The Mystery of The Three Bodies

There are three bodies to every person: material, subtle, and causal.

The material body is the outer body completely inert and dependent on consciousness for sentience.

The subtle body is the inner inert one composed of two basic notes: energy and mind.

The mind is also binary in its essential nature and comprised of thinker and doer.

The thinker is the processor stuck between a zero and the one; the intelligence in this operation is the doer in duality.

The causal body is original ignorance and reflector of consciousness called the lover in this story.

For every lover, there’s 1, an object of desire like a missing half,

2, the procurement of this object making things whole again,

and 3. the temporary experience of this fulfillment for all worlds must end and start again.

footnotes

1. There are five sheaths to every tristate.

2. The material body is also called the gross body or annamaya, the sheath of food.

3. This energy is the vital breath, the life force, pranamaya.

4/5. Unsurprisingly, the mind is actually of two minds: manomaya is to hamlet as vijnanamaya is to the decider. Both were tragic.

6. The causal body is the locus of avidya, before karma but after maya. For anandamaya is the lover.

7. Make the object of my desire, god, truth, reality, or my beloved!

8. May my procurement of this object be the end of me in thou, tattvamasi.

a. energy plus mind equals wave-particle equals the subtle body.

b. the body is made sentient by the subtle astral body which is made sentient by the reflection of consciousness in anandamaya.

c. if i am the doer in duality, who am i?

d. if anandamaya is i am.

e. anandamaya - maya = brahman.

* 

to fish in the sea

water is the vital breath—

to human beings

the space of consciousness is

*

if this karmic subtle body equals

that astral body of energy and mind

this wave-particle body-mind equals

lucid dreaming

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ignorance may be beginningless, birthless, and unborn,

but thank god, it's not eternal

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as pure consciousness is i

the reflection of consciousness is i am

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the body-mind cannot begin to sheath infinite consciousness but almost everybody thinks it does

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Waiting for Satguru

1.

The universe controls illusion. Ignorance controls people.

Universal consciousness directs maya with the laws of nature and whatnot.

Ignorance misdirects personal consciousness until the knowledge of the satguru turns its head around.

2.

As universal consciousness (Isvara) guides Maya (creatrix of intelligence, prakriti of sattva),

Avidya (creatrix of motion and matter, prakriti of rajas and tamas) dupes 

this individual consciousness called Jiva just waiting for the Satguru.

footnotes

*

young’s myth of the self-reflexive universe fits into vidyarana’s advaitic one quite nicely

*

maya is why there will never be a unified theory of physics

you can’t unify physics without the metaphysics of illusion

the immutable nature of brahman will not let you

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waiting for satguru is avidya’s inside joke

the one waiting for the satguru is the satguru

*

“I, Lalla, tried beyond trying in my search,

Discovering only my efforts had redoubled.

No matter what I did the door remained bolted.

By resolving only to stay there did I see

The door was my own doing.”

*

avidya dupes

Ghazal of Footnotes On the Ground Sutra

One could say the known universe is made from just five qualities:

name, form, existence, consciousness, beatitude.

Namarupa is the big bang

appearing within the silent witnessing of Satcitananda.

Sat (existence, being) is the antidote for nihilism.

Cit (consciousness, awareness) is the antidote for materialism.

Ananda (beatitude, bliss) is the antidote for big belief

be it scientific theory or religious creed.

On the Ground Sutra

Beneath the relative world of name and form is the substratum of existence, consciousness, beatitude.

Name and form create the illusion of a relative world, the snake to be deconstructed from the noumenal rope.

Still, if the superimposition isn’t there doesn’t mean the substratum isn’t. Namarupa may be the dream

but satcitananda is the bedrock—lending dimension to mountains, depth to the sea, and sentience to superimpositions.

Footnotes to This Reflection of Consciousness I Am

1.

The more evolved the subtle body, the brighter is this reflection of consciousness.

The brighter the reflection of consciousness, the more clear is the voice of the satguru.

This is a glorious opportunity. A 50,000 watt radio station from my day goes for merely 5g today.

2.

The molecular has zero degrees of freedom. In the vegetable, there is growth, organization, reproduction, flowers!

In the animal and honeybee stage of the self-reflexive manifestation, there’s mobility, action, satisfaction, and the illusion of choice.

In the jiva and ultimate stage of so-called individual consciousness, or dominion as Young calls it, there’s this flickering of self-awareness. There shall be fire!

This Reflection of Consciousness I Am

Pure consciousness is reflecting on this thin diaphanous body of the subtle buddhi.

This reflection of consciousness moves with its subtle medium identifying with a wavering mind,

which in turn, with its newborn sentience, identifies with the outer unsubtle and suffering body.

This reflection of consciousness is the original 'I am' that the satguru is always reminding the mind about—

the light moving in the water is the water but the light reflecting in the water is the absolute light.

on the drg and the drsya

The seer is the witness of the seen.

The witness is aware and the seen is unaware. 

Thus, in the absolute awareness of brahman, there is no seen. 

And in the phenomenal seen, there's maya.

notes to transcreating jiva

1.

Some divide the drg drsya viveka into two, thinking the first 31 slokas are the real deal and the last 15 a later addition. 

For example, Tejomayananda only comments on the 31. Nikhilananda notes all 46. Who knows? After all, there’s questions as to authorship. Shankara? Vidyaranya? Bharati?

There is a progression in the 31 from the seen to nirvikalpa samadhi which seems to make it a whole. Whether it’s a whole part or a whole whole shall be argued by linguists. Mystics see these things differently.

2.

Rather than beginning with the seen, the second part begins with the jiva, which considered further, is a particular version of the seen.

“Reality of jīva is to be understood in a threefold way. It means we look at the reality of jīva from three different standpoints. There is no threefold reality but there are three points of view of the same reality.” ~Dayananda

The logician in me wants to line up limitation-containment-identification, presentation-reflection-projection, and imagination-dreaming-illusion with satcitananda.

2.

Like identification is not sat, reflection is not cit, imagination is not ananda.

Identification is not sat. Limiting oneself to the body-mind is a conditional existence. Such limitation is not pure existence.

The projection of consciousness is not cit but the reflection of consciousness is. Imagination is not ananda but love is.

4.

I first learned the concept of continuous improvement in quality control. In nondoing, I see there is no continuous improvement.

There’s continuous change and adapting to it. A tour guide taught me this in Monument Valley when I asked her about the Navajo people and climate change.

The light reflecting in the water is light. The light moving in the water is water.

Transcreating Jiva: toward Nikhilananda’s Notes on Drg Drsya Viveka sloka 32

There are these three nondual myths concerning individual consciousness. Call them limitation, presentation, and imagination.

That of limitation is like infinite space being contained in a clay pot. As if subject to the upadhis of prana, atman identifies as jiva.

That of presentation is like the sun reflecting on water, like the light of consciousness reflecting in the mind, its reflection assuming the qualities of the medium.

That of imagination is like noumenal atman (due to avidya) dreaming an individual jiva. Or like absolute brahman (due to maya) dreaming this universal isvara.

footnotes

1. limitation, containment, and identification.

2. presentation, reflection, and projection.

3. imagination, dreaming, and illusion.

The Power of Satcitananda

1.

Atman is to individual consciousness as brahman is to universal consciousness.

As the dream cannot know the dreamer in any fractal actuality of dreaming, transmigration must remain a mystery under the jurisdiction of maya, no matter how obvious fractal dreaming appears to be.

When I awaken, I still may know a dream or two. But my dreams have never known their dreamer. Lucid dreaming being the exception that proves the rule.

In other words, reincarnation is more than likely, but who knows.

No one looks for the dalai lama. The dalai lama looks for you.

2.

Sat is cit

Like existence and consciousness

Existence-consciousness is ananda

Ananda being unconditional love

Satcitananda

Sat is for the existence principle

Cit is for the awareness principle

And ananda is for the holistic principle

Satcitananda is the power of three.

3.

What’s so funny about existence, awareness, and self-love?

On self-inquiry and myth-making

Sat is never in denial

Cit is never unaware even in deep sleep

Ananda is the nondual source of love.

Ananda is preventing advaita vedanta from becoming just another belief system.

samadhi em dash

samadhi—

it’s not about what you know but how to know what is what—

all samadhi is savikalpa—

kalpa means duality—

savi remaining with—

nirvikalpa samadhi means beyond samadhi—

samadhi is a state of meditation—

its two main practices are self-inquiry and myth-making—

within and without.

Transcreating Samadhi: towards Tejomayananda's commentary on Vidyaranya's Drg Drsya Viveka sloka 22

Samadhi cannot be done by doing. Only the knowledge of nondoing does. That’s basically the understanding of jnana.

Samadhi is not about thoughts of knowing, but abiding in the consciousness illuminating the thought of knowing.

Samadhi isn't a verb but a noun. One doesn't do samadhi, but abides in samadhi. Samadhi is the alert, unwavering and balanced state of duality abiding in its nondual truth.

The practice of samadhi is within or without. That within of atman is self-inquiry, discriminating between seer and seen, in self-realization.

That without of brahman is more a metaphysical inquiry, looking beyond the superimposition to the substratum of absolute reality.

on advaita vedanta

1.

advaita vedanta is like distilled myth. but rather than starting with intoxicating stories of the mind, let's start with ten-thousand proof absolute.

begin at the beginning. what is the nature of an absolute godhead?

the nature of an absolute godhead is obviously unborn existence, immutable awareness, and wholly beloving.

2.

given that this empirical world is none of the above, how could something so unbrahman be?

and if unbrahman be, then there is no brahman.

but advaita vedanta begins with brahman! therefore unbrahman cannot be.

3.

unbrahman therefore must be an illusion, maya, dreamstate, name and form superimposed on satcitananda.

this is the genius of advaita vedanta as i see it. it doesn't start with creation. it establishes the nature of the absolute godhead, brahman, first.

rather than beginning in samsara, it establishes the primacy of nirvana. and since there is no samsara in nirvana, that's that.

On Atman and Brahman

In maya,

there's the duality of experiencer

and the world of experience.

For the mathematical purposes of nonduality, 

atman represents the experiencer,

and brahman represents the world of experience.

But beyond the universe of maya,

atman is brahman.

Meet Me In That Field

The material world consists of five qualities. Existence, awareness, and the beloved belong to brahman. Name and form belong to maya. You can call them satcitananda and namarupa.

Being, consciousness, and bliss are the characteristics of one’s real self as well. They are utterly undeniable, no matter how much one tries to deny them, and one tries miserably every day.

Satcitananda is my deepest nature. Name and form is my false impression. Meet me in the field of Kurukshetra.

ordinary nonduality

1.

nonduality is more myth than belief system, but most choose to believe it anyway.

myth is more a map than religion. most make myth their religion anyway.

maps are made to assist fellow travelers in traversing the great unknown, made by those who know the territory, and confirmed by users.

trust a map as long as your experience confirms it. never believe a map no matter how many times you've used it. things change. only you don't.

2.

reality is not ordinary. ordinary indicates sequentially arranged. reality is beyond the space of arranged and the time of sequentially.

but neither is reality extraordinary, and that's really the point here. it's just badly worded.

reality is not extraordinary; ordinary life is. ordinary life is purely conceptual; consciousness isn't.

consciousness is consciousness is consciousness. reflected consciousness is still consciousness. colored light is still light.

3.

in conclusion, nonduality is a map. consciousness isn't ordinary nor extraordinary. consciousness is all there is. 

also, language is an explosive thing, the real big bang—use it carefully, my friend.

the dreamer knows the dream but the dream doesn't know the dreamer. transmigration is a lot like this, i think.

in my experience of dreaming, dreams reincarnate several times each night.

Crossing the Nescience

Consciousness appears to be internal and the world appears to be external until you look at things with an open head.

The individual self is superimposed on an infinite self. The phenomenal world is superimposed on an absolute substratum. Remove this supermaya and atman is brahman.

Look, it takes a lot of thought to divide the indivisible. It takes no thought at all to drop maya like a stone, like a bad habit, like an unfaithful lover.

Good words and hard reason can only take you so far. Ask Zeno, my friend. It’s the plenary experience within and without that crosses the mighty paradox.

Satguru x Nisargadatta

It’s as good as any definition of ‘I am’ out there: the subtle body identifying with reflected consciousness.

The identification of the subtle body with reflected consciousness (aka I am) is primordial, before sentient thinking, and thus intuitive in any contact.

In this refraction, the subtle body becomes the mind (with its memory and processing functions). Its primordial identification with reflected consciousness (I am) becomes ego (in essence, thought). And the reflection of consciousness itself becomes intelligence.

Another name for intelligence is the satguru. Listen.

The primordial ‘I am’ is translated into thought as the complex ‘I am this’. Follow the simple thought ‘I am’ into the primordial ‘I am’, intuitively.

Wait for the fog (maya) of reflected consciousness to lift. Prajnanam Brahma! I am That.

The Birth of Individual Consciousness

1. Subtle body reflects consciousness.

The subtle body is like a pond. Only the water reflects the sunlight. The shore doesn’t.

This all takes place in maya, of course, and for this reason, it’s called reflected consciousness. Here, the watcher is not the witness.

2. Subtle body identifies with reflection of consciousness.

Who wouldn’t?

3. Reflected consciousness lends sentience to subtle body/mind.

Only consciousness is the seer and only the seer is sentient. The subtle body is the seen and thus the subtle body is insentient.

And the subtle body refracts the light, becoming mind, intellect, and ego.

4. Sentient thoughts arise.

Not only is the mind sentient, its thoughts are sentient also. The fire is spreading.

5. Exponential sentient thought identifying with materialistic body. 6. The body is enlivened.

This hot knot of egoic thought lends sentience to an outer body. Focused light. Dry wood. Fire of samsara! The jiva is born.

Brahman by Viveka

By virtue of being absolute, brahman, by all viveka, is unborn, immutable, and eternal. 

Since the empirical world is born, changes, and dies, the world obviously isn't brahman.

Further, brahman has no parts. Thus the world is neither a part nor creation of brahman.

Yet also by the virtue of being absolute, there's nothing but brahman. Enter maya.

Sat Cit Brahman

Only the existence principle exists, without which, no thought of any objective existence could exist.

Accordingly, only consciousness is, within which, objective existence appears.

Thus, brahman is the immaterial cause, maya is the inefficient cause, and mind is the instrumental cause nondoing.

footnotes

paradoxically, without the existence principle, the concept of non-existence would not exist.

existence is consciousness and consciousness is existence. existence-consciousness is the whole, which is bliss.

cause is a principle of maya only. brahman is causeless.

N’s 'I Am' Method of Self-inquiry

N’s method of self-inquiry avoids the nihilstic perils of deconstruction in all its various vivekas by emphasizing the ‘I am.’

This ‘I am’ is reflected consciousness, and thus, reflected existence. This is the moon to which N is pointing.

After your karmic voyage of personal deconstruction upon imaginary seas of namarupa.

N says land upon this everpresent natural satcitananda first. Feel the primordial full moon power of cicchaya!

The light of self-shining consciousness will be here presently.

On Maya, Knowledge, and Self-Inquiry

Mahamaya, or the great that which is not, has two superpowers: veiling and projecting.

Being ignorant of that which is: this is the veiling power of maya.

Creating a world in such a state of mind: this is the projecting power of maya.

One doesn't remove this maya by believing in her books. Maya is the root of all knowledge.

Removing the ignorance of that which is, is self-inquiry. Tattvamasi, this is the way.

footnotes

Maya veils the rope and projects the snake—as in the rope is satcitananda and the snake is namarupa.  

Veiling—as soon as one appears, they make you feel born. 

Projecting—as in a dream is mindstuff but a world is dreamstuff.

Nihilism is appealing to the neo age. But only maya doesn’t exist.

Existence still is. Only a person could deny that.

In the Name of I Am

Waking, dreaming, and sleeping are states of reflected consciousness. Pure unreflected self-shining consciousness is stateless.

Atman is in the state of everything. Atman isn't in a state of anything. Atman is in the state but not of the state.

As dreaming is the halfway house for sleeping, reflected consciousness is the halfway house for awakening. Call this halfway house, I Am.

footnotes

full, half, and new are states of the moon. there is no dark side of the sun.

the sea is in every wave. the sea is not a wave. the sea is in the wave but not of the wave.

either the dream state is half-awake or the waking state is full-on dreaming. call this aham's paradox.