The I-Am of Avidya

1.

Technically speaking, the world doesn’t appear in the space of consciousness, but the world appears in the space of maya, and maya appears in consciousness. Similarly, the personal appears within the reflection of consciousness, and this i-am appears in consciousness.

2.

The person is to the world

As the reflection (i-am) of consciousness is to space (akasa)

As avidya is to maya

As atman is to brahman

As ayam atma brahma.

3.

And this is N’s yoga. A person resting in the reflection of consciousness is the i-am-this resting in the i-am without the conceptual this. For the i comes for the i-am. The i-am-this can never reach the i. And the mantra is the namarupa resting in the nama. Or the i-am-this resting in the i-am.

The Space of Maya

The power of maya is known only by its effect, the world. Further the power of maya is actually the power of brahman. And although maya is the power of brahman, make no mistake, maya isn't brahman.

Whereas maya is not absolute existence, neither is maya non-existent. Relatively existent, maya is as it is, undefinable and indescribable.

Before creation, there was maya, the darkness of maya covering the light of brahman. Brahman adorned in the cloak of maya is isvara, god, the saguna brahman, or the absolute with attributes.

And the first transformation of maya is space, in which the world appears, for brahman is spaceless, space being just a superimposition on the substratum of brahman.

reality sonnet

in maya,

every object has five qualities

about it—

name, form,

existence, consciousness, bliss.

namarupa is the great illusion.

satcitananda is the great one.

brahman.

listen in brahman,

there’s not only silence,

but no eyes, no tongue,

no nerves, no nose

as well as no ears

to hear.

Vidyaranya's Reality

Reality is existence. Reality is consciousness. Reality is bliss. Satcitananda is the nature of reality and not its components. Reality is the whole.

(In this way, Vidyaranya talks about the three types of differences: within a singular object, between objects of the same kind, and between objects of unlike kinds. Bheda: svagata, svajatiya, vijatiya.)

There are no parts within reality. Parts consist of name and form. Namarupa is the essence of the manifest creation. Existence is the essence of the unmanifest reality and not one of its parts.

Reality is alone. There can’t be another reality. Reality is uncontested. Existence can’t be opposed by non-existence; even emptiness exists as a superimposition upon existence. Look, it’s ekam eva advitiyam, one only without a second.

Zhuangzi's Moth: Three Footnotes on Four Stages

Without indirect knowledge, one must depend on the kindness of spontaneous combustion. It happens, I guess. I once knew a woman who won the lottery big time.

Not believing blindly, listening faithfully means accepting the guru’s transmitted knowledge as truth. Later alone one reasons it out—not to disprove the truth but to convince the mind of its logical foundation. And in turn, silence this disturbing noise of doubt. Or not.

Relatively speaking, listening and reasoning take effort. But meditation is effortless. No longer about the guru’s words, it’s now about that attractive flame of the satguru.

On the Four Stages of Knowing

In the Pancadasi, a 14th century handbook of Advaita Vedanta (or as was just auto-corrected to advice of the doctor), in the chapter entitled Tattva Viveka, the first of 15 chapters, Vidyaranya (the author, most likely) writes of the 4 stages of knowledge from indirect to direct.

The first is called the listening. The second is called the reflecting or reasoning. Sravanam is listening to the guru faithfully. Manaman is confirming this knowledge initially taken in faith with logical reasoning and careful analysis until the mind buys it and owns it. Or not.

Only when this indirect knowledge clicks does the third stage, meditation, begin. Nididhysanam is the one-pointed contemplation on the brahmakara vritti, the thought, I am Brahman—until the meditator and the meditating drop into the nirvikalpa samadhi of Parabrahman, the fourth.

Physical Mythics

First, a lawful myth must be logical. There are two metaparadigms of physics (general relativity and quantum mechanics) which will never be united, no matter how much our scientific priests pray to Some Theory of Everything for us.

Actually, general relativity and quantum mechanics are the original duality. General relativity and quantum mechanics appear in consciousness and not vice versa, period.

Further, consciousness is the everything in which the original duality of general relativity and quantum mechanics appears. And even better, consciousness is not a theory.

Footnote to Tattvamasi

Keep an open head: that out there is you in here.

If form is transformation and transformation is form,

then beneath this superimposition is the formlessness of brahman.

Religions have their gods. Science has its theories.

Avidya may be beginningless but it’s not everlasting thank god.

No guru, no method, no teacher?

No creator, no creation, no creature.

Tattvamasi Absolutely

It may not appear to be the truth but that out there is you in here.

Remove the emptiness of all phenomena from the picture—

it’s obvious the absolute is the material cause of all.

Remove all belief and theories circulating in and about creation—

it’s obvious the absolute is the efficient cause as well.

Remove all beginningless ignorance concerning one’s actual self—

it’s obvious the absolute is one’s formal cause at last.

Thus that without the twin illusion of creation and creator

is you without the nescience of thinking you’re their creature.

footnote

Keep an open head: that out there is you in here.

If form is transformation and transformation is form,

then beneath this superimposition is the formlessness of brahman.

Religions have their gods. Science has its theories.

Avidya may be beginningless but it’s not everlasting thank god.

No guru, no method, no teacher?

No creator, no creation, no creature.

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.

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to fish in the sea

water is the vital breath—

to human beings

the space of consciousness is

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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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