1. "I am sad, I am ignorant" - this is the mere pulsation (sphurana) of the memory (chitta). You have seen your sorrow and ignorance, therefore you are their witness, separate from these, illuminator of these pulsations, the witness. The "I" which is perceived as joyful or sorrowful, that "I" is not you, you are that "I" which knows all of this.
2. Think in this manner - I am not a householder, brahmana, warrior, businessman, Hindu, Muslim, man, god, youth, old etc. This is only the gross body. I am their witness.
3. I sleep, I wake up, I see, I do, I decide, I resolve, I think, I own - all these are the doings of the subtle body, and not mine. I am not any of ths.
4. What is brahman? Who am I? What is Ishvara? What is maayaa? What is the root material cause of this world? You will say that you do not know. This is ignorance which is the causal body. You are the witness of even this ignorance.
5. I am neither the five elements nor the body made out of them. The body belongs to the five elements, not to me. The body does not work per my plan or wish. Then how can it be mine? The body was not made with my effort. No, then why would one want to become a snake, scorpion, worm? Then how can the body be mine? The body was not donated to you, it was not given to you as dowry, it was not won by defeating an enemy. Then how can the body be yours?
6. I am not the senses neither their agglomerate. First of all, I am the witness of the presence and absence of their activities. They are known to me. Secondly, I am one whereas they are ten, they are fourteen. Third, they are inert, they do not know themselves nor do they know others. I am aware - I know them as well as myself. Fourth, they sleep in deep sleep, but I am awake even when they are asleep.
7. The world-specific inert existence is called "seed" and the seed-specific awareness is called "individual soul". Ignorance is the ultimate "seed" of everything and therefore the awareness that is endowed with the impressions of activities of the subtle body (which is the effect of ignorance) is called "individual soul". I am neither the seed nor the individual soul because I am the witness of the subtle body and the presence and absence of its activities.
8. The world (body) appears real due to ignorance. Knowledge converts it into a firm conviction that it is an illusion. The thought-flow of space, time and form stays in waking and dream states, and not in deep sleep. But the knowledge-nature witness "I" is there at all times and places. It is the witness of their knowledge and ignorance. Therefore the witness "I" is not disconnected with space, time and object.
9. Who is the doer that is imagining space, time and object? Right and wrong, sin and merit, who is their doer? It is no one, it is only the will (sankalpa) that is the doer. I am the witness of that will, in me alone do will and ignorance happen, and they appear to me. Therefore I am the imperishable reality, imperishable awareness. I alone am the material cause of the world. The creation, destruction and absence of a pot, all three happen in clay. In the same manner, the world of space, time and form as it appears in waking state, as it appears counter in dream state, and as it is absent in the deep sleep state - that subtle imperishable reality in which this happens, imperishable aware reality is me.
10. There is no space (length or width) in the witness. There is no time in the witness, in other words it does not have age. That witness is real, its object, that which is witnessed, is unreal. The witness is non-dual (adviteeya).
11. Accepting the body as the witness "I" means accepting copper as gold. And accepting the body as belonging to the witness "I" means accepting aluminium as gold. The goal of Vedanta knowledge is to reveal a thing as what it really is and how it really is.
a) The body is an agglomeration of multiple elements. I am one and am only the knowledge element.
b) The body is bound by rules whereas I am independent and am its controller via maayaa.
c) The body is impure due to flesh and other transformations, I am knowledge-filled and pure.
d) The body is taamasa, of the nature of darkness, I am the illuminator of the nature of light.
e) The body is impermanent and unreal, I am eternal and real since I am the illuminator of time.
12. In the waking state, I know the world through the mind and senses. In the dream state, I know the world thought the mind only. In deep sleep, I know the absence of the world without the help of mind or sneses. That is why I am of the nature of knowledge.
That by which the world is known in the waking state, the dream is known in the dream state, and the absence of both is known in the deep sleep state, I am that knowledge. That alone is the witness.
13. This body is "pot". It has been created (ghatita) by the five elements, therefore it is a pot (ghata). Just as the witness of the pot is different than the pot, the witness of the body-pot "I" is different than the body-pot. In Vedanta, the meaning of the word different is "opposite".
14. If you drop the shapes and catch hold of their substance then you will get the existence (sattaa). Drop the thought-flow and catch hold of their witness, then you will get knowledge. Think that you are the existence only devoid of the shapes. I am witness of the thought flow, the awareness only. I am devoid of the identification with joy-sorrow, I am bliss only. I am the existence-consciousness-awareness-element.
15. Leave the intellect out of the "aham buddhi", let the "aham" remain. Take the "ham" (I) out of "aham", let the "a" remain. That which kills or is killed is called "hum". "Hum"=doership. "Hum" = the seed sound of space. That is why "aham" means "I" - that which does not kill or be killed, in which there is no doer-action, in which there is no seed of space.
16. The awareness which is in the realm of the body in the waking state is called "Vishva". The awareness which is in the realm of the body in the dream state is called "Taijasa". The awareness which is in the realm of the body in the deep sleep state is called "Praajnya". These are the identifiers (abhimaanee) of their respective states. I the witness am distinct from all of these. If you drop the identification with the states that come and go in one body, then "Vishva" is the "Viraata" of the macro waking state, "Taijasa" is the "Hiranyagarbha" of the macro dream state, and "Praajnya" is the macro cause "Ishvara". The pure awareness without identification remains as the "witness" in the micro and the substratum brahman in the macro. The witness is me alone. The Upanishad says that the witness self alone is brahman. (Maandookya 2). That is why "I am brahman".
17. I am senses and so is the body (bhaasataa). But the body is sensed some times (in waking and dream) and some times not (in deep sleep, samaadhi, unconsiousness), whereas I am sensed at all times. "I am not" - this knowledge never happens to anyone. Body is a falsified sensation (baadhita bhaasmaana), I am the non-falsified sensation. Therefore the body is illusory and I am the real witness.
18. There are 6 transformations in the body, none in me the witness. In the body, aadhyaatmika (bodily), aadhidaivika (universal) and aadhibhautika (material) sorrows and pains exist, ego takes them and becomes happy or sad, but since I am the witness, I am beyond all sorrow.
19. By imagining perfection (samyaktva) in an object, in other words, by considered some object as the supreme, an idea arises of that object. From that comes desire, from that comes effort. If effort is successful then the greed to acquire more of it comes, and if it is unsuccessful then anger arises. Delusion follows greed while violence follows anger. There is no doership of mine in any of these because these are happening in the body all by themselves. Like space, I am the witness of all these bodily transformations.
Transformations happen by themselves, impressions are put in from the outside, shapes (aakaara) are acquired as per actions, types (prakaara) happen through one's nature. We should see that we become free of all of these.
20. I am the unattached witness awareness. Therefore there is never any association of action with me.
21. The body keeps changing. I the witness do not change. I am without parts because I can never discard my inherent nature.
22. The self is real, I am, and the world is unreal, the body is. That is why there can be no relationship between the self and the body. All relationships are imagined and are transactional.
23. Disease happens to the gross body, anxiety happens to the subtle body. But the witness "I" is free of all diseases, all problems are in these adjuncts of the body alone.
24. Knowlege is that in which there is no identification with knowing. I am the knower, but I have no identification with knowing. I am the pure witness awareness lonly in which there is no other known distinct from the knower.
25. If an object is cognized due to its sound, but is actually not there, it is called an incorrect perception. Maayaa, ignorance, lack of knowledge, knowledge of variety etc. are such incorrect perceptions. These are not present in the internal organ. but are unnecessarily stuck in the head due to superimposition of scriptures. Ignorance alone is called the "causal body". In me the witness, the causal body is like the son of a barren woman.
26. The body is an effect of the tamoguna, its actions are due to the effect of rajohuna. And peace, knowledge and joy are of sattvaguna. But I am neither the gross, subtle or causal body. Therefore I am beyond the gunaas. The thought-flows of sattva, rajas and tamas come and go in the internal organ, but I am the witness of all those thought-flows. Therefore I am beyond the gunaas.
27. I am beyond gunaas, therefore I am beyond action. Them how can ignorance, desire and action stay in me?
28. The birth and rebirth of I who am the singular element beyond gunaas, beyond action, unattached and devoid of the gross, subtle and causal bodies. Therefore I am not the worldly individual soul.
29. I am knowledge, I am the witness. Where there is no existence of the ignorant object, there is knowledge, what is known, is non-different than knowledge.
30. Where is the supreme self? In our body alone. It is nothing else but your "I".
31. The body is made of the five elements, therefore the five elements are beyond the forms of the body. But since they are 5, they are forms themselves. Their root cause Prakriti is beyond them. The seer to which Prakriti appears is different frmo it. When the knowledge that the seer is the non-dual brahman, then Prakriti leaves its existence. Then the self remains as the root element. Even while living in this body, this self element is beyond the body.
32. Accepting the body as "I" and mine is the material cause of sorrow.
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