Nature Of The Self Session 4 - What Is Reality?

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. So today the conversation with Ramana Maharshi starts with the question, What is reality? And Ramana Maharshi explains that this reality, The absolute reality, The field of nothingness, It is devoid of anything that is unreal. What is the meaning of unreal? That which arises and passes away is unreal. That which is permanent is real. So this field of nothingness is real. It is always there. It is not arising and passing away. It's not transient. It's not changing. The field of nothingness was there when I was a kid, When I was a teenager, When I became an adult. Even in old age it is there and then even after. The field of nothingness has a special quality. It's like the ocean in which waves arise, Perception arises. Thought arises. Some feeling arises. Sensation arises. Again, Perceptions arise. These arise and fall, Arise and fall. But reality, That in which these arise and fall, That is permanent. That is not changing. That is like the background. These are constantly arising and falling, Arising and falling. Sometimes there is a volcano of them and then they are all gone. That reality remains unchanging. Reality is that background beyond. With this understanding, We'll start reading this lesson. So the first question. What is reality? Reality must be always real. It is not with forms and names. That which underlies these is the reality. So forms and names are when there is perception of sight, When there is perception of smell, When there is thought. Either there are the physical forms or these are subtle forms. Thought, Feeling, Sensation is subtle form. Perception of sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch, These are physical forms. Do you get the difference? Physical form and subtle form? So it is not with forms and names. This background does not have any form, Any name. In it, These forms and names arise and they pass away. But the background remains unchanged. So reality must be always real. It is not with forms and names. That which underlies these, Means these forms and names, Is the reality. It underlies limitations, Being itself limitless. A thought has a limit. A feeling has a limit. Can a thought feel? Can a feeling think? No. They have their own limitations. A perception of sight can only be perception of sight. Can it hear a sound? No. So perception has its limitations. Are you getting it? Perceptions, Sensations, Thoughts and feelings all have their own individual limitations. So it underlies these limitations. Underlies means it is the background of these limitations. Being itself limitless. Beyond these, The background is limitless. It is endless. It is not bound. It underlies unrealities, Itself being real. What is unreality? I imagine something. I dream of something. It is unreal. Still, Where does dreaming arise? We did this yesterday. Waking, Dreaming, Deep sleep all arise and fall on this field of nothingness. So when you are dreaming in the night, Even in that dream, Whatever the dream is, However real the dream feels, It is actually an unreality. And that unreality is arising and falling where? On that which is the real, The field of nothingness. Reality is that which is. It is as it is. It transcends speech. It is beyond the expressions existence and non-existence. Why did he specifically say it transcends speech? Because as Advaitans, We love to discuss intellectual knowledge. We get so lost in words, We love talking about it. And most of the Advaitans have only one major pitfall. They get into discussions. They love the words because there is lots of juice in it. And that juice of Advaitic intellectual knowledge keeps them bound to that which is unreal. They do not transcend to the level which is real. So that is why speech has been called out like that separately. It is beyond speech. So even beyond words, Even if right now you're listening to it, You cannot understand it through the words. The words are simply a pointer. They're telling you move in that direction. Eventually, You have to drop the words and move into that direction. You do your self-exploration and aha, That's how you get there. If you don't take that step beyond, If you're always stuck in words, Either speaking it or listening to it, You're still stuck in speech, Then you're not progressing to the level of Advaita. Advaita is non-duality. Speech is still at the level of duality. It is beyond the expressions existence and non-existence. You cannot even say that the reality exists because the moment you say something exists, It means there's a possibility of it not existing also. So it is beyond existence and beyond non-existence, Beyond both. The reality which is the mere consciousness that remains when ignorance is destroyed along with knowledge of objects alone is the self or atma. Whenever we close our eyes and we start doing self-exploration, We observe perception of sound coming, We observe thoughts coming, We observe feelings coming up, We observe certain sensation in the body arising. Something happens and we keep observing all of these. He's saying it is mere consciousness that remains when ignorance is destroyed and all these objects, The knowledge of all these objects is also destroyed. Now that does not mean that you have to wait for a time when there will be no thoughts and no feelings. No, No. He's just saying once these are collapsed, When these are not there, What remains beyond, That is the self. So you don't have to wait for a time, Oh one day all my thoughts will be destroyed, Then I will be in the self. No, No. Your ego is only buying time. That day is never going to arrive. It's not possible. Till the time you are in this physical body, You will have thoughts, Feelings and sensations. It's a full package. So don't expect that, Oh I will keep doing this self-exploration and one day there will be no thoughts, No feelings, No sensations. I will become a stone. That's not happening. You're deluding yourself. All he is saying when you minus all of these, What remains beyond, That is the self. I hope everybody is very, Very clear. No delusions of one day I will get to a state where all these will be destroyed and I will be like Buddha, The statue. No. You have a physical body. While being in this physical body, Whatever the length of this lifetime is, You will be able to reach a point where the degree of these thoughts reduce, Feelings reduce, Sensations reduce, But they will never be totally eliminated. The whole volcano drama reduces only because now you understand it's only a dream world. Why am I reacting? Why am I doing drama with the spouse, With the parent, With the child? It's no point. You just stop indulging in the reactionary part of life, But regular things will happen. Your stomach will feel hungry. You will have to feed the body. You will have to work to keep the family running. You will have to do all the basic things in life. The only thing that will go away is that unnecessary restlessness in the mind, The feverishness. That drops away because now you've recognized that, Oh, I am this reality on which thought arises, On which your feeling arises, But I do not need to react to that thought or feeling. A distancing, A natural distancing will develop. Why? Because now I recognize I'm not this drama. I am this silence behind. So the correct identification happens and the wrong identification drops off. That's all that happens. So we'll read that sentence again now. The reality which is the mere consciousness that remains when ignorance is destroyed along with knowledge of objects alone is the self. So my ignorance is what? My current ignorance is the feeling, The real strong belief that I am this body or I am the mind. I have a very strong belief and this wrong belief is equal to ignorance. This gets destroyed. Very, Very clear. This gets destroyed. Knowledge of objects gets destroyed. Means what? I don't look at the husband or wife or pet or the neighbour as physical objects anymore. I see them as simply arising in my field of consciousness. They arise, They play for a while just like a thought and then they recede. Another perception of sight arises, Plays for a while and it recedes. I have learned the skill to not identify myself with the body and mind. I have learned the skill of not reacting to the perceptions of sight, Sound, Taste and smell. Very clear. Now I recognise that I am near consciousness and I remain as that. That is called atma, The self. In the Brahma Swarupa, Real form of Brahman which is abundant self-awareness, There is not the least ignorance. This is very important. Some Advaitans read a lot, Listen to all this a lot. They can even speak and teach it. So they start feeling, Yes I got there. But there is still that little attachment to I, The speaker, I the Advaitan, I the one who has mastered this knowledge. I, Are you getting that? That little ignorance is still there, That attachment is still there. The mind is the one that is speaking, Is hearing, Is saying I am a spiritual person. That little attachment is still there. That also drops off actually, He says. Even that least ignorance is not remaining. There is no identification with the body, There is no identification with the mind. That is Brahma Swarupa. Big words but please don't make it as if, Oh I have to practice for a hundred lifetimes, It is far away for me and then only I am going to get there. No, No, Not at all. Your mind, Your ego is trying to buy time. This moment you can be there. This moment you drop this wrong identification with the body and mind, You are Brahma Swarupa. The reality which shines fully, Without misery and without a body, Not only when the world is known but also when the world is not known, Is your real form. Nijaswarupa. Different, Different words for exactly the same thing. Atma is equal to Brahma Swarupa. Brahma Swarupa is equal to Nijaswarupa. It is equal to the reality. What is he saying? In the waking state, There are presence of objects, Perception of sight is there, Perception of sound, Perception of taste, Perception of smell. The entire perception field which makes me deluded that there is a world, A separate world existing out there, Separate from me. That is there. That is the presence of objects. In the deep sleep, These objects are absent. I do not experience these objects. I might assume that the world is still out there and I am sleeping somewhere in that world in a bed. But in my direct experience, Advaita Vedanta is about my direct experience. In my direct experience, There is the absence of the perception of sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch. Very clear? So presence of objects and absence of objects. Doesn't matter what it is. The reality is there beyond. The sense of I am is there beyond that. That exists. That is the background that does not go anywhere. So we read that again. The reality which shines fully without misery. In deep sleep, Is there misery? Is there anybody who can say I experienced misery in my deep sleep? Is it even possible? In deep sleep, There is a complete absence of objects. So not only physical objects, Even mental objects like feelings or emotions are absent. Misery is a feeling or emotion, A mental object. So that is absent. So the reality which shines fully without misery and without a body. What does without a body mean? When I am in deep sleep, Do I perceive the body? Do I feel I have a body? No. There is no direct experience of even the mass of sensations, Even if there is a disease and there is a lot of pain in the body in deep sleep. Maybe two hours you had deep sleep. In that two hour deep sleep state, The pain is gone. Because there is nobody in that experience. So the reality which shines fully without misery and without a body, Not only when the world is known, But also when the world is not known, Is your real form. So what is he saying? That which you taste in deep sleep, Where there is no body, Where there is no misery, There is no major joy or excitement also. I will add to that. There is no great excitement also. In deep sleep, You are the closest to your true self. That is your true self. And those who become very aware, Even in the waking state, They have started recognizing the field of no-thingness. So even when there are objects, But I have learned to distance myself from the objects, I don't react. I stay as that field of no-thingness. I notice, Oh, Very rarely does a thought come up and bother me. Or very rarely a perception comes up and bothers me. Most of the times there is a gap between thoughts or between perceptions. Oh, That is very akin to the state of deep sleep. There I am, Very close to my own nature. So this is a wrong idea that deep sleep happens only in the night, Maybe between 1am and 3am. No, No. Anytime during the day when you are in a complete state of void, You are in deep sleep. This might not be very clear if you are not very aware as a person yet, But as you explore and as you just stay as the sense of I am more and more and more, You practice more and more, It will grow on you. And you will notice, Yes, This field of no-thingness is there and in that a perception of sight, Of a beautiful lotus came up. In that a perception of sound of some bird chirping came up. And then for some time there is no perception. There is a gap. And in that gap there is just the sense of being. Very clear? So it happens when things are known also and when things are not known also. Waking state, Things are known. In deep sleep state, Things are not known. That is Nijaswarupa, That is my real form. The radiance of consciousness bliss in the form of one awareness shining equally within and without is the supreme and blissful primal reality. Consciousness and bliss we did yesterday. Sat was being. In Hindi, Honne ka aisaas. When there is nothing to know, I am in the sense of being. I am just being. I just am. When there is a perception of sight, There is something to know, Then the chid, The consciousness, The witness consciousness comes up. If the witness consciousness forgets itself, It gets consumed in this beautiful lotus flower. Instead of witnessing the beauty, It starts analyzing the beauty. It says, Oh you know last time I saw a lotus, It was like this. This is a prettier lotus. No, No, Maybe last time was a prettier lotus. You are completely consumed. So you are not any more chid now. You have become the ego. You have lost yourself. Again you take a step back and recognize, Oh I am the witness. That's when you are in chid again. And then the perception falls off also. It collapses on its own. When the perception of that lotus is gone and you are back into the field of nothingness, You are back to the sense of being. Sat. That's how you go between being and consciousness. Now when you are in sat, You recognize there is no misery here. There is no great pleasure here but there is no pain also. These might happen just in a few glimpses during the waking state. You might as you progress further, If you practice being in the sense of I am, These few seconds will become longer and longer and longer. And then you will be able to notice even if there is some pain in the body, In the physical sensations arising and passing away, You do not get consumed. You still remain as that field of nothingness. So this is something that will come with practice of being in silence, The silence of nothingness. This will not come by listening, Reading, Talking or constantly being consumed in the world. It comes only by going within. Yes, So it is consciousness and bliss. The same being, The same state of being is chid and ananda. Bliss is equal to ananda in Sanskrit. When you recognize this quality, This nature of your own self, Then it radiates into everything in life. Then while talking, You are silent. It sounds contradictory. How can I be silent? While speaking, While listening. It is something that can only be experienced. Here there is an absolute shutdown. It's a curfew here. There is no major burst of emotions, Sensations. All these don't come up and bother you. It's an absolute curfew. That's what I call being in the silent self. And then only when it's required of me to speak with this person or to convey this message to that person, That speech is happening in this silence. How much is required comes out and then it recedes, Recedes back into the nothingness. That's when you start recognizing, Oh, Perception of sound of my own voice. We're not even talking about others here. Of my own voice is nothing else but the same substance as nothingness. It's the same substance as my awareness. So now it is radiating out into my open-eyed daily routine. While walking, While talking, While doing certain activities in the house, While at work, Whatever transactions are going on in the world, My consciousness and bliss is radiating out. Now there is no difference. Now you have come to the real understanding of Ajatvada. Ajatvada, Advaita level 3. Everything is consciousness. The world is merely an illusion. Brahman Satyam Jagat Mithya. Means what? Everything is made out of the same awareness, The same nothingness and it is radiating now into my family life, Into my work life, Into everything. Now we read the same sentence again. The radiance of consciousness bliss in the form of one awareness shining equally within and without. Within means inside and outside now. Is the supreme and blissful primal reality. Being. Very clear? Satchitananda I experience within. That's where I start. I explore, Explore my sense of being, My sense of I am. I recognise there is no I and I rest. When I rest, I discover Satchitananda. Satchitananda is being, Consciousness, Bliss. When I discover that being, Consciousness, Bliss, Now I start recognising, Oh it seeps outside. It is within and without. Now it starts radiating everywhere around. Then you start noticing it everywhere around. Then there is no two left. There is no world and I left anymore. There is no I and you separate. It is all one. That oneness is called reality. Primal reality. Very clear? Steps of exploration clear? Number one, I explore the sense of I am. When I explore the sense of I am, I recognise Satchitananda. That is step number two. When I come to Satchitananda, I just rest there. I rest there. I practice just resting there. And slowly, Automatically, I don't have to do anything. I start recognising that it radiates out into this world of perception of sight, Sound, Taste and smell. When it comes to that, At level three, It is the primal reality. Means there is nothing else but consciousness. Its form is silence and it is declared by jnanis to be the final and unobstructable state of true knowledge. This you recognise already. It is absolute silence. Jnanis. Jnani means the one who is knowledgeable, Who has the wisdom, Who is wise. So the jnani declares it to be the final and unobstructable state of true jnana or knowledge. It's the final stage. Recognising this reality, This consciousness everywhere. It's not just within but without. It's radiating into my family life, My work life, My social life. There is no place where it is not there. That is jnana. Know that jnana alone is non-attachment. Jnana alone is purity. Jnana is the attainment of God. Jnana, Which is devoid of forgetfulness of self alone, Is immortality. Jnana alone is everything. This is very important. Lot of people feel that, Oh once I attain self-realisation, I will not die. And they are still thinking, I the body will not die. This is a big obstacle, Big ignorance. You are still thinking, I the body will not die. So you are still identifying with the body. Immortality is recognising the body will die. The mind will perish. The memory of this lifetime will be gone. Yes? But I, This field of no-thingness, This sense of being, How can I die? We can say there is no birth there. There is no death there. Death can happen only if there is a beginning. Can you point out when that field of nothingness began for you? Did you experience your birth? Only your mother and father tell you that you were born on this day. Do you have proof? What if it is all a dream? Do you notice when you suddenly become lucid awake in a dream, It is never the beginning of the dream when you are lucid awake. Somewhere in the middle of the dream you are lucid awake. What if this is also just a dream? A beginningless and an endless one. Contemplate on these questions. Explore this. Recognise I do not know things. I have assumed certain things. The tendency of my mind is to fill in the gaps with stories where I cannot prove it. And prove it means in my own direct experience. So I have created a story about my birth and similarly I create a story that I am going to die. And now I hold on to that story. I believe it. And because I believe it, I am fearful of death. And now I want to protect this body from dying. Do you see that? All our fears in life are centred around just one fear. When this becomes very clear that I am that field of nothingness, I am not this body, Then the fear collapses. Then you really start living life. Then you are really joyous. That is true joy. That is the meaning of immortality. So forgetfulness of the self is not there. That is immortality. Right now I keep forgetting the self and I think I am the body. That is why I feel this body is going to die means I am going to die. The moment I recognise I am not the self and I remain there, A permanent continuous knowing of my own self where there is no forgetfulness. That is immortality. Gyan is purity. What is the meaning of purity? There are no impure thoughts there. There are no impure feelings. Did you notice any hatred come up there in the field of nothingness? Was there any jealousy? Was there any misery? Was there any pain or sorrow? No, None of the impurities were there. It is a state of complete purity. That is jnana. And it is non-attachment. And this you have a direct experience of. Many times in life, Even in the most dramatic situations at home, There is a part of you that is not concerned. It is a very small little part of you that is not touched by all the drama. You experience this in your direct experience. You have a taste of this and you know it. Now we are holding on to that little corner that we found and now we are going to just stay there. And then you will notice that is the place where there is complete non-attachment. And it is the attainment of God. God is not external. That is God. This will be explained even more in detail in the chapter on God. Veda Mon Amo Shri. Veda Mon Amo Shri.

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