Some Thoughts on ATMA-16

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Loving SAI RAMs,

 

The scriptures declare that Atma never undergoes any modification. The intellect is not endowed with knowledge as it is considered inert. Yet an individual having known all as it is, becomes deluded with the notions of " I am the seer " , " I am the knower " etc. Atma is the infinite and all-pervading Consciouness which does no undergo any change or modification. The intellect by itself has no capacity to know. The imaginary union of pure Consciouness with the intellect is said to create the individualised ego. Consciouness and thoughts are distinct and separate. They can not combine with each other. Nevertheless, the individual ego imagines them to be combined and deludes itself to be the doer(

karta), seer(drashta), knower(gnyata) and enjoyer(Bhokta). When, however, the ego regains discrimination, and realises Consciousness to be the one all-pervading Reality, it sheds its limited individuality. It no longer suffers the persecutions of the false imaginary world of its own mental projection.

 

 

The combination of Spirit and Matter is not only unholy but impossible. Hence the world said to be created by the combination of these two incompatible elements must be illusory. Living in a delusory world man continues his life of sensuality until a call of the divine comes from within. Responding to this spiritual call man relinquishes his materialistic attachments and realizes his Supreme Self. The non-apprehension of the Supreme Self creates the misapprehension of a limited human being. The latter suffers the persecution of the physical, mental and intellectual demands and is fraught with fear. When the real Self or Atma is apprehended , the human being merges with the infinite , all-pervading Reality. That state is totally free from fear.

 

 

Fear arises when there is a feeling of otherness or duality. When we merge with the Supreme Self, there is no longer any duality or plurality. There is only one divinity. When the Self is realized, we gain absolute knowledge. Ignorance is completely removed. Consequently we become fearless. Ignorance is a kind of darkness that obstructs our vision or experience. It prevents us from seeing what is in front of us. It is on account of ignorance we mistake the true as false and vice versa. HIndu scriptures often quote the example of a man mistaking a rope for a snake in darkness or a post for a ghost. When a rope is not recognised as a rope, its non-apprehension leads to a misapprehension of a snake and its attendant fear and anxiety. The cause for the misapprehension of the snake is therefore not the rope but the non-apprehension of the rope. No sooner the rope is apprehended, the illusion of the snake vanishes. The fear and anxiety are also gone. The ignorant man creates a snake out of the rope. That creation is caused by the ignorance of the rope. A man who regards the rope as snake is overcome by fear like snake-bite, pain, death etc., Such fear exists only in the mind and they can not be eradicated unless the mistake is realised. The fear on account of snake-bite etc., is purely imaginary. The mental suffering or agony consequent on the imaginary snake-bite can easily be cured by making the person realise the falsehood of the snake or alternatively the reality of the rope. Thus the superimposition of a snake on a rope takes place only when the existence of the rope is not perceived.

 

 

Once the knowledge is gained that a rope will look like a snake in darkness, the rope can never be mistaken for a snake. " Knowledge is enveloped in ignorance and jivas are deluded by ignorance " ,(

Agnanena aavritam gyanam te muhyanti jantavah) says Lord Krishna in chapter 5 of the Gita. Atma appears to be jiva because of ignorance, just as a post appears to be a ghost( Sthanau Purushavat Branthyakrita)

as Acharya Sankara puts in his Atmabodha.

(to be continued)

With Loving SAI RAMs,

G.Balasubramanian