Mind & Happiness 115
Though the Absolute Truth is that Deep Dreamless Sleep is a State of Infinite Non-Dual Self-Consciousness, which is the only existing Reality, so long as we imagine our self to be this Mind, for all practical purposes we have to concede that Deep Dreamless Sleep does indeed appear to be a relative state of “self-forgetfulness”.
Only if we recognize the fact that the sole cause of the appearance of our Mind is our imaginary “self-forgetfulness” or “self-ignorance”, will we be able to understand that the only means by which we can transcend the limitations that are seemingly imposed upon us by our Mind is to destroy this illusion of “self-forgetfulness”. In order to destroy this Illusion, we must know our self as we really are, & in order to know our self as we really are, we must attend to our Self – to our fundamental Consciousness of our own Essential Existence, “I exist”.
Therefore, though Sri Ramana experienced the Absolute Truth – the Truth that we have never really “forgotten” our Self, because we are the perfectly Non-Dual Self-Consciousness, which never knows anything other than itself – in his Teachings he accepted the relative reality of our present imaginary “self-forgetfulness” or “self-ignorance”. This is the reason why he began the above verse of Ēkātma Pañcakam with the words, “Having forgotten our Self.” After saying, “Having forgotten our Self“, Sri Ramana says. “having thought [this] Body indeed is myself,” because our present Imagination that we are this Body arises as a result of our “self-forgetfulness”.
If we clearly knew what we really are, we could not imagine our self to be anything that we are not. Therefore we could not imagine our self to be this Body if we did not first imagine our seeming “self-forgetfulness” or lack of clarity of Self-Consciousness. Whenever our Mind becomes active, whether in Waking or in Dream, it first imagines itself to be a Body, & then through the 5 Senses of that imaginary Body it perceives an imaginary World.
Our Mind cannot function without first limiting itself within the confines of an imaginary Body, which it mistakes to be “I”. Hence our Mind is an intrinsically limited & therefore distorted form of Consciousness. Without imagining itself to be something finite, our Mind could not imagine anything that is other than itself. All otherness or duality is an Imagination that can come into existence only when we imagine our self to be a separate & therefore finite “consciousness”.
The above themes & 2500 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through www.jpstiga.com
short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58 link directly to free E-book PDF files
http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/
Different blogs (but with graphics) are available on:
http://www.blogger.com as “Being-as-Consciousness, Non-Duality – new & final version” with link:
http://Being-as-Consciousness.blogspot.com/
“There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth.”
– the “no creation” school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada
for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see: www.ajatavada.com/
[A brief note of explanation – this Blog is entitled “Non-Duality & Science”, & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a “comic book”) have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted in the other Blog noted below. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators. Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways. Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi. Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential “New–Age” Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science. I do not stand so much “with him”, as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, a goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & “saving the World.”]
also: Most of this material will be long searchable via “John Stiga” etc, on the “Wayback Machine” Internet Archive.
Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on “Amazon.com”, reference-able by the author “John Stiga”, each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.
Nonduality and Science 