DHANYA ON SELF INQUIRY

Yes. Right now, I think I am in my body. My husband is working,
15 feet away. I see us as two individuals in the same room
so dvaita.

Hi Ari,

I didn't have time yesterday to get back to you,
and even today is pretty jam packed, but I wanted
to reply to what you wrote.

First of all, I see that when I replied to your
original question 'What is nonduality?' I made too
many 'jumps,' way too many leaps in logic, which
assumed a familiarity with the teachings of
Advaita/Vedanta, and I see that was a mistake.

So I apologize for any confusion that may have caused.
It's really better, IMO, just to begin at the beginning
and go on from there.

Above you wrote: "Right now, I think I am in my body.
My husband is working, 15 feet away. I see us as two
individuals in the same room so dvaita."

Indeed that is your interpretation of what you are seeing,
and from a certain perspective, (from the perspective of
what one might term 'transactional reality') you are correct.
There are two people in one room doing different things,
thus dvaita.

So let's start there. You said, "Right now, I think I am
in my body." How about substituting these words for that
statement, "Right now, I think that I *am* my body."

I would assume that right now you think that you exist as
a separate body/mind/sense organs individual. Am I right?

Questioning whether this is true or not is a good place
to begin a process which is called 'self-inquiry. '

Would you say that these words, "I am, I exist,
I am a conscious being," apply to you?

If you say yes, (which most people would say), then the
next thing to do is to examine what this existent conscious,
being which you know yourself to be, actually is.

Most people logically assume that their existence/conscious ness
is a product of, and one with, the body mind. And that is
what makes me different from you. Correct?

So there is an exercise one can do, an exercise of inquiry,
asking yourself various questions, while at the same time
making various observations, to see if this is actually true
or not. The exercise goes like this.

Start with your body. Are you aware of various changing
sensations in your body? Does your sense of touch work?
Are you aware of it? If you say yes, then let's go on.

Are you aware that your other sense organs work
(assuming that they do)? You can hear, you can see,
you can taste, you can smell, right? You are aware of
all of those things. They are known to you, and they
change. Right?

Okay, then next, are you aware of the thoughts in your mind?
Are they known? Are you aware of your moods, your emotions,
and thoughts, thoughts such as, 'Now I am doing this or that,
now I am hungry, now I am happy, now I am sad, I was lost in
a day dream, and now I am back to reality, etc,' are you aware
of all of that?

The thoughts in your mind are constantly changing,
correct, and you are aware of them, right?

So, then there is a question to ask, which you might
never have asked yourself before, who or what is aware
of all of the changing experiences of the body/mind?

Is it your mind? Is it a part of your mind?

If it is your mind, then who is aware of that mind?
Is there a mind behind the mind, behind the mind,
behind the mind, and so on into an infinite regress,
or does the 'buck stop,' with that which is aware of,
and lights up, the thoughts in the mind?

This takes some time, some contemplation, and lots of
noticing. Who is aware of the thoughts in the mind?
And does that one change?

It isn't a question one can answer immediately.

It's better to sit with the question for a while,
to ponder it, as it were, to observe that everything
I take to be 'me' changes; and then to ask the question,
'Do I actually change, while everything else I took to be
me changes?'

Everything I take to be 'me,' the body, the senses, the thoughts change, but who is it that is aware of all of them? And does
that one which is aware of them change?

The teachings of Advaita/Vedanta say the buck stops with
the one who is aware of the changes, the one because
of whom the thoughts in the mind are known. The buck stops
with that which 'illumines' the mind, with that because of
which all thoughts in the mind are known.

So then, if you can sit with that understanding for a while,
examine it, and see that it is true, you might ask yourself
certain questions about this one who is aware of the thoughts
in the mind, questions like, does that one change?

This is a very simple exercise, but its results can be
extremely profound.

There is that about you which never changes, which goes
unrecognized amidst all of the changing experiences of
the body/mind. Because it is ever present in exactly the
same way, we don't notice it, until someone points it out
to us.

It may take quite a while to recognize that which is ever
present to the thoughts in the mind, which lights them up,
that which never changes, and because of which anything
having to do with the body/mind/sense organs, is known.

So ask yourself, while the sensations in my body change,
and the objects of sense perception, and my thoughts,
my moods, and emotions change, do I change?

Actually you don't.

It is to this *you,* which doesn't change, that the words,
"I am. I exist. I am a conscious being," actually refer.

In the teachings of Advaita/Vedanta this *you,* which
doesn't change, is sometimes referred to as 'the witness,'
that which is ever present to, and witnessing,
the changing experiences of the body/mind.

Another word for the witness is the atma.

Having stripped off from my self, anything that
changes, anything to do with the body and mind,
we are left with the atma, the unchanging witness
consciousness, in which all changing experience
takes place, and because of which all changing
experiences are known.

Then the teachings of Advaita/Vedanta will guide
you, through another process, to see that, that which
you took to be your bottom line individual unchanging
self, the atma, (the witness) is in fact, brahman,
the unchanging, ever present, self or being of all that is.

And that's another process which I didn't go into above.

What I outlined above is the process of self-inquiry known
in Sanskrit as drig/drisha viveka, which means seer/seen discrimination.

It is a process of making the distinction between that which
doesn't change (the seer) and that which does (the seen).

So just noticing that while everything I took to me changes, (anything having to do with the body/mind and sense/organs) ,
I, who am lighting up and witness to all of those experiences,
don't.

This is where the process of self-inquiry, which leads
to the complete, thorough, and direct recognition
of what the word nonduality actually means can begin.

Best wishes,
Dhanya

JNANA YOGA

Ramesam Vemuri: The first and foremost thing is the knowing of information “I am Brahman.” This has to be understood by the mind intellectually. It is the Shravana (Listening) phase. Next is to assimilate it and internalize it to the extent that no doubt remains in one’s mind about the Truth of that statement. This is the Manana (Reflection) phase. After being firmly convinced and free of doubts, one needs to continuously stay with it as Brahman (not become Brahman but be Brahman). This is the Nidhidhyasa (Contemplation and Meditation) phase. Jivanmukta is one who unwaveringly and unbrokenly abides as Brahman.

But first:
viveka: 'discrimination' between the real and unreal

vairAgya: 'dispassion' towards everything worldly, brought about by viveka that they are unreal.

shatsampatti: 6 'disciplines'/ virtues:

shama: serene tranquility of the mind brought about by vairAgya from desire of worldly things.

dama: control of the senses to continue shama

uparati: being satisfied with what you have, without hankering for more, natural for one who has viveka driven vairAgya, having shama & dama.

titikshA: endurance of pair of opposites such as pleasure and pain, heat and cold, so as to continue virtues gained above.

shraddhA: unshakable faith in the scriptural teaching and Guru, guided by pramANas, which makes understanding easier due to above pure achievements.

samAdhAna: ability to concentrate on brahman (the truth) as a result of shraddhA and conviction gained thereby.

mumukshutvam: burning 'desire' for liberation, wanting nothing else but moksha, since one has samAdhAna now.

Finally, the very fact that vedanta makes sense to us is a big factor. After all, it is said, 'IsvarAnugrahAdeva pumsAm advaita vAsanA' (it is only due to God's grace man gets interested in advaita).

Maya

"If Self is Brahman and if all is one, there is only Brahman and everything else is Maya. Why then if we are able to transcend all the Gunas, including Sattwic Gunas, we are able to find a place amongst the "heavenly denizens". Does it mean another level of consciousness, maybe at a different frequency, exists, and is that the reason we talk of different Lokas? Does this not go against the philosophy of Advaitism? I mean if there are different Lokas inhabited by celestials, then where does the oneness principle go?"

The three gunas are part of the illusion created
by the Maya of Shakti. In order to understand the
relationship between the three gunas and the different
Lokas, and also their relationship to consciousness,
it is necessary to know something about Shakti.

Maya means magic. Maya is the magical power of Shakti.
Many western scholars translate the word Maya into the
English word 'illusion', 'the whole universe
being an illusion', but really Maya in Sanskrit means magic,
the power to create illusion, not the illusion itself.

Shakti awakes when Brahman sleeps, and conversely
Brahman awakes when Shakti sleeps, and the two
are each other, although they do not appear to meet. Shakti
is usually regarded as a chimaera, and Brahman as the only
real. You are Brahman and Shakti is your coeval companion.
You can never divorce her. How can you divorce yourself?

It takes three things to produce a universe... energy,
awareness and law. Shakti is the energy, Brahman
is the awareness, and the manifestation is accomplished
through the enactment of two laws: The Law of Three,
which is the three gunas, and the Law of Octaves, which
is the law governing the succession of forms, or levels, of
which the universe is composed. Shakti first creates an
octave of sucessionry forms and then enters into the octave
at every level. Therefore, although you may not realize it,
you encounter her at every level. The octave of levels that
Shakti-Maya produces consists of the five elements of:
akasha (space = mind), vayu (air = prana, life ),
tejas (fire = light and the forms), jala (water = nature),
prithivi (earth = the physical manifestation).
Beyond akasha-space there are three further
higher levels completing the octave which are said to be
beyond the range of human consciousness.

Sankara refers to the octave in his
Bhagavad Gita Bhasya VII.4

"This prakriti (primordial nature) thus described, is my
divine power of Maya, divided eightfold."

You, being Brahman, are awareness only and are timelessly
still. You never move. Shakti, being energy, is
responsible for all movement. Without her energy you
can not move. When you become weary of being
still, never moving, Shakti hears your request, your cry,
and creates the universe and everything and
everyone in it. The universe is infinite response to
request, and I regret to have to inform you... You must
have requested it. The universe isn't going to go away until
you become thoroughly disinterested in it. The disinterested
witness is that awareness within us which does not move,
nor is attracted towards the universe, nor becomes entangled
in it.

Maya has produced the universe for you,
as a Lila, a drama, with yourself playing a part in it,
even appearing to move, talk, gesticulate, love, desire,
and hate. It is a very very subtle and convincing illusion.
The part you are playing in the universe does not suspect
that it is in a complete illusion created by the magical
power of your own Shakti. Worse, the part you are
playing does not realize that he himself is a fictitious
character, a mere part in a play. You may prefer to think
you are at least an actor, or a director, or even the author
of it. Being a mere part is not a very flattering.
In fact most people cannot bear being a jiva, which is
inevitably only a minor part in the drama, a severely
limited nature. All this discomfort is because we have
identified with the part, a jiva, and do not realize that
'who we think they are' is actually non-existent.
It is as if Hamlet believes that he is a real person, and
no longer has any intimation that he is merely a part in
a play. How can Hamlet know that he is a part in a play?
He cannot, unless that is written into the script of the play?
Who is the actor? The actor is your own spiritual self,
the buddhi. Your spiritual self lives in the higher intellect.
He is standing behind you, projecting you, projecting your
nature, in exactly the same manner that an actor projects
his part in a play. You ordinarily have no idea that he
is there.

How can a part in a drama, in the theatre of the universe,
realize that it is nothing more than a part in a drama?
You, the part, cannot know you are a part, only the audience
can. The audience in the theatre of the universe is the witness,
which in the language of advaita is the Sakshin. In the entire
theatre only the audience, the witness, is real. There are two
witnesses, Sakshin and Purusha. Sakshin is in the stalls
and Purusha is high up in the upper circle, looking down.
The Sakshin observes the Law of Octaves, and with the help of
citta, memory and understanding, sees that it is all a mechanism,
and completely unreal. Purusha looks down and sees that
everything is merely the action and interaction of the three gunas,
wrestling with each other in the arena of the universe, like
the three strands that compose a rope. Purusha realizes that
the three gunas interacting are Prakriti, Nature. Purusha sees
the Law of Three.

You are the Absolute outside of the universe and you are
the witness inside the universe. But contrarily, you believe
you are your nature, your character, your 'I', your 'me',
and the theatre prompt puts your words, your lines, into
your mind and you speak them, believing they are your
own thoughts and words and actions. As you are only in the
universe as the witness, how can anything be your own?

The Law of three is the gunas. Brahma is the personification
rajas guna, Siva is the personification of tamas guna, and Visnu
is the personification of sattva guna. In Western language
they represent the positive, the negative and the neutral.
Creator, Destroyer, Maintainer-Preserver. They each have
their own Loka or world.

Brahma Loka is heaven, a benevolent place where the positive
is believed to be the good, and where all support all. It is
subtle air. You ascend to it by understanding alone. Siva Loka
is Hell, a malevolent place where the negative is believed
to be the good, and where the jivas smash each other into myriad
fragments, it is subtle earth, and you descend into it by your
attraction to the truth. It is the destination of the yogis.
Visnu Loka is a Great Mass of Being, subtle water,
the Ocean into which everything real dissolves without trace
and is preserved. There is a horizontal way to Visnu Loka
which is followed by the bhogis who slowly accumulate enjoyment.
Enjoyment evolves being and your being is in reality part of
the Great Mass of Being which is Visnu Loka. The action and
interaction of the three gunas, the warfare between the three
great gods, is Prakriti. Prakriti is something that Purusha, the
highest witness within you, realizes it should not become
entangled with.

If you find yourself entangled in, and sojourning in, any of
the three Great Lokas, you will not be able to stay there for ever.
Eventually you have to leave and take another birth. None of
the Lokas is absolute. Some advaitins state that Brahma Loka
is a half-way house.

So to attempt to answer your question:

"Where does the oneness go?" It never goes
anywhere, it has never moved. If you seem to be moving
you can be sure you are engulfed in Shakti's illusion.
Being still, being perfectly still, is a sadhana recommended
for approaching Brahman, for approaching yourself.
The Self is stillness so how can you possibly approach it
other than being still?

The Loka with heavenly denizens is Brahma Loka,
a golden world of heavenly light. O brave new world
that there are such people in it. It is part of the illusion.
You are still in the realm of the gunas and haven't
transcended them. The Parabrahman is the One Alone,
there are no others there, no celestial beings cohabiting
with you as separate entities for you to socialize with.

Advaita teaches that consciousness is One, there are
no levels of consciousness. Consciousness is light,
Isvara's light, dancing in the brain, which reflects upon
the screen of the mind, producing the world, which
you find interesting. Light is associated with sattva,
and also with Isvara, his light, consciousness, the world,
the Atman... all indicate that you are still in the realm of
the gunas, and still in the illusion. The Absolute is awareness
of awareness, and stands behind consciousness. When you
become aware of consciousness for what it is, you realize
that consciousness is a temporary condition, which will leave
you at death and it will rejoin the universal consciousness.
A jnani once said: "Consciousness is normally associated with
an individual. But it is not really the individual that has
consciousness, but it is the consciousness that assumes
innumerable forms." Consciousness produces the world,
including the suffering. Consciousness is merely a subtle
form of energy, and energy is indicative of Shakti, the creator
of the illusion. Consciousness merely illuminates the forms,
and if there are forms then you are still in the illusion,
because the Absolute, including Shakti, has no form.

You are not consciousness nor anything within its contents.
It is difficult to accept that consciousness is part of the illusion.
The Atman identifies with a form within consciousness.
The form that the Atman identifies with is your nature,
the jiva. The Atman is being tricked by Shakti. Why?
That is the ultimate problem which can only be
resolved by knowledge and understanding of the error.

Maya Shakti is particularly associated with arousal
and manifestation of the Aham (I am) and animation
of the buddhi (intellect) in man, in the sense of evoking
the illusion of the ego, and the formation of an image of
a natural self in the mind, which is merely a projection
of the intellect, and with which the pure consciousness
so automatically identifies as itself. "Identity occurs only
when there is the `I am'. The Parabrahman is without
identity. The concept or thought `I am' is not there in
the Parabrahman. Everyone assumes a certain image
of themselves, believing I am so and so. The image is
merely an intellectual concept about oneself. When this
is seen for what it is, and understood to be the source of
one's actions, one becomes free of it by seeing it as false."

But why the Shakti produces an illusion in front of our
consciousness knowing we will identify with it.... is an
interesting question. I do not know the answer, but I offer
an hypothesis that it is connected with the separation of the
Atman from Brahman. It is perhaps an attempt to remove
ignorance associated with the Atman? Atman has separated
from Brahman and as a result the entire illusory manifestation,
Prakriti, comes into being with the object of helping the
Atman to return to the Self. In man the Atman is pure
consciousness that is looking out. In ignorance Atman
identifies with something in Prakriti, something illusory,
a nature, a person, and the identified Atman is now known
as the jiva. Atman's identification with what it is not.... is
ignorance. The jivaatman having become enmeshed in
Prakriti is played with mercilessly until it disengages itself
from Prakriti. The entire universe, Shakti's illusory universe,
is playing with you.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanisad states that you, the Atman,
couldn't stand being one alone. You wanted a companion.
Shakti is your companion, and by her power she turns you
into a multitude. Jnanis say yes, this occurs at the threshold
of your being, which is the I-am state, but the ultimate state is
beyond the grasp of both the mind and the Upanisads. In the
ultimate there is no desire. Therefore Shakti is the companion
of Brahman but the Absolute has no companion and is the
One Alone. Shakti is Brahman's desire but the Absolute is
desireless. It may be concluded that Brahman and the Absolute
are not the same. The Absolute is beyond Brahman.

Conceptually, Shakti cannot be understood unless the Absolute
is transcendental to, and beyond, Brahman. For this reason
the concept of the Parabrahman is formulated, as that which
is transcendental to Brahman. The Sanskrit word para means
transcendental, into the remotest extreme, that which is faintly
detectable only at the extremity of consciousness and which
then is realized to be located beyond the range of human faculties.
The Parabrahman is absolute, whereas Brahman is not an absolute.
Brahman is in fact Visnu Loka, a transcendental Mass of Being
into which everything real is preserved, into which all the beings
disssolve without trace, everything dissolving into impersonal being.
Some advaitins may have confused Visnu Loka with Brahman,
that is with Saguna Brahman? Advaita is a philosophy which
is almost impossible to understand but it becomes slightly more
easily understood if three levels of Brahman are formulated:
Saguna Brahman, Nirguna Brahman, the Parabrahman. Only
the Parabrahman can be regarded as Absolute.

Brahma Loka is for those who understand, but understanding
is only a stage. Some jnanis say "you must go beyond this
understanding stage, to a stage beyond, you must come to
a state of "I have not understood anything". "The ultimate point
of view is that there is nothing to understand, so when we try to
understand, we are only indulging in flights of concepts across
the sky of the mind."

Understanding is the realization that the truth is beyond the mind.
Understanding is the realization that one has to go beyond the mind.
At a certain significant point the mind has to be abandoned, and at
that moment there has to be an expansion into the greater. In
Sanskrit the word Brahman derives from a verbal root 'brh' which
means to expand. One goes beyond the mind when the mind
expands instantly, explodes, into a greater dimension that intimates
its presence by knocking on the walls of one's small confining
consciousness. Hearing the sound coming from the Paramarthika,
one gives it attention.... and the same instant you expand.... you
become everything, everything becomes you. That is the oneness
you speak of. It has not gone anywhere. It is always there. It is
you who has gone somewhere... you have moved away, just a
little, from Brahman.

Atman believes he is Atman. Atman believes he is individual
awesome pure consciousness looking out. Atman believes he is
everything and everything is himself. The ignorance is in the Atman.
Shakti has through her intermediaries, Maya and Ahamkara, animated
the Buddhi which is part of Isvara's light, bringing it to apparent
illusory life. The Buddhi projects the jiva, your nature. The Atman
within you, your pure consciousness, believing it is everything,
sees the jiva, and moves towards it, identifying with it. Once your
consciousness identifies with the jiva you become it. You are glued
to it for endless transmigratory existences. The ignorance involves
moving, identifying with what one is not, believing oneself is
an individual, consciousness looking only outwards, failing to
discriminate between the real and the not-real. If you can see it,
you cannot be it.

Atman has separated from Brahman.
Atman is pure consciousness... yes.
Consciousness is One... yes.
I am pure consciousness that is One... no.
You are the awareness that is aware of consciousness.
Awareness stands behind consciousness.
Atman is not Atman. Atman is Brahman.
Ultimately you are neither Atman, nor Brahman.
They are all part of the illusion, highly refined and great parts
of the illusion. First you become them, then you transcend them.
You are transcendental awareness.
You are awareness of awareness.
There are no more words.

John Ward

TOWARD THE TRUTH

|kuntimaddi sadananda to advaitin



There is saying – God helps those who can help themselves.

Realization involves clear understanding of the truth since according to Vedanta, it is the ignorance generated misunderstanding of the truth is the root cause for suffering. When I proceed to take a path, and do not have either clear understanding of either the destination or knowledge that the path leads to the intended destination, then there is finite probability that I my get lost in the path or I may luckily end up in the destination. Randomly one cannot arrive at the goal since the obstacles for the path are many and some are dangerous too – hence scriptures says – kshuraya dhaara duratyayaa, durgam pathanaat kavayo vadanti – it is a razor-edge path and therefore it is easy to fall down, if one is not vigilant.

In the Ch. Up. 6th chapter the teacher Uddalaka provides his son, Swetaketu, what is the means for knowledge of the truth - in the form of a story. A man from Gandhari desham or place was tied and blind-folded, taken to a forest, was robbed and was left behind in that dense forest, unharmed. The man in a state of helplessness, keeps screaming for help, turning in all directions – saying that he was tied and blind-folded and needs help to get back to his town. Some kind soul passing by runs to him, unties, and removes the blind-fold, and thus sets him free, pointing the direction to his town and distance involved, and guides him to proceed in that direction. This mans proceeds in the pointed direction and using his intelligence, medhaa (the forest-foot paths being zig-zag, therefore he has to move zig-zag path, while not loosing sight of the general direction for the goal that was pointed by his savior). On the way, he confirms that he is in the right
path by inquiring with passers by to insure that he will reach his destination. With his rightful efforts and with the help he received initially and later, he eventually reaches his destination. If he vigilent, he reaches faster without getting lost in those zig-zag paths.

Shankara points out that the scriptures provides the map and the direction and teacher comes in the form of a savior and removes his blind-fold of ignorance and directs him to proceed in the direction pointed for abiding in the knowledge of the truth. The ups and down along the zig-zag path due to the praarabda has to be endured without forgetting the goal and direction to proceed. He has to use his medha or intelligences all along to insure that he does not loose sight of the goal and the path, taking the help of the passersby without loosing is discriminative power to insure the suggestions of the passers by are not contradictory to the goal that was originally pointed out by his teacher or the savior.

We need to have a full faith in the words of the savior – that what he said in terms of goal and the path are indeed correct before we can proceed. There are many intellectual giants – all scholars of Vedas – yet have misinterpreted the scriptures as we have many Veda-based philosophies. Since they themselves vehemently criticize the other Vedantic teachings saying that they are all wrong interpretations (in our story pointing to wrong direction and distance to reach the goal), question arises as to which teacher is right and whom to follow : we have besides advaita, vishiShTaadvaita, dvaita with various sub-sects – all claiming Vedas and puraNaas as authority.

Goudapaada in his kaarki- 2nd ch. vaitatya prakaraNa – lists many philosophical doctrines that are based on the truth that is objectifyable, which is other than the subject, I – all taking Vedas as pramaaNa. All these philosophical positions are dismissed as untrue because they prescribe the the truth as objective, different from the subject, I. Any object is mithyaa since it can be perceived or reached or gained or known or conceptualized, etc. The logic is any objectifiable truth is finite, therefore limited, and therefore anityam or temporary (was not there before and will not be there later and therefore is not really there in the present also- adaavante yannasti vartamaanepi tattadhaa). That which is anityam cannot be real it is only mithyaa. On the other hand Advaita rests on the nithya vastu or eternal entity that can never be dismissed – it is the turiiyam – beyond any states and that pervades all the states. It is only forth in the sense
that it different from the three yet it pervades the three as the substantive for the three. Hence in spite of how great giants those philosophers or daarshanikaas are or were, if they think that the truth is objectifyable entity different from the subject, then all those philosophies constitute only confusions.

Having dismissed all those philosophies – GouDapaada makes an interesting statement - which is important from our perspective- since we get into heated discussions as which is right or which is worng.

Yam bhaavam darshayedyasya
tam bhaavam sa tu pasyati|
tam caavati sa bhuutvaa22sou
tadgrahaH sumupaiti tam|| II-29.

Seeker recognizes only those ideas which are presented to him by his teacher (in our story the savior). The all pervading aatma being the substantive of all ideas, including the confused ones, it too pervades them too and thus supports them too. Hence having faith in those ideas, when a seeker proceeds in that direction with faith (even if they are not correct) he ultimately reach the goal, that it is one without second and pervades every second.

Hence Krishna statement: yo yo yam yam tanum bhaktaH .. whoever whoever he may be and whatever whatever form (here form includes ideas or concepts) he worships I give him with full faith and eventually he will grow out of the path to reach that which is pathless.

The idea is not disturb the others who are in the wrong path or wrong understanding, since if they have full faith in that understanding, the Lord will help him see the truth in one way or the there if not in this life in the life after.

From the point of our discussions, it is important to present the correct understanding and show if possible the incorrectness either logically or scripturally or by both and leave it with that. Goudapaada establishes what is the correct understanding and why the others are confused. In the above sloka he, however says that every sincere seeker ultimately gets the help he needs later if not now and will eventually reach the destination, if not in the life, in the life after.

Hence Goudapaada says – tam sumupaiti – They will eventually reach the goal, even though their current understanding of the goal and the means is incorrect. It is the faith that takes them to the ultimate goal – is the promise of the Lord.

Hari Om!
Sadananda

SO WHO ARE YOU

So Who Are You?
by Ken Wilber
The witnessing of awareness can persist through waking, dreaming and deep sleep. The Witness is fully available in any state, including your own present state of awareness right now. So I'm going to talk you into this state, or try to, using what are known in Buddhism as "pointing out instructions." I am not going to try to get you into a different state of consciousness, or an altered state of consciousness, or a non-ordinary state. I am going to simply point out something that is already occurring in your own present, ordinary, natural state. So let's start by just being aware of the world around us. Look out there at the sky, and just relax your mind; let your mind and the sky mingle. Notice the clouds floating by. Notice that this takes no effort on your part. Your present awareness, in which these clouds are floating, is very simple, very easy, effortless, spontaneous. You simply notice that there is an effortless awareness of the clouds. The same is true of those trees, and those birds, and those rocks. You simply and effortlessly witness them. Look now at the sensations in your own body. You can be aware of whatever bodily feelings are present-perhaps pressure where you are sitting, perhaps warmth in your tummy, maybe tightness in your neck. But even if these feelings are tight and tense, you can easily be aware of them. These feelings arise in your present awareness, and that awareness is very simple, easy, effortless, spontaneous. You simply and effortlessly witness them. Look at the thoughts arising in your mind. You might notice various images, symbols, concepts, desires, hopes and fears, all spontaneously arising in your awareness. They arise, stay a bit, and pass. These thoughts and feelings arise in your present awareness, and that awareness is very simple, effortless, spontaneous. You simply and effortlessly witness them. So notice: you can see the clouds float by because you are not those clouds-you are the witness of those clouds. You can feel bodily feelings because you are not those feelings-you are the witness of those feelings. You can see thoughts float by because you are not those thoughts-you are the witness of those thoughts. Spontaneously and naturally, these things all arise, on their own, in your present, effortless awareness. So who are you? You are not objects out there, you are not feelings, you are not thoughts-you are effortlessly aware of all those, so you are not those. Who or what are you? Say it this way to yourself: I have feelings, but I am not those feelings. Who am I? I have thoughts, but I am not those thoughts. Who am I? I have desires, but I am not those desires. Who am I? So you push back into the source of your own awareness. You push back into the Witness, and you rest in the Witness. I am not objects, not feelings, not desires, not thoughts. But then people usually make a big mistake. They think that if they rest in the Witness, they are going to see something or feel something-something really neat and special. But you won't see anything. If you see something, that is just another object-another feeling, another thought, another sensation, another image. But those are all objects; those are what you are not. No, as you rest in the Witness-realizing, I am not objects, I am not feelings, I am not thoughts-all you will notice is a sense of freedom, a sense of liberation, a sense of release-release from the terrible constriction of identifying with these puny little finite objects, your little body and little mind and little ego, all of which are objects that can be seen, and thus are not the true Seer, the real Self, the pure Witness, which is what you really are. So you won't see anything in particular. Whatever is arising is fine. Clouds float by in the sky, feelings float by in the body, thoughts float by in the mind-and you can effortlessly witness all of them. They all spontaneously arise in your own present, easy, effortless awareness. And this witnessing awareness is not itself anything specific you can see. It is just a vast, background sense of freedom-or pure emptiness-and in that pure emptiness, which you are, the entire manifest world arises. You are that freedom, openness, emptiness-and not any itty bitty thing that arises in it. Resting in that empty, free, easy, effortless witnessing, notice that the clouds are arising in the vast space of your awareness. The clouds are arising within you-so much so, you can taste the clouds, you are one with the clouds. It is as if they are on this side of your skin, they are so close. The sky and your awareness have become one, and all things in the sky are floating effortlessly through your own awareness. You can kiss the sun, swallow the mountain, they are that close. Zen says "Swallow the Pacific Ocean in a single gulp," and that's the easiest thing in the world, when inside and outside are no longer two, when subject and object are nondual, when the looker and looked at are One Taste. You see?

NIRVANASHATKAM

Adi Sankaracharya's
Nirvanashatkam
Translated by S. N. Sastri

Introduction:
Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada has blessed posterity with a large number of invaluable compositions. These can be grouped under three broad categories. The first category, meant for the intellectually most advanced, comprises his commentaries (Bhashya) on the Upanishads, Brahmasutra and the Bhagavadgita. The second category consists of independent works, known as prakarana granthas, which expound the gist of the Upanishads in simple language. These vary in length from half a verse to one thousand verses. In the third category fall devotional hymns.

Nirvanashatkam is a prakarana grantha consisting of six verses. Prakarana has been defined in the Vishnu Dharmottara Purana thus:
“Prakarana is a text which explains some particular aspects of the Sastra and deals with certain secondary questions arising out of the explanations given”.

The instruction emphatically conveyed by the six verses of Nirvanashatkam is that identification with the body, mind, and senses is the root cause of all sorrow and that it should be given up and one should realize one’s real nature as none other than the supreme Brahman. This realization is what is known as liberation.

1. I am not the mind, nor the intellect, nor the ego-sense, nor the store-house of memories. I am not the ear, nor the tongue, nor the nose, nor the eyes. Nor am I the sky (space), or the earth, or fire, or air. I am the supreme auspiciousness of the form of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.

Note: In all these verses the term ’I’ stands for the pure atma. The mind is defined thus in Brihadaranyaka upanishad, 1.5.3—“Desire, resolve, doubt, faith, lack of faith, steadiness, unsteadiness, shyness, intelligence, fear—all these are nothing but the mind”. The idea brought out here is that all emotions are in the mind and not in the atma. A person identifies himself with his mind when he says, “I desire this”, “I have resolved to do this”, etc. This verse points out that this identification is wrong and is due to ignorance of the fact that every one is in reality the atma or self, which is identical with the supreme Brahman. The question arises, why have the intellect, ego-sense and the chittam been mentioned separately, when they are all included in the mind itself? The reason is that, though the mind is only one, it is given four different names in Vedanta according to the four different functions performed by it. This has been explained by Sri Sankara in Vivekachudamani in slokas 95 and 96 as below:
“The one antahkarana or inner organ is known by four different names, manas, buddhi, ahankara and chittam according to the different functions. When the mind cogitates it is called manas. When it comes to a decision it is called buddhi. When it stores memories it is called chittam. When it identifies itself with each of these functions it is known as ahankara. The manner in which these functions take place can be explained by taking an illustration. I am walking along the road and I see at a distance a person whose gait seems to resemble that of a certain friend of mine, named Raman. I begin to debate whether the person I see at a distance is Raman or not. This function of debating is what is called ‘manas’. When he comes nearer and I am able to see his face clearly, I compare it with the memory of the face of Raman stored in my mind. This memory is ‘chittam’. If I find that the two tally, I decide that he is Raman and I greet him. This function of deciding is called ‘buddhi’. The performer of all these three functions is ‘I’, which is known as ‘ahankara’. The term ‘manas’ is also generally used to denote all these four collectively, when these distinctions are not intended.

By the statement “I am not the mind, etc.”, we are asked not to identify ourselves with these activities of the mind and to look upon ourselves as the pure atma which is actionless and is a mere witness of the activities of the mind. In this way we will not be affected by the joys and sorrows that arise in the mind. In the Bhagavadgita, 3.27, the Lord says that all actions are performed by the body, mind and senses, but because of delusion every one thinks that he is the doer.

A person identifies himself with his body and his sense organs when he says, “I am stout, I am fair-complexioned, I hear, I taste, I smell, I see, etc”. The second line points out that this identification is also wrong and is due to delusion. The body is made up of the five elements, space, air, fire, water, and earth. By denying identification with these in the third line, identification with the physical body is denied.

The last line says that we are none other that the supreme Brahman which is existence-consciousness-bliss. The word Siva should not be mistaken to mean Lord Siva. Those who want to attack Advaita interpret this as meaning that Advaita asks the individual to arrogate to himself the status of God Himself. This is a wrong understanding. The term ‘Siva’ is used here in the same sense as in the Mandukya upanishad, 7, where it means ‘auspiciousness’ and denotes the supreme Brahman. The identity declared by Advaita is not between the individual or jiva as such and God. What Advaita says is that the jiva as well as God are in reality none but the pure Brahman, with the vesture of the body, mind and senses in the case of the jiva and Maya in the case of God. These vestures are not real. When these unreal vestures are negated, what remains in both cases is only the pure Brahman.

The body and mind have only empirical reality, i.e. they appear to be real only until the dawn of self-knowledge. Atma, which is identical with Brahman, is alone the absolute reality which is eternal and changeless. Thus the very essence of Advaita Vedanta, namely, the identity of the jivatma and paramatma is brought out in this verse and in all the subsequent verses.

2. I am not what is known as the life-breath, nor am I the five vital airs. I am not the seven ‘dhatus’ or constituents of the body. I am not the five sheaths. I am not speech, nor the hands, nor the feet. I am not the genital organ, nor the organ of excretion. I am the supreme auspiciousness of the form of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.

Note: The praana or life breath is given five names in Vedanta according to the five functions performed by it. These are what are spoken of as the five vital airs in this sloka. The five vital airs are praana, vyaana, apaana, samaana, and udaana. These are described in Sri Sankara’s Bhashya on Prasnopanishad. 3.5, thus:--- He (praana) places apaana, a division of himself, in the two lower apertures, as engaged in the work of ejecting the excreta. Praana himself, who occupies the position of the sovereign, resides in the eyes and the ears and issues out through the mouth and nostrils. In the navel is samaana, which is so called because it assimilates all that is eaten or drunk, distributes them equally in all parts of the body and effects digestion. Udaana, another division of praana, moves throughout the body and functions upwards. It leads the soul out of the body at the time of death and takes it to other worlds according to one’s punya and paapa. Vyaana regulates praana and apaana and is the cause of actions requiring strength. All these are only air and are therefore insentient. Kathopanishad, 2.2.5 says, “Mortals do not live by praana or apaana, but by something else on which these two depend”. They depend on the atma which is what gives them sentiency. Here we are told not to identify ourselves with the life-breath.

The seven dhatus are the constituents of the body such as marrow, fat, flesh, blood, lymph, skin, and the cuticle.

The five sheaths: These are described in the Taittiriya upanishad. The physical body is the outermost sheath. It is called the annamayakosha or sheath of food because it is nourished by food. Within this is the praanamayakosha or sheath of vital air, which is made up of the vital air with its five divisions and the organs of action, namely, speech, hands, feet, the genitals and the organ of excretion. The next inner sheath is the manomayakosha or sheath of the mind, which is made up of the mind and the five organs of perception, namely, ear, eye, and the senses of smell. taste, and touch. The next sheath is vijnaanamayakosha or the sheath of the intellect. This consists of the intellect or buddhi and the five organs of perception. The innermost sheath is the anandamayakosha or sheath of bliss. This is the primal ignorance or avidya which is the cause of transmigratory existence. These five sheaths constitute the body-mind complex. The instruction is that we should not identify ourselves with these which are all ephemeral and always undergoing changes.

The third line says that we are not the five organs of action. The last line is the same as in the first sloka.

3. I do not have any aversion or attachment, nor do I have greed, delusion, pride, or jealousy. I do not hanker after Dharma, wealth, pleasures, or liberation (the four purushaarthas). I am the supreme auspiciousness of the form of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.

Note: All the emotions such as likes, dislikes, greed, etc., belong to the mind and so the atma has no connection with them. The rules of Dharma apply only when there is identification with the body-mind complex. The atma has no desire for wealth or pleasures. The atma is ever liberated. It is only when the atma is identified with the body-mind complex that there is the notion of bondage and it is only then that liberation has to be sought. The pure atma is ever free. A person who has become totally free from identification with his body and mind is already liberated. As far as the atma itself is concerned, it has neither bondage nor liberation, just as there is neither day nor night in the sun itself.

4. There is no such thing as merit or sin for me. Nor is there joy or sorrow. I have no need for mantras, or pilgrimage, or Vedas, or sacrifices. I am neither the enjoyed nor the enjoyer, nor enjoyment. I am the supreme auspiciousness of the form of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.

Note: All these are only for the jiva who identifies himself with his body and mind. The atma is pure, untainted, and actionless. Once a person has realized that he is the pure atma, he has no need of mantras, pilgrimage, etc., because there is nothing more to be attained. The joy and sorrow referred to in this sloka are those which arise due to external circumstances. These have a beginning and an end and these pertain only to the mind and not the atma. The atma is of the very nature of supreme eternal bliss.

I am neither the enjoyed nor the enjoyer, nor enjoyment – What is enjoyed is an object. So this means that the atma is not an object. The enjoyer is one who performs an action, a doer. So this means that the atma is not a doer. Enjoyment is an act. The atma s not an act.

5. I have no possibility of death, nor distinction of caste. I have no father, nor mother. I have no birth. I have no relations, nor friend, nor guru, nor disciple. I am the supreme auspiciousness of the form of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.

Note: All the relationships exist only as long as a person looks upon himself as the body-mind complex. The atma is eternal and so it has no birth and no death.

6. I am unconditioned (and so free from all attributes). I am formless. I am all-pervading. I am beyond the organs. I am ever the same. There is neither bondage nor liberation for me. I am the supreme auspiciousness of the form of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.

Note: The pure atma is not conditioned or limited by the body and mind. The atma, being identical with Brahman, is all-pervading and changeless. Bondage is nothing but identification with the body and mind. This is due to ignorance of our real nature. When this ignorance is destroyed by the knowledge of our real nature it will be realized that there never was any bondage at all. It is not as if every one is in bondage and becomes liberated on attaining self-knowledge. Every one is in reality none other than the supreme Brahman even before the dawn of self-knowledge. Liberation is not the production of a new state that did not exist earlier. Liberation is only the realization that one has always been Brahman but has been wrongly thinking of himself as a limited being. This can be understood by taking the classic example of the rope being mistaken for a snake. When a light is brought and it is found that there is only a rope, no one will say that there was previously a snake, but now there is only a rope. Similarly it is wrong to say that there was previously bondage and after the dawn of knowledge there is liberation. In reality there is neither bondage nor liberation, but both are attributed to the jiva due to ignorance.

HAPPINESS

Happiness
by Dhanya

Recently I was talking with some friends about happiness. What is happiness? What is its nature? Who are we in relationship to it?

Here is an examination of the mechanics of happiness, and a description of what could be called, ‘the happiness equation.’

Oftentimes the gain of happiness goes like this. It usually begins with a desire in the form of, 'I want something.' I have a desire, for a certain situation or, a certain object, or something. Something I don't have now.

So then, usually I will make some effort to fulfill that desire, and if I do manage to fulfill the desire, then what?

In the moment of the fulfillment of the desire, the mind relaxes, and in that moment the mind no longer has the 'tension' which having an unfulfilled desire produces.

In that moment (and it might just be for a few seconds) the mind relaxes utterly. It doesn't want anything in that moment. ‘Ahhhhhhhh,’ it says, ‘all is well with me.’

In that moment, of relaxation, what is called 'the self,' or one's true nature, which is whole and complete, and devoid of sorrow, shines in the relaxed mind, which for that brief time has no other competing content.

And what is the effect of that? The effect of that is the feeling of happiness, because for that instant the self, which lacks for nothing, which is full and complete, whose nature is love and limitless well-being, that self shines in the relaxed mind, and that mind has the experience of happiness.

But then in the next instant, we may want something else, or we may fear we will lose what we have gained. Then that fear or worry (which is based on the experience that things don't last) competes with the happiness shining in the mind, and that sorrow, tension, or worry comes to the forefront, while happiness seems to have vanished.

The happiness experience can also take place unexpectedly, not necessarily through the fulfillment of a desire, but also when one experiences something, be it pleasing music, a sunset, the smile of a child, the scent of a rose, the sight of a rainbow, which just for an instant, stops the mind's discontent, and for that instant, the fullness of the self again shines with no competition, and for that instant again, ‘I feel happy.’

So those are the mechanics of happiness. The happiness equation generally goes like this, 'I want that person, thing, or situation so that I can be happy.'

And it is because of wanting to experience happiness again and again that we seek out experiences which will produce it. We are happiness addicts, because it just feels so good. We can't get enough of it, and the only way we know how to achieve it is to manipulate the world of objects in order to achieve that effect. This requires a lot of effort, and it doesn’t always work.

At other times happiness may just come upon us unexpectedly, like a gift. But however it arrives; one thing is for certain, it will never stay.

All we really know about the experience of happiness is that we love it, it doesn't last, and we want it back. So it's kind of duality's trick.

This self, one’s true nature, which is experienced in the moment when the mind is desireless, is actually ever present, and always available, but it is 'as though' hidden by our wants, our sense of lack, by grief, by sorrow, by identification with changing and often negative emotions, by identification as a body/mind/sense organs person who will always be limited, and lacking in some way.

If a person has recognized this self as existing separately from those things, and yet ever present to those things, then that person doesn't need to manipulate the world of objects in order to bring about the experience of happiness in the mind.

One can just go straight to the source, which is actually one's true nature, ever present, full, and complete, not subject to change, not subject to lack or sorrow.

There is a line from the scriptures of Vedanta which says, 'The one who has recognized the self crosses sorrow,' not because sorrowful experiences will never take place again for that person, but because he or she has recognized what the actual source of happiness is, and the source of happiness is never sorrowful.

So even if a sorrowful event takes place and as though overwhelms the mind for some time, having recognized the self as ever present, the source of happiness and never sorrowful, one has found one’s true home.

Once that recognition has taken place, one doesn't lose sight of it again, and one's mind can rest in that. It is awareness, which is existence, which is full and complete. It is also known as sat/chit/ananda.