Advaita Bhoda Deepika # 15

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>From the end of post #14...

 

26. D.: How is the Self said to be witnessing the three

states?

M.: The three states are the waking, dream and deep sleep

through which the Jiva or the 'false-I' or the ego passes,

identifying itself with the gross, subtle and causal bodies

respectively. The Self must therefore be the Consciousness

witnessing these three states; "It" is not identical with any or all

of them.

 

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27. D.: If these three states are not of the Self, of whom

else can they be?

 

M.: They can be only of the ego which assumes them

whereas the Self is unconcerned. Affecting the waking state, the

ego in the guise of visva enjoys the gross sense experiences;

similarly in dream as taijasa he enjoys the subtle experiences;

and in deep sleep as prajna he experiences ignorance. Therefore

the ego must be the experiencer in these states and not the

witnessing Self.

 

28-29. D.: What makes you say that the ego and not the

Self is the experiencer of the three states?

 

M.: In deep sleep, the ego becoming dormant, no

experience or experiencer is seen; only on the rise of the ego

are they found. He must therefore be the experiencer. His are

the two states of waking and dream; they cannot be those of

the Self.

 

D.: Whose is deep sleep then?

 

M.: It is also of the ego, because just as it arrogates to itself

the waking and dream states saying "I woke up - I dreamt", so

it does the deep sleep state also saying "I slept". It cannot be of

the Self since It remains unconcerned as the witness of the three

states and of their experiencer who remains conceited with the

ideas "I woke up - I dreamt - I slept." Therefore none of the

three states is of the Self.

 

30-31. D.: The ego cannot be the experiencer in deep sleep

also. It is not there and how can it be said to be the experiencer?

In the waking and dream states, the ego is rightly said to be the

experiencer; in deep sleep the Self must be the experiencer.

 

M.: You are not right. The Jiva i.e., the ego, who in the

waking and dream states appears as the intellectual sheath to

enjoy gross and subtle things, sinks in deep sleep to remain

dormant as the blissful sheath, experiencing ignorance and bliss

as "I did not know anything - I slept happily." Had the ego

not been present in deep sleep, on waking there could not be

the recollection "I did not know anything - I slept happily."

Only the experiencer can recollect his experiences and not

another. Even the recollection can only be of what was actually

experienced and not of what was not. On waking, it is the ego

which says "I did not know anything - I slept happily". From

this it is clear that the experiencer in the deep sleep was the ego

and not the Self.

 

32-33. D.: But for the blissful sheath of deep sleep, what

can the witnessing Consciousness be?

 

M.: As the blissful sheath, it is ignorant; this ignorance is

recognised later. The recogniser must be different from

recognition and he must be the experiencer of the blissful sheath.

Now that he has fancied himself as the blissful sheath

which is none other than ignorance, he remains ignorant

himself because ignorance cannot know itself. Therefore it

follows there must be the witness of this ignorance who simply

illuminates the blissful sheath which appears as the idea "I do

not know anything", and remains apart from it. This witness

is the Self.

 

D.: What evidence is there to prove that in deep sleep all is

reduced to dormancy leaving the witness unaffected?

M.: The sruti says "The vision of the Witness can never be

lost" meaning that when all else remains dormant and unknown,

the Seer remains aware as ever.

 

34-35. D.: Well, in deep sleep which is itself ignorance, a

cogniser is rightly inferred; but in the waking and dream states

the intellectual sheath can be the cogniser and there is no place

for a witness apart.

 

M.: You cannot think so. Just as in deep sleep the Self is

the cogniser of the ignorance, so also in the other states it is the

witness of the intellect knowing all waking and dream notions

such as I dreamt - I woke up - I went - I came - I saw -

I heard - I know - which clearly indicate a knower. Just as

the witness is admitted to be aware of ignorance, so also it must

be of knowledge as well. Moreover being a knower at one time,

and not knower at another time, the intellectual sheath cannot

be the witness.

 

D.: If so, let the Self, the witness of the intellect be also the

experiencer.

 

M.: No, no! The witness of deep sleep and of its experiencer,

cannot be the experiencer of the waking and dream states.

 

D.: If the Self be the witness of deep sleep and of its

experiencer, can It not be the experiencer of the waking and

dream states?

 

M.: No, he who sleeps must wake up or dream dreams.

Never sleeping, ever aware as the witness of the three states and

of their experiencer who thinks "I slept - I dreamt - I woke

up", the Self cannot have the three states nor be their

experiencer. This cannot admit of any doubts.

 

36. D.: Why should not the Self be both witness and

experiencer of the three states?

M.: Just as the witness watching tw

o men fighting with

each other does not fight himself, so also the witness cannot be

the experiencer. Again as the fighter does not simply watch the

fight but himself fights, so also the experiencer cannot be the

witness. Therefore the same Self cannot be both the experiencer

and the witness.

 

D.: Now what is the conclusion?

M.: The 'false-I' is the experiencer and the other one who

is unconcernedly watching the states and their experiencer is

the witness.

 

37. D.: In that case, for the three states are there three

different witnesses or is there only one?

 

M.: The witness is only one whereas the states alternate one

with another; the witness does not change. The same continuous

awareness runs through the appearance, staying and disappearance

of the three states. Thus the witness of the three states is the Self.

The witness-hood of the Self has thus been described.

 

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Taken from Advaita Bhoda Deepika

as published by Sri Ramanasramam

Tiruvannamalai 2002.

 

To be continued...

 

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