May Day Mahavakya

May Day peepers—a younger character I once played thought they’re the sound of the land reawakening, and that nature in general is the transcendental reality, and not some social construction. Now there’s the four mahavakyas of the vedic revelation riding from out of the silence.

First, consciousness is not this finished product of the natural world, and although it’s a fact the social world appears in the natural one, that the natural world appears in consciousness is the truth. Aham Brahmasmi says.

Tat is that is isvara. Tvam is you is jiva. Since you're not literally god, the words are heard as stand-ins for their respective grounds. Brahman is the ground of isvara. Atman is the ground of jiva. Thus pure consciousness is the mutual ground. Tattvamasi.

Intelligence, wisdom, knowledge, consciousness—all are brahman. Prajnanam brahma. This self is the great one. Ayam atma brahma. In the name of the play of light, divine imagination, non-abiding self-awareness, and nirvikalpa samadhi. Atman is not my self. I am atman. Dot dot dot dash.

footnotes

Then it was Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau, Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder, Donald Hall. Now it’s Nisargadatta and the Drg Drsya Viveka of Vidyaranya.

Appearing in Awareness

1.

Space is a convenient metaphor for awareness. But actual space, as in space-time, is only an appearance in spaceless awareness.

The universe is neither real like brahman nor unreal like absolutely nothing, but is an indeterminate appearance, illusory, mithya.

And egoic self isn’t real like atman (the self) nor unreal like anatta (no-self), but is also illusory like a dream, cicchaya, the reflection of awareness, of pure consciousness, brahman.

2.

As space is an appearance in spaceless awareness, time is an appearance in timeless awareness.

Neither real nor unreal but not real—this is the most one can say about the universe. It's like neti neti times ten thousand.

Light reflecting off a mirror is nothing but light, but the reflection of the sun in the mirror is not the sun.

3.

Awareness reflecting off the mind is nothing but the play of light, divine imagination, self-awareness.

The reflection of brahman in the mind (conceptual) is not brahman (the nonconceptual) but samsaric imagination.

Before enlightenment, divine imagination. After enlightenment, divine imagination.

0.

sunlight on a daffodil—

in its perfect reflection of the sun

there is no daffodil

On Self-awareness (2023)

1.

The universe is not just name and form. The universe is name and form superimposed on being, consciousness, bliss. Satcitananda. Otherwise, there’s no appearance of a universe at all.

Similarly, egoic self is nothing but name and form superimposed on the infinite self of satcitananda.

Name and form is nothing but imagination and imagination is nothing but thought. No thought, no universe and no egoic self. 

2.

Basically, there are three states of human consciousness: ignorant imagination (avidya), divine imagination (advaita), and nirvikalpa samadhi.

Also, divine imagination includes these sudden revelations of non-abiding (savikalpa) samadhi like this downloading.

Mistaking divine imagination (with savikalpa samadhi) for nirvikalpa samadhi is just more ignorant imagination.

3.

In divine imagination, one takes a stand, one foot in the myth and one foot in the absolute, from bhakta to jnana and all of the lucid in-between.

In deep Mandukya-speak, avidya is the dreaming state, advaita is the waking state, and nirvikalpa is the deep sleep state.

Some say there are three states of samadhi instead: non-savikalpa, savikalpa, and nirvikalpa. That tracks.

4.

In its essence, avidya is beginningless but not endless, possessing the powers of concealment (of the truth) and projection (of the false). Its locus is in maya.

There are three states of human consciousness (samadhi): avidya (non-savikalpa), advaita (salvikalpa), and nirvikalpa.

Thus there’s only the absolute one: brahman, atman, being, presence, intelligence, awareness, infinity, bliss. Self-awareness is such divine imagination.

The Ballad of Brahman and Tao

Nondoing is what I do. Doing is the story why I did it.

Real poetry is like the voice of silence in the land of noise.

Poetry points. Nonfiction deconstructs. Fiction dreams. Love you, babe.

Yin and yang is the breath of duality. It’s not a problem until the tao takes a side.

The tao has no sides. The tao is the diamond without a facet. Tao loves brahman.

On Jahadjahallakshana

Between the water table and this spring-fed pool is the world of maya. Like atman is brahman.

In this metaphor, the earth of maya is simply conceptual and the water is indivisible pure being.

All words are metaphorical to some degree. A rose is a rose in as much as the word points to the mystery of consciousness called a rose.

Even the word, awareness, is a metaphor for that substrate of nonconceptual awareness, that that which can’t be named.

Pointing at the moon howling I am that reflection of awareness as the black whole is swallowing the sun of self-awareness—that's lakshana. It's no neti-neti.

The Brahman Trilogy

1. Name That Brahman

Brahman kind of means, god is great.

Brahman is so infinite that space-time is just an island in the sea of brahman

or the void is just a mustard seed inside a black hole.

You can call that infinity, being, consciousness, bliss, the indivisible, unconditional, unchanging, the unborn and the free.

That by any other symbolic intuition is That.

2. god is so brahman

god is good, as in brahman isn't the cause of suffering. avidya is.

god is great, as in brahman isn't of this world. the world is like a dream in brahman.

god is so being that the existence of the universe itself is just a superimposition upon brahman.

god is so blissful in brahman now.

3. Atman and Brahman

Atman is the microcosmic absolute called the inner self. Brahman is the macrocosmic absolute called beyond, beyond, far beyond.

Atman is brahman is not a theory of everything. That atman is brahman is the absolute revelation seeing through everything.

Atman is brahman. Look, the mahavakyas are like the hydrogen atom of maya. Please handle with care.

Let them introduce myself. Atman is brahman. Consciousness is brahman. I am brahman. Tattvamasi. 

Atman and Brahman

Atman is the microcosmic absolute called the inner self. Brahman is the macrocosmic absolute called beyond, beyond, far beyond.

Atman is brahman is not a theory of everything. That atman is brahman is the absolute revelation seeing through everything.

Atman is brahman. Look, the mahavakyas are like the hydrogen atom of maya. Please handle with care.

Let them introduce myself. Atman is brahman. Consciousness is brahman. I am brahman. Tattvamasi. 

god is so brahman

god is good, as in brahman isn't the cause of suffering. avidya is.

god is great, as in brahman isn't of this world. the world is like a dream in brahman.

god is so being that the existence of the universe itself is just a superimposition upon brahman.

god is so blissful in brahman now.

Name That Brahman

Brahman kind of means, god is great.

Brahman is so infinite that space-time is just an island in the sea of brahman

or the void is just a mustard seed inside a black hole.

You can call that infinity, being, consciousness, bliss, the indivisible, unconditional, unchanging, the unborn and the free.

That by any other symbolic intuition is That.

Notes to Anandamaya

Try identifying with the intellect. The intellect is a reflection of intelligence. Another name for intelligence is awareness.

Another name for the reflection of awareness is consciousness. Another name for the conscious intellect is I Am.

Hard-wired superimposition is the body-life-force. Subtle superimposition is the mind-intellect-quality complex.

Ananda, through the binary lens of maya, appears to be happiness and unhappiness, pleasure and pain, one and zero. 

Another name for this is quality. Thus satcitananda reflected in maya is mind-intellect-qualifier.

The life force body is born, lives, and dies. Its sentience is only reflected immortality. The subtle body is the mind, intellect, 

and qualifier—reflections of shimmering satcitananda. Only the qualifier is after maya but before avidya.

Awareness is the ground. Self-awareness is the story. Nirvikalpa samadhi is the story returning to the ground, dead or alive.