Q: Does Atman make use of intellect? Or does intellect function automatically with Atman just being the witness?
This is because, identification with body mind is possible only when we think. Liberation is possible when we overcome this wrong idea. Either way, it appears that Atman makes use of the intellect to get bound or liberated.
It is said that Atman is ever free and illusion and bondage are concepts only. But this concept can appear to Atman only when intellect is used.
A: First of all, you must clearly differentiate between the ‘absolute reality’ and the ‘empirical’ (worldly) appearance.
In reality, there is only non-dual Brahman. The world, including ‘you, the person’, is not real in itself. It is ‘name and form of’ Brahman, just as ring and necklace are not real in themselves, being name and form of gold.
So you are actually name and form of Brahman but apparently functioning as a separate entity. Intellect is the name given to an aspect of mind, which in turn is a subtle form of the brain (which is a material form of Brahman). ‘Consciousness’ (with a capital ‘C’) is another name we have for Brahman.
One way of thinking about all of this involves a term called ‘cidābhāsa’, which means reflection (ābhāsa) of Consciousness (cit). The ‘explanation’ is that Consciousness (capital) is reflected by the intellect thus effectively manifesting a jīva. In the case of the jīva, the manifested Consciousness is called Ātman, but it is the same as Brahman.
So you could say that Ātman ‘makes use of the intellect’ if you wanted, but that does not really explain what is happening. The important thing to remember is that there is not really such a thing as intellect or jīva or birth or death or creation etc. All of these ideas are just teaching tropes within Advaita to help you to the final understanding. Even ‘liberation’ is just a teaching strategy. You are already free, you just do not know it yet.
Q: This is what i understood by your answer:
When Nirguṇa brahman takes on a form it appears to take on a function. So mind is itself made of nirguṇa brahman but in the empirical world appears to possess the function of thinking. So, the question whether mind thinks or Brahman thinks was superfluous.
In reality, there is nothing called ‘mind’. Only Brahman. But in the empirical world Brahman appears as the mind and therefore thinking, which is its function, is also an appearance.
The mistake i was making was that I considered the body and mind as distinct entities with an existence independent of Brahman.
A: Yes, that is pretty much it. It is still the case, however, that the empirical world is effectively real for the jīva, who believes himself to be separate. So, in order to realize all of this to be Brahman, it is necessary to acquire the knowledge of Advaita and gain the conviction of its truth. All of that takes place in empirical reality. It IS the mind that ‘thinks’, and NOT Brahman. Brahman never does anything.
Q: I just want to verify my experience so that I am sure I understand the terms as they are implied:
In the awake state, my experience of the mind is this empty, luminous, space like thing filling the body and head, with an ‘I feeling’. In it, thoughts appear and disappear. This is what is called cidābhāsa. But as it is also known, the knower is brahman.
In sleep, this space is replaced by a blankness with no ‘I feeling’ at all. This again is known. Here again the knower is Brahman.
This underlying reality beyond cidābhāsa is what pervades all and is the source and ground of all.
Is my understanding correct?
A: Read the following articles on cidābhāsa:
- The ‘Real I’ verses the ‘Presumed I’ – An Examination of cidābhāsa. https://www.advaita-vision.org/chidabhasa/.
- Explanations and Discussions on cidābhāsa.
https://www.advaita-vision.org/chidabhasa/
https://www.advaita-vision.org/continuing-reflections-on-reflections/
https://www.advaita-vision.org/discussion-on-chidabhasa/
https://www.advaita-vision.org/seven-stages-of-chidabhasa/ - If you understood all of those, then read the section beginning ‘Who am I in communication?’ on https://www.advaita-vision.org/pratibandha-s-part-5-of-7/ and the following couple of parts. Together, these should clear up your misunderstanding.
Q: Went through the essays in detail. This is what I gather.
In the one undivided Brahman, a witness and the witnessed appear. The light in which the witnessed appears is cidābhāsa. The light illuminating the mind and the world is the reflecting consciousness or cidābhāsa.
We tend to identify with the light reflected in the mind which, when conditioned by the thoughts, forms the ego. Because the mind shuts down in sleep there is no reflection. It appears as a blankness. Ego seems to disappear or is dormant. The witness, the source persists.
Even though the witnessed objects and mind and the light in which it appears appear separate, their substance is still the same undivided consciousness or Brahman. The duality of witness and the witnessed is an appearance. The only purpose of this duality is that the Brahman knows of its own existence. However, that knowledge is also in the realm of appearance.
And, proceeding further, the reflected light is neutral and doesn’t think, and it is the mind which thinks in the presence of the reflected light. Is this all correct?
A: Your summary is OK for the most part. But several points are misleading:
- The “purpose of this duality is that the Brahman knows of its own existence” – you cannot say this. From an absolute perspective, Brahman can have no purpose – it is already perfect and complete. Admittedly, this does leave us in the situation where there is NO apparent purpose for the appearance of a creation, and no real explanation for how it comes about. So be it!
- “The light illuminating the mind and the world is the reflecting consciousness or cidābhāsa”. No. Everything is Brahman. The ‘light’ (or better ‘Consciousness’) that enables the mind to operate is Brahman. Cidābhāsa is a metaphor to provide a sort of explanation as to how this operates. There is another, different metaphor called ‘avaccheda’. (Former is Vivaraṇa, latter Bhāmatī.)
- “It is the mind which thinks in the presence of the reflected light”. Consciousness does not think but enables the inert mind to think.