This great statement is found in the Maandookya as well as the Brihadaaranyaka Upanishads. Here, using the word "ayam" , a gradual (finger pointing method), the great statement shows the self as brahman. It is clear thought this that the immediate self element which is prevalent in the body as the "I" form alone is brahman.
In the first mantra of the Maandookya, it is said that the "omkaara" is the all. Then the cause is provided in the second mantra - since all this is brahman. Brahman is that entity whose name is omkaara. By being the non-distinct intelligent and material cause, all this is brahman, and by being the indicator of brahman, "omkaara" or "pranava" is all, this is said. What is this brahman, where is it? What is its connection with me? In answer to this, the shruti says "the self is same as brahman".
That brahman is not anything other than you, it is not non-immediate, he who is dwelling in your body, the knowledge-nature self, that brahman alone you are. How to know this? That brahman which is appearing as all forms in this world and which is the self of all, has four steps - vishva, taijasa, praajnya and tureeya. In this, that which is the tureeya step alone is the self and is brahman. In this manner, in "self is same as brahman", the self aspect denotes the tureeya element, and the brahman aspect denotes the omkaara-denoted brahman element. All this is manifested in the form of this world.
The first step of the self is vishva. In the waking state, it is manifested by the body-mind-senses as the knower, enjoyer and doer of gross substances. In this step, it is as if the self becomes a viewer outside (bahish prajnya). The second step of the self is taijasa. In the dream state, it is manifested as the knower doer enjoyer of subtle substances. In this step, it is as if the self becomes its own viewer (antara prajnya). The third step of the self is praajnya which is manifested in the deep sleep state and the seer of the "non-visible state of the other". In this step, it is as if the self coalesces all of awareness into itself and enjoys bliss. But in this state, the seed of the visible knowledge of waking and dreaming state is not destroyed. That is why, when deep sleep ends, the states of waking and dream appear as they were before. Therefore, praajnya is the seed state of vishva and of taijasa. Who is the self in all of these? The self is the awareness element indicated by negating all these three states. That alone is tureeya. That alone is the witness. By leaving the "bahihi" adjunct in the "bahish prajnya" and leaving the "sthoola" adjunct in "sthoola bhuk", "vishva" is the seer self alone. Similarly, in the "antahaprajya taijasa", by leaving the "antaha" adjunct and in "sookshma bhuk" leaving the "sookshma" adjunct, taijasa is also the witness self. "Praajnya" is also the witness self. The only thing to do is to leave the adjuncts of seedness and "non-visible-ness". It means that the tristate witness self alone is the tureeya, and in the distinctions between the states, there is no distinction in the witness.
This witness is in the body, this is understood. Is it also outside the body? In reality, the body and the space inside and outside it is a seen by the witness. By being of the nature of knowledge, space, time, object and their distinctions have been imagined in knowledge alone. Therefore, all of these are in the tummy of knowledge. Their appearance alone is their existence and that is non-different than their awareness-nature witness. Appearance is knowledge alone. Therefore this witness is the non-dual brahman.
Think about this - I am not the "vishva" awareness disconnected by the adjunct of the waking state. I am not the "viraata" awareness disconnected by the adjunct of the gross macrocosmic world. I am not the "taijasa" awareness disconnected by the adjunct of the dream state. I am not the "hiranyagarbha" awareness disconnected by the adjunct of the subtle macrocosmic world. I am not the awareness disconnected by the adjunct of the deep sleep state. I am not the "Ishvara" awareness disconnected by the adjunct of the seed-macrocosmic world. Then what am I? I am the illuminator of all these states and micro-macro adjuncts. Without me, they do not have any existence. Therefore, I alone am their substratum. In this manner I am the witness self brahman.
This brahman has no cause, no effect, it is endless, without inside and outside. This self alone is brahman. it experiences everything (Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad 2.5.19). This is the teaching of all Vedantas.
By calling it "all experiencer" (sarvaanubhoohu), this self has been indicated as the witness. That which is the witness is brahman, that which is the brahman is the witness.
That which imbibes objects in the waking state, that which imagines objects in the dream state, that which eats objects in the deep sleep state, that which remains same in all three states, that alone is called the self. This self is the all-substratum, all-illuminator, non-distinction-nature brahman alone.
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