Atman is unattached

[Guest guest]

namaste.

 

My contemplation on dream-, deep-sleep, and wake-up states took me

to Br^ihadAraNyaka upanishadbhAShya iv.3.7 to 24, and particularly

to iv.3.16 and iv.3.17.

 

As the jIvA goes from wake-up to dream to deep-sleep to wake-up ...,

he/she does not carry the essence of happenings in one state to the

other state. He/she comes back in the inverse order to his/her

former condition. That is, the essence of the actions done by him/her

during the dream-state are not carried forward to the waking-state.

And the essence of actions done by him/her during the waking-state

are not carried forward to the other states. The three states,

after all, are the states of the mind.

 

That is, the SELF is unattached. Then what has attachments? We can

say the 'attachments' are to the self, the deluded, which *thinks*

it has attachments carried forward.

 

If the SELF were attached or smitten by desire in the dream-state,

it would, on its return to the waking-state, be affected by the

evils of that attachment. Being unattached in the dream-state,

he/she is not affected by the evils due to attachment in the

dream-state. On his/her return to the waking-state, he/she is

not affected by them in the waking-state either.

 

The same applies for actions done in the waking-state. Passing

into the dream-state and that of deep-sleep, it is not affected

in those states by what it did in the waking-state.

 

That is, SELF, in all three states is naturally unattached. Hence

it is immortal, or distinct from the attributes of the three states.

 

Any corrections/clearer-expressions/additions/insights are very

much appreciated.

 

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

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