Satcitananda, to review, is being-existence-presence, consciousness-awareness-intelligence, holistic infinity bliss.
Satcitananda is not an attribute of Brahman but its essential nature. Each word may substitute as the name of Brahman, but there is no name for Brahman, that big beyond the bang.
Brahman is not non-existent, not unaware, and undivided, unlimited, and untroubled. In other words, Brahman is Satcitananda.
a.
Universal consciousness (god) appears in pure consciousness. Individual consciousness (person) appears in universal consciousness. Departmentalized consciousness (nightdream) appears in individual consciousness.
Consciousness is nothing if not fractal.
So does dna (karmic consciousness) ultimately appear in departmentalized consciousness and if so, does god ultimately appear in karma and so on until realization?
b.
In other words,
karma creates the gods, god creates people, a person creates nightmares, a nightmare creates karmas, karma creates the gods, the cycle of maya.
And the blood of gods is dna!
1.
There’s the egoic self (I am something-else) constructed with thoughts, and there’s the reflected self (I am) created with the devatmasakti of saguna brahman, and there’s the true self (I, paramatman) which is unborn.
The cause of the personal self is ignorance (avidya) of its universal being. The cause of the universal self is that intelligent illusion called self-awareness (maya) appearing in the absolute ground of the true self (parabrahman).
Deconstructing ego involves seeing through thought (see pratibodha viditam for the particulars) to this universal being where absolution suddenly happens. Om, attention minus thought equals pure consciousness.
Atman, all-pervasive like butter in milk, and the source of self-reflection and self-realization, is Brahman, the highest truth. That is the supreme upanisad.
~Svetasvatara 1.16 (my tx)
1.
Individual consciousness is the cause of hell on earth. No individual consciousness can rid the earth of this mortal hell until it rids the earth of all individual consciousnesses. There’s always a catch.
This is not to say an individual consciousness cannot try to build a better hell. But one person’s better hell is another person’s worse one. It’s good to remember the universe is karma neutral in that way.
Meanwhile, devotion to universal consciousness from the illusory individual consciousness is not a bad practice. Although universal consciousness, Isvara and all the gods, are illusory too, universal consciousness is the direct reflection of nirguna brahman.
Look, the ‘I am’ is already your god. Just recognize its universal quality and give it an ever-loving name. That’s all. Like Devatmasakti or Deva for short, the one who shines.
2.
The source of the sun and all celestial beings like my beloved Deva is
Parabrahman (not a black hole)
as the source of electricity is pure potentiality. Plug in, turn on, shine.
Be the unknown.
1.
Between parabrahman and the mind is devatmasakti.
It’s the technical name for ‘I am.’
Love god, know god, be god.
2.
a. If you’re looking for me, my triangulation at the moment is Nisargadatta of the Navnath way, Nikhilananda, Gambhirananda, and Tyagisananda of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda way, and Chinmayananda, Dayananda, and Tejomayananda of the Tapovan way.
b. Parabrahman is the source and devatmasakti is the power of three.
c. For the power of seven, see the reflexive universe created by the sound of a bell. Om.
3.
There are ten thousand ways of seeing lightning in the sky.
Thirteen ways are like a blackbird.
Devatmasakti!
Another name for maya is devatmasakti: deva for the god of bhakti, atman for the self of jnana, and sakti for the chakras of kriya.
The mind dreams in concepts. Brahman dreams in universal consciousness. Isvara dreams in individual consciousnesses called the mind.
Between the mind and the absolute is universal consciousness and its fundamental devatmasakti. Respect the gods of tattvamasi.
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231202a
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First, disassociate ego from intellect.
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It’s ok to associate love and intellect. Let love be the force of the buddhi.
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For true knowing happens in the intellect. Some call this knowing, intuition. Some call it affectionate awareness.
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231202b.
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Love is the state of universal consciousness. Samsara is the state of individual consciousness.
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Knowing only happens in the state of universal consciousness. This is a fact and not some romance novel.
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The subtle I-Am is that universal immaculate conception like the Christ story.
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231202c
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boston university winter 70-71 grateful dead incarnated then with pigpen
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me and tony watching from the rafters after our small mob busted in through the back door
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and we watched them warm up for a long hour but soon the workingman's dead were playing for infinity
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231202d a nonduality comics haiku
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grand canyon south rim sunrise striking butte by butte in the land of ten thousand sunrises
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mummy cave ruins across canyon del muerto whilst sitting by the diamond timelessness of chinle creek blues
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hiraizumi, matsushima, yamadera.
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Buddhi is the inner buddha.
Welcome to act seven, scene seven, in this play of self-awareness, called Lila.
Intuition is affectionate awareness as jnana is bhakta.
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Everybody talks about the universe as if it’s a god. What’s up with that? If it’s a god, then have the common courtesy to give it a name.
My god is Brahman wielding the power of Maya and my bible is the Principal Upanishads.
My guru is Nisargadatta Maharaj.
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because of this subtle body, existence feels like i am
but understand this feeling is a universal one. thinking this feeling is an individual one is the only mortal sin there is.
om.
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This subtle body of organic chemicals and functional compounds doesn’t reflect pure consciousness as much as let that omnipresent light into this box of mindstuff revealing it as so much Maya.
Maya is like the dream of Brahman. Like a dream, Maya isn’t real. But like a dream, Maya is certainly happening. And Maya is like a metaphysical koan. Does the universe have a maker, it asks. Maya (or mu), it answers.
If Maya is like a dream, pure consciousness is not like deep sleep, but existence itself. In other words, deep sleep appears in awareness as the sun appears in that omnipresence so bright, it burns out the mind’s eye looking at it. So it’s called a black hole by the nihilists.
The first and second verses [Svetasvatara 1.1 & 1.2] raise the following questions: Is Brahman the cause of the universe, or should time, or nature, or necessity, or some other factor, be considered as the cause? Can Brahman properly be called the cause, or is It devoid of causal relationship? Does Brahman, if It is the Creator, create the universe with outside help? If It is the cause, should It be regarded as the material cause or as the efficient cause? Or is It both efficient and material cause? Lastly, if Brahman is designated as the cause then what are Its characteristics; and if It transcends the causal relationship then, too, what is Its nature?
The answer is that the Pure Brahman is neither the cause nor something other than the cause, nor both, nor some thing other than both. Further, It is neither the efficient cause nor the material cause, nor both. Brahman is one and without a second, and devoid of any causal relationship. From the standpoint of the Absolute there is no creation; therefore Brahman cannot properly be described in terms of cause and effect. From the standpoint of the universe, however, Brahman with maya appears to be associated with creation, preservation, and destruction.
~Nikhilananda
two translations of Svetasvatara 1.3
1.3. Following the path of meditation, the students saw the power of the Lord, hidden by its own inherent qualities, the Lord who, alone presides over all the causes – from time to the individual self. (tr-Tejomayananda
1.3. The sages, absorbed in meditation through one-pointedness of mind, discovered the [creative] power, belonging to the Lord Himself and hidden in its own gunas. That non-dual Lord rules over all those causes —time, the self, and the rest. (tr-Nikhilananda)
some commentaries
The infinite Truth has an infinite potential to create. This inscrutable divine power is called māyā. Thus the infinite Truth (Brahman) associated with māyā is the cause of the world... The various factors like time, inherent nature, nature’s laws, matter and energy are manifestations of māyā, or creations of māyā... Māyā cannot exist separate from Truth as Truth is of the nature of Existence. Anything other than Existence cannot exist. Then māyā must be one with the Truth. If so it becomes the Truth itself. Hence māyā cannot be said to be either separate or one with the Truth. Then maybe it does not exist at all. Since creation exists, its cause, the creative power also must exist and this power must exist in the infinite Truth alone. Hence this power is called inscrutable (anirvacanīya).
~Tejomayananda
"Maya is like a twisted rope consisting of three strands, which are the three gunas. All that exists in the universe consists of these three gunas. Brahman, or the Great Spirit, after projecting the universe, remains hidden in it, just as a seed, after producing a tree, remains hidden in the tree. The cause produces the effect and remains concealed in the effect. First of all, Brahman is conceived as the Lord of maya; next, the same Brahman is known as the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer of the universe. The creative aspect, associated with sattva, is known as Brahma; the protective aspect, associated with rajas, is known as Vishnu; and the destructive aspect, associated with tamas, is known as Siva. These three aspects are related to the phenomenal world; they have no bearing upon the attributeless Brahman.
~Nikhilananda
The word 'devātmaśakti' is an aphoristic ex- pression which is variously interpreted by various commentators, but to us it seems to embody the following view: The word 'deva' represents the God of Religion, 'ātma' the Self of philosophy, and 'śakti' the Energy of Science. The word also means the self-conscious power which is in everyone, Deva meaning self- luminous. It thus means to emphasize the presence of the Ultimate Truth in every- body in the form of self-conscious power. Devātmaśakti also means the source of knowledge, emotions and will, the three aspects of mind, Deva standing for knowledge, Atma for the emotions, and Śakti for will. This gives the characteristics of the Ultimate Reality which is beyond the province of mind and language.
~Tyagisananda
