Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
'Text-days' are for delving into the words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
TATTVABODHAH.
[You are reminded that reviewing the
previous week's posts will become essential as the meanings of the Sanskrit
terms may not be repeated. There may come additional or alternative meanings,
but all should be noted. As study progresses, the technical terms must
necessarily become 'second nature' to the student. When the Sanskrit is used,
the translation will fall easily into place - or likewise, if the English is
used, the Sanskrit term must easily come forwards.]
Please revisit THIS post and chant the mangala-charana. Please use the
TattvabodaH label to access all posts relevant to this text.
Beyond The PanchakosaaH; The Nature
of The Self.
The shishya of the text has remembered that at the sangraH verse
there was promise to have The Self defined. In reminding the Guru with the
question of what is the Self if it is none of what has been described thus far,
there comes a sequence of smaller questions regarding the parts given by the Guru as
a response to the first question. As this is the key subject of Vedanta, the
overview here is but a teaser - an advertisement, if you will, for the eager
'consumer' of spirit, holding just enough to encourage continued research. Due
to the shortness of each of these in this section, all four are being given in
one post, along with the concluding declaration of the Guru for this chapter.
आत्मा तर्हि कः। सच्चिदानन्दस्वरूपः।
सत् किम्। कालत्रयेऽपि तिष्ठतीति सत्।
चित् किम्। ज्ञानस्वरूपः।
आनन्दः कः। सुख़स्वरूपः।
एवं सच्चिदानन्दस्वरूपं स्वात्मानं विजानीयात्।
aatmaa
tarhi kaH. sachchidaanandasvaruupaH.
sat kim.
kaalatraye.api tiSThatiiti sat.
chit kim.
GYaanasvaruupaH.
aanandaH
kaH. suKasvaruupaH.
evaM
saccidaanandasvaruupaM svaatmaanaM vijaaniiyaat.
"Then what is The Self
?"
"It is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness, Bliss."
"What is Existence
?"
"That which remains unchanged in the three periods of time
(past, present, future) is Existence."
"What is Consciousness
?"
"It is of the nature of absolute Knowledge."
"What is Bliss ?"
"It is of the nature of absolute happiness."
"Thus one should know oneself to be of the nature of
Existence-Consciousness-Bliss."
The Self is All in that it is constituted of Existence,
Consciousness, Bliss. What a deceptively simple statement!!! In this one question and answer we have the very
essence of Vedantic pursuit. The core purpose of life is to research and
understand exactly what is life. The
response is then given in such a manner that we have to assume not just an
inference, but direct experience. This
is key to the concept of Knowledge (capital 'k') in Vedanta… it is not the mere
gathering of inputs, the harvesting of information. It IS the information. It
is the Knowledge which ends all knowledge. This is referred to as स्वरूप लक्षण /svaruupa
lakshana, an example given from direct experience and is the encouragement any
seeker needs that the goal of this Knowledge is attainable. [Very many hours and texts will be covered in pursuit
of this; for now, let this be enough.]
Existence is here advised to be something which 'is', outside of all
our current understanding of existence. We are inclined to consider existence
as having substance, but here we are discussing something so subtle it is
totally beyond any measurement we can make. Quantum physics goes some way to
postulating what 'existence' might be made of and recent discoveries are
exciting as to the possibilities of there being 'something' which is both
present and yet not present, yet remains ever constant within itself. The
manmade constructs of time and space are not binding to such an existence. What
is more, in this Guru's response it is made clear that this 'existence' is
permanent; it was, is now, and ever shall be. Again, understand, that as far as
Existence is concerned, time does not exist, thus past, present and future as
we perceive it is all but one thing for Existence and it remains in its state,
without change, in that permanence.
Other than Existence itself, there is an Awareness of that
Existence. This Consciousness is not ego-aware such as we mere critters which
emanate from it are aware. Even 'thoughts' are not present here. Simple
awareness, such as is represented in the gaps between our thoughts - the
purpose of meditation is to find more and more of those gaps and to widen them
so that we can return to our nascent state. It is thoughts which give us the
concept of 'knowledge'. The Consciousness, though, does not require these, for
it is not the object. It is the subject. It is like the sun, ever shining. Our
thoughts are like torches, attempting to illuminate our world - even shining
towards the 'sun' of Consciousness in an attempt to explain it. The sun,
however, sees not the torches, is not at all disturbed or added to by their
presence. It simply shines. It does what it does and consequently life arises
due to its presence, but the sun knows this not, cares not and is in no way
modified by the presence of the life it promotes.
Similarly, the Bliss condition of the Self is nothing more than the
sum of these two things. Free of the burden of scattered personality, of the
ups and downs of small existence.Though, through limitation of language, this may suggest a
separateness of Bliss, just as it might of Existence and Consciousness, actually all three things are together the very thing which we
attempt to describe here. All three together are That One True Self.
Thus, says the Guru, the realised master, in conclusion to this
section of inguiry, "don't waste your time dear one; make this little life
worth while and work towards reunification with your True Self which is nothing
other than these three things!"
If the Self is One, why the three-part description? It can be put
this way - "I AM" - "I Know that I AM" - "I am always
dear to myself". It is important to know these three, as they inform the
advanced stages of Vedantic research and application, when meditation and study
grow ever more entwined for application and growing experience. This is further
elucidated with the four great statements (mahaavaakyas), which we shall come
to in due course.
The chapter on the panchakoshas in TattvabodaH is now complete.
Next? The Universe. Why not, eh? &*>