Advaita Vedanta (Part II)
Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya
Regardless of what you think, say or do, the Perfection
of Freedom was, is and always will be Who and What you really
are.
Although the twilight causes the appearance of a snake before
you, regardless of what you may think, say or do about it, it
is really never anything other than a rope.
So it is with the Mind and its World of [inner and outer]
forms and events, desires and dilemmas...being naught but a projection
from the Ineffable Reality, which is Itself unmodified, unalloyed
and, thereof, utterly free.
FIRST PRINCIPLES
Let's look at the situation starting from the point of the
ordinary familiarity of the ego, see what properties/ characteristics
we can glean from its immediate proximity, and work our way backwards
and try to locate the source, hopefully, of what caused this
mysterious and awesome phenomenon of the world and life itself.
If we hope to make any sense out of what it is that thrives
not only within but also without us (i.e. the ego and the world,
respectively), we have to be capable of reaching the agreement
that there exists an underlying primal condition or state of
Being which is omnipresent and eternal (i.e. everywhere and permanent).
This state of primal Being, for convenience sake, we shall refer
to as 'the Absolute', representing the pure undifferentiated
essence of Existence or Pure Being.
Now, since the Absolute (Pure Being) is everywhere and permanent,
each ego (or individual) must naturally have primary and
continuous access to It; It must be the permanent factor behind
the ego. Furthermore, as it should become evident, It must be
what the ego itself has been projected out of, or born from.
If we will now observe the immediacy of the ' I ' essence,
we will notice that such experience is raw and pure (and in this
sense, perfect) IF we can do so without add-on thought
colorations (modifications). For, such add-on thought modifications
are a direct byproduct of the hub of all thought modifications:
the essential ' I '-thought or ego. This is undoubtedly the most
vital and central idea that the Vedanta seeks to convey.
It is not a simple one in terms of presentation; when it's grasped
however it's recognized to be profoundly simple. So try your
best to get a clear handle on its basic premise.
Thereof, basically, the pure experience of the Self or the
'I am' registers as a steady state of awareness or consciousness,
in the form of a clear flow of ' I ',' I ',' I '. However, the
common influx of 'I am this [such way] or that [such thing]'
is the interfering realm of the ego. And this realm, if investigated,
is found to be a false overlay on the truth or the Natural Reality--which
is the state of pure, unmodified awareness. That is, the ego,
being a modification or superimposition on the otherwise natural
state of pure consciousness, is a contrived [albeit well-orchestrated]
falsehood. And it can be proved so by the fact that it's nothing
more than a temporary phenomenon.
The ego is subject to phases of waking, dreaming and sleeping.
In the sleep mode, it, along with its cohort, the mind, is non-existent.
Yet the substratum Self is continuous throughout these phases,
because, upon awakening, the ego recognizes that somehow, something
that was all along 'backing it' experienced a blissful sleep.
This is the common experience of everyone: the identity of the
individual remains intact.
Therefore the ego is maya. And the Self is the only
Reality; in fact, the Self is Existence Itself. This is Yoga,
Samadhi, Moksha and Jivanmukthi.
In any approach there are contradictions in evidence. Oddly
enough, in the way of Vedanta contradictions are even
more pronounced (because of the explicitness of the philosophy).
For example, the assertion that Brahman is the only reality
in existence, and yet constant reference is made to an ego that
must be abandoned. However, if the matter is investigated, this
will be acknowledged to be a necessary strategy. Moreover, it's
only a means to an end. (And nowhere is the saying more appropriate,
"The end justifies the means"!) And, 'the end' implies
a condition that abandons BOTH concepts. That is, not only the
concept of ego is eventually dispelled, the concept of Brahman
is ALSO released, because these are merely concepts and not the
"thing-in-itself."
The point here is not to be discouraged when you see such
contradictions because neither side is the truth, per se, but
rather the purpose of this (or ANY spiritual philosophy) isn't
the concepts it wields, for they only POINT the way to the Reality.
Whereas, the Reality has no philosophy, no concepts, no ideas
or ideals. It merely is.
We can further elaborate by saying that a given spiritual
philosophy uses an untruth (in the form of a method or system
of thought) to dislodge an untruth, like a thorn is used to pluck
out another thorn from under the skin, and after the job is done,
both are thrown away.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
EVERY BEING IS THAT I AM
WHICH IS THE ONE AND ONLY I AM.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Whether or not you're taken by the angry pain, or tour
Life's roadway through sorrow/fear, etc, is simply without consequence...because
it's only maya. Like when you wake up from a dream in
the morning, where within that dream just minutes ago its 'reality'
and 'power' were unchallenged in the face of your vital essence--yet,
it remains truly without substantial Reality, afterall.
So also does this Life spectacle resolve itself to be thus upon
the Greater Awakening (Self-Realization) what it's really been
all along: nothing more than a highly sophisticated realm of
pure dream!
Thus, when the final disintegration of the Ego Commander
is achieved, it's also immediately realized that the past involvements
of this alleged 'ego' have amounted to so much dust and smoke...
Except for the thought or series of thoughts that
are geared toward the destruction of ALL thoughts,
there isn't a single thought ever worth thinking!
The Mind can entangle us
anywhere anytime
all within the span of
an instant.
Yet, what is this Mind?
Consider: If and when some philosophy gets developed to answer
the Mind's many urgent questions, are we to then uphold such
battery of answers in every moment in time? Or, are these answers
supposed to create a certain transformation within us in order
to elicit a living state of being (viz. enlightenment), enabling
us to release our involvement with such throng of answers?
The fact is, there is a transformation forthcoming,
yet it is the result--not of an abstract/intricate philosophy
gradually built-up and indexed in vast mental files and directories--but
rather delivered through an extraordinarily SIMPLE means: by
asking oneself "Who am I?"...and allowing merely this
SINGULAR and PRIMAL question--the question of ALL questions--to
re-define the constitution of our Mind, permitting it to become
what it has ever already been: a clear and characterless
conduit that transmits the Totality of Self, being otherwise
unfiltered, unmodified, or uncompromised by thoughts or ideologies.
Relative Illusion vs. Absolute Consciousness
Not the smallest fragment of any of this is real--even these
words, calling off the entertainment of such ideas, are not of
the least moment.
All these are Mind contrivances.
Some will argue, heatedly, that this kind of philosophical
negation is a cop-out.
Others will remind us that responsibility and steady involvement
in matters of the world are vital and inescapable.
Still others will further point out that survival itself would
be impossible without due process of daily mundane attention
and commitment.
The response is: By all means, act on the requirements for
life's sustenance--but without attachment and without
reflection. Don't talk or even think about it. Most of all, don't
philosophize about it. Just DO it!
For, beyond this, there is in reality no 'doing' to be had,
for there is no-one in existence to begin with. And without anyone
in existence, how is so-called "doing" at all possible?
Is this madness?
No. Dreaming causes us to swear to things that aren't there.
Dreaming is [obviously] purely a product of the mind. Likewise,
the waking phase of the mind causes the same phenomenon. But
it can only be so proven at the advent of Liberation [or the
freeing of the awareness] of the ego from its outbreath of the
hypnotic mode of the waking world. (Note: Regarding the non-existence
of the individual: Only the false and temporary reflection
of the true Self--being the limited ego--is claimed to be non-existent...not
the Self Itself.) Listen: Prior to moksha there is a similar
distrust that the waking world could ever be merely a dream.
In this unique case, seeing isn't believing; rather, BEING
renders seeing irrelevant(!), and is simultaneously its own automatic
proof...testifying to what Really IS.
Once achieved, all questions and philosophies crumble into
thin air. This is what's meant by "the destruction of the
mind." What remains in its wake is what was ever its substratum:
Absolute Pure Consciousness.
::: MOKSHA : Liberation :::
It's so clean : transcendental : like hovering above clouds/problems/thoughts
:
Letting go perfectly : of all conceptual/perceptual organizations
:::
Objects : realms : judgements : left wondrously behind : along
with these psycho-philosophical :
relentless systems of morality : that sterile angry thunder of
Logic = all clearly : perfectly : effortlessly abandoned Once
for all Time ::: Yes even the glue and magic heat of commitment
:
the strict strength of Reasonable Conscience : Yea! the Cosmic
Love Magnet
that inspires and exalts the very Stars and Eternity : All transcended
finally impeccably without the least trace of regret : but Bliss
unbridled :::
Liberate Us from Our Daily Dread...
Our Daily Maya:
A Mind-Trip:
Treacherous and Stubborn Creator of
The Long and Winding Train of Judgements...
O Shiva! Destroyer of Mind-Energy!
Liberate Us from these Jaws
That Crush the Wings of Our Freedom!
(Although these Jaws are Yet Rank Illusion!)
O Shiva! Already Thou Hast Naught to Destroy!
For Naught has Ever been Created!
Neither Darkness, Strife, Pain nor Ignorance
Hath Ever even Existed for a Brief Moment in Time!
Neither Hath Shakti, Sankalpa, Leela, nor Samsara
Been Ever in the Least Real Apart from Thee,
O Brahman!
Trumping the Death Card
No Enemy__No Horror__No Tragedy__
No Darkness__No Pain__No Strife__
Save in the Mind.
++++++++++++++++++++++
There's ever only one enemy that anyone
can possibly have: the Mind.
No-One to rob our worth, subtle or gross...
No-Thing to steal our energy in the quiet twilight...
Except that treacherous traitor of
the soul's faith and worth: the Mind.
How to stop this thing called 'Mind'??
...By letting it run its course.
...By resisting not its Death-producing energy.
...By watching it as if you were a tourist on a ride in Disneyland!
++++++++++++++++++++++
There's only One I AM in existence.
And It cannot be seen...Can the eye see the eye?
And It Itself sees nothing...Can 'objects seen' ever be more
than
fragments of Its Absolute Being?
IT merely IS...and Its state
is thus unfathomable,
presenting an impeccably perfect Mystery
to the apparent Witness.
Whereas, this Witness is Itself the
Alpha and Omega of the most formidable acts of
Delusion.
The Atmavichara (Self-enquiry)
The Self is hunted for within (or behind) the 3 bodies (gross,
subtle, and causal), the 5 sheaths (physical, vital, mental,
intellectual, and blissful) and the 3 states of the ego-Mind
(waking, dreaming, and sleeping).
Now, regardless that the Self is all-pervading (ie being that
It yet also is these very bodies, sheaths, and states),
the problem still lies in the fact that these egoic components
(bodies, sheaths, states) cause a fundamental distraction
in one's awareness. That is, they cause a severe contraction
of Consciousness...jailing, as it were, our otherwise free
and [naturally] Absolute Being.
This is why we're instructed in the vichara marga to
bypass or deny that these components have anything to do with
our real Self.
And then, eventually, what becomes finally left over, is nothing
but the pure ether of Self.
Yet, technically, It's ALREADY HERE RIGHT NOW!
the perfection of Freedom already is.
nothing hence to add or subtract from what is.
this is IS-ism.
everyone's naturally enlightened.
maya never was for even a second in time.
time never was.
was never was.
deadmind.
NITYAMOUNANANDA IS ALL THERE IS.
OM SHAANTHI SHAANTHI SHAANTHI.
"....The central path taught in this philosophy is
the inquiry into the nature of Self, the content of the notion
'I'. Ordinarily the sphere of the 'I' varies and covers a multiplicity
of factors. But these factors are not really the 'I'. For instance,
we speak of the physical body as 'I'; we say, 'I am fat', 'I
am lean' etc. It will not take long to discover that this is
a wrong usage. The body itself cannot say 'I' for it is inert.
Even the most ignorant man understands the implication of the
expression 'my body'. It is not easy, however, to resolve the
mistaken identity of the 'I' with egoity (ahankara). That is
because the inquiring mind is the ego, and in order to remove
the wrong identification it has to pass a sentence of death,
as it were, on itself. This is by no means a simple thing. The
offering of the ego in the fire of wisdom is the greatest form
of sacrifice.
"The discrimination of the Self from the ego, we said,
is not easy. But it is not impossible. All of us can have this
discrimination if we ponder over the implication of our sleep-experience.
In sleep 'we are', though the ego has made its exit. The ego
does not function there. Still there is the 'I' that witnesses
the absence of the ego as well as of the objects. If the 'I'
were not there, one would not recall on waking from one's sleep-experience,
and say; "I slept happily. I did not know anything".
We have, then, two'I's - the 'pseudo-I' which is the ego and
the true 'I' which is the Self. The identification of the 'I'
with the ego is so strong that we seldom see the ego without
its mask. Moreover, all our relative experience turns on the
pivot of the ego. With the rise of the ego on waking from sleep,
the entire world rises with it. The ego, therefore, looks so
important and unassailable.
"But this is really a fortress made of cards. Once
the process of inquiry starts, it will be found to crumble and
dissolve. For undertaking this inquiry, one must possess a sharp
mind - much sharper than the one required for unravelling the
mysteries of matter. It is with the one-pointed intellect that
the truth is to be seen (drsyate tu agraya buddhya). It is true
that even the intellect will have to get resolved before the
final wisdom dawns. But up to that point it has to inquire -
and inquire relentlessly. Wisdom, surely, is not for the indolent!
"The inquiry 'Who am I?' is not to be regarded as
a mental effort to understand the mind's nature. Its main purpose
is 'to focus the entire mind at its source'. The source of the
'pseudo-I' is the Self. What one does in Self-inquiry is to run
against the mental current instead of running along with it,
and finally transcend the sphere of mental modifications. When
the 'pseudo-I' is tracked down to its source, it vanishes. Then
the Self shines in all its splendour - which shining is called
realization and release."
THAT
Which IS
Embraces Yet Transcends
Every Imaginable
Thought And Attribute
Unto Eternal Infinity.
And, As Such, Its Unified Being Yields
Not A Singular Idea, Color, Or Sound
Save The Spectrum Of
AUM
Simply Be what you already ARE.
Who are you?
Find it out!
*******************
The Mind (Maya) is so complex.
The Self (Nishta) is so simple.
(Maya is the World-appearance. Nishta is the
Reality or the Truth in Existence.)
As long as the World-appearance is left uninvestigated, Ignorance
prevails... causing Suffering.
If the World-appearance is, however, investigated, in due course
it's found to to be evanescent and inconsequential, causing [innate]
wisdom to surface.
********************
Here's the sole root-cause of the World's manifest Illusion:
the ego/desire-Mind.
And yet, paradoxically, it doesn't even exist(!)
Therefore, based on the information here provided, what is,
in turn, the root-cause of this ego/desire-Mind?
Answer: Nothing is the cause of Nothing.
Here, the Mind is confirmed dead. And what remains over cannot
be in any wise conveyed, only "experienced"
(which is also a grave misnomer, insofar as how it may be registered--viz:
who or what entity can possibly be [manifested] separate from
It [or in addition to It] to be capable of recording the
event?).
The Mind is a habit.
Quit it.
The Unreal Dilemma
The Real: Despite appearances, there isn't one second
in time that anyone in any place under any circumstance isn't
fully enlightened.
The Unreal: It's ever only a [non-existent] device
called the Mind that can seem to divert our attention from the
Natural State.
And yet, this whole process is an utter dream. Nothing more.
Nothing less.
(Therefore, these very words are hieroglyphs without any meaning
whatsoever.
Yet, a certain measure of patience needs be exercised in this
apparent web of maya...)
So, what is this Natural State?
It has no Relative characteristics. No definitions. Therefore,
no limitations. It simply is. And to try to understand it is
an act that immediately destroys your otherwise natural
inclination to BE IT(!)...for It is your own Self-nature alone.
That very feeling that one has of BEING (Self) is the absolute,
essential and final Truth of Life. There is nothing beyond It
to strive for. All that's required is to eliminate that which
seems to distort, discolor, divert, and/or even destroy
our otherwise flawless, direct connexion to the Self.
****************
Thoughts are dis-eases.
****************
If, as a result of reading this, you happen to find yourself
suddenly inspired and anxious to see more, then by all means
read the following excerpts taken from the classics on Vedanta
philosophy known as Advaita, by plugging into the following
link:
(Note: To be provided, pending permission granted from the publishers)
Only the most ardent and devoted sadhus would have
reached this point in the text [of this linked website], and
therefore are capable of utilizing perhaps the most authoritative
source on Advaita Vedanta (which is itself nothing less
than the core essence of the Knowledge that is foundational to
not merely Life but Consciousness and Being Itself):
Arunachala Ashrama
66-12 Clyde Street
Forest Hills, NY 11374
718 575 3215
email: Ashrama@aol.com
Ask for their catalogue.
Suggested reading:
MAHA YOGA
ERASE THE EGO
TALKS WITH SRI BHAGAVAN
TRIPURA RAHASYA
After x number of rounds of atmavichara have been fired
at the [alleged] EGO, the yield is an automatic dissolution of
virtually everything accumulated in the databank of the logical
Mind. The world-appearance is turned on its ear! Here's what
is inevitably discovered:
The world is full of jnanis. There is no such thing
as Ignorance... Nor suffering, bondage, tragedy, fear, hatred.
Nor Death, Time, Karma, heaven, hell. For these are Thoughts...
egocentric relationings... relative Judgments... YES. The Final
Realization thunders home [like the sound of worlds colliding]
that the immediacy of the 'IS' experience lives ever without
characterizations or colors or strokes of attitudes or needs/desires--neither
vacuums necessitating forms to fill or fulfil-- NO!--merely the
flow of some unfathomable Trend that cannot be touched, heard,
or seen, For It is the Permanent existential Pulse of BEING that
defies all Thought that deifies All Heart which Eternalizing
IS.
***********************
Notice that when someone points to or refers to themselves,
they point to their heart and not their head. This is because
everyone ALREADY knows that they're not their brain full of thoughts
[or ego].
Reality 1. That which IS is not ordinarily apprehended.
2. Therefore, abandon outward attention/involvement and align
focus within.
3. The Key to the Mystery of Life itself is herein found.
4. This is the Secret Teaching of the Ancients.
5. The method is asking oneself, "Who am I?"
6. The result is the stilling of the mind [abandoning it without
effort].
7. There is nothing more to know.
8. This rare fruit is Self-realization.
9. Its final State is pure BE-ing.
0. Silence.
"Consciousness is pure knowledge. The mind arises
out of it and is made up of thoughts. The essence of mind is
only awareness or consciousness. However, when the ego over-shadows
it, it functions as reasoning, thinking or perceiving. The universal
mind, not being limited by the ego, has nothing outside itself
and is therefore only aware. This is what the Bible means by
'I am that I am'. The ego-ridden mind has its strength sapped
and is too weak to resist thought, whether distressing or happy.
"The mind is nothing but the stream of thoughts
that pass over consciousness. Of all these thoughts, the first
one is the thought 'I am this body'. This is a false thought;
but because it is taken as true, it is possible for other thoughts
to arise. So the mind is just an outgrowth of the primary ignorance,
and is therefore unreal."
....the
Guru Sage of Arunachala
Here's a Field
Manual for doing battle in the trenches. It contains somewhat
advanced terms and concepts, yet will hopefully provide valuable
assistance for whoever may be serious and desirous to conquer
the Mind-beast.
SHAANTHI SHAANTHI SHAANTHI
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