Viveka Atman

There is a self-existent self-luminous reality called Brahman. Atman is Brahman, the Fourth, witness to both dream states and deep sleep.

Atman sees everything in its light but no one sees it. It gives its light to the body, mind, and intellect. Nothing gives it that light.

Atman pervades the universe. No mind may penetrate it. Only Atman shines. All the suns in this universe are merely its reflection. As the moon is a reflection of the sun.

In this body, in the secret cave of the intellect, in that space known as the undifferentiated, Atman shines like a sun illuminating the universe with its self-luminous self-existence.

~adapted from Vivekacudamani 127-136

Am I I Am or Am I I

If you're some household appliance powered by electricity, are you this appliance or are you electricity?

Or are you the ultimate source of that electricity: nirguna, not saguna, brahman?

Am I the body-mind, vital life force, or atman? That is the question.

Am I I Am or Am I I or something completely different?

Translator Notes on Maya in Vivekacudamani 108 (110)

avyaktanāmnī parameśaśaktiḥ anādyavidyā triguṇātmikā parā, kāryānumeyā sudhiyaiva māyā yayā jagatsarvamidaṁ prasūyate.

This is a controversial verse in the Vivekacudamani as it gives a rather precise definition of my. Some scholars maintain that Sankara never gave such a definition in any of his indisputable works.

Within the Advaita tradition, avidya/maya has been defined as having six defining characteristics: it is beginningless (anadi); it is terminated by right knowledge (jnana-nivartya); it veils and projects (varana and viksepa); it is indefinable (anirvacaniya); it is of the nature of a positive existence (bhavarpa); and it is located either in the individual (jiva) or in the Absolute (Brahman).

The three qualities (trigunas) are the ultimate building blocks of the material and mental universe. They are the indivisible atoms of everything. They are not merely parts, qualities, properties or ingredients of primordial nature (prakrti). They are the very material of prakrti.

There are an almost infinite number of gunas of three different types and by way of combination and perpetual recombination, they produce multiplicity. This theory is very much like the modern nuclear physics or contemporary field theory with a localisations of fields. Nature is like a quivering force field which is undergoing continuous transformations.

The word "maya” may be creatively derived from "ma-ya" or "that which is not".

~Grimes

The Undifferentiated—the perfectly balanced state of the three Gunas, where there is no manifested universe. When this balance is disturbed, then evolution begins. 

Power of the Lord.—This distinguishes the Vedantic conception of Maya from the Sankhya view of Prakriti which they call insentient and at the same time independent.

~Madhavananda

One of the powers of the omnipotent Lord Parameśvara is the power to delude Himself! This Power Divine is called the ‘unmanifest’ and is the causal body.

Sattva, rajas and tamas are three ‘climatic’ conditions, as it were, under which thought functions. From these alone various manifestations arise. This māyā śakti consisting of the three guṇas is beyond sense perceptions (parā). Only its effects can be perceived, just as we do not know what electricity is, except through its manifestation.

When a particular tendency manifests in an individual, then only can it be said that his vāsanās are of a particular type. Hence, from the effects-only, māyā śakti can be inferred by those who have the necessary subtle intellect.

These vāsanās make one act more and more and in the end, man becomes cocooned in them and gains permanently for himself the sense of a separate individuality, the jīva-bhāva. All these are created by this avidyā, this non-apprehension of Reality.

Avidyā is the vāsanās in the microcosm. The avidyā of all individuals put together is its macrocosmic form and is called ‘māyā’. This is the vehicle of the Supreme when He functions as Īsvara. When the Supreme functions through the vāsanās or avidyā (microcosmic māyā), It becomes the jīva – the individual ego. When the Supreme functions through macrocosmic avidyā (māyā), He is Īsvara.

Each individual creates his own world around himself due to his ignorance (avidyā), through his mind. The sum of each one’s world put together is the total world which we call the universe, the jagat. Therefore, the total world, the universe is created by the total mind when expressing through the total vāsanās, otherwise called māyā.

Thus the Supreme functioning through total avidyā is God, Īsvara, and the Supreme expressing through the total mind is the Creator (Brahmā) who creates the universe.

~Chinmayananda

Māyā is not independent and it is dependent on the vastu which is parameśa. Parama means that which is not limited by space, time or object. It is saccidānanda-brahma. At the same time, in association with the māyā śakti the vastu is called īśa, the Lord, the cause of creation. Vastu is called īśa only because of this māyā śakti. 

Māyā is His power to create, sustain and destroy. It is aja, unborn, anādi, beginningless and eka, undivided. Māyā is not an imagination by any human mind; the śruti herself talks about māyā. The śruti says, ‘Know māyā to be the prakṛti and the māyī to be Maheśvara, the Lord’ (Śvetāśvataropaniṣad 4.10).

The world that we experience must have a cause; that cause can be none other than Brahman. We have a problem here. If Brahman is the cause it has to undergo some change to become the world, but Brahman being limitless in terms of time and other attributes, cannot undergo any change. So we have to bring in another factor that accounts for this apparent change in the form of the world, a factor which is not independent of Brahman. That factor, that power is called māyā. Ontologically māyā is mithyā.

This māyā is parā, and it is the cause of creation. It has got another name avyakta, unmanifest. Before the creation, the māyā is unmanifest. The śruti says, ‘only sat was there before the creation. That sat alone appears in the form of this world.’ Therefore this jagat is nothing but māyā plus sat. It is purely a name for sat, because it is mithyā. 

Māyā can be understood from its effect in the form of the three-fold manifestations - activity, knowledge and inertness - we see in the manifest world. From this we do infer that the required factors for the three-fold manifestation should be present in its cause, māyā, which is, being mithyā, dependent on the sad-vastu.

This māyā is understood by a sudhī, one who possesses a dhī, intelligence, who has got śraddhā and a reasoning capacity which is in keeping with the śruti’s understanding. Reasoning can help you to discern things, and it can take you upto a point to understand a thing. But if it delves where it has no access, it goes in circles and finds that all the doors are shut. At that point it has to give up and accept what the śāstra says. So māyā is understood from its effect by a person who has got a mind which always strives to understand what the śruti says and assimilate it.

From what is said in this verse it may appear that there are two realities ātmā and māyā. If they are two different realities then there is no more non-duality. So, is this māyā separate from the vastu? What is the ontological status of māyā? That is explained in the next verse. (Māyā cannot be said as real or non-existent or combination of real and non-existent; is not separate or non-separate from Brahman nor combined in nature of separate and non-separate; does not have parts nor is partless or combined in nature. She is a great wonder and cannot be categorically explained.)

~Dayananda

The Translations

That-which-is-not (my) is called the unmanifest. It is the power of the supreme Lord. It is beginningless ignorance. The three qualities are its constituents. It is superior to their effects and has to be inferred, by the wise whose intellect is in accord with scripture, from the effects it produces. It is this which gives birth to the entire world.(110) ~Grimes

108. Nescience (avidyā) or māyā is also called the ‘unmanifest’, and is the power of the Lord. It is without beginning, it comprises the three guṇas and is superior to their effects. It is to be inferred only by one who has a clear intellect, from the effects it produces. It is this avidyā which projects the entire universe. ~Chinmayananda

108. Avidya (Nescience) or Ma}^^ called also the Undifferentiated, is the power of the Lord. It is without beginning, is made up of the three Gunas and is superior to the effects (as their cause). She is to be inferred by one of clear intellect only from the effects She produces. It is She who brings forth this whole universe. ~Madhavananda

That māyā, through which this whole world is born, is called avyakta (unmanifest) and is the power of the limitless Lord. She is the beginningless ignorance, of the nature of the three guṇas viz., sattva, rajas and tamas and superior to her effects. Her existence is to be inferred from her effects, by a person with a clear mind. ~Dayananda

MAYA, in her potential aspect, is the divine power ·of the Lord. She has no beginning. She is composed of the three gunas, subtle, beyond perception. It is from the effects she produces that her existence is inferred by the wise. It is she who gives birth to the whole universe. ~Parabhavananda / Isherwood

Word-by-Word Sanskrit to English Meaning

avyaktanāmnī (अव्यक्तनाम्नी): Unmanifest is her name (Avyakta = unmanifest; Nāmnī = named).
parameśaśaktiḥ (परमेशशक्तिः): The supreme power of the Lord (Parama = supreme; Īśa = Lord; Śaktiḥ = power).
anādyavidyā (अनाद्यविद्या): Beginningless ignorance (Anādi = without beginning; Avidyā = nescience/ignorance).
triguṇātmikā (त्रिगुणात्मिका): Composed of the three gunas or qualities (Tri = three; Guṇa = qualities of Sattva, Rajas, Tamas; Ātmikā = nature/essence).
parā (परा): Superior, transcendent, or causal.
kāryānumeyā (कार्यानुमेया): To be inferred from her effects (Kārya = effect/creation; Anumeyā = to be inferred).
sudhiyaiva (सुधियैव): By the wise alone (Sudhiyā = by the wise/pure-minded; Eva = only/alone).
māyā (माया): Maya (the cosmic illusion).
yayā (यया): By whom.
jagatsarvamidaṁ (जगत्सर्वमिदं): This entire universe (Jagat = universe; Sarvam = all; Idam = this).
prasūyate (प्रसूयते): Is produced, projected, or born.

~Google

Best of Vivekacudamani (work in progress)

-through our own eyes

A clear vision of the Reality may be obtained only through our own eyes, when they have been opened by spiritual insight—never through the eyes of some other seer. Through our own eyes we learn what the moon looks like: how could we learn this through the eyes of others? ~P[p48]

-earnestly endeavor

The flowing together of many words is like a great forest which causes the mind to wander confused. Therefore, those who know this Truth should earnestly endeavor to know the true nature of the Self. ~G62

self-effort

-A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words "come forth". You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation and other spiritual disciplines such as a knower of Brahman may prescribe—but never by subtle arguments. ~P[p50]

steps to liberation

-The first step in the means to liberation is declared to be a complete absence of desire for all things impermanent. Then comes tranquility, self-control, forbearance, and the complete relinquishment of all desire-prompted actions.

-Then one must hear the Truth, reflect upon it, and finally, as a wise one does, meditate long upon it constantly, continuously, uninterruptedly. Thus, the learned one attains the supreme state in which there is no subject-object dichotomy and experiences the bliss of liberation in this very life. ~G71-2

don't give up

-Whomsoever gives up what should continuously and always be pursued, namely, freedom from bondage born of beginningless ignorance, and instead passionately seeks to gratify one’s body which is an 'other'-object, destroys oneself. ~G85

ego

-The mental organ identifies itself with the organs of perception and of action, as well as with the physical body. Thus the sense of individuality arises, which causes a man to live and to act. His consciousness is a reflection of the infinite consciousness of the Atman.

-He who believes himself to be acting or experiencing is known as the ego, the individual man. Identifying himself with the gunas, he experiences the three states of consciousness-waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep.

-When the objects of experience are pleasant, he is happy. When they are unpleasant, he is unhappy. Pleasure and pain are characteristics of the individual-not of the Atman, which is forever blissful. ~P[p58]

maya

-Known as the Unmanifest, Maya is the supreme power of the Lord. It is beginningless ignorance, composed of the three gunas, superior to its effects, and inferable by a discerning intellect through its effects; by it, this entire universe is brought forth.

-It is neither existent, nor non-existent, nor both; it is neither different from Brahman, nor non-different, nor both; it is neither composed of parts, nor partless, nor both. It is wondrous and of an indescribable nature.

~U108-9

atman

-There is a self-existent Reality, which is the basis of our consciousness of ego. That Reality is the witness of the three states of our consciousness, and is distinct from the five bodily coverings. 

-That Reality is the knower in all states of consciousness-waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep. It is aware of the presence or absence of the mind and its functions. It is the Atman. 

-That Reality sees everything by its own light. No one sees it. It gives intelligence to the mind and the intellect, but no one gives it light.

-That Reality pervades the universe, but no one penetrates it. It alone shines. The universe shines with its reflected light. ~P

-In this very body itself, in the secret cave of the intellect, which is by nature pure, in the space known as the unmanifest, the supremely radiant Self shines like the sun high in the sky illuminating this entire universe by its innate effulgence.

-It is not born; it does not die; it does not grow; it does not decline; it does not change. It is eternal. Even if this body is destroyed it does not cease to exist, just as the space in a pot does not become extinct when the pot is broken. ~G

~P(p62) ~G134&6

Translators:

C (Chinmayananda)

G (John Grimes)

P (Parabhavananda / Isherwood)

U (unknown [Indic Consciousness{ai?}])

*Note on numbering: Grimes numbering varies from Chinmayananda. There are no numbers on Parabhavananda's verses so I've used the page numbering used on this version: Copyright, 1947, 1970 by Vedanta Society of Southern California; Second Edition, with added material, 1971.

Ekatma Godhead

There's a seeing presence which many think is God, some feel as godhead, and one in a million self-identify.

That dispassionately blissful knowing presence, appearing like this hologram of all there is, is witnessing.

See the passion play of great compassion and all the lower passions from Isvara to the lesser gods.

***

Belief is not being. Believing is thinking. Being is unthinkable.

Consciousness-existence is that absolute witnessing presence called Atman.

That intuitive endless I-essence is translating as ekatma pratyaya saram.

footnotes

1.

Eka: One, single, or unique.

Atma: The Self or pure consciousness.

Pratyaya: Cognition, inner conviction, or the direct first-person "I" experience.

Saram: The core, essence, or substance.

~Google

2. 

other "ekatma pratyaya saram" translations:

Whose valid proof consists in the single belief in the Self 
~Gambhirananda 

The essence of the Consciousness manifesting as the self [in the three states] 
~Nikhilananda 

As one whose essence is the perception of itself alone 
~Olivelle

Essentially of the Self alone 

~Chinmayananda 

Always experienced as the unbroken “I-sense” 

~Swartz 

The only proof of His existence is union with Him 

~Yeats & Purohit

The essence of the assurance of which is the state of being one with the Self 

~Hume 

Essentially one-pointed self-awareness

~S. Rivers

Essence of self knowledge 

~Raphael

The essence of the “I-sense”

~Sarvapriyananda

That which is recognised in every cognition

~Dayananda

Continuous self-awareness pointer

~Paramarthananda:

(Ek ātma-pratyaya-sāram is significant because it gives us the methodology to comprehend Turīyaṃ. Turīyaṃ will have to be comprehended in a unique manner because it is not available for regular means of knowledge. Turīyaṃ is not an object of knowledge but it is the very “you” who wants to know. So it cannot be observed externally or internally in deep meditation. To understand Turīyaṃ, a clue, ekaātmapratyaya-sāram, is given. ātma-pratyaya means Self-Knowledge or “I” awareness. Whenever you say, “I am”, you are aware of yourself. This self-awareness, whenever you say, “I am” is called ātmapratyaya (pratyaya = awareness). eka means continuous. ekātma-pratyaya means continuous selfawareness. This continuous self-awareness is the sāram, an indicator or a indicator. We have to capture the Turīyaṃ by holding on to self-awareness.)

Sea Self

As the sea is not a wave, the self is not an ego. As the wave is nothing but sea, egoic consciousness is nothing but consciousness.

Egoic consciousness is consciousness reflecting in the mind of thinking. A wave is the sea reflecting in a world of moon force and wind speed.

People are born with original ignorance of what they are, believing oneself to be a wave and not the sea. There's nothing you can do to be the sea but know you're not a wave.

Mahavakya+ Prayer tbd

***

There's a seeing presence which many think is God,

some feel as godhead, and one in a million self-identify.

Saguna Brahman creates spacetime with its power of Maya.

This foremost God is called Isvara in Vedanta. Praise be!

Spacetime appears in the timeless and spaceless Nirguna Brahman.

***

A square circle is unreal. Only consciousness-existence is real.

Thinking and living is neither real nor unreal but mithya.

Viveka differentiates the real from not real and unreal.

Science is not real. Religion is unreal. Turiyam is real.

***

Prajnanam Brahma. Consciousness is Brahman. The mind is reflected consciousness. 

Pure consciousness is that awareness witnessing both dream states and deep sleep as well.

They say consciousness is not experiencing the universe as something separate from Itself 

but Consciousness is experiencing Itself as the universe.

***

In the world of samsara, there is doing and not doing, rajas and tamas, busyness and inertia.

In primordial Maya, the quantum power of God, there is effortless nondoing, sattva, wisdom, the will of Isvara.

In the world of samsara, I am someone, I know some things, and I love some of them.

In primordial Maya, the quantum power of God, I am, I know, I love I know I am.

In reality, there is the Principle of Existence, the Ground of Consciousness, the Essence of Bliss, Satcitananda, the Nondual Absolute, Parabrahman.

To wit, I minus Avidya equals That minus Maya, Tattvamasi, You Are That, Aham Brahmasmi, I am Brahman. 

***

Consciousness is not a product of the body-mind. 

Consciousness is the ground upon which the body-mind is superimposed. 

Consciousness is the noumenal absolute called Brahman. 

The universe appears in Brahman. 

The universe is pervaded by Brahman.

The universe is made of Brahman. 

Brahman is all there is.

Nondual Brahman is that consciousness-existence called Satcitananda.

I, Atman, am Brahman, is Turiyam.

***

As the sea is not a wave, the self is not an ego. 

A wave is the sea reflecting in a world of moon force and wind speed.

People are born with original ignorance of what they are,

believing oneself to be a wave and not the sea.

There's nothing you can do to be the sea but know you're not a wave.

***

"Atman is not inner consciousness nor outer consciousness nor consciousness in-between. Not a seed of consciousness nor omniscient consciousness nor unconsciousness either.

Brahman is imperceptible, unrelatable, unreachable, uninferable, unthinkable, indescribable.

Turiyam is that intuitive endless I-essence. Cessation of the world's appearances. Peaceful. Auspicious. Nondual. What is called the Fourth. That is the real self. That is to be realized."

Ayam Atma Brahma.

Aum.

Viveka World 2

Viveka is the key.

In reality, viveka is discriminating (differentiating) the real from the not real and unreal.

Viveka is naturally first. All other qualitifications (revelations) flow from that inquiry.

Self-inquiry is the only law of a self-reflexive universe.

General relativity and quantum mechanics are merely its secondary arms.

Science is not real. Religion is unreal. Turiyam is real.

Sunflower Sun

1.

On the substrate of satcitananda, namarupa is superimposed. Aham Brahmasmi.

They say consciousness-existence is my personal ground. And there's no doubt when one really looks into it.

People are nothing but names and forms, and not exactly carved in Brahman. The wind cries Maya.

2 

The time between understanding and realization is called gradual enlightenment.

From an enlightened point of view, there's only spontaneous enlightenment, of course.

Another name for this self-reflexive universe in Maya is gradual enlightenment.

Similar to deep sleep, dreaming, and waking, there are three stages of gradual enlightenment: 

beginningless ignorance, the dawn of understanding, and gradual enlightenment.

3 

There's no real money in enlightenment. 

There's a living to be made in understanding though.

But beginningless ignorance is where the big game hunters go.

Upanishads are the first self-help books and to date unsurpassed.

Rare is a homosapien birth longing for release discovering a nondual guru. 

You never get what you want. What you really want is more.

You were never no sunflower, sunflower. You are always the sun. 

Maya is a bottomless hole. No one ever fills it.

underture

They say consciousness-existence is my personal ground. And there's no doubt when one really looks into it.

The time between understanding and realization is called gradual enlightenment.

Rare is a homosapien birth longing for release discovering a nondual guru.

outtake

Mithya means not real. The real isn't temporary. The unreal isn't real.

In other words, consciousness-existence is

witness to both dream states and deep sleep.

Maya means not Brahman. Brahman means everything is Brahman.

Sunflower, Sunflower

There's no real money in enlightenment.

There's a living to be made in understanding though.

But beginningless ignorance is where the big game hunters go.

Upanishads are the first self-help books and to this date unsurpassed.

Rare is homosapien birth, longing for release, and a nondual guru.

You never get what you want. What you really want is more.

You were never no sunflower, sunflower. You are the sun.

Maya is a bottomless hole. No one ever fills it.

Consciousness is Brahman. Atman is Brahman. I am Brahman. Tattvamasi.

Gradual Enlightenment

The time between understanding and realization is called gradual enlightenment.

From an enlightened point of view, there's only spontaneous enlightenment, of course.

Another name for this self-reflexive universe in Maya is gradual enlightenment.

Similar to deep sleep, dreaming, and waking, there are three stages of gradual enlightenment: 

beginningless ignorance, the dawn of understanding, and gradual enlightenment.

My Personal Ground

On the substrate of satcitananda, namarupa is superimposed. Aham Brahmasmi.

They say consciousness-existence is my personal ground. And there's no doubt when one really looks into it.

People are nothing but names and forms, and not exactly carved in Brahman. The wind cries Maya.

Spacetime in the Whites

shizukasa ya / iwa ni shimi-iru / semi no koe

In New England, Mount Washington is like the Absolute. Actually, the Gulf of Maine is like the Absolute. Mount Washington is like Isvara, first in our hearts.

I never conquered Washington but I did do Lafayette. Negotiating Lafayette is why I'm in the mile-high club. I merely drove up Mount Mitchell and Pike's Peak.

Silence! Entering rock and slowly sinking in, the cicadas cry. Flamingos fly. Light dawns on Marblehead. Basho deconstructs the Zen temples of Yamadera.

Creating Spacetime

1.

Saguna Brahman creates spacetime with its power of Maya.

This foremost God is called Isvara in Vedanta. Praise be!

Like reflections of clouds in a lake, like dreams in a sleeping mind—

spacetime appears in the timeless and spaceless Nirguna Brahman.

2.

Space isn't nothing. Space is the manifestation of consciousness.

Time is measured in seconds like a third dimension of duality.

A square circle is unreal. Only consciousness-existence is real.

Thinking and living is neither real nor unreal but mithya.

Mithyā: not real; neither real nor unreal; illusory. According to Advaita, it has a special status as it is not the real (sat), for it is sublatable; and it is not the unreal (asat), because it is perceived (unlike a barren woman's son or a square circle).

~from A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy

Reorientation 101

1. Ten Thousand Tongues

The mind appears in Brahman. The mind is made of Brahman. The mind is activated by Brahman. The mind is witnessed by Brahman. There is nothing for Turiyam to witness.

The mind creates in twos. The mind deconstructing itself is nondual. Nothing said is completely true. Every word speaks in ten thousand tongues.

They say wisdom points. But everyone is looking from their own direction. Finding fault in any sign is relatively easy. Reorienting oneself is hard.

2. Quoth the Great Blue Heron

If you come for the Emperor of Ice Cream, you better not miss.

Don't end up a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.

Quote me no Great Wave nor Mount Fuji. Every picture tells satori.

3. Camelotta Dreaming

First I am. Next I know. Last I love I know I am. Satcitananda!

Brahman is wielding its sword of Maya. And duality.

Consciousness is not experiencing the mind as separate from itself.

Consciousness is experiencing itself as the mind.

4. Satcitananda!

The principle of existence is the first principle.

Consciousness is substratum to all superimposed misunderstandings.

Ananda is loving that.

B. Omega

Maya is invisible like quantum physics.

Brahman is that metaparadigm transcending spacetime.

Consciousness-existence can't be deconstructed honestly.

C. Conclusion

The mind experiencing itself is called dreaming. 

Deep sleep isn't no mind. Deep sleep is mindless.

Consciousness experiencing the mind is called the waking dream.

A. Overture

The mind is witnessed by Brahman. There's nothing for Turiyam to witness.

Quote me no Great Wave nor Mount Fuji. Every picture tells satori.

First I am. Next I know. Last I love I know I am. Satcitananda!

Consciousness is substratum to all superimposed misunderstandings.

Made in Consciouness

You are that. I am Brahman. You minus maya are brahman. I minus avidya am atman. Ayam atma brahma. 

Dreams are relatively real from the viewpoint of a dream. Dreams appear in the mind and are made out of mind. 

The waking dream appears in consciousness and is made out of consciousness. Further, consciousness is brahman.

There's nothing to do unless you're a doer. If so, stop doing that. Nondoing is fact and not opinion.

The waking state is the dream state awakening to self-awareness with three steps forward and two steps back.

Deep sleep is the silence between memory and intent.

Treasure Islands

1. Treasuring Oneself

Some say the metaphysical ground of nondual consciousness is ordinary awareness and that's true if such nonconceptual awareness is understood to be the witness of both dream states and deep sleep as well.

The universe is Brahman with attributes arising from the power of Maya called Isvara, that universal consciousness, god of gods. An individual consciousness such as a person is not a god but an error in understanding. 

You already possess the six treasures required but just don't know it. Look for their appearance in your dreamtime and hold their being like its yours. Deconstructing delusion is intuitive for everyone. You are that. I am Brahman.

2. Made in Consciousness

You are that. I am Brahman. You minus maya are brahman. I minus avidya am atman. Ayam atma brahma. 

Dreams are relatively real from the viewpoint of a dream. Dreams appear in the mind and are made out of mind. 

The waking state is the dream state awakening to self-awareness with three steps forward and two steps back.

The waking state appears in consciousness and is made of consciousness. Further, consciousness is brahman.

Selected Upadesa Sahasri Verses (transcreation in progress)

In the post-war years, western and western-inspired scholarship, notably that of Paul Hacker and Sengaku Mayeda, has tended to show that the only surviving independent work that can with safety be ascribed to Śaṃkara is the Upadeśa Sāhasrī or Thousand Teachings in both its prose and verse parts—though it would be incautious to suppose that there was finality in this judgement. ~A.J. Alston

1. upodghātaḥ (introduction)

25. Therefore, for the destruction of ignorance, the cessation of saṃsara, and the establishment of Brahma-vidya, this Upanishad is begun.

2. pratisedhah (negation)

2. The notion of "I" arises from the non-Self belonging to the domain of mere words. When this notion has been negated as the true Self, it can never again attain the status of valid knowledge.

3. A subsequent understanding does not arise without canceling out the prior notion. The one seer is self-evident. Because it is the substrate of all, it cannot be negated.

3. īśvarātmā (self brahman)

1. If Isvara were separate from the Self, then one would have to understand 'I am not That.' But if Isvara is the Self, then the realization 'I am That' is the true knowledge which removes duality.

4. tattvajñāna-svabhāvaḥ (nature of true knowledge)

5. As to the conviction I'm the body, true knowledge refutes the false knowledge that the body is the Self. Arising in that true Self alone, such a person is liberated even without desiring so. Therefore all of this is proven and the practical application has been explained by us.

5. buddhy-aparādhaḥ (error in understanding)

2. Situated in the intellect, Atman appears to move and meditate. Similarly, to a person sitting in a moving boat, the trees on the bank appear to be moving. Such is the illusion of samsara.

 5. This ego is illumined by pure consciousness and borrows its existence from that. When this is abandoned, there is nothing other than that. That itself is realization.

6. viśeṣāpohaḥ (negation of attributes)

3. All of these attributes are like fine ornaments. Arising out of nescience, they become non-existent when the true Self is known.

4. The knower is always the Self. By casting aside the known, it is purely realized. Even the ego is knowable and thus like a severed limb to that.

7. buddhy-ārūḍham (knowledge through the intellect)

1. Everything objectified by the intellect at all times is seen by me. Therefore, I am the Supreme Brahman, knower of all and all-pervading.

2. Since as the Self I am the witness of the movements of this mind, so similarly am I of other minds. I can neither be rejected nor accepted. Therefore I am indeed the highest.

5. Objects are seen in the intellect while it's active, but not when it's not. Since the seer is always there, duality isn't.

6. Through lack of discernment, the intellect perceived the supreme to be non-existent. But due to right discernment there is nothing other than the supreme and the intellect itself is not found.

8. mati-vilāpanam (dissolving the mind)

1. Consciousness in itself is my true nature. According to that realization, your connection with senses and emotions is caused by your delusion. Nothing you can do will affect me in any way, for all my worldly distinctions have been destroyed.

2. Having completely abandoned this state of living as a product of Maya in the world, attain supreme peace from unreal desires and actions. For I am always the Supreme Brahman, completely liberated, unborn, one devoid of duality.

9.

3. Just as before the wind and all the other elements, there was all-pervading space, I am that one pure consciousness alone all-pervading and nondual.

A Nondual Job

Dropping the metaparadigm of scientific materialism is job one. But it's not a matter of doing or not doing but effortless nondoing.

The body-mind doesn't manufacture consciousness like a dark satanic mill. Consciousness is the nondual substrate upon which a body-mind is superimposed.

People are like silver balls in a pinball machine not knowing it. The power of brahman is maya. Avidya is its kryptonite.

Self-awareness is another name for love. Consciousness-existence is another term for metaphysical ground. Satcitananda is another way of saying I love I know I am.

Brahman is naturally self-aware. Maya is dreaming. Avidya is a bad dream. Worship one. Love one another. Realize nonduality. 

If consciousness is existence and ananda is the bliss of self-awareness, satcitananda. Come forth sweet resurrected angels of reflexive self-awareness.

first draft

Dropping the metaparadigm of scientific materialism is job one.

It's not a matter of doing or not doing but effortless nondoing.

The body-mind doesn't manufacture consciousness like a dark satanic mill. 

Consciousness is the nondual substrate upon which a body-mind is superimposed.

Come forth resurrected angels of this reflexive dream of self-awareness and await.

People like silver balls in a pinball machine not knowing it.

Karma is karma for one lost in its game.

The power of brahman is maya. Avidya is its kryptonite.

Self-awareness looks like that from thirty thousand feet.

Self-awareness is another name for love.

Consciousness-existence is another term for metaphysical ground.

Satcitananda is another way of saying I love I know I am.

Brahman is naturally self-aware. Maya is what self-awareness feels like to an untrained I.

Maya is dreaming. Avidya is a bad dream. Worship one. Love one another. Realize nonduality. 

If consciousness is existence and ananda is the bliss of self-awareness, satcitananda.

4 Mahavakyas in 3/5 of a 2nd

Philosophy is full of words. There are four mahavakyas used in countless variations.

If consciousness is the metaphysical gound called brahman,

and the innermost self called atman is brahman,

then I am brahman,

tattvamasi.

footnotes

1. I minus avidya equals that minus maya means tattvamasi.

2. Objects are seen in the mind when the mind is turned on for both dream states. 

3. When the mind is turned off in deep sleep, the seer still sees—no objects are there.

4. The absence of duality reveals the presence of nonduality, aum.

5. All gods, including the ones of scientific materialism, are accepted by Isvara on planet Maya. Worship responsibly.

6. Consciousness is the ground. Existence is the principle. Self-awareness is holistic infinite bliss.

7. Death shall be no more. Death, thou shalt die. Rave on John Donne. Rave on Shankara.

8. And the nominees are:

Deconstructing Spacetime in Grand Canyon.

Seeing through Causation in John Ford's Monument Valley.

The Legend of Basho Stopping at Matsushima and the Haiku He Never Wrote.

And the winner is Fleas, Lice, and a Horse Pissing by My Pillow.