study notes

Who Am I?
Why Am I here?
What is the purpose of Life?

"I am Infinite, imperishable, self-luminous, self-existent. I am beginningless,

endless, decayless, birthless, and deathless. Never was I born. I am ever free,
perfect, and independent; I alone am; I pervade the entire universe; I am all-
permeating and inter-penetrating; I am Supreme Peace and Freedom Absolute"

The root cause of suffering is that human beings are always searching for
happiness outside themselves

This leads us to the question that if all the external objects are temporary, then
what is permanent?

Anything that is changeful and temporary cannot be real

From the time of birth, we begin soaking up ideas about ourselves and the world
around us. This conditioning combined with our ego and the sense of doer-ship lead
to suffering.

Whenever there is interplay of a seer, a seen and the act of seeing, there is
duality, limitedness, changefulness and suffering.

Please note that Soul is not the Self. The Soul is a limited entity, one that
transmigrates. The Self is limitless and does not transmigrate.

Prayer to the Guru Brahmanandam parama sukhadam kavalam jnanamartim dvandatitam

gagana sadruSam tatvamasyadi lakshyam akam nityam vimala machalam
sarvadhisakshibtum bhavatitam triguna rahitam satGuram tam namami. "I salute to
that Satguru. who is Brahman and the source of eternal bliss, supreme happiness,
who has true wisdom, who is beyond the dualities, who is infinite, whose
attention is always on the divine, who is unique, eternal, pure, steady, and who
sees with the eyes of wisdom who is beyond thoughts and beyond three gunas."

Brahman is the infinite, immanent, unchanging, and transcendent reality which is

the divine foundation of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything
beyond the Cosmos.
Mandakya Upanisad states: "Om purmada purnamidam purnat purnamudasyate prasya
purnamdaya puriamevavasishyate" "That supreme Brahman is infinite, and this
conditioned Brahman is infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Then
through knowledge, realizing the infinitude of the infinite, it remains as
infinite alone"
Brahman is our very Consciousness.

Everything perceivable or non-perceivable in the cosmos is nothing but an apparent

transformation of Brahman. It is the cause of all causes. Thus, there is Brahman
and Brahman only and nothing else. Brahman has apparently assumed different forms
just as water assumes different forms such as ice, vapor, ocean, waves, ripples,
etc. The entire creation is born in time and space and time and space abides in
Brahman. Thus, Brahman is the absolute reality of everything you, me, the animals,
plants, minerals, our thoughts, knowledge, ignorance, happiness, suffering, etc.
Thus, there is nothing other than Brahman.

which is the Self of all beings and internal to everything. Explain it to me. What
is that which is innermost to all beings, which is internal to everything, which
is non-immediate experience - not immediately experienced as through the senses
when they perceive objects, and which is direct, not indirect experience?"

or a Jnani who has realized the identity of his Inner Being with the Infinite
Brahman, there is no rebirth, no migration, not even liberation; for he is already
liberated. He is firmly established in an experience of the absolute Existence,
Consciousness, Bliss, the Sat-Chid-Ananda Atma.

"I am Infinite, imperishable, self-luminous, self-existent.

I am beginningless, endless, decayless, birthless, and deathless. Never was I
born. I am ever free, perfect, and independent; I alone am; I pervade the entire
universe; I am all-permeating and inter-penetrating; I am Supreme Peace and
Freedom Absolute"

A Jnani lives forever; he has attained life everlasting. Cravings torture him not;
sins stain him not; birth and death touch him not; he is free from all cravings
and longings; he ever rests in his own Sat-Chid-Ananda Svarapa. He sees the one
Infinite Self in all, and all in the Infinite Self which is his being; he remains
for ever as the Infinite Self of Consciousness and Delight. Truth, Consciousness,
Infinity is Brahman.

T he direct realization (Sakshatkar) of something other than Me (the Self) can

happen only through a medium. For example, you are able to directly see me here.
How are you having my darshan ('viewing' in this context)? Through the medium of
your eyes. If the eyes are removed, you will t i ll be (present), but you will not
be able to see me.

. To have the direct realization (Sakshatkar) of Atma, the mind is not needed.
But, in order to have the Sakshatkar of the mind your presence is surely needed.
The Sakshatkar of the body and the breath is through mind. Now, what method is
needed for the Sakshatkar of the mind? No method is needed. It is direct. For the
Sakshatkar of the mind, you don't need ears, you don't need eyes, and you don't
need anything else. If the mind is present and you are present, then you will
naturally have the Sakshatkar of the mind! If the mind is not there, you will have
the Sakshatkar of the absence of the mind! Till now you have been able to have the
Sakshatkar of everyone else but it has been through some medium. However, when you
had the Sakshatkar of the mind, it was without any medium. It was direct.
Similarly, the realization of the Self is direct and requires no medium or mind.
Presence: Implies that you are the required original basis or source, upon which
the cognition of the presence of the mind as well as its absence takes place

The Witness is that which can be known without a medium or without the aid of
anything else. You may be the witness of my presence but you are not the witness
of my presence directly. It is through your senses and mind that you are a
witness of my sitting here. You are also not a witness of yourself just by
yourself alone. The mind is your witness as well, even though the knowledge of
your presence happens in you only. I want to make two statements: Until today,
nothing has been known without your knowledge of it. If you are absent, nothing
is known.
You have not been the knower of something by yourself alone. It has always been
through the mind and the senses. You need your mind and senses to know anything
or anyone. Even to know that you are breathing, or that the body is sitting or
lying down, the mind is needed. Therefore, to know the world, the mind is
necessary. To know the mind you don't need any other sense organs! You know the
mind directly. Wherever the mind is, you know of it. However the mind is, you know
of it. If the mind is unhappy, you know. If the mind is happy, you know. If there
is laziness and lack of concentration in the mind, then also you know.
Consider for example, the fingers on my hand. You can know my fingers by touching
them, but from a distance you will not be able to touch the fingers. So, right
now, how many fingers am I showing with my hand? [Gurudev asked people how many
fingers he was showing. First he showed five fingers and then he showed four.]
Were you not the one that realized that I have four fingers? Yes, it was you.
Would you say that you had this Sakshatkar through your eyes? Was it without the
eyes that you had this Sakshatkar? Did you not have the Sakshatkar of my fingers
at all?- Yes, you did, but it was through your eyes. Now, tell me whether it is
correct to claim that the eyes had that realization and you did not? No, the
realization did not happen in you without the eyes. Therefore, the realization of
something always happens in you through some medium. You should implement this
truth everywhere.
I can say that I have the Sakshatkar of the breath but not without the mind, isn't
that so? What about the Sakshatkar of the mind? Where is the mind? I have had the
Sakshatkar of the mind without any help. Therefore, that which I understand
without any effort (help or medium) is sakshi (object of witness) and I am its
sakshi (witness). Pay attention to this truth. Pay attention to the mind. Where is
your mind at this moment? Is it in the breath? Is it thinking? Is it listening?
Where is it? Witness the mind and accept the fact that the Sakshatkar of the mind
does happen (but without any medium).

There is no illuminator other than me. I am the illuminator of the world. I do not
need the help of any medium in this. I am the direct illuminator of the mind. If
the mind is absent, then J am also the illuminator of the absence of the mind. I
am the light and J don't require any light other than me. "Chid sat hai"
"Consciousness is Truth"
The Consciousness is not just the Consciousness, it is also the Truth. That which
is not the truth cannot be the Consciousness. For example, the ability to see is
not forever, so seeing is not the Truth. Listening is not forever, so listening
is not the Truth. Knowing the breath is not forever, so knowing is not the Truth.
Therefore, only Chetan (Consciousness) is the Truth (and it is forever). I want
to make it clear that Chetan (Consciousness) can never become absent.
The objects of the senses, the senses and their presiding deities as well as the
Jiva all these derive their illumination one from the other. The deities
presiding over the senses are illumined by the conscious Self. The conscious Self
is the Supreme Illuminator"
The Consciousness, which is the illuminator of the eyes and the ears, is also the
illuminator of the mind. Don't call it the illuminator of the whole world just
yet! Follow this progression. The Consciousness is the illuminator of the eyes,
the nose, the mind, the breath, the body and hence, I (the Consciousness) am the
illuminator of everything. With out my illumination nothing is illuminated. When
the eyes saw something, it was due to your presence. When the mind saw the breath,
it was only because of you. Did anyone other than you come to know of the breath?
Then, who is the illuminator of everything? Is the body that is sitting here, the
illuminator? The body alone is not even the illuminator of the bed on which it
sleeps. When you were in the dream, was your body able to see the bed on which it
was lying? When you were seeing the dream, your mind was in the dream and you were
the witness of the dream. Neither you nor the body was seeing the waking world at
that time. Neither the body, nor the senses is an independent illuminator of
anything. Without my illumination, no senses, no mind, and no body, can become
conscious or illumined. That is why it is said that you are - "Sabh kar param
prakashak" or everyone's supreme illuminator or the Supreme Consciousness.

Everything which has a name and form is transient.

Just as Swami Paramanand has a name and form, every entity has a name and form.
However, if Swami Paramanand's name and form is praised, will that suffice to
praise one and all? What is the one name and form that should be praised in order
to praise one and all? Can Lord Buddha be praised by praising Lord R~m's name and
form? Try to find that one which exists in all forms; the name that is praised in
the praise of every form of every object. The tattva (principle) by which,
everyone's praise is its praise and its praise is everyone's praise, one's respect
is everyone's respect and everyone's respect is one's respect is -Brahman. It is
in everyone and in everything. If Brahman is thought of as a machine that produces
gold, then Brahman cannot be attained. Those who are deluded by thinking that a
machine producing gold exists will never find it. This is the reason that many
have become old and passed away in the search of Brahman. Brahman cannot be
realized without the realization of the Self. The Self or Atma is in the name and
form of the mind, the senses, the body, the ego and the P. The Atma is also in my
'T. The 'I' that lives in this 'I', lives in every 'I'.

Permanency in the impermanent [Gurudev takes a piece of cloth and ties three knots
on it.] Observe this cloth carefully. When I untie each of the three knots, the
knots are no more. The knots require the support of the cloth to exist. In the
same way, a lie requires the support of the truth to exist. The one that does not
exist (the knot) or is temporary, requires the support of that which exists (the
cloth) for its own existence.
Again, using this cloth for illustration, you can see the knots existing, and then
ceasing to exist when I untie them. Who was in all the three temporary knots? Was
it one or two? You can attest to the three temporary knots by counting them.
However, in all the temporary knots, there is one which is permanent. Guridev
implies that the cloth is the permanent which is the ONE underlying thing, on
which the non-permanent knots exist and cease to exist.}
Now that you know how to recognize the permanent in the temporary, look at your
temporary thoughts and your dreams. Are dreams permanent and everlasting? Are
thoughts, sadness and happiness permanent? Are waking state and alertness
permanent? Who is the one that remains continuously in all these? Is it Brahman
that remains? Is it that which was there (i.e. dreams, happiness, etc.) that
remains? Is it me that remains? If there is anything called Brahman, that is
permanent, then I have not been able to find it in anything other than me! Even if
'me' goes away, s in deep sleep, then isn't me still the witness of the 'me that
had gone away?! [Gurdev implies that the 'I' or the 'Self is the one permanent
underlying principle upon which everything rests! There is nothing else permanent
that can be found.] "I could not find the permanent Brahman, without or outside
myself. The one that never leaves, never ceases to exist, this permanent Me, was
found in the nonpermanent me" I am not the waking, the dream or the deep sleep
state and neither are you. These are only temporary. What survives the temporary?
Why do you call the Sam~dhi, yo? What survives Sam~dhr? Is it I or the Sam~dhi
that remains? Is it not I that remains at the conclusion of the thought of the
ego-full 'I? In the same way, what is it that remains after all else has ceased?
Is it not the ParamAtm~? The one that is permanent and eternal, and is never
affected, is the ParamAtma

Who remained at the conclusion of the dream? Was it the dream or the witness of
the dream? You were the witness of the dream and you remained at the conclusion of
the dream.
In the same way, you are the witness of the fact that your mind was in a state of
Sam~dhi. If you are the witness of all this, then the proof or existence of the
witness is also none other than you.
Someone may ask, "Who is the witness of the witness?" l'he witness of the one that
remains is none other than the one that remains. Additionally, the witness of the
one that does not remain is the one that remains. The witness of the impermanent
is the permanent. If you come across something that does not remain, then there
must be a witness of that as well. If no one exists, then the witness of that,
which does not exist, must be someone that exists. I have never found a Witness
other than myself. So, I have never found a ParamAtma that was separate from the
4tm~ or the Self. "Ayam Atma Brahma" "The Self is Brahman" [Mahavkya] The Atm~
itself is Brahman. "Tat Tvam Ast" Thou art That" [Mahavakya]
You can think of the past. You can think of the things that you have seen and
heard. Can you think of yourself? Your attention is always on the mind, the
senses, and other objects. Do not worry about the mind for Brahman Sakshatkar.
You have a habit of always complaining of the one that changes. Do you ever think
of the one that never changes? It is because of ignorance that you only see the
one that changes. Who is the witness of all these? Try to be attentive of the
Witness. You are the Witness.

Who sees the light? Does the light see or is the light seen? Who is God? Those who
are other than me, will always part from me. I (the Self) am the only one that can
never meet me (the Self) or become separate from me (the Self). ParamAtma can
never be separate from me. Atma (the Self) and Param.Atma are one. Understand that
God can never apart from you; God cannot cease to be; He cannot be acquired or
lost. Ayam Atma Brahm The Self is Infinite. Aham Brahm~smi I am the Infinite
Sleep, Sam~dhi or any other experience cannot take place without your existence.
Just as the truth forms the basis of any lie, you are the basis of everything.
You are the proof of existence itself. If a leaf is moved did you exist at the
time of the movement of the leaf? Do not become upset or worried about the
movement. Who was the witness of the movement if you were absent? At what time
were you not there? Who came to know of the time of the movement? Who came to know
of the place of the movement? Who came to know of the state of the movement? Can
any state exist without your presence? What is the proof of existence of the state
other than yow? This is the importance of the word 'Witness'. Witness is that
without which nothing ever happens and without which nothing can ever be proved.
Our true nature (Brahman) is that from which everything is proved, Existence,
Consciousness and Bliss is the nature of Brahman, Whereas the name and form
belongs to the material world" First, see your own existence and then see the
existence of everything else. So far we have always seen the object before we
have seen ourselves. We have always come to know the existence of something else
before knowing our own existence. Now, we need to do the opposite. We need to
first see ourselves, and then see what is seen. Without our existence, nothing can
exist. We came to know of the world, the eyes, this and that, but we did not come
to know of God (our true Self or tm~). This is the reason we are searching for
God. In fact, without God, this entire world cannot be found. We say things like
"I attained the body and the senses", "I experienced sadness" and, "I saw the
dreams" because God was present when all of these occurred. It is due to the
presence of God that all of these occurred. If God is removed, you will not
experience these. God cannot be removed, and so I congratulate those who think and
reflect upon this Truth.

You need to understand what and who you are by contemplating and analyzing what is
a dream, what is death, what is unhappiness and what is plurality

The name and form is a veil for the ignorant. The name and form of the pot hides
the mud -the substratum of the pot. However, if you develop the ability to
recognize the truth, you will actually see that the name and form are born out of
the mud. Without the presence of the name and form, the mud would not have been
known. Therefore, in one sense the name and form are actually the illuminators of
the mud, not the 'concealers' of it.
/ Likewise, the mind, intellect and senses are only making It (ParamAtma) evident
to us. But only the wise know this, not the ignorant. That is why it is said that
Paramatma can only be realized in the waking state, in the presence of your body.
The mirror is instrumental in allowing you to see your face. However, the same
mirror is responsible for putting the bird in an illusion. When the bird looks
into the mirror it considers its reflection to be a bird other than itself. So,
the mind, the intellect and the senses have been instrumental in allowing the
wise to know the Self. Don't let yourself be deluded (like the bird) by them as do
the ignorant. People are unhappy because of the antahkaran. But, it is the same
antahkaran that has aided me in the attainment of Brahman. Do I have a different
antahkaran than any of you?
'

It is to your benefit to consider the subtle body superior to the gross body.
However, even this is not the complete truth. Where one sits physically is of the
gross intellect, where one sits mentally is of the subtle intellect and where one
sits without the mind is of the spiritual intellect. In the absence of the mind,
one cannot sit anywhere, for the location where one sits and the one who sits
become one. At that time there is no duality.
Consider that there is a pot (made of mud). You tend to see with your eyes that
the pot is there. Do not be concerned with the shape or the physical attributes of
the pot. Utilize the intellect to figure out what it is that you are seeing. Are
you seeing the pot or are you seeing the mud? Both, the pot and the mud cannot be
seen, only one can be seen. Can you not see it as mud? Is that false? If you see
the mud then you are intelligent. If you see only the pot and not the mud, then
you are a fool.
If the body is there, the senses are there, the mind is there, is the Consciousness
(Chetan) not there? Do you see yourself as the mind or Chetan? Chetan and the mind
are there, but what are you? What did you see? When you say that you are roaming
around restlessly then do you see yourself as the Witness or do you see yourself
as the mind? Are you intelligent to consider yourself the mind? It all depends on
your perspective of seeing.

Witnessing the mind "Mansaivanudrastavyam" "Through the mind alone It is to be

realized" [Brhad~ranyaka Upanisad, Chapter 4, Section 4, part of verse 19] Many
have seen the Witness in the mind and many, in spite of the Witness being present
have seen only the mind and not the Witness. The mind and the Witness are
together, just like the mud and the pot. Are the mud and the pot in the same
place? Why was the pot seen and not the mud? Why was only the mind seen and not
the Witness of the mind? You may have not known until now that the Witness also
exists. Why see the mind and remain upset? Try to see the Witness in the mind
rather than the mind in the Witness. To become the Witness all you need to do is
be vigilant. In this way, you can give the Witness to the mind and become the
Witness. Does one need to bring the Witness into the mind or is the Witness
already present in the mind? Does the mud need to be brought into the pot? If one
does not see the existence of the mud but sees only the existence of the pot,
then does the mud need to be brought into the pot from somewhere? Or should the
understanding of seeing the mud be given to such a person? Should the ability to
see the mud be given to you? You already have the ability to see the pot. You
already have the ability to see the world, the body and the restlessness of the
mind. However, the intellect to see the Witness can only be obtained from the
Guru if you are fortunate. And when the Guru gives you that intellect, then will
you keep it or lose it? If I give you the key and you throw it somewhere, what
can be done? Inside the mind, the Witness also lives. In the waves, the water also
lives.