(Theory and doctrine as substitutes that distract from actual spiritual effort)
After Realisation all intellectual loads are useless burdens and are to be thrown overboard. Pre-occupation with theory, doctrine and philosophy can actually be harmful, insofar as it distracts a man from the really important work of spiritual effort, by offering an easier alternative which is merely mental, and which therefore cannot change his nature.
The unlearned are saved from the relentless grip of the devil of self-infatuation; they are saved from the malady of a myriad whirling thoughts and words; they are saved from running after wealth. It is from more than one evil that they are saved.
Can anything appear apart from that which is eternal and perfect? This kind of dispute is endless. Do not engage in it. Instead turn your mind inward and put an end to all this. There is no finality in disputations.
Apart from that they are useless. However, they are voluminous, in order to be adapted to the level of development of every seeker.
higher stages, until finally the goal is reached. When that happens, the goal alone remains and everything else, including the scriptures, become useless.
To understand anything there must be the Self. The Self is obvious, so why not remain as the Self? What need to explain the non-self?
(The Self as the screen — world as projection, reality as the unchanging substratum)
Brahman or the Self is like a cinema screen and the world like the pictures on it. You can see the picture only so long as there is a screen. But when the observer himself becomes the screen only the Self remains.
You see various scenes passing on a cinema screen: fire seems to burn buildings to ashes; water seems to wreck ships; but the screen on which the pictures are projected remains unburnt and dry. Why? Because the pictures are unreal and the screen real. Similarly, reflections pass through a mirror but it is not affected at all by their number or quality. In the same way, the world is a phenomenon upon the substratum of the single Reality which is not affected by it in any way. Reality is only One.
The world is perceived as an apparent objective reality when the mind is externalised, thereby abandoning its identity with the Self. When the world is thus perceived the true nature of the Self is not revealed; conversely, when the Self is realised the world ceases to appear as an objective reality. That is illusion which makes one take what is ever present and all pervasive, full to perfection and self-luminous and is indeed the Self and the core of one’s Being, for non-existent and unreal.
The world is indeed real, but not as an independent, self- subsistent reality, just as a man you see in a dream is real as a dream-figure but not as a man.
But to the former, Truth is adapted to the form of the world whereas to the latter Truth shines as the formless Perfection and the Substratum of the world. This is the only difference between them.
You are so engrossed in the letters that you forget about the paper, but the Enlightened sees the paper as the substratum whether the letters appear on it or not.
B.: Different seers saw different aspects of truth at different times, each emphasising some viewpoint. Why do you worry about their conflicting statements? The essential aim of the Vedas is to teach us the nature of the imperishable Self and show us that we are That. D.: About that part I am satisfied. B.: Then treat all the rest as auxiliary arguments or as expositions for the ignorant who want to know the origin of things.
The truth is that the world appears as a passing shadow in a flood of light. Light is necessary even to see the shadow. The shadow is not worth any special study, analysis or discussion. The purpose of the book is to deal with the Self and what is said about creation may be omitted for the present.”
Later, Sri Bhagavan continued: “Vedanta says that the cosmos springs into view simultaneously with him who sees it and there is no detailed process of creation. It is similar to a dream where he who experiences the dream arises simultaneously with the dream he experiences. However, some people cling so fast to objective knowledge that they are not satisfied when told this. They want to know how sudden creation can be possible and argue that an effect must be preceded by a cause. In fact they desire an explanation of the world that they see about them. Therefore the scriptures try to satisfy their curiosity by such theories. This method of dealing with the subject is called the theory of gradual creation, but the true spiritual seeker can be satisfied with instantaneous creation.”1
The Self, which is pure Consciousness, has no ego-sense about it. Neither can the physical body, which is inert in itself, have this ego-sense.
Therefore it is to be destroyed by any possible means; then That which ever is alone remains resplendent. This is Liberation or Enlightenment or Self-Realisation. D.: Bhagavan often says: ‘The world is not outside you’, or ‘everything depends on you’, or ‘what is there outside you?’ I find all this puzzling.
In this process all doubts and discussions are automatically given up, just as one who sleeps forgets all his cares for the time being.
B.: When a person is sufficiently mature he becomes convinced naturally. D.: How is this maturity to be attained? B.: Various ways are prescribed. But whatever previous development there may be, earnest Self-enquiry hastens it.
B.: The mind does have this sort of difficulty. It wants a fixed theory to satisfy itself with. Really, however, no theory is necessary for the man who seriously strives to approach God or his true Self. Everyone is the Self and indeed, is infinite. Yet each person mistakes his body for his Self.
(Realisation is already eternal — ego-thought is the only thing obscuring it)
Once the false notion ‘I am the body’ or ‘I am not realised’ has been removed, Supreme Consciousness or the Self alone remains and in people’s present state of knowledge they call this ‘Realisation.’ But the truth is that Realisation is eternal and already exists, here and now. Consciousness is pure knowledge. The mind arises out of it and is made up of thoughts. The essence of the mind is only awareness or consciousness. However, when the ego overclouds it, it functions as reasoning, thinking or perceiving. The universal mind, not being limited by the ego, has nothing outside itself and is therefore only aware. This is what the Bible means by ‘I am that I am.’3 The ego-ridden mind has its strength sapped and is too weak to resist distressing thoughts. The egoless mind is happy, as we see in deep, dreamless sleep. Clearly, therefore, happiness and distress are only modes of the mind.
The individual is limited to the waking state; he expects to see something different and accepts the authority of his senses. He will not admit that he who sees, the objects seen, and the act of seeing are all manifestations of the same Consciousness – the ‘I-I’. Meditation helps to overcome the illusion that the Self is something to see. Actually there is nothing to see. How do you recognise yourself now? Do you have to hold a mirror up in front of your self to recognise yourself? The awareness is itself the ‘I’. Realise it and that is the truth.
The Self is the pure Reality in whose light the body, the ego and all else shine. When all thoughts are stilled, pure Consciousness remains over. D.: How did the ego arise? Here is a question that gives rise to endless philosophising, but Bhagavan, holding rigorously to the truth of non-duality, refused to admit its existence. B.: There is no ego. If there were, you would have to admit of two selves in you. Therefore there is no ignorance. If you enquire into the Self, ignorance, which is already non-existent, will be found not to exist and you will say that it has fled. Sometimes it seemed to the listener that absence of thought must mean a mere blank, and therefore Bhagavan specifically guarded against this. Absence of thought does not mean a blank. There must be someone to be aware of that blank. Knowledge and ignorance pertain only to the mind and are in duality, but the Self is beyond them both. It is pure Light. There is no need for one Self to see another. There are no two selves. What is not the Self is mere non-self and cannot see the Self. The Self has no sight or hearing; it lies beyond them, all alone, as pure Consciousness.
A new entity, the ego, has arisen. It acts through the senses, sees objects, confuses itself with the body and claims to be the Self. In reality, what was in deep sleep continues to be now also. The Self is changeless. It is the ego which has come between. That which rises and sets is the ego. That which remains changeless is the Self.
(The three states as passing phases — the Self witnesses all)
B.: Waking, dream and sleep are mere phases of the mind, not of the Self. The Self is the witness of these three states. Your true nature exists in sleep.
That waking which alternates with sleep is not the true waking. Are you awake now? No. What you have to do is to wake up to your true state. You should neither fall into false sleep nor remain falsely awake.
Effort must be made in the waking state and the Self realised here and now. It will then be understood to be the continuous Self uninterrupted by the alteration of waking, dream and deep sleep.
B.: Why raise questions of what happens after death? Why ask whether you were born, whether you are reaping the fruits of your past karma, and so on? You will not raise such questions in a little while when you fall asleep. Why? Are you a different person now from the one you are when asleep? No, you are not. Find out why such questions do not occur to you when you are asleep.
In truth there is neither seed nor tree, there is only Being. He would occasionally explain in more detail, but still with the reservation that in reality there is only the changeless Self.
B.: It may be long or short, but a Realised Man undergoes no such change; he merges into the Infinite Being, as is said in the Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad.
All this is described in the scriptures, but in fact there is neither birth nor death; one simply remains what one really is. That only is the truth.
A competent person who has already, perhaps in a previous incarnation, qualified himself realises the truth and abides in peace as soon as he hears it told to him just once, whereas one who is not so qualified has to pass through the various stages before attaining samadhi (direct, pure consciousness of being).3
“Why think of death? Consider what happens in your sleep. What is your experience of that?” D.: But sleep is transient, whereas death is not. B.: Sleep is intermediate between two waking states, and in the same way death is intermediate between two births. Both are transient.
B.: The real Self is continuous and unaffected. The reincarnating ego belongs to a lower plane, that of thought. It is transcended by Self-realisation. Reincarnations are due to a spurious offshoot of Being and are therefore denied by the Buddhists. The human state is due to a mingling of the sentient with the insentient.
But if you cease to identify yourself with the body and realise the true Self, this confusion will vanish. You are eternal and others also will be found to be eternal. Until this is realised there will always be grief due to false values which are caused by wrong knowledge and wrong identification.
What is it to you who dies or is lost? Die yourself and be lost, becoming one with the Self of all (on the ego’s extinction).2
D.: Why do you say that the heart is on the right when biologists have found it to be on the left? What authority have you? B.: No one denies that the physical organ is on the left; but the heart of which I speak is on the right. That is my experience and I require no authority for it; still you can find confirmation of it in a Malayali book on Ayurveda and in the Sita Upanishad.
And by keenly watching the emergence of the ‘I’-thought on waking and its subsidence on going to sleep, one can see that it is in the heart on the right side. When a room is dark you need a lamp to light it, but when the sun rises there is no need for a lamp; objects are seen without one. And to see the sun itself no lamp is needed because it is self-luminous. Similarly with the mind. The reflected light of the mind is necessary to perceive objects, but to see the heart it is enough for the mind to be turned towards it. Then the mind loses itself and the Heart shines forth.
B.: No; only the quest – ‘Who am I?’ is necessary. That which continues to exist throughout sleep and waking is the same being in both; but while waking there is unhappiness and therefore the effort to remove it. When asked who awakes from sleep, you say ‘I’. Hold fast to this ‘I’. If that is done the Eternal Being reveals itself.
Only he who concentrates on the heart can remain aware when the mind ceases to be active and remains still, with no thoughts, whereas those who concentrate on any other centre cannot retain awareness without thought but only infer that the mind was still after it has become active again.
B.: Yes, it is quite right. Thoughts have to cease and reason to disappear for the ‘I-I’ to rise up and be felt. Feeling is the main thing, not reason. D.: Moreover, it is not in the head, but at the right side of the chest.
This does not mean that thought is impossible during the state of ‘I’ consciousness, as indeed one can see from the example of Bhagavan himself, who was permanently in that state. For the ignorant person, thought is like a dense cloud overhead, shutting him off from the illumination of the sun. When the ceiling of cloud has been broken and rolled back, letting in the light, he can use thought without being imprisoned by it. To change the metaphor, Bhagavan sometimes compared the mind of the Realised Man to the moon in the sky in day-time – it is there but its light is not needed – because one can see without it by the direct light of the sun.
(All unhappiness is the ego — scorch it by ignoring it)
B.: The Bliss of Self is always yours and you will find it if you seek it earnestly. The cause of your misery is not in your outer life; it is in you, as your ego. You impose limitations on yourself and then make a vain struggle to transcend them. All unhappiness is due to the ego. With it comes all your trouble. What does it avail you to attribute the cause of misery to the happenings of life when that cause is really within you? What happiness can you get from things extraneous to yourself? When you get it, how long will it last? If you would deny the ego and scorch it by ignoring it, you would be free. If you accept it, it will impose limitations on you and throw you into a vain struggle to transcend them. That was how the ‘thief ’ sought to ruin King Janaka. To be the Self that you really are is the only means to realise the Bliss that is ever yours.
It is thought that matters. Let the sensible man consider whether he knew his body while in deep sleep. Why, then, does he feel it in the waking state? Although the body was not felt in sleep, did not the Self exist? What was his state when in deep sleep and what is it now when awake? What is the difference? The ego rises up and that is waking. Simultaneously thoughts arise.
B.: The world is not external to you. Because you wrongly identify yourself with the body, you see the world outside you and its suffering becomes apparent to you; but the world and its sufferings are not real. Seek the reality and get rid of this unreal feeling.
D.: But why should there be suffering now? B.: If there were no suffering, how could the desire to be happy arise? If that desire did not arise, how could the quest of the Self arise?
Because the quality of purity (Sattva) is the real nature of the mind, clearness like that of the unclouded sky is the characteristic of the mind-expanse. Being stirred up by the quality of activity (rajas) the mind becomes restless and, influenced by darkness (tamas), manifests as the physical world. The mind thus becoming restless on the one hand and appearing as solid matter on the other, the Real is not discerned. Just as fine silk threads cannot be woven with the use of a heavy iron shuttle, or the delicate shades of a work of art be distinguished in the light of a lamp flickering in the wind, so is Realisation of Truth impossible with the mind rendered gross by darkness (tamas) and restless by activity (rajas). Because truth is exceedingly subtle and serene. Mind will be cleared of its impurities only by a desireless performance of duties during several births, getting a worthy Master, learning from him and incessantly practising meditation on the Supreme.
Then the mind regains its subtlety and composure. The Bliss of the Self can manifest only in a mind rendered subtle and steady by assiduous meditation. He who experiences that Bliss is liberated even while still alive.
D.: There is more pleasure in meditation than in sensual enjoyment and yet the mind seeks the latter and not the former. Why is that? B.: Pleasure and pain are only aspects of the mind. Our essential nature is happiness, but we have forgotten the Self and imagine that the body or the mind is the Self. It is this wrong identification that gives rise to misery. What is to be done? This tendency is very deep-rooted and has continued for many past births and so has grown strong. It will have to go before the essential nature, which is happiness, can be realised. And above all, not to create new vasanas or latent tendencies. D.: Swami, how can the grip of the ego be loosened? B.: By not adding new vasanas (bad habits) to it.
Therefore to inhere in one’s own Being, when the ego is dead is the perfect state. ‘The world is real’, ‘No, it is mere illusory appearance’, ‘The world is conscious,’ ‘No’, ‘The world is happiness’, ‘No,’ – What use is it to argue thus? That state is agreeable to all wherein, having given up the objective outlook, one knows one’s Self and loses all notions either of unity or duality, of oneself and the ego.
Without the eye can any object be seen? The seeing Self is the Eye, and that Eye is the Eye of Infinity. Brahman is not to be seen or known. It is beyond the three fold relationship of seer, sight and seen, or knower, knowledge and known.
Neither knowledge nor ignorance is real; what lies beyond them, as beyond all other pairs of opposites, is the Reality.
B.: The Gita says: Brahmano hi pratishtaham. If that aham is known, the whole is known. D.: That is the immanent aspect only.
D.: How are we to understand the line in the Gita: ‘This whole cosmos forms a particle of me.’ B.: It does not mean that a small particle of God separates from Him and forms the universe. His shakti is acting; and as a result of one phase of such activity the cosmos has become manifest. Similarly the statement in Purusha Sukta: Padosya viswa bhutani (All beings form one of His parts) does not mean that Brahman is in four parts.
B.: Yes. Freewill is the present appearing to a limited faculty of sight and will. That same ego sees its past activity as falling into a course of ‘law’ or rules – its own freewill being one of the links in the course of law. The Omnipotence and Omniscience of God are then seen by the ego to have acted through the appearance of his own freewill. So he comes to the conclusion that the ego must go by appearances. Natural laws are manifestations of God’s will and they have been laid down.
(God as the first person — always present as the I, receded only by our inattention)
D.: Is God personal? B.: Yes, He is always the first person, the I, ever standing before you. Because you give precedence to worldly things, God appears to have receded to the background. If you give up all else and seek Him alone, He will remain as the ‘I’, the Self.
D.: If so, they must be somewhere; where are they? B.: In you. D.: Then they are only my idea; something which I create and control? B.: Everything is.
D.: Is God subject to cosmic dissolution at the end of a cycle? B.: Why should He be? A man who realises the Self transcends cosmic dissolution and is liberated; why should not Ishvara (God) who is infinitely wiser and abler than a man?
B.: The devotee, God and the hymns are all the Self.
They all mean the Self. Para means not relative, or beyond the relative, that is to say the Absolute.
The whole Vedanta is contained in the two Biblical statements ‘I am that I am’ and ‘Be still and know that I am God’. For one who found Self-enquiry too difficult, he would recommend worship and submission.
Such phenomena may produce joy for the time being, but abiding peace (Shanti) does not result. That is got only by the removal of avidya (ignorance).1
Similarly, the answer to the question of whether the ego has free will or not is that there is no ego and therefore the question does not arise. Therefore Bhagavan’s usual response to the question would be to bid the questioner find out who it is that has free will or predestination.
One goes through all sorts of austerities to become what one already is. All effort is simply to get rid of the mistaken impression that one is limited and bound by the woes of samsara (this life).1
True surrender is love of God for the sake of love and for nothing else, not even for the sake of salvation. In other words, complete effacement of the ego is necessary to conquer destiny, whether you achieve this effacement through Self enquiry or through bhakti-marga.
A man makes the physical effort of putting the food in his mouth and eating; he does not say: What is the use of eating if I am predestined to die of starvation? He makes the mental effort of earning the money to buy food to eat. Why should he, then, apply a different logic when it comes to spiritual effort?
Bliss will ensue if you keep still, but however much you tell your mind this truth, it will not keep still. It is the mind that tells the mind to be still in order for it to attain bliss, but it will not do it. Though all the scriptures have said it and though we hear it daily from the great ones and even from our Guru, we are never quiet but stray into the world of Maya (illusion) and sense objects. That is why conscious, deliberate effort is needed to attain that effortless state of stillness.
(Effort is necessary until the ego ceases — then action becomes spontaneous)
So long as the ego lasts, effort is necessary. When the ego ceases to exist, actions become spontaneous. No one succeeds without effort. Mind control is not your birthright. The few who succeed owe their success to their perseverence. Sometimes glimpses of Realisation are attained before it becomes permanent, and in such cases effort still continues to be necessary.
B.: Your thinking that you have to make an effort to get rid of this dream of a waking state and your making efforts to attain Realisation or real awakening are all parts of the dream. When you attain Realisation you will see there was neither the dream during sleep nor the waking state, but only yourself and your real state. Sometimes the question took the form
D.: Grace is necessary for the removal of ignorance. B.: Certainly. But Grace is there all along. Grace is the Self. It is not something to be acquired. All that is necessary is to know its existence. In the same way, the sun is pure brightness; it does not know darkness, although others speak of darkness fleeing away on its approach. Like darkness, ignorance is a phantom, not real. Because of its unreality, it is said to be removed when its unreality is discovered. The sun is there and shines and you are surrounded by sunlight; still, if you would know the sun you must turn your eyes in its direction and look at it. Similarly, Grace is only to be found by effort, although it is here and now.
Agitation of mind is the cause of desire, of the sense of being the doer, of personality. If that is stopped, there is quiet. In this sense, ‘knowing’ means ‘being’. It is not relative knowledge involving the triads of knower, knowledge and known.
B.: When the sun rises some buds blossom, not all. Do you blame the sun for that? Nor can the bud blossom of itself; it requires the sunlight to enable it to do so.
D.: If the Atman has drawn the veil over itself, should it not itself remove the veil? B.: It will. But who complains of being veiled? Ask yourself that. D.: Why should I? Let the Atman itself remove the veil. B.: If the Atman complains about the veil, then the Atman will remove it.
But the mental obstacles are always there for you. They even increase greatly in the new surroundings. Change of environment is no help. The one obstacle is the mind, and this must be overcome whether in the home or in the forest. If you can do it in the forest why not in the home? So why change the environment? Your efforts can be made even now, whatever be the environment. D.: Is it possible to enjoy samadhi while busy with worldly work? B.: It is the feeling ‘I work’ that is the hindrance. Ask yourself: ‘Who works?’ Remember who you are. Then the work will not bind you. It will go on automatically. Make no effort either to work or to renounce; your effort is the bondage. What is destined to happen will happen. If you are destined to work, you will not be able to avoid it; you will be forced to engage in it. So leave it to the Higher Power. It is not really your choice whether you renounce or retain.
Similarly, when a sage engages in activity, his mind remains fixed in the Self and his activity does not distract him.
B.: Brahmacharya means ‘living in Brahman’; it has no connection with celibacy as commonly understood. A real Brahmachari is one who lives in Brahman and finds bliss in Brahman, which is the same as the Self.
D.: Is it necessary to take sannyasa (a vow of renunciation) in order to attain Self-realisation? B.: ‘Sannyasa’ means renouncing one’s individuality, not shaving one’s head and putting on ochre robes.
Why should your occupation or duties in life interfere with your spiritual effort? For instance, there is a difference between your activities at home and in the office. In your office activities, you are detached and so long as you do your duty you do not care what happens or whether it results in gain or loss to the employer. Your duties at home, on the other hand, are performed with attachment and you are all the time anxious whether they will bring advantage to you and your family. But it is possible to perform all the activities of life with detachment and regard only the Self as real. It is wrong to suppose that if one is fixed in the Self, one’s duties in life will not be properly performed.
B.: There is no principle that actions can be performed only on the basis of the ‘I-am-the-doer’ idea, and therefore there is no reason to ask whether they can be performed and the dutiesdischargedwithoutthatidea.Totakeacommonexample, an accountant working all day
B.: If objects have an independent existence, that is if they exist somewhere apart from you, then it may be possible for you to retire from them. But they do not. They owe their existence to you, to your thought, so where can you retire from them? As for reading books on Vedanta, you can go on reading any number but they can only tell you to realise the Self within you. The Self cannot be found in books. You have to find it for yourself, in yourself.
Solitude is an attitude of the mind. A man attached to the things of life cannot get solitude, wherever he may be, whereas a detached man is always in solitude.
The real silence, he taught, is a still mind. If the mind is active, there is no benefit in not speaking. What is needed is to control both thought and speech.
B.: Try and see. Your inherent tendencies will not let you. Meditation only comes step by step with their gradual weakening, by the grace of the Guru.
D.: Then it seems I am to remain at home? B.: You are to remain in your true state.
D.: Can I engage in spiritual practice even while remaining in the life of the world? B.: Yes, certainly; one ought to do so. D.: Isn’t life in the world a hindrance? Don’t all the books advocate renunciation? B.: The world is only in the mind. It does not speak out, saying: ‘I am the world’. If it did, it would have to be always present even in your sleep. Since it is not present in sleep, it is impermanent. Being impermanent, it has no reality. Having no reality, it is easily subdued by the Self. The Self alone is permanent. Renunciation is non- identification of the Self with the non-self. On the disappearance of ignorance, the non-self ceases to exist. That is true renunciation. D.: Why then did you leave your home in your youth? B.: That was my prarabdha (destiny). One’s course of conduct in this life is determined
B.: This has already been answered. You are always the Self. Earnest efforts never fail. Success is bound to result.
All that is required is to submit to God and do one’s duty, play one’s part in life, with full confidence. That is all that is asked of one. One is not responsible for the outcome.
B.: It is a thousand times more foolish to bear your own burden once you have undertaken the spiritual quest, whether by the path of knowledge or devotion.
B.: I mean that to say that is no more foolish than saying that you bear all the cares, burdens and responsibilities of life. The Lord of the universe bears the whole burden. You only imagine that you do. You can hand over all your burdens to Him. Whatever you have to do, you will be made an instrument for doing it at the right time. Do not imagine that you cannot do it unless you have the desire to. It is not desire that gives you the necessary strength. The strength is the Lord’s.
hot sun all day and were tired and hungry. Then you woke up and found that your stomach was full and that you had not stirred from your bed. But all this is not to say that while you are in the dream you can act as if the suffering you feel in it is not real. The hunger in the dream has to be appeased by dream food. The fellow beings you find hungry in the dream have to be provided with dream food.
But even so you must do it without ahankara that is without the sense of: ‘It-is-I-who-am-doing-it’. Instead you should feel: ‘I am the Lord’s instrument.’ Similarly you must not be conceited and think: ‘I am helping a man who is below me. He needs help and I am in a position to give it. I am superior and he is inferior’. You must help him as a means of worshipping God in him. All such service is serving the Self, not anybody else. You are not helping anybody else, but only yourself.
B.: It is your duty to BE and not to be this or that, ‘I am that I am’ sums up the whole of the Truth. The method is summarised in ‘Be still.’2
B.: In the course of one’s work one must have surrendered oneself to the higher Power whose might must be kept in mind and never lost sight of. How then can one be elated? One should not even care for the result of one’s action. Then alone the karma becomes unselfish.
Words therefore are the great-grandsons of the original source. If words can produce an effect, consider how much more powerful preaching through silence must be.
B.: Yes, certainly. It is the best possible help. But really there are no others to help, for a Realised Being sees only the Self just as a goldsmith estimating the gold in various jewels sees only the gold. Separate forms and beings exist only as long as you identify yourself with the body. When you transcend the body, others disappear along with your body-consciousness.
B.: Yes, it is like a cinema show. There is the light on the screen and the shadows flitting across impress the audience as the acting of some story. Now suppose that in this film story an audience is also shown on the screen. The seer and the seen will then both be on the screen. Apply this to yourself. You are the screen, the Self has created the ego, the ego has its accretions of thoughts, which are displayed as the world, trees, plants, etc., about which you are asking. In reality all these are nothing but the Self. If you see the Self it will be found to be all, everywhere and always. Nothing but the Self exists.
B.: The ego is the individuality and is not the same as the Lord of all. When it approaches the Lord with sincere devotion, He graciously assumes name and form and takes it to Himself. Therefore they say that the Guru is none other than the Lord. He is the human embodiment of Divine Grace.
B.: True. In the case of certain great souls, God reveals Himself as the Light of the Light from within.
(The I-thought and its source — tracing the ego back until it vanishes)
B.: To ask the mind to kill the mind is like making the thief the policeman. He will go with you and pretend to catch the thief, but nothing will be gained. So, you must turn inward and see where the mind rises from and then it will cease to exist.
It is the mind that is otherwise called the subtle body, ego, jiva or soul.
The ‘I’-thought is like a spirit which, although not palpable, rises up simultaneously with the body, flourishes with it and disappears with it. The body-consciousness is the wrong ‘I’. Give it up. You can do so by seeking the source of ‘I’. The body does not say: ‘I am’. It is you who say ‘I am the body.’ Find out who this ‘I’ is. Seek its source and it will vanish.