Essence of Vedanta - Part 22

Dear All,

We ended the previous post in these theme as under:-

"The above expressionless expressions some how captures the STATE where, one exists as the source that illumines one's intellect, but with no intellect, no mind, no body!!!!!!!!!!

This state of existence can be explained through the major and minor upanishads, through all Sankara's treatise on advaita, through Brahma sutra etc. etc., but all such explanations remain as theoretical knowledge gained!!!

Where as

In the above expressionless expression, ONE EXISTS AS THE PURE KNOWLEDGE which later on is observed to be illumining one's intellect to gain all knowledge in this knowledge!"

Now, what is this existence as pure knowledge?

The Vedas declare that reality (Brahman) is pure Existence (Sat or Satyam), Consciousness (Cit or Jnaanam) and Infinite (Aananda or Anantam). 

1. Satyam

What we see as the world is based on the sense organs and the instruments that extend the sense organs. The human eye can see only a limited range of frequencies. Similarly the ears can hear only a limited range. 

There are other animals which have a different range of vision and sound. Also, they have much more powerful sense of smell than us. So their world is an entirely different one. 

For example, when a cat enters a room, it knows who was sitting in the sofa an hour back based on the smell. It also knows if you have gone to the park or not based on the smell of the flowers on you. 

Sharks can detect the electrical current in the bodies of animals swimming in the water a few meters away. Even with all the modern technology to extend our access to the various physical phenomenon in the world, there is no reason to assume that what we detect in the world is all that actually exists. There can be entirely new kinds of matter and energy that so far we do not have senses or instruments to detect.

What we see and interpret depend on the state of our mind. If we like someone, we see them as beautiful. The chemicals and hormones in our blood affect the way we think and judge. 

Also, all our past experience affects our interpretation of the people, objects and situations in the world. Thus, though the world seems to appear outside us objectively, what we know of the world is only what our instruments (senses and mind) show us. We have no access to the bare naked reality that exists. This fundamental reality is referred to as Existence.

What is the nature of Existence which is beyond these apparent properties like color, sound, smell, mass, temperature, charge, momentum, etc.? 

We know that properties like color, sound, texture, etc. are all emergent phenomenon. When we look at things at their minutest constituents known today like quarks and leptons, these properties do not exist. There are a different set of fundamental properties, which give rise to the perceivable properties at various composite grosser levels.

Vedanta extends this concept and says, “As long as properties are experienced, you have not reached the most fundamental level.” So, every property is only an emergent phenomenon. 

At the ultimate fundamental level, Existence would necessarily be free from any properties. Vedanta gives an example to understand this: pot-ness does not exist in the clay out of which pot is made.

This fundamental entity, of which the whole universe is made of, is called Sat or Satyam. It cannot have any properties (nirguna). Any two objects are distinguished only based on properties. 

As Sat does not have any properties, is has to be only one . Any change is only change of properties. So Sat has to be changeless. 

Changeless with respect to space and time. So Sat is all-pervading  and eternal. 

Parts of an entity is based on properties of constituents. So Sat is partless. 

So, Sat is One, Infinite, All-pervading, Eternal, Changeless, Partless, Property-less, Absolute Existence.

Hari Aum Tatsat.

Reader's Comments & Author's Response - 20 July 2017

Reader's Comments

On Jul 20 Raghavan commented on sri atmaswarupananda:

Yet another Master expounds on the giving up on transient truth and giving in to the transcendental truth - THAT IS.

It is our own individuality (termed as Ego) which stands as the main hurdle to switch our focus. While it is relatively easy to give in to the eternal truth with the guidance of a realized Master, it is very difficult to train our selves to give up the ego that has been nurtured all along through our journey so far.

It is giving up on a habit which you have been attached to for several years for the sake of your own betterment. 

The beauty is that only a Guru can help one to severe ties with the transient truth to which one is clinged on and not able to release himself. A jiva needs a more powerful resolve which a Guru can provide, only if the jiva surrenders with utmost conviction. Further, to be able to give in to the eternal truth also, a realized Guru and His grace is required to be able to sail through the new path without any hurdles.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Sri Atmaswarupananda

Scriptures tell us that in the beginning, One alone was; and then that One said, "Let there be many." But even then, One alone was; and even now, One alone is. What is the nature of that One alone? Scriptures tell us that it is unknowable, unthinkable, but to try to help us, they say, "It is That which was the same in the beginning, is the same now and will ever be the same." And they say that it is of the nature of existence, consciousness, bliss; or if you want a simple description, it is "I". 

That "I" is everywhere, manifesting Itself as everything. But in the human being there is a peculiarity. That "I" manifests as self-awareness. Unfortunately that self-awareness is not an awareness of the grandeur, the unknowableness of the "I", but rather, that self-awareness identifies with a body and mind. This we call ego. It means we feel separate. 

The whole purpose of the spiritual life is to convert this self-awareness in the human being from a mistaken awareness that "I am the body" to a true awareness that "I am That." How is this done? It is not just enough to discover this truth intellectually, nor even to feel this truth, we must actually become this truth. That means we can no longer assert the separate "I". The separate "I" has to surrender to the true "I"; it has to take refuge in the true "I"; it has to follow the true "I". There is nothing else to the spiritual life, in the final analysis, except this. 

Following the ego keeps us in hell and compounds the hell. When we repent, which means to turn around and go in the other direction, we surrender our individuality, our separateness, and exchange it for harmony with the Whole. This is spiritual life. And if our spiritual life doesn’t contain this element of surrender, if it doesn’t contain this movement from separation to harmony, it perhaps explains why we don’t feel that we’re making the progress we had hoped for. 

Therefore, the essence of the spiritual life is moving from being separate to being in harmony. The ego doesn’t usually want to do it until it has suffered so much that it sees that there is no other way. Thus, often suffering can be a great blessing. But we needn’t suffer if we have the humility to see that the essence of the spiritual life is in surrendering our individuality and taking refuge in God, that it is in surrendering our sense of separation, so that we are in harmony.

(Swami Atmaswarupananda, disciple of Swami Sivananda)