Reality 63

In the Waking State, one experiences the Interior & the Exterior, what is sensed & what is thought.  In the Dream State, the situation is the same.  Both what is sensed & what is thought in both States are not the Self & are unreal. The contents of both what is sensed & what is thought in both Waking & Dream states should not be regarded as defining the Self.  When what is sensed & what is thought are falsely associated with the Self, this is superimposition.  No activity of the Exterior & the Interior yields Liberation. The activity of an unreal superimposition cannot yield eternal, real Liberation from that unreality. 

Liberation is by Knowledge alone & Knowledge is neither sensory nor conceptual in nature. The Self that is realized by such Knowledge has neither Inner nor Outer, but is ever-existent, omnipresent, indivisible, & ineffable.

The true nature of the individual self is actually Brahman.  There is only one Self, whether imagined to be individualized, or else realized as it truly is.  If one inquires into this apparently individualized self, all that one finds is the Self, which is Brahman.  All that is thought to make oneself different from the Self can be relinquished by the Self-Inquiry that negates mis-identification, which is the questioning “Who am I ?”  For this reason the Upanshads instruct neti, neti “not this, not this”. 

Immortal Liberation is freedom from destruction & fear.  The Individual seems as if subject to both destruction & fear. In truth, the Existence that seems to be an Individual is only Brahman.  Self-Inquiry negates all that is thought to make the Self differentiated into individuals.

One should meditate on being the Witness & not anything witnessed, whether the witnessed be a known Conception or a known Perception.  The entire personal orientation should be utterly abandoned. The Identity & the Reality should be known as the Witness. And all that is witnessed should be known as not the Self & as unreal.  The meditator should discriminate more & more finely between the Knower & the Known. Thereby mis-identification ceases. Thereby superimposition of the Known upon the Knower ceases.  When the Witness alone remains as one’s Identity, & as Reality, all that there is pure Consciousness which is real Being.  It is an "I"–less "I" with nothing else whatsoever.  Until the Self is realized firmly, one should discriminate between & cease to mis-identify, inquiring with as “Who am I ?”

Knowledge is “Abidance” (in & as the Self) free from any identification with the Body, the Mind, & the Ego.  Delusion is the mistaking of oneself for the Body, the Mind, & the Ego, all of which are objective.  Such Delusion veils the Blissful experience of the Self.  One cannot have simultaneously the ideas” “I am this, I am like this, or I do this or that” & at the same time have the Knowledge of being the Self.  There one ought to persist in Self-Inquiry so that one becomes free of such ideas.  This involves the cessation mis-identification with the Body & the Mind. Since Being is not the Body or the Mind, one never does anything. Similarly, Being is never “this” or “like this”, but is only Being.

Ignorance makes one believe that the Mind, which is illumined by Consciousness, is the Self.  The Mind’s apparent power of knowing is only the “reflected light” of Consciousness.  This is like seeing sunlight play upon a shiny object & thinking that the light seen actually originates from the illumined object.  Mistaking the Mind for the Self is like mistaking the reflection in a mirror to actually be one’s actual face.  Mistaking the Body for the Self is taking a corpse to be alive & holding it dear, & this is the cause of Suffering. Mistaking the Ego to be the Self is like believing, as fact, the mythological story or someone who was never born.  Mis-identification is the cause of confusion. Self-Knowledge is “Self-Abidance” with no false identification with the Ego, Mind, & Body.

The above themes & 2500 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:

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

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 62

All the efforts involving mis-identification within the Mind & all the superimposition of experience upon the Self produce only Illusion & not anything real.  The Illusion is that of limitation by Form; the Illusion of being a Body, or at a location; the Illusion of perishability; the Illusion of the belief that something destructive of Bliss can exist; the Illusion of differentiation or division into parts, & of connection with actions & their results. The Self is actually all–pervading & space-like, imperishable. The Self is the eternal Bliss itself, Siva, un-differentiated & un-divided, partless, actionless, & free of all  karma.

The infinite Self is only one, & nothing other than the Self can belong to the Self.  Therefore the Mind cannot belong to the Self. The Self is ever unattached & cannot belong to anything else.  Therefore the Self is unaffected by anything done by the Mind.  When attachment is present, even as the notion of possession, the possessor, as it were is possessed by the possession.  Since the Self is unattached to all, including the Mind, the Self is possessed by none & is not affected by any.  If one becomes detached from all things & to one’s own thoughts in the Mind, he finds that what he has reached was the real Self all along.  Since there cannot exist a Mind that is something other than the Self which is Infinite & Non-Dual, the Mind cannot have, in Reality, any activity or its results. 

Freedom from the Mind is freedom from the fear of loss of Happiness & from the fear of ceasing to exist. This Freedom from desires & the grief of concomitant with desires.  Thus, one who knows the Self, free from the Mind, is truly happy. & is solely That which is the same in all beings.

All beings are, by nature, pure Consciousness. Apparent difference from this Consciousness is only illusory appearance due to Ignorance.  The illusory difference is removed by comprehending the Knowledge that one is solely Being.  Such Knowledge alone is the means to realize immortality, for Being never ceases to be.  Nothing else can yield this Realization, for Consciousness is identical with Being.  Knowledge is of the nature of Consciousness itself, & there really exists nothing but Being, which is Knowledge or Consciousness. 

In relation to all, the Self is the Witness, & being such is attributeless.  The Witness is That which never changes, but which knows all the changes –  thoughts, modes, & states – of all Minds.  The Witness knows all the functions of the Mind in Waking & Dream.  In the absence of the Mind’s functions, that is without those 2 states of Waking & Dream, what remains of the Witness is pure Consciousness, which is omnipresent & immutable.  This the Self, the true "I" which is free from Ignorance & has no attributeness, no functions, & no qualities, & which is transcendent of all 3 States (waking, dream, deep dreamless sleep).  Space-like & never tainted by any of the defects or limitations of the beings that Consciousness indwells, Consciousness alone is the Self. 

The Self is free from all notions, forms, & actions.  The Self is always 1 – without – a –  2^nd.  Adi Shankara proclaims that, as long as there is no Self-Knowledge, the identification with the Body & such, & the belief in the authenticity of Sense-Perceptions continue, just as Dreams appear to be true as long as one does not wake up.  To spiritually wake up, one must know the Self truly.  The Reality of the Self is pure Consciousness with no Duality & with nothing else existing whatsoever.  One cannot have simultaneously the Knowledge of the Self along with the idea of oneself as the performer of activity, or an experiencer.  For steady unalloyed Knowledge, one should cease such mis-identification.

The above themes & 2500 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:

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

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 61

The Mind & its modifications, in the form of thoughts, modes, & states, are limited.  The Self, unlike any of the Minds, is not of limited knowledge, for Supreme Knowledge is the Self’s true nature.  That  Supreme Knowledge is unmodified Consciousness itself, which is the Self itself.  The Self has no Ignorance, just as light has no darkness.  The Self is also without change, without impurity, ever beyond conception, forever beyond the Senses, & never of a material nature.

The Self is, by analogy, said by the Wise, to be like sunlight, while the Mind is like a crystal. And the various Experiences are like the colors seen in the crystal. The significance of this analogy is that all objects are seen in the Mind only by the light of the Self.  Objects of knowledge, sensed or mental, appear only in the Waking & Dream states. When these Waking & Dream states are not present, no such sensed or mental objects are experienced. Yet the Knower (the Self) is always the Knower, never ceasing, unlike all that is unreal. For the Knower is formless Consciousness. Duality appears only in those Waking & Dream states & is thus likewise unreal. For what is Real must be Real always. By relinquishing the superimposition of the known on the Knower, one then abides as the Non-Dual Knower, unceasing Consciousness, always.

Prior to the discrimination of the Self & the non-Self, one may think that the Absolute does not exist. One may doubt that the Self alone exists. After such discriminating Self-Inquiry, what was thought of as an Individual self is known to be only Brahman. There is no Individual self, or Mind, which would have done such thinking. Upon such Self-Inquiry, the experiential Knowledge is that only the Self. Brahman is, & the Individual & Mind are only Brahman & nothing else.

For the Self, which is of the nature of pure Consciousness, the connection to any objective experience, mental or sensed, is a product of delusion.  The "I" is truly free of all attributes, & is not associated with any quality or entity, & is ever non–objective.  The Ignorance that imagines otherwise is purposeless.  That Ignorance merely creates Bondage among the ever-free, Suffering in the midst of Bliss. This is like drowning in a mirage whose “waters” serve no purpose. If the delusive attempts, to connect the Self with what is not the Self, are given up, the Mind rests in Brahman, the Absolute Self, “as if free from Bondage”, say the Sages.  In Reality, that Self was never bound.  The Self is ever Unborn & ever free of Duality.

The above themes & 2500 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 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

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

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 60

All the objects of knowledge change. All these are described as “mine” & Ego, also cannot illumine themselves, nor can they illumine each other.  The Self is different from all that are described as “mine” & Ego. The Self is the unchanging, illuminating Consciousness.  This Consciousness is truly one’s only Identity.  Therefore, there can never truly be Bondage.

One Non-Dual Self alone is.  The one Non-Dual Self is the undivided Consciousness. This is the only Knower in all.  There are not different kinds of Knowers, such as higher & lower knowers. The Minds of all are pervaded by the one Consciousness within, which is the Self.  This is the "I" of all.  So there is no one else who knows, or who does not know.  The "I" is truly the Absolute, Brahman, all-knowing & all-pervading.

This "I" pervades & illumines the Mind. And the Mind pervades & illumines all things ever experienced.  Thus this "I" is the illuminator & pervader of all. This Self is the Witness of all objects of the Mind. These mental objects are subtle thoughts & also all the objects conceived as external as well. This includes being the Witness of all other Minds conceived as existing within the Mind.  Thus the Self is the Witness of all.

The Mind cannot conceive the Self, yet the Mind has no existence apart from the Self. The Self can neither be accepted nor rejected by any of the Minds. That which cannot be accepted or rejected by the Mind is Brahman. That is truly the "I".  Brahman & the Self are One.

The above themes & 2500 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 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

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

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 59

The unknown Knower of all that is known, the Supreme Knowledge itself, Consciousness remains undivided by the triad of Knower, Knowing, & Known. Consciousness can never be a known or unknown object. Consciousness is the Witness of all, the only Knower. Consciousness, the Knower, is never defined by the Known. Consciousness, the Witness of every state, of all thought, is not defined by thought, nor contained in any state. The Witness is never known. Consciousness is ever non-objective. Consciousness is formless – with nothing objective within or without. Unknown, Consciousness alone is known. Not a process of knowing, Consciousness alone is knowing. Not a knower, Consciousness alone is the Knower, the unknown Knower of all that is known.

Just as the Mind becomes the Object, the Instrument or means of Knowing, the Actor, the Action, & the results in a Dream, so is this also the case in the Waking state. The Real Self is different from the Mind & all those things that the Mind becomes (object, instrument of knowing, actor, action, results). The Self is without interior & exterior, such as the Mind & the World.  The Self is homogenous Consciousness.  Know the Self by ceasing the attribution of anything exterior or interior to the Self.  Remembrance & forgetfulness, including remembrance & forgetfulness of the Self, these processes are also, only of the Mind.  Both of these processes are products of Ignorance & do not touch the Self. Cease to regard the Self as a known or unknown object.  If the Supreme Self is regarded as an object of knowledge, such is a superimposition of Imagination or Ignorance.  True Knowledge prevails when such Ignorance, or superimposition, is negated. This is like the case with the rope & the illusion of the snake.

When the conceptions of “me” & “mine” are attributed to the Self, such are manifestations of Ignorance.  They are superimpositions upon the Self, which is only One, with neither Individuality nor any experience or thing possessed by an Individual. The “individual self” is thought to be the Seer, Hearer, Thinker, Knower, & such. In Reality, it is Brahman, the imperishable, indivisible, Non-Dual Self.  The “individual self” or “I” is not different from the Real Self, which is Brahman.

Meditation on the Self is declared to be without Time, Space, direction, or Causation, since the Self is without these things. The Self itself is to be realized as timeless, & the Realization itself, being of the same nature, is bodiless & without regard to place. The Self itself is, without Causation, being Uncreated & Unborn. And the Realization, being of the same nature, need not wait for circumstance & is not an attempt to produce the Self anew. The Realization is a realizing of what the Self truly is.  Le the Mind thus turn within, immersing itself in Self-Inquiry, absorbing itself in Knowledge, thereby losing its own form as it searches inwardly for its source. In this lies great Bliss & Immortality.

The above themes & 2500 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 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

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

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 58

The unknown Knower of all that is known, the Supreme Knowledge itself, Consciousness remains undivided by the triad of Knower, Knowing, & Known. Consciousness can never be a known or unknown object. Consciousness is the Witness of all, the only Knower. Consciousness, the Knower, is never defined by the Known. Consciousness, the Witness of every state, of all thought, is not defined by thought, nor contained in any state. The Witness is never known. Consciousness is ever non-objective. Consciousness is formless – with nothing objective within or without. Unknown, Consciousness alone is known. Not a process of knowing, Consciousness alone is knowing. Not a knower, Consciousness alone is the Knower, the unknown Knower of all that is known.

The removal of superimposition is accomplished by Self-Inquiry. This is the intention of the negation of the Upanishads, “neti, neti”, “not this”. Such indicates the negation of one’s attributes, identity, or definition, of what is not truly the Self, not the essential Existence, or pure Consciousness. The removal of superimposition is the revelation of the Truth.  The Truth, or the Reality, is not newly created, nor did the superimposition diminish it in any way, just as the snake did not chase the rope away. But to see the rope, the Imagination of the snake must cease. Similarly, to know the Truth of the Self, Ignorance must cease.

True Knowledge is not experienced unless the prior ignorant conception is negated, just as the snake notion is destroyed to see the rope.  The Self, of the nature of pure Consciousness, is self-existent & can never be negated. Egoism has its origin in Delusion & has for its object that which is only imagined. Its definitions are only thoughts. The discernment of “Not this, not this” negates the very existence of Egoism along with its origin, its effects, & its imagined object.

All qualities, gross (physical) or subtle (mental), ought to be negated from the Self, from one’s Identity. If one is to know the Self as it is, whatever be the qualities attributed to the Self, be they physical or mental, they are to be regarded as mere ornaments. These should not be regarded as the Identity of the one who “wears” those “ornaments” (qualities).

If one rejects all that is objective from one’s Identity, one comes to the conclusion that the Self is the Knower, free from all that is perceived & conceived. In the same manner as one relinquishes mis-identification with the Body, & all that is objective, so should one sever the mis-identification with the supposed subject, which is the Ego.

The Self’s existence is independent of all & is different from all that is objective. The objectified “I” is the Ego. The superimposed objective portion of the “I” – consciousness should be abandoned, for it is not actually the Self.  Negation of what is objective means also negation of the Ego.  What remains is that which is implied in the aphorism: Aham Brahmasmi – “I am Brahman”. Only Brahman can be itself, 1 – without – a – 2^nd.  That is the only true “I”. 

Brahman is Unborn, Immortal, Imperishable, Age-less, & all-comprehensive.  The same Absolute Brahman appears, according to one’s understanding, as God, who is said to be the Lord who dispassionately dispenses the results of karma, or as the Witness, which is Consciousness in relation to all else, or the attributeless, eternal “I”, of the nature of the indivisible, non-dual, Being-Consciousness & which alone is without – a – 2^nd.

The Self has neither rise  nor set, is neither in darkness nor illumined, but is always the spiritual Light, with nothing material or mental in its nature at all. The distinction between the Self & oneself is due only to superimposition, which is like imagining different openings in a castle wall, for instance, to be different spaces, rather than perceiving the castle space itself. The Self is non-dual, 1 – without – a – 2^nd.  It is neither distinct nor in relation to anything else.  For non-dual Existence means there is no other. There is, thus, no difference or non-difference, no oneness or manyness, & no separate knower or doer or experiencer.  The Self has nothing to accept or reject. And there is nothing, or no one else to accept or reject the Self. There is no one else to think the Self is, or that the Self is not. Such is the Truth regarding the Self.

The above themes & 2500 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 

www.jpstiga.com/

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

or directly at:

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

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 57

The unknown Knower of all that is known, the Supreme Knowledge itself, Consciousness remains undivided by the triad of Knower, Knowing, & Known. Consciousness can never be a known or unknown object. Consciousness is the Witness of all, the only Knower. Consciousness, the Knower, is never defined by the Known. Consciousness, the Witness of every state, of all thought, is not defined by thought, nor contained in any state. The Witness is never known. Consciousness is ever non-objective. Consciousness is formless – with nothing objective within or without. Unknown, Consciousness alone is known. Not a process of knowing, Consciousness alone is knowing. Not a knower, Consciousness alone is the Knower, the unknown Knower of all that is known.

Bondage is only Ignorance, or error in understanding. One does not attain Self-Knowledge due to Ignorance about the True Nature of the Self & adherence to false conceptions about the Self. The Ignorance makes one feel bound, & the adherence to false notions maintains the Ignorance, yielding the apparent solidity & false continuity of Illusion. Both Ignorance & the tendency to adhere to it are destroyed by Self-Inquiry to know the Truth of the Self.

Sri Shankara declares that just as trees on the bank seem to move when one is in a moving boat, so “transmigratory existence” (life in a Waking World, repeating like nightly dreams, but rather as “physical” Re-incarnation) seems to be true to one who mis–identifies the Self with the Mind.

Thus, when the Mind “moves”, one thinks that the Self (like the stationary trees) “moves”. When the Mind is still, one assumes the Self is still. Because the modifications of the Mind are pervaded by the reflected light of Consciousness, with the qualities of Reality & Identity borrowed from pure Being, one assumes that the Self is identical with the Mind & identifies oneself with those modifications. Thus one imagines, “my thoughts, my state of mind or being, my experiences, etc.”  The Mind, or the Ego, is objective, appearing by the light of pure (absolute non-dual) Consciousness alone. Pure Consciousness is the Absolute & is directly realized as existing as such when the “this”, or the objective portion, falsely attributed to it is negated.

Ignorance, or Illusion, is merely a superimposition. By “superimposition” is meant the imagined placement of some attributes, that do not belong to the Self, upon the Self. The basis of the superimposition is real. That basis is pure Existence, pure Consciousness. The superimposed is not a reality in & of itself, but is only a product of Imagination, the result of Ignorance.

It is like the snake imagined to be present when there is only a discarded rope in dim light. The snake is not real & was not really born. But in Imagination, the snake seems to be there, & as long as one is convinced that the snake is there, the true rope is invisible. If one removes that Illusion with the light of Knowledge, he sees the rope alone, as it is, which has been the only reality the entire time. The snake in the analogy represents all that is attributed falsely to the Reality of the Absolute Self, such as the World, the Body, Mind & its conceptions & tendencies, as well as Ego.

The above themes & 2500 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:

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

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/