Reality 16

Discernment yields Freedom from the illusory Bondage when the World is apparently perceived as well as when it is not perceived, as in Deep Dreamless Sleep, samadhi, & the interval between thoughts. 

By Self-Knowledge, one realizes the Self is not of the World & is not in the World.  The Self is not produced by anything of the World, shares none of its limited qualities, & is not an object within the World.  The Self is neither the Body nor located in the Body.  Once there is deeper Knowledge regarding the Self, the questions about the World's nature no longer arise.

The Realization of the Unborn (everlasting) Reality is the Realization of no creation.  In the absence of this Knowledge, there may arise confusion such as: "If the World is unreal why does it appear; if the World is unreal why does it not disappear ?"

The confusion is rooted in the delusive supposition that the Senses determine Reality, & the that Knower is conceived as a sensory being engaged in experience that is of the same Sense nature as himself.  Deep Self-Inquiry into the nature of the Knower himself will result in the absence of a defined, separate experiencer & thus the absence of  the World, the supposedly the "experienced" or Known.  This yields the revelation of one infinite Existence of the Self.  The meaning of "all is the Self" or "all as Brahman"  is comprehended in this Non-Dual Knowledge without a trace of anything other.

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/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

or directly at:

http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58

Duplicate blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth." 

 –  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

Reality 15

Somewhat unstated in the last installment, was an initial position of granting some provisional reality to a World so that, even examined on its own terms, such a World reveals inconsistencies that point instead to a higher Truth.  That rhetorical presumption, for the sake of discussion, is even more the case in the next topics. 

Subtle thought cannot touch a material object or material World.  So that even if there was a World, thought could not tell us anything true about that World.  Those perceptual thoughts that interpret Sense signals are subject to the same limitation.  So that even if the Senses did provide real information about a real World, the perceptual thoughts by which we process that information, could never connect with, really touch an objective World.  That means we could never prove the actual existence of such an objective World.  In the absence of such proof even being possible, there is no reason to assume the unprovable reality.  There is no reason to think in those terms at all.  In addition, even within the assumption of World, by reason of the Checklist points enumerated below, the Self never connects with, never really touches an objective World.

Comparing & contrasting the Self & the World (a partial Checklist):

(1) Change

a) The Self is changeless.

 b) The impermanent World is changeful.

(2) Creation–Destruction

a) The Self is permanent with no creation or destruction.

 b) Each of the objects of the World has a creation, a changeful duration, & a destruction.  This is true of all objects & for the World as a whole.

(3) Sense–Dependent

a) The Self does not change as the Senses do.  The Self is not changed, being unchangeable Existence & Consciousness, & the Witness of the Mind, including sense thoughts; & also Witness of the Senses.  The Self is mere unchanging Being, the unchanging Witness of all the changing Senses.

 b) The perception of the World depends on the changeful Senses.  A change in the Senses brings a change in the object, in the World perceived.  A change of mode, or state of Mind, yields a corresponding change in the senses & the perceived World . 

(4) Sense–Perception

a) The Existence of the Self is not Sense perceived, but is known more interiorly.

 b) The World is composed of innumerable parts & divisions.

(5) Multiplicity of Parts & Divisions

a) The Self is One, partless, & indivisible.

 b) The World is perceived only through the Senses.

(6) Form

a) The Self is has no Form and is purely formless Being.

 b) The World is composed of forms without which there is no World. There is no formless world.

(7) Subject / Knower –  Object / Known

a) The Self is ever the Subject, the Knower.

 b) The World is only the Object, the known. 

Therefore the Self has no connection with the World.  The Self shares none of its characteristics or qualities.  The Self is not defined by the World or worldly things.  The Self is not bound by the World or anything of the World.  The Self does not depend on the World in any way in order to exist. 

That which is true of Existence & Consciousness of the Self is also true of the Bliss of the Self.  The 3 are not actually 3, but One & the same.

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/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

or directly at:

http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58

Duplicate blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth." 

Reality 14

In the Teaching of Non-Duality, the term "World" means everything that is perceived, whereas other mental activity falls in the category of that which is conceived, as in Dream, day-dream, imagination, feeling, etc.

All objects, all activities, all events, the perceived outer forms of living beings, anything in Space & Time, & anything seen, heard, touched, or sensed in any manner. 

Transcendence of the World is liberation from Bondage & Suffering in relation to all of those.  Putting aside perception of the World allows the recognition of Reality as it really is.  Reality is not anything of the World, & is only recognition by Knowledge of the Absolute Non-Dual Self.

Reality is beyond the World, & Self-Knowledge reveals the True Nature of all that is to be the Self. 

Detachment from the World & the Senses, dis–identification with the Body, noting the passing, transient nature of all things in the World allows direct experience of the Knowledge of Reality for those who Self-Inquire.  They view the World as transitory, as inert, & as a passing Dream.  They never expect the World to provide us with our own Happiness, Identity, & Reality. 

Happiness, the Bliss of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, Sat-Chit-Ananda is Reality, Brahman, non–different from Atman, the Self, one's own self.  To transcend the World [like the New Testament's "look I have overcame the World"] is to remain Blissful at Peace, in Freedom in the Knowledge of the unreality of the World.  This is the Self's freedom from the Illusion of the World.  This is the perception of Reality, Abidance in wordless Existence.

Happiness is not to be found in the World, but only as the inner Bliss of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, Sat-Chit-Ananda.  One's own Identity is not to be found in the World, but only as the Absolute Consciousness of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, Chit.  Reality is not to be found in the World, but only as the Absolute Reality of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, Sat.  This is true perception, transcendence of the World.

In that the true perception, that transcendence of the World, lies limitless Freedom, unaffected by anything of the World.  This is direct experience of indivisible Reality, the true experience for those who inquire to know Brahman–Atman, which is the sole existent Self.

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/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

or directly at:

http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58

Duplicate blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth." 

 –  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

Reality 13

[based on Ramana Maharshi's teaching]

Know the Existence from the Existence itself.  Who remains "outside" to have had Illusion ?  One cannot think about the Self.  Inquiry to Know that Self is for Abidance in That as That Existence itself, which is the vision of Truth.  To see the Reality which is seeing one's own Self starts by first recognizing the Self's freedom from Thought.

Distinguish clearly Existence from Thought, be it a Thought of the World, of the Body or one of its attributes, of an activity in a World, or of another subtle or abstract Thought. Distinguish clearly what is merely a Thought & what is Existence, because Existence is free from Thought.

To know Existence disentangle the pseudo-connection between the Self, one's Identity, & what ever is thought of. Whatever may be the Thought, it not oneself. One has never thought of the Self, & never will. "I" will know my Self, but never think of myself.  There is no reaching the Self.

If Self were to be reached, it would mean that the Self is not here now that it is yet to be obtained.  What is got afresh will also be lost.  So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. The Self is not reached.  You are the Self, you are already that.  You are ignorant of your Blissful State.

Ignorance [ajnana, avidya, maya] supervenes & draws a veil [tamasic avarana, aside from rajasic vikshepa projection or vivarta super–imposition ] over the pure Self which is Bliss. Attempts are directed only to remove this veil of ignorance which is merely wrong knowledge.  The Inquirer is the answer to the Inquiry into the Self. 

What is this undeniable sense of Existence ? Certainly I do exist.  What is this "I " which is known as myself  ?  "Where" does this "I "arise from.  What is the inmost. subjective background of Self ?  Who am I ?

Space

There is no Space which exists prior to any distinguishing characteristic.  If it existed prior to some distinguishing characteristic it would follow that it was without characteristics.  But Space is neither existent nor non-existent, nor is it something characterized nor yet wth a characteristic.

Objects require a Space in which to exist & Space without objects is neither perceivable nor even strictly conceivable.  And so by the principle of Dependent Origination, Space too is a conceptual Illusion.  Even the characteristics of Location & Dimension maintain a reciprocal relationship of Dependent Origination with regard to Space itself.  Such is much like the mutual interdependence of "wind" & on the other hand "air & movement". 

In fact stripped of such characteristics & the objects it might contain, Space is quite difficult to conceive of.  This inconceivable essence of Space represents one of the best objective analogies for the indefinable subject Reality.

Time & Space

As for Space, this imagined background continuum for the multiplicity of discrete objects is mentally constructed by the Temporal sequence of Visual & other Sensory perceptions.

We note the Time it takes for any Sense mode to scan along an object.  We then transform the Time of visual perception, for instance,  into the concept of Length & in this manner construct 3–Dimension of Space.  Conceiving an opposing" (orthogonal) "direction" we scan & extend a 2^nd direction, & thereby Surface & 2–Dimensional Space.  The same scanning process in yet another direction gives us the sense of Volume & 3–Dimensional Space.  We previously related the sense of time to a sequence of thought.  Now we have a way of understanding how time can be projected into Space, by timing the scanning of Sense perception.

Time & Multiplicity

The concept. of Space serves as headquarters for all perceivable objects. This resembles our own Body which is the headquarters for our perceptions. One could almost say that Space is the imagined Body of the cosmic Personality, God, or at least the sum total of all consciousness beings. Likewise Time is like the Mind of God, or of all consciousness beings. But if God then appears to be a concept, albeit an  exalted concept, there where is to be found the Ultimate or Absolute Reality ?  Only as the true "I". the Self, Consciousness.

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/  http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/ 

or directly at:   http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58 

Duplicate blogs available on: 

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."  

 –  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada 

for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  

www.ajatavada.com/

Reality 12

Methods of "Self-surrender" & "Self-denial" are equivalent to Self-Inquiry, so long as Individuality, Ego is erased.

Self-Inquiry does not change the reality of the self, but only reveals it.

It is clear that one thing can never change into another without the destruction of its essential form. 

If its essential form is destroyed can the thing remain over ?  Unless it remains over how can it be said that it has changed into another, since its identity is lost, and there is nothing to connect it with the new thing ? Thus a thing can never undergo a change. Consciousness as the only changeless principle. It is the changeless nature of Consciousness that is falsely attributed to the objects of Consciousness. 

Duality, or multiplicity is the only in the object of Consciousness The perceiving Consciousness is one and the same throughout.  But because Consciousness is commonly seen connected with the objects, change is attributed to that also by delusion.  Objects can never cause any change in Consciousness.  If Consciousness changed, it could not perceive the variety of objects.  Objects undergo that change called destruction.  Consciousness alone is changeless.  Body, Sense-organs, Mind, Will, & Intellect come under the category of objects.  On account of the inability to see them simply as objects, one supposes them to be changeless through delusion.

Being always the Knower, one can never come under the category of the Known.  Even the word Knower is wrong, because the changeless Knower is Knowledge (prajnanam) Consciousness  itself –  not an embodied being.

Illusions like Time &  Motion

Motion is one graphic example of change for which physical examples of Dependent Origination abound, such as wind which loses all existence in the absence of motion.  Change & Time are both required for motion, which in itself is never experienced.  The Quantum particle trajectory images in a Bubble Chamber are the still cartoon & cinema frames sequenced to induce a sense of motion.  All of these closely parallel the static sense Perceptions which the Mind "smoothes out" to create a sense of motion.  This is much in the same way that the Mind "smoothes out" the black spot on the white page.  The eye loses vision of the spot when that spot is aligned to the optic nerve's entry on the retina.  But by optical Illusion the Mind views continuous white by assuming that the unfocused spot most likely resembles the background, that is the white page.

In just this way does the Mind "smooth out" the sense of motion and the entire World process for that matter.  Traditional Indian analogies for such an Illusion include the imagined Snake seen in the coils of a dimly lit Rope.  Likewise there is the fearsome ambush in the night felt to be coming from the peripheral sighting of a Tree Stump in a dark forest. No one actually sees the motion of the Sun or Moon across the Sky, those processes by which we chart Time.  We only presume its slow progress by comparing positions at different times.  When we examine the record of past Memory to find it to be

Sri Ramana:

"You refer to sound, taste, form, smell, etc.  True, the realized Sage appreciates the distinctions, but he always perceives & experiences the one Reality in all of them.  That is why he has no preferences.  Whether he moves about, or talks, or acts, it is all the one reality in which he acts or moves or talks.  He has nothing apart from the supreme truth."

"It is like a Cinema-show. There is the light on the screen & the shadows flitting across it impress the audience as the enactment of some piece. If in the same play an audience also is shown on the screen as part of the performance. the seer & the seen will then both be on the screen. Apply it to yourself. You are the screen. The Self has created the Ego. The Ego has its accretions of thoughts which are displayed as the World, the trees & the plants of which you are asking. In Reality, all these are nothing but the Self. If you see the Self, the same will be found to be all, everywhere & always. Nothing but the Self exists."

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/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

or directly at:

http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58

Duplicate blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."  

–  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada
for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

Reality 11

Transcending the Ego through Atma Vichara, Self-Inquiry was described by Sri Ramana as "like gazing into vacancy or a dazzling crystal or light."  He added that: "If the Mind is distracted, asked the question: To whom do these disturbing thoughts arise that takes you back to the I promptly. At the end of practice the Mind returns to the present normal state."

"When Unity is replaced by a variety of phenomena perceived, this is called the outgoing Mind.  The In–going Mind is called the resting Mind.  The process exhibits feeling predominantly.  By force of will with strong faith in the Truth of the Master's teaching to that effect, all sorts of thought cease when the Mind is turned inward."

It is not that you become That, as if you had the power to break off from it & return to it at some later date, but, rather, That, the Absolute, is the solitary Existence always, & That is what you are. This is true to such an extent that you are not a part of it, nor is it a part of you, but rather the Self is the Absolute, & the Absolute is the Self; the Absolute is not other, & the Self is not other.                                                                                                              Master Nome

The Analogy of the "Snake & Rope"

Jungle environments provide cobras, asps & other poisonous vipers that terrify the human population to an extent that any elongated sinuous form like a Rope lying in a dark corner. Seeing through the understandable concept of fear, the jungle inhabitant cannot clearly see the true nature of the Rope. Seeing through the unnecessary concept of Ego, the Samsaric [typical less spiritual] being cannot clearly see the true nature of the Self, the Absolute Reality of Pure Being & Consciousness. Seeing through the fear, the inhabitant imagines a dangerous Snake where there is only a Rope. Seeing through the Ego, we imagine a World where there is the Self alone.

Unless the jungle dweller can release the assumption of a Snake, the false superimposition, it is not possible to perceive the Rope. Unless the individual can release the assumption of an Ego & a world, the false superimposition, it is not possible to perceive the True Self.  Dispensing with the Illusion of the Snake, nothing more is needed for the Rope to be clearly known for what it is. Dispensing with the Illusion of the Ego, nothing more is needed for the Self to be clearly known for what it is. Shining a bright light into the dark corner to illuminate the supposed Snake can facilitate recognition of the Rope.

Shining a bright light of Guru’s instruction & Self-Inquiry into the dark corners of the Mind to illuminate the supposed Ego can greatly facilitate recognition of the Self.  Rope –Snakes cannot be seen in broad daylight, nor Rope itself in thick darkness.

In broad daylight a Rope does not look like a Snake.  The Rope itself cannot be seen in thick darkness; so there is no chance of mistaking it for a Snake.

Only in dim light, in the dusk, in light darkened  by shadows or in darkness lighted by dim light does a Rope mistakenly seeming to be a Snake.

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/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

or directly at:

http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58

Duplicate blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."  

–  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada
for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

Reality 10

Transcending the Ego goes deeper to more subtle mis–identifications than the obvious outward distortions of Pride, Arrogance, Vanity, Selfishness, & so on.  Liberation from the very sense of being an Individual, from the very sense that there ever could be an Individual is more to the point.
Like the ancient teachings of the Vashista & Sage Ribhu, & Shankara, the more contemporary Ramana Maharshi taught dis–identification from the Ego as Atma Vichara, partially translatable as Self-Inquiry. Additional meanings & nuances would be included in terms like Self-Reflection, Self-Examination, Self-Investigation, or Self-Scrutiny of our fundamental & essential awareness "I exist" with concentrated power of attention. 

When the illusory Ego–I cannot be found, then related terms like Ramana's Atma Nishta, Self-Abidance or Shankara's Sva-svarupa-anusandhana, Self-Attention indicate the Real "I", Atman that remains in non-objective focus, like unseen Eyes that we know because we are seeing.

As in the 1^st pamphlet published that contain containing Shri Ramana's teachings "Who am I ?" is one indication of the direction of Atma Vichara, purely subjective or, or better yet, non–objective. "Whencc am I ?" or "Where does this sense of I arise ?", (or not arise, in truth) indicate other aspects of the inner investigation.Since our seeking of Identity, Reality, Happiness is never-ending it can be truly said that all questions really come down to "Who am I ?"
When we attempt to turn our attention away from all objects & towards our fundamental awareness "I", we are surrendering or denying our individual self, our Ego.  At the same time investigating, seeking to find, probing the identity of the ego I, none is found but behind it as it were an all-around the true I the self is the only reality.  In that sense Self-Inquiry serve to direct the attention from the objective to the more subjective, & ultimately to the fully "trans–subjective" Reality.  More will be said in succeeding installments, but it is sufficient for the moment that we introduce one the several analogies classically used around the topic of Self-Inquiry.

The Analogy of the "Tree Stump Bandit" analogy utilizes the  experience of rural country folk in a dangerous region with bandit or attackers of any kind who might be lurking in the dark forest to pounce upon a passerby. Wary of being caught the rural person might barely pick up the outline of tall tree stump, just vaguely in the corner of his eve, in blurry limits of peripheral vision. Glancing obliquely in the dim light, through fear, the rural person cannot clearly see the true nature of the Stump.  Glancing obliquely in dulled discrimination & focus, through the Ego, the we cannot clearly see the true nature of the Self.

More light would help the traveler to recognize the Stump for what it is, not a bandit at all.  More discriminating awareness would help us to recognize the Self for what it is, with no Ego at all.  Reducing fear & attachment to a security that can yet never be guaranteed can attenuate tendencies to hallucinate.  Reducing all self-concepts & attachments can further attenuate tendencies to identify the Self as the Ego.

Analyzing the actual likelihood of a bandit’s presence at that time & place can be helpful, to a limited extent.  Analyzing the preposterous contradictions inherent in the Ego-idea can be helpful, to a limited extent. 

Immediately helpful it would be to face the Stump directly & examine it without oblique peripheral vision.  Immediately helpful it would be to directly inquire into the nature of the Ego to recognize its unreality & make it vanish.

Facing the fear, the “bandit” initiates best self-defense & is in the “same direction” needed to recognize the stump.  Inquiring into the nature of the Ego initiates release of concepts & is in the “same subjective direction” needed to recognize the Self.

Specifically in term if the Body, looking with blinders, the apparent Body [only a jumble of perceptions of such] is taken, in a "side-long glance" to be a "marker", a symbol for oneself.  But in truth the Body is only an innocent "Tree-Stump", an inert object.  Instead of being the physical actualization of the "Bandit", the Ego, this Tree-Stump Body is not a real Ego-thief, stealer of Happiness & producer of Suffering.

More light [Consciousness] would help the traveler to recognize the Stump for what it is, not a Bandit at all. More discriminating awareness [Discrimination] helps one to recognize that the Body is not a knower, a "thief", & to recognize the Self for what it is, with no Ego at all.  Inquiring into the nature of the Ego initiates release of concepts & is in the “same subjective direction” needed to recognize the Self.

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/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

or directly at:

http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58

Duplicate blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."  –  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada


for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/