The Mandukya Upanishad 2.8 : Swami Krishnananda
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25/10/2019.
Section 2 : The Individual and the Absolute 8.
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Well, if all this is Brahman, it goes without saying that this so-called self of ours, also, is Brahman: Ayam atma brahma. We need not, once again, explain this matter. It becomes clear because this self is also included in the All. Sarvam hyetad brahma: All is Brahman; therefore, Ayam atma brahma: this Atman is Brahman.
Which self? This is another question. What is this self?
We generally regard the self as constituting an animating consciousness within our body. We speak of 'I myself', 'you yourself', 'he himself', etc. Such terms are used by us in common language. Now, this self is the false self, not the real Self, because we have created a variety of selves by saying, myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc.
This is the Mithya-Atman or the Gauna-Atman, the secondary self, the unimportant self, not the real or primary Self, or the Absolute Self – Mukhya-Atman. If all is Self, because Brahman is Self, it is impossible to regard anything as an object. All objects, again, coalesce into the Subject, because Brahman is the Subject, the Seer, the Drashta-Purusha, the final Beholder, the Consciousness that is at once the Seer as well as the seen.
Brahman never becomes an object. If it is not an object, and if, also, all things are It – Sarvam hyetad brahma, then all things should be the Self. There is, then, in this experience, a Universal Beholding, a Cosmic Seeing, which means seeing without an object outside the Seer. This is an uncommon way of perception, because, here, we have a perception without a perceived object.
This is knowledge without a known. All becomes knowledge when there is no object outside knowledge, Jnanam, jneyam, jnanagamyam, says the Bhagavad-Gita. It is knowledge as well as the known, that which is to be obtained by knowledge. It is the ocean of knowledge because outside it, there is no object.
It is on account of this reason that we call it the Self or the Atman. The nature of the Atman is knowledge, not known-ness, not objectivity. This Universal Atman is Brahman; not the individual Jivatman, but the Universal Paramatman is Brahman – Etad brahma. This Brahman is the very Self which is Universal.
To give a common analogy of the omnipresent space contained in a vessel: Space is universal, and it may appear to be limited on account of being apparently contained within the walls of a vessel, or a room. Can you say that space is limited because it is inside a hall?
It is not really limited by the erection of brick walls, and when a vessel moves in space, we cannot say that the space also moves inside it. Likewise, the Atman does not move, when you move. You may travel distances, but the Atman does not move, because it is Universal; the Universal cannot move – Sarvam hyetad brahma; Ayam atma brahma.
To be continued ...
========================================================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25/10/2019.
Section 2 : The Individual and the Absolute 8.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, if all this is Brahman, it goes without saying that this so-called self of ours, also, is Brahman: Ayam atma brahma. We need not, once again, explain this matter. It becomes clear because this self is also included in the All. Sarvam hyetad brahma: All is Brahman; therefore, Ayam atma brahma: this Atman is Brahman.
Which self? This is another question. What is this self?
We generally regard the self as constituting an animating consciousness within our body. We speak of 'I myself', 'you yourself', 'he himself', etc. Such terms are used by us in common language. Now, this self is the false self, not the real Self, because we have created a variety of selves by saying, myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc.
This is the Mithya-Atman or the Gauna-Atman, the secondary self, the unimportant self, not the real or primary Self, or the Absolute Self – Mukhya-Atman. If all is Self, because Brahman is Self, it is impossible to regard anything as an object. All objects, again, coalesce into the Subject, because Brahman is the Subject, the Seer, the Drashta-Purusha, the final Beholder, the Consciousness that is at once the Seer as well as the seen.
Brahman never becomes an object. If it is not an object, and if, also, all things are It – Sarvam hyetad brahma, then all things should be the Self. There is, then, in this experience, a Universal Beholding, a Cosmic Seeing, which means seeing without an object outside the Seer. This is an uncommon way of perception, because, here, we have a perception without a perceived object.
This is knowledge without a known. All becomes knowledge when there is no object outside knowledge, Jnanam, jneyam, jnanagamyam, says the Bhagavad-Gita. It is knowledge as well as the known, that which is to be obtained by knowledge. It is the ocean of knowledge because outside it, there is no object.
It is on account of this reason that we call it the Self or the Atman. The nature of the Atman is knowledge, not known-ness, not objectivity. This Universal Atman is Brahman; not the individual Jivatman, but the Universal Paramatman is Brahman – Etad brahma. This Brahman is the very Self which is Universal.
To give a common analogy of the omnipresent space contained in a vessel: Space is universal, and it may appear to be limited on account of being apparently contained within the walls of a vessel, or a room. Can you say that space is limited because it is inside a hall?
It is not really limited by the erection of brick walls, and when a vessel moves in space, we cannot say that the space also moves inside it. Likewise, the Atman does not move, when you move. You may travel distances, but the Atman does not move, because it is Universal; the Universal cannot move – Sarvam hyetad brahma; Ayam atma brahma.
To be continued ...
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