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.
Last
week we explored the nature of illumination, whereby the inert objects from
which light may shine do not, of themselves, possess the ability to glow. The
analogy is now taken again but from a different angle.
Svbaexe
naNybaedeCDa baexrUptyaTmn>,
Na
dIpSyaNydIpeCDa ywa SvaTmàkazne.29.
Svabodhe
naanyabodechccha bodharuupatayaatmanaH,
Na
diipasyanyadiipechccha yathaa svaatmaprkaashane ||29||
A lighted lamp does not need another lamp to illumine
its light. So too, Aatman, which is Knowledge itself, needs no other knowledge
to now Itself.
Light
is necessary to see the furniture in a dark room. However, to see the light
which is shining upon the furniture, there is no need of a further lamp. When
the sun lights up the sky, do we require another form of light to see it? No. The sun is the source of its own light and requires no other. It is
the epitome of illumination.
Likewise,
to Realise the Self, that illumination of all that we perceive - the light in
all our experiences and in all living things - we do not need any further
'light'.
If
we understand that the sun, to our limited world, is the source of all light
and life as a result of its presence, how much more must we understand when we
see by the light of Consciousness, which illumines the entire universe?!
When
we remove the lamp from the room with the furniture, does the light cease to
exist? When the earth rolls round and we are into the night, does the sun cease
to shine? Of course not. The lamp, though, can be extinguished very shortly.
The sun, ultimately, will also be extinquished. Aatman, however, will continue
to shine, for it is the very source of all illumination of every kind. It is
eternal and effulgent. To come to know this light of lights does not require
any other light to be applied.
The
world of objects is 'bright' to us for as long as we look externally. The
moment we turn introvert, attention inwards, we start to see the light which
has been hidden, that Light alone which illumines the entire world of beings
and experience. This introversion can be as mantra, japa, meditation; whichever
technique we adopt, with dedication and application it will bring us ever
closer to true luminescence, that state of Realisation which has been learned
by many a saint and sage before us.
The
intellect struggles to comprehend the One, as we saw in yesterday's post on
Narada Bhakti Sutra. This is because there is a lack of an object of cognition.
The intellect itself becomes an obstacle to Realisation. If we use a telescope,
we can see everything but ourselves. The intellect is a tool as useful as the
telescope for seeing and comprehending the world, but is, ultimately, useless
for comprehending the Transcendent. The Aatman is the very Self attempting to
see Itself. The intellect is, in fact, an object which the Self can see, just
as we can see the telescope. Getting far enough away from our physical matrix
in order to accept this, however, is the challenge of meditation and
introspection. This is the work of the saadhaka. Working down through all our
gross and subtle layers in the physical world until we, finally, touch the
numinous Other, the True Self. At that point, there is light without lamp; in
that light nothing is illumined other than consciousness and bliss.
To
remain in this awareness, this aananda, is the goal of all serious saadhakas;
to remain in Self Luminescence is to be jiivanmukta, a realised Master in this
life itself.