Nature Of The Self Session 2 - Synonyms For The Self Part 1

Sām Sām Sām Sām Sām Sām Sām Sām Sām Sām Now as you got the glimpse,

Now you will understand the chapter.

This chapter cannot be understood without getting the first glimpse.

This glimpse is the most important thing.

Loops of what?

Oh that recognition of that no-thing-ness that I am.

In which a thought arises and disturbs me,

In which a feeling arises and consumes my attention.

But everything falls away eventually.

There is this no-thing-ness,

Emptiness.

There's nothing there.

I cannot even look back at it.

I cannot perceive it.

Just like the eyes can see the world but can the eyes see themselves?

Can your own eyes see themselves?

No.

Just like that,

I the perceiver or that field of no-thing-ness.

I can see the thoughts,

I can see the feelings arise.

I can feel that emotional turmoil going on.

I can see it go on inside.

I can perceive sight,

Sound,

Smell,

Taste,

Touch.

But one thing I cannot perceive.

Oh that is who I am.

The seer cannot see itself.

The perceiver cannot perceive itself.

I can only sense myself.

So all of us understood that sense,

The sense of being now?

That sense of being,

That sense of I am.

That is called the self.

So now we'll start with the chapter.

The nature of the self.

But before the chapter if you look on the previous page there is one paragraph about the self.

Can you go to that page on which the single paragraph is on the self?

The self.

That in which all these worlds seem to exist steadily.

So that no-thing-ness,

That space of no-thing-ness in which worlds,

Perception of sight,

Perception of sound,

Perception of taste,

Perception of smell,

Where thoughts arose,

Feelings arose.

This is my world.

I have a personal world.

In that space where all these worlds seem to exist steadily.

That of which all these worlds are a possession.

That space,

That field of no-thing-ness seems to possess the thoughts,

Seems to possess the feelings and say,

Oh my feelings,

Seems to possess all of it.

It's only seems,

Huh?

Seems means that which is only apparent but it is not in reality.

That from which all these worlds rise.

So you notice that thoughts arose and that nothing-ness played and fell back into the no-thing-ness.

Feelings arose,

Played and went back into it.

In fact you could hear Ekta's voice.

Even that perception of sound arose and fell back into the no-thing-ness.

So they,

That is where all these worlds rise.

That for which all these exist.

All these thoughts,

Feelings,

Sensations,

Perceptions,

They exist for the no-thing-ness.

This we will understand as we go deeper into the chapter.

The no-thing-ness or the consciousness itself has projected the world.

It is enjoying a movie.

So it exists for the no-thing-ness or consciousness.

That by which all these worlds come into existence.

All these came into existence from that field of no-thing-ness and that which is indeed all these.

If you go deeper into this exploration,

You can recognize that that thought that arose is made up of the same thing as the no-thing-ness.

It is not made up of a separate material.

You know like wood and stone are two separate materials.

It's not that the no-thing-ness is a separate material and thought is a separate material.

If you go deeper and deeper into it and see,

Oh thought arises and passes away in it.

And thought is made of the same substance as that no-thing-ness or emptiness or consciousness or awareness,

Whatever word you like.

That alone is the existing reality.

Let us cherish that self which is the reality in the heart.

So we start with this and he'll explain all these terms,

The heart,

The self in the chapter coming up.

The nature of the self.

The essence of Sri Ramana's teachings is conveyed in his frequent assertions that there is a single imminent reality.

Directly experienced by everyone.

Which is simultaneously the source,

The substance and the real nature of everything that exists.

That reality is that no-thing-ness that you got a glimpse of.

Everything is made up of this no-thing-ness.

Everything comes out from this.

That means that is the source.

The no-thing-ness is the source out of which the thoughts,

The feelings,

The sensations,

The perception of sight,

Sound,

Taste and smell arise.

From that source everything comes up.

Everything is made up of it.

Which means the substance and it is also the real nature.

The real nature of everything is no-thing-ness or awareness or consciousness.

Whatever,

Whatever word appeal to you or the sense of being,

Kona.

Sense of existence.

He gave it a number of different names.

Each one signifying a different aspect of the same indivisible reality.

The following classification includes all of his more common synonyms and explains the implications of the various terms used.

One.

The self.

That is the term that he used the most frequently.

He defined it by saying that the real self or real I is contrary to perceptible experience.

Not an experience of individuality but a non-personal all-inclusive awareness.

So number one.

Real self is what?

It is contrary to perceptible experience.

Means what?

What is perceptible experience?

That which I can perceive.

I could perceive the sensations in this body.

Yeah.

So that is not I.

I can perceive thoughts in the mind.

So that is not I.

I can experience feelings coming up.

Oh,

I,

That is not I.

Anything that I can perceive means I am separate from it.

Is this clear?

I can perceive this iPad.

I can perceive it.

I can see it.

I can touch it.

I can perceive the iPad means I am separate from the iPad.

So this is perceptible experience.

Similarly,

I can perceive this world of sight,

Sound,

Taste and smell.

So that is not I.

So I am not perceptions.

I can perceive sensations going on in this body.

Yes.

So that means I am separate from this mass of sensations.

What is the physical body?

Nothing but mass of sensations.

That's what is the physical body.

Oh,

I am not the body because I can perceive it.

It's a perceptible experience.

Similarly,

My thoughts come up,

Feelings come up,

Emotions do their dance and drama.

I can experience the whole staged drama of the mind.

Perceptible experience.

Aha.

I am not this.

I am separate from this.

Are we clear?

Now when I go to the space beyond the body and the mind,

Could I perceive anything there?

Could anybody perceive anything there?

No,

There was nothing there.

Nothingness.

I could not perceive.

That is what I am.

That which I cannot perceive but I can just be.

There's just a sense of being.

I cannot perceive anything there beyond that.

So is that very clear?

So contrary to perceptible experience.

That is what is real self.

It is not an experience of individuality but a non-personal all-inclusive awareness.

Maybe we looked for the I.

I told you find,

See can you locate the I?

Could you locate it?

Could you find an entity called I in that nothingness?

No.

When you go looking for the I,

It disappears.

There is no I there.

So it is non-personal.

So now this field of nothingness,

Can I say,

Oh this is a private field of nothingness and Anna has her own private field of nothingness and Samatha has her own field of nothingness?

Now also close your eyes and see is it private?

Is it just mine?

Can I demarcate a border on the right,

Left,

Top,

Bottom?

Can I find a border?

Can I limit it?

Oh it's limitless.

I cannot find a border.

I cannot really demarcate it and say it is mine.

So it is not only non-personal,

It is infinite.

Infinite means what?

How many infinities can there be?

We want infinity and we share that one infinity.

So it is an all-inclusive,

All-inclusive,

All seven billion of us are included in it.

All plants,

All animals,

The entire world,

Everything is included in that infinity.

It's an all-inclusive awareness.

Awareness simply is used for the sense of being.

When you were there,

You had the sense of being.

I exist,

I am.

I cannot perceive anything there but I have a sense of being,

A sense of existing.

In Hindi,

Kunika aisas,

The sense of I am.

That is awareness.

So it is an all-inclusive awareness.

It is not to be confused with the individual self.

Here he means the soul,

Okay,

The privately owned soul,

My soul versus your soul.

It is not to be confused with that individual self or individual soul,

Which he said was essentially non-existent.

Such a thing does not exist,

He says.

Being a fabrication of the mind which obscures the true experience of the real self.

Private soul,

An individual soul,

An individual self,

That which I hold on to,

That obscures my vision of this real self,

This real nothingness.

Because I'm so caught up in this idea of mind and I am separate from the other.

He says this is a fabrication of the mind,

Means it's a mind-made story.

In Hindi,

Manganar kahani,

The story created by the mind.

He maintained that the real self is always present.

Isn't it present now also,

The sense of I am?

Anybody has a sense of I am not right now?

Does anybody have a sense of I do not exist right now?

Is it even possible to have such a sense?

No.

Do you get it?

So it is ever present.

It is impossible to have that experience of I was not present.

But I do not exist.

Then who is saying I do not exist?

Story created by the mind.

It is ever present.

And always experienced.

All the time you experience it.

But he emphasized that one is only consciously aware of it as it is really,

Is when the self-limiting tendencies of the mind have ceased.

In that self-exploration,

I told you now refrain from thinking about the thoughts,

Refrain from the feelings.

You let go everything and then for a glimpse you got that no-thingness.

So you drop the self-limiting tendencies of the mind.

Even if it was for a few seconds,

You went there.

You got the glimpse and again the self-limiting tendencies of the mind means thoughts,

Feelings,

Sensations,

Everything that keeps me busy in this drama that came back.

And then I lost the glimpse.

But that sense of I am is still there with the thoughts,

With the feelings,

With all the drama going on inside.

Notice that the sense of I am is there.

Recognize it.

It's only when I get consumed in the drama of thoughts,

Feelings and sensations,

Which is the limiting tendency of the mind that I miss seeing this consciously.

Very clear?

Permanent and continuous self-awareness is known as self-realization.

Please highlight or underline that.

That's the most important sentence.

A lot of Advaitans walk this path.

They say,

Yay,

I got a glimpse today.

I am enlightened.

I am there.

Yes,

Anyway Advaita Vedanta says you were always enlightened.

You didn't have to achieve or attain anything.

But the final goal is what?

Permanent and continuous.

Don't forget this goal.

A lot of Advaitans love to talk about all this knowledge and they can speak amazingly.

They're fantastic orators.

But in real life,

If you want to really examine yourself,

Real true test is what?

Am I permanently and continuously recognizing that nothingness in which this thought is arising,

In which this feeling is arising,

In which the family member came in,

Which was nothing but perception of sight and sound and did some drama and went away.

Did I continuously through the drama of that family member have this recognition that I am that nothingness that is untouched by this drama?

Yes,

That day you can pat yourself on the back that that is where I have reached self-realization.

And it's not just drama worthy other people.

You yourself create so much drama in your own mind.

With all that feelings and the turbulences,

The volcanoes of emotions inside,

Can I recognize I am that nothingness in which this has arisen and I remain untouched?

So permanent and continuous self-awareness.

Self-awareness means recognizing I am that nothingness,

That feel of silence.

We move on to number two,

Sat-Chit-Ananda.

This we already know this word Sat-Chit-Ananda.

This is a Sanskrit term which translates as being,

Consciousness,

Bliss.

Sri Ramana taught that the self is pure being,

A subjective awareness of I am,

Which is completely devoid of the feeling I am this or I am that.

Now do you know why I use the word nothingness,

A field of nothingness?

Because you like to usually label yourself,

I am the mother,

I am the daughter,

I am the husband,

I am the father,

I am this,

I am that.

Even labels of your mind,

I am an angry person,

I am a very confident person,

I am an Advaita,

New label.

I am a spiritualist,

I am greater than those mere mortals who are ignorant in this world.

Many labels you like this and that a lot and you hold on to that.

That is why I call it field of nothingness,

No labels.

So the sense of I am devoid of I am this and I am that.

There are no subjects or objects in the self.

There is only an awareness of being.

We did this in the meditation again and again.

I am the subject,

The thought was the object,

The feeling was the object,

The perception was the object.

But the moment I came to I,

I could not perceive anything there.

The perceiver cannot be seen.

I cannot perceive myself,

The perceiver cannot be perceived.

They recognize,

Oh,

There is nothing there and then the I rests,

The I collapses.

Even if a glimpse you got of the collapse of the I where you could not find anything,

That field of nothingness,

You were right there where there is no subject and no object.

Remember,

I the witness that also has to collapse there to get this experience of no subject and no object.

Even if I say I am witnessing the thought,

That means I the witness and the subject and the thought is the object.

Very clear?

This is the next step where the object also collapses and the witness which is the subject also collapses and there is just the sense of being and I cannot find a personal I there anymore.

So that is where there is no subject and no object.

There is only awareness of being.

Hoonika aisaas translated into Hindi.

In Marathi,

Ashne.

Maharaj uses this word a lot because he speaks in Marathi,

Ashne,

To be,

Just the sense of being.

Because this awareness is conscious,

It is also known as consciousness.

That nothingness was not dead,

It was alive,

It was conscious.

And what is the meaning of conscious?

Conscious means I have the ability to be conscious of something.

Then I am the consciousness.

Clear?

I the consciousness am conscious of an arising thought and setting thought.

I the consciousness am conscious of a feeling that arises and sets.

I the consciousness am conscious of a perception that arises and forms.

That is why it is called consciousness.

So only at the witness level can you call it consciousness.

Because the moment there is nothing to know,

Nothing to witness,

The knowingness or the witness collapses and there is just the being.

So the sense of being which is sat has the quality of consciousness,

Of knowing something.

When there is something to know,

When there is nothing to know,

The witness consciousness quality of it collapses and there is just the sense of being which is sat.

Very clear?

What is sat and what is chid?

Sat is the sense of being.

Chid is the sense of knowing.

The witness knows the object.

The knowingness knows the object.

When the chid or the knowingness function is not required anymore,

It has collapsed,

There is just the function of being.

Sat.

The direct experience of this consciousness is according to Sri Ramana,

A state of unbroken happiness.

And so the term Ananda or bliss is also used to describe it.

We checked this in our Atmavichara,

In our self-exploration.

Was there any depression or sadness there?

Was there any excitement over there?

No,

It was a very quiet,

Straight line of equanimity,

Peace.

There was nothing there.

That quiet,

Straight line of equanimity is bliss,

Is peace,

Is devoid of excitement,

It's devoid of even depression.

And that is the true happiness.

Where the graph does not go up,

The graph does not go down.

It is a central,

Straight,

Quiet line.

A straight line of peace.

These three aspects,

Being,

Consciousness and bliss are experienced as a unitary whole and not as separate attributes of the self.

They are inseparable in the same way that wetness,

Transparency and liquidity are inseparable properties of water.

They are not separate-separate,

But they are all three,

The nature or the functions or its qualities.

Like the sun,

The sun in the sky,

The sun gives you warmth.

So warmth is its quality,

It gives you light,

Light is its quality.

Can you separate the warmth and can you separate the light?

No.

That is its nature,

Like that.

The nature of the self,

This feel of nothingness is satchitananda.

The sense of being,

The sense of I am is sant.

The sense of being conscious and alive.

It's not a dead emptiness or dead nothingness.

It's alive,

It's conscious when there is an object to be conscious of,

It is conscious.

So it is termed as consciousness,

Chit.

And it is devoid of pain and pleasure.

It is that soft silence,

Straight line of equanimity.

That is ananda,

That is bliss.

How many of you were looking for some excited happiness to be there continuously 24-7?

It is not that kind of excited happiness always on seventh heaven.

No.

It's a very soft silent peace and equanimous state.

Clear?

Can I move on to the next?

These are different names for the same thing,

For the same self,

The same field of nothingness.

So we did two names.

We did self and we did satchitananda.

Now we go to No.

3,

God.

Sri Ramana maintained that the universe is sustained by the power of the self.

Since theists normally attribute this power to God,

He often used the word God as a synonym for the self.

He also used the words Brahman,

The supreme being of Hinduism and Shiva,

A Hindu name for God in the same way.

These are not external gods.

Okay.

Sri Ramana is very clear that this entire external world also exists,

Manifests because of that self,

That field of nothingness.

Itself has projected this body,

Mind and the world.

And this will open up as we go further.

Those who've already done the guru session with me last year,

We have completed the projection part already.

How everything is my own projection.

Sri Ramana's God is not a personal God.

He is the formless being which sustains the universe.

He's not the creator of the universe.

The universe is merely a manifestation of its inherent power.

He is inseparable from it,

But he's not affected by its appearance or its disappearance.

The field of nothingness that you experience,

That itself is God.

That field of nothingness,

That self,

That consciousness,

That absolute reality forgets that it is God.

It plays a game with itself.

Because he became lonely,

God wanted to play with not God.

So,

He projects himself only in the form of the mind,

That is not God.

Now,

Not God wants the body.

So,

It projects itself as the physical body.

And this body projects itself as the perception of sight,

Sound,

Smell,

Taste and touch,

Which is labeled as the world.

Everything is simply a projection.

This is not theoretical.

This is very experiential.

Do you have the proof right now that you are not in a dream?

This could be a dream,

Right?

The dream has exactly the same quality.

You would be on Zoom with Ekta over there,

Explaining the same things to you.

You do not have proof that this is not a dream.

The only difference is that you see happens in the night when I'm lying down in bed.

But there also,

You forget yourself.

You forget the person lying in bed.

You become the dream character and you start flying in the air with your friends.

What is that?

That is just a dream.

It seems so real.

If you are fearful while flying in the air,

You actually experience that fear.

You experience it in your stomach.

You experience it in your chest region.

So,

Even that is so real.

Exactly like that.

This experience seems very real.

This is the waking dream.

That's the only difference.

Jagrath Svakna,

The waking dream.

In this also,

Everything is a projection.

And mind you,

Just like the dream at night,

I can only experience that which I see through these two eyes.

I can only experience the perception that I have through these five senses of this body-mind.

It's exactly like the dream.

Who is the god of that dream in the night where you were flying in space?

Who is the god?

You.

You created that world.

You created that dream world in which you and all your friends started flying in space.

You and your friends are happily flying in space.

You created that big dream world.

You are the god of that dream world.

You are the creator of that dream world.

The dream character,

The person flying in the air,

Can that person,

The dream character,

Ever know the god lying in bed who is creating the dream?

No.

You can only sense that there is something.

This is not real.

There is only a sense of I am.

But you can never directly know that god.

You can only sense that god,

The sense of I am.

That sense of being.

Yes.

Exactly like that.

This is a waking dream.

Ekta is your creation.

You are creating this dream character called Ekta and she comes into your dream and she is telling you this knowledge.

It is all your creation.

You are god.

There is no other god other than you.

You,

That self,

That field of nothingness,

That sense of I am.

And it's not a personal god.

Just like we saw that field of nothingness is infinite.

How many infinities can there be?

Just one.

Just one god.

Just one single god.

The god is here.

The god is not different from the self.

And going ahead when we learn the chapter on the guru,

He says,

God,

Self and guru all are here inside.

There is no external god.

There is no external guru.

There is no self or anything separate other than I.

And when you go looking for that I,

Even the I collapses.

There is nothingness.

Just the sense of being.

Recognise this truth.

Then you won't have to go to a temple to look for a god.

That's why Saint Kabir said,

Mokko kaha dundere bande.

Vettu tegipas.

Where are you looking for me?

God is telling you.

Where are you looking for me,

Your seeker?

I am right inside you and right where you are.

Stop seeking for god here and find him here.

Sri Ramana's god is not a personal god.

He is the formless being which sustains the universe.

Remember he is talking about this personal universe that I have created.

He is not the creator of the universe.

The universe is merely a manifestation of his inherent power.

So when you were lying in bed and you were dreaming that you and your friends are flying in space.

Can you say you created the dream?

Did you make a plan,

A strategy,

Put it down on an excel sheet?

All these people are going to be there in the dream and we are all going to fly here and one person is going to be fearful and one is going to be happy.

No.

You could not plan your dream.

You did not create it.

Yet it is your own manifestation.

Do you see the contradiction here?

I did not create it,

Yet it is my own manifestation.

God created us in his own image.

He has given us that little power to recognize this.

See,

I manifest my own dreams every night,

Yet I am not the creator.

So,

He is not the creator of the universe.

The universe is merely a manifestation of his inherent power.

He is inseparable from it but he is not affected by its appearance or disappearance.

When the dream world suddenly disappears and you wake up,

Does anything happen to you?

Nothing happens to you.

You are not affected by its disappearance.

Similarly,

If next night you dream the same thing and it appears again,

You are not affected.

Yeah.

Similarly,

I that gone,

That field of nothingness,

I am not affected.

I am not affected by the appearance and disappearance of this world.

I am not affected by the appearance and disappearance of thoughts and feelings.

They just arise and they fall,

Like a dream arises and falls away.

I remain untouched.

Even if I dream about a tiger running behind me,

Do I really get eaten up by the tiger?

No.

The tiger cannot touch me.

Wake up and see,

If only your mind creates the story that the husband said this,

The wife said this,

That the drama in the family is disturbing me,

I am getting touched by it,

All the story of the mind and ego.

Till the time you are in the dream,

You will believe that story.

The moment you wake up,

You recognize,

Oh,

I am untouched by this.

I am untouched by the appearance and disappearance of the family member's drama.

Then you are truly awakened.

Then you have woken up.

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