Ancient Scrolls
In reverence to the timeless wisdom of the Upanishadic sages, whose words continue to illuminate the path of Self-Knowledge.
AHAM BRAHMASMI — I AM BRAHMAN
The Central idea is this: Not: “I, this person, am God.” Rather: When the false identification with the individual self falls away, what remains is Brahman. That distinction should be absolutely clear. Otherwise “Aham Brahmasmi” can easily be misunderstood as an egotistic declaration.
An ancient sage, Uddalaka Aruni, spoke three words to his son. Tat Tvam Asi. That…You…Are. But if That is the Self…then what is the Self? And what does it mean to say…Aham Brahmasmi? I Am Brahman.
In the beginning…in deep sleepless sleep…in the natural state…all this universe was then undifferentiated. It became differentiated by name and form in the subtle state of dreaming: and when sleep ended, it became further differentiated by name and form in the gross state…But why? Why abandon the natural state? Like a farmer. I am the doer…He who plants a seed. I desire to rejoice the harvest. But then, bitter or sweet is the harvest this season? What about the coming season? Is the seed that is planted bitter harvest. Since Maya…Since the ego cannot harvest its deeds without a body, it plucks the Self in thin air and cocoons itself in the mire of mud. It is then said, This Self has entered into these bodies up to the very tips of the nails. But like the invisible essence of salt lies hidden in the waters of the ocean, the Self lies hidden. People do neither see nor know the Self. Yet, Self alone should be known. This Self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else, because It is innermost. THE INNERMOST HEART. One should meditate upon the Self alone as dear.
Aham Brahmasmi. I Am Brahman. A declaration found in the ancient Brihad Aranyakas Upanishad. Three immense words. I…AM…Brahman. These three words cannot be differentiated. He who sees them as separate, sees not. But these words are not meant to make the ego feel greater. They do not mean: “I, this individual person, am God.” Quite the opposite. They point to the disappearance of the individual claim. Then silence. When “I” no longer means the body…the mind…the personality…the story of myself…what remains?
From childhood onward we are proselytized to say: “This is my name.” “This is my surname.” “I am this.” “This is my religion.” “This is my history.” This is my body…”These are my thoughts.” “These are my achievements.” “I am the doer…” But who is the one who knows all of this? Pause to reflect. The body changes. Thoughts change. Emotions change. Memories change. Yet something knows every change. Who is that?
Clouds appear…clouds disappear. The sky does not come and go with them. Thoughts appear… thoughts disappear. Awareness does not come and go with them. Pause and reflect. We mistake the passing cloud…for the sky itself. We mistake the passing thought…the passing ego, the body, the mind…for the Self. Like we mistaken a rope for a snake in dim light. For the Self is likened to Space, to Sky. Rather, like the dark autumn clouds that gather and hide the sun, ignorance accumulates to veil the ever bright luminous Self.
Ramana Maharshi repeatedly directed the seeker toward one question: Nan-Yar…or …Who am I? Not: What is my religion. Not: “What do I believe?” Not: “What philosophy do I follow?” But: Who am I? Pause and reflect. Follow the “I” inward. Before: “I am this.” Before: “I am that.” What is the source of the “I”?
Ramana Maharshi once remarked to an inquisitive seeking traveller: “go back to where you came from.”
Sri Bhagavan revealed…”Instead of winning one’s own natural state—the state which is taught by Revelations by the words ‘Tat Tvam Asi’—by entering the Heart by the Quest of ‘Who am I,’ man goes on meditating ‘I am That, …I am not the body,’ because of mental weakness. That Reality is Itself ever shining as the Self!
They say: “Since men think that by the Knowledge of Brahman they become all, what, pray, was it that Brahman knew by which It became all?” This self was indeed Brahman in the natural state, in sleepless sleep. It knew itself only as “I am Brahman.” it is all. The mirror and the refection. And whoever among the gods had this enlightenment, also became That Brahman. It is the same with the seers (rishis), the same with men. whoever knows the self as “I am Brahman,” becomes all this universe. Even the gods cannot prevent his becoming this, for he has become their Self. , if a man worships another deity, thinking: “He is one and I am another,” he does not know. Jesus said, I and my father are One. I am. Jesus meant…The innermost reality.
Aham-I. Brahman-The Infinite Reality. Asmi-Am. I Am Brahman.
Not the individual “I.” Not the ego. Not the personality. The “I” that remains… when everything that is not the Self has been seen as not-Self. Sri Bhagavan revealed:
So long as the notion ‘I am the body’ prevails, the meditation ‘I am That’ is helpful to the winning of Self-Awareness, by the Quest. But, why should this meditation be kept up endlessly? Does any man meditate ‘I am a man?’ Always are we that Reality!
Uddalaka said: That… You… Are. And the seeker discovers: I Am That. Aham Brahmasmi. Like in deep sleep. When the ego, the I-thought, vanishes. Then: What remains? when all philosophies drop dead at their own feet… when duality and non-duality drops dead at its own feet…and even these words… must finally disappear. Then, what remains…? This is “Seeing God As He Really is.
TAT TVAM ASI—THAT YOU ARE
Uddalaka Aruna Gotama and his son Aruni are hallowed Vedic sages of Hindu soteriology and Vedanta. Aruni and Yajnavalkya are among the most frequently mentioned Upanishadic teachers, and their philosophical teachings are the main focus in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishads, two of the oldest Upanishadic scriptures; a dialogue about Atma and Brahman that contain ideas foundational to the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. Aruni appears in many principal Upanishads like the Brihad, Chandogya (Samaveda), and Kaushitaki, and also, he is mentioned in many Vedic era Sanskrit texts like the Mahabharata. The Rigveda gave rise to Aitareya Upanishad of Vamadeva, son of Gotama during Satya Yuga, but during the transition between Satya Yuga and Treta, i.e., at the end of Satya Yuga and the beginning of Treta Yuga gave rise to Aruneya Upanishad of Uddalaka Aruna Gotama and the Chandogya, Kena and Kaushitaki Upanishads. Therefore, Aruneya Upanishad is easily classifiable as a Mukhya Upanishad and a major Upanishad of the Advaita Vedanta.The Aruneya Upanishad was inculcated orally during the transition era between Satya Yuga and Treta; a dialogue about Atman and Brahman that contain ideas foundational to the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. The dialogue of Uddalaka Aruna with King Jaivali is given in Brihadaranyaka and in the Chandogya his dialogue with Svataketu. The Katha Upanishad is about Aruna conducting his soul, Nachiketas, to Vaivasvata.
Uddalaka Aruni was also known for the Ashram he ran where famous philosophers like Yajnavalkya, Ashtavakra, and Svataketu were taught. He was a contemporary of Rishi Dhaumya and grant son of Vajasravasa. Svataketu was his son and had a daughter named Sujata. Sujata was married to his disciple Kahoda and had the son Ashtavakra.
Uddalaka Aruni Gotama attracted students from far regions of the Indian subcontinent; some of his students such as Yajnavalkya are also highly revered in the Hindu soteriology Sastras. Sage Aruni’s many revered ancient scholars, and later era scholars from the earliest times, attributed or named their texts after him. Some of these treatises include Arunisruti, also called Uddalaka Sruti is a seeming medieval era theistic text that has been lost to history and one cited by Madhvacharya.
An ancient sage…Uddalaka Aruni, favours the writer, reveals the answer. Yet, profoundly and deeply and in greatest reverence, the transmission of true knowledge, Jnana, is via Silence…that of the bygone era of Dakshinamurti, and recently, Ramana Maharshi. The Saints, in the state of calm and quiet repose, as in the drowsiness of sleep, their powers absorbed in the channel of self-knowledge, as air in a jar dissolves in the atmosphere.
Excerpted from Aruneya Upanishad
Uddalaka Aruni and His son Svataketu:
Having begun his apprenticeship (with a teacher) when he was twelve years of age, Svataketu returned to his father, when he was twenty-four, having then studied all the Vedas, conceited, considering himself well-read, and stern. His father said to him: ‘Svataketu,’ as you are so conceited, considering yourself so well-read, and so stern, my dear, have you ever asked for that instruction by which we hear what cannot be heard, by which we perceive what cannot be perceived, by which we know what cannot be known?’
Uddalaka Aruni said to his son Svataketu: ‘Learn from me the true nature of sleep (svapna).’ When a man sleeps here, then, my dear son, he becomes united with the True, he is gone to his own (Self). Therefore, they say, svapti, he sleeps, because he is gone (apta) to his own (sva).’ ‘As a bird when tied by a string flies first in every direction, and finding no rest anywhere, settles down at last on the very place where it is fastened, exactly in the same manner, my son, that mind (the jiva, or living Self in the mind), after flying in every direction, and finding no rest anywhere, settles down on breath; for indeed, my son, mind is fastened to breath.’
A tiny banyan seed resting on Uddalaka’s palm. He breaks it open. Nothing visible. Uddalaka further demonstrates…Salt in Water. Salt dissolving…Crystal disappears “Place this salt…into water.” Morning. “Can you see the salt?” “No.” “Taste the water.” “It is salt.” “Taste the middle.” “It is salt.” “Taste the bottom.” “It is salt.” Uddalaka explains…The Self…cannot be seen. Yet It is everywhere. Uddalaka further explains to Svataketu…Many rivers…One Ocean. The river loses its name. The Ocean never changes. Likewise…the individual…never truly exists…apart from Reality. That which is the subtle essence, in it.. all that exists…has its self. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, O Svataketu, art it. And…That…You…Are. This follows the sequence preserved in the writer’ scroll, Aruneya Upanishad, where Uddalaka first identifies the subtle essence, then the True, then the Self, before addressing Svetaketu directly.
More than thirteen thousand years later…Another Sage…sat quietly…at the foot of Arunachala. He did not ask…”Who is God?” He asked…”Who am I?” The answer…was the same. Not in words. But in Silence. That…You…Are.
Prajnanam Brahma
Aitareya Upanishad
Sage Aitareya: established in this Aranyaka by Mahidasa Aitareya. Out of the five Aranyakas, first, second and third Aranyaka are attributed to Mahidasa Aitareya.
6. And then he thought: ‘If speech names, if scent smells, if the eye sees, if the ear hears, if the skin feels, if the mind thinks, if the off-breathing digests, if the organ sends forth, then: What am I?’ Max Muller translates this as: “What am I?” see: Aitareya Upanishad II.4.3.6, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 1, Oxford University Press, pages 240–241;
TALKS WITH MAHARSHI RAMANA: “Who Am I? I’m not the seven components of this physical body (fluid, blood, flesh, fat, marrow, bone and seeds). I’m not the five organs of perception; ears, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose with their respective functions of touch, hearing, sight, taste, and smell. I’m not the five organs of action; mouth, legs, arms, anus, and genitals with their respective functions speaking, moving, give and take, excretion, and sexual activity. None of the five I’m, and not the five vital energies with their respective functions breathing, digestion, blood circulation, sweating, and excretion. I’m neither the mind nor the unconscious state of not knowing (as in deep sleep or during fainting), in which there is neither sense objects nor activities of the mind and in which only the latent (worldly) desires and impressions (vasanas) remain. All that I’m not.”
Excerpted from Aitareya Aranyakas:
1.Who is he whom we meditate on as the Self? 2. Which is the Self? 3. That by which we see (form), that by which we hear (sound), that by which we perceive smells, that by which we utter speech, that by which we distinguish sweet and not sweet, (i) and what comes from the heart and the mind, namely, perception, command, understanding, knowledge, wisdom, seeing, holding, thinking, considering, readiness (or suffering), remembering, conceiving, willing, breathing, loving, desiring? 4. No, all these are various names only of knowledge (the true Self). 5. And that Self, consisting of (knowledge), is Brahman, it is Indra, it is Prajapati. All these Devas, these five great elements, earth, air, ether, water, fire, these and those which are, as it were, small and mixed, and seeds of this kind and that kind, born from eggs, born from the womb, born from heat, born from germs, horses, cows, men, elephants, and whatsoever breathes, whether walking or flying, and what is immoveable—all that is led (produced) by knowledge (the Self). 6. It rests on knowledge (the Self). The world. 7. Then opening the suture of the skull, he got in by that door. 8. That door is called the Vidriti (tearing asunder), the Nandana (the place of bliss), 9. There are three dwelling-places for him, three dreams; this dwelling-place (the eye), this dwelling-place (the throat), this dwelling-place (the heart). 10. When born (when the Highest Self had entered the body) he looked through all things, in order to see whether anything wished to proclaim here another (Self). He saw this person only (himself) as the widely spread Brahman. ‘ I saw it, thus he said; (13)Therefore he was Indra (seeing this).11. Being Indra by name, they call him Indra mysteriously. For the Devas love mystery, yea, they love mystery. Max Muller, Aitareya Upanishad II.4.3.6, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 1, Oxford University Press, pages 245–246 2.
This is the true Brahman called Prana (Life force), This is the only God. All the Devas (Gods) are only the various manifestations of this Prana. He who attains Oneness with this Prana attains the Devas. Adi Shankara, Aitareya Upanishad Bhasya. Why does Adi Shankara say, “true Brahman?” Is there a false Brahman? Hanging around the street corner somewhere? Chuckle. Or, does he mean, the real “I” and the false “I.” Oh yeah. He, the false one, is hanging around in the street corner.
The knowledge of Consciousness (Awareness) is not intuition of Consciousness (Awareness) but itself is Consciousness (Awareness). This is Jnana! It Is. It Just Is. This is Seeing God As He Really Is.
Some say: Prajnanam iti Brahman – Wisdom is the Self. True. Some say: Prajnanam refers to the intuitive truth? No. Which can be verified/tested by reason. No. Some say: It is a higher function of the intellect that ascertains the Sat or Truth/Existent in the Sat-Chit-Ananda or truth/existent-consciousness-bliss, i.e. the Brahman/Atman/Self/person. No. A truly wise person is known as Prajna? No. He is known as Prajnana – one who has attained Brahmanhood itself; thus, testifying to the Vedic Mahavakya (great saying or words of wisdom): Prajnanam iti Brahman. He is Jnana. I know Nothing.
Let us examine what Paul Brunton has to say: Notebooks of Paul Brunton: Category 8: The Ego: Chapter 1: What Am I? There is something in each man which says “I.” Is it the body? Usually he thinks so. But if he could set up a deeper analysis, he would find that consciousness would carry him away from the body-thought into itself. There, in its own pure existence, he would find the answer to his question, “Who am I?” The “I” is not a thought at all. It is the very principle of Consciousness itself, pure Being. It is neither personal mind nor physical body, neither ego nor little self. Without it they could not exist or function. It is their witness. We all think, experience, feel, and identify with the “I.” But who really knows what it is? To do this we need to look inside the mind, not at what it contains, as psychologists do, but at what it is in itself. If we persevere, we may find the “I” behind the “I.” Think! What does the “I” stand for? This single and simple letter is filled with unutterable mystery. For apart from the infinite void in which it is born and to which it must return, it has no meaning. The Eternal is its hidden core and content. Once this question, what am I? is answered, there are no other questions. In the light of its dazzling answer, he knows how to handle all his problems. How is it that I am–and know that I am–substantially the same man today as yesterday, that I remember the happenings of a year ago? Neither deep sleep nor brain concussion prevents us from recovering the sense of “I” when they end. The answer must be that there is a continuous self, or being, or mind, in me, distinct from its thoughts or experiences.