WHAT IS THIS ‘I’? +

Upanishads:~  Fools dwelling in darkness, but thinking they wise and erudite, go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind. (Upanishads Nikilanada - Ch II-5 P-14)

 

Meher Baba: ~ “When the reality appears this ignorance which one thinks as reality becomes unreal.   

Know the mystery of the ‘I’. Come out of the intoxication of the ‘I’. Until you remain in the grip of the ‘I’, you are blocked from realizing the truth, which is beyond the ‘I’.

 

The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole. The realization of ultimate truth or Brahman is possible only when the seeker inquiries into the nature of the ‘I’. 

The ‘I’ is present in the form of the Mind.   The Mind is present in the form of the universe and the universe appears as waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality). 

The one that appears as the duality and disappears as nonduality is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

Do not try to know who you are? By inquiring ‘Who am ‘I’,   you will never reach the ultimate end of understanding. ‘Who am ‘I’? is only helpful in the beginning in later stages it is inadequate to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.    

Try to find out what is this ‘I’ which appears and disappears. What is it that knows this appearance and disappearance of the ‘I’?

The Soul is the  ‘Self’. The ‘I’ is not the Soul. Holding the ‘I’ as the ‘Self’ is holding the falsehood as a reality.  There is a need to know what is ‘I’ before indulging in the pursuit of truth. 

Dualist sages including many sages and thinkers could not distinguish between ‘I’ and the Self’.  They hold 'I' as the ‘‘Self’’. Their highest was the Jiva.  They are so much attached to the 'I' that they do not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again they are unable to detach the ‘I’ from the real Self. 

The dualist object: - If everything else is false then the statement I am   Brahman is itself false, but when one says non-duality is false, there must be the awareness, the consciousness, behind the very statement. 

You will also go, and die. One has to rely upon that which is permanent.  The formless witness of the ‘I’ alone is permanent. Anything that one says is a witnessed (waking), but there is the formless witness (consciousness) there before any statement can be made.

They mean the body by “I", but it is the formless witness which is the real “‘Self’ ". Theist dualists did not, or could not analyze further than ‘I’   on this point because they thought the ‘I’ without the body as the Self.

What is this  ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality?

The ‘I’ disappears as deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is impermanent and illusory.

There is really no ‘I’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of mind. And the mind is in the form of the universe. The universe appears as a waking or dream. The ‘I’ or mind or universe or waking or dream disappears as deep sleep. 

One that appears as ‘I’ or the mind or universe or waking or dream is nothing but the consciousness and it disappears as deep sleep is also consciousness.  In deep sleep, it is in its formless nondual true nature.  

The one, that witnesses the coming and going of the three states, is also consciousness.   Thus, the witness and the witnessed are one, in essence.   

Thus, the universe is a reality on the base of the ego. You are the ego. The ego is the false ‘Self’ within the false experience (waking).  

The universe is unreal on the base of the Soul, the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. The seeker gradually will grasp and realize the unreal nature of the universe (‘I’ or mind).

Individuality is illusory because the ‘Self’ is not an individual because the Self’ is formless and it pervades everything and everywhere in all three states.

Dualist sages have written big volumes about the soul. Yet they are quite ignorant of the fact that the ‘I’ about which they write itself’ comes and goes and has no permanent existence, is only an idea after all.

What is it that appears as the ‘I’ and disappears as the ‘I-less? It is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Do not make the mistake of holding the ‘I’ as the Self because it is not permanent. ‘I’ disappears and becomes ‘I’-less. 

‘I’ is an illusion and the ‘I-LESS’ is real and eternal. The ‘I-LESS ‘appears as ‘I’ and ‘I ’‘disappears as I-LESS.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.

All the Gurus think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal. 

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

Remember:~ 

Until you hold the ‘Self ‘as the ‘I’ you will never be able to get Self-realization.  ‘I’ hides the Soul, which is the innermost Self. ‘

'I’ is ignorance.

‘I’ is the duality.

‘I’ is form, time, and space.

‘I’ is the universe.

‘I’ is the waking.

‘I’ is the dream.

‘I’ is the illusion.

‘I’ is the experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

But remember:~

Without the ‘I’ there is no ignorance.

Without the ‘I’ there is no duality.

Without the ‘I’ there is no form, time, and space.

Without the ‘I’ there is no universe.

Without the ‘I’ there is no waking.

Without the ‘I’ there is no dream.

Without the ‘I’ there is no illusion.

Without the ‘I’ there is no experience of birth, life, death, and the world. The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole. The ‘I’ hides the truth.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar