Who am I ? ‘Who am I?’ I am not this physical body, nor am I the five organs of sense perception. [Note: The five organs of sense-perception are the eye, ear, nose, tongue and the skin, with their respective corresponding functions of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.] I am not the five organs of external activity. [Note: The five organs of external activity are the vocal organs that articulate speech and produce sound, hands and feet that govern the movements of the physical body, anus that excretes fecal matter, and the genital organ for procreation and which yields pleasure.] I am not the five vital forces. [Note: These vital forces control respiration, digestion and assimilation, circulation of blood, perspiration and excretion.] I am not even the thinking mind. Neither am I that unconscious state of nescience(ignorance), which retains merely the subtle Vasanas (latent impressions or mental tendencies), being then free from the functional activity of the sense organs and of the mind, and being unaware of the existence of the objects of sense perception. Therefore, summarily rejecting all the above mentioned physical adjuncts and their functions, saying I am not this; no, nor am I this, nor this, – that which then remains separate and alone by itself, that pure awareness verily am I. This awareness is by its very nature Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss). If the mind, which is the instrument of knowledge and is the basis of all activity, subsides, the perception of the world as an objective reality ceases (the human beings breathes his last - that is, he expires). Unless the illusory perception of the serpent in the rope ceases, the rope on which the illusion is formed is not perceived as such. Even so, unless the illusory nature of the perception of the world as an objective reality ceases, the vision of the true nature of the Self, on which the illusion is formed, is not obtained. The mind is a unique power (sakti) in the Atman (Self), whereby thoughts occur to oneself. On scrutiny as to what remains after eliminating all thoughts, it will be found that there is no such thing as mind apart from thought. So then, thoughts themselves constitute the mind. Nor is there any such thing as the physical world apart from and independent of thought. In deep sleep there are no thoughts: nor is there the world. In the wakeful and dream states thoughts are present, and there is also the world. Just as the spider draws out the thread of the cobweb from within itself and withdraws it again into itself, even so out of itself the mind projects the world and absorbs it back into itself. The world is perceived as an apparent objective reality when the mind is externalized thereby forsaking its identity with the Self. When the world is thus perceived, the true nature of the Self is not revealed. Conversely, when the Self is realized, the world ceases to appear as an objective reality.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 04:03:25 +0000
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