Going Back To Some Basics part 3

                                                                    Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi

In this next installment on the basic Duality of  "Self" & "Other", modeled in terms of Descartes’ Coordinate Space, we go pack to zero-dimension, 0-D, the infinitesimal Point, the Sanskrit bindu which stands for conceptions of the Self, the Atman, & therefore of the identical Brahman, known in the objective sense as God.  This projected "empty substance" is the "taken for granted" background, in the objective sense.  Other 0-D Space "shadows" of this same include the false "I", the Ego.  This Ego, like the even more objective 0-D Spaces also serves as a Reference Origin Point for higher dimension spaces. 

For instance, Ego (or "Me") stands as Reference Origin Point for the Flow of  Thought which constitutes the 1-D model of Mind.  Mind like every other Coordinate Space is inherently limitless if only due to the Space’s objectively "formless" nature.  To that extent every Coordinate Space in our model is an Analog continuum, while the Reference Origin Point is the central Discrete point which specifies meaning to all the other Discrete Coordinate Points.  This Discrete quality introduced by Coordinate Points contrasts with the Analog continuum of the Space itself & this Discrete quality introduces situated separation, duality, multiplicity, duality, variation, diversity, & comparison – all due to the imagined infinitesimal Gaps dividing one Point from another.  Gaps are entire topic in themselves & the focus of the Eleatic Sages: Parmenides, Zeno, & Melissus. 

The Flow of  Thought, which solidifies further as a flow of Words, thus comparing to a flow of Sound as well, is like all just mentioned a 1-D "Number–Line" laid out along a Flow of Time.  So each of these linear 1-D Coordinate Spaces features a Referenced Origin Point of "Now" that divides Past from Present.  [The meditation on the "3 times" is taken up in a later installment.] Thought are Past or Present, just as Words & other Sounds are coming or gone.  Now is a 1-D Reference Origin Point for Thought, Words, & Sound just as Ego is a 1-D Reference Origin Point for Mind. The other Discrete Coordinate Points are Thoughts, Moments, Sounds, etc.  Every Thought pertains to what is good/bad for Me, big/small or near/far to Me, & so on.  All thoughts are referenced to the Origin Point Me, as all Moments are to the Origin Now.  But Mind is also modeled in 2-D, 3-D, & 4-D, as seen in the next installment. For now, again that dominant Object-Idea, the Body is discussed by Master Nome.

The Self is non–dependent Existence. It is regardless of the senses & corresponding thoughts. It is directly & immediately known. It is not known through something else. The Body is entirely dependent on sense perception in order to appear. The senses depend upon the mind. There is no body apart from these [senses & mind]. How, therefore, can the Self s Existence be equated with the body ?  The Body has no sense of "I".  The "I"  belongs to Existence. When the "I" sense is confounded with the Body, such is delusion, & the Self is then assumed to be a bodily being or an embodied entity. There is no actual experience of being a Body.  There are only Sense Perceptions, which are misconstrued in delusion.  There is actual Existence, with its own unbroken continuity, the invariable constant knowledge that you are. There is no memory of being a Body. There is the timeless knowledge of Existence.  Memory is always only of something objective, yet the object itself does not exist.  So, the memory of it is also unreal & cannot actually exist.  The Body is an illusion in Time & Space.  The Self is not in Time & Space.  How, therefore, can the Self s Existence be equated with the body ?

Ancient philosophers, & Bishop George Berkeley a few centuries ago, rightly reasoned that we mentally experience Perception, which is Thought in the Mind.  Even if there were "outside" Objects, none could ever be contacted, ever directly experienced. All we touch, all we experience are Thoughts which include Perceptual thoughts or Perceptions.  The role of the Body-idea in our Coordinate Space model of "Other" is yet to be detailed in later installments.  But as a stand-in for one’s Self, the Body is an illusory Perception, not a "thing" to hang your hat on.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

Going Back To Some Basics part 2

                                                                                                                         Master Nome

In the former & 1^st installment, we touched on the basic Duality of  "Self" & "Other", diverting to that one bit of "Other" that we so often take to be the "I", take to be oneself, namely, the Body.  Before continuing that thread, another is now introduced, namely the actually "Space" – idea within which the Body appears, along with Mind & World, those key ideas we take up after looking again further at the Body.

But initially, surrounding the vague sense of  "Other", conceived as different from one’s Self, the feeling that "there seems to be something" coalesces, as previously stated, with some kind of location, some size or extent, some "substance" constituting this "something". But what seems to be this "other" ?  In a way, this can be said to be a kind of "pure extent" or Space.  Seldom formalized, this universal sense of Space was simply systematized by Rene Descartes as mathematical Coordinate Space, familiar to grade school students as "graphs".  Now there is no pretense that such formal ideas crystallize in the initial sense of "Other" as Space, but adopting this device simplifies our discussion.

In essence the idea of Space is that of a Container, one that is formless, boundless, with no edge or boundary, empty of texture, unchanging, & vast when we so consider it. One aspect of this idea of Space is Dimension, a bit of form if you will, first formalized by Descartes in the manner of rulers or knotted ropes first borrowed by the Egyptians from fishing nets.  The two-dimensional simplification used by Descartes had appeared among the Greeks as Latitude & Longitude in Geodesy.  Such a concept was preserved by Arab philosophers during Europe’s Dark Ages. Leaking back of these ideas from Islam-conquered Spain to Italy prompted Perspective Drawing, Scaling, & the Architecture that allowed the Renaissance & later on, Analytical Geometry & ultimately Computer Science. Greek mathematics of Conic Sections played a major role in Descartes’ Coordinate Space as well.

While Descartes’ "graphs" are two-dimensional or 2-D, our everyday sense of Physical Space & the World are 3-D. And yet, we start next time to formalize the sense of "Other" this way, including the Body, by initially looking at 0-D & 1-D Spaces of Ego, Now, Here, & God for 0-D, followed by Time, & Mind in 1-D.  For now though, we continue with another installment on the Body idea by again quoting from Master Nome, disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi:

The Self is non–objective & ever the knower. The Body is objective & always only the known.  How, therefore, can the Self’s Existence be equated with the Body ?

Basically, like all the rest of the World, the Body is "out there" while one’s Self, the primordial Consciousness called "I" that knows of it sown Existence, that Self is "inside".  Terms like "out side" & "inside" take on more formal definition later in this series. "Objective" refers to the "objects" that are "outside", the "objects" that are known by "Perception" [physical objects] or "Conception" [subtle mental objects].  The Knower, the Consciousness is "Non-objective",  Only if we accept a Duality of Knower & Known, then do we similarly refer to the Duality of Subject & Object.  In that case we can somewhat equate "Non-objective" with "Subjective", but until then, "Non-objective" is more generally applicable.

The Self is attributeless Existence. The Body is known by its perceived attributes, apart from which there is no Body.  How, therefore, can the Self’s Existence be equated with the Body ?

"Attributes" are the specific qualities by which individual gross Perceptions or subtle Conceptions are distinguished, one from the other. Being "Non-objective", the Self has n attributes while the Body, an Object, does have attributes,

The Self is continuous. It does not commence at birth, & it does not cease at Death.  Existence does not have the attribute of “living” or “dead.”  Existence & the Knowledge of Existence are full & not partial.  Knowledge of Existence is not sporadic & does not move about to different parts.

Non-Duality characterizes the "substance" of the Self, while particular details characterize the body & other Objects. This applies to Continuity in Time, or its opposite, in the case of the Body.

The Existence of the Self is the constant background of the Body’s appearance  & disappearance, & likewise, of the Waking  & other states of Mind. The Body is discontinuous in several ways. For the Body, there is Life & Death. The experience of the Body is sporadic in Perception, with only one, or a few parts or senses experienced at any one time.   Never is one aware of all of it at once. The Body appears only in the Waking state of Mind. How, therefore, can the Self s Existence be equated with the Body?

Just at the Body is only known through Perception, so to is each Perception partial. For those from the Vedas through philosopher George Berkeley through modern Islamic author Harun Yahya, the World is Unreal. When perceiving the Leg, the Arm just isn’t there. Earlier quotes about how the Body "appears only in the moments of perception" is a caution that applies piece by piece.  We only experience a Body, or a Universe, one thin slice at a time. Mentally we "fill-in" the rest just as does the Optical system in vision.

Next time we continue with the model of Coordinate Space on the one hand, & the comments of Master Nome on the Body & the Self as well.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

Going Back To Some Basics

As happens here, we return again to the question: Do you exist ?  "Inside", each of us certainly feels: "Yes, certainly I exist !"  We also "know" so.  That "inner place" of certainty about your Existence, & certainty of  knowing so – that is the Self.  Known fully, the one Non-Dual Self reveals itself to be Infinite, Eternal, Existence – Consciousness – Bliss, or equivalently, Happiness or Love. But these are places we go latter, since we only take a 1^st step at this point.

Then what else is there ?  Perhaps one senses [truly or falsely] "there seems to be something."  Perhaps this "something" or "Other" seems characterized by some kind of location, some size or extent, some "substance" constituting this "something".  But what really is all this "other" ?  For now we focus on that one bit of "other" that we so often take to be the "I", take to be oneself, namely, the Body. Quoting Master Nome, disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi:

For Self-Realization, it is necessary to know the Self as transcendent of bodily form & limitation. By liberating oneself from the ignorant mis-identification with the Body & its attributes, one abides as the infinite & the eternal.  Those who understand that they seek a Realization that is not a bodily state … seek to discern the Self’s freedom from the Body & its attributes.  That is, one should know the Self’s transcendence of all bodily definition. The results of this knowledge of the Self s freedom from the limitations of the Body & its attributes are, Bliss & Peace that are undisturbed by bodily conditions, spiritual freedom from birth, growth, decay, illness, & death, & transcendence of action.

Among the numerous meditations just enumerated, runs the undercurrent that is the role that the "Body" plays in confusing the "I" – "Other" confusion.  Taking that "Body" from out of the "Other" category & mistaking it for the "I", the Self – this is an insurmountable obstruction to Enlightenment,

Remain detached from the Body, its attributes, & its activities. Utilize the bodily form, while it is alive, as an instrument for selfless activity inspired by wisdom, by the desire for Liberation, & by the immensity of Grace, acting with corresponding equanimity & devotion.  The bodily activities are used as an instrument that expresses the divine.

By contemplation on its wondrous workings, the Body may be viewed as a reminder of the Supreme Consciousness by which it appears, as does appear the entire Universe.  The emphasis is placed, not on the reminder, but on that of which one is reminded.

Abide unmoved by pleasure & pain, motion & inactivity, & birth & death.  For invariable Bliss, one must know one’s freedom from the Body & all bodily attributes.  Knowledge is Realization.  It is neither something done nor is it any bodily transformation, but it is comprehension of what is true.

And then, as if covering an interim, before Body-misidentification has been released, much of the above guides the Body-identified through & past that delusion.

The Self is Formless, birthless, deathless, & immutable.  It is eternal & infinite Being-Consciousness-Bliss.  Realization of this results from liberating the Self by the essential discrimination inherent in the inquiry, from the illusory bondage of ignorance, which is composed of the delusive assumption that the Self is something other than the true Being that it is.

It is possible to realize this true Being only if one is thoroughly free of the ignorance that consists of misidentification with the Body, for a Body has form, birth, death, change, does not last forever & is not infinite.

As long as there is any misidentification with the Body, real nature of the Self will not be known, or the Self  will be misconceived in terms of the limitations of the Body. When such a misconception is relinquished by a deep inquiry into one’s actual Being, the nature of the Self is self-evident.

The Self is changeless Existence. The Body changes continuously, even if this change is noticed only after some time.  How, therefore, can Existence be equated with the Body ? 

The Self is birthless. There is no time when it is not.  There is no experience, no knowledge, and no memory of non-existence or of the commencement of existence.  The Body has a birth.  How, therefore, can Existence be equated with the Body ?

The Self is immutable.  There is no increase or decrease in Existence.  The Body has growth & decay.  How, therefore, can Existence be equated with the Body ?

The Self is deathless.  There is no time when Existence is not, & nonexistence cannot even be imagined without oneself existing to imagine so.  The Body is multiplicity of elements and organs, a conglomerate of cells, apart from which there is no entity that can be referred to as a “Body.”   The Body is matter.   The Self is immaterial.  How, therefore, can Existence be equated with the Body ?

And then finally, the meditations turn back onto the Self, again reiterating non-identification with the "illusory" Body.

The Self is not momentary, but permanent without a moment’s interruption. Its Existence does not cease even in the absence of Perception. The Body is momentary. It endures but for one lifetime. It appears only in the moments of perception.

Pinpointing the "illusory" character of the Body, actually applies to the whole World, & all that is "other", Master Nome reminds us that the Body "appears only in the moments of perception".  Perceiving anything does prove nothing about the reality of the object seemingly perceived. Only, Perceptual Thoughts are experienced, not any objects themselves, & not any "Body".

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

Sri Bhagavan’s Wisdom

Much of Sri Bhagavan Ramana Mahrshi’s shared wisdom could not be contained in printed words or even his spoken speech.  And yet even his spoken words went largely unrecorded.  Nevertheless, those texts which are available, mostly as remembered & transcribed by others, are too vast a treasure to be readily reviewed, nor certainly in any way summarized.  From time to time, we will almost randomly taste a drop, here & there, as in what follows. (paragraph titles are added)

Regardless of what the "others" may say, the Waking World actually is an unreal Dream

You are bodiless & Space-less in Deep Sleep, yet in the Waking state & in Dream appear to be the opposite. Whatever the Dream, the only thing that has value & is worth doing with regard to Dream is to wake up. Although within the Dream, everyone they would have tried to convince you of it, when you wake up, do you say that the experiences of the Dream were real ?   No.  Similarly, when you wake up to the Self these experiences of the World will be unreal, like in a Dream, although others in that state will try to convince you that they are real.

asters Grace.

Confusion is due to ignorance

Man is always the Self & yet he does not know it. Instead he confounds it with the non-Self, body, etc. Confusion is due to ignorance. If ignorance is wiped out, the confusion will cease to exist & the true Knowledge will be unfolded.

Only lose the Ego

Be what you are. All that is necessary is to lose the Ego. That which is, is always there. Even now you are that. You are not apart from it  The thought, "l have not realized", the expectation to become realized, & the desire of getting anything, are all the workings of the Ego.

The Ego-Self appears & disappears & is transitory whereas the real Self is permanent. You wrongly seem to identify the real Self with the Ego-Self. See if that mistake has come about. The Ego-Self does not exist at all. To whom is the trouble ? The trouble also is imagined. Trouble & pleasure are only for the Ego. Take care of yourself. Let the World take care of itself. See your Self. If you are the Body there is the gross World also. lf you are spirit all is spirit alone. Do it yourself 1^st & then see if the question of others arises afterwards.

It helps to lose concepts

The degree of the absence of concepts is the measure of your progress towards Self- realization. But Self-Realization itself does not admit of progress, it is ever the same. The Self remains always in Realization. The obstacles are concepts. Progress is measured by removal of obstacles to understanding that Self is always realized. So thoughts must be checked by seeking to whom they arise. Go to their source & they will not arise.

Self-Inquiry & the Mind

The Truth of your Self alone is worthy to be scrutinized & known. Taking it as the target of your attention, you should keenly seek to know it in your spiritual heart. This knowledge of yourself will be revealed only to the Consciousness which is silent, clear & free from the activity of the agitated & suffering Mind.

The Mind is only a bundle of thoughts. How can you extinguish it by the thought of doing so, or by a desire? Your thoughts & desires are part & parcel of the Mind. The Mind is simply enhanced by new thoughts rising up. Therefore it is foolish to attempt to kill the Mind by means of the Mind. The only way of doing it is to find its source & hold on to it. The Mind will then fade away of its own accord.

The Mind, turned outwards, results in thoughts & objects. Turned inwards, it becomes itself the Self. To ask the Mind to kill the mind is like making the thief the policeman. He will go with you & pretend to catch the thief, but nothing will be gained S0 you must turn inward & see from where the Mind rises & then it will cease to exist.

It is with the inward-going Mind that you eliminate the outward-going Mind. You do not set about saying there is a Mind & I'm going to kill it, but you seek the source of the Mind. Then you will find that the Mind does not exist at all.

Whenever you are disturbed by thoughts you need merely withdraw within to the Self This is not concentration or destruction of the Mind but withdrawal into the Self.

Know that the Consciousness always shines as the formless Self, the true  Your duty is to be, & not to be this or that.  All required is to realize the Self is to be still, since the Self is not now understood to be Truth, the one Reality.

When one daily practices more & more abiding in the heart, the Mind will become extremely pure due to the removal of its defects, & the practice will become so easy that the purified Mind will plunge into the heart as soon as the Inquiry is commenced.

All that you need do is to find out the origin of the “I-thought" & abide there. Your efforts can extend only thus far. Then the beyond will take care of itself

Guru’s Grace though Liberation is always

Liberation is ever present & bondage ever absent. That which is, is only Grace; there is nothing else; but as long as the Dream prevails, the Master must be sought & served to evoke the Grace. Every plane of Worldly existence has its own illusion, which can be destroyed only by another illusion on the same plane. For example. a man takes a full meal & goes to sleep. He dreams of being hungry in spite of the food he has in his stomach. To satisfy the Dream hunger, he has to take Dream food. A wound in Dream requires Dream treatment. A great King once dreamt that he was ill but was too poor to call a doctor. Although he had fabulous wealth in the Waking state, it was of no use to him in the Dream state. Similarly, the illusion of ignorance can be destroyed only by the illusion of the Mind.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

the Mahavakyas  –  great proclamations

Prajnanam Brahma

"Consciousness is Brahman"

Aitareya U. 3.3, Rig V

 Ayam Atma Brahma

"This Self is Brahman"    

Mandukya U. 1.2, Atharva V.

Tat Twam As

"That Thou Art"

Brihadaranyaka U. 1.4.10, Yajur V.

Aham Brahmasmi

"I am Brahman"

Chhandogya U. 6.7.8, Sama V.

In one possible sequence, the one above, the gist of the Mahavakyas:

Consciousness is the actual nature of Absolute Reality, nothing else actually exists, but rather only seems to appear in that Consciousness.  The self of all, of you & I, is just that same Brahman, Consciousness.  Precisely, That is what you are.  "I am Brahman" (Consciousness) is the inescapable conclusion.

[Attempting to resume this Blog after physical limitations, only to lapse again, this time there is resolve to follow-through.]

Dakshina

All is Karma, All is Grace,

Living Dharma, All is Space.

What follows is Dakshina, offering to God, as Guru.  Dakshina–murti is also the name given to the primal Guru, as form taken on by Absolute Shiva, Supreme God or Brahman.  The non-sequential lineage of Dakshina–murti includes the Sage Ribhu of the Ribhu Gita, or Song of Ribhu.  Like included ins Guadapada who pronounced Advaita Vedanta’s acme school of Ajata-Vada, the most UQND Un-Qualified Non-Duality. Guadapada was the guru of the guru of (param-guru) of Shankara & in the 20^th century, Ramana Maharshi.  Herein is only their Teaching & that enunciated by Ramana’s disciple Master Nome.  The author can claim none of the essential content, but only some quirks of wording & occasional analogies & interpretations.  But just that is the humble Dakshina, offering to Dakshina–murti & his lineage.  By the Grace of those gurus, what follows can help in the inevitable attainment of compete Enlightenment, Awakening to the True Reality of the Self.

[The little chant under the heading comes from Neem Karoli students, with the meaning taken here to be that all of "daily life" is inescapable, earned Karma, so remain Detached.  But at the same time, all is also Grace.  Dharma in this case means spiritual practice, while "Space" is increasing merger with & as Formless Brahman.]

We can scratch the surface of Master Nome’s wisdom by reviewing some aphorisms appearing early in his teachings. He following are some examples., collected under a number of central topics.

HAPPINESS

Desire is the urge to be happy. The sense of Happiness in any experience does not come from the thing experienced. Happiness is within.  When Desire is faced inwardly, it yields Wisdom.

WORLD

Illusion is that which is not.  All that is objective is illusion.  The World is unreal.  Do not be afraid to let go of a World that does not really exist.  It is better to say the World is in you than you are in the World.  There is no World (any objective thing), & there is no one to experience or know it.  There has never been a single objective thing. All objective things change, that which is Real does not change.  It is you who say that anything is real. the object does not declare its own reality. To known the Reality, know yourself. Any object of experience has no more existence separate from the Self than printed letters from a page of paper, or waves from water. An unreal Body performs unreal actions in an unreal World.

DREAM

Ego, manifestation, form & ignorance: these are like an optical illusion, a mirage, a Dream without substance, the life-history of a fictional character.  Regard all manifestation as an hallucination or as a Day-dream lasting but a moment.  Consider the World to be a Dream, & discover the absence of the Dreamer. Regard all Thought as an empty echo & the World as a Dream. Know the World to be unreal & yourself as not a character in it, & the Dream is over. To expect the perception of forms - the World, Body, Senses, & Thought - to disappear at its own level to transcend them is like expecting the Dream character in one’s Dream to see the Dream forms - Dream World, Dream Body, Dream Senses, & Dream Thoughts - disappear within the Dream, before waking up. When the forms - the World, Body, Senses, & Thought - vanish, the Reality of pure, transcendent Being alone remains. Even when the World is thought of as appearing, the Reality of pure, transcendent Being alone remains.

SPACE

The World, Time, Space, life, death, objective things, the Mind, ignorance, bondage, & an experiencer of these are just concepts.  Concepts are unreal Absolute Being alone is. The conception of Space requires misidentification with the Body. The conception of Time requires misidentification with Thought. The Self is neither the Body nor Thought. It is Spaceless & Timeless. As Space is endless, clear, formless, embracing all, bound by none, all-pervading, ungraspable, & has no within or without, so it is with the Self.

TIME

Now is not a Time. Here is not a location. Here & Now is formless, real Being.  The past & future have no reality. The fleeting present moment is also an illusion. Timeless Consciousness is conceived as Time & all that Time measures.  When does Time begin ? When there was no Time. But if there was no Time, no then or now, did it begin at all ?

CAUSALITY

The Absolute (the Self) is neither Caused by anything else nor does it Cause anything else. Infinite, there is nothing beyond it produced by it. The Cause is always seen in the Effect. The Effect is just the Cause appearing as such. In Truth, there is only one Cause. The ultimate Cause of all, the Absolute is itself uncaused. Causality is itself illusory.  There is no Cause for illusion; for illusion is unreal, & for an unreal Effect there cannot be a real Cause.

EGO

The Ego has no form of its own. Strip it of its covering, & nothing remains of it.

Superimpose Being: the Ego seems existent. Superimpose Consciousness: the Ego seems sentient, a second knower. Superimpose Bliss: Happiness seems external. Go back the way you came. All illusion if ignorance. Ignorance is misidentification. All mis-identification is the Ego. The Ego is nonexistent. The Ego is a false assumption assumed by no one. All the known is for the “I,” but the “I” does not exist at all. All illusion is based upon the Ego, & all illusion is contained in the Ego - but the Ego itself is an illusion !  No one has seen an Ego at any Time. An Ego is an absence. The Ego cannot be produced by the Self, cannot be produced by anything in the Universe, & cannot be self-produced. So, where is bondage ?  All illusion is for the Ego, based upon the Ego, & contained within the Ego. Self-Realization is the Knowledge of the absence of the Ego & the utter unreality of illusion. Upon the Ego is based all ignorance & misidentification. The discovery of the absence of the Ego is the end of all ignorance & misidentification. With the imagined rise of the Ego, all else appears, with the disappearance of the Ego, all else is not.

MIND

The entire Universe is in the Mind & the Mind does not exist. Be free from Thought’s definition, from the notion of a second knowing principle, & from the notion of a differentiated Mind. This is merger of the Mind.

BODY

To see the World, one must stand as the Body. To see the Body one must stand as the Mind. To see the Mind one must stand as the Ego. Who are you ?  If the Ego is not, creation is not.  An incalculable number of cells are given the name “Body,” & such is considered an existent entity. Remove one cell at a Time & see what actually is the Body. A name, such as "body" does not make "body" a reality. There is no inner & no outer. It is ignorance to assume the Body is the boundary line between them. The self is not the Body & has no inside or outside. The Body is objective, divisible, changeful, & dependent for its very appearance. The Self is non-objective, indivisible, changeless, non-dependent & self-existent. How can the 2 be confounded ?  The bodiless Self is birthless, locationless, & deathless. The Self comes from nowhere & goes nowhere.

EXPERIENCE

All experience is of the nature of the experiencer.  The sense of reality in every experience does not come from the things experienced. The Self is the source.

REALITY

Do not mistake a definition for Existence itself. Being is forever undefined but realized as “I”. Both the appearance & disappearance of a thing or a Thought are forms. The Formless is neither. No form can yield the Formless, forms can give rise only to other forms. Neither dualism nor a concept of unity is the Non-dual Truth. Non-objective Being is neither a multiplicity, nor one-in-many, nor many-in-one. The Absolute is not a part of Reality relative to other things. Being is seamless. Where there is plurality, one sees only false appearance, where there is Non-Duality, one see clearly & truly. There cannot be Non-Duality with forms viewed as forms, & there can be no duality in the Formless. There cannot be 2 that are formless. The Formless is real & infinite. There are no forms within the Formless & none beyond the Formless. All forms arise from, appear in, & dissolve into the seamless, indivisible, formless Reality. The Absolute is formless & non-dual. There is nothing outside it & no “outside.”  Nor is there anything within the Absolute. 

BEING

Being & Consciousness are one & the same. That which is real ever is, continuously. What is discontinuous is never real. Every form is dependent on something else to be experienced. Being, which is Consciousness, is non-dependent. What is dependent is unreal. What is self-existent is real. In relation to all things, Consciousness is the Witness. Seen clearly as it is, Consciousness is formless, & there has never been an objective thing; there is neither knower nor anything known. Being can never change its nature. Being has no attributes. It is the Void, Brahman, forever free of definition. It is called the Self because it is your very Being, who you are. It is called Being because it always is, Timelessly, & can never cease or be destroyed. It is called Consciousness because it is nonobjective & can never be a known or unknown object. It is called Supreme Love because it surpasses all emotion & is indivisible. It is called Bliss because it is full with exquisite perfection that can never be flawed or deficient. It is called God because it is nothing else. It is called Eternal, for it is uncreated & imperishable. It is called the Absolute because its Existence is non-dependent & it is not in relation to anything. What is this formless undefined Self in itself. That which is Real does not depend on anything else to be or to be experienced. This is Being. Again & again examination of the dependent in this way will emphasize the Self as the residual Reality. Changeless Being is the root of peace. Space-like Consciousness is the root of Freedom. The Bliss of the Self is the root of joyful Love.

 

CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness can never be a known or unknown object. The known depends on the knower & does not exist apart from the knower. Consciousness is self-luminous. None knows it. It knows all. It knows itself.  Thought is only Consciousness, yet Consciousness is not Thought.  The World in the Senses, the Senses in the thinking process, thinking within Consciousness; Consciousness is vast & formless, this is the clear perspective. The origin of the Universe is the origin of one’s present experience. It is Consciousness.

All things originate from That which is not a thing. All Thoughts derive from That which is not any of them. That is formless, inconceivable Consciousness. There is no experience apart from Consciousness. All experience rises, appears, & dissolves in Consciousness, which has no rise, appearance, or dissolution.  Consciousness alone appears as all experience. Known as it is, Consciousness has no appearance whatsoever. That which illumines Thoughts, sensory perceptions, & all experience is known by none of these. It is Consciousness, formless, & infinite.

He who knows the Truth of the Self has neither birth nor death, neither attachment nor fear, for he is one with Consciousness. Only Consciousness can know itself. Nothing else can do so. First, see that Consciousness contains all that is ever experienced. Then, see that Consciousness is forever unmodified & there is no all for it to contain.

That which knows the presence or absence of Thoughts is neither the presence or absence of Thoughts. Neither the presence or absence of Thoughts obscures or clarifies that Knower. Consciousness, which is the Knower, is never defined by the known. That is ever still, that in which the 3 states of Waking, Dreaming, & Deep Dreamless Sleep, along with all that they contain, appear as the illusion of motion. Likewise illusory is form in the Formless, or a modification in That which is unchanging.  This is the Reality of infinite Consciousness.

Consciousness requires no light other than itself to illumine itself.

The entire manifestation is rightly said to be only one small corner in the infinite, formless Consciousness. Examining a corner to see what actually is the corner, it reduces itself to a single conceptual dot. That dot is the notion of an “other,” a “2^nd”. In Ultimate Truth, as there are no corners in Space. There is not a sing objective thing in the Reality of the Self.

SELF

Negate the attributes superimposed on the Self & the concepts about the

Absolute, & realize their identity. The Self is in all sentient beings, the Consciousness which is their Being; in all things, the unseen Existence which is; in all locations, the Space; in all Space, the vastness; in all Time, the endlessness, in every heart, the Love.

Veiling & differentiation are the characteristics of ignorance. As dimension of depth of the image in a mirror does not truly exist, so differentiation does not exist in the one Self.

MEDITATION

Meditate on Consciousness without an object. If you ask yourself what do you know for certain, you will release all ideas & form & abide in ever-existent Being.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]