Māyā’s creation is illusory: Māyā has three qualities – sattva (knowledge), rajas (activity) and tamas (inertia). Consciousness reflected in pure sattva of māyā is called God/Īśvara and reflected in rajas and tamas-dominated māyā is called the individual.
~T
The Self is the changeless substratum and of the nature of pure Consciousness. The intellect (in the body) is ever changing and inert. When the Self is reflected in the intellect (in the body), there arises an individual we call ‘I’, the pūruṣa or jīva. Therefore the reflection of Consciousness/Self in the intellect (in the body) gives rise to the individuality.
~T
Algebraically put, the individual (pūruṣa) = Consciousness/Self + intellect (in body) + reflection of Consciousness (cidābhāsa).
~T
The individual – a mix: In the individual we find a mutual superimposition of characteristics of the Self and the conditionings of the body-mind-intellect. Let us understand this through an example of a red hot iron ball (taptāya piṇḍavat). An iron ball is heavy, cold to touch, round in shape and black in colour. Fire is weightless, hot, shapeless and red. When heated, there is a mutual superimposition of qualities which gives rise to a red hot iron ball. The redness and heat belong to the fire and the weight and shape to the iron.
Similarly, in an individual who says, “I am a sane man”, the sanity and manliness are the characteristics of the mind and body, the ‘I’ ness is of the Self/Consciousness and the life is of the reflection of Consciousness. All put together makes the man say ‘I am xyz’.
~T
In the individual who says ‘I am xyz’, xyz are characteristics of the body-mind, I is the Self (pure consciousness/awareness), and am is the reflection of awareness (Self).
~transcreating T
Both bondage and Liberation are for the individual – neither for the pure Self nor the conditionings. The Self is infinite and ever free. The conditionings of the body-mind-intellect are by themselves lifeless and inert, incapable of feeling bound or liberated. It is only the individual reflected in the conditionings and supported by the Self that gets bound or liberated.
~T
To sum up, the pure Self has no thought or experience as ‘I am the pure Self’. Neither the reflection of Consciousness nor the intellect by themselves know or experience anything.
The reflection of Consciousness in the intellect associated totally with the body-mind-intellect is the ‘I’ of the ignorant man. When associated with the assumed individuality, it is the ‘I’ of the wise man whilst transacting in the world and when associated only with the Self, it is the ‘I’ of the wise man in meditation or whilst discussing the nature of the Self.
~T.
Question: The individuality is illusory. It is this individual who gains the knowledge, ‘I am the changeless Self! Then will not the knowledge gained by an illusory entity also be illusory? What then is the use of such illusory knowledge?
Answer: It is true that knowledge gained by the individual is unreal. But that does not make it useless. In fact it serves a very useful purpose of removing the sorrow of saṁsāra which is also unreal.
~T.
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to clarify,
the 'I' is atman is brahman, pure consciousness, awareness, reality,
the 'I am' is the reflection of pure consciousness in the subtle body, the reflection of awareness, individual consciousness, the jiva,
and the 'I am x' is the outer person, body-mind, samsari.
If you think that Buddha, Christ or Krishnamurti speak to the person, you are mistaken. They know well that the vyakti, the outer self, is but a shadow of the vyakta, the inner self, and they address and admonish the vyakta only.
~Nisargadatta
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