Essence of Vedanta - Part 24

Dear All,

Let us now proceed to the 2nd expression of THAT GOD, which is Jnanam.

Let us analyze the subject-object relationship in perception. When I see a flower, I (subject) am the body, including the eye. The flower is the object. Form and color of the flower are properties. When I want to judge the properties of the eye like myopia or color-blindness, I put one step back. The eye is the object. I, including the mind, is the subject. 

Extending this further, the real “I” is the ultimate subject, which can never become an object of perception by the senses or conception by the mind.  This ultimate subject is called Chit or Jnaanam.

In any subject-object relationship, properties always belong to the object. To judge the property of anything, it has to be given the status of an object. I need to extend myself to the edge of the instrument that is in contact with the object (internal or external) to experience and evaluate the properties of the object. Thus, I, the Chit, being the ultimate subject, cannot have any properties.

Applying the same logic that we applied to Sat, Chit also is One, Infinite, All-pervading, Eternal, Changeless, Partless, Property-less, Absolute Existence. So, Sat and Chit are not different. They are the same entity.

Thus, real I, the Consciousness is the fundamental entity from which the whole universe has emerged. This is conveyed in innumerable statements in the various Upanishads belonging to various Vedas. 

Love.