Oneness in Manyness
Tag Archives: Awareness
The Bliss Confusion
Atman (Self) is often defined as Sat-Chit-Aanand. Sat implies forever/permanent/existence, Chit implies self revealing consciousness and Aanand generally implies bliss. Definition of something means all conditions should be satisfied at all time.
Emotions come and go so how can an emotion like bliss always be permanent? For example, bliss cannot be experienced while watching horror movie or while watching a bad dream. Also, Atman is everywhere whether we speak of living beings or non-living objects. How can bliss be associated with a non-living entity like stone? How can bliss be associated with living entity not capable of experiencing bliss for example certain microbes/insects/animals etc. Also, Atman is the knower of everything including bliss, how can it itself be bliss?
If Aanand is considered as Anant which means limitless/infinite, this confusion would not be there and Atman indeed is limitless/whole/infinite. The word bliss when used in the context of Atman should be seen in this light. It is true that the more mind abides in Self, the happier it is. So, the words bliss & aanand can be used in their general sense also but they cannot be the direct representative of permanence when used this way.
Perhaps a Sanskrit scholar can look into the origin of the words Anant & Aanand.
Why does not awareness know itself during deep sleep?
Q: While waking I know myself as awareness. But, if I am awareness which is permanent (Sat), why don’t I know myself during deep sleep?
A: It is your intellect that knows that you are not just body-mind but are awareness. It is your intellect that has got enlightened. You are pure awareness who is just powering the act of knowing by the intellect just like electricity powers a gadget. Since intellect is not operational during deep sleep, the sense of knowing is not there.
During the waking state, there is apparent subject and object split. So, it appears that your intellect (subject) is perceiving something (object). During deep sleep there is effectively no subject/object split and hence there is no perception*. This subject/object split during waking state is due to the apparent world. There is no world in deep sleep state and hence there is no subject/object split.
Awareness is silent witness. Whether something is known by the intellect or not awareness is witnessing that. In waking/dreaming, awareness is witness to the perception and in the deep sleep, awareness is a witness to the lack of perception.
*Strictly speaking, even during deep sleep there is residual/dormant subject/object split. A familiar experience of this can be of disturbance in sleep due to loud noise/mosquito bite.
Who Am I?
Q (Kumar) : Who am I really?
A : The one who is the knower of this reading without any false identification is the real you – awareness. This whole act is taking place in the dream of awareness where awareness itself is playing various roles, one of them being that of Kumar. So, Kumar is in the dream of awareness. The universe/multiverse in which Kumar is present is the dream of awareness. In this dream, consciousness, which is one in reality, identifies with many roles one of which is that of Kumar. In the dream, Kumar’s eyes are looking at the alphabets and his mind is decoding the information from the language and is projecting the decoded information on the screen of consciousness. This is how it is consciousness that is reading this. All these things are taking place in the dream of awareness but since awareness itself is present in the dream, it is making sense out of it.
PS: Consciousness and awareness words are used as synonyms.
Awareness – An Analogy
Let us say that in a home with 24×7 electricity, there are many bulbs. When current flows through a particular operational bulb by switching it on it glows. When the switch is off it obviously does not glow. Also, when the bulb is not operational even if there is electricity it does not glow. Also, what happens with one bulb is not related to another bulb as it is driven by another switch. Here is the analogy:
| Bulb | = | A Person |
| Bulb with switch off | = | Person in unconscious state |
| Bulb with switch on | = | Person not in unconscious state |
| Bulb not operational | = | Death of the body of the person |
| Light from the bulb | = | Sensation of sound, light, emotions etc. experienced by a person |
| Current | = | Awareness |
From the above analogy it can be seen that just as the light from the bulb is possible due to current, or in other words current is expressing itself in the form of light, the experience (via senses, thoughts etc.) of the person is possible due to awareness or awareness is expressing itself in the form of experience. If the bulb is not giving light it does not mean that the electricity does not exist, it only means that either the bulb is switched off or is not operational. Likewise, if a person has no experience (via senses, thoughts etc.), it does not mean that awareness does not exist, it means that either the person is unconscious or the body is dead.
I = Awareness: Simple Proof
One morning Anand had quarrel with his wife. Later while driving car to the office, he had a brush up with another car which led into a futile argument. He reached his office late and asked his secretary about some work. When she said that she could not complete it in time, he (I = ego) asked her to resign within a week.
After reaching home while playing with his young kid he thought that he (I = ego) was wrong in taking the decision hurriedly of firing the secretary and that he (I = intellect) would make up for it tomorrow first thing in the morning.
Next day after reaching his office he called his secretary and first asked about the same work to begin the conversation feeling quite sure that it would have been over by yesterday noon. She said that it would take more time to complete it. Anand thought that this work should have been over by yesterday comfortably and till now it is not done. He decided not to do what he thought earlier about making up with her. In the afternoon a colleague of Anand told him about some personal problem his secretary was facing. After hearing this he (I = compassion) took back the decision of firing the secretary.
Anand is just one, there cannot be many permanent Anands as I = ego or I = intellect or I = compassion etc. In this episode the only thing that remained permanent/constant was Anand as I = awareness. It was ego that took place in awareness, it was intelligence that took place in awareness and it was compassion that took place in awareness. Everything happened on the screen of awareness. The screen did not change but what was played on the screen was changed. This means that Anand is awareness and so are we.