“From the
standpoint of the waking entity the universe is a reality from the standpoint
of the soul, the innermost self, the universe is mere illusion created out of
consciousness. When wisdom dawns then one realizes the whole universe is
consciousness. The dualistic view is possible only in ignorance. At the dawn of
Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana there is only non-dualistic view
in the midst of duality because the whole universe is consciousness. Thus all
the contents of the universe are also consciousness. Thus form, time and space
are mere illusion created out of consciousness. If the form time and space are
consciousness than the experience birth, life and death also
consciousness.
The word Brahman
means ultimate truth or reality which cannot be indicated by any word. The
Brahman can be expressed through silence because it is beyond the experience
form, time and space. . Therefore, the word Brahma in the clearly stands for
the essence of the three states, which is consciousness only. The final use of
pursuit of truth is to know that self is consciousness.
Sage Sri,
Sankara opposed the Buddhists only, who misunderstood Buddha and became
atheists. According to Sage Sri, Sankara meditation always means the critical
analysis about the self to get salvation from the worldly tensions. Due to the
eccentric ego of the then atheists, Sage Sri, Sankara did not go beyond this
since the atheists will not accept God beyond themselves. This limitation is
not due to limited knowledge of Sage Sri, Sankara, but is due to the then
existing situation of the psychology of the surrounding society. Even Buddha
kept silent about God because the society dealt by Him consisted of Purvamimamsakas,
who were strong atheists. Buddha told that everything including the self is
only relatively real (Sunya). This is correct because the self is a part of the
universe, which is relatively real with respect to the absolute unimaginable
God. Buddha stopped at this point because the atheists cannot realize the
existence of unimaginable God indicated through His silence.
The point of Buddha
is that if God is non-existent, the entire creation including self is
non-existent. Sage Sri, Sankara wanted to establish the existence of the
Brahman. For this purpose, He made the Atman as the Brahman. He brought out the
identity of self with the consciousness and made The Atman the Brahman. Since
one will not negate the existence of himself, he will accept the existence of
the Brahman, which is the Atman or soul, the innermost self. Both Buddha and
Sage Sri, Sankara kept silent about the absolute unimaginable God. The same
philosophy was dealt by them in different angles in different situations.
The waking experience which is referred to as the witnessed and the formless soul, which is present in
the form of consciousness is the innermost
self, referred to as the witness
of the witnessed are wrongly
looked upon by everyone of us as equally
real, though the waking experience has no Reality in the absolute sense.
Waking and dream emerge from consciousness.
The emergence of the waking or dreams does not make any difference to the consciousness.
The consciousness remains unchanged and unaffected by the waking or dream, even
though both the waking or dream objects and the waking or dreams are aspects of
the consciousness.
The dreamer would not realize that
dream objects and the dreams are simply aspects of the consciousness unless he
wakes up from the dream. Once the waking takes place the dream becomes unreal,
same way when wisdom dawns the waking becomes unreal. The unchanging reality behind the waking or
dream experience is the consciousness.
The waking or dream experiences are external
manifestation of consciousness. As long as a person is caught up in the
phenomenal existence, he does not see the unity behind the multiplicity. When
one wakes up to the consciousness as it is in itself, not perceived or interpreted, or noumenal level
he becomes aware of the one, non-dual consciousness,
which was the cause of the three states.
Thus, consciousness is supreme. It is the reality. It has no
beginning and end. It is eternal and beyond the reach of pain and pleasure. Consciousness is indivisible, immeasurable,
without names and forms. It cannot be avoided, as it is present everywhere. Consciousness cannot be grasped, as
it is transcendent. It cannot be contained in anything, as it contains
everything. Consciousness is
indefinable, for it is beyond the range of action and speech. Thus, consciousness is reality
itself, pure and absolute consciousness.
Consciousness is ultimate reality is defined as that which persists. Consciousness
exists in all periods of time and remains the same in the past, present and
future.
Consciousness is ultimate reality exists
both in the manifest and the unmanifested. The mind, which is in the form of
universe arises out of the consciousness .The consciousness exists in all the
three states. The mind rises from it and Merges back into consciousness.
Consciousness is the substratum and the
three states. Consciousness is like the ocean and mind is like wave. Wave
exists in ocean and Merges back into ocean. Similarly the mind or universe is
nothing but consciousness. Everything is consciousness.
Therefore, consciousness is a principle of utter simplicity. There
is no duality in consciousness
for no qualities are found in the concept of consciousness. It is also simple in the sense that it is
not subject to inner contradictions, which would make it changeable and
transitory. To understand the nature of consciousness and to speak of
it, consciousness in its
reality, is not a metaphysical postulate that can be proved logically, but it
must be grasped and realized mentally not through argument or logical
conclusions but perfect reasoning. Thus, consciousness
is one: It is not a `He or She ', a personal being; nor is it an
`It', an impersonal concept. It is that state which comes about when all
subject-object distinctions are obliterated.
