THE OCEAN: The ocean is often mentioned as a metaphor in Vedanta. Let us look carefully at this. There are many aspects of an ocean from the surface waves, tides, tsunamis, volcanic fires, earthquakes, to froth on the surface, evaporation, etc. However, the most important nature of an ocean is water and the surface that supports the ocean. In the latter context, it is often cited that the river merges in the ocean and becomes one with it. Also cited in Vedanta texts is the fact of the turbulent waves on the surface and the still abyss as a metaphor of the mind and the Self respectively, viz, the surface being the turbulent mind, tossed here and tither, the Self being the calm of the deep of the ocean. So, where does the Absolute fit in the scheme of the metaphor. In the writer’ opinion, it is the bottom surface that supports the ocean in totality. Though all is the Self in Advaita Vedanta, like the water of the ocean being the same water on the surface and the deep, but the Absolute is the support of the water, the container of the water, which also support the abyss of stillness. Therefore, both the turbulence and the stillness are supported on the ground of the ocean, without which no water would exist to contain it. So, if the river or the mind merges in the ocean, it is not the end of “self-realization” in the writer’s opinion. The end is even beyond the stillness is what the write is trying to advocate. The end is solid like the surface that supports the ocean, this is no-Jnana-Jnana. How can the container be partitioned by the contained? How can the surface waters (mind) and the still waters (Self) partition the surface that supports both? Because the Absolute is One without a second, how can anything be different from Itself? Besides, it is no-space, which makes it impossible for anything to appear in It apart from Itself. If the Absolute was an entity outside to us, we cannot then come to terms with Its Absoluteness at all. If we carefully examine Advaita Vedanta, it has no conflict with mind nor the Self. It does come to terms with the Absolute, Brahman. There is nothing besides Brahman, it states. The only way we can come to terms with this is through knowledge (via sastras or via a Guru’s teachings) and first-hand practice. Letting aside knowledge, we discover or realize and know for ourselves that I cannot be other than the Abstract Life, that we are the Absolute. There is nothing nor another besides I here but the Absolute I. When we know this, we can then in all certainty know that we create the whole illusionary caboodle that appear and disappear through the inherent Maya within I. We are the magicians, yet we don’t even know that we are creating an illusion. Strange. A magician is never fooled by his own magic, yet, paradoxically, we are fooled by it, until we wake up to the fact that we are the magician. Makes the writer chuckle and chuckle. Even I is fooled by Its own magic because it is so incredible and astounding in which arises the illusionary sense of the body. The I is the greatest Wizard; just thing about how Its wizardry is so astounding, so instantaneous that It has brought about the sense the body, senses and mind, you and them and all that, the whole caboodle. How can a mortal being overcome its own great wizardry? Be silent and know I am I. When the I is gripped by deep silence, it knows nothing, it is merely the support of all, the surface of the ocean, not even the waters. Deep sleep is unconsciousness of ignorance, Nirvikalpa Samadhi is no-space Consciousness, and Sahaja Samadhi is our natural state of Absoluteness, where we are always the surface that supports the ocean and silently witnessing the abyss and the turbulence of the waters arising within itself. Here the metaphor of the surface of the ocean ends, because Consciousness is not literal screen nor literal surface, but no-space-space, no-Jnana-Jnana.
LIGHT AND DARKNESS: Let us turn our attention to another metaphor, light (and darkness). We have heard many a Sages mention the “light of Consciousness,” and “darkness of ignorance.” We have heard the Vedanta texts mention the “effulgence of Consciousness,” “Consciousness is bright,” “Consciousness is brighter than the Sun,” darkness cannot survive the Light of Consciousness,” “the Self is the light that removes darkness,” etc. Enlightenment is a metaphor too; to enlighten; here again light is used to mean the removal of darkness of ignorance. What on earth do they mean? Does Enlightenment literally mean one walks about like a hugely bright and lit star? Are we not conscious in the dark? Are we not ignorant in the light? Consciousness exists in the dark as well as in the light. Whether one is enlightened or ignorant, Consciousness exists in both cases. Are we enlightened during the day and ignorant during the night? Most human beings think they see with their eyes, and therefore, cannot see in darkness; as far as human eyes are concerned, this is so. From the higher point of view, we only truly see with Consciousness and not with eyes. Human reaction to the waking hours when the Lord of Day, the Sun rises, sets most in motion, whilst the reaction to the darkness of the night sets most to rest or sleep. This is the Human body’ circadian rhythm. But examine how dreams are lit so that the mind’ eye can see. So, we can say that human mind cannot cope with darkness, it cannot function well in darkness, for the mind becomes subdued unable to cope in darkness, or its own darkness within. When we close our eye lids, we are engulfed in darkness to start with, and this is why many meditators close their eyes, but to subdue the mind of distractions. If we keep our eye lids open (eyes they are always open, for eyes do not close, eye lids open and close; strangely, yet in sleep eyes wide open lids closed, the sense of sight disappears, like the ears are always open, yet we do not hear in deep sleep), so to speak, in utter darkness, we can easily discern the Self because the mind almost disappears into its source. The mind cannot cope in the absence of the senses of seeing, hearing, etc, because it is driven by the senses. When the senses are subdued, the mind disappears, like in deep sleep, coma, anaesthesia. Human mind cannot cope with blank or no-thing-ness, and so, it is engulfed by darkness on its disappearance. No-thingness is neither dark not light, so to speak, but the mind’ reaction to it is darkness, blackness or void, like tar smeared on a mirror internally reflects the blackness of the tar. What is then the difference between Nirvikalpa Samadhi and deep sleep? Both are alike. Both are profound. The subtle difference lies in the onset and end, for in the middle, both are alike and profound. Both are the sources of profound Jnana. During the onset of sleep our attention slackens and becomes almost absent, however, dreams sleep takes over because the mind is still active but subdued compared to its wakeful nature. In Nirvikalpa Samadhi the mind is lost (thoughtlessness) for a while when fully awake followed by complete and utter no-thing-ness; no dreams, not inner senses function, no thoughts, nothing. At the end of deep sleep, dream sleep again arises followed by being wakeful. At the end of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, thoughts return as chatter in the mind, fully awake. Nirvikalpa Samadhi can only happen during the peak of wakefulness or alertness, after a cup of morning coffee, makes the writer chuckle. Sleep overcomes us when alertness is at the trough. But for sleep the ego pre-prepares “going to sleep;” for one can never prepare, like going to sleep, the onset of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, but in preparation, we are more or less thoughtless as if in Sankalpa Samadhi. Consciousness underlines sleep, but Nirvikalpa Samadhi is that Consciousness, for it is neither light nor dark. Light and dark are the properties of the mind, not those of Consciousness, but used as metaphors in Vedanta. Consciousness can be perhaps better understood as Light and ignorance is better understood as darkness for teaching purposes only. We or human minds can grasp the idea of light and darkness easier than Consciousness and ignorance. Human reaction or rather the reaction of the mind to Consciousness is light, which is the wakeful state; but to unconsciousness is darkness, which is the sleep state. The mind uses the reflected power of Consciousness or Light to see within its created dreams, for dreams are lit. A dark mind, which does not reflect light within the sphere of the eyes, cannot project nor see dreams. I we carefully watch dreams, they are projected as if the eyes are seeing them, yet, they are within the mind, amazing wizardry. Even so, likewise, the body and the outer senses are a projection of the mind; for the body and senses are in the mind, the mind is not in the body. What happens at the onset of sleep? The mind ability as a wizard becomes subdued, as a result, the outer five sense and the body becomes subdued, yet not lost. Then the mind conjures up imagery within for its own satisfaction and the corresponding subtle inner five senses, the subtle body, and itself as the chief All of these then suddenly, like an on-off swich become switched off, as a result the whole caboodle disappears and simultaneously (unconsciousness) darkness of sleep engulfs the mind. What an astounding and amazing wizardry of dynamic Consciousness is this. It is just the opposite that the writer suggests as that which is worth our understanding. In fact, darkness is synonymous to static Consciousness (true Knowledge or no-knowledge) and brightness is synonymous to dynamic Consciousness (ignorance) as known during the wakeful and sleep states of our being respectively. It is the darkness of empirical knowing that enlightens a man and not the brightness of empirical ignorance. After this, that which enfolds and grips the wise man is neither the “bright” nor the “dark” Consciousness. Meaning, He is no longer allied to “darkness” of ignorance, that is all. In fact, He is in the “dark” fully awake and asleep in the bright (He is never asleep in reality). It is the bright of day that brings all the trouble of desires, and not the darkness of the night; for how can we desire anything that we cannot see? Makes the writer chuckle.
SNAKE AND ROPE: The metaphor of the snake and the rope often crops up in Advaita Vedanta texts of Sri Adi Shankacharya and others. The important feature of this metaphor is “dim” light. In dim light, the snake is taken for a rope, it states. What does “dim” light mean? It means either ignorance or dynamic Consciousness or the mind. Dynamic Consciousness is merely a reflection due to the clarity of the mirror being the Static Consciousness. Because dynamic Consciousness passes through the media of fog in space, it becomes dim, and does not truly reflect the full static Consciousness, like the light of the Sun is dimmed by clouds. This space or media is termed Upadhis by Sri Shankacharya, meaning, the fog of conditionings of the mind (vasanas). It is the vasanas inherited over numerous lifetimes that makes the snake appear as a rope, perhaps mostly out of the ingrained fear of snakes. It is this sense, the ego, that superimposes itself upon our true nature as I -am-the body or the I-thought. It is in space that the world appears out of the mind’s own wizardry. Even knowing that the snake is merely a superimposition on the rope, the illusion does not end. The metaphor further states, but upon closer inspection, the snake disappears revealing the rope. Here the rope is the Self. In reality, the snake is never ever there, viz, it is not really created at all in reality. Upon closer inspection means when one turns inward and through introspection realizes the true nature of one’s being. Even then, the illusion continues for the ones whom the vasanas are not all destroyed. Although the wise and the unwise see the sky as blue, the wise are not fooled by appearances, this is the difference between the wise and the unwise folk (in reality there is only I and no “unwise folks,” makes the writer chuckle). The sense of the body is superimposed on the Self, the false I is superimposed on the true I, yet, the false I never ever comes into existence in reality. Getting rid of the ignorance ingrained in us is all that is required for the true to reveal itself to itself.
MIRROR AND REFLECTION: In the metaphor of the Mirror and the Reflection, it is the clarity of the Mirror that reflects, for a smeared mirror does not reflect well the reflections. A mirror smeared with tar reflects merely darkness of the tar. A log of wood is unreflective, so how can a corpse reflect any Consciousness even though Consciousness pervades everything. Dynamic Consciousness is merely the reflection of the Static Consciousness because of its clarity, but dynamic Consciousness is besmeared with dirt of the mind. Once the mind becomes clear of the fog (ignorance, vasanas) it neatly imitates and closely reflects the true nature of Static Consciousness, known as pure Mind, in fact, it is in essence the Static Consciousness of the Absolute or the Self, this is the state of the one in Sahaja Samadhi. It is the false identification of the false I as the Self that results in duality, reflection, superimposition, dynamic Consciousness etc. And these are the pointers in all the metaphors of Advaita Vedanta that the non-identification of the false I is non-dual.
SUN AND MOON: The metaphor of the Sun and the Moon wass used by Sri Bhagavan Maharshi for those who sought answers to the perennial quest to the control the mind. When the Sun has set, the Moon is useful for displaying objects. When the sun has risen no one needs the moon, though its disc is visible in the sky. Here the static Consciousness (Self) is meant as the Sun and the dynamic Consciousness (mind) as the Moon. The mind driven by senses is useful whilst ignorance persists but becomes useless when the Self is realized and known, viz, once static Consciousness is realized, dynamic Consciousness becomes useless, like a lamp is useful during the night but useless during the day. To see the sun no lamp is necessary; it is enough if you turn your eyes towards the self-luminous sun. Similarly with the mind; to see the objects the light reflected from the mind is necessary. To see the heart it is enough that the mind is turned towards it. Then the mind does not count and the heart is self-effulgent. The dynamic Consciousness (ego) is superimposed on static Consciousness (Self) but in reality dynamic Consciousness does not ever come into existence.
HEART AND MIND: Hear and mind is a metaphor often used by Sri Bhagavan in answers to questions of the devotees. The Self is the heart, self-luminous. Illumination arises from the heart and reaches the brain, which is the seat of the mind. The world is seen with the mind; so, you see the world by the reflected light of the Self. The world is perceived by an act of the mind. When the mind is illumined, it is aware of the world; when it is not so illumined, it is not aware of the world. If the mind is turned in, towards the source of illumination, objective knowledge ceases, and the Self alone shines as the heart (Maharshis Gospel by S. S. Cohen; Chapter III). Therefore, all the above metaphors and others are merely pointing at the same thing; Seeing God As He Really Is.
DIPPACK MISTRI 