What is the Self?

What is the Self?

 

If something is true, is real, is constant, is a foundation of a nature that is unchanging, this can be called the Self.

 

The invisible and unborn  Soul, the Self, is the fullness of consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space. The invisible Soul is formless, timeless spaceless, and eternal existence.

 

People have not penetrated the meaning of the ‘Self’. The meaning is that the ultimate truth is the Self, which is eternal existence.

 

You are impermanent because the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self is the unborn  Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

 

People have not penetrated the meaning of the ‘Self’. The meaning is that the ultimate truth is the Self, which is eternal existence.

You should not hold anything of the dualistic illusion (universe), which is impermanence. 

The world in which you exist makes you feel as though they are real but ultimately they are merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is permanent.

 

You must cultivate to see the permanence (Soul) hidden by the impermanence (universe) as it is.

 

If you do this, you will be like one who sees a gem in the muddied water among the stones and rocks and waits for the water to settle before he skilfully plucks it out.

 

It is the same with cultivating the idea of the Soul, the Self hidden by the dualistic illusion (universe). 

WHAT IS ‘I’?

The ‘I’ disappears as deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is impermanent and illusory.

There is really no ‘I’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of the mind. And the mind is in the form of the universe. And the universe appears as a waking or dream. 

The ‘I’ or mind or universe or waking or dream disappears as deep sleep.  Thus, one that appears as ‘I’ or the mind or the universe or the waking or dream is consciousness and it disappears as deep sleep is also consciousness.  In deep sleep, the Soul is in its formless nondual true nature.  

The one, that witnesses the coming and going of the three states, is also consciousness.   Thus, the witness and the witnessed are one in essence.   

Thus, the universe is a reality on the base of individuality and the universe is unreal on the base of consciousness (Soul), which is the Self. 

The seeker gradually will grasp and realize the unreal nature of the universe or mind. Individuality is illusory because the self is not an individual because the ‘Self’ is formless and it pervades everything and everywhere in all the three states. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Ramana Maharishi's teaching is yogic. Yoga is dualistic.+

Sage Ramana Maharshi: ~ "The location of the Heart is of the chest and not on the left. The light of consciousness flows from the heart through the Sushumna channel to ‘Sahasrarara’.(KNOW YOUR SELF page 31)~

From ‘Sahasrarara’ consciousness spreads all over the body, then the experience of the world arises. Viewing themselves as different from that consciousness human beings get caught up in the cycle of birth and death.  

 The ‘Sahasrarara’ of one who abides in the Self is pure light only. Any thoughts that approach it cannot survive.

Even when objects are perceived, because of their nearness, it does not destroy yoga as the mind sees no differences.

The state in which awareness is firm,  even when objects are sensed, is called the natural state.  In Nivikalpa Samadhi, there is no objective perception.

The entire universe is in the body and the whole body is in the Heart. Hence, the universe is contained within the Heart. 

Sage Ramana Maharishi: ~ He placed his right hand on his right breast and continued, "Here lies the Heart, the dynamic, spiritual Heart. It is called Hridaya and is located on the right side of the chest and is clearly visible to the inner eye of an adept on the spiritual path. Through meditation, you can learn to find the Self in the cave of this Heart." ~ Mercedes de Acosta, Here Lies the Heart

Santthosh Kumaar: ~ When the Self is not the body,  but the Self is the formless Soul,  then the question of  ‘Sahasrara’ and  'Sushumna’ does not arise,  because ‘Sahasrara’ and  ‘Sushumna' are within the body. 

Sage Ramana Maharishi's teaching is yogic. Yoga is dualistic. 

Dattatreya's Song of the Avadhut 1.36-42: ~ Non-duality is taught by some; some others teach duality. They don't understand that the all-pervading Reality is beyond both duality and non-duality.

The spiritual heart is the Soul, the Self, not the physical heart. The world in which you exist is within the Soul, the spiritual heart. 

Mistaking the spiritual heart within the body is a great error. Even some Advaitic guru says that the Self is within the spiritual heart. And the spiritual heart is on the left side.  Such a declaration is merely an imagination, based on the false self. When the Self is bodiless, then the question of the heart being left side or right side does not arise.  

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:~  The Self is indeed Brahman, but through ignorance, people identify it with intellect, mind, senses, passions, and the elements of earth, water, air, space, and fire. This is why the Self is said to consist of this and that and appears to be everything. 

The Self is not ‘I’ but the Self is the formless Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is invisible the substance and witness of the ‘I’. When one realizes the Soul is the Self then he is freed from experiencing the dualistic illusion or Maya as reality.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom deals with removing ignorance, which blocks the realization of the truth.+

Sage Sankara’s path of wisdom is the independent search for truth. Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is pure Spirituality or Adyathma is not a philosophic sect. 

Sage Sankara’s path of wisdom is the independent search for truth.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom deals with removing ignorance, which blocks the realization of the truth.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom deals with the practical bearing of philosophy to remove the initial prejudice that it is remote from life.

Some scriptures have presented fragments of truth imbedded in the covering of stories, histories, and picturesque touches of mysticism.

The seeker should not mix religion, mysticism, and yoga with the path of wisdom. 

All the Gurus of the East and West touch of mysticism to make it more attractive to feed the crowd.

It is necessary to reach larger numbers of serious seekers who care for truth alone.

Philosophy has to deal with the ultimate truth, not mere words, not this Guru’s’ or that Guru's interpretation.

The key to it is, for the A Gnani to be "ever the same." This means he sees and knows only one thing, the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of Consciousness

All the interpretation of different scriptural scholars is an arena of conflicting interpretations.

All the gurus of the East and West interpret Advaita from a dualistic standpoint or orthodox point of view and they are still dealing with words, not truth. It proves that they have not understood the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara.

Gnani inwardly atoned in perfect understanding of the ultimate truth of Brahman or God in truth.

Criticism can only arise, disagreement can only happen, and contradictory interpretations can only occur when men have failed to grasp Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom.

It all depends on the seeker's capacity to grasp the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara, which is above words and above "interpretation."

Remember that only a few of those who have understood Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom for them contradictory interpretations will never arise.

There will be no two among them, only one. The only test of the correctness of any interpretation of Sage Sankara is whether it tends towards non-duality or not, whether its author has grasped non-duality or not. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

The Self is not you. You are mortal because you are born and you are going to die.+

The Self is not you. You are mortal because you are born and you are going to die.

The Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness is immortal because it is unborn eternal.

Holding the Self as 'you', is holding mortal as immortal. 

Present life itself is an illusion, therefore, the past life is bound to be an illusion.

The Self is unborn and eternal because it is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence

The Self is birthless therefore it is deathless. The one which is born lives, and dies within the world (waking) is not the Self.

The idea of reincarnation is based on the birth entity (waking entity or ego) which lives and dies within the illusory world (waking).

The Self is the one that witnesses the coming and going of the dual (waking or dream) nondual (deep sleep) experiences.

When the experience of birth, life, and death takes place in the illusion, then reincarnation also is part of the same illusion.

A deeper self-search reveals the fact that the waking experiences (universe) itself is an illusion. It means the present experience of birth, life, death, and the world is an illusion.

Thus, the reincarnation theory based on the false Self (birth entity) within the false experience( waking) is bound to be a falsehood.

When the waking entity (you) is not the Self then whatever theories are based on the waking entity (you) imagined theory.:~Santthosh Kumaar

Religion makes it complicated to realize the God in truth hidden by the ignorance obscures from human vision.+

Religion makes it complicated to realize the God in truth hidden by the ignorance obscures from human vision

People of small intelligence follow religion and believe that the world was created by God. But how do they know that God did so?

In Brahma Sutra Sage Sankara takes the position that there is another entity outside us, i.e. the wall really exists separately from the mind. This was because, Sage Sankara explains in Manduka that those who study the Sutras are religious minds, and intellectual children, hence his popular viewpoint to assist them. These people are afraid to go deeper because it means being heroic enough to refuse to accept Shruti, and God's authority, in case they mean punishment by God.

Sage Sankara says: Keep the scriptures for children but throw them on the fire for wise seekers.

In Brahma Sutras Sage Sankara takes for granted, and assumes that a world was created: He there mixes dogmatic theology with philosophy.

That God created the world is an absolute lie; nevertheless, you will find Sage Sankara (in his commentary on Vedanta Sutras) clearly says this! He has to adapt his teachings to his audience, reserving the highest for philosophical minds.

The text of Brahma Sutras is based on religion and dogmatism, but in the commentary, Sage Sankara cleverly introduced some philosophy. It is objected that many Upanishads are equally dogmatic because they also begin by assuming Brahman, but a few Upanishads do not but prove Brahman at the end of a train of proof.

The causality and creation, but are for religious people only. Religion is only for those who are unable to understand truth beyond form, time, and space. Religion is not final. It only gives satisfaction to the populace. Self-knowledge is for the whole of humanity to free them from experiencing birth, life, death, and the world as reality.

Religion makes it complicated to realize the God in truth hidden by the ignorance obscures from human vision

People of small intelligence follow religion and believe that the world was created by God. But how do they know that God did so?

In Brahma Sutra Sage Sankara takes the position that there is another entity outside us, i.e. the wall really exists separately from the mind. This was because, Sage Sankara explains in Manduka that those who study the Sutras are religious minds, and intellectual children, hence his popular viewpoint to assist them. These people are afraid to go deeper because it means being heroic enough to refuse to accept Shruti, and God's authority, in case they mean punishment by God.

Sage Sankara says: Keep the scriptures for children but throw them on the fire for wise seekers.

In Brahma Sutras Sage Sankara takes for granted, and assumes that a world was created: He there mixes dogmatic theology with philosophy.

That God created the world is an absolute lie; nevertheless, you will find Sage Sankara (in his commentary on Vedanta Sutras) clearly says this! He has to adapt his teachings to his audience, reserving the highest for philosophical minds.

The text of Brahma Sutras is based on religion, and dogmatism, but in the commentary, Sage Sankara cleverly introduced some philosophy. It is objected that many Upanishads are equally dogmatic because they also begin by assuming Brahman, but a few Upanishads do not but prove Brahman at the end of a train of proof.

The causality and creation, but are for religious people only. Religion is only for those who are unable to understand truth beyond form, time, and space. Religion is not final. It only gives satisfaction to the populace. Self-knowledge is for the whole of humanity to free them from experiencing birth, life, death, and the world as reality.

People of small intelligence follow religion and believe that the world was created by God. But how do they know that God did so? When a pot is created, one can see both the pot and its maker, but not in the case of the world.

Hence, Vivekachoodamani Sage Sankara says:~ VC-63-"Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know the Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

The seeker has to begin his analysis with the world first, not with the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. In the world in which you exist, consciousness is the finality. A Gnani sees the world in which he exists as consciousness." But to know this they must be examined and studied.

The yogi does not care to know about the world" and for a Gnani nothing remains to be known for him because he is fully aware of the fact that the universe in which he exists is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.

The Pundits do not know the true nature of the world in which we exist. Scriptures deal only with the Objects, not with the Witness of the objects.

If one starts with the idea that Samsara (universe) exists, he can never see the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, because Samsara (world) is an illusion and only ignorant people read it as a reality.: ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara:-All names and forms are real when seen with the Brahman (Soul) but are false when seen independent of Brahman.+

Yoga Vasistha: ~ “Even as particles of sand floating in water settle down when the water is absolutely steady, the mind of the man who has gained the knowledge of truth settles down in total peace.

Yoga Vasistha: ~ “The sun and the worlds become non-objects of perception, to those who have gone beyond the realm of objective perception and knowledge, even as lamps lose their luminosity while the mid-day sun shines.

From the standpoint of the formless Soul, the ‘Self’, the effect is non-different from the cause. However, in the realm of duality cause is different from the effect. The non-difference of the effect from the cause has to be grasped perfectly to realize from the ultimate standpoint there is neither the cause nor the effect because the cause and effect are one, in essence. That essence is consciousness.

Sage Sankara says:~ If the cause is destroyed, the effect will no longer exist. For example, if from the effect, cotton cloth, the cause, threads, are removed, there will be no cloth, i.e., the cloth is destroyed. Similarly if in the effect, thread, the cause, cotton, is removed, there will be no thread, i.e., the thread is destroyed. (Brahmasūtra Bhashya, commentary on the Brahma-sutra- (9) 2.1.9)

Despite the non-difference between cause and effect, the effect has its ‘Self’ in the cause but not the cause in the effect. The effect is of the nature of the cause and not the cause, the nature of the effect. Therefore the qualities of the effect cannot touch the cause because the cause and effect are present only when the duality is present.

The duality is present only when there is an illusion. The illusion is there only when there is ignorance. When there is no ignorance then there is no illusion. When there is no illusion then there is no duality. When there is no duality then there is no cause and effect. When there is no cause and effect then there is a non-dualistic reality.

Sage Sankara says:~ During the time of its existence, one can easily grasp that the effect is not different from the cause. However, the cause is different from the effect which is not readily understood. As to this, it is not possible to separate cause from effect. But this is possible by imagining so. For example, the reflection of the gold ornament seen in the mirror is only the form of the ornament but is not the ornament itself as it (the reflection) has no gold in it at all. All names and forms are real when seen with the Brahman but are false when seen independent of Brahman (Soul). This way the seeker of truth establishes the non-difference of the effect from the cause.

In the context of Advaita Vedanta: ~ Jagat (the world) is not different from Brahman (Soul); however, Brahman (Soul) is different from Jagat.

It has not been possible to preach Advaitic Truth entirely free from the settings of dualistic weakness it has not been more operative and useful to mankind at large because only a few will be able to grasp and realize it.

'To realize the Advaitic Truth a freer and fuller scope the seeker has to realize the form, time and space are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. And the Soul the innermost ‘Self’ is present in the form of consciousness.

To realize the Advaitic truth the seeker has to be free from all superstitions and orthodox contaminations. The seeker has to be dedicated to acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana alone.'

A Gnani will easily appreciate the high flights of Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is one of the 'most majestic structures and valuable products of the Genius of man in his search for Truth.

The ‘Self ‘ is not the ‘I’. the 'Self' is not within the body. The ‘Self is hidden by the ‘I’. the ‘I’ is ignorance. the ‘I’ is an illusion.

Remember:~

Bhagavad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure of the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes to realize the truth, which is hidden by the illusory form, time, and space.

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self, which is Brahman or God.

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal.

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take 'I' as real because some Gurus have propagated that the Self is the ‘I’. is no need to convince such a mindset. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.

That is why Sage Sankara says: - VC-65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it, and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman.

People refuse to accept anything other than their Guru's words. For them, their Guru's words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.

Such a mindset is not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

You have to discard the age-old belief that the Soul resides within the human body.+

The Soul does not reside in the human body. People think it is in the brain or forehead or Ajna chakra or the third eye but all of these are imaginations based on a false self (ego) within the false experience (waking).

These body-based theories have no value on the Advaitic perspective. Such theories hold no water when the ‘Self’ is not the body. Your judgment has to be based on the ‘Self’, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness and is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

From the standpoint of the Soul, you and the world in which you exist are an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is ever-present.

Without consciousness, the world, in which you exist ceases to exist. Consciousness is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny consciousness because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. Consciousness is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Consciousness is everything. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Bhagavad Gita says: ~’ Brahmano hi pratisthaham’ ~ Brahman (God in truth) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is real and eternal. The world in which we exist is an illusion created out of consciousness.

Scientists now concluded that you are not the brain (body). Consciousness requires the joint operation of the brain, body, and the world. "You are not your brain. The brain, rather, is part of what you are.

" The Biology of Consciousness

by Alva Noë. Hill and Wang, 2009

Alva Noe, a University of California, Berkeley, philosopher, and cognitive scientist, argues that after decades of concerted effort on the part of neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers "only one proposition about how the brain makes us conscious ... has emerged unchallenged: we don't have a clue." The reason we have been unable to explain the neural basis of consciousness, he says, is that it does not take place in the brain. Consciousness is not something that happens inside us but something we achieve it is more like dancing than it is like the digestive process. To understand consciousness the fact that we think and feel and that the world shows up for us we need to look at a larger system in which the brain is only one element. Consciousness requires the joint operation of the brain, body, and the world. "You are not your brain. The brain, rather, is part of what you are."

Thus, science is going in the right direction in its invention and one day it will declare that everything is consciousness, which Sage Sankara declared 1200 years back ~ everything is Atman- because Atman is in the form of consciousness.

Thus, you have to discard the age-old belief that the Soul resides within the human body. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar