Is the mind processing light or is light witnessing a process? What is self-awareness?
Does the principle of existence do or not do, be or not to be? What is nondoing?
The smell of roses in the morning reminds me of bliss. What is unconditional love?
The world is not out there. The world is in here. I am not in the universe. The universe is in me. I am not the mind processing the cosmos. I am awareness witnessing the dream.
Attention, That’s the absolute truth. But one acting as an individual should act as there's a God: I am, I know, I love. Saguna Satcitananda: I love that I know I am.
Of course in reality, there’s just the principle of existence, the ground of consciousness, the essence of bliss. In the name of nondoing, self-awareness, and unconditional love, Satcitananda.
Ashtavakra speaks: One has no contact with anything. What can the pure one wish to renounce? Having dissolved the body-mind, enter into absolution.
The universe arises from you like a bubble from the sea. Having known the nondual Self in this way, enter into absolution.
Although visible, the universe is insubstantial. Like the snake in the rope, it’s an appearance and not a manifestation of one’s wholeness. In this way, enter into absolution.
To one who is perfectly whole, pain and pleasure are the same. Hope and despair are the same. Life and death are the same. Being this way, enter into absolution.
~my unbound transcreation of Ashtavakra Gita 5.1-4 using the translations of Chinmayananda, Nityaswarupananda, Richards, Byrom, et al.
1. Perennial Math
Mathematically speaking,
awareness equals pure consciousness,
and consciousness equals reflected consciousness which equals consciousness plus mind.
2. Stars of the Silver Screen
If mind plus consciousness equals what's called ordinary attention,
then such attention minus mind equals awareness, pure consciousness, nirguna brahman —
this silver screen of Self upon which reflected consciousness is now dreaming.
3. Brahmavidya 101
In classic neti neti math, nirguna brahman equals brahman without the gunas of samsara (busyness and inertia) or even maya (nondoing).
And saguna brahman is the god of samsara and maya.
In this way, brahman remains indefinable — one only knows the knower by being the knower.
footnotes
~nondual haiku 101~
awareness equals pure consciousness.
attention minus mind equals awareness.
know the knower by being the knower.
~Local Heroes~
Self-awareness is the ground of consciousness flowering,
Nondoing is the principle of existence blowing in the wind,
Unconditional Love is the essence of bliss like Aurora Borealis.
~We Three Brahmans~
Nirguna brahman is the absolute minus conditioning.
Saguna brahman is the absolute via conditioning.
Parabrahman is far gone beyond conditioning.
~states~
The waking state is body-on as well as mind-on.
The dreaming state is body-off and mind-on.
The deep sleep state is body-off and mind-off.
When avidya is turned off, it's called nirvikalpa samadhi.
Mind-on, body-on, avidya-off is jivanmukti.
~On Dreaming~
Yes, Universal Consciousness is
an appearance in Absolute Consciousness
but Individual Consciousness isn’t just a dream —
it’s a nightmare.
~Transcreating Hamlet~
To sleep, perchance to dream, fractally.
To deep sleep is to die, temporarily.
The waking state is Newtonian dreaming.
The Fourth is the Principle of Being.
~Vedantic Haiku~
God isn’t dead. I am God. Tattvamasi Style.
The concept of God is dead. Don’t take it personally.
I minus Division equals That minus Conception
1.
Nondoing, self-awareness, and unconditional love are the expressions of
the principle of existence, the ground of consciousness, and the essence of bliss.
2.
Saguna Brahman (or Saguna Satcitananda to be consistent here) is the expression of
Nirguna Brahman, from a universal point of view.
From an absolute point of view, there’s nothing but Nirguna Brahman.
3.
O God deliver me from an individual point of view!
This hellish world of samsara sparkles with its billions of individual points of view.
Our universal point of view is just your basic unscientific trinity: I am, I know, I love.
4.
That nondoing in I Am is the Will of God.
That self-awareness in I Know is the Great Awakening.
That unconditional love in I Love is Ananda.
footnotes
1.
basically this paraverse is mathematical; this is the first golden ratio to be presented here:
nondoing is to the principle of existence
as self-awareness is to the ground of consciousness
as unconditional love is to the essence of bliss.
2.
another ratio: saguna brahman is to nirguna brahman as saguna satcitanda is to the real satcitananda as god is to godhead as the universal is to the absolute.
3.
and the villain in this paraverse is introduced and instantly deconstructed.
0.
The nondoing of I am is the will of God.
The self-awareness of I know is awakening.
The unconditional love of I love is nothing but bliss.
Janaka rejoins: Oh! The wise one with self-knowledge plays the game of life and isn’t burdened with the world of samsara like an ignorant beast.
The god of gods and all the gods unhappily desire that state in which the yogin now abides without any sense of gratification.
The heart of one who realizes That is not disturbed by good or bad, just as space isn’t smudged by smoke although appearing to be.
The wise one knows this entire universe is the Self. So who else is there to preclude oneself from doing as one is inclined to do?
In all beings of the four categories of existence from Brahma down to a blade of grass, only the one with knowledge has the power of indifference to desires and dislikes.
Rarely does one know the nondual Self as God of the world. Knowing that, one has no fear anywhere.
~my unbound transcreation of Ashtavakra Gita 4.1-6 using the translations of Chinmayananda, Nityaswarupananda, Richards, Byrom, et al.
In the USA,
Politics is religion.
Religion is the music
Playing at each party.
Evolution is measured
In time;
Enlightenment is
Immeasurable.
Evo and devo
Like rajas and tamas,
Mahamaya is sattva,
Nondoing,
The will of God.
In I am, the I is not a pronoun but a mathematical symbol.
In I am, the verb to be is the voice of God.
In the God I Am relax until my absolution.
footnotes to I=X-I
1. I am, I know, I love - is the song of Saguna Satcitananda.
2. I am someone and I know some things is not a silly little love song. It's the root of all Shakespearean tragedy.
3. When I is not a pronoun, I equals the principle of existence and the ground of consciousness.
~ August 17 by Latitude 42.8 ~
There’s an uncertain slant of light in August.
It’s neither summer-like nor truly feels like fall.
Do not willfully misunderstand me;
there's no urge for going.
April is the longest month, thank God.
dedicated to the one
Rage on, John Donne.
Dream on, Wu Wei.
Deep sleep, Avidya.
God is universal consciousness.
Individual consciousness is a product of ignorance.
In other words, consciousness is God.
***
God is consciousness.
Let’s give it a name.
I know. I am. I love.
1.
Doing and not doing are two sides of the same ignorance.
Nondoing is the wisdom of Maya. Nondoing is the will of God. Listen. Surrender.
Neither Citizen Kane nor Bartleby, Wu Wei is the razor’s edge of God’s great sword, Maya.
2.
What exactly is the difference between nondoing and not doing?
In not doing, the body is turned off but the mind is still in control of the switch.
In nondoing, the body may be on or off, but God is wielding the sword.
3.
In the land of duality, there are 10,000 objects and one subject. While visiting, it is wise to pay one's respect to God.
In the world, it's not a question of theism or atheism. All people come with gods.
Deconstructing God before deconstructing the personal is divine madness.
4.
I Am is the voice of God.
God is the principle of existence conceptualized.
Black holes are indescribable. So am I.
Samsara is like Newtonian physics. Maya is like Quantum physics. Parabrahman is like the Anti-physics.
Look, there is no grand unification theory. There’s only nondual reality. In dreaming, there’s the waking dream and the sleeping dream; deep sleep is not a dream.
Similarly, there is Newtonian ignorance and quantum Maya; nonduality does not harmonize the one with two. Nonduality is beyond mind and god.
If I-Know is an offshoot from the ground of consciousness, then self-awareness is its flower.
If I-Love is the fragrance of the essence of bliss, then unconditional love is its essential oil.
If I-Am is the principle of existence in action, then nondoing is its core.
If part of you believes you're an individual being, then part of you believes there is a universal one as well.
This universal one is like a god. Giving it a name and backstory is just what people do.
It's voice is echoing inside you — I am.
footnote
This nameless god that speaks I Am is the manifestation of the Principle of Existence.
That principle of existence is the ground of consciousness is the essence of bliss.
Some call that nondual trinity, Satcitananda.
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.
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, Tatvamasi, I Am That, Aham Brahmasmi, I am Brahman.
1. The Self
The one indestructible Self: having known that as your true nature, how does this knower of the Self stabilized in wisdom remain attached to accumulating wealth?
From ignorance of the Self arises an attachment to the illusory world of the senses. As from ignorance of the mother of pearl arises greed for its illusory silver.
But this universe arises like waves in the sea that I am. Thus realized, why are you running around like some hopeless individual?
After truly hearing the Self is pure consciousness and gloriously beautiful, why reap the impurity of a deep attachment to sensual things?
2. How Strange
The Self in all beings and all beings in the Self: in the wise one knowing that, how strange self-interest should continue.
Dwelling in absolute nonduality and fixed upon the great intent of liberation: how strange that such a one is subject still to sexual desire, languishing in erotic play.
Sensuality is the enemy of knowledge and weakens the spirit: how strange that someone who understands this would welcome sensuous pleasures while nearing the end of one’s life.
Dispassion towards all objects of the world and discernment between the permanent and impermanent: how strange that such a one striving for liberation from ignorance fear liberation from the body.
3. Wise One
The wise one whether glorified or persecuted is ever seeing the Self alone and thus may neither be pleased nor pained.
Seeing the actions of one’s own body like those of another, how could a wise one be bothered by praise or blame?
Seeing this universe as sheer illusion and being without any interest in it, how can the steady-minded one feel fear even as death approaches?
Whose mind is indifferent and without expectation, the great sage is at ease in self-knowledge. To whom can that one be compared?
Knowing this visible world by its very nature isn’t anything substantial, how could the steady-minded one prefer one thing or deny another?
In the final view, unbound from attachments, beyond divisions, and free from desires, all ordinary experience brings neither pleasure nor pain.
~my free transcreation of Ashtavakra Gita 3.1-14 using the translations of Chinmayananda and Nityaswarupananda et al.
1. pure consciousness
Knowledge, knower and the knowable — this trinity does not exist in reality. I am that stainless Self in which, through ignorance, this triad is appearing. Janaka declares.
O duality is the root of misery. There is no remedy except the realization that this visible world is not real and I am the One Pure Consciousness.
Yes, I am pure Consciousness. Through ignorance I have projected these limitations, like the body-mind, upon my Self. Contemplating constantly this way without the activity of thought, I abide in the Absolute.
2. on bondage
Janaka says, I have neither bondage nor liberation. For having lost its reinforcement, the illusion has ended. O! The universe although appearing in myself does not in fact exist.
Along with this body, the universe isn’t anything. Thus I know for certain that pure Consciousness alone is the Self. So upon what can imagination make its stand now?
Body and mind, heaven and hell, bondage and freedom, misery and fear: all of this is mere imagination. What purpose has it with myself whose nature is pure Consciousness?
O! Even in the multitudes of human beings, no duality is seen, their having now become like a forest. To whom should I feel an attachment?
I am not the body nor is the body mine. Nor am I a finite living being. For I am Consciousness. And the only bondage is the desire for life.
3. the limitless sea
Janaka utters O! Diverging waves of worlds spontaneously generate in me, the limitless sea, as the mental storm arises.
In me, the limitless sea, the storm of the mind has ceased to be. And woe to the merchant individual whose ship of world is wrecked and drowned.
In me, the limitless and shore-free sea, how marvelous as waves of individuals arise and collide, jostle and play, and then re-enter into me according to their nature.
~my free transcreation of Ashtavakra Gita 2, 15-25 using the translations of Chinmayananda and Nityaswarupananda et al.
1. through the guidance of wisdom
Janaka exclaims, O, spotless, peaceful, Pure Consciousness, I am. Beyond the natural world! For so long I’ve been bewildered by an illusion.
I alone illumine this body as I alone reveal this universe. Therefore this universe is mine, or truly, nothing is mine.
Thus having disowned both body and universe, O! I now see my Supreme Self through the guidance of that Wisdom.
2. some similes
As waves, whitecaps, and bubble plumes are no different than ocean water, so the universe emanating from the Self is no different than the Self.
As cloth, when inspected, is found to be nothing but thread, so this universe, when investigated, is seen to be nothing but the Self. Janaka continues.
As sugar generated from sugarcane is wholly pervaded by its juice, so the universe manufactured in myself is permeated by myself within and without.
3. imagine
From ignorance of the Self, the world appears. With knowledge of the Self, the world is not. Similarly, a snake appears through non-apprehension of the rope. With the apprehension of the rope, there is no snake.
Light is my own nature and I am no different than light. When the universe manifests, I alone am shining. Janaka goes on
O imagine! The universe through ignorance mistakenly appears in me. Like the silver in a mother of pearl. Like the snake in a rope. Like the water in sunlight.
From myself the universe has emanated and into myself it will dissolve. Like a pot into clay. Like a wave into water. Like a bracelet into gold.
4. hymn to the self
Janaka sings. How breathtaking am I! I bow down to my Self who knows no decay and is ever existent, even in the dissolution of the universe from Brahma the Creator down to a blade of grass.
How breathtaking am I! I bow down to my Self, who, although appearing with a body, is the One who neither goes anywhere nor comes from anywhere, but pervades the universe, ever existent.
How breathtaking am I! I bow down to my Self. There is none so competent as I, who holds this universe forever without ever bodily touching it.
How breathtaking am I! I bow down to my Self who has nothing, or has it all which may be thought or spoken.
~my free transcreation of Ashtavakra Gita 2, 1-14 using the translations of Chinmayananda and Nityaswarupananda
You've been caught in the rope of the body-mind, dear child. Sever it with your sword of knowledge, “I am Pure Intelligence.” And be happy.
You are unattached, actionless, self-luminous, and without stain. Your practice of meditation is your bondage. Says Ashtavakra.
You pervade this universe and this universe appears in you. Really, your nature is Pure Consciousness. Don't be small-minded.
~Ashtavakra Says, Part Two. (my free transcreation of Ashtavakra Gita 14-16 in one paraverse using the translations of Chinmayananda and Nityaswarupananda)
