Re : So Who Are You?

[Guest guest]

Very perceptive article and a genuine attempt at Realization. But mukti?

 

When one does the 'neti neti', you can discriminate external objects as not

yourSelf. Then comes the body which too is rejected. But from then on it's

not so easy. KW says the we can observe the thoughts too - can you really?

 

A thought is observed only after its occurance and never at the moment

it occurs. You only remember what the thought was and never are aware

of the thought itself when it takes place. So what's that which observes it?

KW says it is the witness and also defines it as our awareness. To be aware

you need a subject and object - something which is aware and something to be

aware of. One's aware of external objects, the body etc But then you're only

aware of thoughts after they have passed - and since awareness demands an

object to be aware of - this awareness is itself nothing but a subtler form

of thought - more prolongued and sustained. It's nothing but the "I" - the

Ego - in a very subtle form - which itself is nothing but a thought - an

illusion - a psuedo individuality created by all your experiences from

childhood. That's why when asked to explain who you are - most people will

start relating themselves with things external to them - the son of so and

so, the husband/wife of so and so, the manager of such and such a company

etc - but can never actually point to who they are.

 

I remember Sadananda used to say that you cannot keep negating ad infinitum

- but stop at the negator. No, the negator itself is the root of the mAyam -

it's what YAgnavalkya refers to in his dialogue with Maitreyi when he says

it's only because of the self that everything is dear. The self referred to

here is the Ego, which being pseudo individuality has no existance of its

own apart from whatever has been experienced. And it is out of this illusion

of a self that attachment and misery arises. This is the false "I", which is

referred to in the MundAka Upanishad. And what NAgArjuna, the great Buddhist

philosopher, refers to as ShUnyam or as lacking inherent existence.

 

When you reach the truth - there'll neither be an "I" nor "mine".

And to know Truth you've to go beyond the "I". How? By making the ultimate

sacrifice - sacrifice the "I" - let go of it - let go of yourself as an

entity which is aware? If you question whether by this, wouldn't you be

losing your focal point of meditation "Who are you? or Atman VichAram - just

because you let go of the "I", does it mean that you cease to exist? To

"know" you exist is ignorance, but to merely exist - quiescence of plurality

- is bliss - and this will require immense practice and control. And that's

Advaitam.