Everything is consciousness, which Sage Sri Sankara declared 1200 years back –everything is Atman because Atman is in the form of consciousness.
Nothing can be independent of
consciousness because no second thing exists other than consciousness. The
whole universe without the form, time and space is consciousness. Without the form, time and space there is no
universe but it is only the formless non-dual consciousness. But this truth has
to be grasped to assimilate and realize the true essence of non-duality.
When one puts aside the imagination
and has the thinker-- what does he get with thinking—he can get only a thought.
Meditation is only an effort of the ego within the illusion; it is imagination
based on the false self; the consciousness remaining the same with or without
ideas.
When formless witness
witnesses the waking experience and its attention is fixed to the waking
experience, which is an object to it, than it is in ignorance of its formless non-dual true nature and it is in forgetfulness of its own formless non-dual true
nature. Same thing is applied to the dream. But when formless witness is free
from waking and dream it is in its formless non-dual true nature, which
identified as deep sleep in the waking experience, which is the state of
ignorance. Only when waking entity
traces the formless witness mentally and realizes it itself is not the self but
the formless witness (soul or consciousness) is the true self, then the wisdom
will dawn
There is no knower
and known in the realm of the non-dual reality. To grasp the essence of non-dual
truth, it is better to say that in reality the Knower and the Known are
identical. It is only through Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the
very nature of the soul, the innermost self is self-revealing and self-knowing.
The non-dual truth
is always “without experience of diversity”. It is the absence of experience of
diversity and prevailing in objectless awareness. Self-knowledge is clear
recognition and realization of the true Self in not physical but the spirit.
The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the Knower
and the Known, the witness and the witnessed, without any duality. Self,
being one without a second, is always self-knowing. There is no “other” for it
to know. The nature of the self is formless and non-dual.
While deep sleep is
a state of complete unconsciousness, in the state of wisdom is the state of
full and complete non-dual awareness. Deep sleep and natural state of the self
are the two sides of the same coin. In a very real and true sense the natural
state of the self is the state of “deep awake”. One is fully asleep to
the world of perceptions and fully awake in the Self, which is non-dual reality.
Non-duality is natural
state of the self cannot be understood without the self-knowledge or Brahma
Gnana or Atma Gnana. Without Self-Knowledge
or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana it is not impossible to realize the ultimate
truth or Brahman. If it was a state that is beyond understanding, Sages such as
Buddha, Sage Sri Sankara and Sage Sri, Ramana Maharishi would not be able
to speak of it.
People who speak
about the natural state of the self without actually knowing and realizing they
can only speculate about its nature. Because such people are confused about
natural state, their statements create confusion for others.
The waking
experience continues to exist even after realizing the true self. Through the
existing mental apparatus, the Gnani guides the serious seekers via the mind
and the body. The Gnani may experience pain and pleasure or eat or sleep or
dream. All those things are due to mental modifications and unrelated to the
Self-nature. The Gnani’s focus of attention is not centred on the ego but it is
Self-centred. Thus, he is in the witness consciousness, observing the three
states as an object.
The Unconsciousness can only be a consciousness without objects;
otherwise it has no meaning. Therefore it is really consciousness, which can exist
with or without the objective awareness.
That which one knows best in the world, that which is nearest to him,
that of which he can never be free, the existence of which is
certain, is his consciousness. He may doubt anything else but he directly
perceives his- self, which is consciousness.
No one so far has even been able to define the meaning of 'mind' and
'consciousness. Only through soul-centric reasoning, he realizes the fact that, waking
and dream are mental states. The truth is hidden in waking, dream and
sleep--which comes and goes.
Before any of the states come in, there must have been the soul, the
innermost self. Before one could know that God created the world, the soul, the
innermost self must witness the waking experience.
The man, the idea of God and the world are reality within the waking experience.
Without the waking experience they are non-existent. Illustration is a dream;
the dream contains the dream world, dream entity, God. Similarly the waking
experience contains the waking entity, and waking world and God etc. the waking experience is as real as the dream.
