Nature Of The Self Session 12 - The Source Of Happiness

Listen to Ektaji talk about Ramana Maharshi's teachings on non-duality. These teachings are aimed at the experiential understanding of the true nature of the self and that consciousness is the only existing reality.

Transcript

Salaam.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Salaam.

What is the difference between the mind and the self?

There is no difference.

Please highlight.

Till now you thought,

Oh mind is separate,

Self is separate.

Now he is throwing another atom bomb on you.

There is no difference.

The mind turned inwards is the self.

Turned outwards it becomes the ego and all the world.

Mind turned inwards is the self.

Turned outwards it becomes the ego and the world.

You will start recognizing this as you go deeper into your self inquiry.

This is so clear.

The moment I started looking within,

There it is.

I am the self.

I am it.

I only forget myself.

I become the mind.

I only become the mind.

I only become this ego.

So the ego is not different from the sense of I am.

The sense of I am,

When it drops the I,

The I disappears into the background.

There is the self.

The self forgets itself and assumes to be I.

That is the birth of the sense of I am.

And that sense of I am gets consumed in the world.

That is the ego.

There are not any separate entities.

Awareness in motion is the mind.

Mind at rest is the awareness.

Cotton made into various clothes we call by various means.

Gold made into various ornaments we call by various means.

But all the clothes are cotton and all the ornaments gold.

The one is real.

The many are mere names and forms.

Remember Julie Reno?

This is a necklace.

This is a earring.

This is a ring.

But in essence they are nothing but gold.

The real is only one.

It is gold.

They are not multiple.

What is multiple?

Names and forms.

In Sanskrit,

Nama Rupa.

Nama Rupa is only different,

Different.

But the core,

The truth,

The essence is only one.

So mind,

Ego,

This sense,

That sense,

Intellect,

Memory.

Only words,

Names,

Forms for the only thing.

What is that only thing?

That field of nothingness.

The field of emptiness.

The field of awareness.

Whatever word you like to give it.

Anyway the words are also names.

Nama.

There are no multiple things.

Those are just simply names and forms.

So what is he answering here?

He is telling you mind is Nama Rupa of the self.

Clear?

That's the question right?

Mind is the Nama Rupa of the self.

But the mind does not exist apart from the self.

That is it has no independent existence.

Does a necklace exist apart from the gold?

Yeah I will give you this ring.

I give you the ring.

You give me gold separately and ring separately.

Can you do that?

What are you talking about?

There is only gold there.

That's what he is saying exactly the same thing.

There is only self there.

So you should never be the one asking questions.

Is the ego different?

Is the sense of I am different?

Is the self different?

There are no different entities.

It is all one.

It is Brahman Satya Jagat Nikya.

Jagat is Nama Rupa.

It is names and forms.

Names and forms are an illusion.

The truth is only Brahman,

Only consciousness,

Only awareness.

The self exists without the mind.

Never the mind without the self.

The gold can exist on its own.

Without the ring,

Without the necklace,

Without the earring.

Can the earring or the ring exist without the gold?

No.

It is just the name and form for the essence,

For the core.

Mind is simply a Nama Rupa for the self.

That is the answer to the question.

Brahman is said to be Satya Dhanami.

What does that mean?

Yes,

That is so.

That which is,

Is only Sat.

Get your definitions very clear.

Sat is equal to that which is.

In Hindi,

Jho Hai.

That which is.

Sat.

Sat.

That Sat,

That which is,

Is called Brahman.

In other words,

Presence is called Brahman.

Presence.

Where the eye has dropped and there is just endless or is-ness,

The field of no-thing-ness,

The pure consciousness,

The reality.

That is Brahman.

That is just Sat.

That which is.

The next line is important.

The luster of Sat is Chit.

Sun is shining.

Sun has different properties.

It gives light also and it gives heat or warmth.

Yes.

So the basic function of the sun is warmth,

Is the heat that it gives.

Because of the warmth of the sun,

There is life on our planet.

Little bit science we know.

If there was no sun,

There was no possibility of life.

And the life is because of the heat,

The warmth.

Because of the warmth,

Life can only proliferate like plants or animals or humans only between a particular range.

If the temperature of this body falls below that range,

The body will die.

You know this?

Above a particular range,

The body will burn and die.

Below that range,

The body will freeze and die.

So there is only a particular range because of which life can exist.

The main function of the sun is life.

Why am I telling you sun?

I am using this as an analogy to what is given here.

The luster of the sun is the light,

The shining light.

So the luster of Sat is Chit.

And Chit means consciousness,

Knowing.

To be conscious of the computer,

To be conscious of the pen,

To be conscious of the book,

To be conscious.

This is the luster of Sat.

So Sat is like the main function of the sun.

Life,

Giving life or the warmth,

The heat and the luster,

The shine is Chit,

Which is consciousness.

To be conscious.

And its nature is Ananda.

Ananda does not mean excitement,

Joy that I get when somebody gives me a birthday present.

No,

That is excitement.

We are not talking about that.

Sometimes you are just sitting at peace.

You have no great desires and no great aversions going on inside.

Just a quiet,

Equanimous peace.

A straight line.

That is the meaning of Ananda.

Because even a joy,

An excitement,

Creates feverishness.

It creates a tension in the body.

Have you noticed?

There is a tension,

A pressure experienced in the muscles.

We are not talking about that excited joy.

We are not talking about depression.

We are talking about that quiet,

Peaceful life.

That is Ananda.

And this you experience your entire life.

When you were a young kid and you got a new toy,

You experienced some joy as a kid.

First time you got your favourite toy,

Whatever,

Your lovely car or whatever,

Superman toy or something and you were so happy.

Remember the flavour of that joy?

Can you remember?

You grew up and you had your first boyfriend or your first girlfriend.

And they said,

Yes,

I love you too.

Remember that joy?

Now you got your first job and you got that first salary and the money,

My own money.

Remember that joy?

Remember the flavour of that joy?

Now tell me,

Are these flavours of joy or happiness different?

Was the childhood joy different,

The teenage joy different or the adult joy?

Is there a different flavour?

Like there is a flavour of vanilla ice cream,

Chocolate ice cream and mint ice cream.

Can you.

.

.

Do you notice joy is the same taste?

Do you understand what I am saying?

If joy was coming from that external object,

Then that external object is different so I should get different flavours of joy every time.

Why do I experience the same flavour only?

It's the same boring vanilla joy always.

There has never been flavours in joy whether it was your first job,

Your first kid,

Your first boyfriend,

Your first girlfriend,

You.

.

.

Whatever,

Whatever,

Whatever you got,

Remember the joy flavour.

I am talking about the taste of the joy.

Exactly identical.

Right or wrong?

Right?

That means the joy was not dependent on the external object.

Joy came from something which was continuous and permanent throughout childhood,

Teenage and adulthood till today.

Mmm.

.

.

First boyfriend,

Girlfriend is gone.

That first toy is gone.

Maybe that first job is also forgotten,

That first salary seems measly today.

But that joy that day was exactly the same flavour as the first toy or the first girlfriend or the first baby maybe when you had.

Mmm.

.

.

It cannot be possible that if the joy came from an external object and the object is different then the flavour also should have been different.

It came from one single source and that single source was permanent from childhood till teenage to adulthood till today if you are old.

When you say aha,

So I was looking at the wrong place.

Maybe the joy was here,

Not here.

Because only this background was permanent.

This background was there throughout.

Ahh.

.

.

That is the source of Ananda.

That is the meaning of Ananda.

So Ananda actually means the source of joy.

That is why it is called bliss.

It is the source from where you start experiencing happiness.

You feel that the external person triggered it or that external object triggered it.

You got your first smartphone.

You felt wow,

I got this awesome smartphone.

You feel that it came from here.

But how the flavour is exactly the same as your first Barbie doll?

Ahh.

.

.

Joy is coming from somewhere else and looking somewhere else.

I am giving the credit to the wrong place.

You have gone to the circus.

In the circus all the gymnasts come and do their beautiful gymnastics and they go and clap and then the joker comes out wearing his funny uniform and his funny face and takes a bow when you are clapping.

That is exactly what has happened.

The joy came from here.

Yes,

But all the bows were taken by your Barbie dolls and your boyfriend and your girlfriend and your salary and your first car,

Your baby,

Stuff like that.

Recognise the truth.

Start looking here.

When you start looking here,

You start understanding,

Yeah.

This is Ananda.

So in your self enquiry this will happen.

When you start looking at the feelings,

Your feeling arose and your feeling fell.

You will obviously look at not so good feelings also and you look at pleasant feelings also.

That's where you will start tapping the source of Ananda.

You will start recognising,

Oh,

I did not generate this feeling.

It arose,

It played and it went.

I didn't do anything.

I am not the feeler,

I am not the thinker.

I am just the knower.

Does this knower also deserve?

Where does the feeling also deserve?

Then you rest there.

Rest there.

This can only happen by self enquiry in silence.

So next homework.

Find the source.

Find Ananda.

So I will read that again.

That which is,

Is only Sat.

That is called Dhamma.

The lustre of Sat is Chit and its nature is Ananda.

So I am only Sat Chit Ananda.

My nature is Ananda.

These are not different from Sat.

All the three together are known as Sat Chit Ananda.

You cannot separate.

Can you separate the light of the sun from the heat of the sun?

Separate and give me.

No,

You cannot.

So you cannot separate the Sat and the Chit and the Ananda.

Only for understanding we do it.

But the point comes where you have to drop the mind and just be.

When you just be you will recognise they cannot be separated.

As the self is existence,

Sat and consciousness,

Chit.

What is the reason for describing it as different from the existent and non-existent?

The sentient and the insentient.

Although the self is real,

As it comprises everything,

It does not give room for questions involving duality about its reality or unreality.

Let's stop there.

The field of no-thingness.

In that field of no-thingness,

Is there anything?

Why is it called no-thingness?

Because there is no thought,

No feeling,

No sensations,

No perceptions,

No thing.

So when there is no thing,

Can there be duality?

Can you say real and unreal?

When I speak of real and unreal,

What am I saying?

I'm implying duality.

I'm talking about two.

It is beyond real and unreal.

Now we read that again.

Although the self is real,

As it comprises everything,

It does not give room for questions involving duality about its reality or unreality.

Therefore,

It is said to be different from the real and the unreal.

Similarly,

Even though it is consciousness,

Since there is nothing for it to know or to make itself known to,

It is said to be different from the sentient and insentient.

Sentient is that who is conscious of or who knows and insentient is an object like the light or the camera.

It does not know.

So we are again talking about duality here.

Sentience to know,

Insentience to not know.

Sentience to be conscious of,

Insentience to not be conscious of.

Again,

There is no room for questions of duality.

There is nothing there.

In no-thingness,

There is nothing to know and not know.

So the question arises then what about the witness?

Again and again remember,

Ramana Maharshi reminds you the witness is nothing else but the seer who is seeing the seen,

The object.

Seer and seen are mental constructs or mental creations.

When they drop,

Then there is the field of no-thingness.

Sat-Chit-Ananda is said to indicate that the supreme is not a sat.

A sat means different from being.

Not a chit,

Different from consciousness and not anananda,

Different from happiness.

The phone is,

The trackpad is,

The computer is,

The human is.

We speak in terms of is and is not.

You see what he is saying?

So we speak in terms of relativity.

So only for the sake of contrast to indicate that the supreme is not a sat.

It is not different from being.

Being means not human being and animal being.

Being means to be.

It is not different from presence.

Means it is presence.

It is a negative way of approaching the same thing.

It is sat.

Means it is not a sat.

That simple.

It is chit.

It is not a chit.

Means it is not different from consciousness and it is not anananda.

It is not different from happiness.

Means it is happiness.

But for absolute clarity,

Please translate ananda as a soft,

Quiet,

Equanimous peace rather than happiness.

Because in happiness you have a mental thing.

It is going to give me that excited kind of feeling,

That joy.

Not true.

You can just say,

It is the source of happiness that I experience every now and then.

That's it.

But it in itself is that quiet,

Equanimous feeling.

Devoid of lack,

Devoid of abundance.

It is devoid of the opposites.

Because we are in the phenomenal world,

We speak of the self as satchitananda.

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