Nisargadatta on Waking Sleep

Q: I know only my conditioned existence; there is nothing else. 

M: Surely, you cannot say so. In deep sleep you are not conditioned. How ready and willing you are to go to sleep, how peaceful, free and happy you are when asleep!

Q: I know nothing of it.

M: Put it negatively. When you sleep, you are not in pain, nor bound, nor restless.

Q: I see your point. While awake, I know that I am, but am not happy; in sleep I am, I am happy, but I don't know it. All I need is to know that I am free and happy.

M: Quite so. Now, go within, into a state which you may compare to a state of waking sleep, in which you are aware of yourself, but not of the world. In that state you will know, without the least trace of doubt, that at the root of your being you are free and happy. The only trouble is that you are addicted to experience and you cherish your memories. In reality it is the other way round; what is remembered is never real; the real is now.

The Missing Koan

The universe is Isvara consciousness. Individual consciousness is a samsari. Individual consciousness understanding there is no individual consciousness is priceless.

Individual consciousness breathes free will like vital air. Free will makes you suffer but you’re addicted to its thrill. Free will kills.

Identifying with the past and forgetting the past are two sides of every coin. Seeing through the past and beyond the future is the third side.

Maya Child of Three Koans

1.

Maya is the unmanifest swelling in Brahman.

Parabrahman is beyond the unmanifest

although the unmanifest is made of nothing but Brahman.

2.

Saguna Brahman gives birth to this manifested Maya.

Thus Maya is the child of two Brahmans

or an immaculate conception.

footnotes

The universe is Isvara consciousness. Individual consciousness is a samsari. Individual consciousness understanding there is no individual consciousness is priceless.

Individual consciousness breathes free will like vital air. Free will makes you suffer but you’re addicted to its thrill. Free will kills.

Identifying with the past and forgetting the past are two sides of every coin. Seeing through the past and beyond the future is a third side.

Triangulating Brahman (the maker and the material) On Mundaka 1.1.7

In Mundaka 1.1.7, three analogies are given as ways of seeing brahman as both the maker and the material of manifestaion.

First, the spider spins its web from material within itself.

But analogies are useful only to a point.

To subtract the possible interpretations that the spider is outside of the web or that the web is created for a personal purpose, another analogy is inroduced.

As herbs and grasses sprout from the earth, so is manifestation a divine emanation for no ulterior motive.

But this analogy may lead one to see brahman as inert like earth, so another analogy is introduced.

Like hair growing from one’s head.

"So from the Imperishable comes out the universe here."

Aham Brahma Asmi, after all.

~quote from Mundaka 1.1.7 (tr-Chinmayananda)

A Nondual Quartet (Opus 231028)

i.

The sun is seer.

Without the sun

there is no world—

without the world

I am the sun.

ii.

People get addicted

where the yin meets yang—

it's like satcitananda!

iii.

They fuck you up,

your mother earth

and father sky.

Realize that

while you can.

iv.

i (i am(i am x(i am not x(i am i am(i am i)))))

I Am I (Aham Brahma Asmi)

Awareness is pure consciousness. This is the absolute subject without an object, physical or mental. Its mathematical symbol here is ‘i’.

The reflection of awareness is the reflection of pure consciousness, conceptual consciousness, the immaculate conception and ‘i am’ is its mathematical equation.

This conceptual consciousness ignorantly identifies with x instead of i. Such maya is apparently beginningless. Its equation is ‘i am x’.

Neti neti deconstruction is the nondual mathematic way of minusing the ’x’ until ‘i am’ nakedly remains. Actual meditation stops there—until that ‘i’ reclaims its manifest verb to be a la Aham Brahma Asmi.

What Is Brahman and Who Am I to Say(transcreating Mundaka 1.1.6)

Brahman is not the natural universe nor an object of worship nor a holy soul nor some moral virtue.

Brahman is unborn and eternal, appearing as many but remaining the immutable one without a second.

Brahman is all-pervasive, depthlessly subtle, ever-constant, and the causeless first cause.

The qualified one who realizes that absolutely knows all is brahman and brahman is oneself.

What Is Brahman According to Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.6

tat - that; yat - which; adresyam - is not the object of sense perception; agrāhyam – not an object of organs of action; agotram – unborn; avarṇam - without any attributes; acakṣuśśro- tram - not eyes or ears (not a sense organ); tad that; apāṇipādam - which has no hands or legs (not an organ of action); nityam – eternal; vibhum - which becomes many; sarvagatam – all-pervasive; susūkṣmam - the most subtle; tat - that; avyayam - free from decline and dis- appearance; yat – which; bhūtayonim - cause - of all beings; dhīrāḥ - those who are qualified; paripaśyanti – see very clearly

Adreśyam : it is not an object of senses. Brahman, the subject matter of parā-vidyā, is not an object of your perception... Brahman is not an object of the sense organs because it is the subject. Here we are negating the whole world as non-brahman.

Agrāhyam: it is not an object of organs of action like hands and legs. Feet cannot reach it; it is not located in a place. It is not available for hands to grasp, that is, it is not an object. It is not a place or an object that you can handle. You cannot shake hands with Brahman.

Agotram : it does not have a gotra, lineage. Brahman is neither a gotra nor has a gotra. One should not search for the gotra of Brahman. Somewhere you stop, you draw the line. Brahman is not born, it has no gotra. It is agotra, unborn.

Avarṇam :it is free from varṇa. Varṇa is that by which objects are described... That which does not have attributes of a substantive is avarṇa. If Brahman has attributes, it will be one more object in the world.

Perhaps Brahman is a sense organ or an organ of action. The teacher negates it by saying, acakṣuḥ-śrotram, not eyes or ears... Brahman is not a means of knowing... Further it is apāṇi-pādam, that which has no hands and legs or that which is neither hand nor leg.

Nityam : it is eternal. It is not bound by time. The word ‘agotram’ negates a beginning for Brahman. Here the word ‘nityam’ negates the end. Brahman is free from beginning and end.

Vibhum : it becomes many. All the descriptions given so far may give rise to a doubt that Brahman may be śūnya, non-existence... It becomes ‘as though’ many. It is in the form of the entire cosmos without undergoing any change... nitya and at the same time vibhu.

Sarva-gatam : it is all-pervasive... Everything is located in space. Space is ‘located’ in consciousness, but consciousness is not located in space. Being the cause of everything, Brahman pervades everything, as the reality or cause of everything, and therefore it is sarva-gatam.

Susūkṣmam : the most subtle... The only way to understand Brahman is to recognise it as the invariable in the knower, known and knowledge... If I try to see all-pervasive Brahman, it shows the inappropriateness of my search. The seer is Brahman and Brahman pervades him.

Tad avyayam: it is free from decline and disappearance. Brahman neither exhausts itself and disappears, nor declines and disappears. It remains the same. Only then can we understand Brahman as it is. It is not that once upon a time there was Brahman, and then it became the world.

Bhūta-yonim : it is the cause of all the bhūtas, elements and elementals. Yoni means cause... Brahman is the cause for everything, including all the gross and the subtle worlds. Bhūtas are the five elements, space, air, fire, water, and earth.

Dhīrāḥ paripaśyanti : those people who are qualified and who have this knowledge recognise Brahman as themselves alone... For gaining this knowledge a two-fold preparation is required. One is cognitive skill, and the other is maturity... Such a person is compassionate.

~translation and commentary on Mundaka 1.1.6 by Dayananda

What Is Brahman and Who Am I to Say (transcreating Mundaka 1.1.6)

Brahman is not the natural universe nor an object of worship nor a holy soul nor some moral virtue.

Brahman is unborn and eternal, appearing as many but remaining the immutable one without a second.

Brahman is all-pervasive, depthlessly subtle, ever-constant, and the causeless first cause.

The qualified one who realizes that absolutely knows all is brahman and brahman is oneself.

~tx-SR

Some Mundaka footnotes 

Among the gods, Brahmaji came into being first; he is the creator of the entire universe and also its protector. He taught the knowledge of Brahman which is the most exalted among all forms of knowledge, to Atharva, his first son.

~Mundaka 1.1.1 (tr-Dayananda)

Among the two, the aparā-vidyā is Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvaveda, phonetics, know-how of rituals, grammar, etymology of Vedic words, science of metres, astronomy and astrology. And parā-vidyā is the one by which that imperishable Brahman is known.

~Mundaka 1.1.5 (tr-D)

On the other hand, parā-vidyā refers to the cognitive vṛtti by which the akṣaraṁ brahma is understood. The knowledge, identity of the self with Brahman—that takes place in the buddhi, on hearing the words of the upaniṣad, is called parā-vidyā. Brahman, the subject matter of the upaniṣads, is to be known. Here, the knowledge of Brahman alone is desired to be called parā-vidyā.[40] Even though one can have all the words of the upaniṣads in one’s head, still one will not gain the knowledge of Brahman. Mere words of the upaniṣads are not parā-vidyā. One has to make an effort in going to a teacher and asking for this vidyā. Unless one chooses to know Brahman, this knowledge does not take place.[41] With vairāgya, objectivity, gained by understanding the limitations of all one’s other pursuits, when one exposes oneself to this teaching and understands, “Ah! I am Brahman,” it is called parā-vidyā.

The self is always self-revealing. It happens to be Brahman. We do not know that fact. Therefore, the removal of ignorance of the self being identical to Brahman alone is para-prāpti, gain of Brahman. It is the gain of what is already gained.

~Mundaka 1.1.5 commentary by Dayananda

Paraverse Cidabhasa

Off the coast of Cape Hatteras is the famous Gulf Stream

originating from the Gulf of Mexico flowing through the Straits of Florida

ultimately zapping its electric sentience to these Outer Banks

before lighting out for India.

footnotes

consciousness knows not death, john donne (paraverse 23102102)

it’s not as much as focus as unfocus as conditioning is coming into focus

with your locally conditioned consciousness so relax—

one is using one’s conditioning for one’s deconditioning naturally

as the world turns, rain falls and snow melts

my sea ditty (p23102103)

i says i am not an x

but i am i am

as eye is parabrahman

says i

On Individual Liberation(I, I Am, & I Am X):Pancadasi 7-1/18 According to Tejomayanada

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.

*********

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