True Nature of the Self and Self-Knowledge

True Nature of the Self and Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana

Consciousness is the only one, true existence beyond all thoughts, consciousness is the knower, the witness, the truth, the indivisible, and there is no doubt whatsoever that, the universe is within the self, which is consciousness. Ignorance is the cause of the universe. without ignorance the universe ceases to exist as reality.

the soul is the innermost self. Soul, the innermost self is in the form of formless consciousness. consciousness  is one and does not have any parts.  The body is not the self and the body is divisible in to various organs, by considering the body as self , one  is in  ignorance, by  thinking that these two are one.

The problem arises because everyone identifies themselves with their body with the name as self within the world, which appear as waking experience but they are unaware of the fact that, the waking experience is perishable.  

A Gnani is always aware of the fact that,  the true self is not the form but formless consciousness and  the body and the world are mere mirage created out of consciousness, thus they are illusory in their nature. By limiting the consciousness to the waking entity alone is the cause of ignorance, because the consciousness pervades all the three states as their formless substance and witness. 

 The very purpose of pursuit of truth is to break this illusion of experience of birth, life and death and form, time and space by constant drawing attention to the formless substance and witness of the three states by providing seekers of truth with the path which would enable them to be free of experiencing the illusory duality as reality.  

For Gnani the “self” shines without the form, name and experience of the universe, because he is fully aware of the fact that, his body, name and his experience of the universe are mere mirage created out of consciousness therefore he treats his body, name and his experience of the universe to be consciousness. Thus for a Gnani consciousness alone is real and any second thing other than consciousness is mere illusion.   

 The consciousness is the formless substance and exists within the universe or mind. The universe or mind is an object to the formless subject. Thus holding the object as reality without being aware of the formless subject, which is consciousness is cause of the ignorance.  

The soul or self is in the form of consciousness and the mind or universe is mere mirage created out of consciousness.   Holding the mirage as reality and judging on the base of the body as self and thinking that these two are one is cause of the ignorance.

Consciousness is sentient, mind, which is in the form of universe, is insentient. Therefore all the contents of the universe are insentient. Thus holding the insentient as sentient is cause of ignorance. 

Consciousness is eternal and ever existent, Mind, which is in the form of universe, is transient and nonexistent, it is due to self - ignorance, the duality is experienced as reality.  Only through self-awareness, the self becomes aware of its formless non-dual nature.  Thus it is the self that has to become aware of itself by realizing the fact that the mind or universe is mere mirage.  Thus it is the self that has to become aware of the fact that, it is not the waking entity, which perceives the world to realize the waking experience is mere mirage in the midst of waking experience. 

The ignorant thinks that, the self is the body, and perceives the world without being aware of the fact that, his body, ego and universe are mere illusory experience created out of consciousness. Thus trying to judge the truth on the false entity within the false experience is erroneous. Until one makes sure of the true self, it is erroneous to judge and conclude the ultimate truth on mere speculation and assumption.  Thus one has to make sure of the fact that   the true self is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity but the formless knower of the three states, which comes and goes.    

A Gnani say that the true knowledge is that, “Self” is definitely neither the waking entity nor the dream entity because the waking and dream both are illusory.  The true self is   consciousness and its nature is formless, non-dual peace, and equanimity. Consciousness is    the existence and knowledge. 

Illusion’s "concealing power" merely means that when one looks at an ice block he thinks only of the ice block. But a Gnani will think of the substance of the ice block too.   That is a wise man has the knowledge of the substance plus of the ice block. Similarly a Gnani has the knowledge of the universe and its formless substance also. The consciousness is concealed because of ignorance because as a man one is not aware of the fact that, his body and the world are mere mirage created out of consciousness. When one becomes aware of the mirage then there is no body and no universe there is only the formless consciousness, which is the true self.   

One has to get firm conviction that, the Self is definitely not the waking entity which is an illusion but self is without change, without any form, without any blemish and without any decay, without   disease, beyond all comprehension, beyond any change and consciousness is all pervading.

Self is definitely not the waking entity within the waking experience    which is an illusion but self is without properties and without any activity, self is permanent, forever free and imperishable.

The self is not ‘I’ which an illusion is, but the self is the formless knower or witness of the ‘I’ ,which is the mind and mind is in the form of universe and universe appears as waking or dream.  The consciousness is without moment and limits, it is pure.  It is ageless   because it is formless, birth less and deathless.

A Gnani has the firm conviction that,   all the three states are an object to the formless subject.  And the three states are but transient experience.  He identifies self with the Formless Witness, he is unaffected by the individual experiences happening within the waking or dream because he knows that self, the soul, can never be lost or lose anything in itself. Thus noting is lost or gained because everything is consciousness therefore Gnani sees only consciousness in everything and everywhere in the experience of diversity, thus for him no second thing exists other than consciousness.  

Knowing the three states as a part of self, which is consciousness, he no longer considers it as an object such distinction exists only when inquiring. The ignorant man imagines he is related to objects, imagines there is causal relation with them and then imagines his sufferings because of their transiency. He foolishly believes that anything can go away from his self, because he separates his-self from them.

Unity is here and now, always has been and always will be. so long as one is  ignorant of this truth, he will  not see unity only he  sees diversity. 

The consciousness is the true self and non-duality is pure nature of the consciousness. To capture the essence of non-dual reality, where witness and the witnessed are identical, it is only pure consciousness that by which its very nature is self-revealing and self-knowing.

True nature of the self is “without the three states”. It is the absence three states and presence of fullness of consciousness in its true form which allows for the clear recognition of the Self.

Consciousness is the true self and it is the Knower and the Known, the Seer and the Seen, without any duality.  Self, being one without a second, is always self-knowing. There is no “other” for it to know. That is why it is refer to the Self as the natural. The reference to natural implies the non-dual nature of the Self.

While deep sleep is a state of complete unconsciousness.  The true state is the state of full and complete consciousness. Deep sleep is still the state of ignorance. And a true state of consciousness is the state of self-awareness. In a very real and true sense the true state of the consciousness is the state of “deep awake”. The self is fully asleep to the world of perceptions and fully awake in its true nature, which is non-dual consciousness.

The true nature   of consciousness cannot be understood without self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. But it is not impossible to understand it. People who speak about true nature of the self without the being aware of the fact that self is not physical can only speculate about its nature. Because such people are confused about nature of the self, their statements create confusion for others.

The three states can continue to exist and function after acquiring self-knowledge. But for Gnani all the three states are unrelated, because he has become one with the witnessing consciousness.

After Self-Realization, the duality is seen as existing but not separate from the Self. The Self knows itself even though the duality still exists.  The duality exists as a condition that rises from the Self and then is absorbed back into it. It is due to the presence of the duality, (until it disappears by death), that Knowledge of the Self can be passed on by the Realized beings to others who seek such knowledge.