Greetings All,

Shloka # 22:

That vision of the Lord which is without seeing the Seer can only be a mental vision. Indeed the Supreme is not other than Seer. His vision is absorption and abidance in one’s own source.

Continuing his teaching and refreshing our memory of last class, Swami Paramarthananda said, in this shloka Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi is pointing out that real god realization is not possible without Self -realization. The reason is that the real Ishwara is the Atma itself. This is the central teaching of the Upanishad’s as well. Both Keno Upanishad and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad say that whatever God one objectifies such as external (worship of god such in a temple) or internal (during meditation), all these forms are not the Absolute Reality. The God whom you worship outside is Vyavaharika Satyam while the God one worships inside is Pratibhashika Satyam. Both are not Paramarthika Satyam. Thus, both Vyavaharika (outside) and Partibhashika (inside) are both Mithya. Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi calls it Manasika Ikshanam.

Brihadaranyaka, Chapter 3, Section 8, dealing with Akshara Brahmana says absolute Brahman is never experienced; rather it is the Experiencer or Knower. It is ever the Thinker in the thought. Real God is “I” the subject.  Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi says real God being “you” how can you objectify it. So, know your “Self”. Puranas do talk of objectified Gods. However, these Gods are not the real ones. Real one is “you”. Ignoring the subject consciousness (the seer) and seeking any other darshanam is called Manasika Ikshanam.

How do we know if God who came in our dream is real or mithya? It is also a Vyavahrika God as such it is also a Mithya. There is no god other than Atma the experiencer. This is Consciousness (Sakshi Chaitanyam). Experiencer means that which illumines the mind by its mere presence or Chaitanyam. So, how can I experience the real God? Tasya Viksha? It is by abiding in real Consciousness after resolving the very seeker who wants to know. The very attempter (I want to experience God) has to be resolved and focus on “I” am the Consciousness. It is neither Pramata nor Prameya. Abiding in consciousness is abiding in knowledge that “ I “ am . This is the knowledge.

Shloka # 23:

The meaning of the sayings of the Vedas, “one should see the Self”; one should see the Lord” is not easy. If the Self is not seen, then what can be the talk of the Lord? The vision of Him is oneself becoming food unto Him.

Self-realization does not require knowing Self as a new thing. Experiencing anything other than Self requires effort. Thus, if one wants to see a wall, one has to turn and use our eyes to see. Every object in the world is experienced using effort and time. Only Self is experienced as Consciousness all the time. No instrument is required. No process or time is required to experience the Atma. Although Atma is ever experienced, we still need the mind to turn attention to this ever-experienced Atma.

Vedanta asks us to turn our attention to this ever experienced Atma by asking if “ Are you conscious or not”. “I am a conscious being”, once you claim this, then shastra is required to talk about the nature of Consciousness.

Thus, again:

Mind is required to turn attention to Consciousness.

Shastra is required to talk about nature of Consciousness.

Mind and shastra both are not required to experience Consciousness as it is ever Experienced.

When I turn my attention, when I study Shastra, I realize this ever experienced Consciousness is independent, not limited by the body, survives even after body’s death and is non-transacting as well. This ever-experienced Consciousness exists all the time.

This Atma, the Consciousness, lends its sentiency or life or Chiddabsha to the mind. Mind is like a mirror. This mirror becomes bright with this borrowed sentiency and thus becomes capable of performing many things. The inert mind becomes sentient.

Atma continues, as it is all pervading. Reflected Consciousness (RC) and Original Consciousness (OC) remain. OC remains hidden in RC.

So how to discover the OC?

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy