On Mandukya 5-6: This [prajna, undiferentiated consciousness of deep sleep] is the Lord of all [Sarvesvara, Isvara, Saguna Brahman].

He who has got this state of deep sleep as his sphere is su,cupta- sthanah. He is said to be ekibhutah, undifferentiated, since the whole host of duality, that are diversified as the two states (of waking and dream) and are but modifications of the mind, become non-discernible (in that state) without losing their aforesaid characteristics, teristics, just as the day together with the phenomenal world becomes non-discernible under the cover of nocturnal darkness. As such, conscious experiences, that are but vibrations of the mind in the waking and dream states, become solidified, as it were. This state is called prajnanaghanah, a mass of consciousness, since it is characterized by the absence of discrimination. It is a mass of mere consciousness like everything appearing pearing as a mass by becoming indistinguishable under nocturnal darkness. From the use of the word eva, merely, it follows that there is nothing of a separate ate class other than consciousness. And he is dnanda- mayah, full of joy, his abundance of joy being caused by the absence of the misery involved in the effort of the mind vibrating as the objects and their experiencer; encer; but he is not Bliss itself, since the joy is not absolute. Just as in common parlance, one remaining free from effort is said to be happy or dnandabhuk, an experiencer of joy, so this one, too, is called dnanda- bhuk, for by him is enjoyed this state that consists in extreme freedom from effort, in accordance with the Vedic text, `this is its supreme bliss' (Br. IV. iii. 32). He is cetomukhah, since he is the doorway to the consciousness sciousness of the experiences in the dream and waking states. Or he is called cetomukhah, because consciousness, ness, appearing as empirical experience, is his doorway or entrance leading to the states of dream and waking. He is called prdjnah, Prajna, conscious par excellence, since in him alone is there the knowledge of the past and the future and of all things. Even though lying in deep sleep he is called Prajiia (conscious) because of his having been so earlier (in the two former states of dream and waking) ; or he is called conscious, since he alone is possessed of the peculiar characteristics of mere (undiversified) consciousness, whereas the other two have diversified knowledge as well. This Prajiia, as described, is the third quarter.

~Shankara on Mandukya 5 [on deep sleep] (tr-Gambhirananda)

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All three states have a common feature, namely, the absence of the Knowledge of Reality. But deep sleep differs from waking and dreaming in that it is associated neither with gross objects nor with subtle impressions, which are the characteristics of the other two.

Deep sleep is a state of ease and repose. The friction caused by the subject-object relationship is absent. Hence a person in deep sleep experiences bliss, in the sense that one who is free from effort is said to be happy. This bliss is quite different from that of Brahman.

The unified consciousness of deep sleep, wherein all diversities disappear, is the antecedent of the waking and dream experiences. Hence it is regarded as the cause of, or the door to, the other two states.

~Nikhilananda on Mandukya 5

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This [prajna, undiferentiated consciousness of deep sleep] is the Lord of all [Sarvesvara, Isvara, Saguna Brahman], this is the knower of all [jnana], this is the inner controller [of Maya], this is the source of all [manifestation]. And this is that from which all things originate and in which they finally dissolve themselves. [Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva]

~Mandukya 6 (tr-Chinmayananda) [notes in brackets are mine]

nonduality comics 231216

The person is not the doer. Universal consciousness is the doer. And love is what one does.

From the absolute point of view, nothing is done, but we’re not in that absolute point of view at this moment in time, are we?

And thinking you are is real sad, love.

The Consciousness Mountains

Thoughts appear in consciousness like fish in a river and you’re the river.

The river isn’t just a reflection of its mountain source. The river is no different than the source and thinking it is, is just delusional.

It's the same old song. The river is the source but the source isn’t the river. The waves are the sea but the sea isn’t the waves.

Stop overthinking things. Consciousness is brahman. That’s all you need to know.

nonduality comics 231215: buddhi knows best

a.

Forget it jake it’s namarupa

OG shapeshifter

Snake upon the rope

b.

On some reptilian level there is identification with the body.

It’s written in your dna.

Don’t fret the small stuff but don’t go playing in traffic either.

c.

Do it for the reptiles and birds, oh my.

Buddhi knows best.

No dinosaur, no buddhi, no self-awareness.

d.

The power of seven is the power of three cubed.

Nonduality equals universal consciousness divided by three or any primordial odd number.

You cannot deconstruct satcitananda. Satcitananda is the ground of all superimposition and resultant deconstruction. Stop digging when you hit water, grasshopper.

e.

Existence is the ground (even emptiness appears in existence).

Awareness is the godhead—universal consciousness is an appearance in that deep blue godhead as self-awareness is its fractal maya.

And bliss is the word ananda is the groove of holistic infinity, satcitananda.

Ayamatmabrahma 451

The world is completely conceptual. A bird is a bird because I call it a bird. But a bird is not a bird. A bird is absolute consciousness upon which namarupa has been superimposed.

The bird doesn’t know this fact but universal consciousness knows because I do. And this knowing is for the birds and all being. Om shanti.

Beneath the tri-state area is the substrate of pure ground. An inert outer body burns because of this satcitananda. Alas I’m not the wood I chop but the unmanifested fire within.

Nonduality Comics 231213

Neti neti is a practice and not a destination, and that’s the rub. I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by postmodern deconstruction.

First, deconstruct yourself as if dissolving the personal into the universal which is the real manifested you, my love.

“There is nothing to seek and find, for there is nothing lost. Relax and watch the ‘I am’. Reality is just behind it. Keep quiet, keep silent; it will emerge, or, rather, it will take you in.” ~@Nisargadatta_M

Go Fourth and Moksa

1.

There are three states of reflected consciousness: waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. These are the equivalent of nuclear, atomic, and molecular in the reflexive universe of things.

Coming after the big bang of maya, these states of consciousness are just parts of a wave superimposed on pure consciousness: full, half, and new. Like a snake appearing in the mind, self-awareness appears in awareness.

The vedanta says I’m not the wave but the sea. The mandukya calls that the fourth. Find your inner self, your true self, the highest atman, that fourth; and know your real self as the godhead, ground, nondual, nirguna brahman. As the mandukya says, ayam atma brahma.

2.

The waking state is dreaming in colorful reflections of pure consciousness and that’s the love.

The dreaming state is dreaming in those binary black and white divisive shadows of the mind.

And deep sleep dreams in the place where the wild things go.

Where the wild things go: prajnanam brahma, tattvamasi, ayam atma brahma, aham brahma asmi.

The World's a Stage but All is Brahman

1.

Maya is like a prism through which the light of Brahman is passing through. Or Maya is like a laser superimposing holographic waves on the silent sea of Brahman. Or Maya is the sword of power that Isvara is using to cleave the undivided, unlimited, and untroubled into samsara.

Whereas the mind dreams in thought, Brahman dreams in consciousness. Thus the universe is neither wave nor particle but pure consciousness in which the yin of waves and yang of particles appear.

To an individual of avidya, the Universe appears to be real; to a scientist of Maya, the universe appears to be a paradox; but to that insightful one, nothing is not Brahman.

2.

To get from the absolute immutable to the relatively transformative, Maya is assumed to be the unknown X in all such equations.

Thus Maya is not as much a theory of relativity as it is a law of the absolute.

With Maya firmly established in the mathematical mind, the Mahavakyas may be entertained, contemplated, and realized. Yes, Virginia, Aham Brahma Asmi.

The Satcitananda Review

Satcitananda, to review, is being-existence-presence, consciousness-awareness-intelligence, holistic infinity bliss.

Satcitananda is not an attribute of Brahman but its essential nature. Each word may substitute as the name of Brahman, but there is no name for Brahman, that big beyond the bang.

Brahman is not non-existent, not unaware, and undivided, unlimited, and untroubled. In other words, Brahman is Satcitananda.

Nonduality Comics 231208

a.

Universal consciousness (god) appears in pure consciousness. Individual consciousness (person) appears in universal consciousness. Departmentalized consciousness (nightdream) appears in individual consciousness.

Consciousness is nothing if not fractal.

So does dna (karmic consciousness) ultimately appear in departmentalized consciousness and if so, does god ultimately appear in karma and so on until realization? 

b.

In other words,

karma creates the gods, god creates people, a person creates nightmares, a nightmare creates karmas, karma creates the gods, the cycle of maya.

And the blood of gods is dna!

Jai Guru Deva Om

1.

There’s the egoic self (I am something-else) constructed with thoughts, and there’s the reflected self (I am) created with the devatmasakti of saguna brahman, and there’s the true self (I, paramatman) which is unborn.

The cause of the personal self is ignorance (avidya) of its universal being. The cause of the universal self is that intelligent illusion called self-awareness (maya) appearing in the absolute ground of the true self (parabrahman).

Deconstructing ego involves seeing through thought (see pratibodha viditam for the particulars) to this universal being where absolution suddenly happens. Om, attention minus thought equals pure consciousness.

Transcreating Svetasvatara 1.16

Atman, all-pervasive like butter in milk, and the source of self-reflection and self-realization, is Brahman, the highest truth. That is the supreme upanisad.

~Svetasvatara 1.16 (my tx)

Devoted to the One Who Shines

1.

Individual consciousness is the cause of hell on earth. No individual consciousness can rid the earth of this mortal hell until it rids the earth of all individual consciousnesses. There’s always a catch.

This is not to say an individual consciousness cannot try to build a better hell. But one person’s better hell is another person’s worse one. It’s good to remember the universe is karma neutral in that way.

Meanwhile, devotion to universal consciousness from the illusory individual consciousness is not a bad practice. Although universal consciousness, Isvara and all the gods, are illusory too, universal consciousness is the direct reflection of nirguna brahman.

Look, the ‘I am’ is already your god. Just recognize its universal quality and give it an ever-loving name. That’s all. Like Devatmasakti or Deva for short, the one who shines.

2.

The source of the sun and all celestial beings like my beloved Deva is 

Parabrahman (not a black hole)

as the source of electricity is pure potentiality. Plug in, turn on, shine.

Be the unknown.

NdC 231204 (devatmasakti)

1.

Between parabrahman and the mind is devatmasakti.

It’s the technical name for ‘I am.’

Love god, know god, be god.

2.

a. If you’re looking for me, my triangulation at the moment is Nisargadatta of the Navnath way, Nikhilananda, Gambhirananda, and Tyagisananda of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda way, and Chinmayananda, Dayananda, and Tejomayananda of the Tapovan way.

b. Parabrahman is the source and devatmasakti is the power of three.

c. For the power of seven, see the reflexive universe created by the sound of a bell. Om.

3.

There are ten thousand ways of seeing lightning in the sky.

Thirteen ways are like a blackbird.

Devatmasakti!

Gods of Tattvamasi

Another name for maya is devatmasakti: deva for the god of bhakti, atman for the self of jnana, and sakti for the chakras of kriya.

The mind dreams in concepts. Brahman dreams in universal consciousness. Isvara dreams in individual consciousnesses called the mind.

Between the mind and the absolute is universal consciousness and its fundamental devatmasakti. Respect the gods of tattvamasi.

Nonduality Comics 231202

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231202a

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First, disassociate ego from intellect.

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It’s ok to associate love and intellect. Let love be the force of the buddhi.

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For true knowing happens in the intellect. Some call this knowing, intuition. Some call it affectionate awareness.

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231202b.

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Love is the state of universal consciousness. Samsara is the state of individual consciousness.

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Knowing only happens in the state of universal consciousness. This is a fact and not some romance novel.

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The subtle I-Am is that universal immaculate conception like the Christ story.

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231202c

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boston university winter 70-71 grateful dead incarnated then with pigpen

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me and tony watching from the rafters after our small mob busted in through the back door

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and we watched them warm up for a long hour but soon the workingman's dead were playing for infinity

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231202d a nonduality comics haiku

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grand canyon south rim sunrise striking butte by butte in the land of ten thousand sunrises

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mummy cave ruins across canyon del muerto whilst sitting by the diamond timelessness of chinle creek blues

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hiraizumi, matsushima, yamadera.

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Buddhi is the inner buddha.

Welcome to act seven, scene seven, in this play of self-awareness, called Lila.

Intuition is affectionate awareness as jnana is bhakta.

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Everybody talks about the universe as if it’s a god. What’s up with that? If it’s a god, then have the common courtesy to give it a name.

My god is Brahman wielding the power of Maya and my bible is the Principal Upanishads.

My guru is Nisargadatta Maharaj.

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because of this subtle body, existence feels like i am

but understand this feeling is a universal one. thinking this feeling is an individual one is the only mortal sin there is.

om.

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Brahman Dreams of Maya

This subtle body of organic chemicals and functional compounds doesn’t reflect pure consciousness as much as let that omnipresent light into this box of mindstuff revealing it as so much Maya.

Maya is like the dream of Brahman. Like a dream, Maya isn’t real. But like a dream, Maya is certainly happening. And Maya is like a metaphysical koan. Does the universe have a maker, it asks. Maya (or mu), it answers.

If Maya is like a dream, pure consciousness is not like deep sleep, but existence itself. In other words, deep sleep appears in awareness as the sun appears in that omnipresence so bright, it burns out the mind’s eye looking at it. So it’s called a black hole by the nihilists.

Svetasvatara 1.3 on devātma śakti (aka maya) with commentary by Tejomayananda and Nikhilananda

The first and second verses [Svetasvatara 1.1 & 1.2] raise the following questions: Is Brahman the cause of the universe, or should time, or nature, or necessity, or some other factor, be considered as the cause? Can Brahman properly be called the cause, or is It devoid of causal relationship? Does Brahman, if It is the Creator, create the universe with outside help? If It is the cause, should It be regarded as the material cause or as the efficient cause? Or is It both efficient and material cause? Lastly, if Brahman is designated as the cause then what are Its characteristics; and if It transcends the causal relationship then, too, what is Its nature?

The answer is that the Pure Brahman is neither the cause nor something other than the cause, nor both, nor some thing other than both. Further, It is neither the efficient cause nor the material cause, nor both. Brahman is one and without a second, and devoid of any causal relationship. From the standpoint of the Absolute there is no creation; therefore Brahman cannot properly be described in terms of cause and effect. From the standpoint of the universe, however, Brahman with maya appears to be associated with creation, preservation, and destruction.

~Nikhilananda

two translations of Svetasvatara 1.3

1.3. Following the path of meditation, the students saw the power of the Lord, hidden by its own inherent qualities, the Lord who, alone presides over all the causes – from time to the individual self. (tr-Tejomayananda

1.3. The sages, absorbed in meditation through one-pointedness of mind, discovered the [creative] power, belonging to the Lord Himself and hidden in its own gunas. That non-dual Lord rules over all those causes —time, the self, and the rest. (tr-Nikhilananda)

some commentaries

The infinite Truth has an infinite potential to create. This inscrutable divine power is called māyā. Thus the infinite Truth (Brahman) associated with māyā is the cause of the world... The various factors like time, inherent nature, nature’s laws, matter and energy are manifestations of māyā, or creations of māyā... Māyā cannot exist separate from Truth as Truth is of the nature of Existence. Anything other than Existence cannot exist. Then māyā must be one with the Truth. If so it becomes the Truth itself. Hence māyā cannot be said to be either separate or one with the Truth. Then maybe it does not exist at all. Since creation exists, its cause, the creative power also must exist and this power must exist in the infinite Truth alone. Hence this power is called inscrutable (anirvacanīya).

~Tejomayananda

"Maya is like a twisted rope consisting of three strands, which are the three gunas. All that exists in the universe consists of these three gunas. Brahman, or the Great Spirit, after projecting the universe, remains hidden in it, just as a seed, after producing a tree, remains hidden in the tree. The cause produces the effect and remains concealed in the effect. First of all, Brahman is conceived as the Lord of maya; next, the same Brahman is known as the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer of the universe. The creative aspect, associated with sattva, is known as Brahma; the protective aspect, associated with rajas, is known as Vishnu; and the destructive aspect, associated with tamas, is known as Siva. These three aspects are related to the phenomenal world; they have no bearing upon the attributeless Brahman.

~Nikhilananda

The word 'devātmaśakti' is an aphoristic ex- pression which is variously interpreted by various commentators, but to us it seems to embody the following view: The word 'deva' represents the God of Religion, 'ātma' the Self of philosophy, and 'śakti' the Energy of Science. The word also means the self-conscious power which is in everyone, Deva meaning self- luminous. It thus means to emphasize the presence of the Ultimate Truth in every- body in the form of self-conscious power. Devātmaśakti also means the source of knowledge, emotions and will, the three aspects of mind, Deva standing for knowledge, Atma for the emotions, and Śakti for will. This gives the characteristics of the Ultimate Reality which is beyond the province of mind and language.

~Tyagisananda