Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the
words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
We are now studying Aatmabodha. As
always, with each week, you are encouraged to review the previous teachings and
spend some time in contemplation of the meanings as the affect your life.
Please do consider purchasing the text. Remember, also, to recite the mangala charana before each study and
review the lessons before each new one.
Aatman
is separate from all - yet we have had it suggested that without Aatman, life
would not be present - or certainly self-aware. Aatman is the 'intelligence'
part of life. We know that as Brahman, all life functions are given their
'juice'. It was mentioned last week also that due to the shortcomings of the
average person, there has been a tendency to misconstrue what is Aatman
("God") and we attribute, perhaps, more than we ought to that Divine
Principal. This is now discussed;
Vyap&tei:vinÔye:vaTma
VyaparIvaivvekinam!,
d&Zyte=æe;u
xavTsu xaviÚv ywa zzI.19.
vyaapRteshvindriyyeshvaatmaa
vyaapaariivaavivekinaam,
dRsyate-bhreshu
dhaavatsu daavanniva yathaa shashii ||19||
The moon appears to be running when the clouds move in
the sky. Likewise to the non-discriminating person, the Aatman appears to be
active when it is observed through the functions of the sense organs.
As
children, certainly, and sometimes even now as adults, we might look up at the
night sky filled with scudding clouds and spot the moon peeking through them
from time to time and - just for a moment - a trick of the eye causes us to
think that the moon itself is doing the moving. Another more modern example is
when riding on a bus or train and there is a sensation of movement caused by
another bus or train beside us. It befuddles the brain!
The
Aatman, that Pure Consciousness, illuminates our thoughts, words and deeds; if
we have a sense of Divinity at all, then
we can be inclined to mistake the actions as being those of the Self. By
accepting that Self is nothing but ourself we might mistake biological function
for mystical function. The sense organs operate in a mechanical fasion - the
Self merely observes that action. The Self is the illuminator, yes, and the
giver of capacity to function, yes; but it is not the function itself - that is
left to the golakas - the 'wells of action'. The ear gathers the sound and
transfers it to the brain. The eyes gather light and do the same. The fingers
gather tactile sensations and transfer that information… and so on. Only when
the functions hit the antaH karana, does the Aatman observe them. It is in the
light of Self alone that all information is recognised and experienced. There
would be no existence of life in the individual without Aatman.
A
person who lacks viveka - the ability to discriminate real from unreal - cannot
correctly understand the power which drives the living creature. If there is
sufficient mental poise, good scientific observation and a modicum of
intelligence, the student can easily recognise that the eye has been tricked
and only the clouds are moving - and that the moon cares less about the clouds
or the little critter on the other planet looking back at its effulgence!
Likewise it can be seen that the agitations of life are only generated from the
matter layers (koshaH) and the saakshi, the Aatman, is unaffected by them and
is uninvolved in the daily nonsense of the subjective being.
Gurudev
makes this statement in the book; 'We recognise Life as dynamic, because we
observe It only through the vehicles of its expressions. Looking at a living
creature, through its physical, mental and intellectual activities, we say Life
is dynamic, ever-pulsating. In fact, Life as such is not active, the vehicles
thrilled by Life act and these actions are superimposed upon the Self, and in
this confused observation it seems as though the Self is active.'
All
our earthly experience we improperly align with Self - which in fact has no
experience, no agitation. It is silent and steady. To experience Self without
all such eruptions is the goal of the spiritual seeker; to know Self in its
silent existence is to realise Divinity.
