Tag Archives: consciousness

Eight Upanishads (Topic-wise) Part 22

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Part 21

Chapter 6 JnAna and Moksha

6-5 Katha Upanishad

6-5-25 Katha 2.1.12 to 2.1.15 JivAtamA, i.e., embodied Self is as though situated in the heart of the body. It is Consciousness that illumines thoughtful and thoughtless states of the mind. The heart is of the size of the fist and the mind is imagined of the size of the thumb. The non-dual Self is the Lord of the past, present and the future. Although it appears to be limited in size, it is the limitless, all-pervading and is non-dual. The space within the pot is viewed as limited space. Upon inquiry, we understand that the expression limited space is a delusion. The space is neither inside nor outside the pot, but all pots are within the space. In the same way, Consciousness is neither within nor without the heart; everything is within consciousness. After knowing that I am the limitless consciousness, I never feel insecure. It is this Consciousness that Nachiketa has sought to know in the third boon.

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Eight Upanishads (Topic-wise) Part 21

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Part 20

Chapter 6 JnAna and Moksha
6-5 Katha Upanishad
6-5-23 Katha 2.1.5 to 2.1.10 Some technical terms used by the Upanishad need explanation. Brahman is all-pervading Original Consciousness (OC). It is AtmA at the individual level. The OC manifests through matter, the Reflecting Medium (RM). It is Reflected Consciousness (RC). OC is only one, but RCs are as many as RMs. The quality of RC depends upon RM. The OC remains unaffected. The material universe is divided into three pairs: three belonging to the microcosm and three belonging to macrocosm. Consciousness reflects in any of the six mediums. There are 6 mediums RM1 to RM6 and six reflected consciousness RC1 to RC6. At the individual level, there are three mediums: RM1 (physical -gross), RM2 (mental-subtle) and RM3 -causal.

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Q. 557 Detaching from the mind

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Q: Many modern teachers of Advaita seem to make much of the need to detach ourselves from the mind, or even destroy it, before we can become enlightened. I am confused by instructions such as these. If there is only Brahman, then there isn’t actually any mind (or even world) to separate ourselves from. There are not really even any words to talk about this! Can you clarify?

A: This is a confusion of ‘levels’ of reality.

In reality, there is only Brahman. That is the ‘bottom line’ and nothing more can be said. (Even that is saying too much.)

But the empirical level – appearance of world and you in it – continues until death of the body-mind (i.e. when prārabdha karma expires). Your body-mind is inert (and mithyā), functioning only as a result of non-dual Consciousness ‘animating’ it. You are the Consciousness, not the body-mind.

But Consciousness itself does not do anything, does not know anything – there is nothing else! It is your inert mind, ‘animated by Consciousness’ that appreciates this. ‘Enlightenment’ is an event in the mind, when it realizes all of this to be true.

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Eight Upanishads (Topic-wise) Part 14

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Part 13

Chapter 6 JnAna and Moksha
6-1 Introduction In verse 20 of Brahm-JnAna-valli-mAlA, Shankaracharya says that Brahman is reality, jagat is mithyA and jiva is not different from Brahman. It means the identity of Brahman and jiva. Brahman is vast; jiva is finite and small. How can they be the same? To establish their identity, Advaita delves into the essential nature of the two. There is an inquiry about the real nature of a human being, a jiva. Body-Mind System (BMS) is made of matter, is inert, and is different from consciousness. However, BMS is found to be sentient. Therefore, it is inferred that the consciousness enters BMS, like a reflection of the sun entering the water, and makes the BMS sentient. The sentient BMS is a Jiva. Sun is like the Original Consciousness (OC) and there is a Reflected Consciousness (RC) in BMS making BMS sentient.

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Q.551 – Illusoriness of the world (again)

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Q: Why exactly is the world considered illusory? In what sense is it illusory?

Objects change their form and so the form is unreal. We have ideas about objects but these are unreal being imagination only. The whole subjective world with a person as its center is born of imagination.

I can see that objects including the body-mind appear in this field of awareness and everything functions by itself. But the differentiation still exists. There is awareness and also its contents. So how are they illusory? Is it because they are dependent on awareness?

A: Advaita does not say that the world is illusory. (This is a mistranslation by some modern teachers.) Nor is it ‘imaginary’. The world is mithyā, which means that it derives its existence from Brahman. It is ‘name and form’ of Brahman just as we can say that a chair is name and form of wood.

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Vedanta and Hard Problem of Consciousness

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Science regards matter as the most fundamental entity and that life is also a product of matter. Life is represented by breath. There is a saying that till breath is there, there is life. Breath is one of the five Pranas (vital forces). Pranas are insentient. That life is a product of matter is accepted by Vedanta also. As regards consciousness, the prevalent scientific view is that it is an epiphenomenon, that is to say, consciousness arises in a complex organism. In other words, it is also a product of matter. This view is confronted by what is called the Hard Problem of Consciousness. Science says that consciousness and therefore firsthand experience are produced by the brain. David Chalmer differs and says that subjective experience is not an outcome of the firing of neurons in the brain. This is the hard problem of consciousness. Hard Problem of Consciousness – David Chalmers (organism.earth)

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Q. 549 – Consciousness is all there is

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Q: Advaita tells us that Consciousness is what we are and it is always the case. Why is ‘knowledge’ necessary? Knowledge is knowing about something. Simple pointing out of the fact of Consciousness seems to be the only thing necessary. This is simple and immediate. I am Consciousness right now and nothing needs to be thought or said about it.

Since there is only Consciousness, and as Consciousness, there is nothing else to think about or that can be thought about, there are no ‘levels’ for Consciousness. So therefore, there isn’t a second ‘transactional’ world to know or think about.

A: But it is not Consciousness that is thinking about these things, is it? You are confusing absolute reality (which is Consciousness right now and there is no second thing etc.) with the obvious (to perception) world and thoughts that are in front of you (the jīva) right now. It is the apparent dichotomy between these that has to be rationalized by the mind, with the help of Advaita. Again, the concept of cidābhāsa is helpful here.

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Q.546 – Mind and Soul

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Q: Advaita says that there is nothing beyond consciousness. Nothing can take place/occur without   the background of consciousness. When consciousness takes the form of a human body, it is called soul/jīvātmā. When the body becomes sick, is it the soul which grieves / or only the mind?

A: There is nothing OTHER THAN Consciousness in reality. (‘Beyond’ implies that there are other things.) Consciousness is the foreground as well as the background! It is the mind that grieves when it thinks that ‘I am the body’. Consciousness never ‘does’ anything at all (including thinking).

Q: So what is the purpose of such ‘Being without doing anything’ in maintaining such BIG universe?

A: There is no universe in reality; there is ONLY Consciousness (Brahman). Please do not ask why there is the appearance of a universe, when there is only Brahman. Advaita does not really have an answer for this. The j~nAnI still sees a world but knows that it is Brahman. It is the mind that perceives ‘form’ and gives this a ‘name’.

Bhagavad Gita (Topic-wise) Pt 19

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Part 18

Part 20

6 Moksha
6-1 Preparation
6-2 Jnana, Jnani, and Jnana-Phala
6-2-5-3: 13(1 to 11) Arjuna asks Sri Krishna to explain six terms, namely, Prakriti, Purusha, Kshetra, Kshetrajna, Jnana, and Jneyam. They can be reduced to three. Prakriti and Kshetra are the same and represent the material universe. It is a field of experience. Purusha, Kshetrajna, and Jneyam are the same and represent the consciousness principle. Sri Krishna explains that the body is Kshetra and the knower of Kshetra is Kshetrajna. The physical body is like a field because karma requires a field for performance. In this sense, the mind and external world are also fields. Their common features are that they are made of matter and inert in themselves and further that they are subject to change and decay. A knower of Kshetra is Kshetrajna. The knower is the consciousness principle. Hence Kshetrajna is the consciousness principle.

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‘Tipping Point’ in Advaita Vedanta

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Question:  “I’m curious what is the ‘Tipping Point’ in the Advaita philosophy.”
Answer:
Just as it is easier to say what the Self is apophatically, perhaps, the “Tipping point in Advaita” too can be expressed only by stating what it cannot be!

4.4.5, BU clearly establishes how everything, including objects, actions, interactions, thoughts, emotions, feelings etc. etc., in short our entire ‘perceptual knowledgebase’ gleaned from the time-space-causational world we are familiar with and live in, is merely upahita caitanya (conditioned Consciousness). Continue reading →