jeeva is is rajas predominant name and jagath is thamas predominant name. Three different names, but one substance called Brahman or Awareness or "I." Personal dream is the individual's magic show and waking-dream is Eeshwara's magic show. You, Awareness, simply enjoy the impersonal and illusory display/show of the light and sound, show of the three basic energies, show of Eeshwara!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 2.16: " Na Asatho Vidyathe Bhaavo, Na Abhaavo Vidyathe Sathah!"..."The unreal has no existence, and the real never ceases to be!"

The First Law of Thermodynamics: "Energy can neither be created nor destroyed!" Energy changes form; nothing "new" can be created (cheese can only come out of milk, but not from water; cheese is potentially existent in the milk).

<<<However, assigning reality to the body as a separate, real, independent entity (due to ignorance) is the problem (it is a belief called 'realism'/'maya'; 'ahamkaara' or me-ness; this body is real; identification with a body-mind as a separate-self; 'dehaabhimaana'; 'deha-sangah'; 'deha-raaga'; when Reality thinks that it is the body, the body seems real as the Reality). Realism is the thinking of taking/identifying the body to be real and independent (in its own right) and to be you (='Maya'). Simple identification with a body as an object is not a problem; it is required for the life to go on. Body to be a real-subject is the problem. Realism is the first obstruction, an illusion or ill-vision, or confusion, a misperception. When you think that you are in an inert body, the inert body and the inert world looks real and the real-you will look illusory (when you realize that the inert body is in you, the opposite happens)! Once the body seems real, everything else also seems real. This leads to 'dualism' or 'separatism' ("me" and the other; 'mamakaara' or 'abhimaana' or that is mine; security and peace/happiness is in the objects; tabley wood has become wooden table; mine-ness; the other is also real and is separate from me; identification with selves or objects; 'vishaya-sangah'; 'vishaya-raaga') which leads to misery (=intermittent peace/happiness). Ahamkaara (ego, me-ness) and mamakaara (possessiveness, mine-ness) is total identification with not-Self. So, ahamkaara is identification with your body-mind complex and mamakaara is identification with the external world as real and independent entities. These two are known as 'dhushta dvayam' in Vedhaanthic lingo. Dualism is the belief of taking the duality to be real and independent and the other is separate from me (='Moha'). This is the second obstruction, dualism, a dual-vision, a mis-belief. But, no one wants to be miserable as our true nature is Peace/Happiness/Freedom/Infinity or 'Moksha.' All philosophical systems and religions agree that there is Moksha and that it is eternal. Every single thing we do is an attempt to get rid of the feeling of limitation; or, in other words, to "achieve" Real Infinity. But, it is impossible to have a path from a real finite entity to a Real Infinite entity. Science says matter only changes form (=eternal). However, the scientific view of matter as eternal but also real is inaccurate as the acceptance of eternal dualism/samsaara will not offer us any possibility for Moksha as the beginningless dualism will never end (if the doer, doership and the consequent samsaara were real, they must be inherent and what is inherent cannot go away). Change means mortality but mortal can never become immortal. Moksha/Awareness/"I" is real, not the matter. How can matter, which is intermittent, give birth to Awareness which is Eternal? Science does not take an wholistic approach; it has got it all backwards when it comes to cosmology. What is conscious of the ever-changing flow of mind and matter?! Science misses it! Because once it is believed and thought with the premise that the body is aware and start from there, everything we think downstream will contain that original error at its origin. So, science can never get to the Reality objectively.

Advaitha Vedantha's view is that the universe is eternal as an appearance (ideas-and-forms) of the Reality (meaning it is not eternal as a real entity; it is only apparently-real, 'mithya'; in advaitham there is scope for liberation) because objects are dependent and always changing into something else (meaning that the universe is also beginningless because something that isn’t real can never be born; it can only appear and disappear like a dream object; it is non-separate from the Reality; an ornament is eternal because gold is eternal). The universe is not eternal as matter and mind. An ornament is not eternal as separate from gold. So, there are no two things there. Advaitha ('not-two') says that you are already Moksha (Reality) and you can realize it by removing your ignorance. In other words, you are limitless but you think you are limited (which is an error plus ignorance). You need an ever-present knowledge, a firm thought, that you are actually the Limitless Awareness (Awareness of Is-ness). Upon the elimination of the ignorant thought by a knowledgeable thought, Self realizes that It was always the Self and was never anything else. If the Self doesn’t know Itself by Itself then there is no Moksha, because you can’t be free if you have to depend on a means of knowledge for your freedom. The literal meaning of Moksha is freedom; freedom from ignorance, freedom from dualism/delusion/dual-vision, freedom from dependence on objects for peace/happiness, freedom from the separate-self you think you are (freedom from personal doership/enjoyership or personality), freedom from the sense of bondage, freedom from the wrong notion that one has suffering, freedom from the person you think you are. The Sanskrit word Moksha also means 'moha'=delusion or 'aviveka' or identification/attachment to body and world plus 'ksha'=cessation. What is delusion/moha?..."I can improve myself by changing the world" is moha. "I am this body and that object is mine" is moha. "I am a separate-self with an independent existence" is moha. I only have to understand that I am, have been and ever will be Moksha. Samsaara is life between two false entities. Samsaara is: I am alone; Moksha=I alone am. Dropping the mis-conception that I am mortal is Moksha. Moksha is knowing what changes, 'mithya' (a dependent reality, a borrowed reality, a mystery), and what does not change, Awareness, 'sathya' (the independent reality) and the relationship between them i.e., mithya is Sathya but Sathya is not mithya! A twilight's rope-snake is rope but rope is not a rope-snake. Moksha is nothing but a change in my vision (world vision replaced by Brahman vision) born out of knowledge. Now, matter doesn't matter! Moksha=Intellectual fulfillment of knowing the Truth+Emotional stability by dependence on Brahman/Me only. Another Sanskrit word for liberation is 'Mukthi,'=muk-thi=leaving-off=getting-rid-off=release (release from ignorance). Time and space appearing in you is Peace-Happiness and you appearing in time and space is misery-suffering.

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 9.4: "All beings are in Me (Awareness), but I am not in them!>>>

A ring, a bangle and a bracelet exist as ideas-and-forms; the only real substance that exists is gold. There is no other second substance; ring is not a second substance to gold; ring and gold still weigh the same as gold. Ring is a temporary name for a previously existing gold. Just the name 'ring' is born.  Because there are two words, we make the mistake of thinking that there are two substances. Not only that, but we also create a relationship between the two as cause-effect. The ‘two substances’ are imagination and the relationship between the two is also imagination.  The usefulness of the two names is not questioned but the counting of the ring and gold as two different substances is questioned.

Reality is only One and Reality and the world cannot have any relationship because the world is another name for Reality and it is not a separate entity. Reality does not have relationship with anything because there is no second thing or substance at all. Relationship is only possible between two entities of the same order of reality. Gold can never come into contact with a second substance called ring. Because of a certain pattern of appearance we have given a new name, the world, but it is not a new entity (patterns have borrowed existence). Therefore, Reality and the world cannot have a cause-effect relationship. The world is the seeming motion of Reality. How does Reality seemingly move? It is because of the movement of thoughts and perceptions. Thoughts/perceptions come from the Universal Causal Body or 'Maya' and Maya is inexplicable like darkness, a mystery (do not ask "why," ask "how to get out of it?", once out the "why" will dissolve)! (Remember. You, Awareness, is not a mystery. 'Maya' - Mind, Life, world, experience, cause-and-effect - is a mystery. Maya shares existence as Brahman but it is always changing and unconscious unlike Brahman.)

A bangle and a bracelet may exist for a ring; but only gold exists for gold. Gold is the common substrate for all ornaments which are simply appearances or names/ideas.  Reality is Existence/Being itself! Reality does not even exist (stands out); It is simply what IS. Actually, no things exist or stand out from Reality's Infinite Existence. Images do not stand out from the TV screen. Advaitha says: All that exists is Existence/Being only.  If something stood out of Reality's Infinite Existence, then there would be something other than Reality's Infinite Existence and then Reality's Being would not be Reality's Infinite Being. Reality would be finite and, therefore, wouldn't be Reality and that cannot be. Advaitha says, "waves exist as water" is not accurate; "water appears as waves" is more accurate. "Things exist" is not accurate; "Existence appears as things" is more accurate! World cannot be apart from Existence. If it was, it would be no-existence. It is like taking the water out of the waves.  Therefore, it is important to change our perspective from objects to Existence; from the relative to the Absolute/Total. Look at life from Yourself, the Limitless Awareness!

<<<Aadhi Shankaraachaarya: "Brahman Sathyam Jagath Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Na Parah!"  Brahman is the only truth, the world is not-real (not-real as we perceive/conceive, =appearance, insubstantial, dependent, not factual) and there is ultimately no difference between the individual self and Brahman (Aathma=Brahman). Based on his statements from other texts, we can extend the first part with: The world also is Brahman (because there is no other thing apart from Brahman). It means that the world is not real as matter and mind but real as Awareness/Brahman.  This is the essence of Advaitha Vedantha; Advaitha Vedantha in a nutshell. This statement is the most important fact of life!  And what is Brahman? Vedantha defines Brahman/Reality=Existence-Consciousness-Fullness-Absolute (Sath-Chith-Aananda or Sathyam-Gnyaanam-Anantham)...The most important knowledge/equation of life!  If you can understand the above two statements, the most important equation of life and the most important fact of life, you are free! Free of what? Free of limitation/suffering.  Advaitha Vedantha gives you the highest goal of any human being, Moksha or Aananda, by making you realize that you are never not-Moksha and that Aananda is your true nature (i.e., You are That; seeker is the sought). Experiencing peace/happiness is not Aananda, knowing that you are that Peace/Happiness yourself is Aananda!  The Peace-Happiness in which there is no experience of duality and which is not deep sleep (or fainting, anesthesia, etc.) - is Aananda (=Brahmaananda). Brahmaananda means uncaused, unbroken and conscious ecstasy of fullness. Being unknowingly happy (like a baby whose consciousness is merged in objective experience) is not worth it. Experience merging in complete consciousness is the condition of Aananda. Baby is like someone sleeping on the floor but not knowing that there is a treasure beneath it. Experience is the container and knowledge/consciousness is the content. And when you are full and complete, you are desire-free. Aananda is a desire-free state because it is Aathma/Self.

Advaitha Vedantha is a conceptual framework, a means of knowledge that attempts to explain what is Truth/Brahman, what is the nature of Truth, what is the world, how does the Impersonal Absolute appear as the phenomenal world and the individual selves and what is the relationship between the Truth and the world. Advaitha Vedantha is the science of the Self and the cosmology; mainly the Self/Aathma/"I," not about God. The illusoriness of the individual self, three-level reality, ignorance as the conjoint cause of the world and the Non-Duality of knowledge are the four principles constituting the real essence of Advaitha.  We can postpone this teaching but we can never avoid this teaching because this teaching alone gives you freedom from saṃsaara.  So, does the world go away after losing ignorance?...Wrong question! Upon gaining knowledge, one understands that the 'world' is simply a 'word,' name and form. There is no second thing or substance at all. What is the reality of your shadow? Brahman misunderstood is world and world understood is Brahman.  Since there is no real world, the question of whether it continues or not after knowledge need not be answered. Mithya is insubstantial. There was no rope-snake to begin with for it to go anywhere!  Your belief that duality is real (samsaara, dualism; samsaara=believing what changes to be real=trying to change the changing) disappears but the experience of duality is still there. You get the best of both worlds. You're acting but you are free of action at the same time.  How cool is that? A sage ('gnyaani') deliberately invokes differences, duality, for the sake of transaction and to enjoy gratitude and love. He invokes Non-Duality to enjoy fullness. Similarly, "Why does the world exist at all?" meets with the answer...Maya (because Brahman is Changeless/Actionless). But then, "Why is Maya the cause of the world?" is again a wrong question because "why" belongs to time-space-causation and Maya is "prior" to causation and started it! When you claim your true identity with eternity, this "why" question will get dissolved because the "me" is no more! Remember: time-space-causation are in mind, mind is not in them; and then the mind is in You!>>>

One important point...We say the Reality is Absolute compared with the relative just to break the apparent relationship or intertwining of the Absolute (Awareness) with the relative (mind/matter) for a better understanding but, in truth, Reality is beyond (=other than) both. This artificial separation is done on purpose, as a first step or aid which will later be withdrawn.  The description is that Reality is Changeless. This does not mean that Reality is a substance that has the attribute of changelessness. That descriptor is used to differentiate Reality from substances that are changeful. That's all. It seems to be unchanging when you look at it from Maya's point of view. It is like saying that the screen is behind the movie to draw the attention to the screen because we are so much fascinated with the movie, but in reality movie is just an apparent modulation of the screen (not separate from the screen). Sathyam rises above the mortal and the immortal, the outside and the inside, the relative and the absolute (both of which are concepts). The concept of a substrate for a rope-snake becomes invalid upon the realization of no-snake. Sathyam/Truth/Reality is beyond both the positive and the negative, and is the background of both. Monism is opposite of dualism, but Non-Dualism or Advaitha is beyond both and illumines/validates both. Non-Duality is in spite of duality. Advaitha does not mean everything is Reality, it means Reality only is and all else is not.  Naama-roopa (concepts-shapes/percepts) are superimposed on Brahman like a shadow is superimposed on a man; i.e., naama-roopa are not away from Brahman, but they are not part of Brahman.  Reality cannot be expressed in words because it is beyond (=other than) words or mind (speech is in Maya). Reality cannot be conceptualized. Reality is "that from which all words turn back."  Reality (Sathyam/Brahman) is some factor other than what changes and what doesn't change and that is Who You Are. You are just Knowing without a knower-status! You know these apparently contradictory thoughts of limit and limitlessness. Sathyam (Truth) is there without even the word sathyam.

Lao Tzu: "If you can name it, it is not Tao!"

So, if the world exists as an appearance, the Reality must exist as its substratum (if ornaments exist, gold must exist). Because God/Reality is only a name that we give to Awareness (common substrate) that indwells and pervades the whole universe, just as Awareness indwells and pervades our own individual personality. Awareness is self-evident and all objects are revealed in its light and none reveal It. It is like pure light. We can never see the pure light, but it is easily inferred through the reflected light.  If Reality is the uncreated principle "prior" to the so-called Creation, Awareness in us - defying all three states - is found not to have been created (Self).  You may ask, “How do you know there is Awareness everywhere?” I ask you, “How do you know your friend has Awareness?” You know you have Awareness, but you cannot see Awareness in your friend. But you infer from his intelligent activity that he has Awareness. Likewise, from the activity of the cosmos we can infer the presence of a Cosmic Intelligence.  This Cosmic Intelligence, immanent in all objects, is what is called the Reality! This Intelligence conscious of change/mind is Itself Changeless. This Intelligence conscious of forms/colors is Itself Formless.

The Unchanging Reality, thus, is not an object (Truth is not objective because it is everywhere and objects have a finite form; Truth is Unchanging and objects are ever-changing; an object is experienced and Truth cannot be experienced; any object of experience is a conditional reality because it is dependent on the observer/witness). Reality is neither a person nor a Creator. Reality is a presence. A principle, like gravity (gravity comes from Sanskrit's 'graha vritthy' meaning planet's nature/characteristic). Reality is impersonal and impartial. Reality is like a lighted/aware-space that is existent but is objectless or dimensionless!  (Creator requires another Creator; if Creator exists without being created, why can't the world/nature exist/appear without being created?; neither an existent thing nor a non-existing thing can originate either from an existing thing or a non-existing thing; thus the very word "Creation" or the act of "Creation" is illogical; thinking that there was a "Creation" is the biggest trap.  Once you accept the origination of the world, then you have to accept the world as jagath, your own existence as an individual jeeva and the Creator of both is Eeshwara. This is 'samsaara,' dualism, a triangular format.)

You know that you can never not-exist (no-existence is a concept always requiring a subject). And if you know that you always exist, Reality must, also, always exist because Reality is the Knowing-Witness, not what is known!  Reality is the Impersonal Knowing/Witness of Experience, the One and Only Impersonal Knowing/Witness of all Experience! This does not mean that the known or experienced is not-Reality (Remember, Reality is Non-Dual). The known/experienced is the changing aspect of the Reality - a secondary (dependent) order of Reality like a shadow (shadow is not a second entity). Bangle is gold but gold is not bangle. Experience is Reality filtered through mind (the three 'gunas' or energies). Reality can appear as experience/world when 'Maya' operates (like a movie on a TV screen where the movie is an apparent modulation of the screen).  Maya is the mysterious power which makes the Real appear as something which it is not.  Maya is 'what is not' but appears 'as if it is.' Maya makes the impossible possible.  The ultimate truth which you can know is that Reality is not something to be known in a subject-object relationship. Reality cannot be validated by any particular experience.

Pure Awareness or Reality does not change and yet apparently causes change (it is Zero and Infinity at the same time; it is the Knowing-Witness of limit and limitlessness; it is different from the known and different from the unknown; it is neither something nor no-thing). We have matter, mind (energy) and Awareness. Matter is a form of energy (e=mc^2) and energy/mind is a form of Awareness (all there is to thought is the knowledge of it). Matter and mind are illusory as they rise and sink together; they have no independent existence as one depends on the other for proof. Therefore, they both are false depending on something else, or Awareness, for their existence. Falsity needs a base, otherwise they cannot be seen or thought of.  All there is, is Awareness.  So, from Reality's point of view there is no experience (as we see it). Reality does not know anything other than itself as Infinity can never come in contact with finiteness.  From the point of view of Awareness, therefore, there is no difference between knowledge and experience. What Awareness sees it knows and what it knows it sees, because Awareness is all there is.  All is not, only Reality is! All is not, only Godliness is!

Reality is above all concepts or imaginations because Reality is "prior" to mind. Reality is Being-Knowing that is All-Pervasive and is here and now. Since Reality is everywhere, you cannot know Reality unless you "become" everywhere. Reality is unknowable (in a subject-object relationship) as it is the only "One." Thus, you can only be or live Reality!  Do not say, therefore, that because Reality cannot be experienced in a subject-object relationship, it does not exist. We cannot perceive space in a subject-object relationship, and yet at the same time it is never not known. As knowledge is subtler than and prior to perception, can a perception validate knowledge? No.  Reality is subtler than and prior to experience; how can experience validate Reality?  Experience is Reality but Reality is not experience. Experience is Reality apparently limited by mind. Mind is in time and Reality is dimensionless. You cannot see white snow with orange glasses. Mind may be the greatest power on earth, but it is still limited (it is dependent on Awareness).  An effect is a grossified cause; cause is always subtler than the effect (when belonging to two different planes of reality). An effect can never illumine its cause (the illumined cannot illumine the illuminator when they belong to two different planes of existence) even though the cause is inherent in its effect, pervades the effect. A gross thing can never understand a subtle thing because they belong to two different planes of reality.  It is impossible for the dream character to know the dreamer sleeping in the bed unless it wakes up to "be" that sleeper knowingly.  Reality cannot be realized that way.  The only way a plane of reality can be transcended into another is by losing its identity to the higher plane. A character in a movie can search all over the movie-world but will never find the screen because the screen never appears as an object in the movie.  Mind can only know objects.  Thus, mind has no access to Awareness.

Kena Upanishad, 1.5: "Mind cannot think Brahman, Brahman is what makes the mind think!"

But, here is the kicker! Reality, though Unknowable as an object, is of all things the best known, for it is ever known/experienced as the self, I AM! The uncreated principle in you (Self) cannot be other than the uncreated principle in cosmos (Awareness). It is impossible to have two Uncreated Infinite Awarenesses! Try to split up Awareness; you can't.  In deep sleep, you can never split yourself into two – one part knowing the other.  When we say "I am" or "I know I am present, " the "I" which the mind is referring to is the Universal "I" or Awareness or Self! "I" is the most common, eternal and unchanging element of all experience but not, itself, an objective experience. (I was five years old, I am thirty years old now. I was sad before, I am happy now. I am the waker, the dreamer and the deep sleeper.) "I"=Reality/Awareness.

How can that by which the whole universe is known (or experience is known), be known by anything other than itself?  By what can the Knowing-Witness be known since the Knowing-Witness is the one that is always knowing? Only Awareness knows Awareness.  Awareness is Non-Dual, so there is no way that anything else could know it. Awareness knowing a second Awareness is absurd.  If Awareness is Infinity, you can know It (in a subject-object relationship) only if you are larger than Infinity - which is ridiculous. When a person "knows" Reality, he discovers that he "is" the Reality and that it is not an object. The experience of love is a proof of that. A separate-self and Reality can never meet!  Therefore, do not try to know Reality; you can only "claim" that you are the Reality! And claiming requires an 'enlightening-thought' in the mind.

Though "Reality/Awareness/I" cannot become an object of knowledge, it is known/experienced directly and always. It is self-revealing. It is you, the Self, I AM. We simply don't notice Awareness because we are fascinated with thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions; because it is always there without a change (like gravity).  It is like asking, "Can the eyes see themselves?" You cannot literally see your eyes with your actual eyes, but still they are present and make all seeing of objects possible. Q: By seeing what, you know that you have eyes? A: By seeing! Eyes can see, but eyes need a mirror to experience. Awareness is like that. Awareness is like a lamp; it lights up objects and at the same time lights up itself (if it didn't or if it depended on something else to reveal it, it is no longer Reality). Sun illuminates planets and at the same time illuminates itself by itself. Sun is too close to itself to turn around and shine on itself which does not mean that it is not illuminating itself. Just by being itself it illuminates itself; it does not need planets to shine on so it could illuminate itself. No. The sun that illuminates is the same sun that is illuminated. Awareness (conscious being) is ever evident in the form of "I AM" and does not need any proof. The very attempt of proving the "I" indicates that the "I" exists.  The prover of everything, "I," need not be proved. It is like saying, "I have the experience of not being aware!"  When you can't stand up and take a step towards yourself (because you are too close to yourself), it does mean that you can negate yourself!

Balyaani: "God does not need another Self in order to know itself!"

When you say "I know that I am," or "I know I am present," is the "I" that knows "I am" not the same "I" that "I am?" Yes. Obviously there are no two selves, one that is and one that knows. The "I" that knows must be present as "I am." The self that knows is the self that is and the self that is must be the self that knows (Existence is aware). So, "I am that which knows" is another way of saying the same thing.  Whether I am aware of the world or not, I am always aware of myself. Because being and knowing are one. Being present and aware, I AM, is the most essential and primary experience/knowledge/knowing of all. Q: Are you aware? A: Yes. Q: How do you know? A: Because I know, it is my experience.  Well, that is Awareness' experience of its own being (without the agency of any body-mind or objects; it is a direct knowledge/knowing; there are no two "things" there) because Awareness, "I," is the only one that is aware (body and mind are inert, inert means having no ability to manifest consciousness and having no ability to produce consciousness='jada').  Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 18.68: "Bhakthim Mayee-Param Krithva, Maam Eva!"..."The one with supreme/non-dual devotion towards Me (in other words, who knows Me - the Awareness) is Me (the Awareness) alone!"  This is called 'non-discriminating' wisdom, a 'non-objective' experience. Awareness knows itself by itself through a unique and objectless (non-phenomenal) channel and there is nothing other than it to contradict its knowledge. We can, thus, say "Awareness is self-existent" or "Existence is self-aware."

What are you doing to be aware of yourself? Nothing! That means it is a direct/immediate experience; there is no need of a second "thing."  That means Limitless/Pure Awareness is your intrinsic nature (=to be aware) and that Awareness is self-aware, isn’t It?  So simple, so familiar, so ordinary (that's why so few realize it)! 'Maya' hides the most simplistic and the most ordinary Awareness out in the wide open, in plain sight, so no one can grab it (so the play of life can go on)! It is like this: eyes can see, but to see themselves they are searching all over the world. If you think that the Self/Aathma/Awareness is a special object, then you have a problem. Awareness, "I," is not an object and there is absolutely nothing special about Awareness because there is nothing to compare it to (there is no second thing of the same order of reality). Creator, deities, angels, worlds - all depend on "I"; that is the greatest secret. It is only the separate, independent, individual knower (and doer/enjoyer), "i," that does not exist (it only appears)!

Kashmeeree Shaivism: "Our Self is the most obvious than the most evident of things and yet most concealed than the most hidden of things!"

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 18.61: "O Arjuna, the Lord (Awareness) abides in the hearts of all beings and makes them revolve by His Maya as if they were mounted on a wheel!"

So, when you say, "There is no God" or when you ask, "Where is God or show me God?" you have already made up in your mind what it looks like, what its properties are (you already have a belief system about God). You are not any different than a believer of God. "Show me God/Prove me God?" implies that God is separate from you and the moment you consider yourself separate from God, you have reduced God from Infinity to a finite entity which cannot be (because the definition of God is Infinity).  Therefore do not ask if God exists or why/who God is, but inquire: "Who am i?", "Am i aware?", "Why do i feel limited?" and "How does this individual "i" jibe with the Universal "I?""  Why believe in God or no-God when you can claim God? When you realize "i"="I," through the teachings of Vedantha, "i" gets dissolved and all your questions about God get resolved! Because "i" is certainty (=i am, or i am present, or i know i am present, or i know that i am, or i am aware that i am aware) and "I" is certainty plus infinity (completeness).  It is going from "i know that i am" to "I know what I AM." It is going from 'vishesha-gnyaana' ("i am present") to 'swaroopa gnyaana' ("Brahman is Existence"). "i" is samsaara and "I" is Moksha. The Limitless Brahman, not being an object, is ultimately available only for claiming. Knowing is claiming I am Brahman. Other than claiming I am Brahman, there is no other form of Brahman knowledge! It is an intellectual process which requires a firm, convincing and knowledge-delivering thought that I am Brahman. You claim/reclaim your Limitless Non-Dual Nature/Reality, "I!"  "I" is the only "one" that alone exists and allows the entire cosmos to appear within itself as itself!" Now the question is not "What is God?" but rather "What is not God?"

Jesus Christ: "I ("i") and my Father ("I") are one!"

Chandhogya Upanishad: "Thath Tvam Asi!"...You are That (Seeker is the Sought)!

In what other ways can the Reality be expressed?..........

Reality is the Independent Presence that never changes! This means Reality is Uncreated, Eternal, Self-luminous and Non-contradictory.  Reality is that which knows the objects and selves as itself but is not an object of knowledge! Reality is Existence known through Love!...Sath-Chith-Aananda!!

Reality, Absolute, Life, Existence, Intelligence, Consciousness, Silence, Spirit, Truth, Light, The All, Source, Totality, First Cause, Being...is also known as The Self, Aathma, Brahman or Awareness.

Reality/Truth (Sath, 'Sathyam') is that "something" beyond which a "thing" cannot be reduced; is that which can never be experienced in a subject-object relationship!  Reality exists the same way forever.  Reality does not depend upon anything for its existence and is self-shining. Reality=Existence=Is-ness. "Thrikaale Api Thishtathi Sath."...What continues to remain in past, present and future is Sath! "Kaarya Kaarana Vilakshana Sath!"...Sath is beyond cause and effect (maker and made)!

Reality and Truth mean one and the same thing; Reality is the Truth of thing-ness, Truth is the Reality of no-thing-ness. Truth is the most direct and immediate knowledge that can only come from our innermost core but is beyond inner and outer.  Truth is that by the knowing/being of which everything can be known! 'Sath' is the immortal, 'thi' is the mortal and 'yam' is that which holds/controls the two together. 'Sathiyam'/'Sathyam' rises above the mortal and the immortal, relative and the absolute (both of which are concepts). Truth is One as It is object-dependent (=non-contradictory) and there is only one Reality.

"I AM," here and now, is the only Truth in Manifestation which is not a concept. Anything else can be questionable.

Self (Aathma) is the impersonal, self-existing and self-evident principle in you. Self is the Undeniable and Uncontradictory Reality of an individual that cannot be externalized (Aathma cannot exterminate itself as fire cannot burn itself). The indwelling Pure and Impersonal Consciousness principle pervading the body/mind is called Self or Aathma, "I AM." "I am this" is the self/ego. Self (with a capital 'S') is the Reality of the self; Reality of the subject/mind/individual.  Self is the Witnessing or Knowing Consciousness that witnesses/knows all experience (waking, dreaming and deep sleep states) and yet untouched by any of it. Remember, witnessing (conscious noticing) happens in no-time meaning no-space also. Witnessing happens in now-here and, therefore, impersonal whereas observing happens to an ego. Witnessing/Knowing is working-mind/intuitive-mind/being-mind/soul, not thinker-mind (thinker-mind contains knowledge, but it will not contain wisdom; wisdom lies outside the thinker-mind; wisdom resides within the soul). Working-mind will not tell you anything, it will simply act in the moment - instinctively. Witnessing is understanding in action without any judgement for personal reasons. There is an individual in observing and judging but there is no individual judging anything in witnessing. A good example for witnessing is a baby. She will respond or react to actions according to her programming but there is no judging (that someone is good or bad). Witnessing is the substratum of the three states.  Self (Aathma, Witness, Saakshi, Apparently-Enclosed-Consciousness) is the natural, Non-Dual state in which the thought 'I' (the ego) does not rise even in the least. Self is Consciousness plus Peace without any objectivity. Sanskrit word 'Aathma' means 'I' (the true 'I') and also 'all-pervading.' Advaitha Vedantha uses the word 'Self' to indicate and emphasize that the Individual Reality is nothing other than the Absolute Reality or Brahman. Self=Consciousness=Am-ness.

Swethasvathara Upanishad defines Self/Aathma as the "One All-Pervasive Consciousness, hidden in all beings, which reveals objects/experience." Bio-data of the Self: 1. Consciousness, 2. Independent, 3. Attributeless, 4. Eternal, 5. All-Pervading and 6. Non-Dual. Aathma/Self=Awareness (Brahman)+Apparent Matter.

Brahman has no equivalent word in English. Do not confuse the word 'Absolute' with Brahman. 'Absolute' is opposed to 'relative', whereas Brahman is opposed to nothing - to no second thing. Brahman is a Sanskrit neuter word that has no opposite (of course all the word problems come because speech is in duality or 'Maya').  Brahman is that which alone exists and allows the entire cosmos to appear within itself as itself.  Brahman has not become anything that would involve change. The best translation, therefore, is 'Non-Duality' or the absence of duality/dualism.  Non-Duality means not the non-existence of a second thing, but the non-existence of a second thing as other than Brahman. Brahman and experience are One or Non-Dual.

Brahman is homogeneous and is One without a second! Brahman is the Self of the universe. Sanskrit root 'brha' or 'brhi' means expansion, knowledge or all-pervasiveness. Brahman also means the 'non-limited' or the 'dimensionless' or the 'indescribable.' Unlimitedness does not mean it is big; it means unchangeability with experience; not affected by experience; does not modify.  Brahman is that of which we can form no idea whatsoever, to which we can ascribe no meaning and which therefore is beyond the reach of thinking.  If you can think it, it is not Brahman. That is the reason seers have associated Brahman with the sound/symbol of AUM (pronounced as OM). The syllable AUM in itself has no meaning whatsoever; it is not even a word. AUM='I AM'=Impersonal Awareness. Brahman is the oldest word for Reality/Absolute, the Ultimate Reality. 'Brahma Suthras' defines Reality as the Source of All. 'Mandukya Upanishad' defines Brahman as that which is never experienced.

Thaitthiriya Upanishad: "Brahman is that from which everything has come, in which everything abides, to which everything returns!"

Thaitthiriya Upanishad, 2.1.1: "Sathyam-Gnyaanam-Anantham-Brahman!" (Existence-Awareness-Limitlessness-Absolute=Brahman)...This is a direct definition.

Thejobindhu Upanishad, 3.11: "Aathma=Sath-Chith-Aananda!" (Existence-Awareness-Fullness-Absolute)...This is an indirect definition.

The East (in its highest/subtlest teachings of Vedantha) has essentially defined Reality/Brahman as the Ultimate Knower (i.e., Knowing) and also as Aananda (Fullness/Peace-Happiness) but not as a Creator who creates, sustains and destroys!  For defining anything in positive terms, there are five methods: 1. commonality ('dravyam'), 2. attribute ('guna'), 3. function ('kriya'), 4. species ('jaathi') and 5. relationship ('sambandha'). Brahman cannot be described by any of these methods because it is not an object of experience; it can only be pointed at by using the words.  Nagarjuna: "Chathushkoti vinurmuktha thathvam shunyam!"...Shunyam (hollowness) of Buddhist teaching is beyond the four possibilities of truth.<<<We have four categories/classifications of truth: 1. true ('sath'; eternally unchanging, absolute, independent existence, has no beginning and no end), 2. untrue ('asath'; a square circle; a barren women's baby, 'thuchha', non-appearing no-existence); sometimes 'asath' is also used as not-true, 3. both true and untrue (true from one point of view but untrue from a different point of view; 'sath-asath'; ex: the doctrine of karma and reincarnation), and 4. neither true nor untrue ('mithya'; world as an appearance is mithya; not-real; a mystery; apparently-real, appearing non-existence, has no beginning but an end).  As we all know...Science deals with the objective knowledge and/or the physical world or the observed world; religion deals with the ethical, moral, psychological and/or the subtle world or the non-observed world; spirituality deals with the knowledge of the Spirit or Consciousness or Awareness and/or the deeper nature of the observer himself.  The doctrine of Karma and Reincarnation is in the realm of the metaphysical/subtle which is true from an individual point of view but untrue from the Absolute point of view. However, Brahman is neither sath nor asath; it is the one that illumines the both; it is Yourself!>>>

Awareness is the unlimited, open, empty field in which all experience appears, with which all experience is known and out of which all experience is made. Awareness is a word in which the two fundamental aspects of our self – being and knowing (existence and consciousness) – are recognized as one (Awareness=The presence of that which is aware). The third aspect, Aananda/Fullness is implied in Awareness. The root word for Aananda is 'Anantha,' means unending/uncaused happiness. Awareness is the ground of existence and the potential for all experience. That because of which experience is known is Awareness.  According to Vedantha, whatever you can imagine and be aware of - is not Awareness!  (Awareness and Consciousness are interchangeable words, even though they have some subtle differences.  Awareness is Consciousness knowing none other than Itself. Awareness=Complete Consciousness. Awareness in Manifestation (duality) is generally referred as Consciousness. Consciousness is Reflected-Awareness which is still pure, impersonal. Only when it is associated with a body, it seems to have become impure.) Consciousness is Awareness-In-Movement and Awareness is Consciousness-At-Rest.

Is Awareness a thing?...Awareness is not a thing. It is the principle that is knowing the thing. Though it is not an object yet it is known, because it is self-luminous. It is like asking, "Can the eyes see themselves?" You cannot literally see your eyes with your actual eyes, but still they are present and make all seeing of objects possible. It is similar with Awareness. It is present and making all knowing possible. Awareness is quite ordinary. Awareness is Limitless which means that it is not modified - is not limited - by the experiences that present themselves to it. It simply means that experience does not stick to it.

The outer light, lighting up objects outside, and the inner light of Awareness have something in common in their characteristics. Both are imperceptible to the sense organs or the mind. The existence of the outer light is affirmed by the fact that objects are lit up in its presence.  It is a scientific fact that we never see the pure light, we only see the reflected light. Reflected light reminds you of pure light. Pure light lights up objects and at the same time lights up itself.

Awareness at individual level is Truth (Self, Saakshi, Aathma); Awareness at cosmic level is Reality (Brahman); Aathma (Impersonal Individual Consciousness, Self, I AM)=Brahman (Non-Dual, Pure-Consciousness)! If you want to take your stand in Awareness, think of it as a lighted/aware-space that is existent but is objectless or dimensionless ('chidhaakaasha'; 'chith'=consciousness, 'aakaasha'=all-pervading appearance; aakaasha=light+space+time).

Why don't we experience/understand Reality?..........

The impersonal sense/feeling of presence (or the sense of being aware), "I AM," here and now, is the only Truth in Manifestation that is not a concept (Am-ness, 'Ayam', I know I am present, 'Aathma', Saakshi, Pragnyaanam). It is a feeling of total aloneness, the purest of states. The continuous knowledge/knowing "I AM" is the Infinite Awareness shining in each of our finite minds.  "I AM" is the very first (apparent) expression/transaction of the Pure Awareness "prior" to Manifestation, "prior" to knowing something seemingly other than itself and this happens because of ignorance/forgetfulness. The sudden arising/feeling of Consciousness, "I AM," happens when Awareness-at-Rest becomes Awareness-in-Movement (Science calls it Big Bang, the apparent individuation of Pure Awareness). "I AM" is also called the Spiritual or the Absolute Realm where you know anything only in an absolute way. God (which yearns for the experience of simultaneous knowing+loving of Who Really It Is=Pure Being or Non-Duality) cannot experience all that God is within the Spiritual Realm alone, because in that realm there is nothing that God is not. Everything is Light and you cannot experience Light without darkness, for it is God's nature and desire to experience itself by expressing itself in infinite ways.

I AM is the intersection point of space and Infinity and time and Eternity (Ever Nowhere "becomes" Ever Now-Here which is still Absolute prior to becoming time and space or Relative).  Because being present and aware, "I AM," is the most essential, primary, constant, impersonal and continuous experience of all. Any experience is an extension of it; only comes after it (like "I am a father," "I am walking," etc).  Any statement or experience can be questionable/debatable except the statement "I AM." "I AM" or "I AM present" is the only continuous experience that there is. 'What I am aware of' is changing; 'That I am aware' is not changing. "I-I" (Brahman, Reality) is Pure Awareness always aware (just by being) but has no body and not available for transaction. It is only through Manifestation (Mind) that "I-I" can recognize itself, can express itself, can experience itself; can claim itself; otherwise it is pretty much 'use-less.'  Pure Awareness does not depend on Jeevaathma for Existence-Consciousness-Aananda, but depends on Jeevaathma for apparently experiencing itself and also for claiming "I AM Awareness."  "I-I" cannot say "I AM Awareness." Awareness simply IS. It requires thought or mind to express, know and claim through experience...being to becoming to being to becoming... Eyes can see but in order to recognize, claim or experience themselves, they require a mirror. Pure light is invisible until it hits an object. Open space is useful for living only when it is enclosed. However, Awareness does not require mind to be Awareness but it requires mind to claim that "I AM Awareness."

So the first and the foremost transaction that happens when Pure Awareness is seemingly enclosed within a body-mind is “I AM," which is Impersonal (Awareness knows Awareness, feels impersonal presence). It is like the sense of presence we have when we wake up before we identify with our body-mind. "I AM" is the field of 'being' that exists 'prior' to thinking (it is the subtlest/empty object or thought called 'pragnya-vritthi'). Pragnya-vritthi is neither exclusively a thought (since thought is discontinuous) nor exclusively Pure Awareness (=Being+Consciousness which is not even aware of itself as 'something'); but it does point/refer to Pure Awareness. Pragnya is Consciousness without objects but is endowed with the potential of objects (Pure Awareness has no objects even in their seed form). Pragnya means the source of knowing. When knower and known are merged into Knowing, it is called Pragnyaanam (complete/impersonal knowledge; knower and known merge into knowing). There is still an element/thin-veil of ignorance in pragnya.  Reality, "I-I," shines as "I AM" in a body-mind as the Witnessing Consciousness.  This first/seemingly-enclosed consciousness in a body-mind-complex without any personal-subjectivity, "I AM," is also known as Self-Awareness, 'Samgnyaanam,' or 'Pragnyaanam.'  "I AM" is the presence of impersonal sense-of-presence (or being) whereas "I-I" is the absence of both the presence of sense-of-presence and the absence of sense-of-presence!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 13.13: "Anaadi Math Param Brahman, Na Sath Na Asath Uchyathe!"...33rd Century BC..."Supreme Reality lies beyond being and non-being!"

Self-Revelation of the "I-I" is the capability to give rise to immediate Self-Awareness ('pragnya') without its becoming 'gnyaana,' objective knowledge. Self-Awareness is the awareness of itself as "I." In other words, "I" is the name that whatever (knows and also) knows itself gives to itself. The open Awareness without body-mind complex does not have Self-Awareness, but the very same Awareness seemingly enclosed in a body-mind complex develops Self-Awareness, “I AM." Self-Awareness is the knowledge that one is aware (or one knows) of being aware. It is the knowledge of one's own existence/presence. It is the Self-Knowledge which does not require any means of knowledge (it is direct, "I am present").  Self-Awareness is the form with which Brahman/Aananda is experienced directly. (In order to talk about "I-I," we name the "NAMELESS" as "I-I." There is not even an "I" in IT. "I-I" does not have Self-Awareness, true, but it also does not have the absence of Self-Awareness; it is simply Awareness. As soon as we name IT, we have erred. Language is not the right tool to describe IT. The best course is to be silent.)

Whether I am aware of the world or not, I am always aware of myself. (Q: Are you aware? A: Yes. Q: How do you know? A: Because I know, it is my experience.) Since Self/Reality is always available in the form of "I AM" or Self-Awareness, Reality is always available to me. "I AM" is the gate/portal through which Reality (apparently) manifests itself as the universe (first step of the separate-self). It is the same gate/portal through which mind/ego can trace itself back home (as the last step) to Enlightenment ('prabodham', the status of "I AM THAT" or "I AM I"). The 'now' that is a moment in time for a separate-self is the same 'now' that is for God the Eternity.  "I AM" is the secret key to "I AM I" or "I AM THAT" or "I-I." "I AM" is called non-discriminating wisdom and "I AM I" or "I-I" is discriminating wisdom.  At the gate/portal of I AM ('asthithva gnyaana'), through Self-Inquiry, grab the knowledge/knowing that I AM Limitless Awareness ('swaroopa gnyaana'; Awareness of Is-ness)!  This is Self-Knowledge, Aathma Gnyaana. "I AM" means Here and Now. From Here-and-Now (before it becomes this-finite-location in space and this-finite-moment in time), grab/claim Infinity and Eternity. The next and last step is to know that there is only Self (Jeevaathma=Aathma=Paramaathma) and nothing other than Self, which is Brahman Gnyaana!

"I am this" is the ego ('Ahamkaara', the notion of "me" as a doer, separate-self, I-concept, me-ness). Ego is not you; it is an idea of you.  "I AM" is the only dimensionless point where a separate-self and Reality meet. Reality knows nothing of a separate-self and separate-self knows nothing of Reality. They both share "I."  "I am this" is taking the contaminated pot-space as myself instead of the infinite pure space; taking the reflected light as myself instead of pure light (identified by a limited body). The belief that the concept of pot-space refers to an independent reality is the ego. Therefore, "I AM" is the only access-point a separate-self, "I am this," has to its Reality, "I-I!" It is going from "I know that I am" to "I know what I AM." Again: The knowledge "I AM" is the first step out of eternity into time when the separate-self is developing, but it is the last step the separate-self takes on its way back home. I AM is the most subtlest object possible. It is the doorway between the mind and Pure Awareness. It is prior to thought because thought is discontinuous whereas I AM is continuous. When thought superimposes its limits on I AM, it becomes "I am this." So, I AM is neither exclusively a thought nor exclusively Pure Awareness. It is where time and eternity intersect, where mind and Reality intersect! "I AM" is the meeting point, a dimensionless point between "I am this finite self" and "I AM that Limitless Awareness!" God knows nothing about a separate-self and a separate-self knows nothing about God, but the they both meet at this dimensionless point of "I AM!"  "I AM" is the last stop in thinking before we can "be!"

Mandukya Upanishad: "Ayam Aathma Brahman!"..I AM=Aathma=Brahman.

Jesus Christ: "Before Abraham was, I AM (is)!"

We exist and we are aware that we exist. "I AM" /"I know that I am present"/Awareness is our undeniable, intimate, primary, ever-present and immediate (direct, not-mediate) experience.  The only two things that anyone in the universe can be absolutely sure of under all conditions are: "I" Awareness ('Aham') and "AM" the Existence ('Asmitha').  Any other knowledge is contradictory.  Should anyone, however, feel inclined to doubt his being, we may ask him who is it that doubts. Thus he who genuinely doubts that "I AM," doubts only that he exists as an individual; and doubting is a characteristic of individual experience.  We know ourselves without any process of knowing. Even to deny, we have to be present and aware to make the assertion that we are not present and aware. No-existence is a concept requiring a subject, someone who knows. When we try to imagine the no-existence of "I," the "I" that we are imagining to be non-existent is not our actual "I" but some other imaginary "I."   Being/Consciousness cannot lead us to non-being/unconsciousness, for, the moment non-being/unconsciousness is known, it becomes Being/Consciousness itself!  Even if nothing exists, that non-being cannot exist if it is not known to exist. Non-being or an unaware "I" is a self-contradictory concept.  The very fact that you say, "I did not exist," shows that you existed!  Before we could know anything, we are there as "I AM." All else we imagine, believe or wish. One can doubt anything but cannot doubt the doubting or the doubter.  "I AM" is the Absolute/Undeniable Knowledge.

The continuous experience of Existence-Awareness can never not-be, because something can never evolve from nothing or something can never become nothing. And Existence-Awareness is actually one and the same "thing," because you cannot be aware without Existence and Existence without Awareness is meaningless. If there is Awareness, It must be present.  You don't exist unless you know that you exist!  Your presence is aware and your awareness is present! In other words, Existence (the Presence, the Is-ness) is intrinsic to Awareness.  From the Absolute ("I-I") standpoint, the experience of Objectless and Infinite Awareness implies the experience of Peace/Happiness/Unlimitedness because there is nothing 'other' there to resist or fear anything ("I am this" brings in the 'other'). Does space resist anything? Awareness, "I-I," is like an objectless 'lighted/aware-space' which can't resist anything. This condition is "I AM," where the "I" is Infinity/Universality...Knowing of your own Being.

Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad: "As long as there is a second thing there will be fear!"

Absence of resistance or fear is Peace.  Therefore, Absolute Awareness=I AM=Unbroken Peace/Happiness/Love (where 'I' is Infinity/Universality).  Vedantha defines the Absolute as Sath-Chith-Aananda meaning Existence-Awareness-Fullness-Absolute. Fullness is Unlimitedness/Unbroken Peace/Pure Love.

Jesus Christ: "I AM (is) the way and the truth and the life!"  "Be still and know that I AM (is) God!"

But when we experience "I AM," why don't we experience this Unlimitedness and/or Unbroken Peace which is intrinsic to "I AM?"...In our ordinary, mundane experience we know that we exist and we also know that we know that we exist but we don’t know that we are Limitless! Complete knowledge is Existence-Awareness-Infinity (Direct Complete Self-Knowledge, I know what I AM, 'Swaroopa Gnyaana'). Partial knowledge is Existence-Awareness (Direct Partial Self-Knowledge, I know that I AM, 'Vishesha-Gnyaana'). Partial Self-Knowledge is knowing that Self exists without understanding that you are it. In other words, we do not experience "I AM" in its pure, complete, unadulterated form. We do not experience that we are blissfully and eternally aware that "I AM." The "I" in "I AM" is the individual self for us ('i') or ("me"), not the Universal Self ("I-I"). However, the "exist" aspect comes directly from the Reality; but we do not know that our "am-ness" refers to the "is-ness" of Brahman. We need to "be knowingly," but we don't. That is the ignorance part.  Our personal consciousness ("i") is a borrowed-consciousness, identified-consciousness, Knowing-Consciousness ('chidhaabhaasa' or 'chithchhaaya' or 'vishesha chaithanyam' or 'jeeva chaithanyam', or 'prabhaava chaithanyam' or 'vritthi chaithanyam' or 'gnyaana-chaithanyam' or sentience; manifestation of Consciousness aspect of Brahman).  It is just an association plus identification of the "I-I" Consciousness, the real you, with a particular state of mind. When "I-I" apparently contracts itself as "i" (this can happen only in imagination) to express its unlimited potentiality through experience, it sacrifices its Infinitude or Completeness to "become" finite. This apparent contraction is accompanied by a contraction or diminishing of Completeness or Happiness or Infinity that is inherent within it. That is the price "I-I" pays to experience itself in finite and finer details. Otherwise, God cannot be 'manifested.' Manifestation/Life "re-creates" God (Life is a 'recreation'/'leela'). "i" does not, therefore, have much reality. It has a bit of reality in so far as you experience it, but fundamentally it is empty of meaning. We cannot forget 'that I AM,' but we can forget (or ignore) 'what I AM!'

This obvious sense of Existence-Awareness is erroneously assumed to have come from the body.  That is why we experience partial knowledge. Instead of saying "I AM," we say "I am this."  Since Reality is Non-Dual (fundamental premise of Vedantha and also of reason), there can only be one "I-I" which is Limitless/Complete ((Dual Reality of the subject (mind) and the object (world) is untenable because they interact with and depend on each other, rise and sink at the same time)). We must be that "I-I" but we must have forgotten our nature and then erroneously think that we are this finite/incomplete "i," in search of "I-I."  This is similar to a musk deer that runs all over seeking the musk fragrance, not realizing that the fragrance is of its own body!

Forgetting or ignoring is the only possible way for this imagination/error to take place because Infinite "I-I" can never "become" finite "i." "I-I" appears as finite "i" as a result of forgetfulness. That is why all our efforts in life (knowingly or unknowingly) are towards remembering (re-membering not recollecting) this Universal Self (Limitlessness/Completeness or Peace/Happiness) as our true self because we are "I-I" at the core. We must have forgotten our Completeness, our Unlimited and Eternal nature, due to ignorance. Ignorance ('avidhya', lack of knowledge) of our true nature, therefore, is the reason why we don't 'seem' to experience/understand Reality. Ignorance seems to cause the sense of limitation. Actually the mind does not cause bondage. The mind is an inert reflector. Ignorance apparently causes the Self to think It is bound by the objects appearing in the mind. Mind/thought is not the problem; ignorance that I am the mind/thought is the problem. "I AM THAT" is knowledge and "I am this" is ignorance. Ignorance is individual (while Maya is universal but it is the Universal-Potential).  When you are under ignorance, you see Reality through Maya as not-Reality or duality (you wear orange glasses to see the white snow). So, seeing/experiencing this duality is strictly a misunderstanding because Reality is Non-Dual.<<<Each and every experience is Reality already, so no striving for any special experience is necessary. There is nothing special about the Reality because there is nothing to compare it to (there is no second thing of the same order of reality).  If any striving is to be done one should strive for understanding, since the problem that causes me to seek happiness in the first place is the misunderstanding that I am bound and miserable.>>>

What are the mechanics of ignorance?..........

Ignorance (Individual Illusion) is the apparent lack of Pure/Complete Awareness.  We, as individuals, are born with ignorance (not absolutely, however). Ignorance/Forgetfulness is beginningless and infinite (but, thankfully, can end because it is an illusion; anything that either had a beginning or beginningless but can end is illusion or ignorance).  (Q: Do you know Chinese? A: No. Q: Since when did you not know? A: Forever.)  Ignorance is a power in Awareness and Awareness has no beginning. Ignorance is beginningless ('anaadhi') because it is only apparently-real—meaning it is always changing into something else—since something that isn’t real can never be born. Once realized that you are Awareness, you will also realize that Ignorance was never born or there to begin with!  Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 2.16: "The real never ceases to be real. The unreal has no existence!"  Ignorance is infinite (part-less) because it apparently covers the Infinite Awareness through mind/buddhi. Ignorance is the imaginary transference of the limited, not-Self attributes of "i" onto the Limitless Self "I-I" in order to bring about this Manifestation. Ignorance of the Self (or Sathya) leads to the projection of the not-Self, mithya, just as the ignorance of the real-rope in twilight leads to the projection of the mithya-snake. The not-Self is the Self operating in the apparent duality under the influence of Maya or Ignorance.

Ignorance is not stupidity (continuation of ignorance is); it is a self-imposed limitation or forgetfulness. Ignorance is forgetting your unlimited nature in the interest of limited objects. Ignorance="I am limited." Ignorance is the erroneous identification with a limited body-mind-intellect complex. We are all ignorant by birth. Anything that is born is ignorant because it doesn't know its eternal nature. Why?...The purpose of life is to know yourself (re-member) as God through experience and for that you must first know yourself as Not-God or forget yourself as God. That's the only way (once you know, you want to re-mind others so they also re-member). Ignorance is forgetting Who You Really Are temporarily in order to experience Who You Really Are again! Christianity calls this ignorance the 'original sin.' It is a temporary limitation (contraction) that the Self "I-I" has freely assumed in producing this apparent world from which it can extricate itself to "claim" its original nature (through experience) - just as you ignore your (infinite) mind/consciousness to apparently become a finite character in your dream to experience a finite object. Self-Ignorance is nothing but the transference of Anaathma attributes to the Self/Aathma. Awareness and ignorance are not in conflict because they are not in the same order of reality (you are aware that you are ignorant). Non-Duality includes duality. Ignorance/Maya is intelligent and incredible without which Awareness does not mean much. Ignorance is also tenacious and hardwired.

Thus, separate-self as an instrument/agency (object-ego in duality, "i" and the other, 'ahamkaara') is not such a problem; separate-self as an independent entity (subject-ego in dualism, 'mamakaara', 'mine-ness', "i" as opposite to the other, possessiveness, deeper form of 'ahamkaara' or me-ness) is the problem. The smaller self ("i") must be used as a device with which to see the larger self, "I." When your ego runs amok, it not only continues to do the job of separating you from Everything Else, it separates you from your Self. It makes you think that you are IT, not that IT is a part of you. Your ego, the Smaller Self, has then confused its job, imagining that it must protect you from knowing your very Larger Self. It, the ego/mind, is merely a perception tool; that's why it is not stupidity. Pre-ego, ego and post-ego is a natural and a necessary process to go from undifferentiated mass of experience to undifferentiated knowledge of Awareness (to know the true nature or the reality of experience as Awareness). Physicality is given to us to transcend. We can remain blissful without transcendence like a baby, but to remain blissful without knowing what bliss is - is not worth it. Experience is a container and knowledge/consciousness is the content. Ignorance is the key to solving the riddle of existence!

If there is total ignorance there is no problem. We, human beings, are not totally ignorant because we know that "i am." The partial knowledge is “i am." Self "I-I" has apparently identified itself exclusively with a body-mind complex "i" and fallen into a dream.  When the body is young, I do not say that the body is young but say that I am young. When the mind is disturbed I say that I am disturbed, I am not happy. The total knowledge is "I AM Reality," or "I AM Aathma," or "I AM THAT," or "I AM I," or "I-I." This is Pure Awareness or total knowledge. This total knowledge is not there for us as individuals. This total knowledge, then, leads us to "There is nothing other than THAT!"

In other words, we know that we are but we do not know clearly what we are.  We have partial Self-Knowledge and partial self-ignorance (that is what is called Maya). Partial knowledge is that Awareness exists. Partial ignorance is that the objects are something other than Awareness. Because there is partial Self-Knowledge, there is projection. Because there is partial self-ignorance, the projection is illusory (i.e., waking, dream and causal bodies and the respective worlds). This is similar to a rope appearing like a snake in semi-darkness. In full darkness and in full light we do not have this problem (experience can give us either knowledge or ignorance or error). This shows how the veil of ignorance partially obscures our true and complete nature.  All-Pervading space-like Awareness seems to be limited to within the boundary of the body (like the pot-space). That is the reason why we feel that we are our body only!

In short, ignorance allows us to know that we are aware but does not allow us to know the Extraordinary (Unlimited) nature of that Awareness! Ignorance is the belief that we are the experiencing entity (ego, subtle body) and not the light (Awareness) in which the experiencing entity experiences. We take the contaminated pot-space to be separate. Ignorance (of the Non-Dual infinite nature) makes the seeming duality possible! And this is the work of 'Maya', an inherent power of Reality, that apparently causes Manifestation (Awareness+Maya=Eeshwara/Creator, Experience, The Universal Mind, The Universal Causal Body). Remember: Reality cannot be the direct cause of Manifestation and from Reality's point of view there is never a Manifestation. However in Manifestation, Awareness-Maya is the most fundamental duality of life (also known as Shiva-Shakthi and/or Purusha-Prakrithi; Purusha=One that is Full/Complete or One that is situated in a city like body, Pra-krithi=Constantly Moving; "Prakarshena karothi ithi Prakrithihi").

Infinite Reality has to apparently become finite in order to experience and express its glory. This, it can only do in imagination or illusion of duality (love and fear, good and evil, etc.). Illusion is something that exists but it is not not what appears to be. The Universal "I-I," therefore, apparently forgets its unlimited and eternal nature and gets identified with the illusory, finite and separate body/mind ("i") to experience a finite and separate object (the world) in finer detail. Separatism is intrinsic to Manifestation.  Don't we do this every night when we dream? In order to appreciate Non-Duality, the illusion of duality is needed!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha: "I am not born, I am seemingly born through My Maya-Shakthi!"

The soul (individual/enclosed consciousness that is identified, 'chidhaabhaasa') uses the tool of mind (subtle body, the instrument of knowledge and experience) to create the experience by apparently limiting the field of Consciousness and then experiences through the subtle body and another tool called the matter (gross body, the instrument that brings in sensory data). Awareness apparently vibrating at slower rate causes solidity, permanency in the physicality which creates a greater illusion in time and space. Soul is another name for ignorance. This seemingly separate-self (ego, or "i") mistakes the dream bodies and the dream worlds to be real.  Since "I-I" is real and since our mind has no access to "I-I" or Awareness, it mistakes the imaginary body to be "I-I;" it cannot but feel the body to be real.  Finite/limited mind (ego) imagines and imposes its own limits (of finiteness) onto the Unlimited Self/Reality obscuring Peace/Happiness (which belongs to the Infinitude).

In other words, ignorance of Unlimited nature makes one feel limited - limited in space and limited in time. Space limitation causes desire ('kaama') to seek Infinity/Completeness/Happiness and time limitation causes fear ('bhayam' or 'bheethi') that we (the ego) may die before we are Complete/Full (or fear to protect the separate self being harmed/destroyed or fear of losing existence).  However, it is to be understood that desire for love is a positive fear and fear is a negative desire. They are two sides of the same coin. One cannot be without the other. Fear is inherent in desire.  Desire and fear (products of 'rajas' and 'thamas' of 'Maya') are the hallmarks of a separate-self which is on its mission to seek permanent, unbroken Fullness/Peace in the fleeting objects/relations, but then ends up in misery. Love and fear are the greatest/prime polarity of Life. All other polarities emerge from this polarity.

We are three-aspect beings: soul, mind and body; (causal body/ignorance/unconscious mind), subtle body (conscious plus subconscious mind) and gross body (subconscious mind); sathva, rajas and thamas dominant; these three need the support of Reflected-Consciousness and Pure or Original-Consciousness) (gross body: functions with perceiving and sensing, operates in time and space, experiences pleasure and pain, composed of sensations and emotions, expresses with actions; subtle body: functions with thinking and creating, expresses with words, operates in time and transcended-space, experiences happiness and misery, composed of thoughts and images; soul body: functions with knowing and desiring, expresses with feelings, operates in now-and-here, experiences joy/peace and ignorance, composed of likes and dislikes) and we have three tools to create (or, rather, re-create) : thought, word and deed ('manas,' 'vaacha' and 'karma'; 'manthram,' 'yamthram' and 'thanthram'; correct understanding is 'ritham', truthful speech is 'sathyam', right action/karma is 'dharmam'). These three tools/actions ('karma thrayam') produce three results ('karma phala thrayam'): security ('artha'), pleasures/comforts ('kaama') and merits ('dharma') which have the three defects of: discontentment, pain/sorrow and dependency/bondage ('karma dosha thrayam'). We are, ultimately, a combination of these three bodies and the combination is much, much bigger (=whole='moksha'). Moksha, which is not created, cannot be "gained" through action. Moksha can only be "gained" through knowledge. Depending on one's desires and fears, soul's (jeevaathma's or chidhaabhaasa's) mission results in attractions/likes ('raaga') and aversions/dislikes ('dvesha') in our day-to-day lives (forming subtle and repeated impressions called 'vaasanas' and then tendencies called 'samskaaras').

<<<Body is gross matter. Mind is subtle matter or energy. Mind/energy is in every cell of your body, concentrated in the brain. Soul/Intelligence/Individual-Consciousness is everywhere in your body including the empty space (your body is more than 99% empty space). It is the soul that holds you, your body and mind, together. Even though the Intelligence is everywhere in the manifestation (there is only "One Soul"), individual soul seems separate like the air in a dining room versus the air in a living room. Air is just one. Soul is like an aura around you. The soul is that which holds you together - just as the Soul of Reality is that which contains the cosmos and holds it together. Energy concentrated is matter. Energy dissipated/thin is mind. Energy that is purer is the Soul, "One Soul" that is apparently individuated. Experience of love is made at the soul level. The soul is part of you that is connected to everything else. The body is the part of you that is separate. The mind is the bridge between the two. If your soul could be described by a feeling, it would be freedom and love. Love expressed Freely is what Pure-Consciousness is! Pure-Consciousness needs matter and mind/energy to express itself. Matter and mind/energy is lifeless without Consciousness because they (or nothing) cannot become matter/energy all by themselves. Nothing "matters" in and of itself. As Jesus Christ said, "Without the Father (Consciousness), I am nothing!"

The three aspects of Self - body, mind and soul - are in no wise unequal to each other. Each has a function, but no function is greater than another, nor does any function actually precede another. All are interrelated in an exactly equal way. Conceive - create - experience. What you conceive/desire you create, what you create you experience, what you experience you conceive/desire. At any point in this process, soul never overrides the body or the mind. That is why it is said, if you can cause body to experience something (take abundance, for example), you will soon have the feeling of it in your soul, which will conceive of itself in a new way (namely, abundant), thus presenting your mind with a new thought about that. From the new thought springs more experience, and the body begins living a new reality as a permanent state of being. Your body, mind and soul are one, working in unison for the soul to evolve, for the soul to know "Who It Really Is" in its own experience!>>>

Vaasanas are stored in the subtle body and also the universal causal body (cosmic disk, akaashic/cloud records) which are nothing but the effects of ignorance (causal body is formless, infinite, everywhere, pervades the subtle and gross bodies; subtle body is finite and pervaded the gross body). Vaasanas are likes-and-dislikes in seed form and manifest as desires/fears in the subtle body's intellect ('buddhi') due to ignorance which then manifest in the 'manas' as thoughts and emotions to prompt action. Impressions ('raaga-dveshas') that are stored in the subtle body are called vaasanas. A group of vaasanas is called a tendency or 'samskaara.' When the time is ripe, samskaaras become a desire ('kaama') which will come to surface with a feeling ('anubhoothi'/'chittha-vritthi'/'chittha'). Desire/feeling, in turn, will prompt thought ('chinthana') and action ('karma'). Action (physical or mental) produces impressions based on our likes and dislikes ('raaga-dveshas'). Raaga-dveshas are simply the products of our conditioning/belief systems. These impressions are, then, stored as vaasanas to repeat the cycle!

An enlightened being may have raaga-dveshas but will not generate any vaasanas because his actions are inline with the Totality/Dharma (his raaga-dveshas are non-binding; they are like roasted seeds). His actions will not affect the flow of love. Ignorance-tendency-association-desire-thought-action-impression-association-desire-tendency (ITA-DTA-I-ADT)...is a continuously repeating cycle called 'samsaara,' the wheel of karma (realism-dualism cycle; relying on unreliable things where reliance happens because of mistaking the illusion to be the truth; 'samsru'=going round and round), the root cause of which is ignorance ('avidhya' or 'agnyaana'). Ignorance/Avidhya is the ignoring of your true and limitless nature and believing that you are enclosed in a limited body-mind only. This cycle is also known as 'avidhya-kaama-karma' cycle in Vedantha (AKK). Avidhya/Ignorance represents Causal/Seed Body, kaama represents Subtle Body and karma represents Gross Body. In other words, Thriputi: Eeshwara/Creator, Jeeva/Ego and Jagath/World. Desire ,'kaama,' is an urge/impulse/hope/yearning to attain something you don't have. Tendency, 'vaasana,' is a stored-impression or subconscious-impression or conditioning or 'kaarana' for an unfulfilled desire and/or for an association/liking ('raaga'=association or fondness with objects or selves). Vaasana or tendency is a hidden desire. Vaasana (from the soul/causal body) getting ready to get activated manifests as desire in the intellect/buddhi to become thought in the mind. Don't we experience the play of our vaasanas in our night-dream? Desire and liking/association (kaama and raaga) for what?...For Happiness-Peace! Happiness-Peace is our true infinite nature but we ignore it for the sake of finite experience! And, of course, there is a price to pay. Otherwise, God cannot be 'manifested.' Manifestation/Life "re-creates" God (Life is 'recreation'/'leela'). Desires, thus, arise due to ignorance (ignorance or erroneous identification with a limited body-mind-intellect complex and the external objects will improve you) which then become tendencies in an unending cycle. Life is a mixture of changing/quality-ful and unchanging/quality-less principles (a wheel cannot rotate without an axle). But, we keep ignoring our Essential/True/Higher/Unchanging/Absolute/Quality-less nature because it is imperceptible and inconceivable to mind.

The nonessential/mithya/lower/changing/relative/quality-ful nature is always changing and fascinating. It is like focusing on the movie while ignoring the screen. Ignorance, samchittha-karma, praarabdha-karma and vaasanaas as unfulfilled desires reside in the causal/soul/chidhaabhaasa/'I AM' plane. This identification with a limited body as a real entity (in its own right) is called realism. We can also call this a thought-cycle. Vaasanas, tendencies, desires and feelings are subtle thoughts; emotions and actions are grossified thoughts (the subtlest thought of all is "I AM" which is in-between a thought and Pure Awareness). Aadhi Shankaraachaarya defines saṃsaara as "aham eṣaam mama ethe:" "I belong to them and these belong to me." Experiencing duality is not samsaara but obsession or fascination with duality thinking that it is real/fact is saṃsaara (dualism). Complaining is samsaara. Vedantha calls this world 'samsaara,' that which never remains the same (=don't expect lasting happiness from the impermanent objects because there is no Self nature in objects unless you see them as the Self). Samsaara is the belief that joy is in the object; it is the struggle to be different from what we are at present! "I am;" because, the world is...is samsaara. The world is; because, "I am"...is Moksha!

Ignorance makes us hang on to two main beliefs/obstacles: 1. Taking the body and the world as real with cause-effect relationship (obsession or fascination with not-Self, realism, ahamkaara, me-ness, confusion/illusion, ill-vision, mis-vision, mis-conception, contraction, mis-perception due to limited senses, conditiong#1) and 2. Holding on to dualism for moral and emotional support (worldly and religious attachments; dependence on external conditions, people and Personified-God; desires and fears; happiness is out there in the objects and I need to grab it; mamakaara, delusion, dual-vision, mine-ness, 'moha', 'aviveka', further mis-conception or mis-perception=dual-perception, distraction, mis-belief; strong belief that the world is other than what it actually is; conditioning#2)...realism and dualism! These two are the most fundamental beliefs that keep samsaara in business.  As long as the obsession of cause-effect continues, the feeling of limitation is always traced to an external cause (world/objects) but not to self-ignorance, the root-cause.  The mind gets affected (dualism) because of the world and the world gets affected (realism) because of the mind. It is difficult to get out of this spiral of samsaara.  Having the notion that one is "born" out of Reality or "part" of Reality leads to saṃsaara. Samsaara may also be called ignorance plus illusion (confusion, ill-vision) and delusion (dual-vision) cycle. Ignorance-Realism-Dualism Cycle. Knowing that the "one" is "identical" with Reality, "Aham Brahmaasmi," alone will get a person out of saṃsaara.

But what is the cause of this error/ignorance/samsaara, then? If there was real ignorance, it is prior to Manifestation (prior to time and space) and is, thus, causeless. But there is really no real ignorance because Reality is Non-Dual and Awareness cannot know any ignorance as light cannot know any darkness. It obviously can't be real because if the ignorance is real, it can't be lost. Brahman and ignorance are at two different levels of reality. Ignorance is at seeming or vyavahaarika level.  Ignorance, therefore, is an illusion and the separate-self (ego) has this illusion of ignorance! Illusion, because Awareness never has to "become" a separate-self in order to know itself. It never, in fact, ceases to be and know itself alone. So, what prevents you from seeing the Truth is not Yourself; it is the fault/error of the ignorant ego ('ahamkaara'), not the Self or the Seer. So, whose error/ignorance is it because of which samsaara appears?...The questioner's!

How do we remove (the illusion of) ignorance?..........

Maya functions through two dominant modes of ignorance: root-ignorance or simply ignorance ('moolaavidhya', 'kaarana agnyaana', causal ignorance, veiling, 'aavarana', non-cognition, caused by 'thamas', lack of complete knowledge about yourself) and individual ignorance ('sthoola-avidhya', 'kaarya agnyaana', 'vikshepa', false projection, error, misunderstanding, confusion, lack of clarity, mis-cognition, rooted-ignorance, caused by 'rajas', lack of complete knowledge about the world). Root-ignorance is the cause of "Creation." Our reactions to external objects are the cause of individual ignorance. Dream means ignorance (non-perception, non-apprehension, cause, covered by fear/'thamas', lack of true knowledge, veiling, forgetting) plus error (mis-apprehension, mis-conception, mis-perception, duality, effect, distorted by desire/'rajas', 'adhyaasa', projection). Ignorance plus error leads to duality (confusion/illusion/identification with a body, me) and then to dualism (delusion, 'moha'; moha is the result of kaama-krodha-lobha; this is mine; "I can improve myself by changing the world" is moha; happiness is in the world is moha). Error is magnified by the conditioning/beliefs (a baby has ignorance but no error). Even a waker is a dreamer as long as he has ignorance plus error (cause and effect, maker and made). Sleep means ignorance of Self (cause). As long as these two are present, the wheel of karma (samsaara) will never end. When one of them, the error, is absent, we get a temporary respite from saṃsaara in deep sleep - 'laya' (also in death or 'maha laya' or 'nithya pralaya'; dissolution or 'pralaya' or 'naimitthika pralaya'; great dissolution or 'maha pralaya' or 'praakrithika pralaya'; liberation or 'anthyanthika pralaya'). But saṃsaara continues afterwards because ignorance is hiding in a potential form. (Despite realizing that the night-dream is an illusion, don't we think that it is real as soon as we get back into it? This error will come back again and again because the root-ignorance has not been removed.)  When both ignorance and error are eliminated, one "attains" Self, which is nothing but claiming one’s own glory as the Non-Dual Infinite/Limitless Being. Self claims Self! Self is free of world, free of Maya, free of cause and effect.

How can a finite experience lead one to Infinity/Limitlessness? The only way finite can "claim" Infinity/Freedom is if it is already Infinite. Why?...By definition, moksha or liberation must be real and infinite.  But, infinity precludes the existence of any second entity. So, to talk of your being away from the infinite, to start with, and your "attaining" it, later, is illogical.  In short, only if you are infinite yourself you can discover your infinite nature. Transformation from finite to another finite is useless. Transformation from infinite to infinite is not necessary. Transformation from finite to infinite is impossible. Only if we are already infinite but are ignorant of it can we discover our infinity.  If infinity is not the ego’s nature, the ego will never get it and even if the ego gets it, it will not be permanent. Because something having a beginning and be eternal is illogical, absurd.  We can, therefore, never get moksha, we can only drop the notion that we are not-moksha. That is the only way it can be permanent. A play character can never become the real-actor; only the real-actor can realize he has never been the play character. Saṃsaara problem is, therefore, a rope-snake problem - rope appearing like a snake in twilight. Saṃsaara solution is rope-snake solution (Self is already free).  The rope-ignorance is removed only by rope-knowledge because we are already the rope.  The solution is to "claim" Reality and make the dependent reality, apparent reality, world, 'mithya', non-significant.

Physical dissociation from the three states, the three bodies and the three universes (=not-Self or mithya or experience) is not possible. Why? Because Awareness being Eternal and All-Pervading (like space) can never get away from anything. This separation is only possible through knowledge, the switching of identification from the not-Self to the Self.  No amount of doing can kill the twilight's rope-snake. Just like we need extra light instead of a stick to remove the rope-snake, we need knowledge instead of karma/doing or any kind of experience to remove the misery. Actions are only useful for obtaining something we don’t have or getting rid of something we do have. However, actions are useful in gaining a pure/dispassionate mind. Any experience is temporary; only (absolute) knowledge (of the Self) is permanent because the Self/Reality is ever present. Experience may or may not include knowledge, but knowledge is always inclusive of experience and transcends it; knowledge is firm and non-contradictory.

Experience/effort can never take you to self-knowledge because of the following reasons: 1. The doer of any action is limited and the results of action are limited, but freedom is limitless, so it cannot be caused by something a person does. Freedom is the nature of the true Self. Self/Reality is not a state. It is something that we are already, not something to be gained. If you lost something, it is gained through action plus knowledge, but if you already have it but forgot about it all it needs is knowledge. Freedom, Moksha, is Being, not becoming.  2. Absolute/Whole cannot be gained with any effort/action (effort/action/'saadhana' implies loss/exclusion of something to gain something else). But Absolute/Whole must include all. Therefore, the gain of the Limitlessness has to be a gain that does not involve a process of "becoming/doing ('saaddhyam');" it has to be a gain without effort. The only thing that can be gained without effort is something that has been gained already ('siddhi' or 'siddhyam' or 'being') but hidden by ignorance/forgetfulness which can be realized with the Absolute knowledge in your mind (Only Infinity can "grab" Infinity). Mind can "grab" that abstract idea/thought about the Absolute, not the Absolute itself!  Saadhana is required only if you are trying to get something that you think is indifferent from you.  In the case of grabbing Infinity (like space which is ready-made), the idea itself is actual. Re-cognition or re-membering ('prathya-abhignya') is all that is needed without any saadhana/effort. Recognition of the Absolute alone is genuine experience as it is not something to be known (away from you) but it is knowledge itself (it is with you).  Any action/effort is opposite to Aathma because Aathma is Unchanging. Manifesting/Uncovering the unmanifest/hidden Moksha is Moksha. 3. Reality is subtler than and prior to experience; how can experience validate Reality?  Experience is Reality but Reality is not experience. Shadow is You but You are not your shadow. 4. We do actions because we are ignorant of our completeness. Experience is in harmony with ignorance/action and can only make the actions dense.  So, the more actions we do, the more our sense of incompleteness is reinforced.  Identification with experience (and the pseudo experiencer) is the cause of this confusion/delusion to begin with. Ignorance breeds doing and doing breeds ignorance. It is a vicious circle. 5. How can a particular transaction (experience) between a constantly changing subject and a constantly changing object produce a permanent experience of happiness? 6. There is no such thing as causal relation ultimately, hence no practice or effort will, as cause, produce Brahman as effect. 7. If I work for liberation/moksha and moksha arrives one day, that moksha will exit.  Something cannot have a beginning and be eternal; it is illogical. Moksha is dismissing the mis-conception that moksha arrives. 8. Experience takes you from state to state and there is no such thing as a 'permanently-happy' state because all states of mind are in apparent reality, always changing. Consciousness is not a state, all states are in Consciousness.

9. How does the screen extricate itself from the movie? If the screen was in the movie, it would have to work very hard and then there would be a practice or activity for it do. Screen is not in the movie. It is not attached to the movie. All you have to do is to remember that the movie is an apparent modulation of the ever-present screen.  Mind needs to understand that the seeming body-bound consciousness is the same as the All-Pervading Consciousness, needs to understand the identity between ego and Brahman. 10. Actions, subtle and gross, can only produce things not immediately available.  But the Self, the limitless "I-I," our true identity, is eternally present, the nearest of the near, so no action will help us reach it. There is also no question of liberation in any Non-Dual samaadhi-like experiences because the one who needs liberation (intellect/buddhi) is not there. The only possible way to separate "I-I" from experience is through knowledge.  The stick under water only seems to be bent. If I take the bend to be real, I have to do something to straighten the stick. When I know the bend to be only a seeming one, I do not need to make any effort to straighten the stick. Let the stick be in water and appear to be bent. But it is straight all the time.  Rather than imagine that there is some experience that you have not had that will make you happy, why not look into why whatever you are experiencing right now does not make you happy?  Any experience that begins and ends is not You! Experience is in You!

11. The experiencing instrument, the ego/mind, can only know objects.  Experience is on a transactional/relative plane ('saapeksham'); absolute knowledge ('sampoornam') is not. Doing can never take you to being! In Raja Yoga it is said that 'Purusha,' the Self, has become 'Prakrithi,' the nature. This causes a big problem because how do you reverse the process and turn Prakrithi into Purusha, the Self? You don't because Purusha and Prakrithi are one and the same...Non-Dual Awareness.  But they seem to be different owing to ignorance. So you only have to get rid of the ignorance.  You can never remove darkness by emptying or doing, it can only be removed by light.  If the experience reveals that you are Awareness of the experiencing entity, the duality/dualism problem is solved! We think we are human-beings searching of spiritual experience, but we are spiritual-beings having a human experience!

So the wholeness problem, the completeness problem, the happiness problem is going to be solved by knowledge/understanding only.  Since the Reality (or the real you) is Non-Dual, the solution can only be Self-Knowledge.  The solution is not in the domain of experience because you are already and always experiencing the Self.  Whatever experience brings is limited and will not, therefore, set one free.  It is the dispassionate relationship with experience that will set one free!  It is called 'vairaagya,' indifference to the results of your actions/experience, detachment with all goals except that of moksha, freedom from likes and dislikes or raaga-dveshas. Self-Knowledge that "I AM Limitless Awareness!" is the recognition of our true nature which ends one's search for liberation/moksha. So, don't go for any special, super, mystical or extraordinary experience. Go for knowledge!

However, this simple and ordinary Awareness is directly under our noses.  It allows us to perceive everything that is, allows us to experience all of the objects of Consciousness. We have a tendency to complicate this issue.  We overlook or ignore the experience of Awareness because It lacks objective qualities and also It drops into the background since It is always there.  We overlook Awareness/Reality because we give the reality of experience to objects (realism).  It is like giving reality to the images in a movie by becoming very fascinated with the story which seems to obscure the presence of the TV screen.  We also overlook the Truth of Who We Are, for our being cannot be known through the instruments of knowledge (senses and mind) we are accustomed to using all our entire lives.

Eyes see everything else but cannot see themselves. The Seer/Awareness is like that. The Seer knows all objects but It Itself is not an object. In the light of Seer/Awareness everything is lit up!  Recognition of Awareness is, therefore, not an activity or attention (at-tension), but relaxation of the mind because the more you look from a place of ignorance, the more it perpetuates ignorance. One knows Awareness simply because one is Awareness. The seeker is the sought. Since our focus has been exclusively on the movie, we are expecting the screen to appear like an object in the movie. But it cannot. However, we are always and only seeing the screen. When we see objects, we are also seeing the light with which the objects are illuminated. But, we take the light for granted. We say that we see the object, but never the object plus light. In a similar way, we miss Awareness (Self) and mistake ourselves to be something else (i.e. a body/mind or not-Self).

We are looking outside in the world of experience, our own subjective reaction to life, and not at the one to whom experience presents itself.  The cause of this confusion and/or delusion is identification with experience, the experiencer and the instruments of experience, brought on by lack of Self-Knowledge. When it is clear that you are the knowing-witness of the experience, the craving for pleasant experience ('raaga') and the aversion for unpleasant experience ('dvesha') disappear because they belong to the experiencer.  When we get so much involved and identified as a body/mind in the dualistic life called samsaara, we then make it extremely difficult to see ourselves as we truly are (as the Limitless Awareness). Awareness is so simple that we do not notice it, like gravity. Why? Because it's always there and we aren't looking for it. We say that we are standing, but we never say that we are standing because of gravity. We say that we are looking at a hand, but we never say that we are looking at a hand bathed in light.  Pure Awareness is ‘nearer than the near.' All that is required is the means to intellectually separate Pure Awareness from the mind/ego!...or separate the witness with the thinker/doer/feeler. This is difficult because the thought is you but you are not the thought (you know that you exist, I AM, before thought arises and during deep sleep where thought does not exist)!

Therefore, investigate the root of the not-Self, 'anaathma' - ego and the world (mind and matter). Confusion between Awareness/Self and mind is misery. Discriminating them is liberation. So discriminate between the Self and the not-Self. The not-Self which is mind (thought) and the world (object, matter) appear and subside simultaneously. Since matter and mind are mutually dependent (hence they are dream states), they have to depend on something else for their seeming existence. That is the Eternal Self.  Trying to tackle the world alone will not work and tackling the extrovert-mind alone will also not work. How can a constantly changing mind and a constantly changing world produce a non-changing Self?  Remaining within a dream, we can never understand the dream.  Trying to understand the root of both, the world and the mind, alone will help!  The root of not-Self is the Self.  So Know the Self! Know the relationship between the Self and the not-Self, if any.  There is no need to condemn the "i."  You can never directly tamper with the rope-snake (matter and mind). The anaathma mind and world are very fragile (conditioned by the impersonal subconscious forces) depending on place/atmosphere ('desha'), time ('kaala') and karma (cosmic field). Tampering with them will produce only temporary solution at best because they are ever-changing. You handle the rope-snake by knowing the rope and putting the rope-snake in its place. Then the snake will become harmless. Elimination of the world and saṃsaara is nothing but understanding that there is really no world or saṃsaara at all to be feared or eliminated.

The Uncreated Limitlessness cannot be produced; It can only be known or understood. The only antidote for ignorance is knowledge. Ignorance and knowledge both reside in the mind, which is illusory. (Knowledge is Awareness but Awareness is not knowledge. Awareness is the Light in which knowledge takes place.) There is actually no "new" knowledge to be gained. It is the shedding of ignorance, one enlightening thought removing the other ignorant thought.  A wave cannot become the ocean but it can realize that it is water.  It is the mind that questions and it should be the mind that needs the answer. Self does not require mind to be Self but It requires mind to "claim" that I am Self.  Knowing Self is only "claiming" that "I am Self," which is nothing but a firm thought that has to take place in the mind with understanding.

If Reality is Non-Dual and All-Pervading, we are already and always free and are experiencing Self, I AM, 24/7. To experience a table (made out of wood) and ask how may I experience the wood is indeed foolish. In and through every experience, we are experiencing Self/Consciousness. But, we want a special experience of oneness because we don't know what the Self is or we don't know who we are. But wait. We, as the Self, already have the Self-Knowledge (=I AM Limitless Awareness); Self is ever available as "I AM." We just need to drop self-mis-conception because we are wrongly transferring the body attributes to the Self. So, stay with "I AM;" drop "I am this," or "I am so and so." (When the body is young, we do not say that the body is young but we say that we are young.) Knowing ourselves as Self/Reality is the absence of not knowing ourselves as something else. That's all.  Being aware of being aware is a unique experience unlike any other experience (the common name for which is "I AM").  We do know Self 24/7 but we don’t know it for what it is because we are not experiencing it as an object.  It is the ego that does not think/believe so. Ego does not know; ego cannot know as it is insentient (only seems sentient).  Ego is not really an entity to get rid of.  Ego is like darkness. Darkness disappears in light; light knows no darkness.  The only way an ego can know is by dissolving/disappearing into the Self through understanding. "I am this" will now be "I AM THAT!"

The original face cannot be recognized without the mirror and the image in the mirror, even though the image is not the original face. The Self-Knowledge does not destroy the image in the mirror; what it destroys is the misunderstanding that I am the image.  When the truth Aathma is known as Sathyaṃ, the world and the mind are understood as mithya. <<<Aathma is the only source of security. The world has beauty, variety, and novelty and thus attractive, but it does not have stability. Therefore it does not have reliability and cannot give security. Enjoy the world but never hold on to the world for security. Do not underestimate or overestimate the world. If you do your duty, you are not underestimating. When you are underestimating, you refuse to do your duty. If you are worrying over your duties, you are overestimating. Do the duty and do not worry. Liberation is using the world without obsession or fascination. If you underestimate a rope-snake, it may bite you. If you overestimate it, it will cause you misery. Keep the rope-snake where it belongs!>>> Who realizes Self?...Only Self realizes Self; mind/ego cannot. There is a built-in gap between the Self and the thought.  You can journey across it from your side and identify with the thought if you wish, but no thought ever made the journey across the gap to visit you.  Ego is not going to realize he is Self. Self is going to realize it is Self. However, this knowledge happens in the mind. Right now Self erroneously thinks it is the ego!  Nonetheless, the habit/practice of 'ego' thinking it is the Self will help Self to realize itself. This practice will eventually destroy the tendency of the Self to see itself as only 'ego.'  The realization that there is no ego or nothing other than Self happens to the Self.

The most valid means of Self-Knowledge is Vedantha. It is not a religion, not a set of beliefs, not a philosophy; it is a science. Vedantha is the science of the Self, science of the Absolute Truth. It is an adventure. And science, like Physics or Chemistry, belongs to all. Philosophy means thinking (subject to dispute) which is away from yourself; Vedantha is "seeing" ('dharshan'), seeing without the limitations of mind; it is knowing or a direct seeing.  To perceive a pot (or any object) two factors are necessary, eyes and the light of a lamp; but to perceive the lamp’s light only eyes are required; only seeing is required. The practice of Vedantha means the practice or application of knowledge (taking the stand in Awareness) because the only access to Awareness is through knowledge. Vedantha is Enlightenment through understanding. Remember: Energy or experience can be transmitted; Self-Knowledge can only be taught.  Self-Knowledge cannot be transmitted because every being is already enlightened and there is only one Self.  The words (the meaning of the words), taught by Vedantha, work by removing ignorance (since the Self cannot be objectified, words themselves cannot describe it directly). Words in Vedantha are not for revealing Brahman; but for negating ABrahman.  Vedantha does not give knowledge and does not give liberation; it removes only the mis-conceptions in the mind. This teaching is a top-down, direct approach because it is based on the fact that the Reality is Non-Dual. Vedantha is basically the means of knowledge using words ('mimaansa') to cross the ocean of samsaara. It has no quarrel with other systems because it does not take any position. A particular position means an idea, and therefore not-Self. Vedantha, after it has done the job, has to be dropped. A guru can only give the knowledge that reveals the Self. It is up to the person seeking Enlightenment to grasp the knowledge and remove his or her ignorance by applying it.

Vedantha is a unique and pathless path; unique in the sense it is Non-Dual, pathless in the sense that there is no distance between you and Enlightenment (knowledge happens instantaneously), path in the sense it prepares your mind to receive knowledge through Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga and Gnyaana Yoga. Once you are qualified (i.e., mind is pure and ready to assimilate the knowledge), you approach a guru.  Through a time-tested, proven, systematic teaching methodology by a qualified (enlightened) teacher, Self realizes that the mind/matter is not other than Itself and It Itself is not the mind/matter. (You need an impartial guide/teacher, not your own interpretation of experience, because ignorance can make what is false seem to be real.  Remaining within a dream of error plus ignorance, it is almost impossible to understand the dream. From the knowledge of his own self, a guru can throw light on your self.  Self cannot be taught directly since it is beyond or prior to the words/mind. But a guru can create a situation using words and their implied meaning where you can "be" your Self.) You will know that the spider’s web is the spider, but the spider is not the web.  “Ego” is you, but you are not the “Ego." Ego is like a ring and you are the gold, Awareness.  The ‘shift’ from the (seeming) experiencer to the (witnessing) Self takes place when Self-Knowledge happens. This is the meaning of lower and higher natures that Krishna talks about in Bhagavad Geetha. Ultimately, there is only witnessing.

This awakened state is not jumping into any 'mystical', 'special' or 'blissful' state.  When you understand that you are Awareness, the doer/jumper is neutralized. All states are in you, Awareness. You are the Knowing-Witness/Illuminating of experience. You are the Pure Light, not the reflected light.  When the truth, Self, is known as Sathyaṃ, the world and the mind are understood as not-real, mithya (a second order or dependent reality like your shadow). The world and the mind will continue to be experienced. It will be like a movie on a screen.  The world and the mind should be allowed to interact but constantly I should remember (re-member not re-collect) that I am not the mind nor the world.  Realization means “Everything is me - the Limitless Awareness (Sathya) - but I AM free of everything (free of mithya)!”  A wave is different than ocean in name and form, but it is the same as ocean in essence, as water.  The ray is me - the Sun - but I AM free of the ray.  As in all colors, light is the colorless factor; so in every experience, Awareness is present, yet it is not an experience.  Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha: “Everything has its being in Me (Awareness) but I am free of everything!”

Ring is totally dependent on the gold but the gold is completely free of the ring.  The gold is so free that it can ‘become’ a necklace, a bracelet, a tooth or anything, without sacrificing anything.  When you understand that Self/Reality is everything that is, you will see that you are feeling it all the time in the food you eat, the air you breathe and the thoughts you think.  Knowledge of yourself satisfies all your wants because you know that you are what you want. You can now "claim" Completeness/Peace, your true nature!

Vishnu Puraana, 1.19.41: "Sa Vidya Ya Vimukthaye!"...Knowledge is that which liberates!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 4.42: "The doubts which have arisen in your heart out of ignorance should be slashed by the weapon of knowledge!"

What is the reality of the world and how did Reality create it?..........

Let us first understand what is thought/ego/mind...The feeling "I am a man, I am so-and-so" is only a thought ('vritthi'='conditioned-consciousness'). The sanskrit word vritthi means whirlpool, a seeming disturbance or movement or activity in/of Consciousness or also modification (=a mental object or a mental activity). Vritthis include sensations/perceptions, emotions/feelings and cognitions/thoughts (images, ideas). The general meaning of vritthi is thought or a mental object. Depending on a certain vritthi, Consciousness is identified as the perceiver, thinker or feeler. Consciousness "I am" is not a thought; it is not contained by a thought; it is 'prior' to thought; it is the very (intrinsic) nature of our being (the true first person, 'ahamtha'=the feeling of 'I'). The mixed consciousness or the conditioned consciousness, "I am this or that," is a thought called ego ('ahamkaara'=the maker of 'I' or the notion of 'I' as the thinker/doer or the sense of individuality, me-ness) that rises first due to ignorance.

Ego is a mixture of Pure-Consciousness and body - Infinity and limit. Since Infinity and limit cannot possibly mix, this mixture is illusory. It is only after rising of this illusory thought - the mixed consciousness (the I-thought, the first thought) - that all other thoughts, which are the knowledge of second and third persons, rise into existence.  The shape that Consciousness seemingly takes to experience the finite world in the form of thoughts is called mind ('anthahkarana'=internal instrument). Mind is not the Original/Pure-Consciousness but the Reflected/Borrowed/Dependent Consciousness, like the moon light.

The mixed consciousness, the false first person, is called our "rising" of the ego. Ego is the first thought, the root thought. Ego is nothing more than a thought with "me" attached to it. Ego creates the other thoughts by simply perceiving them (at the same time). Thought is an apparent objectification of Consciousness. Thought=Consciousness+Object.  Thoughts appear from outside, from causal body (ignorance). Maya is the power of Eeshwara that apparently projects the world and also veils Brahman from us. Maya is also called Universal Mind, Nature (Prakrithi or Potential Matter or Material Cause; pra=totally or constantly, krithi=moving; Maya when expressed is Nature/Prakrithi)) or The Universal Causal Body. Individual Maya is called ignorance. Maya and ignorance are beginningless. Maya is permanent (as long as you have a body) but ignorance is impermanent.

Thought ('vritthi' or 'chinthana') is the focusing of Consciousness on anything other than Itself. The word thought is interchangeable with mind. All there is to mind is thoughts. Mind is not an entity, it is more like a process, more like an event.  If you look for mind, you can only find thoughts.  Thoughts are moving so fast that you think and feel that something is existing there in continuity.  Thousands and thousands of thoughts continually give you the illusion of mind. It is like the concept of 'crowd'.  There is no such thing as crowd as a separate entity; crowd is simply made up of individuals. 'Mind' is to, 'thoughts' what, 'ocean' is to, 'water.'  Though egos are subjective with reference to the objects they experience, they are objects from the Self’s point of view.  The appearance of many individuals is caused by an unconscious or illusory identification of the one Self with many bodies.  Though many subjects seem to exist, there is only one, the Self, and many objects.  Objects (egos) are not conscious but Awareness/Self, the Seer, alone is.

To understand the apparent relationship between Consciousness and mind here is an analogy. The mind is charged with Consciousness, as a copper wire is charged with electricity. The wire becomes live when it allows the movement of electric energy through it. Likewise, the mind becomes live, and one says "the mind moves."  The mind knows in the same way as a wire is to electricity. The electricity is not wire; even so, Consciousness is not mind. Yet, when one touches the wire, one receives a shock, because the force and the medium cannot be separated from each other.  In the same way, we may say, the mind is Consciousness. It is not Consciousness in one way, and it is Consciousness in another way.

Thus, ego's nature is of two-fold: Ego and the witness (witnessing consciousness, saakshi). The apparent existence of a conscious, witnessing faculty is made possible by the ego's double nature (because ego is superimposed on saakshi/Consciousness).  Witness is the form Self takes in Embodies-Enlightenment.  The ego, or I-thought, which is engendered by an illusory combination of the Self and the body, partakes of both, claiming sometimes to be the one and sometimes the other. As a body/object it is Existence (limited, bound) and as a mind/subject it is Consciousness (unlimited, free).

Ego seems to witness anything and everything; however, it cannot witness itself because it is never in the "now" and all experience happens in the "now." Ego is only either in the past or in the future (because ego means thought, thought means time and "now" means no-time or eternity). Ego is lack of awareness (i.e., taking transient as eternal, taking not-Self as the Self, taking dream as real). Ego is a by-product of the illusion that whatsoever we are seeing is true.  Remember, that the thoughts are witnessed. Saakshi is the true witness; even in the absence of objects (like in deep sleep) it knows/witnesses itself (only Consciousness can be conscious). Ego is not even present in deep sleep.  Ego or the I-thought or the first thought ('ahamkaara', me-ness) is the part of Consciousness that thinks it’s a doer and/or enjoyer which claims to have been conscious of an event at which it was not present.

Ego is not an entity with independent existence, it is an apparent activity of Awareness.  If there is no ego, there is no world; world cannot exist (appear) without ego (as in deep sleep).

However...To say Awareness exists is wrong, because whatsoever exists (stands out, appears) can become non-existent. But Awareness Itself cannot go out of Existence/Being. The existence of an object can be proved only when it is knowable; existence requires know-ability. Anything becomes knowable only when there is a knower-subject. Therefore this knowing-subject, 'I', alone lends existence to all the objects in the creation. And the existence of the knowing-subject is self-proven because even in the absence of the world it knows that it exists. The very definition of Existence is that it must exist without any change forever.  This Knowing, 'I', must be the Existence/Awareness itself which cannot go out of Existence! (We loosely/commonly use the word 'existence' for 'appearance.' If the world exists, then its existence is borrowed - like the moonlight is borrowed from the sun.)

Matter is a modulation of energy or mind. Energy is neither created nor destroyed.  Energy can only change form (E=mc^2). However, energy can be further resolvable. As Awareness cannot go out of Existence, it is fundamental, irreducible or unresolvable - because before we know of any experience or the existence of an object, we have to be always there as "I am" or Awareness. Absolute Awareness can never ever be resolvable, because it is the (intrinsic) nature of the Absolute to be Self-Shining (only relative things depend on something else). Energy or mind, being insentient, is a seeming modulation of Awareness; mind or thought is known by Awareness; mind/matter can only be moved. Mind/matter is an appearance of the Reality. While energy is a moving form of Awareness, Awareness itself is energyless, all-pervasive, and unmoving. It only seems to move because the movement of thoughts give the apparent motion to Awareness/Reality.  The entire world is a seeming motion of Reality caused by the motion of the thoughts or the mind or the Maya.  Though unmoving by nature, Awareness is capable of inspiring movement in its vehicles. Since it is impossible to have two Realities, Awareness is One. Rather, Awareness/Reality is Non-Dual (Advaitham). Remember: Any product (world) is not a substance and no substance is ever produced (including Brahman). So, any product is nothing but a name for a real substance (=world is a word)! Brahman, wrongly perceived, is world. World, rightly perceived, is Brahman.

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 2.16: "The real never ceases to be. The unreal has no existence!"

Existence can never become more or less existent (remember: no-existence is nothing but the existence of the absence of existence).  Existence, therefore, is the substratum of all positive and negative entities. Existence-Awareness simply IS!

Existence-Awareness is the only Truth, because it is the only thing that is non-negatable and non-destructible!  If Existence-Awareness is the only Truth (which is 'prior' to the so-called Creation), the world must have emanated from this Truth or Reality.

However...Reality/The All is known to be infinite, eternal, absolute and immutable in all religions and traditions for the following reasons: The All must be all that really is. There can be nothing existing outside The All, else The All would not be The All.  Reality must (then) be infinite in space, for there is nothing else to define, confine, bound, limit; or restrict Reality. Reality must have always continuously existed, for there is nothing else to have ever created it, and something can never evolve from nothing, and if it ever "not been," even for a moment, it would not "be" now.

It must also continuously exist forever, for there is nothing to destroy it and something can never become nothing. That means Reality is eternal.  Reality must be absolute, for there is no other Power it is subjected to; it is not dependent on anything else.  Reality must also be immutable, or not subject to change in its real nature, for there is nothing to work changes upon it, nothing into which it could change, nor from which it could have changed. Thus Reality is infinite, eternal, immutable and absolute.

If Reality is eternal and immutable, it is uncreated and unborn; how could it be subject to change to have created this world?  How then can it get born again or transform? Therefore, the changing objects of the Manifestation cannot have an existence of their own because Absolute Existence is already (and forever) existing. There cannot be two Existences/Realities (like there cannot be two spaces). Objects belong to Existence; Existence cannot belong to the innumerable objects because there cannot be innumerable Existences. So if something is apparently born out of this Existence, it can only be a temporary appearance.

Objects, therefore, have to depend on Absolute Existence for their appearance. The existence that seems to be in the changing objects doesn't belong to the apparent objects but belongs to the eternal and infinite being/knowing or Awareness (which is there 'prior' to the so-called Creation). Objects appear in space; space does not appear in objects.

Heat in a boiling potato is gotten from the water. Heat in water is gotten from the pan. Heat in the pan is gotten from the fire. However, heat in the fire is intrinsic (essential) to it! So heat in the potato is borrowed from the fire; it is incidental to it. This heat was not there first, then comes into existence (appearance) and then disappears. But the heat in fire is always existing. Heat is the intrinsic nature ('swaroopa dharma', true-self) of the fire (not incidental, not borrowed). The nature of something is what makes it what it is. If you take away the essential nature of something it ceases to be what it is.  What cannot be changed and is there without any mediation or effort is called our intrinsic nature ('swaroopam', true-self).  The nature of Awareness is Existence. Thus, the changing objects borrow their existence from the unchanging Awareness just as the moon appears bright by borrowing light from the sun.  Doesn't a moving car borrow its space from the Formless Space without affecting the Space?

Existence of forms/objects is the proof of Formless/Objectless Existence just like the consciousness of change is the proof of Changeless Consciousness.  Open space will not be available for any function.  Space becomes useful only when it becomes enclosed or seemingly limited. The same is true with Existence/Awareness.  The Formless Existence, as the background, needs forms to express itself. Otherwise it is 'use-less!'  Pure Awareness does not depend on Jeevaathma for Existence-Consciousness-Aananda, but depends on Jeevaathma for "Creation" or Experience and also for claiming "I AM Awareness."

Is Awareness/Reality the cause of the world then?...No. Reality, by definition, by nature, is Infinity. Reality cannot become finite against its nature.  If something really stood out of Reality's infinite being, then there would be something other than Reality's infinite being. And then Reality's infinite being would not be Reality's infinite being. Reality would be finite. Therefore, it wouldn't be Reality and that cannot be. Imagine a spherical space that is painted white everywhere representing infinity. Now you paint a black dot inside it. That black dot divides the infinity into two parts. The infinity is no more infinity. It is impossible for space to get divided and become a pot-space.

The cause and effect that seems to be true from the point of view of the mind does not apply to Awareness.  The laws that operate in mind's world don't operate in spiritual world. Causation does not apply to Reality/Awareness because there are no two things there, one to cause another. So, Reality can never "cause" a Creation.  The immortal can never become mortal, nor can the mortal become immortal; for it is never possible for a thing to change its nature. You cannot have two contradicting natures in one.  (For example...Fire can never become cold; fire is always hot; heat is intrinsic to fire; if fire became cold, it would not be called fire. The sun can’t be both light and dark, hot and cold.)

Therefore, you cannot have a "cause" for this (so-called) Creation as Reality. Where is the cause in a chicken-and-egg story? It is one single process. Reality/Awareness is the only thing there is! What is the cause of your dream world? Is it your mind? But dream is itself nothing but mind; it is not separate from mind. Mind is everywhere in the dream; there is no distance possible between the mind and the dream. There are no two things there, one to "cause" another. Dream is a temporary/seeming modulation of the mind. The reality of the dream is the mind. In the same manner, gold does not become an ornament. Only if it became the ornament does the question arise, “How did it become an ornament?” Gold continues to be gold. There is an ornament only from the perspective of a bangle.

Therefore, Creation (as we think) is not real. Not real as matter and mind. It is dependently real - real but not really real.  The appearance of the finite objects, therefore, is a temporary/seeming modulation - name and form - of the infinite background of the Reality's Awareness or Absolute Existence in a way a movie is an apparent modulation of the screen. Basically the world is seemingly produced by the continuous movement of thoughts, like in a virtual or dream-like reality. The East has coined a special word for this: Maya!

Creation is Maya: a manifestation, a projection, an appearance, an imagination, an illusion as matter-mind! World borrows its existence from Reality!

The mind and the world are reduced to thought and object.  Thought and object rise simultaneously and resolve simultaneously.  Thought and object are, thus, mutually dependent (like sound and hearing).  Therefore both of them are not independently existent. So both of them are illusory, borrowing existence from something other than either of them. That something is Existence/Reality/Brahman, Reality alone that lends existence simultaneously to both thought and object.  World as an appearance or mithya or belonging to a lower order reality is the only way we can explain the presence of a Non-Dual, Changeless, Actionless Reality which is, itself, not a cause of this world.  There is no real relationship between the Creation and the Reality as they belong to two different orders of reality, like us and our dreams.  World, therefore, appears in Awareness, made out of Awareness and known by Awareness!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha: "Even though, being one who is unborn, one whose knowledge does not wane, and also being the Lord of all living beings, still, wielding My own Nature/Prakrithi, I, ‘as though,’ come into being by My own Maya!"

Maya is the appearance as well as the power that causes the appearance. Maya=The Unmanifest-Potential=All-Intelligence+All-Power. Creation is an inaccurate word to describe the event called Creation because the law of conservation of matter and energy says that nothing can be created or destroyed (an existent thing cannot be created because it is existent; a non-existent thing cannot be created because it is non-existent). So the world must have existed somewhere. And if world existed before, it should have existed in an unmanifest, potential and dormant form which we call the seed of Creation. Manifestation is an appearance of something which existed in an unmanifest or seed state (called causal matter).  When butter is made from milk, it is only the unmanifest butter in milk that comes out. Otherwise if butter can be newly created, it can be done so from anything. Butter cannot be created from water because water does not contain butter in potential form. Butter comes out of milk because it is in milk in potential form.  The active form of Manifestation is called the world and the potential form is called Maya. Therefore, "Creation" is illogical.  Creator/Eeshwara (=Brahman+Maya) apparently manifests the world of subtle and gross objects out of Itself.  Individual creates/adds ignorance-born desires and fears, likes and dislikes to Maya.

Brahman and Maya existed 'prior' to Manifestation (Consciousness and Potential Matter; Purusha and Prakrithi; Shiva and Shakthi). They are both beginningless. Brahman is Real and Eternal. Maya is also beginningless because it is only apparently-real—meaning it is always changing into something else—since something that isn’t real can never be born (it can only appear and disappear like a dream object). Maya is also an apparent power in Awareness which is beginningless.  Brahman apparently appears as the world/matter through Maya.  Thus Creation always exists, which means that there is no Creation of anything new. So there is no Creation at all.  There is an appearing world, but not a permanently existent world. Brahman lends existence by its mere presence. No desire is involved, no will is involved, no plan is involved, and no change is involved...for Brahman (this is like your individual dream).  The world only borrows existence from Reality/Brahman. It is not factual.  Thinking that there was a "Creation" is a big trap!

Hermetic Teaching: "While the universe is not, still it is!"

However, Maya and Brahman are neither the same nor different.  Manifestation/Maya is Reality but Reality is not Manifestation/Maya.  Ornament is gold, but gold is not an ornament. Maya is 'what is not' but appears 'as if it is.'  When a 'something' is cognized, a 'something' does certainly exist, but not as it appears, for the appearance is determined solely by the percipient and not by the thing in itself.  We are taking the true existence of the rope and projecting it on to the snake. The snake was never really created; it appeared and then disappeared.  The snake exists for the ego only. Eeshwara (Brahman-in-Movement, Reflection of Brahman in Cosmos) knows itself and the manifestation but Brahman only knows itself because it is free of objects ('Asanga').

World is that which is constantly changing but appears solid and permanent.  According to Vedantha, the observed is Maya/world and the Witness is Truth/Sathyam.  World depends on the observer and hence conditionally-real, mithya.  Mithya is experientially existent but factually non-existent (mithya=conditionally-real, a mystery). Examples are mirage water, blue sky, blue waters of the ocean, sunrise and bent rod in a glass of water.  Maya is experienced but cannot be counted like the shadow of a body, which is inseparable from the body. Shadow will have all the features of the body but cannot be counted as a second entity; it is not substantial. Maya/world is always with Brahman but it can never contaminate Brahman. Considering the world as a separate and real entity is sheer ignorance. Brahman does not contact/know a second object just as the clay can never contact/know the pot.

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 9.4: "By me, in my unmanifest form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in me, but I am not in them!"

Maya/Mithya, thus, has a substratum. Maya is not real because it depends on Awareness for its appearance. Maya is real because it is inseparable from Awareness and cannot therefore be other than Awareness.  It is real in the sense that it causes the world but it is not real because it can be destroyed by knowledge.  Experiencing the world as objects/matter may not be real, but the experiencing itself cannot be unreal. There is nothing like an unreal experience.  Maya is like a dream. It is neither real nor unreal. A dream is real if you are in it, and not-real or non-existent when you aren’t.  World is, therefore, real as Awareness and not-real as matter/mind!  Maya is neither idealism nor realism, nor is it a theory. It is a simple statement of fact - what we are and what we see around us.  Zen Master, Huang Po: "People ignore the reality of the illusory world!"

(The potter creates only the pot but does not create a pot-space. Total space has not undergone a change to produce a pot-space. Total space has not been divided to produce pot-space. Pot-space has not been produced at anytime. When the pot is created, the enclosed pot-space seems to be created. Before the creation of the pot, the enclosed space was not available. After the creation of the pot, the enclosed space is available. Therefore we tend to say that the enclosed space is created but the potter does not create it!  Then what is born? The name 'pot-space' is born. We have introduced the name ‘pot-space’ for the sake of transaction. That is all. And what is the pot born out of? It is again the space. Don't we know that a hydrogen atom contains 99.9999999999996% space? Vedantha says it is 100% space which is nothing but Consciousness! Because all there is to an object is the perception of it and all there is to a perception is the consciousness of it. From another angle...If there is no resistance and no possibility of any resistance between two qualities or selves or objects, then those two are essentially the same. Since there is no resistance between space and all of its contents, the contents are nothing but space and/or its modulations. Empty space being inert, cannot claim its existence unless it is conscious. Therefore, the apparent world (as space) is Consciousness and/or its modulations.)

In the highest understanding, Reality does not create or become the world but appears as such on account of the apparent limitation put on it by the mind in ignorance.

The space inside a pot is really the same as all-pervading infinite space. One speaks about the space inside the pot being limited by it because the body of the pot appears to limit the infinite space.  In reality, the pot-space is not created by the infinite-space; it is just a temporary/seeming modulation of it.  Likewise, Reality does not become or create the world, but appears as such on account of the apparent limitation put on it by the body, mind, etc., created by the ego or ignorance.  Creator/Creation is a need for the mind, because the mind cannot conceive infinite, eternal things. Mind sees eternity as time, infinity as space and Reality as matter.

Since we cannot deny the hidden reality of the phenomenal world...From the absolute standpoint of Awareness, there is nothing other than itself.  From the relative standpoint of mind, the world is an appearance, a Manifestation; not a fact. It is a temporary/seeming modulation/vibration ('spandana') of Awareness.  In your own experience/realization of eternity (or when you wake up from this waking-dream), you will know that nobody has created the world!  Does the pot-space travel after the pot is broken to merge with total space?...No. As far as the space is concerned nothing has happened.  From the viewpoint of space, there is no creation or dissolution.  When the ego/mind is found to be ever non-existent, the world-appearance seen by it will also be found to be non-existent. Hence the non-existent world alone is the Absolute Truth.  Because if the ego is an illusion, for whom does the world appear to?

Gaudapaadhaachaarya: "There is no Creation, there is no Dissolution, there is no one bound, there is no one liberated; and this is the highest truth!"

Those who ask "Why did I get this illusion of the world?" do not understand because they assume the truth of causality, therefore they ask this question. They have already imagined there is an answer when in fact there is no real problem. Nothing is produced or born, everything is already there as Consciousness. Illusion/ignorance disappears when causality is given up. We cannot say at what stage a cause becomes an effect as there is no line of separation between them (nothing exists in independence). The change is a continuous process. If there are not two, then their duality disappears and the search for causality, being based on it, becomes nonsensical. Therefore, give up causality!

Jesus Christ: "Be in the world, but not of it!"  In other words, the world appears in You so You do not live as a man of this world. Live as a master of this world! Time and space appearing in you is Peace-Happiness and you appearing in time and space is misery-suffering. Follow non-attachment. This is known as 'Aspharsha Yoga' in Vedantha.

<<< Creation is not logically established by any dualistic theory of Creation: 1. Creation Theory (originally proposed by Gauthama): World being created by Reality (Conscious-Spirit) out of nothing. This is basically the teaching of Abrahamic religions. Reality/Conscious-Spirit is Infinite (it apparently created time-space), Beginning-less (and, so, endless and, thus, Changeless or Action-less) and Causeless and, thus, cannot become the cause of the Creation. There cannot be any hidden cause/change in it as it is Action-less. Besides, only that is a divisible product (compound, mixture) can create another product. A Super-Intelligent Creator creating an actual miserable world is unfathomable and unkind. And also, since energy can neither be created nor destroyed, (so) nothing new can be created. World must be dormant which is later expressed like a pot from the mud (so it is not a creation because the pot is hidden in the mud). Nothing actual can be created by either an intelligent cause alone or a material cause alone. 2. Nyaya-Vaisesika Theory (originally proposed by Kanah): A non-existent, non-potential world being created out of an existent, unborn Prakrithi/Material violates the law of conservation of energy (nothing new can be created) and is, thus, untenable. When a bangle is made out of gold, the bangle is existent. 3. Samkhya Theory (Duality, originally proposed by Kapila): A dualistic philosophy that accepts two distinct/independent eternal principles, Spirit (Purusha/Jeevaathma) and matter (Prakrithi) and the unborn Prakrithi/Material creating the world by transformation or evolution ('parinaama'; movement causing a movement is parinaama). If Prakrithi is beginningless, it cannot be subjected to transformation. Also an unborn/permanent Prakrithi can never produce a born/temporary world.  How is it possible for one part of Prakrithi to be mortal and the other part remain immortal? Only changing substance can change into something new, but as eternal and all-pervading element, Prakrithi cannot change. If Prakrithi is insentient and can change, how can it create sentience in the world? 4. Chaarvaaka Theory (originally proposed by Chaarvaaka): This is also the scientific view that the fundamental reality is matter, matter evolves into world and bodies, body evolves into mind, mind evolves into Consciousness. But, this is against our experience and reason; it is our experience that Consciousness is eternal and fundamental and "prior" to time-space (mind-matter).  Whatever does not require another instrument of knowledge or witness over it or self-experiencing or self-evident must be self-existing or independent or eternal. Mind/Matter is not self-evident and, so, not self-existent and, hence, never "prior" to Consciousness.  How could something which is perceiving (like Consciousness) be made of that which is being perceived (like matter or brain or thought)? How could something which is intermittent (mind/thought) can give birth to Eternity (Consciousness)?  How can the only thing that is never experienced, matter, give rise to Consciousness, the only thing that is ever experienced? Chaarvaakas also believe that an individual's birth came from null-and-void and will end up in null-and-void which unscientific (energy is neither created nor destroyed).

5. Vishishta-Advaitha (Qualified-Monism, originally proposed by Raamaanujachaarya): Many are created as parts of One (Parts and Whole...like fingers are part of body). But, Reality (being Divisionless or Infinite) cannot have any parts. 6. Vedic Teaching: Beginningless karma-body teaching (body causing karma and karma causing body) is refuted because the cause-effect relationship can never be reversed. And also if the karma-body series is endless, then samsaara will also be endless; there is no chance for liberation. Even if there is an end to samsaara with a beginning to moksha (liberation), such a moksha will not be permanent. Cause and effect depend on each other and, hence, false. Relativity ('Apeksha') is dependent on the Real (seed and tree depend on the earth). 7. Ajaathavaadha Teaching (Advaithavaadha/Non-Duality, originally proposed by Gaudapaadaachaarya): World has never been actually created/born. The world can neither originate from Brahman (the Unchanging Sath-Chith) nor from Asath - something other than Brahman (IS cannot be born from IS, IS cannot be born from IS-NOT, IS-NOT cannot be born from IS-NOT, IS-NOT cannot be born from IS; however, IS can appear out of IS and could be mistaken as the world). It is an illusion/appearance/reflection ('aabhaasa') caused by Maya/Avidhya/Ignorance, experienced but not factual ('vivarthavaadha'; vivartha means special turning; if movement is perceived without an actual movement, it is called vivartha; theory of manifestation). It is like a mirage. For the one that knows the water's appearance is nothing but sunshine (Brahman), the water (world) is not there, was never actually been created. Is the being/existence of ornament first prior to its birth or did the ornament come into being/existence after it is born? When we say an ornament is born, ornament is hidden there first in that gold (water cannot produce an ornament). A cause has to exist prior to its effect (we do not say born is an ornament). 'Kartha/Actor' has to be there prior to 'kriya/action.' If it is there already, then, whose birth is it? Therefore, birth is an illusion. Brahman/Awareness and the objects of Awareness cannot be experienced separately; objects are experienced in and as Awareness; objects are seeming modulations/vibrations/appearances of Awareness. Awareness never "becomes" objects. Since the first six dualistic theories/teachings are refuted (not logically convincing), Ajaathavaadha is the most rational approach.

Anything which is either changing or moving or manufactured or an effect is relative and is known objectively to you (or, can be known objectively or as a second thing to you) and is, thus, false (all relativity/duality/dualism is false/illusion because of interdependency; knower and known are interdependent; mind and matter are interdependent; duality=two "realities," one knowing the other; it is impossible to have two realities co-existing/side-by-side; if they are the same, then it is one; if they are a bit different, then one must be less real than the other, in which case, the less real becomes imaginary). The one which is the Knowing Witness - the Unmoving, Unmanufactured Absolute - is the Truth! Subject knowing the Subject is True! >>>

How are Reality (Brahman) and matter-mind (Maya) related?..........

Mind/thought imagines that the knowing of a thing and the being of that thing are two different events, independent of one another. It imagines that knowing an object takes place here (subject) and that the existence or being of the object takes place over there (object).  Mind can only think/imagine in dualistic terms because of its limitation (of the dimension of time). When Awareness wants to know something (apparently) other than itself, it reaches an object through mind (subject). If it didn't do it, it is no more mind; it remains as Awareness, knowing only itself. It is, therefore, the nature of mind to imagine two in One - Reality (subject) causing a world (object). Mind cannot ask what is the cause of Maya, because causation itself started with (or due to) Maya.

Thought creates/imagines two apparent events out of one seemless (or not-Two) Reality. It splits/imagines Reality/Consciousness into matter and mind.  Cause is, therefore, in imagination only! Ultimately there is no relationship between Reality and matter-mind (Manifestation/Maya) because they are not two.  So mind and matter rise together (and sink together) in an apparent veiling of Awareness. Mind and matter depend on each other means that they are not independent, thus, requiring an independent reality to lean on (which is Awareness). In other words, world is a superimposition of matter-mind on Awareness. When the name and form of this imaginary world of mind and matter disappears nothing really real disappears. When the landscape of a movie disappears the reality or being of the landscape, the screen, remains!  Has anyone ever experienced the disappearance of Awareness at any time?!...No. Awareness is aware 24/7.

Let us explore deep sleep as an extreme case. Deep sleep ('laya', 'sushupthi') is so important to discuss because the study of it unravels the mystery of the relationship between Reality and the matter-mind.  In other conditions/states, man knows very little about himself. A common misunderstanding is that we are unconscious during deep sleep.  This misunderstanding is the result of the strong belief that we are the body/mind and the body/mind is conscious rather than Awareness. It is the waking state mind that makes the statement that there was no awareness in deep sleep during which it was absent. Can we rely on that? If we want to know the truth we should ask Awareness, not the waking state mind.

Are you convinced that you do exist when you are asleep (and that likewise you did exist when you were in a state of general anesthesia)?  Surely you could not have not-existed because you reemerge - you are the same "I." (Under anesthesia and coma you are in your causal body with disconnection to your gross and subtle bodies). If you are convinced that you do not cease to exist in such states, then you should be equally convinced that you do not cease to be aware of yourself as "I."  Only something that is aware can be aware that "I am present," so whatever experiences itself as "I" is something that is aware (and self-aware). In other words, what you essentially are is something that is aware of itself as "I" — something whose very nature is to be aware and to be aware of itself as "I." So you are Awareness in deep sleep!

If you ever ceased to be aware, you would cease to be "I," so you would no longer be you. Since you cannot not be you, if you ever ceased to be aware, you would cease to exist.  Since you are the same "I" that existed continuously, "I" must have been continuously aware.  An unaware "I" is a self-contradictory concept.  The very fact that you say, "I did not exist," shows that you existed. The denial of self becomes the proof of the self. It is like if someone knocks on your door looking for X (i.e., you), you answer saying that X is not home.  The notion that Being/Existence and Knowing/Awareness could in essence be two separate things is a logical impossibility, because if they were, Knowing/Awareness would not be, and therefore Being/Existence would not be known.  Being/Consciousness cannot lead us to non-being/unconsciousness, for, the moment non-being/unconsciousness is known, it becomes Being/Consciousness itself! You can never not-exist! Non-existence is a concept requiring a subject, someone who knows!  When we try to imagine the non-existence of "I," the "I" that we are imagining to be non-existent is not our actual "I" but some other imaginary "I."

The expression, I was unconscious, is, therefore, a contradiction in terms.  It really means I, the thinker, had no thoughts. But I cannot be a thinker when I have no thoughts. When thought is absent, I remains in "being" although the consciousness of an individual existence has vanished with the cessation of mental activity. Thus the expression, I was unconscious, implies that "I" continued to exist without individuality. Every human life proves this fact, although it is not recognized. If, for example, there were any fear lest the loss of individual consciousness meant annihilation, no one who identified himself with his body would dare to fall asleep. Because we mistake ‘consciousness’ to mean consciousness of features, and because we are not conscious of any features in deep sleep, we mistake deep sleep to be a state of unconsciousness!

Deep sleep is not the absence of Consciousness. It is the absence of the objects of Consciousness! You were there experiencing deep sleep, not as a person, but as Consciousness! You observe the silence of your mind. Mind has been reduced to a single thought of ignorance. Consciousness is present but is not manifest because the mind is not functioning or not manifesting Consciousness.  Neither the appearance nor the disappearance of the mind in our experience interrupts our ever-continuous and unbroken experience of "I," ourselves. However, when our mind appears in waking or dream, our attention tends to be attracted by all the multitudinous phenomena that accompany its appearance, and thus our attention is distracted away from "I," as a result of which we overlook and take little interest in this fundamental and continuous experience of "I." So little interest do we take in "I," our essential Self-Awareness, that we tend to dismiss sleep as a state in which nothing is experienced, even though it is actually a state in which we experience "I" but nothing else.  Whether Awareness is conscious of an (apparently other) object or not, It is always aware of itself.

Since waking and dream states (matter and mind) appear from and disappear into deep sleep, all is Consciousness (there is nothing other than Consciousness). During deep sleep a distinct experiencer, the act of experiencing and a separate object to be experienced do not exist.  The fact is that the true "I" and "Peace" are not two things. It is one and the same.  Deep sleep is the only state in which we experience our fundamental knowledge — our essential Self-Consciousness, "I am," clearly.  Deep sleep, while experiencing it (or from its own standpoint), is the state of Pure-Consciousness without the mind. However from the standpoint of the waking state, it is Aanandamaya Kosha (Peace covered with a thin veil of ignorance, because when you come out of it you fall into ignorance). That Peace is a Reflection of Aananda, negative bliss.  There is still an element of duality in deep sleep because duality is dormant and rises again as the mind to experience the apparent world.  So it is not a permanent enlightened state (and does not lead to one).  In deep sleep, samaadhi, death and dissolution there is only temporary seeming Advaitham (seeming Non-Duality) which is subject to arrival and departure. Dvaitham (duality) is in a dormant state in such states and that is the reason we wake up into duality again and again (whether in this present body or in a new body). Deep sleep state is the state of no-duality (absence of duality, nir-dvaitham), not Non-Duality (advaitha). It is a state of no-mind, not non-mind.  Deep sleep is still a state that comes and goes. And any experience that begins and ends is not you!  You can experience who you are in deep sleep but you can’t know/realize what you are in an experience! What is missing?...Knowledge! And remember: Knowledge is Awareness in the form of a firm, non-contradictory thought.

Do we recall the experience of deep sleep by memory?...No. Deep sleep is not in time and, besides, memory can only remember objects! There is a subtle difference between our memory of anything we experienced in waking or dream and our memory of what we experienced in deep sleep, because whatever we experienced in waking or dream has numerous features, whereas what we experienced in deep sleep is featureless, because it is nothing other than "I," ourselves. Because "I" remains essentially unchanged in all these three states, we remember that in the past "I" experienced waking, "I" experienced dream and "I" experienced deep sleep. To remember the existence of "I," we do not require the mind, because our Self-Awareness, "I am," carries within itself, so to speak, its own 'memory' of itself. Actually it is knowledge/insight/revelation/knowing.  One can forget something that isn’t always present, but one cannot forget oneself because Awareness – the Self – is the single invariable factor in and the Witness of all experience.  This knowledge (not memory) is always available as the Self is always present. Awareness does not 'know' in any objective sense. Awareness simply knows.  It is a direct, immediate knowledge.

Deep sleep is a state only from the point of view of waking state or waking ego. Since deep sleep is not in time, it is not a state that lasts for a period of time between two states of waking/dreaming but rather the waking and dreaming states appear 'from time to time' within the ever-present and timeless reality of deep sleep. Deep sleep from its own standpoint cannot be said to occur at all.  When the experience appears to have gone through waking and dream, the Infinite Self appears to have been divided into three states (like three spaces created by two walls). It is obvious that the ego is never there in the deep sleep.  It is this ego, which is not the true "I", usurps the property of the ever-existing Awareness and makes an ownership claim for the "Peace" of the deep sleep. So the ego says: "I had experienced a good/sound sleep." It is a false claim.  The only evidence, in the waking state, for the existence of an experience called 'deep sleep' comes in the form of a thought (in the present moment). Thought first imagines deep sleep and, in order to conceive of it in its own language of apparent objectivity, it superimposes onto deep sleep the qualities of blankness and duration. 'Blankness' is a thought. The only one that can actually 'go there' is the Self, but the Self is already That.

<<<However, some teachings say that in deep sleep there exists the subtlest thought called 'pragnya-vritthi' or 'abhaava-vritthi' which, upon waking, recalls that you slept well. The deep sleeper, 'praagnya', registers the experience as memory in 'chittha' or causal plane. When the vritthi/chinthana (thought) is taking place, the person is not aware of it but vritthi is taking place.  Otherwise, we cannot explain the ability of the person to say, on waking up, "I slept happily ('aananda vritthi'); I did not know anything ('avidhya vritthi' or 'agnyaana vritthi')."  What was not registered cannot be recollected.>>>

The following illustration from everyday life will afford a useful comparison. Suppose I ask someone when a movie is playing on the TV screen to tell me what he sees. He will answer that he sees a movie. Suppose I now turn the movie/TV off and ask him again what he sees. In nine cases out of ten, he will answer "nothing," when in fact he sees the TV screen.  Did the question "who am I?" arise in deep sleep? No. Therefore if you understand "who" you are in deep sleep, you need not concern about any thought-generated concern in the waking state. Therefore explore the experience of deep sleep from the point of view of Awareness.

So long as we feel ourselves to be this relative and finite consciousness that we call our mind, we cannot know deep sleep as it really is. That is, since we do not knowingly experience our essential Self-Consciousness, "I am," in its true unadulterated form in our present waking state, from the perspective of this waking state we cannot recognize the fact that we did experience our Self-Consciousness, "I am," in its true unadulterated form in deep sleep.  Therefore, in order to discover what we really experienced in deep sleep, we must knowingly experience our fundamental Self-Consciousness, "I am," in its true unadulterated form in our present waking state.

We are in our natural state in deep sleep - present, aware and peaceful - but we do not know that we "ourselves" are Reality/Awareness. A sleeper is "almost enlightened" because he experiences the limitlessness and bliss of Awareness but lacks knowledge of what it is experiencing owing to the absence of intellect. From yoga's perspective, the soul resides in third eye chakra during waking state, throat chakra during dreaming and heart chakra during deep sleep. And the heart chakra is closer to the navel center (the center of Consciousness).  Deep sleep is the absence of duality. Aathma is the knowledge of the absence of duality. Aathma is the witness in the deep sleep state that is witnessing the absence of everything. We experience Reality in deep sleep, but we cling to the experience part only as it is naturally induced. If we can consciously experience deep sleep in waking state (Nirvikalpa Samaadhi in which ego/mind experiences the reflection of the Self, Chidhaabhaasa, directly and experiencing that you are free of causal body or soul) and then grab the knowledge part of the experience (an unbroken I-thought corresponding to the nature of the Self called 'akhandaakaara-vritthi' or 'aathmaakaara-vritthi', hard and fast knowledge that "I am not this body-mind organism with personal doership/enjoyership but I am Unlimited Awareness"; only the unmoving, infinite 'akhandaakaara-vritthi' can catch hold of the unmoving, infinite Awareness - any other thought is moving and limited and, hence, can never catch hold of Awareness), then it can lead to Awakening (For any knowledge to take place, mind has to take the form of that object and then Reflected-Consciousness or 'Chidhaabhaasa' claims that "I know the object").  But the possibility of this is rare. That is the reason why yogis keep going back to the experience of Aanandamaya Kosha, the bliss sheath.

However so long as we imagine ourselves to be the ego/mind, for all practical purposes we have to concede that deep sleep does indeed appear to be a relative state of ignorance.  To know deep sleep, therefore, is to simply take your stand knowingly as the Presence of Awareness that you actually are (not as a waker).  Deep sleep serves an important function as you cannot know the presence of an object without knowing its absence.  It is the only state in which we experience our fundamental knowledge — our essential Self-Consciousness, "I am."  Deep sleep contains both the waking and the dream states because they both arise from and disappear into the deep sleep state.  It is impossible to change either from waking to dream or from dream to waking directly without going through the deep sleep state.  Deep sleep has been given to us by nature to show how in Awareness the whole universe (gross and subtle) goes back into us as an idea.  Gross and subtle universes, thus, are superimpositions on deep sleep.  Deep sleep simply IS.

An important point!...During deep sleep state duality-less experience (passive non-duality; 'nishkritha advaitham')) is there (jeevaathma/soul/chidhaabhaasa abiding in its own nature), but since mind/world is dormant non-dual knowledge cannot take place. It is passive because duality is hiding in the form of ignorance which rises again. Therefore what is required is: during the waking state in the midst of dual experience, we should understand that the passive non-dual experience we get during sushupthi state, is our real nature! This understanding (of knowing+feeling Who You Really Are) will transform into the knowledge of complete Non-Duality in the mind/intellect in the presence of the world (ignorance is forever destroyed)!  Intellect is only the medium just like the mouth is the medium when you say, "I am happy;" mind is the one that is happy, mouth is not included.   Awareness cannot claim "I am Awareness" in sushupthi. Claim it in waking state! That's it!

Analysis of the deep sleep, thus, proves that Awareness is the only one that is aware - and eternally aware. If there was something like an absence of Awareness, it can only be Awareness without objects!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 2.69: "What is waking state (matter/mind) for the ignorant is sleep (nothing substantial) for the sage and what is sleep (blank/nothingness) for the ignorant is waking (consciousness) for the sage!"

World is, therefore, a superimposition ('upaadhi'=limitation/medium) of matter-mind on Awareness just like the waking and dream states are superimpositions of (external and internal) activity on deep sleep.

The world is neither existent nor nonexistent.  The world is not nonexistent because it is experienced. The world is not existent because Brahman alone exists. So the world has to come under a third category, which is different from both existent and nonexistent. The world is seemingly existent but on inquiry, it is factually nonexistent.  Such a category is called mithya or Maya, seemingly existent but factually nonexistent.

Ultimately...Matter, mind and Awareness are one; just like the body, mind and soul are one; just like the images and screen are one.  Life is One Whole. Life is One Happening. Like breathing, like digestion, like blood circulation, etc. Is not this tremendously complex work going on in a body intelligent and purposeful?  When Consciousness is associated with activity (as in the waking and dream states), the appearances that seem to arise do not come from anywhere else. When Consciousness is non-active or passive (as in the deep sleep), the appearances do not leave the non-active Consciousness, nor do they merge in it.  Awareness includes both manifest and unmanifest.  That which is unmanifest can also exist.  Awareness comes in two forms: vibratory, and therefore manifest, or what we call matter and mind; and non-vibratory and therefore unmanifest but containing All-There-Is in a potential state, serving as a blueprint for matter and mind. The tree is latent in a seed; the tree is not yet manifest but still it is.

<<< From another perspective: Perception is always in terms of the instrument used and the object of perception is always in the perception itself and depends on it (perception depends on conditioning).  The particular nature of a perception/sensation is determined by the (quality of) receiving organ, and not by the stimulus. Appearance is determined solely by the percipient and not by the thing in itself.  Just as we cannot gauge the exact color of objects if we always wear tinted spectacles, we cannot know the true nature of our individual experience if we persist in viewing it from the standpoint of individuality. Perception, thus, is mind specific. Remember, the existence of the world depends on the observer and the nature of the world depends upon the medium of observation. Based on these perceptions, you think you know the truth about something, when, actually, you do not know the quarter of it. In reality, you are creating the truth that you know already. As we understand ourselves, so we see the world. Most people's understandings are based on their experience. But in actuality, experience is based on one's understandings.  (Perception is also species specific. A honeybee navigates through an ultraviolet environment, a snake through infrared, a bat through the echo of ultrasound. Chameleon's eyes swivel on two different axes. Some animals cannot even see colors.  Different animals have different sensory
faculties and their experience will be unique to their faculties.)

Thus the object of mind (i.e., perception) is always in the mind itself and it is dependent on the (quality of) mind. It is a scientific fact that material objects are nothing but thoughts in the mind (or mental) because mind could cognize matter only if it ceased to be itself and became material (which is impossible). Similarly the object of knowledge (i.e., mind) is always in knowledge, and knowledge is not affected by the thought/mind that is known. Rather, mind is dependent on knowledge. Therefore, both an object and the mind are reduced to knowledge! ((Mind is nothing but the current thought. And all thoughts are discontinuous/separate. Since one thought (of mind) cannot cognize another thought (of object), the material object cannot be mental either. Only an unchanging mind can interpret a changing perception (human perception of an object is made of multiple snapshots, about 60 frames a second), but mind/thought is changing/fleeting. So, matter has to be knowledge also.))

Thus, object is not apart from knowledge. It is a constituent of that knowledge. It has no reality apart from that knowledge. And no knowledge is possible without Consciousness. Knowledge has no reality apart from Consciousness/Awareness. Therefore, the object is reduced to Consciousness itself.  Can Consciousness be reduced any further? No...Consciousness is changeless, ever-present and infinite. Consciousness is not an instrument; it is pure, free and independent. Consciousness (Infinity) depending on another Consciousness (Larger than Infinity) is meaningless.  Mind, body and senses are only instruments.  Consciousness cannot be reduced any further. So there is knowledge and knowledge alone, without reference to the thing known. Space is infinite and is reflected/seen in the infinite mirror of Consciousness as an image. Where is Consciousness with respect to space then? It must be in the infinite mirror as there can only be one infinity. That means Consciousness is seeing only Consciousness in the mirror of Consciousness. The known (space/world), knower (Consciousness) and (the medium of) knowing (mirror) must all be the same in essence. Objectivity is an illusion. It is no wonder why scientists are still not able to find matter. (We should, therefore, reconsider the whole problem from the standpoint of Consciousness, when it can be seen in its proper perspective, or else it may vanish.)

The world does not exist independent of Consciousness.  The only way a plane of reality can be transgressed/transcended into another is by losing its identity to the higher plane!  An effect is a grossified cause (when they belong to two different planes of existence). An effect can, therefore, never illumine its cause even though the cause is inherent in its effect, pervades the effect.  It is impossible for the dream character to know the dreamer sleeping in the bed unless it wakes up to "be" that sleeper knowingly.  Is it not our everyday experience that the whole universe goes back into Awareness as an idea?!  Since waking and dream states (matter and mind) appear from and disappear into deep sleep (Pure-Consciousness), there is nothing other than Consciousness!>>>

Nothing actually is born or originates in Life, neither the existent nor the non-existent! The sum-total of a cause cannot be ascertained. It is simple but incorrect to say a bee is the cause of honey. For bee needs pollen, pollen needs flowers, flowers need water, water needs clouds, and so one could go on ascertaining the true complete cause of honey and never come to an end, even though the search drags you through a thousand different things. Hence there is nothing new really born or produced or caused which is not already existent; or in other words, Brahman/Reality alone is, even though it seems to appear in a myriad forms. The moment that you accept the origination of the Creation and the causality, you are hooked in samsaara for good! Forms/appearances may come and go, and that Undeniable Reality beyond the name and form is Reality! This does not mean that name and form is different from Reality. Ultimately, name and form is also Reality like your shadow and you, like waves and water. You can never get away either from your own shadow or from your Reality. Your shadow is nothing but you and waves are nothing but water! Reality means "The All." The experience is Awareness but Awareness is not experience.

Reality (Brahman) and matter-mind (Maya) are not two separate things to have a relationship (The rope-snake has no relationship to the rope; ornament has no relationship to the gold). There is a seeming relationship created by ignorance. Reality is All There Is!  More precisely, Reality is "not-Twoness!"

What is the proof of Reality?..........

God-The Reality=Existence-Consciousness-Infinity (Pure/Absolute). According to Vedantha, Nature (Idea-and-Forms) is a five-fold elemental existence: space, air, fire, water and earth (in order of subtlety; that is why the universe is called 'prapancha' meaning an expression of five elements). The three gunas/qualities of Nature (sathva, rajas and thamas) give rise to five states of matter. The subtler the matter, the more powerful it is (ice is less mobile/powerful than water; water is less mobile/powerful than steam, etc...observe power in atomic, hydrogen, neutron and anti-matter bombs; observe degrees of consciousness in rock, plant, ant, animal, human, demi-god and Eeshwara). Science only recognizes four: gaseous, plasma (radiant), liquid and solid. They have missed the space (ether) which is the subtlest elemental state of all. (However, scientists have claimed to have found the fifth state of matter in 1995 called BEC.) Nature or Matter/Energy/Mind is constantly changing (caused by time, space and karma/causation). That is the process or nature of Nature - appearing and disappearing.

So also, in our minds, content constantly changes. But we remain conscious through all of these changes. Consciousness remains changeless.  Memory is not possible without a continuous and changeless consciousness. Unless the same consciousness which was there at the time of experience is still there at the time of remembrance, one cannot say that one remembers. A momentary-consciousness cannot know that it is momentary because it is not there when it is born and it is not there when it dies (like thoughts which are discontinuous/momentary; one thought cannot know another thought). But who is there to know that consciousness is momentary?  The consciousness of any change (or time) in life is the proof of the Changeless/Timeless Consciousness (which is eternal existence that cannot be in time). Motion can only be noticed from a (relatively) motionless point. Time can only be noticed from a timeless point. However, absence of time implies absence of space (because they rise and sink together always). That means, this Consciousness must be existing beyond time and space! We call this Pure-Consciousness+Pure-Existence!

From another angle...If The Cause "produced" time-space-world, it is called Pure-Existence because it was existing alone prior to "Creation" with no parts which apparently gave rise to all "created" things including time and space (ideas-and-forms). The ideas-and-forms are temporary and also dependent on Pure-Existence, so they don't qualify as real entities because they are not parts of Existence; they are simply projections or appearances or modulations of Existence (in other words, mithya, a second order reality).  Existence/Truth or The Cause, thus, by definition is beyond time-space-attributes (free of all limitations) and, so, Real, Unchanging, Formless/Limitless (Infinite) and Attributeless.  The idea that there are spacious limitations or boundaries in existence is also the proof of there being something beyond the spatial boundaries (which is infinite/limitless existence that cannot be in space), because if finitude is the final reality there would be no consciousness of finitude.

The Changeless Self is available inside as the uninvolved Chith, Consciousness Principle (beyond time) in and through every changing thought. The Formless/Limitless Self is available outside as the uninvolved Sath, the Existence Principle (beyond space) in and through every finite form. Chith is the internal changeless entity of the subject (mind).  Sath is the external limitless entity of the object (matter). Sath, Chith (Being/Existence, Knowing/Consciousness) are, therefore, the backgrounds/essences of matter and mind.

Thus the contingency/condition of all changing and finite things in Nature (subject/object or mind/matter) - right from the atom to the largest star and cosmos - becomes the proof for the existence of that which is changeless and limitless (i.e., beyond time and space). This existence of an unchanging (eternal) and limitless conscious presence behind the phenomena is Reality! (This does not mean that the phenomena is unreality; waves are nothing but water; ornaments are nothing but gold. Phenomena is also Reality, but a second order reality. Phenomena is Reality but Reality is not phenomena.  A wave is different than ocean in name and form, but it is the same as ocean in essence, as water.  Yes it is a paradox!) In other words, Changing and Limited Nature is the proof for the Unchanging and Unlimited Reality!

If there is one thing that does not require proof, Consciousness is it.  The denial of Existence/Consciousness becomes the proof of Existence/Consciousness.  Consciousness does not require a proof because every thing else is proved by Consciousness!

A small story...A disciple was arguing with his guru about the proof of existence. So the guru asked the disciple to fetch him some water to drink. The disciple ran to the river and brought his guru a glass of water. Guru then said, "I have only asked for water, why did you bring me a glass too?" The disciple understood the meaning in a flash! <<<Existence of forms/limits is the proof of Formless/Limitless Existence just like the consciousness of change is the proof of Changeless Consciousness. The Formless/Limitless Existence, as the background, needs forms (perceptions) to express itself. Doesn't a moving car borrow its space from the Formless Space without affecting the Space? Similarly, the Changeless Consciousness, as the background, needs names (thoughts) to express itself....concepts-and-forms or mind and matter ('naama-roopa')!>>>

Reality is not involved in the process of Nature (participating or doing), but Nature seems to get involved in the Presence of Reality (Reality is just pure being)! Reality simply illumines or validates the gross, subtle and causal bodies (and gross, subtle and causal universes). These bodies are actually inert matter but they seem to be alive and conscious because they are illumined by Awareness. Sun doesn't directly participate in the activities of a tree; but a tree simply grows, simply happens in the presence of the sun. Experience belongs neither to Reality/Self nor to the mind-matter. It apparently happens when Awareness/Reality shines on the mind! Experience belongs to Maya, the inexplicable!

<<<God-The Reality=Existence-Consciousness-Infinity, Pure and Absolute. God is, thus, neither an object nor a person. This is, obviously, the non-negatable and non-reducible element of life which is agreeable to all as the definition of God-The Reality, originated from the Upanishads! The word 'Upanishad' means the “destruction (shad) of ignorance or dependence” by revealing what “sits nearest” or "near by" (upa-ni, 'ni' means near, 'upa' means by) to you. What sits nearest to you is the Self; so Self-Knowledge destroys ignorance.

All we have in life is Consciousness plus experience. Or, Consciousness+mind+matter. Mind is finite in time and matter is finite in space. The finite-ness of mind in time cannot be known without the Changeless/Timeless Consciousness. Remember: Motion can only be noticed from a motionless point. Memory is also not possible without this motionless element in us. Consciousness of any change/time in life, is the proof of the Changeless/Timeless Consciousness. Similarly, the finite-ness of matter in space cannot exist without the Infinite-ness of Existence. How can a finite object be perceived without the infinite background of space? If the finite-ness is the final reality, there would be no consciousness of that finite-ness. Isn't it?

Therefore, Consciousness is the internal changeless entity or background of the mind/subject. Existence is the external limitless entity or background of the matter/object. Nature or experience, as we all know, is finite and changing all the time. But the contingency/condition of all changing and finite things in Nature (subject/object or mind/matter) - right from an atom to the largest star and cosmos - becomes the proof, as argued earlier, for the existence of that which is Changeless and Limitless (meaning existence beyond time and space). This existence of an Unchanging (Eternal) and Limitless (Infinite) conscious presence behind the phenomena, behind the life, behind the experience, behind the time-and-space is God-The Reality! In other words, Changing and Limited Nature, itself, is the proof for the Unchanging and Infinite Reality! Really...If there is one thing that does not require any proof, whatsoever, then Consciousness is it. Consciousness does not require proof because every thing else is proved by Consciousness! It is as simple a proof as that!

One important point. This does not mean that the phenomena/experience is unreality. No...waves are nothing but water; ornaments are nothing but gold. Phenomena is also Reality, but a second order reality. Phenomena is Reality but Reality is not phenomena. The night-dream ego is you but you are not the night-dream ego! A wave is different than ocean in name and form, but it is the same as ocean in essence - as water. Yes, it is a paradox! Reality is not involved in the process of Nature (participating or doing), but Nature seems to get involved in the Presence of Reality (because Reality is just pure being)! Reality simply illumines/validates the gross, subtle and causal bodies (and gross, subtle and causal universes). These bodies are actually inert matter but they seem to be alive and conscious because they are illumined by Consciousness. Sun doesn't directly participate in the activities of a tree; but a tree simply grows, simply happens in the presence of the sun. Experience belongs neither to Reality/Consciousness nor to the mind-matter. It apparently happens when Consciousness/Reality shines on the mind! Experience belongs to Maya/Illusion, the inexplicable!

What is the difference between I-I, I AM and I AM THIS?..........

There are three 'I's. They are I-I, I AM and I AM THIS; 'Aham-Aham', 'Ayam' (Am-ness, Aham-Asthi) and 'Ayam Idham'. Here, I in I AM is the soul, I in I AM THIS can be either the ego/mind or the gross body. And I-I is the Pure/Original Awareness. It is Awareness-at-rest. It is Totality, Reality. I is identical to I. I-I is Awareness always aware (just by being) but has no body and not available for transaction. So IT is actually not even an I-I or Aham-Aham, because there is no I in IT. We are calling IT an I-I just to talk about IT. Vedantha calls this as THAT or Brahman. (Aadhi Shankaraachaarya in Nirvaana Shathakam: "Mano Buddhi Ahamkaara Chittha NinAaham...") This open Awareness without a body-mind complex, therefore, does not have Self-Awareness. Self-Awareness is the awareness of itself as "I." In other words, "I" is the name that whatever knows itself gives to itself. I-I is aware but not aware as 'something.' I-I cannot say "I" because there is no other that exists as thou.<<<Were one to truly be Fully Aware, one would not be aware that one is Fully Aware, because who is the One who is "Aware" - and of what is that One Aware? In deep sleep in which you are Fully Aware, you can never split yourself into two - one part knowing the other part!>>>In Manifestation, the I-I "becomes" the I AM. I AM is the reflected aspect of Awareness-at-rest. I-I cannot claim/say "I AM Awareness." IT requires thought or mind to claim, know or experience. It is now Awareness-in-movement (Awareness plus kinetic power called Maya). If Awareness doesn't have the power/Maya to create or manifest, it can't be called Limitless because it would be limited by its inability to create! If I-I is the pure sun light, I AM is the moon light and I AM THIS is the moon. Pure light is invisible until it hits an object like moon. I AM is also called the Spiritual or the Absolute Realm where you know anything only in an absolute way. God (which yearns for the experience of simultaneous knowing+loving of Who Really It Is=Pure Being or Non-Duality) cannot experience all that God is within the Spiritual Realm alone, because in that realm there is nothing that God is not. Everything is Light and you cannot experience Light without darkness, for it is God's nature and desire to experience itself by expressing itself in infinite ways.

Eyes can see but in order to see, claim or experience themselves, they require a mirror. Awareness does not require mind to be Awareness but it requires mind to claim that "I AM Awareness."  The first and foremost transaction that happens when Awareness is seemingly enclosed within a body-mind complex is “I AM." The first/seemingly-enclosed consciousness without any personal-subjectivity, I AM, is called Self-Awareness, 'Samgnyaanam,' or 'Pragnyaanam.'  I AM is the subjectivity without the slightest trace of objectivity (Awareness knows Awareness, feels impersonal presence as 'something').  "I AM" is the presence of impersonal sense-of-presence or being whereas "I-I" is the absence of both the presence of sense-of-presence and the absence of sense-of-presence!  I AM is Self experiencing itself through the subtlest thought ('pragnya'; pra-gnya means prior to thought or 'gnyaana') that produces experiential bliss.  Self-Awareness is the knowledge that one is aware (or one knows) of being aware. It is the Self-Knowledge which does not require any means of knowledge (it is direct).  Self-Awareness is the form with which Brahman/Aananda is experienced directly.  I-I can only recognize and express itself through a body-mind complex.  I-I is 'prior' to I AM because it is aware of I AM (sun light is aware of moon light). However they are not two, but the same potential. The I AM Consciousness is not born out of mind or intellect (mind/thought is discontinuous, I AM is continuous). Remember: The open Awareness without body-mind complex does not have Self-Awareness, but the very same Awareness (seemingly) enclosed in a body-mind develops Self-Awareness, I AM. I AM is the ultimate, continuous and the impersonal sense of presence while in a body!

The feeling I AM or I AM PRESENT is also Reality, Reality-in-movement. There is no person in just I AM which is strictly impersonal. In the absence of me, I AM is. I AM is the thoughtless aware state, 'Aham-Asthi.' I AM is not a thought or concept, it is the sense or nature of our being. I AM is the field of 'being' that exists 'prior' to thinking. I AM, 'pragnya-vritthi', is neither exclusively a thought (since thought is discontinuous) nor exclusively Pure Awareness (=Being+Consciousness which is not even aware of itself as 'something'); but it does point/refer to Pure Awareness. Pragnya is Consciousness without objects but is endowed with the potential of objects (Pure Awareness has no objects even in their seed form). Pragnya means the source of knowing; a seemingly Enclosed Consciousness.  I AM is the highest form of Truth in Manifestation.  The very first feeling when you wake up from sleep before you identify yourself with a body/mind and then know the world - is I AM. I AM is the portal between Manifestation/Mind and Reality.  I AM is the portal (a dimensionless point) through which Awareness localizes itself as the mind and also the same portal through which the mind passes in the opposite direction as it investigates its essential nature. This I AM is also called 'Now-and-Here.' At the portal/gate of I AM (meaning I know that I AM), through Self-Inquiry/Self-Investigation, grab the knowledge/knowing that I AM Limitless Awareness (meaning I know what I AM)! This is Self-Knowledge, Aathma Gnyaana. The next and last step is to know that there is only Self (Jeevaathma=Aaathma=Brahman) and nothing other than Self, which is Brahman Gnyaana!

Mandukya Upanishad: "Ayam Aathma Brahman!"...I AM=Aathma=Brahman.

Maya is the power that can project not-real and then make the not-real look real. Maya is All-Intelligence, All-Power and All-Love. Individual Maya is ignorance. Maya is an inherent power of Reality/Brahman. Brahman and Maya are inseparable even though they belong to two different orders of Reality (you cannot separate gold from an ornament). Therefore Maya is also beginningless because it is the cause for duality/time. Maya is neither real nor unreal.  I AM is neither Maya nor Pure Awareness. What does not exist forever is not real; when individual ignorance vanishes upon Self-Realization, Maya will have no effect on you. The appearance of the world (Maya) will not alter, but you have a clear knowledge that there is none other than Brahman. Brahman can exist without Maya. However, Maya cannot exist without Brahman. Maya, thus, is dependent upon Brahman, a second-order reality. This inherent power of Eeshwara is also mithya, apparently-real.

Maya and Brahman are neither the same nor different. The relationship between Maya and Brahman is similar to the relationship between a dream and the dreaming mind. If a wave is an individual-self (ego), then water is Brahman. The wind on the surface of the water (inherent power of the water), which causes waves to form is Maya.  When the three forces/energies/qualities ('gunas') of Maya (which are sathva, rajas and thamas) get disturbed (for whatever reason), an apparent world is manifested. For any manifestation to happen the minimum number required is three.  When the three forces of Maya (Prakrithi; pra-krithi=totally/constantly moving) are in balance, Awareness is at rest. When these forces are out of balance for any reason, Awareness apparently manifests the world and "becomes" Awareness-in-movement. Maya+Brahman (=Eeshwara) is the apparent cause of this world; Brahman is not. Brahman only lends existence to the apparent world!

When the same three qualities in an individual get disturbed in deep sleep, dream world is manifested. Ignorance is the hidden power in you, the Self, that can project and also veil the dream. The dream just appears. The contents of the dream are not under the individual's control. Everything is happening itself through ignorance. But Self/Brahman is not the cause. Reality cannot cause anything. Reality is in eternity and, therefore, causeless. From the point of view of Reality, nothing is happening. Reality simply IS. Identification of Impersonal Consciousness (Brahman) with the world through Maya is the Creator, Eeshwara. Identification of Impersonal Consciousness with the individual self through ignorance is the soul/ego.  Soul is a temporary and illusory limitation the Non-Dual Awareness has freely assumed in producing this apparent dual-world to express, experience and demonstrate its magnificence!  Remember: Jeevaathma (I AM, Chidhaabhaasa, Pragnyaanam)=Saakshi=Aathma=Paramaathma=Brahman, Truth/Reality (Param=Absolute or Highest or Supreme). It makes it easier to understand the riddle seeing microcosm and macrocosm from their own perspectives.

I AM THIS WORLD is Universal Mind/Universal Ego: Creator, Personified-God, or Eeshwara. I AM THIS BODY is the Individual Identified Consciousness, 'Ahamkaara', (ego or jeeva with a body/mind organism, the notion of I as a doer, me-ness). It is the first/primary thought that identifies itself with a body. Mind splits the Impersonal Experiencing into two parts: a subject here experiencing an object out there so it can experience the experience in a much more closer and detailed fashion. This primary thought later substantiates it with further thoughts and feelings which give the impression that this duality is solid, real. By the time one is a teenager, this view of experience has been so instilled into him. I AM is Peace but I AM THIS BODY is illusion/misery, a product of genes and conditioning. An individual and the Creator enjoy the same level of reality as they both are thoughts. When the concept of an individual separate-self disappears, the concepts of the Creator and the world also disappear with it. For all intents and purposes, the terms Maya and Creator/Eeshwara are synonymous and represent the macrocosmic causal body. When it is potential, it is called Maya; when manifested, it is called Eeshwara.

'Prior' to deep sleep, there is the I-I (I-I is bodiless Pure Awareness, THAT or Brahman). In deep sleep there is I AM THAT (and there is nothing other than THAT) for the sage ('gnyaani') and I AM for the common man. In waking-dream or in night-dream, there is I AM THAT (and there is nothing other than THAT) for the sage and I AM THIS BODY (Ahamkaara) for the common man. Ahamkaara (I am a separate thinker/doer/feeler, me-ness) is missing in the sage. However, he still identifies with a body-mind for the day-to-day living (I AM) but with an uprooted personal doership. The sage or the common man cannot "be" I-I as long as they live in a body (gross, subtle or causal). The sage "loses" his subtle and causal bodies upon Self-Realization (and loses his gross body when its 'praarabdha-karma' ends; he is living due to the vaasanas of the Totality so gnyaana teachings can take place) whereas the common man "keeps" them after the physical death of the gross body (which will then "cause" an apparent re-birth).  When I-I realizes through a mind that IT has always been I-I and never a second "thing," IT will not be "reborn," not that IT was "born" before!

What are the levels of Reality?..........

What is Reality? Reality/Brahman is Existence-Consciousness-Infinity-Completeness, which is the non-negatable, non-reducible, non-changing, causeless and non-contradictory principle. And what is world? World is an appearance in Reality. World as an appearance or belonging to a lower order reality is the only way we can explain the presence of an Infinite, Changeless, Actionless Reality which cannot, itself, be a cause of this world because Infinity can only "become" finite in illusion.  The world/mind, thus, consists of not only what we actually perceive but the unperceived sub-stratum, Reality/Brahman, just like in an individual dream we perceive apparent objects as well as its sub-stratum, the mind. Advaitha Vedantha, one of the oldest wisdom teachings of India, sheds some more light on this subject/Reality. Advaitha Vedantha, however, is not a mere view of Reality; it is a way of life. Its aim is to enable human beings to solve the existential problems of life, go beyond suffering and attain permanent peace/happiness.  The essence of this teaching is eloquently summarized by the great teacher/sage lived in the eighth century AD, Aadhi Shankarachaarya:  "Brahman Sathyam Jagath Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Na Parah!"  Brahman is the only truth, the world is not-real (not real as we perceive/conceive it, =mithya, appearance, insubstantial, dependent, not factual) and there is ultimately no difference between the individual self and Brahman (Jeevaathma=Aathma=Brahman).

Based on his statements from other texts, we can extend the first part with: The world also is Brahman (because there is no other thing apart from Brahman). It means that the world is not-real as matter and mind but real as Awareness or Brahman. This is Advaitha Vedantha in a nutshell. One of the cardinal doctrines or pillars of Advaitha Vedantha is the scheme of three descending orders or perspectives of Reality. Maya/Manifestation functions through three energies (or 'gunas' called satthva, rajas and thamas) and in two dominant modes of ignorance that are indivisible and interdependent which then give rise to 1. Subjective, individual or personal illusion, and 2. Transactional, collective, inter-subjective mass-mind illusion. This, therefore, results in the three levels of Reality, three orders of the One Reality, three planes of the One Existence: 1. Absolute Reality (Pure), 2. Transactional Reality (Common/Waking World) and 3. Subjective Reality (Personal/Individual). Transactional and Subjective Realities depend on the Absolute Reality. Let us look at the three Realities in detail.

1. Absolute/Transcendental/Ultimate Reality (Paramaarthika Sathyam): It is Truth/Reality that is changeless, eternal, action-less, non-dual, property-less and unknowable (beyond mind; param=supreme/highest and arthika=true meaning/true substance; paramaartha=the highest meaning or source; sound or 'shabdha' always refers to its meaning and, thus, AUM sound refers the Ultimate Reality).  There is no Creation, no Dissolution. Absolute Reality does not depend on anything else for its existence.  Only Reality/Brahman exists in the form of Existence-Awareness-Infinity-Completeness or Sath-Chith-Anantha-Aananda; there is no second "thing" other than Brahman.

Pure Awareness/Brahman/"I" is Awareness-at-rest. "I" is always aware (just by being) but has no body and not available for transaction. This open Infinite Awareness without a body-mind complex, therefore, does not have Self-Awareness. "I" is aware but not aware as 'something.' It is too close to itself. "I" cannot say "I" because there is no other that exists as thou.  In Manifestation (Universal Mind), the "I" apparently becomes "I AM." "I AM" is the reflected aspect of Awareness-at-rest. "I" requires a mind/thought to claim, know or experience.  It is now Awareness-in-movement. It now has Self-Awareness, "I AM," I am present and I know I am present.  Self-Awareness is the knowledge that one is aware (or one knows) of being aware. "I" can now apparently move, act, say and transact with "I AM THIS." If "I" is the sun or pure sun light, "I AM" is the moon light and "I AM THIS" is the moon.  Pure light is invisible until it hits an object like moon. Absolute Reality is the plane of God/Brahman. It cannot act or move or say, but in its presence experience happens - just like in the presence of sun light, things grow. Remember: Experience neither belongs to Pure Awareness nor to a soul/ego. Ego only thinks that it is the doer-experiencer having free will!

If you see all things in Reality, it is not the Truth. It is monism. Monism indirectly assigns reality to mind and matter. If you see all things in and as yourself, then it is the Truth. It is Non-Duality. You see the whole world in dream in yourself--that is the nearest illustration. This identity--Advaitha--is the whole Truth. Advaitha does not mean everything is Truth, it means Truth only is and all else is not. Concepts-and-forms, 'naama-roopa,' are superimposed on Absolute Reality like a shadow is superimposed on a man; i.e., naama-roopa are not away from Absolute Reality, but they are not part of Absolute Reality either. I must see everything in me and I must see everything in you too. Then it is the Absolute Truth!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha 6.29: "Sarva Bhuthastham Aathmaanaam, Sarva Bhuthaani Cha Aathmaani; Ikshathe Yogayukthaathma, Sarvathra Samadharshanaha!"..."A true sage, with equal eye, sees all beings in him ('vikshepa' or projection is dissolved) and himself in all beings ('aavarana' or root-ignorance is dissolved)!"

A Sufi Teaching: "When I search for myself, I find Allah. When I search for Allah (in the world), I find myself!"

2. Transactional/Empirical/Objective/Factual/Observed Reality (Vyavahaarika Sathyam where naama, roopa and kriya are performed): Universe exists/appears in the form of Maya ('mithya,' illusion, apparently-real, looks as if it is real). We see mirage in desert. We see bent rod in water. That is an illusion. This waking world is a projected dream from the Universal Mind (Maya/Totality/Creator/Eeshwara) and is common to all. This illusion is caused by the root/cosmic/primal ignorance ('kaarana agnyaana' or 'moolaavidhya', causal ignorance, caused by the power 'thamas'; vyavahaara=to act in affairs).  We can know the illusion but we cannot remove it by knowing it. We can only understand it and act appropriately like a sage ('gnyaani') does.

If you look at Maya, how can you describe it? How can you describe any object, for that matter?  Everything here is under the spell of the three 'gunas' or powers/energies of Maya and everything is changing from moment to moment.  So, an object that is known to be one thing one moment, is something else the next. If an object is in this state of constant change, how do you describe it? What’s the reality of it? Well, it has no real reality. It has an experiential/apparent reality. This whole world is just flickering on and off.  It’s like when you go to the movies and you see a mountain on the screen. The mountain looks still, permanent and solid. But it isn’t. The image is flickering on and off so fast that the eye cannot detect the change, so it appears that the mountain is still when in fact it is constantly being created and destroyed. This is Transactional Reality, the waking state. Objective Reality emeges from Factual Past Data.

Transactional Reality will seem real as long as we are ignorant of the Absolute Reality. Just like the mirage, when you understand that this is a seeming reality, the appearance doesn’t go away. Your body and mind remain and they keep interacting with the apparent reality in exactly the same way as before. The difference is that you know it is an apparent reality, instead of believing that it’s real. Remember, the simplest definition of “real” in Vedantha is "permanent." People think that duality disappears into oneness when they realize, “I’m Awareness,” but it doesn’t. What is duality and what is dualism? Duality is illusion, ill-vision, confusion, mis-conception, mis-perception. And dualism is dual-vision, dual-perception, delusion, mis-belief, 'aviveka', 'moha.' So, even with the understanding, the appearance of duality always remains but it just doesn’t confuse you anymore; ignorance goes; ignorance falls; object-ness of the world falls. Your belief that duality is real also disappears but the experience of duality is still there. This is now called an enlightened-duality (or Non-Duality) where the sage is in; there is no personal doership. An observer-subject (knower-doer-feeler=experiencer) and an observed-object becomes an observer-object and an observed-object. How cool is that? You get the best of the both worlds. You're acting but you are free of action at the same time.

A sage deliberately invokes differences, duality, for the sake of transactions and to enjoy gratitude. He invokes Non-Duality to enjoy fullness.  This is why Vedantha defines moksha as knowledge of both real (sathya) and not-real (mithya) and the relationship between the two. And what is the relationship?...None because they belong to two different orders of Reality. What is the relationship between a waker and the dream-ego inside of waker's dream? By the way, moksha is derived from the root Sanskrit: मुच्, 'muc,' which means free, let go, release, liberate. Free from what? Free from experience (gunas)...knowing that experience is me but I am not the experience! Free from the separate-self or the experiencer/ego you think you are! Moksha also means the cessation of 'moha' or delusion (moha+ksha).

3. Subjective/Personal/Imagined/Distorted Reality (Prathibhaasika Sathyam, Reflection of Vyavahaarika Sathyam where there is no karma/kriya performed): This reality is dream-like; personal; reality from the standpoint of an individual/colored mind available to only one mind.  Subjective Reality is individual's vaasana-based interpretation/evaluation of the Transactional Reality (colored by likes and dislikes, desires and fears, imaginations and judgments, etc; prathi=similitude/reflected and bhasa=to appear).  This is like seeing a snake for a rope in semi-darkness. This illusion is caused by individual ignorance ('kaarya agnyaana' or error or mis-perception or rooted-ignorance or 'sthoola-avidhya').  Dream state is the best example of the Subjective Reality. However, this happens in waking state as well. Subjective Reality emerges from Judged Past Data.  But this illusion is instantly removed after knowing the truth in waking state and after waking up from the night-dream.

Mithya common to all, is Transactional. Mithya perceived by a particular person and not by others is Subjective.  Subjective Reality will seem real as long as we are ignorant of the Transactional Reality. And this seeming reality is corrected in waking state itself and does not require Absolute Knowledge. The Transactional Reality, of course, gets corrected upon the rise of the Absolute Knowledge (Brahma Gnyaanam).  Both Transactional Reality and Subjective Reality are apparent realities, 'mithya.' Examples of Subjective Reality are rope-snake and dream-tiger. Examples of Transactional Reality are mirage, sunrise, blue sky and the world.<<<As a side note regarding the deep sleep state: Deep sleep state ('sushupthi') is blissful ignorance from the point of view of waking state and is experienced as the Reflected-Consciousness. So, deep sleep is in neither Transactional nor Subjective Reality. These two states operate in and apply to mithya only (the effect of duality on the mind). You experience SathChithAananda directly in deep sleep but you do not know that you are SathChithAananda. This is the closest state to Enlightenment but there is still a thin veil of ignorance which needs to be removed in the waking state through discrimination/inquiry. There is still an element of duality in deep sleep because duality is dormant and rises again as the mind to experience the apparent world. An Enlighened person and Pure Awareness do not have any world/mind in dormancy, because they are Pure.>>>

Corresponding to these three Realities, there exist three viewpoints: Supreme (Paramaarthika, Awareness), Totality/Universal/Maya (Samashti, Cosmic, Creator, Eeshwara) and Individual (Vyashti). An individual will find peace/happiness when she understands that the doer is Totality/Maya (not a separate-self she thinks she is) and she, as Awareness, is simply a witness. In other words, in this apparent world of duality act responsibly (without any prejudices or judgements) as though you have free will ('purushaartha') but knowing that it's all Totality's Will ('praarabdha-karma'). This is from the Totality's view point, an enlightened perspective. In which reality you stand depends on how you feel. If you feel terrible, you are standing in Distorted/Imaginative/Subjective Reality. If you feel neutral or just fine, you are standing in the Observed/Apparent/Objective Reality. If you feel blissful, you are standing in the Ultimate/Absolute Reality. Here, Subjective Reality emeges from Judged Past Data and Objective Reality emerges from Factual Past Data.

What is Thuriya?..........

Thuriya (Thuriyam) is the background that underlies and transcends the three common states of mind: waking, dream and deep sleep. Thuriya is also known as Pure Awareness, Brahman, Sahaja Samaadhi, The Natural State, Supraconscious State or The Being State. It is the substrate or 'adhishtaanam.' Thuriya, however, is not really a state as it is eternal and all other states appear to, rise in and subside into this (relatively speaking) Pure Awareness. Thuriya appears or modulates as these three states. It is the continuous element that runs through the three states. Thuriya means 'the fourth.' The sages have called it 'the fourth' so we can intellectually disassociate with the three states. That which pervades all three states and forms their substratum is Thuriya. Any state is not different than Thuriya; there are no two things there. If ice, water and steam are three states, then H2O is Thuriya. H2O always knows it as H2O, it does not know three distinct/different states. Those are just names/ideas and forms that mind superimposes on H2O. In a similar manner mind superimposes the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep (samsaara) on Thuriya. Thuriya is Awareness because of which the states are known. Awareness knows/experiences Awareness alone in Thuriya. This subject is the essence of Mandukya Upanishad.

<<<What is the difference between ahamkaara (ego) and Aathma (Saakshi, Witness)? When you say, "I" at present, it is ahamkaara. When you say, "I five years ago," it is also ahamkaara. When you say, "I five years ago is the same I at present," it is Aathma or Witness. Ahamkaara is the changing "I;" whereas Saakshi is the unchanging "I," Knowing-Consciousness ('chidhaabhaasa', 'chithchhaaya', 'vishesha chaithanyam', 'jeeva chaithanyam', 'gnyaana chaithanyam', 'vritthi chaithanyam' or sentience, manifestation of the Consciousness-Aspect of Brahman) recognized "I" is the Saakshi. Saakshi has no attributes.>>>

There are only three common states of mind in life. Physical dissociation from the three states, the three bodies and the three universes is not possible. Why? Because Awareness/Consciousness being Eternal and All-Pervading (like space) can never get away from anything.  Even though we experientially dissociate with the world and the mind in deep sleep, it is not an actual dissociation because everything is potentially present. Even in samaadhi, all the functions go into dormant state, and one is in the causal body and physical dissociation from the causal body is not possible.  Once the sleep or samaadhi is over, the association plus identification comes back. So, there is no such thing as 'the fourth' state which is discreet and mind-blowing; Thuriyam is not associated with any fourth state! The sages have named it 'the fourth' so as to stop misidentifying yourself with the three states.  Thuriya is the mental dis-identification from the three states which can be accomplished through knowledge or understanding only. Waking, dream and deep sleep states are the Self seemingly associated with the not-Self. Thuriya is the Self mentally dissociated from the not-Self (the three states, the three bodies and the three universes), just Pure Self.

The understanding that I, the witness, am Sathyam (Real) and the world, the witnessed, is mithya (apparently-real) and the witnessed is not different than me is Thuriya. Understanding that all the states are in Me is Thuriya. Sathyam and mithya can be together, but they can never be associated. Their association is a seeming one, not factual. After this knowledge takes place, we know that we have always been Thuriya but only playing the roles of the waker, dreamer and the deep sleeper. I am Thuriya (Sathyam) because the roles (mithya) never touch me at any time.  I am waker ('vishva') when associated with waking state, dreamer ('thaijasa') when associated with dream state, sleeper ('praagnya') when associated with sleep state and Thuriyam when dissociated from all the three states ('upaadhis'; mediums). Waker, dreamer and sleeper are three relational names given to Thuriyam just as one and the same person can be called grandson, son and father with respect to three generations.  Once you negate the relations, the names are gone and he is just a person.

Imagine water in a transparent glass bowl. There is a straight rod partially dipped in water. When the rod comes in association with water, the rod under the water appears to be bent. How do you straighten the rod? Not by taking it out. Actually, the rod need not be straightened because it was never bent. Thus experiencing the bent rod, we can declare that the rod is straight by the knowledge that the seeming bend is not a real bend. Similarly, Consciousness is Thuriyaṃ all the time. During the three states, the roles are appearances. "Becoming" Thuriyaṃ is by understanding that I am always Thuriyaṃ. With the knowledge/knowing that I am always Thuriyaṃ, not associated with any of my roles in the three states, I can enjoy playing the roles.

In deep sleep, samaadhi, death and dissolution there is only temporary seeming Advaitham (seeming Non-Duality) which is subject to arrival and departure. Dvaitham (duality) is in a dormant form in such states and that is the reason we wake up into duality again and again (either in this present body or in a new body).  In order to understand Thuriya (true Advaitham, true Non-Duality) , the intellect/buddhi has to assimilate four points.  These points are:

1. The origination (actual birth) of the world/mind has to be negated.
2. The factuality of the existence of the world/mind has to be negated.
3. The appearance and the experience of the world/mind has to be accepted.
4. The appearance and the experience of the world/mind is caused by Maya.

Thuriya is Consciousness without any actual association plus identification with any object. It is not Consciousness of something but it is Consciousness Itself, Objectless Consciousness. It is also not an object of experience. Thuriya is Consciousness Principle without a knower status. It does not require mind to be Consciousness but it requires mind to claim that I am Consciousness. There is no differentiation of body, mind or soul in this state. This is the state where mind/ego does not rise anymore.  We could say that this state is transcendent, intrinsic to each of the above three states. This state is without any attributes. Thuriya is also Non-Dual because the other three states are only conditionally-real or mithya.  An analogy...Stage lamp reveals the play on the stage and also the empty stage after the play is over.  A non-dancing lamp continues to be on the stage illumining the absence of all the actors/dancers after the play is over. The mind is the stage and thoughts are the dancers. When the thoughts are gone, you say that the mind is blank. But the blankness is revealed by Consciousness Principle. 'Blankness' is a thought. That Consciousness is not subject to arrival and departure, but it is Absolute Silence. It illumines the relative sound and the relative silence. That is Thuriyaṃ.

The waking and dream states are the presence of sense-of-presence, the deep-sleep state is an apparent absence of sense-of-presence whereas Thuriya is the absence of both the presence of sense-of-presence and the apparent absence of sense-of-presence!  Thuriya is, therefore, beyond (different than) and, yet, the basis (substratum, substance) of all states and is the condition of Reality, or, rather, the unconditional Reality!

Why did the Infinite Non-Dual Reality (Brahman) become finite and dual (self and world)?..........

Life/Manifestation as a whole is purposeless. Life is the expression of Awareness through body-mind-complexes. Life is goal-less; that is why it is eternal. Goal implies a limit. If there is a goal to life then life cannot be eternal, because when the goal is achieved life is dead. But we know that life can never be dead. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. Purpose means an impediment. Purpose/goal is in the future but life is now. If you are looking for a goal or a purpose, you will miss it, you will lose it. A flower blooms joyfully whether there is a passer-by or not; there is no meaning in its flowering, yet it is beautiful. It can only bloom fully if it blooms without any purpose. Is love not enough? Life is not a business, not a school. Maya, with which Eeshwara manifests this world, is the greatest power and the greatest wonder and it is impossible to understand its purpose or workings. How can an ever-changing mind understand an ever-changing matter? Parallel tracks never meet. Manifestation/Life/Maya is a mystery.

In the highest understanding, therefore, Reality never "becomes" manifestation which is finite and dual. Reality only knows itself, there are no two things there. Reality does not generate experience because it lacks nothing.  However...from the point of view of an inquisitive mind (since we cannot deny the experiencing), Reality did. It did it for Experience, we might say! It wanted to know itself, know its magnificence in its own Experience! That is Reality's desire! Desire is Reality's nature as Consciousness-At-Rest (Shiva, Purusha, Father, Emptiness) has to become Consciousness-In-Movement (Shakthi, Nature, Mother, Form) at some point. Potential energy was forced to become kinetic (from the point of view of an ego); if it didn't it would be dead energy. It is the nature of Consciousness to celebrate itself through Manifestation. And it freely assumes the seeming limitation called 'mind' to become and observe/witness the world in finer detail (If Consciousness did not have the power to appear as something other than what it is, then it would not be Limitless; so why not?). Manifestation/experience/expression is an act love! You cannot ask a mother "why" she had her baby. You cannot ask "why manifestation" to the Absolute because cause-and-effect, time and space are created with/within manifestation. You cannot ask "why the fire is hot?" You may ask "how the fire is hot?" Science will never be able to explain why the fire is hot. If you are in a dream, asking the cause of a running tiger, where did it come from, etc.does not satisfy the mind for too long. You simply have to wake up to realize that there is no real tiger!

Reality cannot be, except in the space of not-Reality.  Even the total ecstasy cannot be experienced as "total ecstasy" unless something less than total ecstasy exists.  You would no longer know you were having the mergence, because there would be no other knowing or experiencing with which to compare it. You would not even know who you are. You would lose your ability to differentiate, to individuate yourself. Is this not our experience in deep sleep?  So, something less than the total ecstasy of total Oneness had to be - and continually has to be - created. That is the reason we move on to dream and waking states.  Ecstasy would not be ecstasy, were there not a time when there was no ecstasy. This is as true with spiritual ecstasy as it is with physical.

But everything is One in the Realm of the Reality (or the Absolute). Something not being One with Everything is impossible in Reality.  What is not impossible, however, is the Maya (or Illusion) of not being One with Everything.  The Realm of the Relative was thus created as Maya/Illusion.   Reality had to create by assuming another form without surrendering Its nature as Awareness.  Creating an entire reality based on illusion was so ingenious and spectacular in that it produced a solution to Reality's conundrum.

The Realm of the Relative is like an Alice-in-Wonderland, in which things are not what they seem to be, and in which things seem to be what they are not!  Suddenly, Reality had a point of reference by which it might know itself in its own Experience.  In order to Experience a finite world of matter (which is apparently other than itself), Reality/Awareness had to forget itself and rise (imagine) itself in the form of a finite mind. Thus, matter and mind are manifested at the selfsame instant (like in a personal dream).  Life/Mind exists as a tool for Reality to turn concept (Knowing) into Experience/Love (Aananda).

Consider the tree outside your window. It knows nothing more now, when it is fifteen feet tall and covers you with the shade of its gigantic umbrella, than it did when it was a tiny seeding. All the information that it needed in order to become what it is today was contained in its seed. It had to learn nothing. It merely had to grow through experience. In order to grow, it used the information locked inside its cellular memory. You are not unlike the tree. All knowledge is imprinted on your soul. But, you need the feeling, feeling of love, to be complete. That's the reason you are apparently in this physical world.

Peace/Ecstasy/Love/Aananda that is part of Reality gets split from Reality as it forgets or ignores its real nature in the interest of Experiencing a finite world in finite detail. Don't we all do this every time we dream - by becoming a separate person within the dream and forgetting that we ourselves have created all of the dream?  Life, as we know it, is a divine hypnosis. Reality starts the game of duality and relationships by forgetting itself and after some time finding/remembering itself. For this game to be manifest, total being is split into three aspects: body, mind and the soul.  Out of apparent separation from Reality, the desire arises in Reality (which is apparently split into innumerable souls) to fall back into The Source with the help of body and mind. Soul is in search of the apparently missing Love/Peace. Knowing/Consciousness (of soul = Chith) + Experience of Love/Feeling (through body = Aananda) = Awareness/Reality (facilitated/realized through mind = Sath).

Peace cannot be experienced as Peace without losing it first.  The soul will then seek duality to start to appreciate the Non-Duality.  Even if you are fully self-realized, your grandest desire would be to experience that as a discrete physical reality.  This eternal cycle itself forms the Greatest Duality called Life! The physical world of opposites becomes the opposite of the world of Reality!  It is a Divine Paradox, that while the universe is not, still it is. Remember ever the two poles of Truth – the Absolute and the Relative.

It is funny when Reality tries to see itself through the body and mind, because it is already seeing itself. This attempt to see/know/experience itself is the result of ignorance. Ignorance is not stupidity, it is just a limitation. Perpetuation or continuation of ignorance is a sin. Vedantha is the means that removes the ignorance by getting you to look at yourself in a different way. Then the Reality, which was seeing itself all along, but unaware that what it was seeing was itself, rediscovers itself, realizes the cosmic joke and the seeking stops. It sounds crazy, but that is the way it is. Enlightenment is only the cessation of seeking that comes when you realize that you have always known who you are. The problem is that ignorance causes the Self/Reality to apparently identify with the body and mind, and "become" an experiencer. You live for many years as an experiencer, chasing things in samsaara, including Enlightenment that you think will complete you, when you are complete already. This seeking completion experientially becomes a habit, and you think that the Reality is another experience to be gained! But it is not. Reality is "you," already, you just have to remember it, it is knowledge/insight/revelation/knowing!

“Why has this illusion or phenomenal appearance (Maya) come? How has it come?” When asked this question, Ramana Maharshi did not give a direct reply by telling why or how, but instead said, “See to whom this illusion (Maya) has come.” Because he (the ego) who says that the illusion of phenomenal existence has come into existence, is himself an illusion. Illusion/Maya can never be explained/known, it is a mystery. So, whatever doubts may rise, they cannot rise without the individual you, the one who rose first and who then only raised the other doubts. Therefore, the original doubt, namely that of not knowing who this “individual-you” is, is alone the root of all doubts.  When one’s own reality shines as Awareness/Self, which is the real “I” that is devoid of any other thing, what doubts can rise?

No doubt rose about anything when you were deep asleep. But when you wake up from deep sleep, you rise as a person feeling “I am this body, I am an individual.” That person who rises here in the waking state is the doubter. He did not exist in deep sleep; but the "real-you" did exist in deep sleep. Therefore, "you" who existed even in deep sleep are not the doubter; that alone is the real “You.” Realize the real "You" through Self-Knowledge and to know that you have never taken any birth and in fact nothing is ever born or originated. Non-duality or Infinite Awareness has never become duality or finite mind/world. It only seems to for an illusory ego!

Are time, space, causality, choice and separate-self real in this Manifestation?..........

All these exist in Maya (Mind) only. In ultimate understanding, there is no such thing as time, space, causality, choice and separate-self/ego!

When a question is asked, would you like a tea or a coffee?...It is a thought, say thought no.1. Pause....You answer, coffee. That is thought no.2. So, the choice takes place in between those two thoughts. The choice has already been made. And what is present between those two thoughts? It is Awareness. So, there is no separate chooser of the coffee thought. Now a third thought may appear, "I chose the coffee." The chooser 'I' is imagined with that third thought. There is nothing to the chooser other than that thought. This 'I' is not present anywhere during this seeming chain of causation. Therefore, there is no such thing as choice.  There can only be one thought at a time. There is no causal connection between two thoughts, thought no.1 and thought no.2. But then thought no.3 comes along and says, "I chose the coffee." So, thought no.3 imagines a chain of causation between thought no.1 and thought no.2 and calls it a choice and the agent of that choice as 'I'. "I made the choice."

It is the background of Awareness that links all the thoughts, not an imaginary 'I'. Awareness is the true 'I'.  The notion of a chooser, thought no.3, is simply itself a thought which appears retrospectively. It claims the responsibility after the fact. There is a choosing thought, but no chooser. Chooser is a filler thought.  Individual self is, thus, nowhere to be found.  The ego is a by-product of the illusion that whatsoever we are seeing is true.  Ego is the ghost in the system that is not really there, on behalf of which we spend most of our lives thinking and feeling! Ego is an apparent activity of Awareness of seeking (desire) and resisting (fear), but not an independent entity.  Thought no.4 now comes along which imagines that the chain of causation exists in time. Since thought no.4 cannot see Awareness (although it is made out of it), it imagines eternity as time. It thinks that there must be a causal link between all these thoughts and they take place in time.  So, the whole idea of time, causality and choice is mind's childish way of trying to make sense of something that it cannot know about. There is no choice or cause in eternity.

When it is said that pot is created from clay, the potter does not create anything. He is only shaping the already existent clay from its lump form into another defined form. The substance remaining the same, a new name has been given to the changed shape of the clay. Clay and pot are two names in the past and the present respectively and not two substances. There is no substance called pot separate from clay created by a potter. We have two words but only one substance. Because there are two words, we make the mistake of thinking that there are two substances. Not only that, but we also create a relationship between the two as cause-effect. ‘Two substances’ are imagination and the relationship between the two is also imagination. Once you know that there was clay, there is clay and there will be only clay and thus there is only one thing, relationship is meaningless because the relationship requires two things. In advaitha, relationship is not possible.

The finite mind is looking at the Reality through its own limitation and projects its own limitation on to the Reality. Time is like the glasses the mind wears through which it looks at the world. Time is in the glasses, not in the world. What is really there in and as the world is Awareness.  Mind can only access experience thought by thought, because it is not possible to have more than one thought at a time. Awareness has no such limitation (It is dimensionless), so all seven billion thoughts occur at the same time which is always 'Now.'  Time is not a continuum. It is an element of relativity that exists vertically, not horizontally.

Think of time as a spindle, representing the Eternal Moment of Now. Imagine picture leafs of paper on the spindle, one atop the other. These are the elements of time. Each element separate and distinct, yet each existing simultaneously with the other. All the paper on the spindle at once! As much as there will ever be—as much as there ever was; All of It! There is no Beginning to this, and there is no End. It—the All of Everything—just IS.  It is like a book vs. reading the book. While all the story of hundred years life is right there in your hands, you (as mind) are only reading one segment/chapter at a time.  All things happen in Consciousness at the selfsame instant; experienced simultaneously and sequentially--with each new experience ‘erasing’ the old. And so it is as if the old never happened.  You ‘are’ what you ‘are’ Right Now, and it is very much as if you never were anything else.  The experience would be difficult to explain in human terms. We may say that things happen 'sequentaneously!'  There is only one moment, the Golden Moment of Now. Everything that has happened, is happening now, and ever will happen--is happening Right Now.

In order to Experience a finite world, Reality has to apparently ignore its infinite and eternal nature (Peace) and take the shape of perception and thought. This will cause an apparent world (object/matter/form/'roopa'/limit) and a separate-self (subject/ego/mind/'naama'/idea) to be born. Oneness, apparently, gets split. Being-Consciousness ('sadhaabhaasa' or 'saamaanya chaithanyam' or 'asthithva-chaithanyam', manifestation of Existence aspect of Brahman) apparently becomes being and consciousness. Peace or Fullness that is intrinsic to Pure Being-Consciousness is now seemingly lost.  Perception (senses) brings the matter out of Pure Being into seeming existence by superimposing space onto Pure Awareness. Thought brings the mind out of Pure Knowing into seeming existence by superimposing time onto Pure Awareness. Feeling (soul/light/Loving-Consciousness), the other aspect of the Greater Cause, is seemingly missing. Pure Loving is apparently veiled! Matter and mind are manifested at the same instant (just like in a dream).

Once matter (roopa) and mind (naama) come into apparent existence, their background which is Being-Knowing (Sath-Chith-Aananda) seems to be veiled and as a result of that veiling, matter and mind seem real. They borrow their reality from their now invisible background.  But thought cannot see the true background, so it manufactures space as the background of matter (veiling of infinite nature) and time as the background of mind (veiling of eternal nature). When you shine Eternity through mind and Infinity through perception, they appears as time and space. In other words, space and time are these two empty containers that house matter and mind which form a pale reflection of the Absolute. Space and time are, in fact, imagined precisely to accommodate the separate-self that we believe and feel ourselves to be. Space-Time is called 'Aakaasha' in Sanskrit meaning an All-Pervading Appearance. According to Vedantha, Aakaasha was the subtlest element of manifestation and was the first one to emerge. Scientists researching the subatomic particles of matter are now finding that the fundamental background of matter is just empty space. Ignorance of our unlimited nature (or desire for life) causes sense of lack or desire for happiness/infinity (limited in space) and fear of death of the ego seeking eternity (limited in time) which are the two hallmarks of a separate-self (and are a direct result of these two imaginations of space and time). Separate-Self=Desire and Fear! Love and fear are the prime polarity of Life. All other polarities emerge from this greatest polarity.

These two containers of space and time are what the infinite and eternal reality of Pure Being-Knowing looks like when viewed through perception and thought. Space is infinity viewed through perception; time is eternity viewed through thought.  All you know about space is the experience of seeing. Objects and space are both part of seeing. Seeing takes place in Consciousness; seeing cannot take place in space. Therefore, space is just an idea. Space is meaningless unless an object is present. Likewise, an object cannot exist without space (there are no objects in deep sleep). However, space and object cannot be the same thing for they have contrary natures. If they are two different things, then they should be able to exist separately. Since space and object can only exist together, both are untrue in themselves.

Past and the future are also both concepts that exist only in the present moment. You can never actually experience a past or a future in present. They can come in the present only as a thought/memory. Time is a relationship between the memory of the past, and the perception of the present moment. No one can go either to a past or a future experience. Whatever experience you have can only occur in the present 'Now.' Time cannot exist independent of objective experience.  Experience does not happen in time, time happens in experience (time is not constant across the three states of mind). Time is quite arbitrary.  Passage of six months of time in a night-dream happening only in one minute of waking-dream is a clear indication of the illusory nature of time!

Maya creates the illusion of time while existing outside of time. For a waker (relatively speaking) it is all happening at once because the mind is everywhere in the dream. Things are happening in a sequence but there are no separate events (so no time). However, for a separate-self inside the dream (dream-ego) there are events and a time.  Time, therefore, is a fiction supported by memory.

So the time, space, separate-self, choice and causality we seem to experience in the phenomenal world are the reflections of the limitations of our mind, not what is really there! All This is Maya, Mind is Maya - not really real!

The separate-self after the splitting of Oneness, being-knowing-loving, into two entities - a subject (knowing) and an object (being) - thinks that the peace/fullness (or loving, which is inherent in the Oneness) is missing and goes out searching for it in the world which itself has created!  This splitting of Reality creates the illusion as the 'present-here' of eternity/infinity is split into 'past' and 'future' in time and 'here' and 'there' in space.  Thus, the separate-self ends up searching for Aananda/Reality in the illusory time and space! The search of a separate-self for peace/happiness in the objective world is misery.

<<<Why is thought and perception, or time and space?...God is the Creator/Eeshwara. This means that you are the Creator. Yet for you to experience yourself as The Creator, you would have to create something, and everything that there is to create has already been created in Now-Here. Everything that ever was, is now, and ever shall be, is now. Time is an invention of God, allowing you to see all that has been created one thing at a time. For you to experience yourself "creating" something, you would have to not be able to see everything at once. That is why time was invented. Since at any given point in time you cannot see everything at once, you cannot know that everything has already been created...unless, of course, you happen to remember that this is so. This is where forgetfulness of your true nature comes in. Time creates the possibility of memory. In the place of no-time, memory is both impossible and pointless, as everything is perceived at once, right here, right now.

Memory, like time, is limited. Eternity is not. It is timeless. Because both memory and time are limited, and because that which is limited cannot hold that which is unlimited, you cannot hold in human memory a knowledge of all the things which have been created in all the when/where's of eternity. Memory is limited to "then" and "there," whereas Here and Now is not limited at all, but extends forever through Eternity and Infinity. Even in your own earthly experience, notice that it is always Here and Now. There is no other time at all that you can experience! Individual souls, time/space and everything in life are God's tools, allowing God to experience Itself endlessly. Through the devices of time and memory, which produce the possibility of forgetfulness, you are able to experience creating again. This act of re-creation is God's Greatest Joy. That is why it is called "recreation!" Hindus call it "Leela!">>>

All activities of a separate-self are caused by a split/separation from our natural state of peace/fullness, a separation that engenders two apparently contradictory instincts, fear and desire, which cause many disturbing emotions (apparent separation causes you to possess the other so you can be one again). Beneath every desire a fear lurks, behind every fear a desire. If I don’t get what I want I will be unhappy. Avoiding what I do not want makes me happy. So the fear of unhappiness is just the desire for happiness. These two primal forces...which cause attraction and repulsion, association and aversion, likes and dislikes, 'raaga' and 'dvesha'...color every aspect of our lives (samsaara).  The many subtle and gross fears and desires playing in the mind stem from a deeper need, the need to be free of fear and desire, the need to be fulfilled or happy. When I say I want a new car or a new lover I do not actually want the object. I want the happiness apparently wrapped up in it. Desire is a positive fear and fear is a negative desire!

Experiencing a second thing is not saṃsaara but attributing reality to it and developing raaga and dveṣha is samsaara. Shankaraachaarya defines saṃsaara as "aham eṣaam mama ete." : "I belong to them and these belong to me (dualism)."  As long as a separate-self clings to the belief in causality/dualism, samsaara (the phenomenal/imaginative world with never-ending birth and death; samsru=going round and round=wandering; samsaara implies birth, hunger, thirst, old age, disease and death) will continue to expand for him. But when this attachment for causality/dualism wears away, samsaara becomes non-existent. Causality depends on time. Since time is illusory, causality is illusory too. Causality rises and falls with the ego. There is no ego in deep sleep, and there is no time. All that we can accurately say of nature is that there are sequences. Give up (understand) causality, and you shall have the One, the Non-Causality!

Therefore, it is a wiser position to accept causality in actions or happenings as part of Impersonal Functioning (Maya), but not for a separate-self - because this separate-self is a phantom. We normally think that A caused B and B caused C. It is a one-pointed arrow. But with this understanding, we can say that A had to happen for B to happen, B had to happen for C to happen. Causality is a double-pointed arrow. Life is interrelated. Life is One Happening. Cause and effect belong to the physical reality, to mind and matter. Once you move into the non-physical (spiritual) reality, there is no memory, so there is no karma (cause and effect). Karma is there as an Impersonal Happening, not as an individual happening. There is absolutely no personal doership. The theory of individual karma is a strategy of the mind to throw responsibility on the past. There is only universal karma.  Life is not a 'karmic wheel;' Life is a 'cosmic wheel.'

What is Maya? Is the world unreal?..........

Upanishads have defined the Ultimate Reality, Brahman, as Sathyam, Gnyaanam, Anantham or Existence-Consciousness-Infinity. This is by far, the So by definition, Brahman is Changeless or Actionless because if it changes, it will have to change in 'something' which makes that 'something' the Ultimate Reality. Therefore, Brahman cannot create the world. Then what does?...Maya in the presence of Brahman! But, you may ask why? Well, why not? We could not say Brahman is Limitless/Infinity if it was not able to create, right? So, why not? Well, then, what is Maya?

Maya is the mysterious power of Eeshwara/"Creator" which makes the Real appear as something which it is not. Maya is an impersonal, insentient, inert, material principle that is neither existent nor non-existent. So, Maya apparently exists "prior" to Creation with Eeshwara; the material principle and Consciousness principle together. They are inseparable even though Maya is a second order or a dependent Reality. You cannot separate ornament from gold, but gold exists on its own without the ornament, that's the analogy. Maya makes the impossible possible. The presence of Brahman plus Maya creates the world out of itself! It is more accurate to say that the world appears in Brahman as Brahman. Maya is also known as the Universal Mind, the Universal Causal Body and the Nature ('Prakrithi'). Vedantha defines Maya as "Avyaakritha Naama-Roopam," the Unmanifest Concepts-and-Forms which is the cause of the manifest ideas-and-forms.  You may ask, Brahman should not have any parts at all. How is Maya a part? The answer is that a not-real part or an apparently-real part or mithya part being mithya is as good as not a part. What is mithya cannot be counted or taken as substantial.  It is experienced but cannot be counted like the shadow of the body, which is inseparable from the body. Shadow will have all the features of the body but cannot be counted as a second entity. Shadow cannot exist without the body, but body can exist without the shadow.

Maya (All-Power) operates in three modes or three energies (soul, mind and matter). These are known as 'gunas' or ropes in Vedantha. The three aspects/powers/energies of Maya are: 1. The desiring power (Ichcha Shakthi, Sathva, idea, 'naama'), 2. The knowing power (Gnyaana Shakthi, Rajas, planning, 'roopa') and 3. The power of action (Kriya Shakthi, Thamas, execution, 'kriya'). Brahman can only reflect and manifest in sathva (buddhi) as existence and consciousness. Brahman can only manifest in thamas/matter as mere existence. The projecting power creates everything from the subtle universe to the gross universe and the veiling power hides the truth. This is very similar to our individual dream. Waker's soul is sathva (buddhi/intellect/Brahma), dream is rajas (mind/manas/Vishnu) and the ignorance with which the dream-character operates is thamas (matter/Shiva). A sage (upon receiving grace through pure sathva) overcomes the veiling power and sees the real as real, but still enjoys the projecting power like a lucid-waker. For him, the world is real as Brahman. With respect to the rope-snake example...Failure to see it's a rope is veiling, Aavarana, jumping to the conclusion it's a snake is projection, Vikshepa, and seeing the rope as rope is Gnyaana.

To dwell on these three aspects/forces of Maya...The creation of any object always involves three aspects: knowledge, activity/power and matter.  Thamas (matter) or inertias is the element of binding and resistance. If there was no thamas, nothing in the world remains static.  If you were to throw a rock in the air, it would keep moving for eternity. Rajas (mind/manas) is the force of movement, it is the opposite of thamas.  Thamas stops all movement and also conceals the truth.  Rajas generates movement.  Sathva is the third quality, the balancing principle (intellect/buddhi). It is like a triangle with two corners at the base and one above. Sathva is the corner at the top of the triangle. One may say that sathva/soul balances the two corners at the base of the triangle.

Sathva, the balancing force/soul, is referred to as the controlling/sustaining/neutral power (=Vishnu meaning all-illuminating plus all-pervading, all-intelligence), rajas as the projecting/generating power/mind (=Brahma meaning all-expansive or all-creative or infinite), and thamas as the concealing/binding/resisting/dissolving/rejuvenating power/matter (=Shiva=which-is-not or bliss, meaning all-auspicious or all-loving or all-binding or all-bliss) in yogic/religious tradition. GOD stands for Generative, Operative and Dissolutive/Dissolving powers.  Whenever the balance among these three gunas/energies of the Material Principle is disturbed for any reason, Brahman apparently manifests the world through Maya. Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva represent the three aspects - Consciousness (Light), Existence (Space) and Infinity (Time) - of the "One" Ultimate Reality or Brahman.

Maya functions through two dominant modes of ignorance: root-ignorance or simply ignorance ('moolaavidhya', 'kaarana agnyaana', causal ignorance, root-ignorance, veiling, caused by 'thamas') and individual ignorance ('sthoola-avidhya', 'kaarya agnyaana', false projection, error, misunderstanding, confusion, lack of clarity, rooted-ignorance, caused by 'rajas'). Root -gnorance is the cause of "Creation." Our reactions to external objects are the cause of individual ignorance.

<<<Awareness (Brahman) and Maya are beginningless and imperishable. Individual Maya or Ignorance consists of soul, mind and matter. Soul consists of one and mind consists of three layers or koshas. These are causal/bliss layer (space element which is predominantly sathva), intellect/buddhi layer (air element which is predominantly sathva+rajas), thinking/manas layer (fire+water element which is predominantly sathva+thamas and emotional/praana layer (fire element which is predominantly rajas). Matter consists of gross/food layer (water+earth element which is predominantly thamas). The causal/bliss layer is called causal body/soul/Brahma. The gross/food layer is called the physical or gross body/matter/Shiva. The remaining three middle layers are called the subtle body/mind/Vishnu. The Reflection of Brahman in Cosmos is called Eeshwara and the Reflection of Aathma in an individual is called 'chidhaabhaasa' or 'jeevaathma.' Eeshwara is Brahman-in-Movement and Chidhaabhaasa is Aathma-in-Movement. Aathma in an individual is a nickname for the Cosmic Brahman.

Soul=causal body; mind=subtle body; matter=gross body. These layers/bodies with their increasing density seem to cover the Self/Aathma/Pure-Consciousness (like a ring on a ring), the most subtle (which is the causal layer) being next to the Self. The seeming veiling of the Self by Maya/Ignorance makes the Manifestation, life possible. These five great elements (space, air, fire, water and earth) formed in combination with three gunas of sathva, rajas and thamas, then become the cause of all soul, mind and matter in Manifestation. Science tells us that there are five states of matter: BEC, gaseous, plasma, liquid and solid. Ultimately, matter is a form of mind, mind is a form of causal matter and causal matter is a form of Awareness. All there is, is Awareness!>>>

Maya also means appearance, as if something appears to be one way, but is really another. Maya is appearance without any origination (birth). Maya feels real for those who are in it; is indescribable for those trying to understand it; non-existent for those who have gone beyond it. Maya should fulfill four conditions: that whose existence is negated, that whose origination (birth) is negated, that whose experience and appearance are accepted and the cause of the appearance and existence is the ignorance.  The best example that is given for Maya is darkness. The existence and origination of darkness cannot be established. But it is experienced. Maya and the world are similar.

The literal meaning of the word Maya is 'not that which is.' Maya is experientially existent but factually non-existent. Maya is little different than illusion (ill-vision, error-vision, mis-perception due to limited senses, duality) and delusion (dual-vision, dual-perception, irrational, 'moha', mis-belief, retention of a wrong notion even when you have an opportunity to know the truth or even when you are presented with conflicting evidence, dualism).  Illusion and delusion are both distortions of Reality. In the former case you perceive the world as other than it is because the evidence is deceptive; in the latter case you believe the world is other than it is, despite the opportunity to test the evidence you’re presented with. (It is delusional to think that the illusion in our mind is a reality that is outside of our mind; illusion is mis-perception and delusion is mis-belief; not knowing whether earth goes around the sun or sun goes around the earth is confusion; insistence that the sun goes around the earth is delusion.) Illusion is more like Maya but Maya is more broader. Maya means mystery. The more you probe into it, the more mysterious it becomes. Examples of Maya are mirage water, blue sky, blue waters of the ocean, sunrise and bent rod in a glass of water.  We imagine a snake for a rope in the twilight, only to find that it was a rope that was hard to see at first. This is Maya. Enjoying a star that has vanished trillions of years ago is Maya. Perceiving a dream as real every time we dream despite the fact that we know it to be false as soon as we wake up - is Maya.  Take an example. You are looking at a tree. Tree is green and at a distance from you. In actuality, tree is anything but green. Tree processes the white light and rejects green and keeps the remaining six colors. It is made of the remaining six colors but not green. But you say that the tree is green!

Scientists say that the visible universe is only 0.1% and the actual mass in the universe is only about 0.0000000000000000000042%. The solidity of matter is, then, significantly insignificant. Vedantha says it is zero! In other words, matter is empty. On top of that, human eye can only see 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum. So, the mind is not capable to see the actual tree in its total form and color. Mind and senses filter reality through their limited media to have the experience possible. Who knows what the tree is like? In actuality, the distance or depth of the tree is also an illusion created by our eyes. Tree and your body are both appearing on the screen of Consciousness. Don't we manage to create this depth in our dreams?  That which exists and is perceived through the medium of time and space is Maya; that which exists and is perceived beyond the dimensions of time and space is the Reality/Brahman.

Meaning of the Sanskrit word Maya is not illusion as it is popularly interpreted. There is no equivalent word for it in English. Maya is real, yet it is not real. It is real in that the Real is behind it and gives it its appearance of Reality. Yet the Reality is never seen; and hence that which is seen is not real, and it has no real independent existence of itself, but is dependent upon the Real for its existence.  Maya then is a paradox--Real, yet not Real, an illusion, yet not an illusion. It is undefinable. It is inexplicable (like darkness). Maya is existent like Brahman, but it is not unchanging like Brahman (change and dependency makes Maya undefinable). In Vedanthic lingo it is called 'anirvachaneeya.'  Maya is 'what is not' but appears 'as if it is.'  It is not true but 'almost true.'

He who knows the Reality ('gnyaani') sees in Maya not illusion, but Reality. He who knows not the Reality ('agnyaani') sees in Maya illusion and thinks it is real! For the one who goes beyond Maya, Maya/Iniversal-Potential becomes non-existent. Understanding Maya is the key to liberation, moksha. Moksha is the claiming of immortality of myself, the Aathma, and gracefully accepting the mortality of the Anaathma.  The illusion of life is like a stick that is dipped in water.  In the water it will appear bent, but when you remove it from the water, it is straight. If you put it back in the water, it will again look bent. Then if you put your hands in the water you find that the stick is straight, but still it appears bent.  Just by your knowing that it is straight, the slanted appearance of the stick does not disappear. But by your knowing, you no longer behave as if in the illusion - that it is bent.

Ramana Maharshi: The world is Maya. Only Brahman (alone) is Real. Brahman is the (reality of the) world!

So, our illusion of life is not like that of a rope looking like a snake, but like that of a straight stick appearing bent in the water. We know full well that the stick is not bent, but only appears so. The stick even appears bent to the greatest of scientists who has experimented and who knows that by dipping the stick in water it does not become bent. Thus, this appearance of crookedness is due to our senses. Our knowledge has nothing to do with it.  The difference, therefore, is this: That you will not believe that the stick is bent, but it only appears to be bent.

The matter is divided into two different levels. On the level of knowing, the stick is straight. On the level of seeing, the stick is bent. There is no ignorance on either of these levels. Similarly, on the level of knowing, this world is Brahman. On the level of perceiving, it consists of objects. Perceiving will not change as our sense organs are designed to experience duality.  Upon realization, appearance (projection) stays but ignorance (veiling) goes; concepts stay but the belief that the concepts refer to reality goes! Reality alone IS!

Does Maya have a beginning?...No.  Maya is beginningless.  The existence of the material world is a matter of indubitable experience. What is its cause? The Absolute which is beyond all causal relations cannot create it. Therefore, Vedic scriptures postulate Maya or Universal-Potential as the cause of the appearance of the universe.  It is a seed state of potential energy.  Maya, then, has to be beginningless ('anaadhi'). Duality/time itself started with Maya. (Q: Do you know Chinese? A: No. Q: Since when did you not know? A: Forever.) If it was not, what would be in its place...knowledge? If knowledge was there 'prior' to Maya, then Maya could never come into existence.

Reality can never be the cause of not-Reality. So, Maya alone must be the cause of Maya. But this is meaningless (because there cannot be two Realities) and, hence, there can be no cause for Maya.  When you are in a dream, you can never know why the dream got started!  That is the reason why Maya has a peculiar ontological status. It neither exists nor does it not exist. From Awareness’ point of view it does not exist, but in so a far as it is the cause of the world, it does exist. It is neither real nor unreal. It is real in the sense that it causes the world but it is unreal because it can be destroyed by knowledge. Maya is in a special category: not-real or 'mithya.'

What is Ignorance?...Ignorance ('avidhya') is the deception of taking Maya as something real. Ignorance means non-apprehension of the Reality. Ignorance is “not knowing” the world to be non-separate from Brahman. Ignorance arises when Consciousness is wrongly identified as the ego. However, ignorance is not stupidity; it is a limitation.  We are all ignorant by birth. Anything that is born is ignorant because it doesn't know its eternal nature.  It is a temporary limitation that the Self has freely assumed in producing this apparent world from which it can extricate itself to "claim" its original nature through experience.  Ignorance is the belief in a separate-self, separate consciousness. Awareness and ignorance are not in conflict because they are not in the same order of reality (you are aware that you are ignorant).  Non-Duality includes duality. Ignorance/Maya is beautiful and intelligent without which Awareness does not mean much.

Ignorance and Maya are the keys to solving the riddle of existence! In actuality there is no ignorance, only the illusion of ignorance (because Knowing always is)! Illusion, because Awareness never has to become a separate-self in order to know Itself. It never, in fact, ceases to be and know Itself alone. This illusion of ignorance can only be destroyed by knowledge, knowledge of your own true nature. Ignorance is also known as the binding desires or vaasanas that seemingly veil the Self. Maya is beginningless and permanent but Ignorance is beginningless but impermanent! Maya is beginningless in the sense that it has no cause.

Is the world unreal?...No. The world is not unreal like a square circle. Square circle is unreal, asathya. But there is a reality to the world. The world experienced by the mind is Maya (not-real, mithya); the world experienced as Consciousness is Brahman (Real, Sathya).<<<We have four categories/classifications of truth: 1. true ('sath'; eternally unchanging, Absolute, independent existence, has no beginning and no end), 2. untrue ('asath'; a square circle; a barren women's baby, 'thuchha', non-appearing no-existence), 3. both true and untrue (true from one point of view but untrue from a different point of view; 'sath-asath'; ex: the doctrine of karma and reincarnation), and 4. neither true nor untrue ('mithya'; world as an appearance is mithya; not-real; a mystery; apparently-real, appearing non-existence, has no beginning but an end). As we all know...Science deals with the objective knowledge and/or the physical world or the observed world; religion deals with the ethical, moral, psychological and/or the subtle world or the non-observed world; spirituality deals with the knowledge of the Spirit or Consciousness or Awareness and/or the deeper nature of the observer himself. The doctrine of Karma and Reincarnation is in the realm of the metaphysical/subtle which is true from an individual point of view but untrue from the Absolute point of view. However, Brahman is neither sath nor asath; it is the one that illumines the both; it is Yourself!>>>

When eastern mystics said that the world is an illusion, they do not mean the world is nonexistent, because if the world does not exist then whom are you addressing? Who is talking? Why? When one calls this world an illusion, he at least assumes that the speaker exists and so does the listener. He also assumes that somebody needs to explain, and someone needs to understand. At least this much truth is established. While we are actually seeing the world, it would be madness to deny its existence.  We see change, i.e. ideas come and go; experience shows that one thing changes into another, nothing can become nonexistent; so the whole world must remain existent in some way or other and cannot totally disappear.

Mind takes in only finite amount of data from the Infinite Consciousness and converts into a finite idea/object for experience to take place.  Calling this world Maya simply means the world is not what it looks like; rather, it is merely an appearance. It does not look the way it actually is, it appears like what it really is not. We do not mean that a tree is not unreal, a mountain is not unreal. We do not mean that you can pass through a wall because the wall is unreal. No! What we mean is totally different.  When a man saw snake in a rope, he did not see the rope as a rope -- which it was; the rope appeared to him like a snake, which it was not. So he did not see that which was, he saw that which was not. Actually, that which did not exist was superimposed on that which did.

So mystics don't mean that this world is unreal - they simply mean that unless you drop all your dreams you will be creating a world of your own, you will be projecting a world of your own.  The real world will function only as a screen of Consciousness and you will project your dreams on it. You will never see the real world. The real world is Godly, but you will go on projecting your own dreams, and you will live in Maya, in illusion.

Therefore, the eastern teaching that the world is illusory is a great misunderstanding.  The East teaches that the mind - as mind - is illusory. And the world created by the mind is bound to be illusory because only an illusion can come out of another illusion.  When you look at the world through the mind then you are looking at existence in parts, in pieces. Thinking means analysis, a breaking up into parts. This is what science does - it analyzes to know. You will lose the beauty of a flower when you want to know it by analysis.  The true world - That Which IS - is not illusory. But you have not known it yet; you have no inkling of it. You can know it only when you drop all your dreaming.  It is not the world that we have to reject. The world-ness in the object, the externality in the object, and the not-selfhood in things have to be thrown off. Experience consists of Sath-Chith-Aananda-Naama-Roopa-Kriya. It is the Naama-Roopa-Kriya (concepts-forms-action; time-space-causation) aspect that we have to reject; it is the space-time-causation aspect that we have to reject!

The five characteristics of Maya according to Advaitha Vedantha's teaching are: 1. It is inexplicable (like darkness). 2. It functions through three gunas (sathva, rajas and thamas). 3. Maya is negated by knowledge. 4. Maya is a mystery. 5. The positive dimension of Maya is that the way out of it is only through it.

Any thought or feeling of doubt regarding the illusion has to be met not by seeking an answer for it in the same plane of illusion. Since mind is the only instrument you have, use mind to go beyond mind. One ignorant thought can be eliminated with another wise thought. Understand and remember (wake up or re-member) that you are not mind but Awareness/Brahman! Mind/world is Brahman but Brahman is not the mind/world!

What is the most accurate pointer to Reality/Brahman?..........

Upanishads came the closest to point Reality/Brahman: Sathyam-Gnyaanam-Anantham=Brahman (Thaitthiriya Upanishad)...Sath-Chith-Aananda=Aathma (Thejobindhu Upanishad)!

These definitions are intrinsic definitions or 'swaroopa lakshanam.' Inherent in this pointer/description are profound claims about the nature of the ultimate reality, not apparent at first sight. Sath means truth/reality/is-ness/existence/'asthi' (or Being-Absolute), Chith means awareness/consciousness/'chaithanyam'/'bhaathi' (or Knowing-Absolute), and Aananda means unbroken peace/fullness/infinity/freedom/'preethi' (or Loving-Absolute) - Being-Knowing-Loving in contemporary language - being beyond time and space or self-existing or being everything; knowing bereft of all objects or self-knowing or knowing without thinking or non-dual consciousness; and peace/fullness that is uncaused or knowing of your own being or infinity. Aananda is the knowledge/knowing that I am full and complete. Sath is also known as Sathyam and Chith as Chaithanyam in Sanskrit. Pure Knowledge, 'Gnyaanam,' is another name for Chith.  Sath-Chith-Aananda (=Aathma) corresponds to Sathyam-Gnyaanam-Anantham (=Brahman) at an individual level. Anantham (All-Pervading/Unlimited) at cosmic level is one and the same as Aananda (Fullness) at an individual level.  'Desha, kaala, vasthu paricchhedha shunyam Anantham!'

This is not the form of the Supreme Self; but this is the best that words can express, it is the best expression of human language (because you can only define/express a form/object/limit). It is the highest concept of Reality possible to the human mind.  Words like these are not for describing some object 'Aathma,' but for pointing to the one who is aware of this teaching.  The description should help me claim that I am that description. The description is not just a concept but it is myself. Attachment to any concept will cause conflicts. That will cover our true nature as the ego is predominant in arguments. Vedanthic student is to never argue with others. This definition is so exquisite, concise and simple, yet so profound. This expression indicates that Brahman alone is Real (Sath, the basic definition of Sath=Permanent, which IS) and its nature/truth is Spiritual (Chith, Consciousness). In other words, the reality/truth of matter/mind/world is Spiritual/Chith/Consciousness. But how do we know that Brahman is the only "One" without a second? The word Aananda or Anantham supplies that answer. Brahman is the One-And-Only because it "gives" unbroken Aananda/Peace; It IS unbroken Aananda/Peace itself! It IS the All-Pervading-Infinity itself!

We can understand this in a crude way...Sath is the fundamental/eternal existence, IS-ness (Self without a subtle body=matter; a stone IS). Chith is Consciousness of that eternal existence (Self with a subtle body=mind; I AM or I AM aware; Self-Awareness; I AM-ness). Anantham/Aananda/Infinite-Knowledge-Power is the blissful consciousness of that eternal existence (Self; I AM blissfully aware; I AM full and complete; I AM "I"). Therefore, Anantham/Aananda is the highest pointer/indicator to the Self since it includes both Sath and Chith. I AM indicates 'who you are,' but not 'what you are!' However, Self/Aathma/Brahman/Awareness is always aware of itself, with or without a mind, because its intrinsic-nature is to be aware.

The essence of Reality is three things in one, three different ways of pointing to the same Ultimate Reality. 'Sathchithaananda!'..."I am blissfully and eternally aware that I am!" When the 'I' is individual/personal/embodied consciousness the understanding is only partial; when the 'I' is universal/impersonal consciousness the understanding goes deeper and becomes existential and blissful.  These three are not really any (objective) qualities but the very Self...just like the seven colors of the visible spectrum are not separate from the pure light.  Just as heat, light and redness form the nature of fire and are not really its qualities, so also Sath, Chith, Aananda/Anantham are the nature of the Self. If there is no resistance and there is no possibility of resistance between two objects or qualities, then the two are really one and the same. Qualities change, intrinsic-nature doesn't. The beauty, elegance and accuracy of this definition is that any one word indirectly refers/leads to the other two words!  You are Reality or you realize Reality when you be/know/experience all three aspects at once!

Sath is the Absolute Truth, Absolute Reality, Absolute Being (unchanging, attributeless) and is the most essential aspect of Sathchitaananda. Sath means Absolute Existence, Is-ness ('Asthithva'); Unconditioned Being; Pure Presence; that Which Is.  We can destroy a form, but not its Is-ness. Is-ness will remain forever (science says nothing real can be destroyed). "Thrikaale Api Thishtathi Sath"...meaning Sath is the Independent and Eternal Existence (Aathma Bodha). How could Absolute be experienced if it is non-relative? Chith comes to the rescue. If Absolute were not Chith, it could not become a living reality.  Chith is the expression, knowledge of Sath. In other words, Sath expresses itself as Chith/Knowledge. If Sath/Existence is not known, it itself is not. Sath is self-knowing, the Chith (as it is Absolute/Total, it cannot be known by something else; if known, it becomes relative). "Gnyaana Swaroopam Chith"...meaning Chith is the Absolute Knowing/Knowledge.  Chith is that by which "I know that I am!"

We attribute this attribute of Consciousness to the Attributeless Absolute. However, the Attributeless still remains attributeless; it holds on to its unbounded character. And that is why Chith is equated to the Absolute or Sath. And that is why Sath-Chith. Existence is really the Existence of Consciousness. Sath is the external changeless entity and Chith is the internal changeless entity.  Sath-Chith is the knowing/experience of being in deep communion with the eternity of Existence, and with the wholeness and the perfection and the grandeur and the magnificence of that Which Is. And what is that experience? Aananda! Since we experience Aananda in deep sleep, which is a perfectly non-dual state of pure self-conscious being, Aananda must be the very nature of our essential being. Aananda is always experienced but we erroneously think we experience it only some times.

Sanskrit word Aananda is beautiful. It does not mean an exotic, emotional state of ecstasy as we normally understand. All states are impermanent. Nanda means happiness, Aananda means unending/uncaused happiness. The root word for Aananda is 'Anantha' meaning Infinity.  Aananda is permanent because it comes from the knowledge which is permanent (2+2=4 whether one is joyful or sorrowful).  The word Aananda is without an opposite. It is so because there is no state opposite to Aananda. If there is any such state, it is that of happiness and misery both. Aananda is uncaused Peace in which happiness and misery (interconnected opposites) are equally acceptable. Aananda means Fullness, desire-free-ness. Aananda is the shining of being as it is. Aananda is Consciousness becoming aware of itself.  Aananda is the knowledge/knowing that I am full and complete.  In its purest form, it is the remembrance of that which we are at our very core, and the sense of relief that permits. Aananda is the Source of Peace/Happiness; it is Peace/Happiness itself.  Bliss is not a good translation of Aananda. There is no equivalent word for it in English as it is the case with quite a few other spiritual words. "Sukha Swaroopaha Aanandah"...meaning Aananda is the Absolute (=Permanent and Highest) Happiness/Peace.

There are four kinds of Aananda: 1. Brahmaananda or Aaathmaananda, self-revealing bliss of Knowledge or Awareness (Enlightenment). You are Reality/Brahman. 2. Bhajanaananda, bliss arising in a calm-and-pure mind when seeking spirituality or in meditation/samaadhi, etc. In this state you are one with Reality but there is still a thin veil of ignorance (you don't know that you are that Reality). 3. Vaasanananda, bliss arising in a calm/inactive mind when vaasanas (impressions, karmas, desires) are dormant (like in deep sleep; no-duality state or nir-dvaitha state, Aanandamayakosha). In this state you experience Reality directly but you do not know yourself as the Reality. It is induced by nature. 4. Vishayaananda (Prathibimbaananda), bliss arising from the gain of a desirable object/person (happiness) which is intermittent and relative. Vishayaananda can be expressed in different ways in our day-to-day life that will define our relationship.  The bliss in which there is no experience of duality and which is not deep sleep (or fainting or anesthesia, etc.) - is the bliss of Awareness, Brahmaananda. Brahmaananda apparently gives rise to the other three Aanandas. Brahmaananda is the Original Happiness, can never be experienced objectively. Bhajanaananda, Vaasanaananda and Vishayaananda are the forms of reflected happiness ('Aanandaabhaasa') which can be experienced. Brahmaananda is uncaused, uninterrupted and conscious ecstasy of Fullness. It is Aananda itself. It is difficult to jump to Brahmaananda from Vishayaananda without going through Bhajanaananda. Being unknowingly happy (like a baby whose consciousness is merged in objective experience) is not worth it. Experience merging in complete consciousness (ultimate knowledge) is the condition of a sage, Brahmaananda (=I am Brahman).  Baby is like someone sleeping on the floor but not knowing that there is a treasure beneath it.  And when you are full and complete, you are desire-free. Brahmaananda is a desire-free state because it is Aathma/Self. Brahmaananda is not in the form of any special experience but is in the form of understanding that this Aananda or Fullness is my nature!

If you take Consciousness to that field of transcendental Awareness, you will know that Aananda is all that there is, by direct experience. Aananda is your Self, Knowing of your own Being. So, the eternity of Aananda is what puts Aananda parallel to Sath, never changes. Because Sath can become a living reality, Aananda can become a living reality, this Aananda is equated with Chith. So, Sath-Chith-Aananda, is Absolute Consciousness/Peace. You cannot split up Sathchitaananda into three separate entities, just as you cannot separate light, heat and redness from fire.

Aananda means Peace but Peace doesn’t apply to the Self in a literal sense. Why? Because Peace is experiential, and objective experience is the not-Self. But Aananda is used here because analyzing the experience of Peace, which is familiar to everyone, is useful for describing the nature of the Self through implication. How so? When you are peaceful, there is no separation between you and what you want. You are one with no subject-object relationship. Consciousness is aware of itself. You are happy/peaceful because you are temporarily free from the constraints of limitation. Aananda is Pure Love. Seeing the other in you and seeing you in the other is Pure Love; the observer becomes the observed. Original Aananda can never be experienced objectively but it can be claimed as oneself. Original Aananda makes you experience pleasure, happiness, peace, joy, etc. It is the substratum of all feelings.

There are five differences between the Original Aananda (Brahmaananda) and the reflected forms of happiness which are the other three (Bhajanaananda, Vaasanaananda and Vishayaananda):
1. The reflected happiness belongs to Aanandamayakoṣha. It is koṣhaananda. The Original Aananda belongs to Aathma itself. It is Aaathmaananda or Brahmaananda.
2. The reflected happiness is subject to arrival and departure and is impermanent. The Original Aananda is permanent.
3. The reflected happiness is subject to gradation. The Original Aananda is not subject to gradation.
4. The reflected happiness can be experienced. It is available for objectification. The Original Happiness can never be experienced objectively. The Original Happiness is not available for experience objectively but is available for claiming as our nature.
5. The fifth difference is that the reflected happiness can be attained by two methods. One is through objects/persons and the other is by practicing detachment and contentment. This happiness obtained through contentment is equal to what is obtained in heaven.  However, knowledge alone will allow one to claim the Original Happiness (Brahmaananda); knowledge of oneself! The door to oneself is the door to all, or, the door to God!

So the implied meaning of Peace (Aananda) is limitlessness (Anantham) and the word “limitlessness” applies to the Self because it is unaffected by time, space, causation/karma and all other objects that appear in it. Limitlessness in space-time-object means it is ever-present (all-pervading), eternal and non-dual. Object limitation means this is the object and there is nothing else like this in the whole cosmos. Unlimitedness in object means there is nothing in the cosmos which is different from it (Non-Dual). There is nowhere the Self isn’t and there is nothing that it lacks. We may also take the meaning of Aananda as peace, happiness, contentment, fullness, freedom or love, etc. In relation to body, it is pleasure; in relation to mind, it is happiness; in relation to soul it is peace/joy; and in relation to the world, it is beauty.

Sath/Being is what underlies all forms of doing, just as Chith/Consciousness underlies all forms of knowing, and Aananda/Peace/Fullness/Infinity underlies all forms of desiring and feeling.  The three natural desires in all human beings are classified as: 1. desire for existence ('jijivisha'), 2. desire for knowledge ('jignyasa') and 3. desire for love/peace/fullness ('bhubuksha'; desire to be hunger-free). All other desires are included in these three fundamental desires. Sath, Chith, Aananda are what everyone loves the most. This is what everyone seeks and strives for...the Reality...freedom from samsaara ('mumuksha')...freedom from limit...freedom from ignorance. Mumuksha contains all three basic desires. Infinite SathChithAnanda apparently ignores its Unlimitedness and becomes limited in the interest of experience and then desires to claim its Unlimitedness through life experiences!

The revelation of the truth to you is only possible if your Chith, your Consciousness, rises to its ultimate flowering.  Chith is the connecting link.  It is in the mind that we conceive of both the body/world and Consciousness, and thus provide ourselves with the opportunity to experience both. Mind needs to understand that the thinker-mind is the problem!  When Chith realizes that it is one with Sath (the world), the third aspect of Reality, Aananda, shines. Chith or Consciousness gives you two things: On one hand, Sath, and on the other hand, Aananda. You become almost like a bird with two wings. Sath (Truth) is one wing, Aananda (Peace) is your other wing. And you are Pure-Consciousness or Awareness.

For Manifestation/duality/experience to take place, 'SathChithAananda' has to (imaginatively) become relative (seemingly opposite or distorting): Existence to appearance, Consciousness to (partial) ignorance, Love/Peace to desire/fear and thus will assume the form of the dyads (the pairs of opposites).  'SathChithAananda' – when manifested (therefore) – becomes perception, thought and feeling - the three channels of experience - and apparently becomes Naama-Roopa-Kriya. Aathma is temporarily identified as perceiver/enjoyer, thinker and feeler through these three channels of experience (of body/ego, intellect and mind).

All experience consists of Sath-Chith-Aananda-Naama-Roopa. Every entity has these five characteristics. Naama-Roopa is the name and form or the object/world/mind which is the changing, non-essential, peripheral, outer form of the Reality. Naama-Roopa is the dependent Reality. It is the appearance. Name is supplied by thought and form is supplied by perception. An individual-self is now going after the (apparently) missing Aananda/Love (or feeling) in the Manifestation - to become united again with the essence. SathChithAananda is our most natural state, i.e., to exist eternally, to have unlimited knowledge and to be full and happy forever. We are all striving to get there.

Sath-Chith-Aananda is the common background or the essence/core/center of the Reality which is independent, eternal and unchanging. It is nameless, formless and attributeless. It is the "Is-ness." It is 'prior' to experience. It stands to neither gain nor lose anything from experience. However, It expresses itself in all ideas-and-forms! From the point of view of Reality, which is the only real point of view, there is nothing other than itself!

The beauty and elegance of this definition also, is that the experience of any two aspects can take you to the other aspect so you can be all three aspects at once!  In other words: Loving Knowingly (or experience merging in consciousness)=Being; Being Lovingly (or Being without Thinking because Loving is nothing but consciousness without the other or objects or thinking)=Knowing; Knowing Beingly (or Knowing of your own Being or collapse of subject-object relationship)=Loving. Again, Loving Knowingly=Being, Being Lovingly=Knowing, and Knowing Beingly=Loving! Very important!

'SathChithAananda' indicates Pure, Limitless, Attributeless, Universal, Absolute and Non-Dual Awareness/Brahman. These three aspects of Reality are also known as Omnipresent (Sath/Existence), Omniscient (Chith/All Knowing) and Omnipotent (Infinity/All Powerful) in the West. AUM is the root word for Omni. SathChithAananda/Brahman is beyond Maya/Mind (experience).  It is interesting to note that there are also three aspects of Maya/Mind (experience). The three aspects (called qualities, energies, ropes or gunas) of Maya/Mind/Manifestation are known as: rajas (activity), sathva (purity, intelligence) and thamas (inertia) in Yogic tradition; Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva in Vedic tradition; Son, Father and Holy Ghost in Christian tradition; proton, neutron and electron in Science; body, mind and soul (spirit) in Religion; body, mind and heart in Poetic tradition; electromagnetic force, nuclear force and gravity in Physics; subconscious, conscious and superconscious in Metaphysics; dream state, waking state and deep sleep state in Mind; etc.

Why all traditions insisted on three forces of Manifestation?...Because to create something, the minimum number required is three; less than three won't do. Only a triad creates the possibility of Manifestation, a continuum. A dyad cannot.  Dyad violates the very first principle of life/evolution: Life/evolution moves forever forward. Evolution - the purpose of observing what serves all of us the best and making behavioral adaptations - is moving towards unity/truth and away from separation. Evolution by the "survival of the fittest" is an instinctive process in the initial stages but now it must change into "conscious" evolution. Metaphysical life exists in a triangular system.  Thus, the concept of Trinity! A balancing force is needed for the existence of positive and negative; like here-everywhere-there, before-now-after, etc. Don't we need a Witness-Consciousness to observe/validate both the Manifest and the Unmanifest?  In truth, all things retain their triad form, merely appearing to manifest as dyads.

So, the purpose of the word ‘Sath-Chith-Aananda’ is only to divert our attention away from the phenomenal, to the substance beyond.  We can only define words because of their opposite terms. Light can only be defined by darkness and darkness can only defined by light. When we say love, immediately we think of hate. All words are circular, so, basically meaningless. We say Reality is Truth in reference to an objective world, we say Reality is All-Pervading in reference to space, we say Reality is Eternal in reference to time. But Reality is beyond all this!

However, words used carefully/prudently, can be a direct means/instrument of knowledge ('pramaana') of oneself. Since Ultimate Truth is beyond the mind (and it is not an object), Truth (at best) can only be pointed at from the phenomenal with the help of certain words that have to be understood as pointers to the Truth.  When we say, "I am happy," it is the tongue that says it. It does not mean that the tongue is happy; it is the mind that is happy. Similarly, a thought can be used to point to Consciousness which is beyond thought.

D.T.Suzuki: "To point at the moon a finger is needed, but woe to those who take the finger for the moon!"

These pointers to the Truth have to be ultimately transcended in order to get established in The Ultimate Reality - Brahman. The three things are One.  The physical universe is (seemingly) created for us to transcend. Otherwise, we will never know what transcendence is.  We can remain blissful, but to remain blissful without knowing what bliss is - is not worth it.  This is the condition of a baby, Consciousness merging (getting lost) in objective experience (of diversity) resulting in innocence but disorder! Remember: World manifests Sath; a common man ('agnyaani') manifests Sath and Chith and sometimes Sath, Chith and Aananda; a sage ('gnyaani') manifests Sath, Chith and Aananda at all times.

When the world has disappeared as matter and mind, the characteristics of the Truth – Sath, Chith and Aananda – also vanish; and we stand in the Ultimate Reality, originally pointed to by these three terms.

The Real YOU, The Self, in its own glory is the only thing that is not a concept! It is the knowing-witness of the concept, but devoid of any knower status!

And the moment you speak about The Real YOU, It becomes false! Can you express your feelings?...No. If so, can you hope to express the Truth – your real nature – which is far beyond even feelings?  You cannot express the Truth by word of mouth, by thought or feeling.  Truth can be learned but cannot be spoken or taught.  Truth cannot be spoken because it is not an object, whereas the language can only describe objects. Any word derives its meaning from its opposite word. However, the Truth expresses Itself in all these varied activities! Truth is being. You can "be" it, but you cannot possess it. When you have it, you are it. You become Truth. It is not a concept, it is being Itself. The only Truth in Manifestation is the impersonal sense of "I am!" or "I am present!" or "I am aware that I am present!"

The ultimate answer for Reality's definition can only be Silence! Whatever is not an object of experience is Reality!

Kena Upaniṣhad: "Nedhaṃ yadh idham upaasathe!" – The object of upaasana cannot be the Ultimate Reality.

Ramana Maharshi: "Silence is the highest teaching!"

Lao Tzu: "If you can name it, it is not Tao!"

<<<Krishna defines (intrinsic definition or 'swaroopa lakshanam') Brahman as: "Paramam Aksharam Brahman!" (Bhagavad Geetha, 8.3)...Brahman is the absolute, unchanging, eternal and causeless principle/source. Brahma Suthras, 1.1.2, defines (incidental/temporary definition or 'thatastha lakshanam') Brahman as: "Janmaadhi Asya Yatha-ha (Brahman)!"...Brahman is that from which the creation, sustenance and dissolution of this world proceeds ('janmaadhi'=creation, etc, 'asya'=of this world, 'yatha-ha'=from which). In other words, Brahman is the Source of this world. Brahma Suthras, 1.1.1: "Athatho Brahma Jignyaasa!"...Now, therefore (after this), enquiry into Brahman.>>>

How is Truth-Absolute the background of Brahman or Sath-Chith-Aananda?..........

Brahman is defined as Existence-Consciousness-Completeness-Absolute or Sath-Chith-Aananda-Absolute per Thejobindhu Upanishad. These are the three ways of saying or expressing the same "One" thing. The first aspect, Existence, is the only "thing" in Existence that does not go out of Existence because no-existence is an illogical concept. Existence is the only common element of all selves plus all objects at all times and in all states/circumstances and, therefore, not limited to any particular self or object - henceforth, infinite/limitless. Existence simply IS. Existence or Is-ness or Being is non-reducible - meaning it is independent (a tree is, a table is, a molecule is, an atom is, an electron is, a sub-atomic particle is, space is, thought is, unmanifest is etc; Is-ness is constant throughout the phenomenal existence as it is lending existence to a tree, a table, a molecule, an atom, an electron, a sub-atomic particle, space, thought, unmanifest etc). Existence is the foundation for life as the "quality" of Existence is the same for all/everything (like space). Energy is neither created nor destroyed. The fact that there is life or something out there or something going on, means that Existence has always been and will always be. Existence/Is-ness, as the independent and infinite/limitless presence/entity, lends existence to selves/objects/world. Truth-Absolute is defined as the Independent and Limitless Presence that is Permanent/Eternal and is Non-Contradictory. So, Existence (Sath) is the Truth itself, the Absolute. Absolute Existence is Infinite/Limitless and lends existence to objects temporarily (like infinite space lending space to objects temporarily - relatively speaking; like absolute temperature (-459.67 deg F) lending existence to all other temperatures). Existence (Sath), therefore, is the source/background of all phenomenal existence and is absolute.

Existence (Being) cannot be Existence without Intelligence or Consciousness (Knowing). If Existence is not known, it itself is not. In other words, if no proof exists, it itself is not. In order to be able to say, "I am present or I am," one must know that "I am." And the "experience" "I am" is not known by something other than itself. Just by being, you are also knowing. When we say that, "I know that I am," the "I" that "I am" is the same "I" that knows that "I am." In other words, Existence must be knowing itself. It is not something inert, but it is aware/conscious. Being implies Knowing. If Knowing/Consciousness did nor pervade Being/Existence, Being/Existence has no validation (Existence depends on Consciousness for its existence). Through another angle...As Existence is also Absolute, it cannot - by definition - be known by something else; it must be Self-Knowing. Matter is an expression of the Existence aspect of Reality. Earlier, we have reduced all matter to thought. Thought can be further reduced to Consciousness as thought depends on Consciousness which is Independent or Self-Conscious. Thought is always changing and, thus, not self-conscious. A thought cannot experience itself; it can only experience an object. (Can we negate Consciousness?...Absolutely not. You need Consciousness to negate Consciousness because you need to be aware or conscious of the fact that you have negated Consciousness?! Is it not? Consciousness needing another Consciousness falls into infinite regress. Besides, Consciousness is infinite and, hence, 'One,' because the second Consciousness conscious of the first infinite Consciousness has to be bigger than infinity which is illogical. Also, Consciousness knows itself (a lamp does not need another lamp to be its proof; just like fire cannot burn itself, Consciousness cannot negate itself). So, Consciousness is the Absolute Cause as Consciousness is conscious of itself.) Therefore, Truth/Existence=Consciousness (Chith or Chaithanyam). Consciousness knows itself and knows everything else but cannot, itself, be known ('aprameya') in a subject-object relationship. Consciousness is Self-Aware and, thus, Self-Revealing. Consciousness is like a lamp; it lights up objects and at the same time lights up itself. Consciousness knowing a second Consciousness is meaningless. If Consciousness is Infinity, you can know it (in a subject-object relationship) only if you are larger than Infinity - which is ridiculous. The experience of love is a proof of that. So, Consciousness/Existence is incapable of being known, because it is Knowing itself. Thus, Consciousness (Chith) is Absolute and the source/background of all phenomenal knowledge.

<<<There are five natural emotions: grief (sadness), anger, envy, fear, and love. And within these also, there are two final levels: love and fear (there is nothing else from which to choose). This is the great, fundamental polarity. In love one expands, in fear one shrinks. And, in the end, there is really only one emotion. Love. There is only one energy, thus, there is only one energy in motion all the time (e+motion). And that one emotion is called love. In truth, the experience of fear is the emotion of love, distorted. A good example would be saving your child from an accident crossing a road for the fear of his death but at the same time risking your life to save him for the love of your child. If you did not love the child, would you be afraid that he might fall into danger? No. You would not care, you would not worry. Only love causes you to be afraid; afraid of your child's death. Absent love, fear is not. Fear in its highest form becomes love. All feelings and emotions are expressions of love including fear; all the so-called different forms or expressions of feeling or emotion rise in love, exist in love and vanish into love.>>>

Now...What is the Knowing of your own Being as it is or the Consciousness of your own Existence as it is? It is called Limitlessness or Aananda or Pure Love because there is no "second" thing in the Existence that is different than Existence, because there is this inherent absence of resistance! This absence of resistance, where the subject is only knowing the subject, is nothing but the Highest Love or Self-Love or Aananda!

The highest form of love is the love for Self. All other forms of love emanate from this. Love for Self is fundamental. Essentially we love everything or anything else only because we love our selves. I love 'this' only because 'this' that I love gives me happiness! To be truly loved means to give our whole self to the object of our love at all times. We cannot give ourselves completely to something that is intermittent. There are no true objects of love because all objects are intermittent. Only Consciousness is ever-present and therefore, Consciousness merits true love. And what could give Consciousness this love? Obviously an intermittent object such as a body or a mind cannot render love to something that is ever-present when it (itself) is not. Therefore only Consciousness is able to impart this love to itself. That is Self-Love or Aananda!

As the source/substratum of worldly existence is the Absolute Existence and as the source/substratum of worldly knowledge is the Absolute Consciousness, so is the source/substratum of worldly love/happiness/peace/joy the Self-Love or Absolute Aananda.  Truth, being objectless, is incapable of being felt; incapable of being loved. So, Aananda must be Love itself, Pure Love.  Thus, Aananda (Peace/Fullness/Completeness) must be Absolute and the background of all love/feelings/happiness/peace. Aananda/Pure Love in itself is not any feeling but is the collapse of any and/or all feelings! Any feeling is an experience that begins and ends.  Aananda is not any blissful feeling but the permanent, ascertained knowledge that I am full and complete! Ascertained/Sure/Complete knowledge can neither be displaced by time nor by worldly experiences. The knowledge that 2+2=4 is the same throughout all experiences. Aananda is such knowledge/knowing.

Look at it this way! There is no such thing as absolute no-existence, because no-existence does not exist. No-existence is nothing but the existence of the absence of existence. Likewise, there is no such thing as absolute no-consciousness, because no-consciousness can be said to exist only if some consciousness other than it exists to know it. Just as both no-existence and no-consciousness are merely relative/dependent and negatable, so also is unhappiness/incompleteness.

Any quality that is Absolute exists in the Absolute as well as the Relative Realms but not the other way round. A positive quality must be "Whole." Since unhappiness is merely an absence or negation of happiness, and since a negation can only be relative/dependent, requiring something other than itself to negate, there can be no such thing as absolute unhappiness/incompleteness. A negative quality can only exist relative to its corresponding positive quality which will make the negative dependent. We feel unhappy only because we desire to be happy. Unhappiness is not opposite of happiness; it is, rather, an apparent veiling of happiness because happiness/peace is our nature and it is there first. That's why we do not say happiness to be un-misery; we say misery to be unhappiness. Unhappiness seems opposite to happiness. Fear is the veiling of love. Only that which is positive, and not that which is negative, can be absolute (independent, non-negatable and non-contradictory), because that which is positive does not require anything other than itself either to negate or to relate to in any other way. In deep sleep, unhappiness doesn't exist; only happiness/peace exists without a trace of unhappiness. Deep sleep state, in itself, is an absolute state (absolute=/means total and non-contradictory, beyond the relative, first-cause, universally acceptable, still a state of Consciousness-at-Rest). Peace that we experience in deep sleep is quality-less and, thus, the same for all of us whereas unhappiness has qualities and is relative, different for different people.  Unhappiness cannot be absolute because it does not accompany us all the time. Therefore, Happiness/Peace must be Absolute.

Henceforth, Truth-Absolute is the background of Brahman or Sath-Chith-Aananda! Eternal, Immutable, Non-Dependent and Infinite/Limitless Awareness!

What is our true nature?..........

We cannot be what we perceive or think.  Whatever we are must be constantly with us. What is that experience that is constantly with us?..."I am present" or "I AM!" That Impersonal, Pure "I" is Who We Are!

We cannot move away from what we are, not even for a nano second. Therefore, the things which arise and pass away or undergo change cannot be essential characteristics of ourselves. Our mind and body consist of thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions which come and go. None of them stays constant in our direct experience. They disappear in between thoughts or in deep sleep. They are objects of our perception.

The facts of being present and being aware are intuitively and directly obvious, even without any reflection. They are unrelated to thought. No one can say "I am not." Even to assert that you are not, you must be present to make that assertion. And no one can say that awareness is not present because the very assertion arises as an object in present awareness.  The sense of being or the sense that "we exist," and the sense of knowing that we exist stays with us all the time and under all the conditions.

In other words, I am and the ‘I’ that I am, is aware that I am. I cannot be separated from am. This knowing of our own being as it is – its knowing of itself – is the most familiar, intimate and obvious fact of experience and is shared by all.  This present and aware ‘I’ is sometimes referred to as ‘Awareness,' which means the ‘presence of that which is aware.'  It is a word in which the two fundamental qualities of our self – being and knowing – are recognized as one.

This sense of being present and aware must be the essence of what we are. Being and Knowing - Sath and Chith.  Being and Knowing are not two separate entities. We cannot "be" without knowing and we cannot "know" without being.

We are that with which we are aware of our experience but which itself cannot be known as an object.

Dimensionless Awareness could be likened to an open, empty (knowing) space to which or in which the objects of the mind, body and world (thoughts, sensations and perceptions) apparently appear. And just as empty space, relatively speaking, cannot resist or be agitated by the appearance or activity of any object within it, so the open, empty (knowing) space of Awareness cannot resist or be disturbed by any appearance of the mind, body or world, irrespective of their particular quality or condition.

This inherent absence of resistance in Awareness is the experience of happiness; this imperturbability is peace. This happiness and peace are not dependent upon the condition of the mind, body or world and are present in and as the essential nature of Awareness under all conditions and in all circumstances.  Thus, happiness and peace (or loving) as well as being and knowing are essential to Awareness which is our true nature.  In the light of Pure Existence (Sath or Being beyond time and space) and Pure-Consciousness (Chith or objectless Knowing), no duality can appear. This Non-Duality is Absolute Peace or Love.  Peace/Fullness is inherent in Awareness; Aananda is inherent in Sath-Chith.

We are, therefore,...Sath-Chith-Aananda; Being-Knowing-Loving-Absolute! We are the Presence of our experience!

What is the clue to better understand Life?..........

SathChithAananda-NaamaRoopa! SathChithAananda alone is Real, World is a projection, a superimposition, an appearance!

In order to experience its magnificence, Reality (SathChithAananda=Absolute Existence-Awareness-Peace) apparently creates (manifests) the world of relativity (NaamaRoopa=concepts and forms=thought and perception). Because, Existing in and as Awareness is not worth it without experience. Reality's desire (if there is one) can only be to experience more of itself because there is nothing else - besides Reality (Reality=The All).

In the Manifestation of this world of NaamaRoopa (thought which is a distorted form of Consciousness and perception which is distorted form of Existence), Aananda (Peace) is apparently missing (by design). Thus Reality, as an imaginary separate-self, forgets itself and goes out into the world (thought and perception creating an illusory time and space) in search of the missing Peace-Happiness (in the form of feeling of Love which is transcendental) for its fulfillment (fulfillment of and union as/with Reality). Lover is looking for his beloved!

Remember, Peace/Aananda can only be found by allowing others to seek Aananda through you (because you cannot experience what you do not allow others to experience; be loved by others). This is the great play of Hide-And-Seek of Life. And the player is only one...Reality or Awareness. Lover (after a long search) apparently finds and experiences the beloved by losing himself into the beloved (be-loved).

So take your stand as SathChthAananda in all experience! From the point of view of Reality/Awareness, however, there is no experiencing. It is All Happening Now-and-Here! It is not even Happening!

What is the cause of suffering or misery? And what is the clue to experience Peace/Fullness?..........

Chandhogya Upanishad, 7.23.1: "Yo Vai Bhuma Thathsukham, Na Alpe Sukhamasthi!"....Limitation is Misery! Resistance to Experience-As-Is or Non-Limitation/'Now' is Misery! The root cause?...Ignorance...Ignorance of your true nature. Manu Smrithi, 4.160, defines misery and happiness as: "Sarvam Para-vasham Dhukkham, Sarvam Aathmaa-vasham Sukham"...Misery is the dependence on external factors and happiness is the dependence on Self. In other words...Consciousness apparently knowing something other than itself is suffering and Consciousness knowing itself, as it is, is happiness. You don't know Who You Really Are and that you are already full and complete. So, you, as separate-self lacking completeness, go out into the world to find completeness through the objects. Separate-self is confused by what is real (Self) with what isn't (objects). When personal doership is taken seriously due to an assumed/illusory limitation, an attack on who you are - who you think you are - brings suffering ('shoka' or 'dukkha'). Suffering happens because you expect something different - if you don't get something you want and get something you don't want (either factually or in imagination). Grabbing onto finite things/persons has three defects ('doshas'): 1. 'Misrithathvam' or mixed with pain; pain is caused in acquisition, preservation and in final-loss; 2. 'Asamtripthi' or dissatisfaction; finite goals are finite and can never give total satisfaction; 3. 'Bandhakathvam' or enslavement. Flow of life is an Impersonal Functioning by Maya/Eeshwara; there is no personal doership. In other words, suffering arises when the other or you act against your ideology - resulting in uncomfortableness with the other and (ultimately) uncomfortableness with yourself.

Suffering consists of guilt, blame, pride, worry and expectation and is effectively a deep expression of a belief system that is rooted in separation/limitation (due to ignorance). A belief that you are a doer (and the other is a doer) and you make things unfold they way they unfold. Most of the world's suffering is based on this one single belief, belief of personal doership.  The second most important belief that causes human suffering is the belief that you require pleasure, pleasure, pleasure in order to be complete. Then any pain in the moment is seen as an attack on who you are or who you think you are. You are forced to resist the flow of life.

Vedantha points to five reasons why humans suffer: 1. Not knowing the true nature of oneself or Reality ('agnyaana'), 2. Grasping of things/possessions that are not real ('raaga'), 3. Running away from and fearing things that are not real ('dvesha'), 4. Strong identification with a false/constricted self (enlarged ego or 'madha') and 5. Fear of death. Vedantha then says that all of these are contained in the first cause (root cause) of suffering - not knowing your true nature (which amounts to ignorance)! Sanskrit word for suffering is 'dukkha.' 'Du' means suffering/unpleasantness and 'kha' means hollow or insubstantial. The traditional example is bamboo. It looks very solid and substantial from the outside but it is hollow or empty within.

What is Peace? Peace is absence of suffering, absence of binding desires.  Peace is unbroken happiness.  It is the absence of blame of the self and the absence of blame of the other. Peace/Love/Aananda = Knowing of our own Being as it is; In other words, Peace/Love/Aananda = Conscious of Existence without the other (or any objects). This is the most important equation of Life for Self-Realization.  If there was a purpose to life, we may say that it is for this experience of Peace/Reality - to "be." An individual-self experiences this Peace only intermittently because it limits its infinite nature to a finite body in ignorance.  Suffering is attitudinal, not circumstantial. Suffering causes you to seek, seek an end to suffering.  The purpose of an individual with a sense of doership is to seek happiness/fullness (at all times) through peace of mind, because if we get anything else the seeking carries on! However when suffering stops, seeking stops. So peace must be the ultimate purpose of an individual.

The best clue, therefore, to be out of misery is to know yourself as Peace/Fullness! No action can alleviate misery, only knowledge can.

The fastest way to Peace/Fullness in day-to-day world is to know yourself and to know the other also as yourself! This is Vedaantha's way.  You will then be comfortable with yourself and with the other. You will see life as an Impersonal Functioning with pleasure and pain occurring as usual but not causing any attractive and aversive reactions in you (binding desires: raaga, dvesha). Even if they do, they do not affect the continuous flow of impersonal love (personal love is an obstructed love).  Why only mind suffers?...The seen matter cannot suffer, the unseen Consciousness cannot suffer but mind is a mixture of matter and Consciousness and that suffers! So, see your mind as Infinite Consciousness! Infinite-Chith+Infinite-Sath=Aananda!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha: "The doubts which have arisen in your heart out of ignorance should be slashed by the weapon of knowledge!"

Chandhogya Upanishad: "Sarvam Khalu Idham Brahman!"...There is nothing other than God!

The second fastest way (but secondary) to Peace/Fullness is to embrace "Is-ness." Life is perfect the way it is. Drop the idea of a separate-self with a sense of personal doership. Peace is in your attitude towards life, not in the flow of life, nothing to do with life (whatever happens in life, whether pleasure or pain). Life is not set up to work for you, the ego. It is set up to work for life. Life works for you (the ego) when you work for the real you, Awareness. See the perfection in the present state of things. There is nothing more perfect than what is going on right now - and the proof of this is the fact that it is going on. It is useless and pointless to argue with life. Remember: What you resist, persists; what you look at, disappears. Look at "what is so," right here, right now. The pathway is total acceptance of personal non-doership. A man of understanding will live with the inter-connected opposites as part of life but will not choose/judge any one of the two against the other. Because the other is still a part of the whole. By rejecting that part, you are rejecting the whole. He has dropped his personal, individual doership. His acceptance of life is total. He looks at things from a balanced point, the point of 'being.'

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha: "Accept both the polarities, because both are there together. Go with them, because they are. Don't choose one against the other!"

Krishna accepts duality, the dialectics of life, altogether and therefore transcends duality. Transcendence is only possible when you choicelessly accepts both parts together, when you accept the whole. Yes, you may prefer one over the other, but not one against the other.

Gauthama Buddha: "Events happen, deeds are done (appear to be done), but there is no individual/personal doer/chooser of any deed!"

Another (secondary) way to Peace/Fullness is to make others happy.  Your life is about everyone whose lives you touch and it is about how you touch them. How to touch them determines how you experience your self - and how you experience your self determines how happy you are. That which you wish to experience for yourself, cause another to experience.  Give away that you wish to receive!  In this sense, your life is about you...in a "reverse" kind of way. You are to pay attention to yourself by paying attention to others. You are to help yourself evolve by helping others evolve. When we see others as divine and treat others as divine, the energy of attraction will be used, at last, as it was designed to be used: To bring to us the reality of us. Do unto others as you would have it done unto you.

This does not mean that you must focus on making other people happy to the exclusion of yourself. When making another happy is at the cost of you being unhappy, you are defeating your own purpose.  So we are not talking here about rolling over and playing dead, or turning yourself into a carpet to be walked all over. You are offering your gifts in order to experience and express a part of yourself that speaks of Who You Are.  Yet if Who You Are is not valued, but ignored or abused, then you actually hurt, rather than help, the person to whom you are giving your gift - for you have taught them that the way to continue receiving the best from others is to return their worst. And this is not something that you want to teach anybody. It is actually unkind to teach someone this.

Therefore, watch out! You cannot give to receive! If you give for that reason, then you are not really giving, you are practicing a subtle form of taking.  The idea in giving is for you to feel closer to the other in giving, not for you to experience that the other is feeling closer to you in getting.  Your getting is experienced in the moment of your giving through the self-experiencing/self-expressing act in itself.  Therefore, the best way would be to do it and forget all about it immediately.  The test of every act is to see whether it binds you or releases you.  It is not the nature of the act alone that constitutes its goodness. It is also the intention.  For example, if after giving charity, the thought that you have done a good deed sticks to you, it certainly binds you, though only with a golden chain.

Is waking state (transactional reality) like a dream?..........

The experience of any phenomena other than our true self is either a dream or a sleep (illusory, conditionally-real, mithya)! So, yes, believe it or not; the waking state is like a dream! Well, now let us look at some arguments in support of this claim.

It is important to define the words Reality ('Sathya') and apparent-reality 'mithya' in this regard. Reality is that which is not subject to change or negation and/or reduction at any time or in any state. So, by definition, Reality is Independent, Immutable and Infinite. What is mithya?...There are several definitions. That which did not exist earlier and will not exist later but has only a temporary existence in an intermediary stage is a dream, mithya. Whatever is a product, is mithya. Any dependent and/or observed phenomena is mithya.  If a state appears real when you are in it but not-real or non-existent when you are out of it, is dream or mithya. Mithya may be called 'virtual reality.'  Remember: Mithya is not unreal. The appearance part of mithya is virtual and the real part of it is Reality. Illusion is not quite an accurate word for mithya, even though it is commonly used.

Ponder the following nine points to compare the waking and the dream states. However, it is important to judge each state either from a common perspective or from its own perspective for fairness. If a waker says the dream is an illusion, a dreamer can say waker does not even exist!

1. Dream/Appearance is the only way Reality could apparently manifest a world without compromising its intrinsic nature as Infinity and Immutability because it is impossible for Infinity to become finite or Unchanging to become changing. Physical world is, thus, manifested as an illusion so Reality can now apparently experience a finite object by imagining itself as a finite subject - all in appearance, all in illusion, all in dream! Don't we, as individuals, perform this feat perfectly every night?

2. Human beings consider that whatever is clearly experienced, can be transacted and has utility, has to be real, sathya (ETU).  This is ingrained in our subconscious minds.  But this proposition is not valid as a night-dream has all the same features. And the night-dream is only conditionally-real, not absolutely-real. ETU is possible because of an actual creation as well as a seeming creation, like pot-space. The space in a pot is not a separate space; it is seemingly separate. Therefore, based on ETU, the waking state should not be considered as an 'actual creation.'

3. Reality does not disappear or change at any time.  We call night-dream not-real because it disappears and appears as something new. In other words, it is changing.  Now, what is there in the waking state that does not change or disappear? Nothing.  Therefore, everything objective, connected with the waking state, is not real.  When the not-real appears as real we call it a dream or mithya.  Therefore the waking state is mithya.  It is conditionally-real; its existence is borrowed.

4. In a night-dream you will never be able to find out that you are dreaming. We always think that we are in the waking state and that it is transactional. This is despite the fact that we know the dream to be illusory every time we come out of it. Well, the same applies to our waking state. It is not any different. As a matter of fact, waking state does not even exist from the point of view of the dreaming state! When you think that you are in an inert body, the inert body and the inert world looks real and the real-you will look illusory (when you realize that the inert body is in you, the opposite happens). The dream world is an object of experience and the waking world is also an object of experience. The dream world is transactional like the waking world. The dream world is useful in dream but not useful in waking. The waking world is useful in waking but not useful in dream. Then for all possibilities we have to consider either both of these states as dreaming or both as waking (this argument is logical). Since there cannot be two real and waking states, they both have to be dream states! Further, we also know that one of the states, the dream state, is mithya. Therefore the waking state is mithya.

5. Since the dream world is experienced very much like the waking world, generally the dream is considered to be the product of the waking world. If that is so, from that, a principle can be extended.  Since the waking world is the cause for the dream world, both should have similar nature, as effect and cause have similar nature. Since we know that the dream state is mithya, the waking state, as the cause, is also mithya.

<<<This leaves us with deep sleep state where you exist alone and you experience peace directly.  Therefore it is evident that the deep sleep state is our real and fundamental state and that waking and dream states are illusory.

Whatever you are has to stay with you all the time. The experience/knowing of 'I am' in deep sleep stays with you all the time while the experience of 'I am this' in dream and waking states disappears sometimes. Thus, you are always in deep sleep state (now, prior to the birth of the gross body and after its death). Dream and waking states are both based on impressions (vaasanas or desires-fears) and apparently appear and disappear out of deep sleep state (projected from it). When a one-dimensional time can produce a three-dimensional dream world, why can't a zero-dimensional deep sleep produce a four dimensional waking world?  A zero dimensional deep sleep state (with no time and no space) can only be the cause of a one-dimensional dream state and a four-dimensional waking state, not the other way round. Because any dimensional state is limited; deep sleep is unlimited. With orange colored glasses (one dimension/limit) you can only see an orange world, but with no colored glasses (zero dimension) you can see infinite colors (all possibilities exist). Points can fit into a line, lines can fit into a planar surface, planar surfaces can fit into a cube; but not the other way round.

However, people take their measure of reality as the waking state. They think that the waking state is the most real state and the dream state is like an aberration of it and the deep sleep state is either nothing or blank. But this is not true (from the point of view of our experience). This is just a belief. We have already seen that the deep sleep state is the most fundamental.  The more layers/limits you have on the Self, the more ignorant (or less real) you are. Dream state has the limit of time (subtle body) and the waking state has the limits of time and space (subtle and gross bodies). Waking state plays the impressions of this present life (conscious memory) whereas the dream state plays the impressions of all of your life times (subconscious memory which is much bigger than the conscious memory).

Deep sleep state is Pure-Consciousness which is infinite and is the biggest element of our experience. And inside Consciousness is mind. Consciousness modulates itself and takes the shape of the mind (dream state). And inside mind is the matter (waking state) because it is thought/mind that conceptualizes objects made out of matter inside of it.  Deep sleep is the link between the waker and the dreamer.  Switching from the waker’s body (a thought) to the dreamer’s body (another thought) requires a small gap and that gap is the substratum of all thoughts which is called the deep sleep state. Deep sleep contains both the waking and the dream states because they both arise from and disappear into the deep sleep state. It is impossible to change either from waking to dream or from dream to waking directly without going through the deep sleep state.  So from this point of view (which coincides with our actual experience), the waking state of objects and matter is the smallest element of our experience.>>>

6. Reality means liberation, moksha, infinity. But Reality is Non-Dual which implies that we are already infinite but are wrongly believing that we are finite (because infinite can never become finite). But, this belief or imagination can happen only in a dream state. Therefore, we are constantly dreaming - not only in the night, not only while we are asleep; we are dreaming the whole day.

7. All we have in life is Consciousness, mind and matter. Waking mind depends on the waking world as mind and matter rise and sink together.  Since mind and matter do not exist independently, they both are dependent on something else and, hence, not real. And also, waking state comes and goes and must depend on something else.  This leaves Consciousness/Reality as the only independent, real entity. Everything else is mithya. Very simple!

8. The strongest objection against equating the waking state with the dream state is this. We think that the waking world exists independent of us (an objective existence) and is continuous but the dream world exists dependent on us and is discontinuous. Firstly, this tells us that the waking world must have originated from some other cause other than me. But, dream is accepted as a projection only in the waking state and never accepted as projection in the dream state. Similarly this waking world is an objective world as long as it is looked at from the waker’s perspective. But if looked at from the neutral/Reality angle, the waking world will not remain objective. Secondly, assuming that the waking world is not my projection and that it has an independent existence of its own, then there must be a cause for this world. But the analysis shows that the "creation" of the waking world can never be logically established and so the objective existence of the waking world is not a viable fact (see point #1).

Waking world disappears in night-dream or in deep sleep. When others say that this waking world is real and exists continuously while you are sleeping, it proves only their experience. Other people are part of the world that you are trying to investigate. This is very subtle to understand. Imagine the same thing happened in your night-dream. Once up from the night-dream, you realize that the entire dream was not real including those people who said that the world was real. Those people are not certainly existing in that dream-world now! The same thing holds true now in the waking state! The solidity of the material world (matter vibrates at a lower rate) gives us the false impression of permanence when we get back to waking from sleep, but everything is continuously changing. You don't even get back into the same body in the morning; it is a new body/mind.  It’s the sense instruments in the physical body that structure the waking state and make it seem logical and well ordered. The impressions/'vaasanas' are no longer structured well in the subtle world, they just come up and express without having to work out through the physical body. But remember, there is continuity in the dream world also because you never have any doubt that the dream is discontinuous while in the dream.

The apparent continuity of memories and the continuous world is the trace/hint that Awareness leaves in the finite mind to the true continuity of Awareness!

9. The night-dream happens in here-now which is the reality of the imaginative (space-time) experience. And the here-now is you, the Consciousness that apparently projected the dream. Waking experience also happens in here-now and, thus, the space-time is an imagination in waking also. The waking-dream is also projected by Consciousness (apparently), which is the real-you.

Thus, in all respects the dream world and the waking world are similar and enjoy the same degree of reality which proves that the waking state is also like a dream state! What you are experiencing in the waking state is dream-like. The individual is a dream character; as matter and mind, it is a robot.

Why does the waking-dream feel so real? <<< The reason for this is that while dreaming we do not experience ourselves as the one who has projected the dream, but as one of the people in the dream-world that we have projected; so since we experience ourselves as one of the projected phenomena, we seem to be a creature rather than the creator. As the creator we projected the night-dream-world, but as a creature we are just one among the projections; we are bound. Our power of imagination is so intense and vivid that whenever we imagine something, we become ensnared in our own imagination. >>>

What are the differences between the night-dream and the waking-dream? <<< The characters and objects of the night-dream seem real to us when under the spell of sleep even when we realize that we are creating it all along. Well, the same illusion holds true in waking state under the power of Maya. It could be said that the night-dream is powered by individual mind or ignorance and the waking-dream state is powered by cosmic mind or Maya. They both are mental. The main differences between a night-dream and a waking-dream are four: 1. Night-dream is shared by one mind, whereas the waking-dream is shared by many minds. That's why night-dream dissolves upon waking whereas the common waking-dream continues even after waking up. 2. Buddhi/Intellect does not operate in dream state. Buddhi/free will operates only in waking state (with a gross body). No gross body, no buddhi, no free will. That is the reason why Enlightenment is possible only in the waking state when buddhi operates. Since free will does not operate in night-dream, we cannot accumulate any fresh karmas/vaasanas; we can only spend them. 3. Waking state is experiencing personal creation on God's Creation whereas the night-dream is experiencing personal creation on personal creation. 4. The waking-dream is longer. Dream-world will seem real as long as we are ignorant of the waking-world reality. This seeming reality is corrected instantly (like a rope-snake) in waking state itself and does not require Absolute Knowledge. The waking reality, of course, gets corrected upon the rise of the Absolute Knowledge (Brahma Gnyanam). This is like a bent rod in a glass of water; the appearance will never go away but the knowledge that the bent rod is actually straight stays. In other words, Maya, appearance, stays and ignorance goes! Objects stay but the object-ness goes! What we see doesn't change but the way we see changes and the way we see seems to change what we see! The dream-world is an individual's magic show (personal, one-minded) and the waking-world is Maya's/Creator's magic show (shared, common). The support for both is "I," Consciousness, the real-you! 4. The night-dream is unstable. 5. An individual is aware of the dream from inside, whereas the Universal Dreamer is aware of the dream from inside as well as from outside.

These states are both equally dreams in Consciousness, made out of Consciousness. In a playful manner, Consciousness makes the dreams look utterly real.  This waking world, which seems to be real, is a well-orchestrated multi-minded dream.  Life is designed to experience and enjoy only one reality at a time.  That is the reason why we forget the waking state while dreaming and think that dream is an illusion upon waking. Of course we do not remember anything of deep sleep; we only enjoy the peace and bliss of our being, after the fact! If we knew the realities of other planes all at once - that is the state an enlightened master is in - then the game is over.  Since you are not absolutely certain that this world could not be dream-like, be open to that possibility. Explore it and try to wake up from this waking-dream!

There is only one ultimate dreamer, 'I.' Waking up from this waking-dream to the real 'I' proves beyond any doubt that this waking-world is also like a night-dream! Remember: The world is not a dream; the world is like a dream! It is because both dream and waking are mental constructs. Your dream-world is created by 'I' and the waking-world is also created by 'I.' 'I' or Self apparently creates the night-dream world using 'Nidra Shakthi' (or ignorance) and the waking-dream world using 'Maya-Shakthi.'  Deep sleep/Causal world is maintained by the power called 'Praana Shakthi.' You are 'I' that owns all these powers! Just like you can't know that you have created your night-dream until you wake up, you can't know that you have also created the waking-dream until you wake up from this waking-dream (Eeshwara/Creator knows the dream and knows its nature as Pure-Consciousness; Eeshwara is a lucid waker). Misery is created by identifying yourself with a body/mind as a thinker/doer and imagining the world-play/dream to be real and serious!>>>

Note: Though from the highest standpoint the world may be mithya (non-substantial), but from the standpoint of a separate-self, the waking state and the world should be understood as real and that the world is important.  The idea that an external elephant is not there and that you can dash your head against it, is wrong. It is there but both it and your body are ideas.  Therefore during transaction, the world importance should be recognized and adherence to dharma and karma should be followed (dualistic world). The Law of Karma is valid in this plane.  Do not underestimate or overestimate any relative reality. If you do your duty, you are not underestimating. When you are underestimating, you refuse to do your duty. If you are worrying over your duties, you are overestimating. Do the duty and do not worry. Liberation is using the world without obsession or fascination.  If you underestimate a rope-snake, it may bite you. If you overestimate it, it will cause you misery. Keep the rope-snake where it belongs! Krishna says: “May you keep the external world outside.”

How is the creation of soul negated in ultimate understanding?..........

Brahman is often compared to space, because Consciousness Principle is very similar to space. What are the similarities? Both are intangible and invisible. You understand space but you don’t see it because it does not have any color or form. Both are formless, all-pervading, indivisible, accommodate everything, and uncontaminated. Space is indivisible. Consider an open space. A potter creates many pots from the clay of the earth. Once the pots are created, the all-over open space is available in the pot also. Now we have space within and without. Therefore we use the expression outside space and inside space, unenclosed space and enclosed space.

Even though we use two phrases open space and enclosed space, really speaking space has not been divided, it is only seemingly divided. This is the first seeming division. Once you introduce inside space, the enclosed space has become many as it were, since there are several pots. Then we start using adjectives to indicate the seemingly different sizes of the enclosed space in the pots. The words are many, the adjectives are many, but how many spaces are there: only one space with a seeming division. Open space is not available for any function. Space becomes useful only when it becomes enclosed or seemingly limited. Open land is useless for living but a building that encloses the space gives the land utility. The building is not the main concern but the space within is. Transactional utility belongs to the enclosed space. The useless space has now become useful space. Non-Dual space has now become pluralistic space. This plurality looks as though factual plurality. It looks as though space has become many but all the time space continues to be Non-Dual.

If space can be seemingly divided and the seemingly divided space can become useful for transaction, the same thing is happening for Consciousness also. Consciousness by itself is not available for any transaction. Just as many pots are produced, many bodies are produced out of Maya. When many bodies and minds are created, the all-pervading One Consciousness is available within the body also. Now there are two Consciousnesses as it were. One is external Consciousness, which is not available for any transaction and the other is an internal Consciousness, seemingly enclosed Consciousness obtaining within the body-mind complex. The seemingly enclosed Consciousness is available for all the transactions.

The first and foremost transaction that happens when Consciousness is seemingly enclosed within the body-mind is “I am." This first Consciousness, without any subjectivity, is called Self-Awareness. The open Consciousness without body-mind complex does not have Self-Awareness, but the very same Consciousness enclosed in the body-mind develops Self-Awareness, “I am." This seemingly-enclosed Consciousness with Self-Awareness is called individual-soul or simply soul or Jeevaathma. This Self-Awareness, “I AM,” does not refer to the body, mind or thoughts but it refers/points to the Original-Consciousness. The unenclosed all-pervading Consciousness is called Paramaathma (Param=Highest or Supreme). Ego (ahamkaara) is the I-sense with a personal beliefs and identifications attached while the soul is the I-sense with an impersonal sense of presence.

Is there a division between them? Is there a division between pot-space and total space? Don’t say that division is there. Don’t say that division is not there. The answer should be that there is a seeming division between total space and pot-space. Similarly, Jeevaathma and Paramaathma are seemingly divided but really speaking there is no division at all. When the pot is born, the pot-space is enclosed within the pot, which is called pot-space. Can it be said that the potter created pot-space? The potter creates only the pot but does not create a pot-space. Total space has not undergone a change to produce a pot-space. Total space has not been divided to produce pot-space. Pot-space has not been produced at anytime. Pot-space is not born.

When the pot is created, the enclosed pot-space seems to be created. Before the creation of the pot, the enclosed space was not available. After the creation of the pot, the enclosed space is available. Therefore we tend to say that the enclosed space is created but the potter does not create it all. Similarly when the body-mind complex is born, the total Consciousness is available in the body-mind complex, which is named Jeevaathma. Jeevaathma is not born. Then what is born? The name(concept) 'pot-space' is born! We have introduced the name ‘pot-space’ for the sake of transaction. Jeevaathma/soul is never born in all the three periods of time and only the name 'Jeevaathma' is born which is used for the sake of transaction. Only the name 'jeevaathma/soul' is born. Soul is, thus, an illusion or more precisely 'mithya,' seemingly formed when a body-mind is available for transactional purposes (just like the 'pot-space'). It is not what it seems to be!

How does Self (Jeevaathma) equal Reality (Brahman)?..........

>From the Existence aspect of the Reality...

Let us define these two words up front: Brahman and Aathma. Brahman is the uncreated/unchanging/actionless element in existence. Brahman=Reality=Awareness=I. The same uncreated/unchanging/but-seemingly-active element that is seemingly enclosed in a body-mind complex is Jeevaathma (let us call it Aathma for short). It is the seemingly-enclosed and/or the reflection of Brahman in a body-mind complex. Aathma=Self=Soul=Consciousness=I AM. As an analogy...If the space enclosed in a pot is Aathma/Consciousness, then the infinite space is called Brahman/Awareness. The pot-space is only seemingly enclosed, seemingly individualized, seemingly in movement.

Science tells us that the Big Bang is the t=0 for the universe ('t' denotes the time). t=0 is thus the underlying, non-dual, single-reality (science calls it singularity) that seemingly "created" this universe.

Anything t=0+ or t=0- is not 'Now' but is the future or the past. The Big Bang was t=0 at the time of the Big Bang. But the Big Bang cannot be t=0 now. It equals t-13.8 billion years; it is an event from the past. The universe is expanding with such an incredible speed.  Only the location of 'Now' can be t=0.  This t=0 is beyond time, it is always 'Now.'  So, let us call, t=0 as 'Now.' t=0 as Pure Light.  t=0 as Brahman/Reality/Awareness.

Where can we locate/perceive t=0 at present? Where can we locate/perceive the Pure Light and/or 'Now' at present?  Well, any perception must involve these two elements: Observer Subject and Observed Object. So, let us analyze these two.

Where can we locate t=0 for an Observer Subject?...All perceptions take place in our minds.  And Consciousness or Aathma is the Observer which witnesses everything that is happening in our minds, yet not affected by anything.

Look at the sun; the light from the sun takes 8 minutes to reach us (t=8 min). That means we are looking at the sun that was 8 minutes ago, not the actual sun or not the 'Now' sun. Sun is, thus, a 'memory' object. In fact, the universe is only made up of 'memory' objects. It is just impossible to find a 'Now' object in the physical universe.   Look at the moon; the light from the moon takes 1.3 seconds to reach us (t=1.3 sec).  Now look at the tree outside the window; the time taken for light to reach the eyes is 10 micro seconds (t=10 micro sec).  As the distance reduces, the time taken for the light to reach our eyes reduces. Remember that any perception entailing even the slightest time involves reflected light, not the Original Light or Pure Light!

If you extrapolate this backward, the only logical location for t=0 (or 'Now') is in the Subject/Observer itself, who is watching/observing these objects. That is where Pure Light (not reflected light) can be located!

Aathma is the Subject/Observer, so t=0 is the coordinate for Aathma that is within you.

Now, where can we locate t=0 for an Observed Object?...Well, by the same reasoning as above, for any object to be a 'Now' object, it must be within the Subject/Observer/Aathma. At t=0, the sun is a 'Now' object and this 'Now' object is beyond the space time framework and is within Aathma. If not, any object would be a 'Memory' object. The only way to understand this is that, for any object to be outside the space time frame work, it must be in its 'un-manifest' or 'potential' or 'seed' form within the Subject/Observer/Aathma. There is no actual sun here, but there is only the potential to become the sun. In the same way, Aathma has the potential to become any object in the universe.

t=0 for the Observer is within each one of us. And we saw that the t=0 for all the objects is also within us. However at t=0, both Subject and Object are not separate from each other; Object collapses into Subject. They are completely unified and homogeneous with no separation whatsoever. This is the singularity which science is referring to. It is the unity of the Subject and the Object. This means at t=0, the Subject is not only Aware but must also be Self-Aware. In other words, this Subject must be Aware of itself in the absence of any Objects. Objects are only in the potential form. This is also the condition of Existence/Reality prior to "Creation" because the Existence must be known by itself (it is the only one); otherwise it is No-Existence which is meaningless. If Reality was dependent on Awareness for its awareness, it is not Reality anymore.

Consciousness in each of us is Self-Aware (whatever is aware must be Self-Aware); therefore t=0 is Aathma/Consciousness. ((What are you doing to be aware of yourself? Nothing! That means it is a direct and immediate experience; there is no need of a second "thing." That means Limitless/Pure Awareness is your nature (=to be aware) and that Awareness is self-aware, isn’t it? If our being was not Self-Aware, none of us would have the experience, "I know that I am" or "I know that I am present." Only Awareness knows Awareness. Are we not Self-Aware in deep sleep?)) Since t=0 equals Brahman (Reality/Awareness/I), Aathma (Consciousness/Self/Soul/I AM)=Brahman! Aathma=Brahman!

It is, therefore, logical to conclude that the Big Bang was apparently "born" out of this Self-Aware Consciousness/Self/Aathma. The matter and energy, space and time, is apparently "born" out of this Consciousness! Therefore, Brahman/Awareness/I=Aathma/Consciousness/Self/I AM. But, I AM=AUM! (How?...I AM comes from 'Ayam' of Sanskrit meaning 'Am-ness' which comes from AUM)

Aithareya Upanishad: "Pragnyaanam Brahma!"...Pragnyaanam in Sanskrit means prior to knowledge=I AM=AUM.

Remember the Bible verse..."In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God and the Word was God!" Much earlier verse from Rig-Veda..."In the beginning was Brahman with whom was the Sound; and the Sound was verily Brahman!"

>From the Chith aspect of the Reality...Reality is the Only One. Reality can only be known by itself, and in order to know its own existence Reality must be self-aware.  Only Awareness can know Awareness (bringing another Awareness that knows this Awareness will end in infinite regress, 'anaavastha dosha'). In order to know Infinite Awareness, the second Awareness has to be larger than Infinity - which is absurd.  Awareness knows everything and also knows itself (It is self-revealing like a lamp).  Therefore, Reality's knowledge of itself must be Awareness's knowledge of itself. Awareness's knowledge of itself also shines in each of our minds as the knowledge "I am," the feeling of being or the simple experience of being aware.

>From the Aananda aspect of the Reality...Pure Love is the experience of not knowing an apparent other as 'an other.' Love is the collapse of relationship. When Awareness only Knows itself by Being itself, nothing else is there to resist. The absence of resistance is the experience of Infinity or Love.  To be truly loved means to give our whole self to the object of our love at all times. Since Consciousness is the only thing that is present at all times, only Consciousness is able to impart this love to itself.  This is Self-Love! Permanent peace/love can never be in an object.  When you love an object, the object is outside and the love is inside you. They can never meet, as they are.  The contact is established inside, where the gross object is represented by its subtle form or thought.  So, the real contact is only between your own thought and your own feeling. We love whatever gives us peace/fullness, and because absolute peace/fullness is our true and essential nature, we love ourselves above all other things.  Hence it comes to mean that you love only yourself, always. And that is the highest form of Love. The Self is not an object and its nature is Love so the love for it is infinite.  The world known through Love/Aananda is Reality/Awareness; Reality/Awareness known without Love/Aananda is the world!

Reality surely loves itself as Love, for, self is the highest.  Since Reality is perfect, Reality's Love for you must be perfect. Reality's Freedom for you must be perfect.  So, if Reality is other than yourself then its Love for you is imperfect, because it is loving you as someone other than itself.  It can, then, only give you a little bit of its Love.  If Reality is your own self, that Reality will love you as your own self. It would love you better than yourself because you love yourself as the ego and Reality would love you as you really are.

>Jesus Christ: "I and my Father are one!" ; Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad: "Aham Brahma ’smi!" ; Mandukya Upanishad: "Ayam Aathma Brahman!"

Know your Self (Jeevaathma) to know Brahman (Reality)?..........

Let us first understand the two terms, Aathma and Brahman that are used in Vedanthic tradition as the ultimate realities of an individual and of the Totality.  Aathma is the witness to all change but is itself changeless and is the ultimate reality or ground of oneself.  When you dissolve all the world into ideas and then the ideas into yourself, knowing they are ultimately in you, that is Aathma. Aathma is the unchanging element of knowing with which all your experience is known. The Ultimate Truth of an individual is called Aathma. Aathma means non-darkness or all-pervading or 'I' in Sanskrit.

Brahman is the eternal presence/element that knows anything and everything only as itself.  When you actually see the universe (duality) before you and know that it is the same as yourself, that is Brahman. When you are dreaming and know that the dream pictures of cities, friends etc. are yourself, that is Brahman. Brahman means limitlessness in Sanskrit. So, Aathma is Brahman known from within (=Truth); Brahman is the Aathma known from without (=Reality).  In one case the world is seen as an unreal superimposition on Aathma and in the other, the world is perceived not as anything other than Aathma! In other words, Aathma is knowing Brahman within you (Self-Knowledge, Aathma Gnyaana, Chith aspect of Reality); and Brahman is knowing that Aathma is everywhere (Universal-Knowledge, Brahman Gnyaana, Aananda aspect of Reality). Aathma and Brahman are one and the same, it depends from which angle you are looking at. If Jeevaathma (Aathma seemingly enclosed in a body-mind complex) is like a drop of water then Brahman is like the infinite water; they both are water. From the point of view of Brahman, however, there is no drop of water; it is all water!

Didn't Jesus Christ say: "I and my Father (God) are one!?"

We need to know both, Aathma and Brahman, for liberation or moksha. But which one is to be known first?...Aathma needs to be known first, because until you know the nature of the knowing-witness, nothing true about the known can be known.  Perception is always in terms of the instrument used and the object of perception is always in the perception itself and depends on the instrument.  The particular nature of a perception (or conception) is determined by the (quality of) the receiving organ, and not by the stimulus.  Just as we cannot gauge the exact color and make of objects if we always wear tinted spectacles, we cannot know the true nature of our individual experience if we persist in viewing it from the standpoint of a colored individuality. Perception/Conception, thus, is mind specific. Perception is also species specific, as we know. What we see is not the same as what a chameleon sees. Therefore, until you know the truth about your mind or the nature of your mind, you cannot know anything true about the world you perceive because, again, no perception is free of conditioning.  It is better to be a master of yourself than to be a master of the whole world.  Any kind of investigation has to commence with immediately available evidence, which is you. Therefore, start with you first.

"Going within" is the taking of a journey in which the Self leaves the mind and travels to the soul and beyond - where one's Personal Story does not exist. Aathma means that which is nearest to you; then anyone who is at a little distance from you will have to be considered as being farther away.  That is why, one who cannot realize Truth "within" himself first, can never realize it in All.  And if you cannot see Truth "within" yourself, which is nearest you, you cannot possibly see it in those far from you.  First you will have to know Truth "within" yourself; first the knower will have to know the divine -- that is the nearest/closest door. Samsaara started with a separate-self, look there. Looking for a diamond outside the hut where light is, but was lost inside the hut, does not do one any good.  Concept-free Infinite Awareness can now grab Form-free Infinite Space for the experience of Oneness. If everything in the universe is fashioned by a single "cause," Brahman, then everything in the universe is Brahman. Therefore if you know the essence of any one thing it is as good as knowing the essence of every other thing!

Therefore, we have to first pass through the stage of discovering Aathma and then only can we attain the stage of discovering Brahman. There is no easier way!

Socrates: "Knowing thyself is the beginning of wisdom!"

Prophet Muhammad: "Whosoever knows his self, knows his Lord!"

Self-Knowledge, Aathma Gnyaana, is eliminating the error that you are not-Self. Knowing Aathma only tells you what you are not, not necessarily what you are. It is necessary to see what you actually are.  It simply is not enough to see that the rope is not a snake. If you had stopped there, then there is still the possibility you may mistake it with a stick or a crack later.  We have to see the rope clearly. 'I' has to see the 'I' clearly. That is the second stage; to know Brahman.

But, here is the secret! The individual who enters his self, suddenly finds the entrance to all.  If you know/taste the salt water in a pot, you would know all the water in an ocean!  Indian sages have made this sensational discovery that the ultimate ground of the individual and the ultimate ground of the universe are identical, that Aathma is Brahman and Brahman is Aathma.  This is one way to understand Non-Duality, 'Advaitham,' that Aathma=Brahman! Microcosm=Macrocosm!  The door to one's self is the door to all! There is not that much of a distance to cover once you know who or what you are!

Samsaara, life, is made up of root-ignorance and error.  This error will come back again and again even after Self-Knowledge or Awakening, because the root-ignorance has not been removed by Self-Knowledge completely.  When both ignorance and error are eliminated, one "attains" Brahman (so to say), which is nothing but claiming one’s own glory as the Non-Dual Infinite Being. Brahman claims Brahman! Brahman recognizes that it has always been Brahman, free of the world, free of Maya, free of cause and effect.  This discovery collapses the distinction between the objects/world and Brahman completely. You are now one with everyone and everything.  What is the test?...When the thought that you are Brahman becomes as strong as your present thought that you are the body, then alone are you free!  Therefore, it is important to know yourself first! Know Aathma first!

You have seen the world in you through Aathma Gnyaana, you need to see yourself in the world through Brahman Gnyaana!

How is God-The Reality a mystery for the mind?..........

Mind is an ever-changing flow of thoughts.  It is not possible to know the one that never changes, i.e., God-The Reality/Awareness, through/by the mind.  Mind is limited and intermittent while Awareness is unlimited and never born. If Awareness was produced by mind, then it would have to have a beginning. But Awareness having a beginning - or even an ending, for that matter - is never our experience and can never be our experience.  Thus, mind cannot have access to Awareness as it is a subset of Awareness (a derivative or limitation of Awareness).  Mind cannot understand that from which it is born, being only a part of the whole. It cannot conceive anything subtler than itself. How can a finger know/understand the body?  An effect cannot illumine its cause (when they belong to two different planes of reality); the effect is dependent on the cause. It can only illumine objects on its own level of reality or those on a lower level. The principle of logic demands that the cause must be at least as rich as the effect.

Mind or thought is in time and only knows objects (apparently) in space and, therefore, knows nothing about Awareness which is dimensionless (timeless and spaceless) and, therefore, not an object. So mind says Awareness does not exist!  Mind converts everything into its own media. Mind's knowledge of anything can only ever be as good as the knowledge of itself. All the mind's knowledge, by definition, will be a reflection of its own limitations. Mind, thus, sees eternity as time, infinity as space and the reality as matter. Reality when known by mind, therefore, becomes an object. However, Reality/Awareness is not an object. It is the one which makes the objects knowable!

Therefore, you/ego can never meet God-The Reality, because the meeting will mean you are Real and Reality is also Real - then there will be two Realities, not one. But Reality is One, Non-Dual.  If there were two independent Realities, they would either be the same or one would be more real than the other and therefore the 'other' could not be said to be as real as the first.  Thus, you can know everything except your own Self/Reality.  Self, Reality, Awareness is subjective and this subjectivity cannot be made objective.  If Reality is Infinity, you can know it (in a subject-object relationship) only if you are larger than Infinity - which is ridiculous.  You are not what you know, you are the Knowing-Witness. You can only know something that is (apparently) different than you.  How can something knows itself when there is nothing with which to compare? It is alone, without identity, without attributes. We can only talk about it at the phenomenal level. It is like the eye - which can see everything else but cannot see itself in original. Because you are trying to find Reality, you are preventing Reality to find you.

Thus, God-The Reality is unknowable to the mind! Reality is unknowable (as in a subject-object relationship), for it alone is the Knowing-Witness!  If Witness is the ultimate subject, it can never objectify itself because whatever it is aware of is not itself!  How can the Knowing-Witness be recognized by the sense-organs and mind when they themselves are the recognized ones?  How can the Reality/Awareness be known objectively, since that Reality/Awareness is the One that is always knowing, always aware? Whatever is known will be an object of knowing, never the subject! Awareness is like a flash light; it lights up everything including itself but it cannot turn towards (or attend to) itself. It is knowing itself just by being.  The ultimate truth which mind can know, therefore, is that Reality/Awareness is not something to be known in a subject-object relationship and that it will always be a mystery! Only Reality/Awareness recognizes itself (or claims itself) as the Reality/Awareness in the presence of the mind (or through the mind/buddhi) because Awareness is the only one that is aware! It is impossible for the dream character to know the dreamer sleeping in the bed unless it wakes up to "be" that sleeper knowingly. Whatever you can call 'this'...is not the subject. Whatever you are aware of...is not the subject.  Perception is always in terms of the instrument used to perceive and the object of perception is always in the perception itself and depends on the instrument. Remember: matter cannot see matter, mind/thought cannot see mind/thought and Awareness will not see Awareness because there is no need; however, Awareness can see mind and mind can see matter. Awareness sees matter via mind.

The particular nature of (quality of) a perception (or conception) is determined by the (quality of) the receiving organ or instrument, and not by the stimulus. Just as we cannot gauge the exact color and make of objects if we always wear tinted spectacles, we cannot know the true nature of our individual experience if we persist in viewing it from the standpoint of a colored individuality. Perception/Conception, thus, is mind-senses specific. Perception/Conception is also species specific, as we know. What we see is not the same as what a chameleon sees. Unless we know the truth (intrinsic-nature/essence) of the knower-mind (through which everything else in our life is known), nothing true about the known can be known and experienced. So, try to know the truth/nature/essence of your mind first (Awareness/Knowing is prior to experience and, therefore, experience can never validate Enlightenment/Awareness/True-You)!

<<<An important clarification here...Reality, though unknowable to the mind, is of all things the best known, for it is ever known/experienced as "I AM," which is the only continuous and constant experience there is, which is self-evident. Reality knows Reality just by being Reality, it does not need a mind. This knowledge is direct and immediate. Mind is only required to express and/or claim Awareness just like mind requires a tongue to express and claim that it is happy. Knowing Reality is the absence of not knowing ourselves as something seemingly other than Reality! Known and unknown (or knowable) are both objects of awareness to the Knowing-Witness, "I." Reality is beyond the known and the unknown and, yet, self-existent, self-shining and self-evident. (beyond=/means in and through the world but not affected by the world or unreachable to the world - like light pervading a hand; 'asangathva'; beyond/transcendent means it is both the absolute and the relative at the sametime). Reality illuminates objects; illuminates sathya and mithya. He who knows Reality/Brahman as being not an object of knowledge but as himself, he is the one who knows Brahman. Real-You/Self/Reality is not a mystery for the Real-You! Awareness knows Awareness because Awareness is the only "one" that is aware (that is its nature)! You are That! "Thath Tvam Asi!" In conclusion, try to find the nature of your questioning mind. Not that you will get an answer...No. The beauty is that the question will dissolve because the questioner, the "me," is no more!>>>

Where can Reality/Self/Brahman be found?..........

Conceding Reality as the so-called "Creator" of the universe, Reality must have existed even before Creation – all alone as the Impersonal. Reality in its real nature cannot be seen from or through any created thing. So, body and mind are incapable of knowing Reality. Mind can only see objects.  It is like this: A three-dimensional cube cannot be accommodated into a two-dimensional plane. A two-dimensional plane cannot be accommodated into a one-dimensional point. Mind is one dimensional. Its dimension is time. Awareness has no attributes; it is dimensionless. How can a limited mind know an unlimited Awareness? How can you see the snow as white with (a limiting) orange glasses (of time and space)?

We are forced, therefore, to look out for some principle in man which is not created.  The real ‘I’-principle or Self-Consciousness, defying all the three states, is found not to have been created.  So, by taking to this un-created Self-Consciousness or 'I' principle within you, you should be able to experience/realize the Reality.

Standing as that ‘I’-principle, however, we experience and see that we are all alone in deep sleep. There is no other Reality there.  So this Self-Consciousness or "I AM" is the key to Reality!

Remember: There is no truth except the truth that exists within you.  Everything else is what someone is telling you. You are the only one who can take you there.  Others can lead you to a path, others can show you their way, but only you can take yourself to the destination.

Jesus Christ: "The kingdom of God is within you!"; "I AM (is) the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to Father except through me (I AM)!"

Aithareya Upanishad: "Pragnyaanam Brahma!"...Pragnyaanam is prior to thought/knowledge or perfect knowledge="I AM!"

Self-Consciousness = "I AM;" The "I" in "I AM" is Reality/Brahman!

Reality also means the whole. If you see another thing, a second, how can you possibly know the whole of that thing? It is impossible to become wholly one with a second thing unless you dissolve into it.  Therefore it is impossible ever to know any Reality other than your own self!  You can never meet Reality, because the meeting will mean you are also real and Reality is also real - then there will be two realities, not One. But Reality is One.  If you are, Reality cannot be. If Reality is, you cannot be.

When asked to walk towards the tree, you walk towards the tree. When asked to walk towards the mountain, you walk towards the mountain. When asked to walk towards yourself, where can you walk? You cannot walk towards yourself because you are the self.  Self or Reality or Consciousness is like that.  Your self is Reality's Self. Aathma/Brahman can never be gotten by practice, whether yogic, samaadhi etc. The reason is there is no such thing as causal relation ultimately, hence no practice or effort will, as cause, produce Brahman as effect. A limited cause cannot produce an unlimited effect. No amount of work can remove the darkness in a room; you only have to remember (know) where the switch is to turn the light on.

Aathma/Brahman is gotten by understanding your own self only!

Socrates: "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom!"

Socrates: "The unexamined (un-inquired) life is not worth living!"

Jesus Christ (John 8:31-32): "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!"

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha (6.5): "Uddhareth Aathmanaa Aathmaanam!"...One should uplift (know) oneself by oneself!

What are the required qualities for liberation?

We are three-aspect beings: soul, mind and body; (causal body/ignorance, subtle body and gross body; sathva, rajas and thamas dominant; these three need the support of Reflected-Consciousness and Pure or Original-Consciousness) and we have three tools to create - or, rather, re-create - ('karma thrayam'): thought, word and deed (man-thram, thun-thram and yam-thram). These three tools of the mind generally produce three results ('karma phala thrayam'): security ('artha'), pleasures ('kaama') and merits ('dharma') which have the three defects of: discontentment, pain/sorrow and dependency/bondage ('karma dosha thrayam'). So, how do we transcend the mind?...There are three rare gifts in life: birth as a human being (free will+buddhi+speech is possible only in the waking state of a gross body alone; human is not a karma jeevi like animals which are only spending their karmaphalas or bhoga jeevi like celestial beings which are addicted to one sided pleasures but a buddhi jeevi meaning he can discriminate truth vs untruth to attain liberation; human has a physical body where he can feel/experience the love because complete awareness is achieved with complete knowing plus complete feeling), desire for liberation and access to a qualified teacher (a guru must be approached by desire for liberation, shraddha and bhakthi). Mind has three impurities: III. The impurities are: 1. Inner Enemies ('arishadvargas') caused by ahamkaara, mamakaara and raaga-dveshas (called dhushta chathushtaya); These refer to the six-fold mental enemies: lust, anger, attachment/greed, delusion, pride/arrogance and jealousy ('kaama-krodha-lobha-moha-madha-maathsarya'), 2. Inner Distractions (scattering mind, mental restlessness, 'vikshepa') and/or lack of concentration (non-focusing mind, 'ekaagra rahitha') and 3. Ignorance ('aavarana', 'avidhya', 'agnyaana'). In general, the six enemies are removed by Karma Yoga (non-attachment to the fruits of one's actions, selfless service with selfless attitude, selfless attitude is not to promote righteous deeds but to correct the situation of thinking that the righteous deeds bring unending-happiness...because by doing more and more righteous deeds, personal doership gets solidified which obstructs realization/moksha) and/or Bhakthi Yoga (=motion towards divinity=faith+selfless actions towards worldly values or 'punya'+reverence towards spiritual values or love/joy/peace; bhakthi means to hold on to; bhakthi is love directed towards an object), unfocusing/'vikshepa' is removed by Raja Yoga/Upaasana Yoga/Dhyaana Yoga and ignorance/'aavarana' is removed by Gnyaana Yoga ('Upaasana'=Upa+Aasana=Sitting near the closest to you (Self) or the object of worship).

The required qualities/eligibility to remove impurities/obstacles paving the way to liberation are four: DDDD: 1. Discipline ('abhyaasa', 'saadhana'), discipline for study: Six qualities required: Shama (control of the mind; clue: do the opposite of what mind desires), Dhama (control of external sense organs), Uparathi (refraining from actions and concentrating on meditation), Thithiksha (patient endurance of pain and suffering with calmness), Shraddha (trust in guru and Vedas, treating them as a valid and independent source of spiritual knowledge), Samaadhaana (concentrating the mind on Reality and guru), 2. Dispassion ('vairaagya', not un-passion), indifference to the results of your actions, renunciation of attachments, reducing obsession/fascination with objects, (passion=clinging to the world for security and support), desire-free-ness for dharma-artha-kaama, detachment with all goals except that of liberation, not hatred towards the world but use the world not as a goal but as a means to the goal of moksha, freedom from raaga and dvesha - dilution of likes and dislikes by not dwelling on them too much, 3. Desire - intense desire (passion without expectation) - for liberation or moksha ('mumukshuthva') and 4. Discrimination ('viveka'), viveka to discriminate between the real (moksha) and the not-real (dharma-artha-kaama); vi=special, vika=discrimination/investigation, viveka=investigation with true knowledge; viveka=to discriminate between the nature of the being and the being of the nature.

Aadhi Shankaraachaarya: “ Sathsangathve Nissangathvam, Nissangathve Nirmohathvam, Nirmohathve Nischalatathvam, Nischalatathve Jeevanmukthihi.”

These qualities, mostly, are attained with Karma Yoga and Upaasana Yoga (Raja Yoga or Meditation). Karma Yoga (=non-attachment to the fruits of one's actions, selfless actions with selfless attitude, 'nisvaartha-seva') is about offering all actions to Eeshwara/Karma-Field and accepting all results as gifts from Eeshwara/Karma Field. Karma Yoga gives purification of the mind (equanimity, gives us the knowledge about what is right and what is wrong, dharma) and Upaasana Yoga ('dhyaanam') gives one-pointedness and expansion of the mind (ability to withdraw the mind at will and to relax on the Self). Karma is a movement of the body (takes thaamasic mind to raajasic mind) and Upaasana is a movement of the mind (takes raajasic mind to saathvic mind). In Karma and Upaasana, one has to regard the Reality to be different from oneself whereas Gnyaana, leading to liberation, is the discovery/realization of one‘s identity with Brahman. Karma Yoga and Upaasana Yoga are (almost always) required to purify the mind so it is un-distracting and ready for Self-Inquiry/Self-Investigation ('Aathma Vichaara', application of Self-Knowledge to the subtle body). The first two impurities of mind (inner enemies and inner distractions) are removed by the first three D's through Karma Yoga, Bhakthi Yoga and Raja Yoga. The last impurity/obstacle of ignorance is removed by the last D, i,e., Discrimination or 'Aathma Vichaara.' The key for the removal of ignorance is the removal of the two elements: 'realism' (me-ness; claiming the ownership of body-mind believing that the world/body/mind is real in its own right; 'ahamkaara', me-ness) and 'dualism' (mine-ness; claiming the ownership of objects/selves for happiness, profession and family; believing that the reality is divided into two - a subject and an object - and that the security and the peace/happiness is in the objects and the subject acquiring the object for such peace/happiness; 'mamakaara' or 'abhimaana').

"Karma Yogena Mala Nivritthi!" "Upaasana/Dhyaana Yogena Vikshepa Nivritthi!" "Gnyaana Yogena Agnyaana Nivritthi!"

"Dhyaanam Nirvishayam-Manah!"...(Sankhya Suthras)...Meditation is mind without thoughts/feelings/will. In other words, meditation purifies the mind. Pathanjali: 1.2: "Yogaah Chittha Vritthi Nirodha-ha!"...Raja Yoga/Meditation is the prevention of arising of thoughts. 1.3: "Thadha, Dhrashtu Swarupe-Avasthaanam!"...Then (in and through this process), the seer/meditator resides in his own nature. 3.2: "Thathra, Prathyaya Eka-Thaanatha Dhyaanam!"...Meditation, therein, is the one continuous flow of cognition/thought towards a point. 3.3: "Thath-Eva-Artha-Maathra Nirbhaasam-Swaroopa-Shunyam Eeva Samaadhi-hi!"...Samaadhi is that same meditation of continuous flow of thoughts on one point alone when there is the shining/illumination of the object alone, as if devoid of form (...Pathanjali Yoga Suthras containing 196 suthras). Mediation, thus, can never culminate in Moksha because meditation is in a form or doing and Moksha is not an event/doing. Moksha/Liberation is an ever existing fact/knowledge to be owned up or claimed. Looking forward to a special experience called 'Moksha' through any yoga is like trying to meet the horizon.

Krishna (Bhagavad Geetha, 2.48): Samathvam (Karma) Yoga Uthchathe!...Have a proper attitude or a balanced/equanimous/stable/equi-poise mind both in success and failure, in pleasure and pain.

Vedantha does not talk much about Bhakthi Yoga as a specific path as the highly-charged cause-effect relationship between the individual and Personal God could be the biggest mistake the devotees may commit because it is rooted in duality and reinforces duality/personal doership as duality is the fundamental illusion of life. This cannot be easily removed and can cause a hindrance to the realization of Non-Duality. Though Bhakthi Yoga/Worship is not an exclusive course of discipline, it is the common atmosphere in which all other yogas are practiced. Bhakthi=Its root word, 'Bhaj' means worship/devotion/sharing in Sanskrit=Devotion (activity/motion towards unity/divinity/deva or offering prayers/services to God)=Love+Respect+Reverence (love here means faith, respect is for worldly values of what is right and what is wrong and reverence is for spiritual values of what is real and what is not-real). Bhakthi's deeper meaning is union, 'bhajana' ('vibhajana' or 'vibhakthi' means separation) and/or "to catch hold of." It is very important in that respect because the highest form of bhakthi is the Love of True-Self ('pragnya'; Utthama Bhakthi or Nirmoha Bhakthi or Nirguna-Eeshwara Bhakthi or Aroopa Bhakthi or Gnyaana Yoga) in which you realize that Self=God or you are 'Siddha' yourself meaning it is already accomplished, "I am God and there is nothing other than God." Praying a deity is not bhakthi beacause there are two in it, me and the God, and, so, that is vibhakthi. <<<The other forms of bhakthi are: bhakthi for the means or 'saadhanam' to an end or 'saaddhyam', like wishing for money or health, wishing for material benefits or 'preya,' the English word 'prayer' comes from Sanskrit's 'preya' ('prey'=something dear or wanted; Mandha Bhakthi or Sakaama Bhakthi or Ekaroopa Bhakthi; God is at a certain location away from me; the problem with Ekaroopa is that it is subject to arrival and departure); and bhakthi for the end itself, like wishing for God as Peace/Happiness to all, 'worshipping' God meaning revering, recognizing and thanking God, 'pooja' in Sanskrit ('pooj'=adore, revere, respect, worship; Madhyama Bhakthi or Nishkaama Bhakthi or Anekaroopa Bhakthi or Vishwaroopa Bhakthi; God is everywhere>>> At no time, the seeker is away from bhakthi. Karma Yoga may be called Anekaroopa Bhakthi or Nishkaama Bhakthi or Vishwaroopa Bhakthi which is also Madhyama Bhakthi. Nirmoha Bhakthi or Nirguna-Eeshwara Bhakthi is to realize freedom from matter-mind or space-time, dis-identification with experience including the experience of Personal God (=Gnyaana Yoga). Nishkaama Bhakthi qualifies one to go on to Nirguna-Eeshwara Bhakthi/Gnyaana Yoga!

However, Karma Yoga is neither volunteer work nor performing good actions and rituals. Karma Yoga is not about the actions and their results (of paapa-punya or fall-rise) but is about the attitude you take with respect to actions and their results. Karma Yoga is all about correcting the situation of thinking that the fullness/happiness/peace comes from performing good actions and rituals. These do-gooders are only building or reinforcing an identity as a doer. You should not be attached to doing good actions and, so, you do not hesitate to perform disagreeable, unpleasant actions. You should do what is required in the moment. It should not be driven by the ego. It is driven by Totality's (Eeshwara's) demand on you. Karma Yoga is performing actions that are needed to be done (not what you/person want to be done) without any expectation (='nisvaartha-seva'=no individual doer) and for the universal good (where the beneficiary is not the personal you). This nullifies likes and dislikes ('raaga-dveshas') producing no vaasanas or subtle-impressions or desires.

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 2.39: "Budhir Yoge Karmabandham Prahaasyasi!"...Krishna summarizes Karma Yoga with his very first introductory shloka on Karma Yoga: Karma Yoga reduces the fruits of action ('vaasanas' or 'raaga-dveshas'), or, in other words, purifies the mind!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 2.47: "Karmanye Vaadhikaarasthe Maa Phaleshu Kadhaachana!"...An individual has the authority and responsibility to perform actions, but not on their fruits/results!

On the other hand, Raja Yoga (Meditation, =being aware of being aware) gives you only the (clear) experience of the Self, not the knowledge/knowing that I am the Self. Meditation is the absence of duality; Brahman is the knowledge of the absence of duality. Of course it is a special/non-dual experience as Self experiences the Self. But how does the yogi know that what he finds in this samaadhi is Brahman? It is possible to gain inferential knowledge that the ego does not exist, but this does not reveal the nature of the Self (except by implication). The knowledge of the non-existence of the ego is indirect and may lead to Self-Realization but it is only ‘negative’ knowledge. Knowing the screen without images is negative knowledge; knowing that the images are also seeming modulations of the screen is complete knowledge. What needs to happen at this point is that the individual needs to convert the language of experience to the language of identity, for which buddhi is needed. The language of identity states that the experiencer and what is being experienced are not two separate things, that they are in fact the same. Most (or almost all) of the yogis get stuck in this experience of Self/bliss and stay there and that's the reason why they go back again and again to that experience of bliss. The knowledge that you - Awareness - is not the ego is not enough, the ego/world is also there as the seeming modulation of the Self is what is needed! Raja Yoga, however, makes the mind razor sharp for the purpose of discrimination and to realize the Self.

Gnyaana Yoga, spiritual-inquiry or Self-Inquiry or Self-Investigation, under the guidance of a self-realized guru/teacher, then, puts the icing on the cake! Self-Inquiry is to discriminate yourself from the mind/experience, not to eliminate the mind. Mind must be there, but not a distracting mind. Gnyaana Yoga, through the three steps of shravana (listening), manana (contemplation) and nidhidhyaasana (ni-dhyaana=keen/deep/close attention/observation on duality/multiplicity, ni=near/close, positive attention on objects, verification of the Aathma Gnyaana in practice, spreading Awareness from the body-ness to infinite-ness, attention on the essence, the art of being, converting intellectual knowledge into emotional strength, 'samaadhi abhyaasa', strengthening the knowledge acquired during shravana that I am Brahman and there is nothing other than Brahman, gradual elimination of the Anaathma thoughts from the subconscious mind, assimilation of Aathma Gnyaana; For example: when you see an object your awareness has pervaded that object, then feel that the you, Awareness, have enveloped the space as you and say that "I am there."), gives us the knowledge about what is true and what is false. Shravana is gaining the knowledge "I AM Limitless Awareness," manana is for the removal of doubts and nidhidhyaasana is for the removal of habits. Self-Ignorance is removed by knowledge through Gnyaana Yoga only, especially through shravana/listening from a realized gnyaani ("shravana maathrena mukthi-hi"=listening is the only path to awakening because most of the misidentification or misunderstanding comes from hearing). Actions of Karma Yoga and Upaasana Yoga (which are limited and in duality) can never take you to the Actionless Non-Dual Reality (which is Limitless). You have apparently separated yourself from Reality with duality; you have reduced Reality from Infinity (Fullness) to a finite entity (Incompleteness). You can't get what you already got by doing something. Action is born of ignorance and Self has no problem with ignorance. You can sit in silence of Nirvikalpa Samaadhi (experience of Self, waking-sleep, 'jaagrath-sushupthi'; temporary absence of 'aavarana' or sleep and 'vikshepa' or projection), and be dumb as a loaf of bread forever, and the Self is not going to do one damned thing about it. You are entering Nirvikalpa Samaadhi with the ignorance of "I am the body-mind" thought and consciously eliminating the Anaathma thoughts and abiding in the 'saathvik,' "I am" state/thought (this thought will be dropped at a later stage) realizing that you are not-Anaathma ('vikshepa' of Maya is broken but not 'aavarana') whereas in the natural deep sleep state you are entering dullness/'thamas' with ignorance and waking up with the same ignorance! In deep sleep you identify yourself with causal body (an ignorant thought that "I knew nothing") but in Nirvikalpa Samaadhi you are free of causal body (soul) for that period (temporary). That's the difference (moonshine is one with the sunshine but that knowledge has not formed in the intellect because the intellect is not there in yogic samaadhi). Unfortunately, Nirvikalpa Samaadhi is an experience that comes and goes. You now know that I and Aathma were one in that experience, after the fact, by inference. Knowing is knowing the knowing in the absence of objects/world. "I am That" in the absence of objects/world. It is the knowledge of bliss, "I am," just like in deep sleep. From waking state perspective, deep sleep=bliss+blankness and Nirvikalpa Samaadhi=bliss+Aathma, where bliss=Reflection of Aananda which is maximum in these two states. Even though you gradually make the mind pure by abiding in "I am," there can occur no knowledge that you are Pure Consciousness because buddhi is not there to receive it! It is only in Savikalpa Samaadhi, in the presence of the thoughts, that knowledge can happen in intellect that you, Aathma, are free of causal body (blankness/bliss) and also free of body-mind (experience)!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 2.11: "Gathaasuna Agathaasuna-cha Na-Anushochanthi Pandithah!"...Krishna with his very first introductory shloka regarding Gnyaana Yoga summarizes Gnyaana Yoga: A wise person or a gnyaani never grieves/suffers for the past or the future (meaning that the solution for the problem of samsaara/suffering is Self-Knowledge/Gnyaan Yoga)!

Until you discriminate and understand that the knowing-witness of the reflection is Me, knowledge won't happen.  Only the knowledge that you are already the Actionless Non-Dual Awareness is needed! Karma Yoga and Upaasana Yoga are there for the doers. They do not expose the doer for what it is. Consequently, these methods are not suitable for liberation...which is freedom from personal doership (or personality)! Gnyaana Yoga is the direct means of liberation (spiritual knowledge, 'para vidhya'), any other means (material knowledge, 'apara vidhya') is indirect. Gnyaana Yoga is also called as Aspharsha Yoga (contactless because there are no two "things" there to begin with).  The language of identity states that the experiencer and what is being experienced are not two separate "things," that they are in fact the same.  The knowledge that the ego is also there as the Self (which removes Self-Ignorance) is what is needed (which means ego=Self but Self is not ego; ego/world is a second order reality)!  Self-Inquiry is different from meditation or other spiritual practices, because the knowledge is maintained by an act of will, whereas in meditation/spiritual practice the knowledge appears during a particular experience (which ends).

Sometimes there is this bias, this tremendous prejudice against knowledge, “because it is all intellectual." Well, it is intellectual that there is, “something wrong with knowledge” too!! If you are going to dismiss knowledge as intellectual, then you will have to dismiss the idea that knowledge is intellectual, as intellectual. Therefore, this action argument, does not hold up. Action has no access to Awareness because Awareness is "prior" to action. Before you act, you have to be there. You cannot act, unless there is something there prior to the action, because action does not do itself. Not possible. So, do not get stuck in Karma Yoga and/or Upaasana Yoga. Dualistic paths of Karma Yoga and Upaasana Yoga must lead one to the Non-Dualistic path of Gnyaana Yoga!

How many are the basic means or paths to Reality/Brahman?..........

There are three basic paths to Enlightenment/Awakening. Reality is Sath-Chith-Aananda; Sath (Eternal-Existence...manifested as Form), Chith (Unchanging-Consciousness...manifested as Knowledge) and Aananda (Infinite-Fullness...manifested as Love). The three essential paths to realizing Reality, therefore, are either through Form (Roopa Yoga, Karma Yoga or Self-Immersion; Collapsing into the Beauty of Existence), Knowledge (Gnyaana Yoga or Self-Inquiry; Collapsing into the Truth of Consciousness), or Love (Bhakthi Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga or Self-Surrender; Collapsing into the Love of Aananda). Surrender to God's will is to own up cause-and-effect and accept responsibility for your actions so you move towards God's will which is Aananda. These three paths are also in line with the three functions or the three centers of the mind: doing of ego (doer/'kartha'/volitional-mind), thinking of intellect/buddhi (knower/'pramaatha'/'gnyaatha'/'dhyaatha'/knower-mind) and feeling of manas (feeler/'bhoktha'/emotional-mind). The corresponding three channels of experience are: perception, thought and feeling. And through these three channels of experience we can trace ourselves back to our Source: Beauty, Truth and Love (Sundharam, Sathyam and Shivam). It is recommended that one should pursue the search through one's highly developed function.

Roopa Yoga may be accomplished through nature, music, art, poetry, dance, rituals, etc. leading to Beauty. Roopa Yoga takes the senses on a journey and delivers the senses back to the source of perception where they dissolve in and as Awareness resulting in the experience of Beauty. Karma Yoga is accomplished through service and desire-free action (surrendering the results of the actions to God/Eeshwara) leading to Purity. Gnyaana Yoga is accomplished through thought leading to Knowledge/Understanding/Truth. Bhakthi Yoga is the surrendering of ego through devotion leading to Love.  In Bhakthi, Karma, Raja and Roopa Yogas, cleansing of the body-mind (by effort, by travel, saadhana) becomes a prerequisite for Awakening while in the method of Gnyaana Yoga, it happens after the Awakening (which will then be easier because it is a practice without a practitioner; practice with a practitioner may reinforce personal doership in the paths of Karma Yoga, Bhakthi Yoga and Raja Yoga). Gnyaana Yoga is a direct and a top-down approach. It has a tremendous advantage.

Roopa Yoga (understanding the relationship between form and the formlessness), Karma Yoga (understanding the relationship between action and the fruits of action), Raja Yoga (understanding the relationship between the seer and the seen) and Bhakthi Yoga (understanding the relationship between lover and the loved) are progressive or indirect paths rooted in duality; Gnyaana Yoga (understanding the nature of the Self) is direct.  Gnyaana Yoga takes you directly to the understanding of your true nature; no effort should be needed. True nature is an effortless state. Our age and culture is ready for direct path. Other progressive paths such as some variations of Raja Yoga (Meditation/Upaasana Yoga; experiencing the Self in Nirvikalpa Samaadhi), Thanthra Yoga (union through sex) and Kriya Yoga (union through energy) are different forms of the above three essential progressive paths. Roopa Yoga is not spoken very much or documented much because in the traditional progressive paths, the body and the world are considered to be distractions or dangerous.

Realization is nothing new to be acquired. It is already there but obstructed by the screen of thoughts/conditioning. All the above means fulfill the purpose of keeping away diverse thoughts and fixing the mind on a single thought, which must also disappear before realization.  Self-Inquiry (Gnyaana Yoga) involves only the subject and is the most direct and the best method to transcend the last thought!  Any other path besides Gnyaana cannot remove ignorance with ease. It is only a step. It removes obstructions. All other paths are certainly useful to gain a quiet and clear mind that would be ready for inquiry. But if you think these paths/practices are going to solve the problem of knowing yourself, that is almost impossible. Any practice is a movement that takes you away from yourself, the Self/Reality.

Highest form of any other Yoga may give you Self (Jeevaathma), but not Reality (Brahman)! This is a negative form of Enlightenment. Brahman can only be realized by investigation among the multiplicity of the world in waking state.  You are free from ignorance not when you see nothing at all, as in yoga/samaadhi, but only when you see the universe as yourself!

All these paths may also be classified into two basic paths: Self-Surrender and Self-Inquiry - Karma Yoga and Gnyaana Yoga; Path of Action and Path of Non-Action/Knowledge, Dualistic Path ('Pravritthi Maarga'; dharma, artha, kaama fall in this path) and Non-Dualistic Path ('Nivritthi Maarga'; moksha falls into this). Self-Surrender is of surrendering the sense of personal doership which must come from intelligence, not from confusion. Self-Inquiry is the practice of discrimination ('viveka') between the Self and the not-Self. Self-Surrender is the path of extroverts and Self-Inquiry is the path of introverts. Upanishads (and also Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha) mention only two basic/fundamental paths: Karma Yoga (Self-Surrender, path of action, Krishna calls it Yogam) and Gnyaana Yoga (Self-Inquiry, Path of Knowledge or Awareness, Krishna calls it Gnyaanam or Saamkhyam/Discrimination) because the basic/fundamental duality is between Knowledge/Awareness and Maya/Universal-Potential.

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 3:3: "The two-fold discipline leading to Enlightenment were previously explained by me: the discipline of knowledge, for those inclined toward contemplation/discrimination, and the discipline of karma for those inclined toward action!"

All Yogas except Gnyaana Yoga will fall under Karma Yoga.  Karma Yoga, in essence, is a preparatory step for Gnyaana Yoga because doing can never take you to Being! It only prepares the extrovert mind to become introvert. Any dualistic path (bhakthi and dhyaana are also internal karmas using mind/time and are proactive; Brahman cannot be changed into what you are imagining; Brahman is beyond time-space, so anything you do proactively with time or space will not "fetch" you That; duality is darkness and darkness cannot uproot darkness and, in fact, will increase darkness; ignorance breeds karma and karma breeds ignorance; Individuated Consciousness can only grab Infinite Consciousness; being as seen is not important, seeing as being is) is useful to attain either something that is to be manufactured or something that is to be fetched and may be changed. However, Awareness is ever ready-made or ever-made and is available everywhere (Brahman must be grasped as it is, not as one imagines it; Since Brahman is Knowing, Knowing can only be grasped by eliminating ignorance from your mind and in this respect knowledge/mind is not a doing-tool but an undoing-tool; it is like getting back to natural health from unnatural disease). Karma Yoga (Cosmological/Objective and Faith-Based Path) neutralizes one's likes and dislikes, burns the impurities, vaasanas/karmas. Karma Yoga/Bhakthi Yoga is needed for volitional-mind, Nidhidhyaasana is needed for emotional-mind, shravana and manana are needed for the knower-mind (Karma Yoga gives purification, Bhakthi Yoga gives faith/support and Raja Yoga gives concentration but they will not solve the problem of death). It is only Gnyaana Yoga (Individual/Subjective and Rationalistic Path) that removes the association plus identification of Awareness with Maya (or objective experience) intellectually leading one to the understanding that Maya (the mind and the world/matter) is not-real and that there was really never an actual association between them. So, ultimately, it is only Gnyaana Yoga (the pathless path) that eliminates our ignorance and all other paths lead towards Gnyaana Yoga only. 'Sva-dhana' in Sanskrit means wealth of your own self. Karma Yoga is 'saadhana' (path to sath/truth, path of a saadhu) and Gnyaan Yoga is 'sva-dhana.' Saadhana is a pre-requisite to "attain" sva-dhana!

Aadhi Shankaraachaarya: "Gnyaanam Eva Mokshaha!...Knowledge alone can liberate!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 4.33: "Sarvam Karma Akhilam, Gnyaane Parisamaapyathe!"...All karma-saadhanas/efforts/yogas must ultimately culminate into Gnyaana Yoga!

What are the steps in Self-Realization/Self-Actualization?

In order to Experience a finite world, Reality has to apparently ignore Its infinite and eternal nature and take the shape of perception and thought. This will cause an apparent world (object/matter) and a separate-self (subject/ego/mind) to be born (duality and dualism). This is ignorance. To remove ignorance and realize Reality, Vedantha had formulated a three-step process: Non-Duality to be realized through the inquiry into duality/dualism, the subject and the object. These steps are called: listening/learning without judgement from 'shaasthraas' and guru ('shaasthra'=manual of instruction; 'shaas'=binding/tied, 'thra'=tool), contemplating/questioning and self-abiding or living by your knowledge (constantly remembering that you are Awareness), 'shravana', 'manana' and 'nidhidhyaasana.' Shravana is gaining the knowledge "I AM Limitless Awareness," manana is for the removal of doubts and nidhidhyaasana is for the removal of habits, attention on the essence (verification of the Aathma Gnyaana in practice, the art of being, converting intellectual knowledge into emotional strength). Maya functions through two dominant modes of ignorance: root-ignorance or simply ignorance ('moolaavidhya', 'kaarana agnyaana', causal ignorance, veiling, confusion/duality, lack of clarity, caused by 'thamas') and individual ignorance ('sthoola-avidhya', 'kaarya agnyaana', false projection, error, misunderstanding, rooted-ignorance, delusion/dualism, caused by 'rajas'). Root-ignorance is the cause of "Creation." Our reactions to external objects are the cause of individual ignorance. Individual ignorance is removed through shravana and manana (gaining of knowledge and converting knowledge into conviction); root or cosmic ignorance is removed through nidhidhyaasana (ni-dhyaana=keen attention/observation of duality; internalization and retention of knowledge; dwelling on knowledge through meditation and activity, through thought-word-and-feeling; advaithic meditation; claiming that "I am Brahman"; conversion of intellectual knowledge into emotional strength; process of displacing the feeling of a real-world with that of a mithya-world). Nidhidhyaasanam is being aware of the Changeless Self in and through the changing not-Self or ideas-and-forms; seeing the world in you and you in the world (BG:6:29).

Vedantha’s proven methodology is called superimposition ('adhyaropa') and negation ('apavaada').  It posits the existence of duality which coincides with the experience of everyone even though it is not true, and then proceeds to destroy duality by inquiry. The key to understanding this teaching is the following five fundamental concepts/points: 1. Self (Aathma), 2. Ignorance, 3. Differentiation between the Absolute Truth and the worldly/relative truth (or points of view), 4. Differentiation between (impersonal) knowing and (personal) doing and 5. Negation of deliberate superimposition used for the purpose of teaching (everything taught is negated at the end).

Know Aathma/Self first (Awakening, Self-Realzation) and then know Brahman/Reality (Enlightenment, Self-Actualization). Without knowing yourself, you cannot know anything else! Microcosm=Macrocosm. As below, so above. Knowing Aathma is the path of Exclusion or Self-Inquiry (Chith aspect of Reality - to know the world exists in you - to know the reality of your mind/subject - to remember your true nature; Idealistic Monism); knowing Brahman is the path of Inclusion or Self-Abidance (Existence and Aananda aspect Reality - to know you alone exist in the world - to know the reality of the matter/world/object; Non-Duality).

The trick of this (Vedanthic) teaching is that through the first step it teaches you - through discrimination or inquiry (path of knowledge or 'nethi-nethi' process of Gnyaana Yoga from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad) - that you are not the body/mind but the unchanging reality (witness) behind it (=I-am-the-Consciousness behind-my-body) and then through the second and third steps (once you explore and understand the nature of your true nature in the second step=I-am-the Consciousness behind-every-body) it leads you to realize that you are also the changing body/mind/world.  Seeing what you-are-not is a good first step for seeing What You Are!  The first step is devised as an antidote to our previous (strong) belief that we are a body/mind (and our dualistic thoughts/feelings). Normally people are lost in this body/mind or objective experience not knowing its true nature (they get identified with thoughts/feelings). This step is devised to understand that the seeming body-bound consciousness is the same as the All-Pervading Consciousness.  So it is necessary to separate Awareness with objective experience, make a distinction between them - only to collapse the distinction later on. It is not me as the subject body-mind that is aware of the world (the object) but I am Awareness, the subject, that is aware of my body-mind plus the world. This position is still in duality which will have to be collapsed later on. Only Awareness IS.

The first step of negating the world is necessary to help the aspirant. This clears the long-rooted confusion that your are the body-mind complex. It is equivalent to the melting process, of throwing many gold ornaments into one mass in order to learn what gold is in itself, apart from its forms. Once known we may recast the mass back into original shaped ornaments and ever after know them as gold alone. You eliminate differences tentatively by taking away all forms in order to know eventually that everything is Brahman.  Ignorance cannot disappear through merely experiencing Aathma, for it is experienced in deep sleep and Nirvikalpa Samaadhi.  You need to know (in the waking state) that you yourself are Aathma and there is nothing other than Aathma.  You have seen the world as an unreal superimposition on the Self in the first step (Enlightened-Duality), but you have to see the world not as anything other than the Self through the second and third steps (Embodied-Enlightenment).

Ignorance can disappear only by knowing Brahman. If you can say that in your yogic samaadhi (path of meditation or Raja Yoga or Upaasana Yoga) you saw the wall and knew it as Brahman, we could agree that yoga leads to truth, but in samaadhi you are unaware of the wall and of the universe, and hence of Brahman.  Nirvikalpa Samaadhi gives only the experience of the Self. Of course it is a special/non-dual experience as Self experiences the Self. But how does the yogi know that what he finds in this samaadhi is Brahman? It is possible to gain inferential knowledge that the ego does not exist, but this does not reveal the nature of the Self (except by implication).  The knowledge of the non-existence of the ego is indirect and may lead to Self-Realization but it is only ‘negative’ knowledge.  What needs to happen at this point is that the individual needs to convert the language of experience to the language of identity. The language of identity states that the experiencer and what is being experienced are not two separate things, that they are in fact the same.  The knowledge that the ego is also there as the Self is what is needed (ego is Self but Self is not ego; ego is a second order reality)!  The surrender is in terms of letting go of the idea of oneself as an experiencer and embracing one’s limitless identity. You Are That! However if you achieve this Nirvikalpa Samaadhi it indicates a high degree of mastery of the mind, which may be useful once you are back in samsaara.

In this sense, Savikalpa Samaadhi is more useful in gaining knowledge because when your mind is in a saathvic state (pure buddhi) with thoughts/objects in an equanimous state and when Self/Aathma reflects in pure buddhi (as Chidhaabhaasa) you must grab the knowledge (not the feeling) by investigation. Knowledge that you yourself are the Self, the knower (without a knower-status) of that happiness/feeling or silence. Self reflects both as knowledge and as feeling. Knowledge always comes in as a thought, feeling as an experience or sensation. Experience is in duality which comes and goes. Knowledge is permanent. One must grab the knowledge alone. However this yogic method is also indirect in that one will not grab the knowledge but will go for the blissful experience, almost always. That is the trap.

Nirvikalpa Samaadhi can only lead to temporary happiness/bliss.  Even Aananda, bliss, is imagination. Therefore the Upanishads call it a kosha, Aanandamaya Kosha. Ignorance (sleep) is bliss because there is not any mis-conception (error, duality, dream) of Aathma.  It is not enough to see a mere blank, Nirvikalpa (absence of thoughts).  The world ties you down by its presence here. The world ties you down by its absence or non-existence in samaadhi because it still exists in a dormant form. You must transcend both, in order to reach the Truth. It is beyond both activity and passivity.  You have to see that you are the Universal Self. You are free from ignorance not when you see nothing at all, as in yoga/samaadhi, but only when you see all this universe as yourself. Hence you must ask the question “What is this universe?” The attention must be drawn to the outer world. This knowledge will make you feel for the universal welfare. This is the highest aim and test.

Therefore, attend to Self by inquiry and discrimination (Gnyaana Yoga). Keep discriminating between The Self and the not-Self (mind plus world) in the presence of ego until the understanding dawns that there is nothing other than Self. Analysis of dream and deep sleep states is very important in this regard.  If the ego is responsible for ignorance, how will the samaadhi remove it if it is not there in the samaadhi?  To try to destroy the ego by efforts other than Self-Inquiry (Self-Attention) is to be just like a thief turning himself into a policeman to catch the thief who is none but himself. After all, our natural state is an effortless state.

The ego/attention that inquires on the Self/Silence will ultimately become balanced. An equanimous mind is capable of discriminating between itself and the Self. Or, if you prefer the language of experience, an equanimous mind ‘dissolves into’ or ‘becomes’ the Self.  The longing of the separate-self is like a moth that seeks a flame. The flame is all that the moth desires and the one thing it cannot have. As the moth touches the flame it dies. That is moth's way of experiencing the flame - by dying in it. And that is the separate-self's way of experiencing love, peace - by dissolving or dying. Negating the not-Self does not condemn the inquirer to a monastic objectless life. Its purpose is to destroy the belief that happiness is in objects by showing the mind the Pure Self.

Once the objects have been negated and the Self realized, the objects are to be re-embraced. This is step 2. Inquire into the nature of the world and find it to be the same as witness.  Once you realize through the first step that you are Awareness, now you look at the body/mind/world from the point of view of Awareness and find that Awareness is so intimate with them that there is no distance possible. All there is to body/mind/world (perceptions, sensations, thoughts and feelings) is the knowing of them. And you are that Knowing. Now you do not identify with your thoughts and feelings but will be entertained with them.

Now the life goes on quite normally, the only difference being that they produce no attractive or aversive reactions. Or, if they do, the reactions (raaga, dvesha) are witnessed as not-Self. There is no suffering. The inquirer, who was formerly the subject, ‘becomes’ just another object in me, Awareness. At the end, the ego/object and the Self are one. The Self is formless Awareness and the ego/mind is Awareness in a form. Awareness in a form is Awareness, in the way that water in waves is identical to water in the ocean.

Complete Awareness is achieved by Complete-Knowing and Experiencing, which produces Feeling.  Awareness is the Feeling of what you have Completely-Known and Experienced.  It is one thing to Know something, it is quite another thing to Experience it, and still another to Feel it.  Only Feeling produces Full/Complete Awareness (This is called 'Pravilaapanam' in Sanskrit). Knowing, alone, can produce only partial awareness. Experience, alone, can produce only partial awareness.  When Chith (Consciousness) realizes that it is one with Sath (the world), the third aspect of Reality, Aananda, shines! This is the process in step 3, feeling the world as you. You can know that you are generous, but when you Experience your self being generous, then your awareness is made Complete through the living of that Feeling (you can conceptually know all about an apple which is partial, you can experience it in your hands which is partial, but when you eat/taste it you have the feeling of sweetness which makes it complete awareness).  You can know that you are loving, but when you Experience your self being loving, then your awareness is made Complete through the living of that Feeling. Remember: The true/genuine experience of loving is obtained not when you experience love through someone, but, rather, when someone else experiences love through you! You are going from something to nothing to everything to no-second-thing!

However, Knowing/Recognition that "I am" (step one), exploration of the nature of the Self (step two) and Feeling of Love (step three) are essentially the same experience: Knowing of your own Being. When you know the reality of mind and with that the reality of matter, you now know or feel Love. You are Complete: Sath-Chith-Aananda! "I am this body" is waking and dream states, "I am" is deep sleep, "I am I" is the enlightened or the true state!  One’s lying, having forgotten one’s existence-consciousness, “I am,” and having drooped, is the world/matter (thamas). One’s being confused, “I am this body,” is the ego/soul (rajas). One’s experiencing one’s existence-consciousness, “I am,” without any forgetfulness, is God/Eeshwara (sathva).

A Zen saying: "Awakening is sudden, but the deliverance is gradual." For instance, when you pass the driving test you will be given a driver's license. One second ago you were not an official driver, but now you are an official driver. This is sudden. However, getting a driver's license does not mean that you have the confidence to drive in a heavy traffic for some time. After repeated tries when you develop confidence and realize one day that you don't have any mental stress driving in a heavy traffic, then there is deliverance. This means that the Awakening is not the same as the Liberation/Moksha.

As Awareness is a twofold process, there are two paths by which it is reached. A soul arrives at Complete Knowing along the path of the spiritual world, and at Complete Experiencing along the path of the physical world. Both paths are needed, and that is why there are two worlds. Put them together, and you have the perfect environment within which to create Complete Feeling, which produces Complete Awareness (to perceive, know and feel). These steps reflect Upanishadic teachings known as Mahaavaakyas. There are a total of (at least) four Mahaavaakyas that are utilized in the process of Self-Realization in Vedantha.

Krishna, Bhagavad Geetha 6.29: "A true sage, with equal eye, sees all beings in him and himself in all beings!"

((Note: The denial of the body/mind/world that is part of the first step was misunderstood (without considering the second step) in many eastern cultures in that they started seeing the body and the world as dreadful, miserable and then stayed away from getting involved in bodily pleasures, etc. This understanding which is only a halfway understanding became enshrined in the eastern culture so much so that the entire culture, in general, took its tune from that understanding. However, getting involved in bodily pleasures without understanding the true nature (first step) of oneself will take you to the other extreme.  The danger on this path is that people may get lost in their states and experiences and can never get to realize their essential nature.))

How to Experience/Realize Self/Aathma (Part-I)?..........

The path of Exclusion (introversion)...(to know yourself, to remember your true nature, to discriminate between you and your body-mind-complex, Awakening, Self-Realization, 'Prathyabhignya', to know that you are Awareness, to remove individual ignorance ('kaarya agnyaana' or rooted-ignorance or 'sthoola-avidhya'))...

It has been proven that Reality can only be searched inside of yourself. Reality is Knowing plus Experience.  Reality is a Knowing-Experience. Reality is an Existential-Knowing.

You are Reality. But you chose to forget or ignore your infinite nature in the interest of a worldly, finite and focused experience and then you got caught in the maze. Mind is needed to experience the Infinity in fragments. If you try to get out of it by doing something, you will not get out because it is like a dream. It is not really there. So you are not actually in it, although you believe you are.  Therefore, the whole problem of realizing Reality arises out of the so-called ignorance; ignorance (or forgetting) of your true nature. Ignorance is the absence of Pure Awareness; ignorance is a limitation.

Ignorance is the deception of taking Maya/Appearance as something real; taking not-Self to be the Self.  Remove the ignorance, or more accurately, remove the illusion of ignorance! (Illusion, because Knowing always IS!)  An illusory thought that "I am the separate-self" can only be removed by another (illusory) thought to reveal the Self which you already are.  If a tiger is attacking you in a night-dream, you wake up upon doubting, questioning your self and then finally by knowing (remembering) that the dream-ego is not the real you.  Remembering your Real Self can wake you up from this waking-dream also.

Because Reality is Non-Dual, there is no actual not-Self. But despite this fact, we seem to experience a not-Self. So to simply deny our experience because it isn’t actually real is completely unproductive. Instead, the seeming not-Self needs to be properly understood, along with its ‘relationship’ to the Self.  So the problem can only be solved by knowing what the Self is...and knowing that you are It. Finite can never "become" Infinite. Finite can only realize that it is already Infinite by gaining knowledge or (more accurately) by losing ignorance.

Mind is the connecting link between the body and Consciousness and the key which facilitates Enlightenment. Mind is a mixture of Consciousness and body.  The concepts of both bondage (suffering) and liberation abide in the mind. Suffering is to the mind what pain is to the body. Pain is the intelligence of the body to alert you that the body is in trouble. Similarly, suffering is cooperating with your desire on the level of mind for Peace/Fullness. Suffering is telling you that you have mistaken yourself for a separate-self (with a sense of personal doership). Suffering says, "Take a look." Mind alone is the door to the external world, it alone is the ladder to the internal being.

Separate-self can never get out of suffering by any action, because separate-self itself is the suffering. The root of a separate-self is illusion.  A thief disguised as a policeman can never catch the thief.  There isn't anything there to do to a non-existing self. You can't fetch water from a mirage. You are collecting jugs all your life to fetch water from this mirage. You can't do it. You can only explore the mirage, investigate it, see it clearly, understand it.  The disappearance of suffering is a by-product of understanding, clear seeing; not of a goal. If you make it a goal, you perpetuate suffering.

Mind needs to understand that we are never not-Reality and, in fact, we are never in the mind to begin with. How does the screen extricate itself from the movie? If the screen was in the movie, it would have to work very hard and then there would be a practice or activity for it do. Screen is not in the movie. It is not attached to the movie. All you have to do is to remember that the movie is a seeming modulation of the ever-present screen! Mind needs to understand that the seeming body-bound consciousness is the same as the All-Pervading Consciousness. That is the effort here.

Understand means standing-under-you.   Anything that you can make stand under you, that is under your thumb, under your power, under your shoe, you are the master of. Mind is to stand-under or yield to or surrender to or absorb into Awareness.  Understanding takes place in Awareness. In Understanding, Awareness is Knowing its own Being.

In preparing the mind for self recognition there are things that can be done to have a quiet, clear, pure mind. That clear mind is experiential; it can reflect the Reality. So we may say that experientially we first must obtain a pure mind. That is useful, because without a pure mind, the method/teaching does not work. Remember, dreams don't allow you to sleep, and thoughts don't (usually) allow you to awaken.  So step out of your mind knowingly. Empty your thinking mind knowingly. The empty mind is God's workshop (not devil's)! However, just being lazy does not mean that you are empty. Laziness is a form of doing, watch out!

How do you empty your mind?...By Stillness!  Stillness=Absolute Silence.

Stillness is beyond space and time (I AM). Achieving Stillness, therefore, has two dimensions to it. The first dimension is (no) sound. The second dimension is (no) time.  Basically, mind is movement. Outside movement is in space (sound is the quality of space). If there is no sound, mind cannot move outside. Inside movement is in time. Time is inner space; it is subtler than the outer space. If there is no time, mind cannot move inside. No-time is possible only in "here and now," or in Awareness.  So if you are aware of your silence, you are in Stillness.  Stillness is not the absence of sound. It is the absence of mind’s movement or thoughts of objects, but the presence of the thought of Infinite-Consciousness.  Remember that constricted/stopped mind is not the same as a still-mind (or 'nischala-manas'). Stopped-mind is still a state of mind. Absolute Silence is the one because of which both sound and soundlessness (relative silence) are known. Stop identification with thoughts by simply witnessing them and start attaching to the "one" that is witnessing. We need to go from a state of still-mind to "claim" state-less Consciousness.

There are four types of obstacles/impediments in (yogic) meditation. The first one is 'laya,' mind getting into sleep because of the rise of inertia/thamo guṇa (resulting in unconscious mind). The next one is 'vikṣhepa,' the wandering of the mind, a highly active mind because of the rise of activity/rajo guṇa due to the day-to-day 'raaga-dveshas' (conscious mind). The third one is 'kashaayaṃ,' unmanifest or hidden disturbances because of hidden attachments, likes and dislikes, raaga and dveṣha, in the subconscious mind resulting in stagnation of the mind and so not available for the task at hand (this is due to the combination of rajo and sathva guna). The fourth one is 'rasa svaadha,' getting lost in the experiential bliss (Reflected-Awareness) that may come in meditation.  When the mind is tranquil/peaceful, the experiential bliss ('Bhajanaananda') that is the reflected bliss comes up and this can make the mind unavailable for Vedanthic meditation or Self-Inquiry.

If dreams disappear while sleeping, sleep will be total; if thoughts disappear while awake, Awakening will be total. This is meditation. When mind becomes momentarily pure or saathvic, Awareness gets reflected in the mind.  This silence is Awareness reflecting in a saathvic mind. This thoughtless condition makes your body-bound consciousness to merge with the Infinite Consciousness.  Just remain alert and observe the stillness and ask yourself some questions: “How do I know this? Who’s watching this?” and so forth and so on. Where’s the Self in all this? The Self is the knowing-witness of the stillness! Even a few minutes of stillness experience everyday will help you reinforce the idea that Pure-Consciousness (which you truly are) is untainted and unaffected by thoughts. In samaadhi your individual consciousness loses its individuality and becomes "one" with the Boundless and All-Pervasive Consciousness. However, the mind is still occupied with the most subtlest thought, the thought of 'ignorance,' 'pragnya.' Chanting a manthra could be a preparation for this method. Practice this (yogic) meditation until you obtain a clear/pure/dispassionate mind (stillness burns up vaasanas/desires/karmas due to the frequent and awareful association with the Reality/Aathma leading up to 'nirmala manas' or pure mind). It prepares the naturally extrovert mind to become introvert. Through meditation, watching/witnessing thoughts without any involvement (absence of I like and I don't like) will cause the thoughts/desires/impressions to get burned and no new impressions are formed.

However, we need to go from still-mind/no-mind to pure mind to non-mind. Knowledge cannot come if anything (mind/world) is left out. Awareness is not hidden by thought nor is it revealed by no thought.  Non-mind ('nirmoha-manas', free of binding desires or raaga-dveshas) is the simultaneous falsification/negation of both the mind and the world and the resulting knowledge that the knowing-witness and what is being experienced are not two separate things. Non-mind is the transcendence of mind, not avoidance of mind. Mind/World is Me (at a second order reality) but I am not the mind/world. I, Awareness, is free of the mind/world!

Jesus Christ: "Be still and know that I AM (is) God!"
Pathanjali: "Yogaah Chittha Vritthi Nirodha-ha!"...Yoga (Meditation) is the prevention of the fluctuations of the mind; the facility to regulate the thoughts, the ability to replace the involuntary thoughts with deliberate thoughts at will (Pathanjali Yoga Suthras).

The condition of stillness, therefore, will not "give" you Enlightenment; it can only help prepare your mind for understanding. Mind becomes subtler and subtler by the removal of thoughts (like dirty water becoming clearer and clearer with the stoppage of movement). Subtler, purer mind (sathva) is more powerful than a gross, heavy mind (observe the powers of steam, water and ice). Freedom is not gained through a particular spiritual experience; it will only keep you in the game. Understanding is beyond sathva. Pure mind may also be obtained by other methods such as Karma Yoga (right action with the right attitude, surrendering the results of your actions to Personal-God/Eeshwara), Bhakthi Yoga (surrendering your will/ego to Personal-God/Eeshwara), Raja Yoga (Upaasana Yoga or meditation), Roopa Yoga, Kriya Yoga, Manthra Meditation, Chanting etc. You can grow as an experiencer, a doer, through Yoga which puts you in contact with the Self as it reflects in the mind. But no matter how pure and perfect you become as a result of the association of your mind with the Self, there will always be a sense of limitation and attachment. And when the contact is broken the pain is intense.  Feeling or having a blissful experience is not good enough. Self-Inquiry/Vedantha says, “If it feels good, try to figure out why it feels good.” Vedantha is all about the "why?"

Having a dispassionate mind ('vairaagya', not unpassionate but being indifferent to the results of actions) with the right practice/discipline ('abhyaasa', 'saadhana') is the key to the understanding or Awakening - Karma Yoga and then Gnyaana Yoga. Abhyaasa is abiding in your innermost core or the source of your being as long as or as often as you can. This prepares you for the Self-Inquiry.  This is why it often says in the scriptures that Enlightenment is very easy if you have developed dispassion. But it also says that it is very difficult... if you have not developed dispassion (passion=clinging to the world for security and support).

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha: "The person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation!"

How to Experience/Realize Self/Aathma (Part-II)?..........

The way of meditating in Gnyaana Yoga is to take up a particular way of reasoning, and to reason along this path until the intellectual understanding of Brahman as the only possible answer is firmly fixed. This is done in the presence of the intellect as opposed to the other meditation methods such as Raja Yoga, Kriya Yoga, Bhakthi Yoga etc. because the understanding needs to happen in buddhi that You are always free of the mind (not empty of the mind). Mind is Me but I am not the mind.  Following is the path to Awakening (once you have a clear, quiet, pure mind):

Negative Path, 'Nethi-Nethi': Ignorance is a pseudo illness. A pseudo illness requires a pseudo treatment; that is the only way it can be cured.  Two falsehoods negate each other.  Words are of use, however, as a thorn to pull out the thorn of other words that hinder knowledge. An illusory thought that "I am a separate-self" can only be removed by another illusory thought.  A dream thirst can only be quenched with a dream water.  Take one thorn to remove another and then throw both away. When Buddha was asked, on his day of Enlightenment, what has he achieved after the six years of saadhana - he said that he did not achieve anything, he rather lost something. Lost his ego as a personal doer, lost his self-ignorance! Why Nethi-Nethi? Because Reality is beyond words/mind and equals Nethi-Nethi (na-ithi, na-ithi, na-ithi; not this, not this, not this meaning not individual, not world, not Eeshwara), mind can only approach Reality with the negation of everything inside the mind! Reality can never be directly revealed by any method in relativity because the plane of relativity is of a lower order than the plane of the Absolute Truth. Reality can only be self-revealed as You! Nethi-Nethi process is basically a de-conditioning method to remove the wrong notions (Anaathma qualities) that you have transferred onto the Real You (Aathma). As a baby, you had ignorance but no wrong notions yet. Parental and social conditioning/beliefs were gradually superimposed on the Real You. Since no concept we have or might develop will ever be sufficient to describe Reality, so it is best to negate all concepts that may arise by saying, "not this, not this!"  There is a built-in gap between Reality/Awareness and concept/thought.  You can journey across it from your side (Self's/Reality's side) and identify with the thought if you wish, but no thought ever made the journey across the gap to visit you (the Self). Zero-dimension (Reality) can assume one-dimension but one-dimension (thought) cannot penetrate zero-dimension unless it dissolves or disappears into it.

1. Sit comfortably. 2. Watch the incoming and outgoing breath until the thoughts quiet down. If thoughts intrude, simply watch them disappear. Do not fight. 3. When surrounded by silence (which is the 'gap' between the breaths), take your attention from the breath and fix it on the silence. Silence is the most tangible manifestation of the Self, the substratum of all experience (it is the reflection of the Self). This state is called 'Savikalpa Samaadhi,' the experience of being aware of being aware, the "I AM" state. 4. Now, inquire into the nature of the Self.  The question of what illumines the blissful, silent, peaceful presence needs to be answered. Who saw the light? Turn/relax the attention to the witness of the silence (which is Consciousness principle) and ask who is the witness of the silence? The answer is that "I am that Witness-Consciousness." Well then, grab it, claim it!  By tracing the thoughts to their source, the waker/dreamer entity (the subtle body), the thinker/feeler can be separated from the Illuminator and negated. Negate everything until there is nothing more to negate. That ‘who’ is you, the Self, whose existence is in no way validated by a particular experience. In fact, without knowledge of what we’re seeking, the meditator can easily become addicted, living from experience to experience, craving more and more, building a grotesque spiritual ego. So watch out! You need to grab/claim the knowledge that you are that Light, the Witnessing Consciousness of that silence, the Limitless Awareness! After the de-conditioning/Aathma Vichaara and continually abiding in the "I AM" state (constantly remembering that you are Awareness), a special thought called 'akhandaakaara-vritthi' or 'aathmaakaara-vritthi' or 'aathmaakaara-vritthi' (hard and fast knowledge/thought that "I am not this body-mind complex with personal doership and/or enjoyership but I am Limitless Awareness") will happen (just like the ignorant "I am the limited body-mind" - 'aakaara-vritthi' - thought took hold of you long, long time ago) in the mind that removes the ignorance (we may call this "Grace"; there are four kinds of graces or 'kripa's: self-effort, scriptures, guru and Eeshwara; grace=causeless cause).  With this Infinite-natured thought in the mind (mind has this capacity), mind gets absorbed into Consciousness. Consciousness alone shines! Mind filled with this thought alone can only give you the experience of Oneness. As is the vision (absolute knowledge), so is the scene/experience.  Basis of existent things (perceptions) is Space and the basis of thoughts (concepts) is Consciousness. See the world/matter as Infinite Space and see the person/mind filled with a thought of Infinite Consciousness.  Only the unmoving, infinite 'akhandaakaara-vritthi' can catch hold of the unmoving, Infinite Awareness; any other thought is moving and limited and, hence, can never catch hold of Awareness.  The simple recognition of the unlimited and unattached nature of the Self by the Self is called Enlightenment (For any knowledge to take place, mind has to take the form of that object and then Reflected-Consciousness or 'Chidhaabhaasa' claims that "I know the object"). Manifesting the unmanifest Moksha is Moksha.

Since Reality/Aathma/Awareness is everything/everywhere, it cannot be externalized. It is not an object and hence attributeless. It cannot be expressed in words directly. Aathma is different than known and different than unknown. Since we cannot describe Aathma with any positive qualities (words), the best approach would be a negative approach. Approach it with what it is not! Aathma is devoid of all phenomenal characteristics of matter and mind, therefore, practice or meditate "I am only the Witness, the Seer, of all these not-Self things."  You start removing all the identifications (of not-Self) one by one from you until you come to a point where you cannot remove anymore.  This is called 'Nethi-Nethi' process, a traditional Vedanthic approach - discrimination (viveka) between the Self and the not-Self (...Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Aithareya Upanishad). This method is known as Self-Inquiry or Aathma Vichaara. The other method Vedantha recommends is "I AM" or AUM or OM meditation (...Mandukya Upanishad). The clues to understand the Inexpressible are by: 1. Implied meaning (elimination of superimposition or 'upaadhis'; you see a friend you have not seen for thirty years and recognize him as the same personality despite all of his features have been changed), 2. Incidental characteristics (pointers - my apartment is the one on which the crow is sitting) and 3. The language of paradox (riddles, koans).

Vedantha is the knowledge that ends one’s search for liberation (core teaching of Vedas are called Upanishads; Upa-ni-shad=that sits nearest to you and destroys ignorance; samsaara-destroyng Self-Knowledge). Vedantha is not a religion, not a philosophy (thinking); it is a means of knowledge and is very scientific. Vedantha's search/methodology for the Absolute Truth is based on experience ('anubhava'), scriptures ('sruthis') and reason ('yukthi'); it must be the foundation of all the religions. In order to transcend mind, you need faith/scripture/guru along with reason. Faith can never contradict reason. Vedantha, a means of knowledge that works, will never be modified because it already performs its function perfectly.  This step follows the first of the four Mahaavaakyas: "Brahman Sathyam Jagath Mithya!"...Aadhi Shankaraachaarya in Vivekachudamani.

Ultimate Truth is best known only in a negative way. You cannot make it an object of knowledge (because you are already Aathma).  Witness (Witnessing Consciousness or Knowing Consciousness) is different than whatever it witnesses (Rule 1). Witness is free from the attributes of the objects (Rule 2). Apply these two rules to train yourself to claim your identity as Aathma. This is called the Seer-Seen discrimination methodology of Vedantha ('dhrig-dhrishta-viveka'), another powerful technique.  This method is a way of using the mind to negate and disidentify with all ideas-and-forms (three bodies, five sheaths, three states of experience, etc.) in order to distinguish between the limited and the eternal because the Aathma/Self is not a question of creating something but a question of discovering something which is already there.  For example, I am not my gross body because I see it. I am not my subtle body because I know my thoughts and feelings. I am not my causal body (ignorance and dormant desires/vaasanaas) because it is always changing and I do not change, etc., etc.

Talking of the "Witness" here should not lead to the idea that there is a Witness and something else apart from him that he is witnessing. The Witness (Saakshi) really means the light that illumines/validates the experience; the Seer, the seen and the process of seeing. Before, during and after the triads of Seer, seen and seeing, the illumination exists. It alone exists always. Witness is not the observer.  When the observed not-Self is negated, Witness cannot be called the observer also.  Witness is simply the Witnessing Consciousness or Awareness.  Witnessing happens, it is a by-product of being total in any moment, in any situation, in any experience. The observer is a kind of concentration, and the observer keeps you separate. The observer will enhance, will strengthen your ego.  The scientist observes (judges); the mystic witnesses (no judgement). Science is objective, art is subjective, witnessing is neither - Nethi, Nethi.  When the Witness arises, there is nobody who is witnessing and there is nothing to be witnessed. Witness just happens. No one witnesses the thoughts. There is no Witnesser. The thoughts get witnessed. Witness knows only itself! (Witness is a deliberate superimposition introduced in the teaching in the beginning to be withdrawn or negated at the end.)

This inquiry (of discrimination between Self and not-Self) can be applied in other ways. Perceptions/sensations of gross body depend on the subtle body, the actual instrument of perceiving. Thoughts and feelings of subtle body depend on the causal body, where the seeds lie dormant. Gross and subtle bodies are also not-real because they don't exist in deep sleep where all differences are resolved.  And how about the causal body, the source of our fears and desires? Well, it depends on the ignorance of who we are. Ignorance of our identity is not who we are either because it depends on knowledge (If we are aware how can we be ignorant?). Ignorance is destroyed by knowledge and knowledge depends on Awareness. You cannot know anything unless you are aware.  Therefore we are not what we know. And what we know objectively is not-Self or Maya. How?...What is existent cannot be negated. What is non-existent need not be negated. Therefore whatever is negated has to be something different from existent and non-existent which is Maya, a second order reality.

The mind and the world are reduced to thought and object. Thought and object are mutually dependent.  Therefore both of them are not independently existent. So both of them are mithya (not-Self), borrowing existence from something other than either of them.  If something changes it is not real and can be dismissed as not-Self.  Thinking depends on the intellect, the thinker. The thinker depends on Awareness. Thoughts depend on the impressions (vaasanas) and the impressions depend on experience and experience depends on Awareness.  So we can't be what we think or experience.  Without me, Awareness, nothing exists!  "I slept, I dreamt and I am awake" is an important clue for Self-Knowledge because it indicates that the sleeper, dreamer and waker are not separate entities but all these three are one and the same Aathma. It is like accepting your friend as the same person through three statuses of childhood, youth and old age. Therefore waker-I=dreamer-I=sleeper-I, which means I=Consciousness or Thuriya which is the common substratum of all these three statuses.

Go on eliminating, and a moment comes when there is nothing left to eliminate.  When the crutches of limiting concepts no longer support the meditator/inquirer, he or she is forced to stand alone as the Self. Whatever is left out is 'I', the Aathma. The Self, unlike limiting concepts, cannot be discarded.  Try to discard yourself.  The sought is the seeker. Hence the Upanishads say the method to find it - is 'Nethi-Nethi'. 'Nethi-Nethi' means "not this, not this;" it is a process of elimination. The purpose of this process is to firmly attend to Self which is your true nature.  The term ‘positive’ (Witness) is first utilized as a means to eliminate from you all that is negative or not-Self. When everything negative is thus disposed of, what remains over as the supposed ‘positive’ no longer appears positive. With this one true idea of you being the unchanging Witness, remove all false ideas about yourself; then throw both ideas away and lay hold of that which is beyond all ideas (which is Aathma)! The observer status of the Witness is valid only until the observed not-Self is negated. Witnessing state is only a half-way, but legitimate, state. It is antidote to our previous position that we are our body-minds. It is a skillful means that makes you recognize that you are Awareness, not a body-mind.

By repeatedly practicing the most direct method of 'Nethi-Nethi', the power of the mind to abide in its Source (I AM, Self-Awareness) increases (progressive paths/methods would be long and arduous). This is actually a relaxation of the mind, not an attention. ((Mind can only attend (stretch) to objects. And Self is not an object.)) Being aware of being aware is the direct method of Self-Abidance in "I AM" (manipulating actions as in Karma Yoga and manipulating thoughts as in Raja Yoga are indirect). "I AM" is the unchanging and eternal experience that always stays with you and, so, must be the link to the Real You. "I AM" is none other than AUM or OM, the source/root of manifestation/experience. In order to say "I AM," I must know I AM. There is no other "I" that knows "I."  Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 18.68: "Bhakthim Mayee-Param Krithva, Maam Eva!"..."The one with supreme/non-dual devotion towards Me (in other words, who knows Me - the Awareness) is Me (the Awareness) alone!"  All that is required, therefore, is to see what the statement "I AM" refers to. To see what I essentially AM before what I AM is qualified by thoughts, feelings, activities and relationships. The "AM-ness" must refer to "IS-ness." That is what is referred to as Enlightenment! That's it! So simple, in a way.  As a result of continually abiding in "I AM" state (constantly remembering that "I am Awareness"), you will surely come to a point where there is no obstacle in Mind/Consciousness. Mind/Consciousness has a nature - if it cannot find any object (obstacle) which prevents it, then it goes around and comes back to You, Awareness (in existence everything moves in a circle, nothing moves in a straight line).  There is nothing other than You now. For the first time you become filled by yourself, just "I." This ultimate thought that eliminates all other not-Self thoughts in your intellect is called 'akhandaakaara-vritthi' or 'aathmaakaara-vritthi' (hard and fast knowledge/thought that "I am not this body-mind complex as a doer/knower/enjoyer but Limitless Awareness"). Just see clearly what I AM. Didn't God reveal the secret: "I AM THAT I AM!?" "I" must, now, refer to Awareness and "AM-ness" must now refer to "IS-ness (AUM SO HUM)!"

When this I-thought ('akhandaakaara-vritthi') is taken as one's own, it is this I-thought, backed by experience, that destroys the notion in the ego/mind that it is limited, incomplete and separate.  If the person is accustomed to thinking of the Self as an object, he or she will be reluctant to surrender the experiencer, and the Self will continue to remain as an experienced object. The surrender is in terms of letting go of the idea of oneself as an experiencer and embracing one’s limitless identity.  The whole of Vedantha can be reduced to one simple equation found in the Upanishads "You are That," where ‘That’ is the Self and ‘You’ is the Self in the form of the experiencer and the verb ‘are’ indicates the identity between the two.  Self-Knowledge happens.  Aathma's infinite and eternal nature is realized! Self reveals itself to itself! This is also called "Grace."  Realization means “I am always and had ever been the Limitless Awareness!” This is like the moon (mind), instead of shining/seeing the earthly objects at night (world) with its moonlight, turning completely around and shining/seeing the sun (Aathma) and its sunlight. Moonlight is needed to shine on the objects at night so they can be revealed, but moonlight is not needed to shine on the sun! Sun shines brilliantly on its own and reveals the moon automatically! Sunlight/Sun realizes itself that it was never ever the moonlight/moon! Here in this analogy, moon is our body-mind-complex, moonlight is our (apparent) personal consciousness and sun+sunlight is the Universal Consciousness or Aathma/Brahman. Sun+sunlight because the nature of the sun is to shine; sun and sunlight are not two different things; by being the sun, the sun is shining. By being Aathma, Aathma is Consciousness!

The most common meditation experience is transcendence, seeing the mind and body as objects, an experience that in itself has no power to liberate... although it might be emotionally liberating. If, however, a meditator courts transcendence and experiences it armed with the understanding that the Seer is the Self and the seen, the objects, are not-Self or not-Real, Awakening can happen. This understanding happens in Awareness but the knowledge gets reflected in buddhi (higher mind) as ignorance resides in buddhi; it is one enlightening thought that eliminates another ignorant thought of an 'I-notion,' that's all! It is not that buddhi 'gains' anything. Knowledge cannot take place in Self/Consciousness as Consciousness is beyond knowledge and It Itself is Knowledge.

You will realize that you are Awareness/Aathma which is Infinite and Eternal! Beware, you should grab this understanding in a flash as you would grab a joke right after the punchline.  Self-Inquiry is a process of seeing "what is" but not a process of thinking about "what is." How do you tackle the mind and the world now? By knowing that they are illusion, mithya!  The buddhi is where you have all the ideas about yourself; buddhi thinks it is not Awareness.  When the discrimination between the Self and the not-Self destroys the ego's belief in separateness, the practice of meditation ‘becomes’ the ‘state of meditation,' effortless Awareness. Self/Aathma (which is not separate from anyone or anything) shines in/through buddhi.

The truth is that it is actually Awareness that knows Itself through the vehicle of the apparent individual’s subtle body (intellect, buddhi) with which, due to the inexplicable power of Maya or ignorance, It has identified. Though Awareness Itself does not know anything per se for the simple reason that there is nothing other than Itself to know, and the subtle body or mind does not know anything for the simple reason that it is nothing more than an inert aggregate of subtle matter, knowledge does seem to take place due to the mechanistic functioning of the subtle body when it is illumined and set into motion by Awareness! Don't we have the partial knowledge of "I am" through the intellect now? After realization, we have the complete knowledge of "I am I" through the same intellect! This knowledge will be in the conscious background forever.  Recognizing the difference between the Self and the not-Self is the key to Awakening! Remember, your body/mind organism is also included in the not-Self.  Just as the knowledge of the nature of a mirage will prevent one from taking it to be water, the knowledge that "I am the Self" allows one to understand that the experiencer, the individual, is only an apparent, not a real self.  An ‘awakened being’ is just the Self functioning through a mind whose Self-Ignorance has been removed. But the removal of Self-Ignorance does not automatically remove the impressions (vaasanas) in the mind although it eventually renders them non-binding since they bind only because of ignorance.

<<<What is a vaasana?  Every time you get what you want or avoid what you do not want, you get a vaasana. The literal meaning of vaasana is fragrance. A vaasana means there is a tendency, an unseen result to that pursuit or action (through likes and dislikes or 'raaga-dveshas'). When raaga-dveshas become seed, it is called a vaasana. Every pursuit, every action that you do has a known or seen result, 'dhrishta phala,' and an unseen result, 'adhrishta phala.' When you meet Mrs. Right, there she is smiling at you. That is the seen result. And the love you feel, that is the seen or the known result. What is the hidden result? Attachment, the belief that that the object is necessary for your peace of mind or happiness. It’s called a vaasana, a tendency to feel/think/act (repeat a good action or avoid a bad action) in pursuit of Aananda/Peace.  What does that produce? A bondage, an attachment to action. That is a killer and it’s painful. It’s called the 'samsaara chakra.' “Chakra” means “wheel." It is a constant rotating wheel of vaasana, desire, thought, action, impression; vaasana, desire, thought, action, impression (caused by Self-Ignorance). Vaasanas come from the subtle body; you can't see them; they lie dormant in the causal body. When they show up in your subtle body, they show up as likes and dislikes, raagas and dveshas. That is when you see them. Vaasanas are of two kinds: binding ('bandha') and non-binding ('bhoga'). A binding vaasana is one that resists the truth and causes repetitive unconscious behavior; it forces you to do the action in a certain way, you have barely any choice. A vaasana is a desire that is dormant; a desire is a vaasana that is in movement. Binding vaasanas are of three kinds ('vaasana thrayam'): of faulty thinking/belief ('aparaadha') of body and external world ('kaama' and 'karma', desire for bodily pleasures and possessions, desire for doing something to attain a goal) and of intellect ('gnyaana-ahamkaara', pride, I am knowledgeable). Vaasanas are generally of seven kinds which are lumped into the above three: 1. body, 2. doership and enjoyership, 3. money, 4. power/fame, 5. sex, 6. knowledge/religious/spiritual, and 7. societal.>>>

Aadhi Shankaraachaarya: "Liberation is not about knowing who you are, it is about knowing who you are not!"

You will recognize that you are never not-Aathma!  It is only when the phenomenal self is absent that the noumenal "I" can be present.  Once the knowledge takes place that you are never not-Reality, you can then never forget it because there is no other means of knowledge to contradict you. Experience and memory don't contradict you. Does the wave contradict the ocean? This memory resides in buddhi, also known as higher mind, working mind or impersonal mind. That knowledge becomes your nature; that becomes your cellular memory. We don't have to remember that "we exist and are aware," we automatically know it without thinking because the Self is always present. This experience of Aathma-Realization is similar. Awakening is the moment where Awareness becomes aware of itself with the realization that what I have always been is this Limitless Awareness and not the body/mind. Right now Awareness thinks that it is the ego. Now you realize the other aspect of Reality which is Unlimitedness or Aananda. Aananda shines forth. You are now SathChithAananda!

As time passes, the discrimination slowly moves from the forefront to the background of the mind where it operates constantly and effortlessly to keep the mind peaceful and happy, a situation similar to the knowledge of one’s name, which is not continually operating in the conscious mind, but which appears in consciousness at a moment’s notice should the need arise!  By knowledge, we do not remove the world or the experience of it but only remove the misunderstanding that it is real.

This well tested Vedanthic method is of 'gnyaana' path and is quite direct as it does not involve any "doing."  This method involves first discriminating the objects from the subject/ego, the ‘I’, and then discriminating the ‘I’ from the Self.  Methods of "doing" are long and difficult. No amount of doing can wake you up from a dream except knowledge. They can only help in laying the groundwork for the final understanding through gnyaana (discrimination). A stable/understanding mind requires clarity. If the understanding is not clear, you keep repeating this method of Self-Inquiry until it is clear. Ultimately there is no such thing as causal relation, hence no practice or effort will, as cause, produce Brahman as effect.  A limited cause cannot produce an unlimited effect.

To stress again...concentration is required for clarity. All other paths are used to develop mind's ability to concentrate. Meditation practice will also help slowly strip us of the identification with the body and mind, allowing us to appreciate the natural separation of the Self from its vehicles. Any "doing" technique or meditation technique will not give us Self-Knowledge because techniques only produce certain types of experience. And experience is in duality. Any practice is a movement that takes you away from your self. They can only purify the mind/subtle body.  Action will not remove ignorance because action is not opposed to ignorance.  In fact, you’re acting (as a doer) because of ignorance, because of the belief, “I am the doer.”  Only knowledge can remove ignorance because it is opposed to it! Awakening is strictly an understanding as it is freedom from “John”, the experiencer, no matter what mode he is in. It is not an experience for "John."

When happiness can’t be attributed to a specific situation, change in status, person or persons, belief or belief system and the presence or absence of any object, the mind is pure.  Everything including aasana, praanaayama, meditation is useful. It all depends upon what you want. They are useful to gain a quiet mind. But if you think these practices are going to solve the problem of knowing yourself, that is not true.  The spiritual search/effort is not to gain anything but to lose something, lose ignorance. Disciplined inquiry into the Self is possible only with a clear mind which could get rid of the notion that one is inadequate, limited or separate.

If a tiger is attacking you in a night-dream, you wake up upon doubting, questioning about your self and then finally remembering that the dream-ego is not the real you. Similarly, waking up from the (waking) conscious state to a Supraconscious State (Thuriya) happens when you inquire, investigate and then finally recognize/remember your true identity as SathChithAananda. If you meditate in your night-dream, all you can experience is the peace of the dreamer. But you can never wake up. You need the presence of the reasoning mind to recognize yourself as the dreamer.

You will realize that Aathma had not done any actions at all. The Aathma is like a catalytic agent where its presence is necessary but it is not involved in the actions. Its presence is so powerful that things start happening.  Experiencing is not an action on the part of Aathma, just as illumination is not an action on the part of light!  Simultaneous to this realization, the network of all action-impressions and the identification with them is stopped/destroyed - not because these actions had any way bound you but because they had a never bound you in the first place (a sage "drops" his subtle and causal bodies which are responsible for re-birth). This step represents 'manana' of Vedantha. It is possible for awakening to happen during the first step, 'shravana' stage, alone. Shravana is the phase of intellectual understanding ("gaining" partial Self-Knowledge) and manana is the phase of Awakening/Self-Realization ("gaining" complete Self-Knowledge, converting knowledge into conviction).

This is Aathma-Knowledge (reality of the subject/ego), the understanding of your true nature!  Now you experience the second Mahaavaakya: "Ekam Eva Advitheeyam Brahman!"...Chandhogya Upanishad. Aathma-Knowledge is not an experience; it is Absolute knowledge. Experience is temporary; Absolute knowledge is permanent. This step is also called Enlightened-Duality.

Jesus Christ: "On this rock (of Self-Knowledge) I will build my church (subtle body)!"

Who or what realizes this Awakening?..........

Whoever has ignorance, gets awakened! Once awakened, however, Awareness (as the only real entity) realizes that it is never not-awakened. The question "who gets awakened?" gets dissolved then. It is funny! This understanding happens in Awareness and gets reflected in pure (saathvic) mind (buddhi).  Self-Inquiry is unnecessary for Self/Awareness. Awareness knows itself. It is only the ego that needs to do the inquiry. However, Self-Knowledge is impossible for the knowing-ego. The perceiver/ego will not be awakened because its ‘light’ is borrowed from Awareness. A mirror cannot see the reflections in it.  That is, Self/Awareness alone realizes Self; the knowing-ego does not! The way ego realizes is by dying into Awareness like a moth seeking a flame!  Separate-self/ego and Reality can never co-exist on the same plane because Reality is one.  So, if someone says he is awakened, he does not know what he is talking about.

Aadhi Shankaraachaarya: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs!"  Therefore, Awareness, 'I', casts off the illusion of 'I' as the ego and yet remains as 'I', Awareness. Awareness has never been other than Itself!

Knowing-ego is a non-entity. Remember: The process of Life is Impersonal; Consciousness identified itself with a body/mind organism for the Life to go on, it will dis-identify itself (personal doership is dropped) to realize that it is Consciousness again.  This is the reason why Enlightenment cannot be passed on to another individual because there is no individual.  The seeker is the sought.  Therefore a guru can only point an individual in the right direction to his own Truth. Life is a game of Hide and Seek and the only player is Awareness!

An analogy here can help...John Smith plays the role of King Lear. He performs so well that he strongly identifies himself with King Lear and starts thinking, acting and feeling (miserable) like King Lear even in his real life. Once frustrated, he turns inward (as King Lear) and starts inquiring who he really is. When the realization dawns upon him that he is only John Smith and has always been John Smith, King Lear's identity (rather a mis-identity) evaporates in a flash. John Smith alone realizes John Smith. We call this Grace. Is effort needed for Grace?...Since all there is, is Grace, effort is not needed (Whose effort? There is no separate-self doing anything). But, if you think that you are a separate-self, effort is needed for that self-assumed, illusory separate-self. In actuality there is never a real person called King Lear who left John Smith and then returned to John Smith. It was John Smith who freely limited himself in the form of King Lear and then divested himself of that limitation. In other words, John Smith did everything. In exactly the same way, everything is Grace. Grace, when viewed from the perspective of a separate-self, feels like effort. Effort is just what Grace looks like from the point of view of the separate-self. So, there is no conflict between making an effort versus Grace. Do not sit idly thinking that Grace will pull you out of misery someday. Do your effort, do your duty. Now, next time John Smith plays King Lear knowing that he is John Smith (in the background), he enjoys the play! John Smith has converted his identification with King Lear into a seeming or an apparent or a temporary association; he makes Awareness as his primary identity.

As King Lear (personified-ego), his script (life) is fixed/predetermined even though he feels like he has free will (free will is illusory). The only (true) free will ('purushaartha') King Lear has is to go towards his being, his Source. Upon realization, as John Smith, he enjoys (witnesses) the play (life) knowing that he is Freedom (Consciousness) itself! Witness ('Saakshi') is the position Pure-Consciousness takes in Embodied-Enlightenment! Ultimately, there is only Witnessing!

The negation/disappearance of illusory limitations and the revelation of Self are simultaneous (like an obsessed actor realizing that he is the real person, not the person in his act). It is like the immediate revelation of rope when the illusory knowledge (or ignorance) of the snake is destroyed.  Your position after negation/falsification of body, senses and mind is ‘being it,' though it is generally called ‘knowing it.' There, ‘to know’ is ‘to be!'  A night-dream ego (separate-self) can only dissolve into the mind by 'being' the mind or waking up to the mind!

This instantaneous knowing of your own being as it is, is called Awakening (not Liberation/Moksha). Even though this is only a half-way step towards liberation, it is a liberation from the belief of a separate and limited-self or ego. The removal of ignorance is instantaneous because ignorance has no parts; it is one whole. This 'Awakening' is the Awakening to one's true nature. It is simply the knowledge "I am the Limitless Awareness."  Awakening is not an event, not an experience.  The shift from the pseudo-experiencer (ego) to the Witness-Consciousness (Saakshi) takes place upon Awakening.

Reality when known, becomes an object. In 'being' that Reality, the 'you' becomes (so to speak) the Reality or merges into Reality!  With the disappearance of the separate-self/ego, Truth shines as the Reality.  The transition from the experience of Awareness to the 'knowledge' that "I am Awareness" is assured when Self-Realization takes place...although it may take some time for the vestiges of dualistic thinking to fade away.  Experiencing without the experiencer and the experienced is Reality. There can never be an identification with Reality. Reality is simply 'being,' Only Reality IS.

When you are 'being' or "I am" knowingly/completely, the question "Who am I?" drops away! There is no "one" to get awakened or enlightened because the "me" that is desiring enlightenment is no more! It is a great joke!

Lao Tzu: "He who knows, does not speak.  He who speaks, does not know!"

Where does the knowledge of Brahman arise? In the Aathma or in the Anaathma?.........

This knowledge arises in the sentient body, which is a mixture of Aathma and the Anaathma (body-mind). Aathma is not the knower of "I am Brahman," since it is totally actionless. If it were to declare "I am Brahman," it amounts to an action and Aathma will become changeful. Anaathma also cannot say "I am Brahman," because it is inert ('jada'). So, all transactions take place neither in the Pure Aathma nor the Anaathma, but in their mixture. The mind has the unique capacity to reflect Pure Awareness. Mind serves as the medium for Pure Awareness expressing itself, like electricity requiring a bulb to indicate its presence. So, the combination of Pure Awareness, the Reflected Awareness (causal body/soul), and the reflecting medium of the body-mind (subtle body), all the three are required to realize Brahman. Remember, Brahman/Aathma is self effulgent. So, Aathma Gnyaana is always available to you immediately and directly. Vritthi gnyaana (thought) is not required to be added for Aathma Gnyaana. A knowledgeable thought is required to eliminate an ignorant thought, a thought that you are not not-Aathma! That's all!

Is Awakening a knowledge or an experience?.........

Awakening is certainly knowledge (Aathma Gnyaana, Self-Knowledge), but, of course, accompanied by experience (sometimes a powerful experience but in most cases it is gradual). However, this experience is different than the normal experience. Normal experience comes and goes, it remains as a memory. Awakening-experience does not come and go, it stays with you, available to you at any moment, it is not a subject-object experience, it is not a memory! Absolute Knowledge happens when Awareness knows itself through a mind/experience.  When you have knowledge, it includes seeing - it includes experience. But experience does not have to include or coincide with knowledge. Experiences can be contradictory. Absolute Knowledge or Truth cannot be contradicted!

What is the next step after Awakening?..........

Awakening is the realization that "I am Awareness." This step establishes the reality of the self as the presence of Awareness but not quite the nature of Awareness. The next step after Awakening, therefore, is to find out or contemplate on the nature of Awareness. It seems that Awareness is located inside the head doing the thinking, looking out through the eyes, feeling it in the heart and sharing the limits of the body. But where and what is it?

Aren't we the same "I" that knows "I am aware?" Well, that is Awareness' knowledge or experience of Its own being (without the agency of any mind or objects; it is direct knowledge) because Awareness, "I," is the only one that is aware (body and mind are inert). This is called non-discriminating wisdom. Then ask yourself, Awareness, "Have I ever experienced the appearance (birth) or disappearance (death) of myself?" The answer is "No." Ask, "Do I, Awareness, find a limit to myself?" The answer is "No, I cannot be aware of anything outside of my Awareness. I am aware of all and any limits, boundaries. I am, therefore, limitless." Ask, "Am I changing with changing objects?" The answer is "No, I am aware of changes. I am changeless."

Exploration/investigation will lead to the knowledge that Awareness has no objective qualities and that It is unchanging, eternal and limitless. Freedom from the limits of space and time means Peace and Completeness. The feeling of this freedom (I am already complete, I don't need anything) puts an end to the activities of a separate-self - sense of lack and fear of death. This provides a new basis from which to think, feel, relate, perceive and act. Inquiry is more than looking into ignorance; it is applying the knowledge of sathya and mithya (what is real and what is apparent) to your own mind on a moment-to-moment basis. Inquiry will not bear fruit until this discrimination is understood.

How far are you from your experiencing consciousness? And the answer is: you are not far at all. In fact, there is no difference between the real you, the non-experiencing Witness-Consciousness, and your experiencing consciousness, the person you think you are.  Although the person you think you are is an object known to you, like the physical objects are known to it, it is non-separate from you, the non-experiencing witness—the real
you—just as a ring made of gold is not separate from the gold. If this is true, the objects are you! This is what we mean when we use the word Non-Duality. Duality/dualism, the distinction between the subject and the object, breaks down when you investigate the nature of perception. You are left with Non-Duality, Peace.

If there is this recognition that the nature of Awareness is Peace and Fullness and I am already that, then there is no longer a need to seek happiness in objects, people, possessions, activities, substances, relationships, etc. This does not mean that you no longer go to objects or no longer have relationships; it means that you no longer go to the world for the sake of finding happiness. World can still be used to express, share and communicate happiness but they no longer become a means of finding happiness. You are unattached.  This is an intermediate but an important step towards Enlightenment, the knowledge/knowing of Brahman. This step is the realigning of your thoughts and beliefs with the new understanding or with the Universal Self which will take some time. This is called Advaithic Meditation or Nithya Saadhana; seeing the world in you and you in the world (BG:6:29).

How to Experience/Realize Reality/Brahman?..........

The path of Inclusion (extroversion)...(to know all, to discriminate between you and the world, to realize Brahman, Enlightenment, Liberation, Self-Actualization, 'Pravilaapanam', living free as an ego, to falsify/negate the root-ignorance ('kaarana agnyaana' or causal ignorance or 'moolaavidhya'))...Complete Awareness is achieved with the simultaneous experiencing of knowing+loving Who You Really Are...

Knowing the Witnessing Consciousness (Aathma) only tells you what you are not, not necessarily what you are. It is necessary to see what you actually are. You have known only the Chith aspect of the Reality.  It simply is not enough to see that the rope is not a snake. If you had stopped there, then there is still the possibility you may mistake it with a stick or a shadow later.  We have to see the rope clearly. Witnessing state was only a half-way, but a legitimate, step to take. This relieves us of the "I am the body/mind" belief, but it doesn't go all the way (a true witness is infinite and actually cannot witness finite objects).  It does no good to know “I am Awareness” without understanding the nature of Maya, the apparent reality, because the apparent self continues to exist in the world when Awakening happens. Enlightenment (moksha) is for the apparent self. The Self is always free. Self-Actualization is knowing mithya as also Brahman, the relationship between Sathya and mithya and knowing that you are the substrate of both. And what is that relationship? Mithya is Sathya but Sathya is not mithya! Now, matter doesn't matter! Self-Knowledge is: "I am Aathma." Brahman-Knowledge is: There is nothing other than Aathma; "I am the Cause and the world is the effect!"

Aathma is knowing Brahman within you (Aathma-Knowledge); Brahman is knowing that Aathma is everywhere (Knowledge of Brahman). Knowing (remembering) yourself is the grandest concept. Yet knowing is not enough. Until concept becomes experience all there is, is speculation. Samsaara consists of error and ignorance. With Self-Realization, error is eliminated. With Self-Actualization, ignorance will have to be eliminated; otherwise the error will come back. (Despite realizing that the night-dream is an illusion, don't we think that it is real as soon as we get back into it? This error will come back again and again because the ignorance has not been removed.) You have known what is Sathya, you need to know what is mithya and their relationship. You need to remove the emotional weaknesses through this 'nidhidhyaasana' phase so that your intellectual knowledge becomes fully assimilated. No teacher/guru can help you through this phase, you need to apply this knowledge to face life yourself.

You have realized that you are Aathma (reality behind the mind/subject); you have yet to realize that you are Brahman (Reality behind The All)! Realization is the harmonious blending of the head and the heart.  Seeing what you-are-not is a good first step for seeing What You Are!  You have seen the screen without images. You need to see the screen with images and understand that the images are temporary/seeming modulations of the screen and that they are not different from the screen. This step helps you to retain the knowledge you have gained through a conscious and an alert way of living as a result of that knowledge. Knowledge should not remain as mere information but should result in transformation. First thorn is the belief of separateness. The second thorn is the belief that you are Consciousness. Once you take out the first thorn with the help of the second thorn, then throw both the thorns away to be free of all beliefs and to integrate life with the understanding that you are Consciousness and the world is also real as Consciousness.

This is called 'nidhidhyaasana' in Vedantha (the third phase after shravana and manana, the phase of liberation or Enlightenment). Nidhidhyaasana is the shift from the (samsaara's) triangular format of ego--world--Creator to a (seeker's) binary format of I/Awareness--Ideas and Forms, attention on the essence (the art of being).  The process of assimilating the binary format and displacing the triangular format is called nidhidhyaasana. It is the practice or application or verification of knowledge (taking the stand in Awareness) in day-to-day life (internalization and retention of knowledge; dwelling on knowledge through meditation and activity, through thought-word-and-feeling; advaithic meditation; conversion of intellectual knowledge into emotional strength). Nidhidhyaasana is being aware of the Changeless Self in and through the changing not-Self or ideas-and-forms; seeing the world in you and you in the world (BG:6:29).  This is the phase where self-actualization takes place in which you are completely free of dependence on objects/Creator for happiness. You need to drop the walking stick called God. Go from 'dhaasoham' feeling to 'soham' feeling.  However the seeker must deal with the society in a triangular format and must never become a rebel.

You went deep inward to know Who You Are (that you are Aathma/Self).  With the understanding of your true nature, you then need to go outward to the world and marry the two together, Consciousness (mind) and the world (matter).  Once you recognize your true nature as Self/Awareness (which is All-Pervading) and take your stand in It, it is very easy to understand that the nature of The All is also Awareness. You start out with the third Mahaavaakya: "Aham Brahmaasmi!"...Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad. The first two aspects of Awareness (in which experience appears, with which experience is known) are realized in the inward step. We need to take the outward step to realize the third aspect of Awareness (with which all experience is made)!

All there is to body/mind/world (perceptions, sensations, thoughts and feelings) is the knowing of it. Their reality is not separate from Awareness like the image is not separate from the TV screen; image is just a seeming modulation of the screen. There cannot be two Realities.  And you are that Reality.  The point of discrimination is not to get an experience of the Self since one already has that, but to remove the ignorance that is causing the meditator/ego to confuse the Self and the not-Self.

The removal of the witness in the final step of this process is the removal in one’s understanding of the belief that the witness and the witnessed are separate objects.  Once the ignorance is removed, the meditator/ego remains as the Self. And the not-Self “disappears.”  At this point everything stops and there is a subtle shift in awareness in which the foreground becomes (merged in) the background and the background the foreground. The ego/mind, the pseudo-subject, meditating on the Self - the object, becomes the object (like any other object) and the former object, the Self, becomes the real-subject. This foreground in a sage takes the form of a Witness, Saakshi, simply watching the life unfold with no trace of any separation. And this never changes because it was obtained through the knowledge that what I experience is me but I am not what I experience.  In other words, one "becomes" the Self. Unlike an experience, the Self can never be lost because it is me, the basis of everything...and there is nothing other than it to lose it.

This understanding collapses the apparent distinction between Awareness and Its objects. Once you realize that the manifest world is illusory as matter and mind and that Brahman alone is real, then you can see that the Absolute and the relative are not-Two; then you can see that Nirvaana and samsaara are not-Two; then you can see that the seer and everything else are not-Two; Brahman and the world are not-Two.  The Self is formless Awareness and the world/mind is Awareness in an apparent form.  Now you know that there is no one or nothing other than Reality!  When you see a second thing and through seeing it know it to be none other than yourself, then you discover Brahman!

Now the life goes on quite normally, the only difference (and what a difference!) being that experiences produce no attractive or aversive reactions. Or, if they do, the reactions (raaga, dvesha) are witnessed as not-Self. The inquirer, who was formerly the pseudo-subject, ‘becomes’ just another object in me, Awareness.

However the deep sense of lack that we have that remains long after the understanding is clear, lives in the body. The deeper root of the separate-self resides in the body in the form of feelings (karma, vaasanas) for a long time. Thoughts and beliefs can be transformed instantaneously or quickly (through steps one and two) but it takes time to work through the feelings/karma (step three). Feelings have to be gradually and lovingly exposed and then dissolved. Your karma, your vaasanas, do not know you are enlightened. Karma is impersonal. It does not care. So you have to face it and work it out. If you know you are the Self there are no ‘other people.’ The ‘other people’ are you. So you are serving yourself and getting no karma when you serve them. In fact, you are getting rid of karma by doing it because you are reaching/touching the core of your being with every feeling, thought and act. This is the realigning of your bodily feelings with the new Understanding or the Universal Self.

It will take some time to get rid of the water jugs you have collected all your life to fetch water from the mirage. We cannot think it away. Habits are formed gradually and they have to be removed gradually. Intellectual understanding (Awakening) is not enough.  There is still a trace of duality that needs to be transcended. And that is the Aananda (Love) aspect of Reality! Remember: Realization is the harmonious blending of the head and the heart.  Knowledge should not remain mere information but should result in transformation. Once this is done, your behavior will be totally (and at all times) in line with your Understanding/Awakening.

Truth or Complete Awareness is achieved with Knowing plus Feeling - Feeling of Love with everyone and everything. You have seen the world in you, you need to see yourself in the world.  This path of love collapses the distinction between the objects and Consciousness completely (this happens gradually and is also never ending).

A Sufi Saying: "When you go inside yourself you find the world. When you go out into the world you find yourself!"

For the soul to experience perfect Love, it must experience every human feeling (because all feelings are ultimately Love).  Remember, Aananda can only be found by allowing others to seek Aananda through you (because you cannot experience what you do not allow others to experience; be loved by others).  How can you have compassion on that which you don’t understand?  How can you forgive in another that which you have never experienced in yourself? So, we see both the simplicity and the awesome magnitude of the soul’s journey. We understand at last what it is up to: The purpose of the human soul is to experience All of It—so that it can be All of It!  The soul, therefore, never condemns that which is not grand, but blesses—seeing in it a part of itself which must exist for another part of itself to manifest.

When Chith (Consciousness) realizes that it is one with Sath (Being, the world), the third aspect of Reality, Aananda (Peace/Fullness), shines. Aananda is fullness on emotional as well as intellectual level.

Conversations With God: "Judge not and neither condemn!  Raise not your fist to the darkness but be a light unto the darkness and curse it not!"

St. Augustine: "Love (yourself) and do what thou wilt!"

Thaitthiriya Upanishad: "Brahman is hidden in the cave of the heart!"

Now you see the Essence/Godliness everywhere and in everything. You experience that "I am (as if) This (in time and space)" but knowing or understanding as "I am actually That (Reality)!" Mithya (objects/world) is Me, Brahman, but I am not Mithya.  When the thought that you are Brahman becomes as strong as your present thought that you are the body, then alone are you free!

You will realize that THERE IS NOTHING OTHER THAN BRAHMAN! Brahman is opposed to nothing, no second thing! Jesus Christ: "Ye are Gods!"

You have finally arrived!? Chandhogya Upanishad: "Sarvam Khalu Idham Brahman!" You have now arrived at the fourth Mahaavaakya!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 6.29: "The one who knows action in inaction and inaction in action is indeed wise!"

We all experience Reality. We experience Reality all the time whether we know it or not.  There’s never not a time that we are not experiencing ourselves because the Self, Consciousness, is all there is. However, very few of us experience Reality Knowingly!  All of us are Buddhas, but very few of us are awakened!  Most of us are like a fish in an infinite ocean looking for the ocean!

This is Brahman-Knowledge (reality of the subject and the object). You are Enlightened! You are enLightened! But remember, Self is always enlightened and the individual can never be enlightened! Enlightenment cannot be owned, it simply IS!

Enlightenment ('moksha') is a state of freedom from the illusion of ignorance; it is the knowledge that you are SathChithAananda. Liberation is the freedom from the sense of bondage, from dependence on objects for peace/happiness, from the wrong notion that one has suffering, freedom from the person you think you are. Liberation means that you do not depend on anything.  Enlightenment is the understanding that I, the observer, am Sathyam (Real) and the world, the observed, is mithya (apparently-real). Mithya is Me but I am free of mithya. I experience mithya and Sathya as inseparable, but knowing/understanding that mithya is a second-order reality (just a name-and-form) and that I am not affected by it.  This state of freedom is from the separate-self and for the separate-self. You will see things as clear as Light can see. It is this which is 'en-lightening' (that is, lighting up) everything (which, ironically, has been always with you).  And remember, Enlightenment is the annihilation of the 'one' who 'wants' Enlightenment. So there is no 'one' there to remember it. It is a non-event; not an objective experience. Understanding cannot be remembered.  If the Self doesn’t know Itself by Itself then there is no moksha, because you can’t be free if you have to depend on a means of knowledge for your freedom.

An enlightened being can only say "I am the Light," because that is his true nature. Enlightenment is not a special status. It is the default, the nature of the Self. You are not getting something you do not have; you simply realize that what you sought so frantically you had all along. Enlightenment should be cause for embarrassment, not jubilation. When an obscenely obese person goes back to normal, he or she is lauded as a courageous super being for overcoming long odds. Is not condemnation more appropriate because he or she allowed his or her Self to get into such a miserable condition in the first place?

Aadhi Shankaraachaarya: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs!"

Experience belongs neither to the Self, nor to the separate-self.  Experience happens when Awareness shines on the Mind/Maya.  Think about your dream. Life is simply a Happening. The personal doership, after the apparent Enlightenment, is transferred to the Creator or Personal-God. Creator is the one which projected the universe (Creator=Brahman+Maya). With this understanding, your binding desires (vaasanas) become non-binding. Simultaneous to this realization the network of all action-impressions, the identification with them, is stopped or destroyed - not because these actions had any way bound you but because they had a never bound you in the first place.  An enlightened being may still have desires, but those desires are in line with the Absolute, in line with dharma.  Though it does not germinate, roasted grain can be used as food. In the same way, the desires of an enlightened being yield only a naturally enjoyable experiences which do not result in binding vaasanas (a binding desire or vaasana is one that resists the truth and causes repetitive unconscious behavior).  He is not dependent on the outcome, not attached to the outcome. He is going with the flow.

Liberation is using the world without obsession or fascination or over-indulgence. The sign of obsession is the continuous preoccupation of the mind, the result of which is that the whole world is carried within one’s mind.  Krishna gives an instruction in Bhagavad Geetha: “May you keep the external world outside.” Enlightenment is a simple realization that you are never not-enlightened and that everything IS as it should be.  You have not gained any new and extraordinary knowledge. You only have lost ignorance.  To say, "I am not enlightened" is ignorance and to say, "I am enlightened" is ego. And this is the reason why a truly enlightened being keeps quiet when asked. His actions are total (may not be perfect); not concerned with past or future. Good or bad, he is at his center and his actions will be total and will serve the Totality. This is also called Embodied-Enlightenment.  A sage is able to enjoy the pleasure with peace without the pleasure being shattered and bear the pain with peace without the pain being intensified! In other words, he will not be overly elated in joyful situations and he will not be distressed in sorrowful situations! A sage will not extend his reactions to situations horizontally in time because there is no personal doership and hence no pride and/or guilt. 2+2=4 is true whether in a joyful situation or in a distressed situation and that is Aananda!

Zen saying: "Before enlightenment chop wood carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood carry water."

Kena Upanishad: “It (Brahman) is unknown to those who know it (as an object). It is known to those who do not know it (as an object)!”

Ultimate Truth is that there is no creation, no dissolution, no one bound, no one liberated and nothing to know. YOU ARE THAT!

Chandhogya Upanishad: "Thath Tvam Asi!"

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 10.20: “I AM the Self, who resides in the hearts of all beings!”

A Sufi Teaching: "When I search for myself, I find Allah. When I search for Allah, I find myself!"

Bible: "I AM THAT I AM!"

"I AM THAT I AM" is the highest non-dual or advaithic expression that there has ever been of the Truth. In other words: "I AM I," or "I-I." Here there is no concession to duality; there is no reason to bring in anything else. I is only identical to I. If there was something in I which is other than I, then that I would no longer be unlimited/infinite! There is an element of duality in the Upanishadic statement, "Aham Brahmaasmi," but not in "I AM THAT I AM!" So long as a man thinks that there is a second thing, he is under Maya and in bondage; so soon as he sees oneness only without a second, he is wise and free...free of personal doership, free of the person who you think you are, free from object-dependence, free from cause-effect relationship, free from objective experience (gunas, samsaara), free from the sense of bondage. Remember: Experience is Self but it is the non-essential Self; it is a second order Reality. Nothing could be easier than this!

Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha, 18.66 (=The Summary of Geetha): "Sarva Dharmaan Parithyajya Maam-Ekam Sharanam Vraja; Aham Thva Sarva Paapebhya Moksha Yishyaami Maa Shuchaha!"...Renounce (be free of) personal doership, take shelter in non-duality; I will alleviate your suffering and deliver you moksha/freedom!

REALIZE FREEDOM ('AANANDA' or 'ANANTHAM'), ONENESS WITHOUT A SECOND!!

What is the most significant statement that can lead us to Enlightenment?..........

Aadhi Shankaraachaarya, an 8th century AD Indian genius/philosopher/sage, has summarized the Non-Dual or Advaitha Vedantha in a sentence which then, undoubtedly, became the master key for all the spiritual seekers in their pursuit for freedom, liberation or moksha.

Aadhi Shankaraachaarya says: "Brahman Sathyam Jagath Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Na Parah!" - meaning Brahman/Reality is the only truth, the world is not-real (not-real as we perceive/conceive it, meaning it is an appearance, insubstantial, dependent, not factual) and there is ultimately no difference between the individual self and Brahman (Aathma=Brahman). The most common word for Brahman is "I" or Aham. Based on his statements from other texts, we can extend the first part with: The world also is Brahman (because there is nothing other than Brahman). It means that the world is not real as matter and mind but real as Awareness/Brahman. Very important to understand this point here. Most of the seekers misunderstand this and think that the world is un-real and does not even exist. This is not the case. No-existence is an illogical concept; an impossibility. When you experience something, by definition, you are experiencing its Reality; you may not know it for what it is. That's all. The background of experience is Brahman/Awareness/Consciousness and the foreground, just temporary name and form. That is the meaning of the word, mithya; it is not what it seems. And this is the essence of Advaitha Vedantha; Advaitha Vedantha in a nut shell. World is Me - Awareness, it is none other than Me; but I am free of the world!

Religions say: An individual self can attain Brahman.
Advaitha Vedantha says: An individual self cannot attain Brahman because he IS Brahman. Only his ignorance (more precisely the illusion of ignorance) disappears because Reality/Brahman is Non-Dual. Illusion of ignorance, because ignorance was never there to begin with. Brahman realizes or "claims" Brahman through a mind!

Brahman Sathyam (Brahman is the only Absolute Truth), Jagath Mithya (world is apparently/dependently real) is indirect knowledge (paroksha gnyaanam) only. It is only the direct knowledge (aparoksha gnyaanam), the knowledge that "I am non-different from Brahman," that liberates. Indirect knowledge becomes complete knowledge (poorna gnyaanam) only when it is followed by the knowledge Jivo Brahmaiva Na Parah. The knowledge that "I am Brahman alone (and there is nothing other than Brahman)" is, thus, the complete knowledge. This means that there is no "thou" and only "I" remains without an I-ness/me to it. So, ultimately, there is not even an "I." "I" in relation to what? Therefore, the ultimate freedom or Enlightenment is the freedom from the "I" or "me." It is not of the "I/me," but freedom from the "I/me" itself!

The five capsules of Advaitha Vedantha are: 1. I am of the nature of the Eternal and All-Pervading Consciousness. 2. I am the only source of permanent peace, security and happiness. 3. By by mere presence I give life to the body-mind-complex; and, through the body-mind-complex, I experience the material world. 4. I am never affected by any event that happens in the material world/mind/body. 5. By forgetting my real nature, I convert life into a burden. My remembering my real nature, I convert life into a blessing.

What are some common Enlightenment myths?.........

The theory of “Empty-mind Enlightenment" is the most common Enlightenment myth. (Or no-mind, blank-mind, stopped-mind) This implies a duality between Awareness and thought. To say that the Self is not knowable/experienceable when the mind is functioning means that the mind and the Self enjoy the same order of reality, like a table and a chair. But experience shows that this is untrue. Do you cease to exist when you are thinking? Is there thought without Awareness? Assume for a moment that you are awake and your mind is stopped. Are you not the one who’s aware that your mind is stopped? Now your mind is thinking. Again, are you not the one who’s aware that your mind is thinking? So, in both cases, with or without thought, I, Awareness, am present. If I am aware when the mind is stopped and when it is thinking, I am not hidden by thoughts, nor am I revealed by no thought. Whether thoughts are present or not, you, the Self, can always be known directly. Thoughts are you; they come out of you, Awareness, and subside back into you. Thought is the Self, at a second order of reality. However, a still-mind in meditation will give you the experience of Self which will help remove the idea that you are the body-mind complex and also help reinforce the idea that Awareness is never affected by the thoughts or experience. Repeated practice of meditation, thus, will purify the mind and prepares the mind for understanding. That is the benefit of meditation, nothing more than that. Can you find water (Self) in the ocean only when the waves (mind/thoughts) subside? Not really!

Consciousness+thought=Experience. But Experience minus thought cannot "take" you to Consciousness. Yogic/meditation methods are erroneously based on the misconception that it does. For there to be an experience of Consciousness/Self/Aathma, mind would need to be other than the All-Pervading Consciousness which is against reason and is ridiculous. Rendering themselves non-aware (as in deep sleep or swoon) will not deliver Self-Knowledge. It is true that thoughts arise because of false knowledge. But, this false knowledge can only be displaced by right knowledge (that I am complete already). You don't have to flatten the ocean to get to water; you just need to understand/know that the wave is water to get beyond the name and form 'wave.'

Kena Upanishad, 2.4: "Prathi-Bodha-Vidhitham Matham Amruthatvam Hee Vindhathe!"...Brahman is clearly known/experienced/understood as Awareness ('matham'=well known or common fact/belief) in every cognitive experience including no-experience (As a corrollory, Brahman is never known through a particular experience).

Aadhi Shankaraachaarya: "Aathma Thu Sathatham Praapthaha!"...Aathma is available all the time and is alreary attained!

Along with the "empty-mind" teaching, "ego-death," "desireless state" and "experiential state" are the other most popular Enlightenment myths in the spiritual word.

The ego-death theory says that when this “I-notion" is destroyed, one becomes enlightened.  If this were true then all the animals would be enlightened because they don’t have an “I-notion."  Ego, "i," is simply an imaginary limit superimposed on the true, infinite and the only "I." Ego borrows its reality from "I." So, it's not an entity in its own right.  Ego cannot be killed because it is never really there like an illusory snake mistaken for a rope in twilight. You either get closer or shine the light to get rid of the snake. Instead of feeling that you have to get rid of the ego, think and feel, instead, in terms of seeing the reality of the ego that you feel yourself to be. When you investigate it, you don't find a self in the body. You will find this open, present, empty presence of Awareness in which the body and its world arise, with which it is known and out of which it is made. For Enlightenment you need the hard and fast knowledge of who you truly are, Limitless Awareness, in the waking state. Hard and fast means that the knowledge is 100-percent assimilated and available at all times (you don’t re-identify with the body/mind).

Another reason why the ego cannot kill itself is because it’s not conscious.  And if the ego is not conscious, it can only be a thought, and no thought prevents the Self from being and knowing itself. There’s only one conscious entity, and that is Awareness.  In actuality, Enlightenment is the shifting of the “I-notion” from “I am a limited, suffering individual” to “I am whole, complete, Unchanging Awareness."  So, ego is not the problem; identification with the ego is.  What is Self-Knowledge in relation to the ego, then?  It is the understanding that the ego is me, but I am not the ego. The shadow is me, but I am not the shadow. This is identical to ego death because it moves the ego from the center of Consciousness to the periphery. Self-Knowledge is best of both worlds, because it allows you to live freely as the ego without suffering the results of actions!

The desireless state theory says that when you have no desires, you attain Enlightenment. What is the cause of desire? Self cannot "cause" anything.  Desire is an effect of Self-Ignorance because there is only one Self and it is a partless whole. Self wants nothing. Will removing the effect remove the cause then? No.  Ignorance will not collapse when it is no longer supported by desire. It will just keep manufacturing more desires just like a tree manufactures more branches/leaves after getting pruned.  If I accept the contention that desire is suffering, how will I remove my desires without the desire to remove them? Once they are removed who is going to remove the desirer? Knowledge of your true nature (that you are already full and complete) is the only solution.  Enlightenment is the hard and fast knowledge that I am Limitless Awareness and as such I am already free of desires so their presence or absence has nothing to do with me, Awareness.  Enlightenment is not a state or status; it is the nature of the Self. The Self is free of desires!  As long as my desires do not cause me to violate the physical and moral laws operating in the karma field, why should I remove them? Enlightenment is not disirelessness but desire-free-ness!

Enlightenment is not "experiential" because Reality is Non-Dual Awareness.  The doer of any action is limited and the results of action are limited, but freedom is limitless, so it cannot be caused by something a person does. Freedom is the nature of the true Self. Self is not a state. It is something that we are already, not something to be gained.  Because we believe in experiential reality, we look for an experiential Enlightenment. But if this is a Non-Dual Reality, then each and every experience is the Self already, so no striving for experience is necessary (there is no distance between you and your self). You do not 'feel' It because you do not know what Reality/Awareness is.  Any subject-object experience is in duality (limit) and can never take you to the Non-Dual subject or the Non-Dual Self (Infinity).  Besides, how can a particular transaction (experience) between a constantly changing subject and a constantly changing object produce a permanent experience of peace/happiness?

Absolute cannot be gained with any effort (effort implies loss of something to gain something else). But Absolute must include all. Therefore, the gain of the Limitlessness has to be a gain that does not involve a process of "becoming;" it has to be a gain without effort.  Whatever experience brings is limited and will not, therefore, set one free.  If any striving is to be done one should strive for understanding, since the problem that causes us to seek happiness/freedom in the first place is the misunderstanding that we are bound. Any Non-Dual experience temporarily suspends the normal functioning of the mind but when it ends the mind takes up its old programs once more (like after deep sleep). The experiencer does not suddenly stop being an experiencer; he experienced a state of 'freedom' (like in deep sleep); that is all.  In Raja Yoga it is said that 'Purusha,' the Self, has become 'Prakrithi,' the nature. This causes a big problem because how do you reverse the process and turn Prakrithi into Purusha, the Self? You don't, because Purusha and Prakrithi are one and the same...Non-Dual Awareness - except that Prakrithi is a second order reality.  But they seem to be different owing to ignorance. So you only have to get rid of the ignorance.

Therefore, Non-Dual/mystical experience does not remove the conditioned mind (attachment to which is the cause of suffering) because the one who has the ignorance has been absorbed into Awareness where no duality obtains.  Your wife calls you to dinner when the samaadhi is happening and it ends.  And any experience that begins and ends is not you!  Reality is subtler than and prior to experience; how can experience validate Reality?  Experience is Reality but Reality is not experience.  Only consistent application of the understanding derived from rigorous Self investigation (based on the teachings of Advaitha Vedantha) will free the mind of its erroneous notions for good. Right inquiry will remove the doer, unlike other kinds of thinking and doing, which only reinforce personal doership. Rather than imagine that there is some experience that you have not had that will make you happy, why not look into why whatever you are experiencing right now does not make you happy? Why?...Because what you are experiencing right now is Consciousness…the Absolute…and there is nothing to experience beyond or other than Consciousness because there is only Consciousness.  It is totally ordinary, simple and ever present. There is nothing special about it at all because there is nothing else to compare it to (there is no second thing of the same order of reality). This is why so few realize it. Seekers have read all this experiential notions about it and they imagine that Realization is some sort of incredible mind-blowing thing/experience. It is all fantasy.

The subject and the objects the Self experiences are not different. Reality is not the duality it seems. It is you, Non-Dual Awareness.  The desire to be free is very difficult to give up, because what we are trying to free ourselves from, seems to be real. But it is not real. As in all colors light is the colorless factor, so in every experience, Awareness is present, yet it is not an experience. Therefore the need for experiential freedom is illegitimate (no amount of doing can kill the illusory snake that is mistaken for a rope).  The experiential view…that Enlightenment is a special experience other than what I am experiencing right now…is based on the idea that Reality is a duality. We do actions because we are ignorant of our completeness. Therefore, actions do not remove ignorance because they are in harmony with ignorance.  So, the more actions we do, the more our sense of incompleteness is reinforced. Only knowledge can take care of our ignorance.  You can experience who you are but you can’t know/realize what you are in an experience!  You can experience Reality in an experience but you can't know yourself as the Reality!  Therefore, Enlightenment can only be the hard and fast Self-Knowledge, only gained by the removal of Self-Ignorance. Knowledge transcends experience.

Conclusion..........

Reality is the Independent Presence that never changes! Reality is that which knows the objects and selves as itself but is not an object of knowledge! Reality is Existence known through Love! Sath-Chith-Aananda! And YOU ARE THAT!!

- Sudhakar V Reddy

For Further Reading:

Esoterics of Death and Life After Death!
https://sudhakarvreddy.blogspot.com/2017/12/esoterics-of-death-and-life-after-death.html

Esoterics of the Seven Bodies!
https://sudhakarvreddy.blogspot.com/2013/09/esoterics-of-seven-bodies-mysteries-of_2.html

Enlightening Answers to Spiritual and Social Questions!
https://sudhakarvreddy.blogspot.com/2019/02/enlightening-answers-to-spiritual-and_18.html

Esoterics of GOD

Friday, April 6, 2018

Esoterics of GOD-The Reality! And How to Realize IT!?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVkIQfIdiM4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAdkYnLkOUA&t=41s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF_3Vll_cqM&t=48s

Does GOD exist?..........

>>> Table of Contents >>>

Conclusion..........

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