The Supreme Self is all-pervading. Yet, because of our mistaken belief that “I am the body,” we identify the all-pervading Self with the body and take ourselves to be the individual (jIva). Thus, we create for ourselves a fallacious ‘self.’
Next, we create an inferior ‘self’ by claiming ownership over whatever we perceive—my spouse, my family, my house, and so on. As a result, we confine ourselves to a single form (the fallacious ‘self,’ mithyAtmA), reduce everything else into multiple finite forms (the inferior ‘self,’ gauNAtmA), and contract the Supreme Self into the form of God (Ishwara). Consequently, our attention remains absorbed in forms, while the formless Reality goes unnoticed.
The taittirIya Upanishad teaches us to recognize the Supreme Self as universal Beingness, ever-present Knowingness, and unbounded Infiniteness—Its intrinsic nature.
यो वेद निहितं गुहायां परमे व्योमन् । सोऽश्नुते सर्वान् कामान् सह । ब्रह्मणा विपश्चितेति । — mantra 2.1.1, taittirIya Upa.
[Meaning: He who knows that brahman as existing in the intellect, lodged in the supreme space in the heart, enjoys, as identified with the all-knowing brahman, all desirable things simultaneously. (Translation: Swami Gambhirananda).]
The Upanishad speaks of the Self as abiding in the heart. Here, the “heart” does not mean the physical organ but the intellect (buddhi). It describes the intellect as a cave (guha), suggesting a place where the Self appears concealed. By directing our attention to the intellect, the Upanishad invites us to inquire into the true nature of the Self.
The Self reflected in the intellect is conventionally called the ‘individual’ (jIva). Because of its apparent association with the body, we imagine that the Self is confined within it. The Upanishad, however, reminds us that the Self is neither born with the intellect, sustained by it, nor destroyed with it.
Consider the familiar example of space within a pot. The pot neither creates nor confines the space. When the pot breaks, the space remains exactly as it always was. Likewise, the Self appearing in the intellect is never enclosed by it. The consciousness reflected in the intellect is called cidAkAsha, but just as the pot-space is nothing other than limitless space, cidAkAsha is nothing other than the Infinite Consciousness (brahman). The ‘individual’ is therefore only a convenient name for the one Supreme Self.
Until we directly recognize the identity of the ‘self’ and the Self, we must continue listening to the teaching, reflecting upon it, and contemplating it deeply. Hence the kaTha Upanishad declares:
श्रवणायापि बहुभिर्यो न लभ्यः शृण्वन्तोऽपि बहवो यं न विद्युः । — mantra 1.2.7, kaTha Upa.
[Meaning: Who cannot be attained even after hearing by many; whom, many though hearing, do not know. (Translation: S. Sitarama Sastri).]
Many of us have listened to scriptural discourses for years. Yet the truth remains only intellectual. We continue to imagine that the pot-space is different from the limitless space. Likewise, we fail to recognize that the Self abiding in the cave of the heart is none other than the all-pervading Self.
Why does this truth escape us? Because the senses are designed to perceive only names, forms, and qualities—not the formless Reality that underlies them. The eye sees forms and concludes that the world consists only of forms. The ear hears sounds and assumes that sound is reality. The nose knows only smell. Instead of recognizing Reality as it is, we divide the world into five kinds of sensory experience—ophthalmic, auditory, olfactory, gastronomical, and tactile sensations. Likewise, we divide consciousness itself into the waking, dream, and deep sleep states. Thus, what is indivisible appears fragmented.
But how do we know that the Consciousness present in our intellect is truly the Infinite Consciousness? The Upanishad answers:
तस्माद्वा एतस्मादात्मन आकाशः सम्भूतः । आकाशाद्वायुः । वायोरग्निः । अग्नेरापः । अद्भ्यः पृथिवी । पृथिव्या ओषधयः । ओषधीभ्योऽन्नम् । अन्नात्पुरुषः । स वा एष पुरुषोऽन्नरसमयः । — mantra 2.1.1, taittirIya Upa.
[Meaning: From that brahman, which is the Self, was produced space. From space emerged air. From air was born fire. From fire was created water. From water sprang up the earth. From earth were born the herbs. From the herbs was produced food. From food was born man. That man, such as he is, is a product of the essence of food. (Translation: Swami Gambhirananda).]
From the standpoint of creation, the Upanishad describes the gradual manifestation of the universe. From the Self came space; from space, air; from air, fire; from fire, water; from water, earth; from earth, herbs; from herbs, food; and from food, the human body. Food ultimately becomes semen, which enters the mother’s womb, resulting in birth. Thus, the gross body is a product of food, while the Self remains ever unchanged.
The above sequence explains the origin of the human body. But how did the rest of creation come into being? The taittirIya samhita says:
पुरुष एव आविस्तरामात्मा स हि प्रज्नानेन सम्पन्नतमह विज्ञातम् पश्यति विज्ञातम् शृणोति विज्ञातम् वदति, वेत्ति स्वस्तनौ वेत्ति लोकालोकौ मर्त्येन अमृतमीक्षति — taittirIya samhita
[Meaning: The Self is present in the intellect (buddhi) of the man. It shines there only. It is the one that sees, hears and speaks; he can plan, he can discriminate, and he searches for the means to overcome death.]
The Supreme Self exists equally in all beings, but it shines most distinctly through the human intellect. In human beings, the Self manifests not only as Beingness but also as Knowingness. In the rest of creation, Knowingness is not absent; it is simply concealed, while Beingness alone is evident.
Beingness shines in everything—from the smallest atom to the largest galaxy. Knowingness, manifest in the human intellect, recognizes that Beingness, identifies objects, and gives them names. Thus, Beingness predominates throughout the universe, while Knowingness is most evident in the individual. We readily recognize our capacity to know, think, and understand, yet overlook the Beingness that constitutes our own body and indeed the entire universe.
Unable to appreciate Beingness and Knowingness together as the all-pervading Self, we imagine our Beingness to be confined to the body and our Knowingness to be limited to whatever our senses reveal. In this way, we impose limitations upon what is in reality limitless.
Precisely because Knowingness shines most clearly in the human intellect, the human birth alone becomes uniquely suited for Self-knowledge. A human being may not possess the strength of an elephant or the speed of a tiger. Judged merely by physical existence, many animals surpass us. What distinguishes the human being is the intellect. We observe intelligently, listen intelligently, speak intelligently, anticipate the future, discriminate between right and wrong, and although we know that death is inevitable, we continue searching for a means to transcend it.
It is this Knowingness shining within the intellect that brings us to the Upanishads. We listen to their teaching, reflect upon it, and contemplate it deeply until we recognize the formless Reality that pervades every form. That formless Reality is the bodiless “I” present in the body. The Knowers call it turIya—the ever-present Reality underlying the waking, dream, and deep sleep states. It is not another state that comes and goes; it is our own intrinsic nature.
There is a Vedic saying which states:
आहार निद्रा भयमैथुनंच समानमेतत् पशुभिर्नराणां |
ज्ञानं नराणामधिको विशेषो ज्ञानेन हीनाः पशुभिः समानाः ॥ — A Vedic saying.
[Meaning: Food, sleep, fear and mating, these acts of humans are similar to animals. Of them (humans), knowingness (intellect) is the only special thing. Without knowingness humans are equal to animals.]
(To Continue … Part 28 (taitti 3))