Who am I? Paragraph 16

[Guest guest]

Paragraph 16

 

Atman alone exists and is real. The threefold reality of world,

individual soul, and God is, like the illusory appearance of silver

in the mother of pearl, an imaginary creation in the Atman. They

appear and disappear simultaneously. The Self alone is the world,

the 'I' and God. All that exists is but the manifestation of the

Supreme.

 

COMMENTS

 

Ramana restates that basic nondual idea, expressed from the time of

the Upanishads, Tat Tvam Asi (Thou are That). Another say this is

sometimes stated is that `you are that which you seek.' All that

appears as separate to the conceptual mind, all that comes and goes,

is none other than Atman, none other than Self. There is no separate

reality, there is no separate ego or individual, these are just

imaginations of mind. There is no creation, no passing from

creation. There is no reality that is outside of, or separate from

Being-Consciousness. The central element of Self-inquiry is to

discover this reality as one's identity, to have this as Knowledge

(capitalized to stand apart from mere mental knowledge), Knowledge at

the same level and certainty as one knows one's own existence.

 

I think that this teaching is the most radical of the Advaita Vedanta

teachings. When people visit SAT for satsang, you can see them

listen to the Teaching, and be taken by the wonder and beauty of Thou

art That, and then be taken aback by this part of the teaching.

 

As one reads what Ramana taught, though, it is very clear. He

teaches that as long as one holds the world (etc.) to be real, one

will not stand as the Self. It is also clear that if a seeker spends

time and effort trying to understand this teaching at a conceptual

level, rather than diving into their own inquiry, that little

progress will occur. We are instructed to inquire, and find out for

ourselves what is real and what is just passing illusion, like images

projected onto a screen. In this metaphor, we are the screen. Does

the screen get excited at the image of fire? Yet people live their

lives identified with the illusory appearance, and never notice the

Reality.

 

We are Not two,

Richard