SOME THOUGHTS ON ATMA---113

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Loving SAI RAMs,

Truth is in the House of all, of every being and thing. Wherever our equipments of experiences gain the apprehension of the pluralistic phenomena, for all of them, the Self, the Awareness, is the abode

(Nivasah), the place of existence and security. Delusion breeds sorrows, Knowledge produces joy. The Universe is pain-ridden because it is delusion-projected. When once the Self gets individualised, when it contacts the outer world, through the equipments of the intellect,mind and body, " it is wandering away from the safety of the shore into the stormy ,high seas of adventure. When the frail boat of the ego is threatened from all sides---the darkening clouds above, the bumping sea below, and the screaming storms all round--- the sailor`s only refuge is to come back to the tranquil harbour, the Self " , as Swamy Chinmayananda puts it. As gold in all ornaments and mud in all pots, the Self is in the whole universe, and therefore all things can come to manifestation

(Prabhavah) from and dissolve into(Pralayah) the Unmanifest, the Substratum(Sthanam), which can hence be considered as the " storehouse " (Nidhanam) of all names and forms and qualities that constitute the multiple world.

 

 

The Brahman is, no doubt,the Origin of the " Tree -of- Samsara " , but in the generation of this tree, the Brahman is not transformed. It is always Immutable. The Sruti wants us to realise that entity to be Brahman, which is neither subtle nor gross, neither short nor long which has no birth or change, which is without form, quality, colour and name.

The terrestrial world is expressible(describable) because it has quality(guna), function (kriya), name(nama), qualification(visesha) and relationship(sambandha). Brahman

does not have any of these properties. It therefore eludes direct description or conception. We know that language becomes ineffectual when it is used to describe subtler themes. For example, it is easier to describe perceived objects and difficult to express feelings and emotions. Still more difficult is to convey intellectual concepts. Hence the transcendental Reality which is subtler than the subtlest, is indirectly indicated in the scriptures through the process of negation. The language of negation again has a limitaton for the natre of the mind is such that it can not entertain a negative concept. For instance, when a person is described as not being short, the mind can not conceive'not short' as such without entertaining the opposite positive character of his being relatively 'tall'. With a view to avoid such misconception, Vedanta uses the language of contadiction to describe the Truth. The Truth is stated to be 'not gross'. When described thus, the mind imagines it to be subtle. To avoid this misconception of Truth, subtlety is also negated by stating that 'it is not subtle' either. Truth is therefore beyond all that is gross and subtle.

 

(to be continued)

G.Balasubramanian