We may go through many experiences. We think we are the doer. We think we are the enjoyer or the one who suffers. There is someone who expresses cunningness, some other who is drunk, dull, bound and seemingly free. The Vivekachoodamani of Sri Adi Sankaracharya says that these are just different modes of the intellect. In reality, nothing else exists in the non-dual Brahman.
The student is realising the expansion of his understanding of the truth as he exclaims, “Let there be modifications in creation by the hundreds or thousands. What does it matter to me, the Seer? What do I gain by being attached to the clouds of thoughts in the earth of the sky? Does the gang of gathering clouds ever touch the sky anytime?”
Following this understanding is a series of positive affirmations. Beginning from the unborn to the grossly manifested parts, this whole world is just an appearance on a screen. Just as the sky which seems so real and blue in colour is actually not there, this creation too is an appearance. The Brahman without a second alone am I—the Reality.
Having heard a lot about what the seeker is not, the student now affirms what he is. “I am the support of everything and I am that consciousness which illumines everything. All the forms you see am I, the consciousness. I am present everywhere. At the same time, I seem to be nowhere. I am eternal, pure, steady and with no change. Whatever there is of that non-dual Brahman, I am.”“I am that Brahman which is beyond the names and forms that are thrown around and reflected back. I am that Self within which cannot be reached by thoughts and feelings. I am the truth. I am knowledge. I am infinite. I am bliss. This is my form. That Brahman which exists in this way, am I.”
“I am free from action. I have no modification. I have no parts. I have no form. I have no distortion. I am eternal. I hold on to nothing. I am non-pareil.” “I am the Self in all. I am all. I transcend all and exist without a second. I am alone. I am the knowledge that is not fractured in pieces. I am bliss. I am boundless.”
We thank someone for giving even something small as a toffee. How much gratitude then does this student have for his Guru who pointed out this nature of the absolute Self in himself? He dances away with genuflections as he calls his Guru the supreme majesty who has shown the sovereign region and the glory of the Self. “O great Guru, my prostrations and salutations to you,” cries out the student.
The writer is Sevika, Chinmaya Kripa, Coimbatore (www.chinmayamission.com); email: sharanya.chaitanya@chinmayamission.com