Vidyaranya’s Cave is like Plato’s Cave’s cave. The five sheaths are true Advaita myth and not scientific at all. They’re for seeing through Maya, not dissecting her.
And five can do as three just as well. For mind is the tool of existence, intellect is the hand of consciousness, and happiness is the heart of bliss. In this way, they mirror satcitananda as one.
The Cave of Atman is what Vidyaranya calls that Brahman which the five sheaths of personality are covering.
The five are body, vital force, mind, intellect, and happiness. They don’t form a myth of creation as much as one of deconstruction.
Reasonable self-inquiry says I’m not the body nor it’s vital force. Neither am I the mind–intellect–happiness complex, this tri-lateral reflection of satcitananda.
the space of space-time appears in existence.
the time of space-time appears in space.
rather than going into space,
my fellow billionaires,
try going into existence—
this is the knife edge
direct path
paying attention!
the abyss of belief lies
dangerously on both sides.
How do you break the glass before using if you need what's underneath the glass to break the glass in the first place? In this way the koan exists to break through maya.
Look, consciousness doesn't appear in the brain, so neuroscience needs to research the opposite, starting with your basic nondualities.
Individual dreams are born. Universal dreams are reborn. Birth and rebirth are superimpositions on pure existence. Know that.
In the emptiness of the universe, a binary mind interprets disappearance as death and appearance as life, although all it knows from day zero is the existence principle.
Paradox exists because the world doesn’t know what’s real.
Similarly, consciousness is not produced by a material universe in evolutionary time. The material universe appears in consciousness.
There’s no antidote for maya. Understand the snake is an illusion on the rope. That is all.
Only the mind could conceive non-existence. It’s absurdity itself. Thank god for the kindness of revelators.
The space in space-time is not the ground of all existence. The existence principle in absolute brahman is, that sat of satcitananda.
But scientific materialism loves its space, believing its universal ground of existence was born of nothing 14 billion years ago.
Forgive them for we’re hypnotized by maya. The superimposition has become the substratum. The snake rules the world.
Space is the superimposition, speaks the revelation. The existence principle is reality. It’s the only logical conclusion.
*on pancadasi 2:60-77
The i witnesses the reflection of the i. This reflection is called the i-am.
The i-am witnesses the reflection of the i-am. This fractal reflection is called the i-am-this. And so on.
For the dreamer knows the dream but the dream doesn’t know the dreamer. This fact is called maya.
Some call this space of dreaming, nescience. Some call this time of dreaming, reincarnation.
Space appears in maya. Mind appears in space. Time appears in mind. Dreams appear in time.
1.
Technically speaking, the world doesn’t appear in the space of consciousness, but the world appears in the space of maya, and maya appears in consciousness. Similarly, the personal appears within the reflection of consciousness, and this i-am appears in consciousness.
2.
The person is to the world
As the reflection (i-am) of consciousness is to space (akasa)
As avidya is to maya
As atman is to brahman
As ayam atma brahma.
3.
And this is N’s yoga. A person resting in the reflection of consciousness is the i-am-this resting in the i-am without the conceptual this. For the i comes for the i-am. The i-am-this can never reach the i. And the mantra is the namarupa resting in the nama. Or the i-am-this resting in the i-am.
The power of maya is known only by its effect, the world. Further the power of maya is actually the power of brahman. And although maya is the power of brahman, make no mistake, maya isn't brahman.
Whereas maya is not absolute existence, neither is maya non-existent. Relatively existent, maya is as it is, undefinable and indescribable.
Before creation, there was maya, the darkness of maya covering the light of brahman. Brahman adorned in the cloak of maya is isvara, god, the saguna brahman, or the absolute with attributes.
And the first transformation of maya is space, in which the world appears, for brahman is spaceless, space being just a superimposition on the substratum of brahman.
in maya,
every object has five qualities
about it—
name, form,
existence, consciousness, bliss.
namarupa is the great illusion.
satcitananda is the great one.
brahman.
listen in brahman,
there’s not only silence,
but no eyes, no tongue,
no nerves, no nose
as well as no ears
to hear.
Reality is existence. Reality is consciousness. Reality is bliss. Satcitananda is the nature of reality and not its components. Reality is the whole.
(In this way, Vidyaranya talks about the three types of differences: within a singular object, between objects of the same kind, and between objects of unlike kinds. Bheda: svagata, svajatiya, vijatiya.)
There are no parts within reality. Parts consist of name and form. Namarupa is the essence of the manifest creation. Existence is the essence of the unmanifest reality and not one of its parts.
Reality is alone. There can’t be another reality. Reality is uncontested. Existence can’t be opposed by non-existence; even emptiness exists as a superimposition upon existence. Look, it’s ekam eva advitiyam, one only without a second.
Without indirect knowledge, one must depend on the kindness of spontaneous combustion. It happens, I guess. I once knew a woman who won the lottery big time.
Not believing blindly, listening faithfully means accepting the guru’s transmitted knowledge as truth. Later alone one reasons it out—not to disprove the truth but to convince the mind of its logical foundation. And in turn, silence this disturbing noise of doubt. Or not.
Relatively speaking, listening and reasoning take effort. But meditation is effortless. No longer about the guru’s words, it’s now about that attractive flame of the satguru.
In the Pancadasi, a 14th century handbook of Advaita Vedanta (or as was just auto-corrected to advice of the doctor), in the chapter entitled Tattva Viveka, the first of 15 chapters, Vidyaranya (the author, most likely) writes of the 4 stages of knowledge from indirect to direct.
The first is called the listening. The second is called the reflecting or reasoning. Sravanam is listening to the guru faithfully. Manaman is confirming this knowledge initially taken in faith with logical reasoning and careful analysis until the mind buys it and owns it. Or not.
Only when this indirect knowledge clicks does the third stage, meditation, begin. Nididhysanam is the one-pointed contemplation on the brahmakara vritti, the thought, I am Brahman—until the meditator and the meditating drop into the nirvikalpa samadhi of Parabrahman, the fourth.
First, a lawful myth must be logical. There are two metaparadigms of physics (general relativity and quantum mechanics) which will never be united, no matter how much our scientific priests pray to Some Theory of Everything for us.
Actually, general relativity and quantum mechanics are the original duality. General relativity and quantum mechanics appear in consciousness and not vice versa, period.
Further, consciousness is the everything in which the original duality of general relativity and quantum mechanics appears. And even better, consciousness is not a theory.
Keep an open head: that out there is you in here.
If form is transformation and transformation is form,
then beneath this superimposition is the formlessness of brahman.
Religions have their gods. Science has its theories.
Avidya may be beginningless but it’s not everlasting thank god.
No guru, no method, no teacher?
No creator, no creation, no creature.
It may not appear to be the truth but that out there is you in here.
Remove the emptiness of all phenomena from the picture—
it’s obvious the absolute is the material cause of all.
Remove all belief and theories circulating in and about creation—
it’s obvious the absolute is the efficient cause as well.
Remove all beginningless ignorance concerning one’s actual self—
it’s obvious the absolute is one’s formal cause at last.
Thus that without the twin illusion of creation and creator
is you without the nescience of thinking you’re their creature.
footnote
Keep an open head: that out there is you in here.
If form is transformation and transformation is form,
then beneath this superimposition is the formlessness of brahman.
Religions have their gods. Science has its theories.
Avidya may be beginningless but it’s not everlasting thank god.
No guru, no method, no teacher?
No creator, no creation, no creature.
There are three bodies to every person: material, subtle, and causal.
The material body is the outer body completely inert and dependent on consciousness for sentience.
The subtle body is the inner inert one composed of two basic notes: energy and mind.
The mind is also binary in its essential nature and comprised of thinker and doer.
The thinker is the processor stuck between a zero and the one; the intelligence in this operation is the doer in duality.
The causal body is original ignorance and reflector of consciousness called the lover in this story.
For every lover, there’s 1, an object of desire like a missing half,
2, the procurement of this object making things whole again,
and 3. the temporary experience of this fulfillment for all worlds must end and start again.
footnotes
1. There are five sheaths to every tristate.
2. The material body is also called the gross body or annamaya, the sheath of food.
3. This energy is the vital breath, the life force, pranamaya.
4/5. Unsurprisingly, the mind is actually of two minds: manomaya is to hamlet as vijnanamaya is to the decider. Both were tragic.
6. The causal body is the locus of avidya, before karma but after maya. For anandamaya is the lover.
7. Make the object of my desire, god, truth, reality, or my beloved!
8. May my procurement of this object be the end of me in thou, tattvamasi.
a. energy plus mind equals wave-particle equals the subtle body.
b. the body is made sentient by the subtle astral body which is made sentient by the reflection of consciousness in anandamaya.
c. if i am the doer in duality, who am i?
d. if anandamaya is i am.
e. anandamaya - maya = brahman.
*
to fish in the sea
water is the vital breath—
to human beings
the space of consciousness is
*
if this karmic subtle body equals
that astral body of energy and mind
this wave-particle body-mind equals
lucid dreaming
*
ignorance may be beginningless, birthless, and unborn,
but thank god, it's not eternal
*
as pure consciousness is i
the reflection of consciousness is i am
*
the body-mind cannot begin to sheath infinite consciousness but almost everybody thinks it does
*
1.
The universe controls illusion. Ignorance controls people.
Universal consciousness directs maya with the laws of nature and whatnot.
Ignorance misdirects personal consciousness until the knowledge of the satguru turns its head around.
2.
As universal consciousness (Isvara) guides Maya (creatrix of intelligence, prakriti of sattva),
Avidya (creatrix of motion and matter, prakriti of rajas and tamas) dupes
this individual consciousness called Jiva just waiting for the Satguru.
footnotes
*
young’s myth of the self-reflexive universe fits into vidyarana’s advaitic one quite nicely
*
maya is why there will never be a unified theory of physics
you can’t unify physics without the metaphysics of illusion
the immutable nature of brahman will not let you
*
waiting for satguru is avidya’s inside joke
the one waiting for the satguru is the satguru
*
“I, Lalla, tried beyond trying in my search,
Discovering only my efforts had redoubled.
No matter what I did the door remained bolted.
By resolving only to stay there did I see
The door was my own doing.”
*
avidya dupes
One could say the known universe is made from just five qualities:
name, form, existence, consciousness, beatitude.
Namarupa is the big bang
appearing within the silent witnessing of Satcitananda.
Sat (existence, being) is the antidote for nihilism.
Cit (consciousness, awareness) is the antidote for materialism.
Ananda (beatitude, bliss) is the antidote for big belief
be it scientific theory or religious creed.
Beneath the relative world of name and form is the substratum of existence, consciousness, beatitude.
Name and form create the illusion of a relative world, the snake to be deconstructed from the noumenal rope.
Still, if the superimposition isn’t there doesn’t mean the substratum isn’t. Namarupa may be the dream
but satcitananda is the bedrock—lending dimension to mountains, depth to the sea, and sentience to superimpositions.
