The reflection of awareness is consciousness. This consciousness lights your fire, I know!
But the reflection of light in a clear mirror remains light. There are not two lights. Consciousness is awareness.
It's like that formula: attention minus thought equals awareness. Or said another way, awareness plus thought equals consciousness.
They say nirguna brahman plus maya equals saguna brahman. Thus ask not who is the witness. The witness is you, minus avidya.
Ego (ahamkara) makes three identifications (tadatmyam): with the reflection of consciousness (cicchaya), with the body (deha), and with the witness (saksi). The first is natural, the second is karmic, and the third one is made out of ignorance.
1. Sahajam tadatmyam: the ciccaya (reflection of consciousness) in the suksma sarira (subtle body) gives rise to the ahamkara. It’s only natural this ego identifies with that consciousness and that consciousness identifies with ego. The resultant experience is “I know.”
2. Karmajam tadatmyam: identification with the body-mind is karmic. For countless reasons, there’s a reflection of consciousness in the subtle body contained within this body-mind. These first two identifications are the work of maya and maya is above our pay grade. In maya but not of maya.
3. Bhranti-janyam tadatmyam: ego is finite but the witness is infinite. The mutual superimposition of ego and witness is one of ignorance and the root of all samsaric suffering. The resultant experience of this misidentification is “I am.” Although avidya is beginningless, it’s not endless. That’s what viveka and nisarga yoga are for.
First there is a mountain, then I am the mountain, then the mountain is appearing in That I Am. Life is just an illusive interruption from awareness for the purposes of self-awareness.
It’s not that existence is nothing, my nihilistic friend, but that existence as a dream state is nothing when compared to the sat (being, existence, presence) of satcitananda, aka parabrahman.
So in the mountainous world of doing, ego decides, the intellect rationalizes this decision, and the mind veils the inconvenient facts while projecting all the others.
In the valley of nondoing, the mind supplies objective information clearly, the intellect intuitively decides the necessary action intelligently, and ego carries out the operation intently without an eye for its end.
The subtle body (suksma sarira) is that strange mixture of functional compounds and organic chemicals
resulting in our central nervous system—this ethereal and astral embodiment in which consciousness is now reflecting.
After this kiss of consciousness, the subtle body subdivides into ego, intellect, mind, memory, and vital breath.
Intellect reflects intelligence, mind reflects awareness, and ego is Isvara embodied in avidya generating a world-class inferiority complex.
Killing ego is like killing Isvara. Or stalling maya. Don't hold your vital breath. Intelligent awareness is enough.
According to the Mandukya Upanishad, and I have confirmed its findings, there are three states of consciousness.
This doesn’t take lysergic acid diethylamide to see. The three states of consciousness are waking, dreaming, and deep sleeping.
As the power of three is infinitely divisible by the power of three, one could say the waking dream has three states too.
There is the original inheritance of avidya, its slow deconstruction by the satguru, and sudden jivanmukta.
If one were an LED light bulb, the I Am would be the subtle filament of light-emitting diodes
Spreading the fire spirit of consciousness to the inner and outer bodies of the bulb.
Consequently one is not the bulb, but neither is one the filament—
One is the power of universal consciousness (saguna brahman)
Manifesting from the absolute source (nirguna brahman) That I Am.
Consciousness (cicchaya) is the manifestation of awareness (pure consciousness) as dreams are manifestations of the mind.
In a dream, nothing really happens to the dreamer. Similarly in maya, nothing happens to brahman.
Let me say this once again—it’s not the what I dream at night but the simple fact that I am dreaming.
The only true interpretation of a dream is I am dreaming. Don’t overthink things. Dreams aren’t Hamlet. That's entertainment.
As the natural is this world of illusion always changing,
the supernatural is that immutable beyond illusion.
In other words, supernatural doesn’t mean a higher form of natural.
The supernatural is the substrate upon which the natural is superimposed.
Maybe the word, supernatural, is a little misleading
but the word, subnatural, would certainly be worse.
Instead of supernatural, one could call it ultranatural or metanatural
or just change one’s own definition of supernatural instead.
Obviously, whatever changes isn’t real—it’s here today and gone tomorrow.
Thus the first rule of reality is immutability.
Brahman is the immutable substrate of the outer objective world.
Atman is the immutable substrate of the inner subjective self.
The glorious revelation of the upanishads is—atman is brahman.
Or ayam atma brahma, aham brahma asmi, prajnanam brahma, tat tvam asi.
Deliberately doing is rajas. Deliberately not doing is tamas. This is avidya.
Surrendering to nondoing is sattva. This is maya.
Saguna brahman is brahman with the qualities of sattva, rajas, and tamas.
Nirguna brahman is brahman without qualities.
Seeing through avidya is one thing. Living with maya is another.
This is the way of the jivanmukta. It's in the world but not of the world.
