Upadesa Saram - Post 24

Verse 21

इदमहंपदाभिख्यमन्वहम् |

अहमिलीनकेऽप्यलयसत्तया || २१ ||

idamahaṁpadābhikhyamanvaham |

ahamilīnake'pyalayasattayā || 21 ||

This is viewed as the word “I;” every day,

Even upon the dissolution of “I,” it is undissolved as Being. (21)

What are the two I’s referred to in this post? 

i) The True “I” or Pure Self: This is the unchanging sense of ‘I’ we experience at all times, from birth till death. It is the indestructible Presence of mind, or awareness that makes us conscious of all experiences. This is referred to in an earlier post as “PARAMA PURNA SAT”.

ii) The Individual “I” or Ego: This is the sense of ‘I’-ness felt as a result of our association with our body, mind and intellect. It relates us in a limited way to all objects and sense perceptions. It is also responsible for the sense of possession we feel in thoughts. 

The I-thought is always associating with names and forms, but none of these are real and, in fact, often become the cause of one’s suffering. 

The I-thought itself is unreal as it dissolves in deep sleep into the spiritual Heart. We are unfortunately oblivious of this truth. Our consciousness is not able to witness this as we are constantly in a trance, being stimulated by the objects and the senses that draw us towards them.

When, by enquiry, the Ahamkara (the individual ego) is falsified, in its place, sphurati svayam, shines by Itself, the real "I".

What is the guarantee that this real “I” will also not go away?? It will not go away because it has never come either. 

Following aspects of the “REAL I” makes it Real or Truth or SATHYAM.

·  The real Self is birthless, it has no cause. For everything that we can imagine about us and this creation, there is a cause. SELF alone has no cause and is not an effect of any other cause. Hence, it is birthless.

·    Since it is not created by any cause, it is independent of any other aspect in this creation.

·     Whatever comes and goes, is limited by time. We say that an object comes and goes, only with reference to a time frame in which it came and it went. Since SELF is birthless, it is also not limited by time.

·     SELF does not change, does not reduce / disappear. When we have known that the snake appearance is actually a rope, it does not mean that the rope had changed its real identity. It was and it will be always a rope. 

Love.