THE NATURE OF MAN
We come now to the very essence of theory, the nature of man himself. For whatever a man may think of the reality of the world or of God he knows that he himself exists. And it is in order to understand and at the same time to perfect himself that he studies and seeks guidance.The individual being which identifies its existence with that of the life in the physical body as `I' is called the ego. The Self, which is pure Consciousness, has no ego-sense about it. Neither can the physical body, which is inert in itself, have this ego-sense. Between the two, that is between the Self or pure Consciousness and the inert physical body, there arises mysteriously the ego-sense or `I' notion, the hybrid which is neither of them, and this flourishes as an individual being. This ego or individual being is at the root of all that is futile and undesirable in life. Therefore it is to be destroyed by any possible means; then That which ever is alone remains resplendent. This is Liberation or Enlightenment or Self-Realisation.2
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D.: Bhagavan often says: `The world is not outside you',
or `everything depends on you', or `what is there outside you?' I find all this puzzling. The world existed before I was born and will continue to exist after my death, as it has survived the death of so many who once lived as I do now.
B.: Did I ever say that the world exists because of you? I
have only put to you the question `what exists apart from yourself?' You ought to understand that by the Self neither the physical body nor the subtle body is meant.
What you are told is that if you once know the Self within which all ideas exist, not excluding the idea of yourself, of others like you and of the world, you can realise the truth that there is a Reality, a Supreme Truth which is the Self of all the world you now see, the Self of all the selves, the one Real, the Supreme, the eternal Self, as distinct from the ego or individual being, which is impermanent. You must not mistake the ego or the bodily idea for the Self.
D.: Then Bhagavan means that the Self is God?
And in his next reply Bhagavan, as was his way, turned the discussion from theory to practice. Although the present chapter is, on the whole, devoted to theory, it seems appropriate to continue the dialogue so as to show how the theory was put to practical use.
B.: You see the difficulty. Self-enquiry, `Who am I??' is a
different technique from the meditation ? `I am Siva', or `I am He'. I rather emphasise Self-Knowledge, for you are first concerned with yourself before you proceed to know the world or its Lord. The `I am He' or `I am Brahman', meditation is more or less mental, but the quest for the Self of which I speak is a direct method and is superior to it. For, the moment you get into the quest for the Self and begin to go deeper, the
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real Self is waiting there to receive you and then whatever is to be done is done by something else and you, as an individual, have no hand in it. In this process all doubts and discussions are automatically given up, just as one who sleeps forgets all his cares for the time being.
The further discussion illustrates the freedom of argument that Bhagavan allowed to those who were not convinced by a reply.
D.: What certainty is there that something awaits there to
receive me?
B.: When a person is sufficiently mature he becomes
convinced naturally.
D.: How is this maturity to be attained?
B.: Various ways are prescribed. But whatever previous
development there may be, earnest Self-enquiry hastens it.
D.: That is arguing in a circle. I am strong enough for the
quest if I am mature and it is the quest that makes me mature.
This is an objection that was often raised in one form or another and the reply to it again emphasises that it is not theory that is needed, but practice.
B.: The mind does have this sort of difficulty. It wants a fixed
theory to satisfy itself with. Really, however, no theory is necessary for the man who seriously strives to approach God or his true Self.1
Everyone is the Self and indeed, is infinite. Yet each person mistakes his body for his Self. In order to know anything, illumination is necessary. This can only be of the nature of Light; however, it lights up both physical light and physical darkness. That is to say, that it lies beyond apparent light and darkness. It is itself neither, but it is said to be light because it illumines
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both. It is infinite and is Consciousness. Consciousness is the Self of which everyone is aware. No one is ever away from the Self and therefore everyone is in fact Self-realised; only -- and this is the great mystery -- people do not know this and want to realise the Self. Realisation consists only in getting rid of the false idea that one is not realised. It is not anything new to be acquired. It must already exist or it would not be eternal and only what is eternal is worth striving for.
Once the false notion `I am the body' or `I am not realised' has been removed, Supreme Consciousness or the Self alone remains and in people's present state of knowledge they call this `Realisation.' But the truth is that Realisation is eternal and already exists, here and now.11
Consciousness is pure knowledge. The mind arises out of it and is made up of thoughts.12
The essence of the mind is only awareness or consciousness.
However, when the ego overclouds it, it functions as reasoning, thinking or perceiving. The universal mind, not being limited by the ego, has nothing outside itself and is therefore only aware. This is what the Bible means by `I am that I am.'13
The ego-ridden mind has its strength sapped and is too weak to resist distressing thoughts. The egoless mind is happy, as we see in deep, dreamless sleep. Clearly, therefore, happiness and distress are only modes of the mind.14
D.: When I seek the `I', I see nothing.
B.: You say that because you are accustomed to identify
yourself with the body and sight with the eyes, but what is there
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to be seen? And by whom? And how? There is only one Consciousness and this, when it identifies itself with the body, projects itself through the eyes and sees the surrounding objects. The individual is limited to the waking state; he expects to see something different and accepts the authority of his senses. He will not admit that he who sees, the objects seen, and the act of seeing are all manifestations of the same Consciousness -- the `I-I'. Meditation helps to overcome the illusion that the Self is something to see. Actually there is nothing to see. How do you recognise yourself now? Do you have to hold a mirror up in front of your self to recognise yourself? The awareness is itself the `I'. Realise it and that is the truth.
D.: When I enquire into the origin of thoughts, there is
the perception of the `I' but it does not satisfy me.
B.: Quite right. Because this perception of `I' is associated
with a form, perhaps with the physical body. Nothing should be associated with the pure Self. The Self is the pure Reality in whose light the body, the ego and all else shine. When all thoughts are stilled, pure Consciousness remains over.41
D.: How did the ego arise?
Here is a question that gives rise to endless philosophising, but Bhagavan, holding rigorously to the truth of non-duality, refused to admit its existence.
B.: There is no ego. If there were, you would have to admit
of two selves in you. Therefore there is no ignorance. If you enquire into the Self, ignorance, which is already non-existent, will be found not to exist and you will say that it has fled.42
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Sometimes it seemed to the listener that absence of thought must mean a mere blank, and therefore Bhagavan specifically guarded against this.
Absence of thought does not mean a blank. There must be someone to be aware of that blank. Knowledge and ignorance pertain only to the mind and are in duality, but the Self is beyond them both. It is pure Light. There is no need for one Self to see another. There are no two selves. What is not the Self is mere non-self and cannot see the Self. The Self has no sight or hearing; it lies beyond them, all alone, as pure Consciousness.51
Bhagavan often cited man's continued existence during deep, dreamless sleep as a proof that he exists independent of the ego and the body-sense. He also referred to the state of deep sleep as a body-free and ego-free state.
D.: I don't know whether the Self is different from the ego.
B.: In what state were you in deep sleep?
D.: I don't know.
B.: Who doesn't know? The waking self? But you don't
deny that you existed while in deep sleep?
D.: I was and am, but I don't know who was in deep sleep.
B.: Exactly. The waking man says that he did not know
anything in the state of deep sleep. Now he sees objects and knows that he exists but in deep sleep there were no objects and no spectator. And yet the same person who is speaking now existed in deep sleep also. What is the difference between the two states? There are objects and the play of the senses now, while in deep sleep there were not. A new entity, the ego, has arisen. It acts through the senses, sees objects, confuses itself with the body and claims to be the Self. In
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reality, what was in deep sleep continues to be now also. The Self is changeless. It is the ego which has come between. That which rises and sets is the ego. That which remains changeless is the Self.61
Such examples sometimes gave rise to the mistaken idea that the state of Realisation or abidance in the Self which Bhagavan prescribed was a state of nescience like physical sleep and therefore he guarded against this idea also.
B.: Waking, dream and sleep are mere phases of the mind,
not of the Self. The Self is the witness of these three states. Your true nature exists in sleep.
D.: But we are advised not to fall asleep during meditation.
B.: It is stupor which you must guard against. That sleep
which alternates with waking is not the true sleep. That waking which alternates with sleep is not the true waking. Are you awake now? No. What you have to do is to wake up to your true state. You should neither fall into false sleep nor remain falsely awake.62
B.: Though present even in sleep, the Self is not then perceived.
It cannot be known in sleep straightaway. It must first be realised in the waking state for it is our true nature underlying all the three states. Effort must be made in the waking state and the Self realised here and now. It will then be understood to be the continuous Self uninterrupted by the alteration of waking, dream and deep sleep.63
In fact, one name for the true state of realised being is the `Fourth State' existing eternally beyond the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. It is compared with the state of deep sleep since, like this, it is formless and non-dual; however, as the above quotation shows, it is far from being the same. In the Fourth State the ego merges in Consciousness, as in sleep it does in unconsciousness.
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