Verse 6 (contd..)
(That
state (i.e. Pure Consciousness) is experienced during Spiritual Awakening
whereby one clearly Perceives that "Before I was Sleeping" (by being
eclipsed by Maya),
Salutations to Him, the Personification of Our Inner Guru Who Awakens This Knowledge through His Profound Silence; Salutation to Sri Dakshinamurthy.)
“Upon waking up, we remember we have slept well.” In this recollection lies the clue as to who was present when we slept peacefully.
We remember the moment just before going to sleep. Then we lose all awareness. The next link in our awareness is the moment when we just get up. Pratyabhijna is the technical word which explains this step by step.
When we see someone for the first time, that perception is called ‘Pratyaksha’.
Then we see the person again some days later. At this second meeting, the ‘Pratyaksha’ is of course there, but in addition there is an instant recollection of the previous meeting.
That memory together with the Pratyaksha of the second meeting is called by the technical term ‘Pratyabhijna’. It is a Pratyaksha that is bolstered by a memory.
In the case we are analyzing, the two events referred to are the moment of going to sleep and the moment we get up. The recognition that it is the same person who slept and has woken up is ‘Pratyabhijna’. What does that tell us?
It tells us that the Consciousness must have been present throughout the duration of our peaceful sleep without our knowledge of It. That is the Light in us which is eclipsed by Ignorance. Although we did not see the eclipse taking place because we had no awareness, we can deduce it from the fact of the ‘Pratyabhijna’.
This is the answer to the Shunya Vadins – “Yes, there is light behind this darkness”; it is certainly not a Void (or total darkness) behind this universe.
In waking state you are plus body, mind, senses, plus all these experiences in your mind, plus ignorance.
In dream state, you are without body, mind, senses, but with dream experiences in your mind, plus ignorance.
In deep sleep, you are without body, mind, senses, without any experiences in your mind, plus ignorance. But Consciousness remains through all these states.
Vedantins have a ‘living’ proof of this argument – the realized sage. The sage dwells in the Light at all times. He is in touch with the Self at all times, even while he is in deep sleep.
We must remember that to him the three states of waking, dream and sleep are all in the realm of unreality. He is in the state of consciousness that underlies all three.
Ashtavakra goes beyond what is stated in this verse, transcends all the states and roars,
(Where is the dream, where is the deep sleep, where is wakefulness, and where is the fourth state of consciousness, where is even fear for me, who abide in my own grandeur)
Dream and waking state fall under the same category, where there is the waker and dreamer on one side and the events / experiences which are happening to the waker / dreamer in an apparent creation, with apparent jivas, with he himself involved in the events / experiences, whereas, at the highest reality, there is no creation, no jivas at all.
Creation is like the dream world and all that is apparent in creation are like various happening in dream are unreal, all experiences in creation in unreal.
Deep sleep is also not an experience for a seer, as per an earlier verse. It is consciousness just prior to deep sleep and it is consciousness the moment he gets up, with no time space gap between the moment he gets up and he exists as consciousness.
Turiya is with reference to the other 3 states of consciousness. Turiya is upon transcending the three states of consciousness.
When three states of consciousness are not relevant for a sage, then he is not aware that he has transcended the three states and is in 4th state.
Turiya or the 4th state of consciousness is relevant only with respect to the 3 states of consciousness - Waking, Dream and Deep sleep.
When a sage transcends the three states of consciousness, the relevance of 4th state is also not there for him.
Liberation is relevant only with respect to bondage.
When one has freed himself from all bondage, then there is no one in him to even say, “I am liberated”.
The one who remains as pure Consciousness in deep sleep unto that, this salutation, who is in the form of my guru as well as in the form of Sri Dakshinamurthy.
Love.
