2. WHO AM I?
Everyone is the Self and indeed, is infinite. Yet each person mistakes his body for his Self.
In order to know anything, illumination is necessary.
This can only be of the nature of Light; however, it lights up both physical light and physical darkness. That is to say, that it lies beyond apparent light and darkness.
Everyone is the Self and indeed, is infinite. Yet each person mistakes his body for his Self.
In order to know anything, illumination is necessary.
This can only be of the nature of Light; however, it lights up both physical light and physical darkness. That is to say, that it lies beyond apparent light and darkness.
Q Who Am I?
R
The gross body which is composed of the seven humours [dhatus] [Indian terminology for 7 different tissues; blood, muscle, bone, etc.], I am not;
the five cognitive sense organs, viz. the senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell, which apprehend their respective objects, viz. sound, touch, colour, taste, and odour, I am not;
the five cognitive sense organs, viz. the organs of speech, locomotion, grasping, excretion, and procreation, which have as their respective functions speaking, moving, grasping, excreting, and enjoying, I am not; the five vital airs, prana, etc., which perform respectively the five functions of in–breathing, etc., I am not; even the mind which thinks, I am not; the nescience too, which is endowed only with the residual impressions of objects, and in which there are no objects and no functioning s, I am not.
Q If I am none of these, then who am I?
R
After negating all of the above–mentioned as ‘not this’, ‘not this’, that Awareness which alone remains – that I am.
Q What is the nature of Awareness?
R
The nature of Awareness is Existence–Consciousness–Bliss [Sat-Chit-Ananda].
Q When will the realization of the Self be gained?
R
When the world which is what–is–seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the Seer.
Q Will there not be realization of the Self even while the world is there [taken as real]?
R
There will not be.
Q When will the world which is the object seen be removed?
R
When the mind, which is the cause of all cognition’s and of all actions, becomes quiescent, the world will disappear.
–
Q In what sense is happiness or Bliss our real nature?
R
Perfect Bliss is Brahman.
Perfect peace is of the Self.
That alone exists and is Consciousness.
That which is called happiness is only the nature of Self, Self is not other than perfect happiness.
That which is called happiness alone exists.
Knowing that fact and abiding in the state of Self, enjoy Bliss eternally.
–
Q What is reality?
R
Reality must be always real. It is not with forms and names.
That which underlies these is the Reality.
It underlies limitations, being itself limitless.
It is not bound.
It underlies unrealities, itself being real.
Reality is that which is.
It is as it is.
It transcends speech, beyond the expressions of existence or non–existence, etc.
The reality which is the mere Consciousness that remains when ignorance is destroyed along with knowledge of objects, alone is the Self.
In that real form of Brahman, which is abundant Self–Awareness, there is not the least ignorance.
The reality which shines fully, without misery and without a body, not only when the world is known but also when the world is not known, is your real form.
The radiance of Consciousness–Bliss, in the form of one Awareness shining equally within and without, is the supreme and Blissful primal reality.
Its form is silence and it is declared by Jnanis [Self–realized individuals] to be the final and unobstructable state of true knowledge.
Know that Jnana alone is non–attachment;
Jnana alone is purity;
Jnana is the attainment of God;
Jnana which is devoid of forgetfulness of Self alone is immortality;
Jnana alone is everything.
–
R
It is wrong to imagine that there is the world, that there is a body in it and that you dwell in the body.
If the Truth is known, the universe and what is beyond it will be found to be only in the Self.
The outlook differs according to the sight of the person.
The sight is from the eye. The eye must be located somewhere.
If you are seeing with the gross eyes you find others gross.
If with subtle eyes others appear subtle.
If the eye becomes the Self, the Self being infinite, the eye is infinite.
–
Q Why did the Self manifest as this miserable world?
R
In order that you might seek it.
Your eyes cannot see themselves.
Place a mirror before them and they see themselves.
Similarly with creation. `See yourself first and then see the whole world as the Self.'
Q So it amounts to this – that I should always look within.
R
Yes.
Q Should I not see the world at all?
R
You are not instructed to shut your eyes to the world. You are only to `see yourself first and then see the whole world as the Self'. If you consider yourself as the body the world appears to be external. If you are the Self the world appears as Brahman.
R
The gross body which is composed of the seven humours [dhatus] [Indian terminology for 7 different tissues; blood, muscle, bone, etc.], I am not;
the five cognitive sense organs, viz. the senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell, which apprehend their respective objects, viz. sound, touch, colour, taste, and odour, I am not;
the five cognitive sense organs, viz. the organs of speech, locomotion, grasping, excretion, and procreation, which have as their respective functions speaking, moving, grasping, excreting, and enjoying, I am not; the five vital airs, prana, etc., which perform respectively the five functions of in–breathing, etc., I am not; even the mind which thinks, I am not; the nescience too, which is endowed only with the residual impressions of objects, and in which there are no objects and no functioning s, I am not.
Q If I am none of these, then who am I?
R
After negating all of the above–mentioned as ‘not this’, ‘not this’, that Awareness which alone remains – that I am.
Q What is the nature of Awareness?
R
The nature of Awareness is Existence–Consciousness–Bliss [Sat-Chit-Ananda].
Q When will the realization of the Self be gained?
R
When the world which is what–is–seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the Seer.
Q Will there not be realization of the Self even while the world is there [taken as real]?
R
There will not be.
Q When will the world which is the object seen be removed?
R
When the mind, which is the cause of all cognition’s and of all actions, becomes quiescent, the world will disappear.
–
Q In what sense is happiness or Bliss our real nature?
R
Perfect Bliss is Brahman.
Perfect peace is of the Self.
That alone exists and is Consciousness.
That which is called happiness is only the nature of Self, Self is not other than perfect happiness.
That which is called happiness alone exists.
Knowing that fact and abiding in the state of Self, enjoy Bliss eternally.
–
Q What is reality?
R
Reality must be always real. It is not with forms and names.
That which underlies these is the Reality.
It underlies limitations, being itself limitless.
It is not bound.
It underlies unrealities, itself being real.
Reality is that which is.
It is as it is.
It transcends speech, beyond the expressions of existence or non–existence, etc.
The reality which is the mere Consciousness that remains when ignorance is destroyed along with knowledge of objects, alone is the Self.
In that real form of Brahman, which is abundant Self–Awareness, there is not the least ignorance.
The reality which shines fully, without misery and without a body, not only when the world is known but also when the world is not known, is your real form.
The radiance of Consciousness–Bliss, in the form of one Awareness shining equally within and without, is the supreme and Blissful primal reality.
Its form is silence and it is declared by Jnanis [Self–realized individuals] to be the final and unobstructable state of true knowledge.
Know that Jnana alone is non–attachment;
Jnana alone is purity;
Jnana is the attainment of God;
Jnana which is devoid of forgetfulness of Self alone is immortality;
Jnana alone is everything.
–
R
It is wrong to imagine that there is the world, that there is a body in it and that you dwell in the body.
If the Truth is known, the universe and what is beyond it will be found to be only in the Self.
The outlook differs according to the sight of the person.
The sight is from the eye. The eye must be located somewhere.
If you are seeing with the gross eyes you find others gross.
If with subtle eyes others appear subtle.
If the eye becomes the Self, the Self being infinite, the eye is infinite.
–
Q Why did the Self manifest as this miserable world?
R
In order that you might seek it.
Your eyes cannot see themselves.
Place a mirror before them and they see themselves.
Similarly with creation. `See yourself first and then see the whole world as the Self.'
Q So it amounts to this – that I should always look within.
R
Yes.
Q Should I not see the world at all?
R
You are not instructed to shut your eyes to the world. You are only to `see yourself first and then see the whole world as the Self'. If you consider yourself as the body the world appears to be external. If you are the Self the world appears as Brahman.