[Advaita-l] Saakshii-Jiiva-Iswara Analysis - V

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Analysis of
Saakshii, Jiiva And Iswara
Based on
Vichaarasaagara of Nischaladaasa - V
 
Nischaladaasa says
when ahankaara is included in - I am -it is called visheshaNa chaitanya and
when ahankaara is excluded in –I am- it is called saamaanya chaitanyam or
upahita chaitanyam i.e upAdhi sahita chaitanyam also called saakshii.
Technically we can say that ‘ahankaara vishiShTa aatmaa is jiiva’ – a qualified
or particularized consciousness; and ahankaara upahita chaitanya, conditioned
non-specific consciousness, is saakshii. Thus one and the same mixture is
called jiiva or saakshii depending on the discriminative knowledge. 
 
Taking the example
of full-moon in the night, both ignorant and wise men experience the moon and
the moonlight. Because of that moonlight only both experience moon as well as
perceive the objects on the earth that are illumined by the moonlight. Luminous
moon is a mixture of moon and the sunlight. An informed or knowledgeable person
looks at the shining moon, excludes the moon and recognizes that what he sees
is the light reflected by the moon and the light that he sees in the form of a
moon is the sunlight. Form or upAdhi is provided by the moon but what he sees as
the moon form is the reflected sunlight only. Sunlight itself does not have any
form of its own but takes the form of the moon when it is reflected by the
moon. For this informed person moonlight is upahita chandraH – that is, the
limited non-luminous moon (upAdhi) has become luminous in the moon-form due to
the sunlight. For an ignorant person the moon is a luminous entity (vishiShTa
chadraH) in the sky, by whose light, moon and the objects on the earth are
visible during full-moon night. There is only one moon, but perceived
differently by the informed and the uninformed persons. Looking at the other
plants in the sky which are illumined similarly are recognized as luminous
objects. An informed person recognizes that there is only one light i.e.
sunlight that is pervading and illuming all these non-luminous bodies in the
sky. The objects reflecting the sunlight are different but what is being
reflected is the same sunlight.  The
uninformed person on the other hand says there are several luminous bodies in
the sky each with their own ahankaara or luminosities. In this example,
saakshii is similar to the sunlight and is only one but illumining several
non-luminous bodies in the sky, and in the process making them appear as
luminous entities. Each is getting illumined depending on their capacities or
upaadhis that differ in size and shape some with own their moons. 
 
Another most
important also to note is that without these objects reflecting the sunlight,
the presence of sunlight cannot be recognized, even though it is there. Exactly
the same analogy holds good for aatma and ahankaara or anaatma. The
all-pervading consciousness gets reflected wherever a subtle body is there.
Local minds get enlivened by reflecting the light of consciousness. The absence
of reflecting medium does not mean the absence of light of consciousness as in
the deep sleep state. If the reflecting medium is dirty or covered by smoke
then the reflection is also of poor quality. Quality or the attributes of the
reflecting media have nothing to do with the all-pervading light of
consciousness. Minds are known only when the consciousness illumines the mind
just as moon is known only when the sunlight gets reflected by it. In addition
one can know the objects of the world via the sense organs and the mind only
when the reflected light from the mind falls on the thoughts or vRittis that
arise when knowledge of the objects talks place in the waking and dream worlds.
It is similar to one seeing the objects on the earth when moon light falls on
the objects. When I see the objects in the moon-light what I am seeing the
moonlight reflected by the objects. However moonlight is nothing but sunlight
which was first reflected by the moon. Same analogy applies in understanding
the saakshii and ahankaara. 
 
The all-pervading
light of consciousness first gets reflected by the mind as chidaabhaasa and
this reflected light falls on the thoughts and get reflected back to the mind
forming the knowledge of the thoughts. The first reflected light of
consciousness and the second re-reflected consciousness from the thoughts
constitute notion of subject thought and the object thought – aham vRitti and
idam vRitti. Both subject and object duality notion arises in the mind only
when the all-pervading consciousness first reflected as chidaabhaasa and then light
from chidaabhaasa gets further reflected by the object thoughts back to the
mind. All the objective knowledge talks place via this process. Although there
is only one all-pervading light of consciousness that is getting reflected
first by the mind and next by the thoughts, a notion that one is subject and
the others are object thoughts is developed due to jiiva paying more attention
to the reflecting media than to the consciousness that is getting reflected. In
a way, it is similar to seeing the moon and the seeing the objects in the
moonlight. In both cases, there is only one sunlight that is being seen. When
we see the moon as luminous entity and then see the objects on the earth when
they are illuminated by the moonlight, we ignore the sunlight and consider that
the moon is shining and in its light objects are seen. An informed person
recognizes that it is sunlight that one is seeing while seeing both the moon
and the objects on the earth due to the moonlight. Meditation is intellectually
ignoring the media of reflections (moon and the objects) and paying attention
to the sunlight that is getting reflected during the full-moon night.  Similarly Vedantic meditation is to shift the
attention of the mind to the light of consciousness that I am that illumines
the mind and the objects that are being perceived or known via the mind and
senses. Hence, Kena Up. says consciousness is revealed in every perception –
pratibhoda viditam matam. 
We take some brake
before we post the other parts.
Hari Om!
Sadananda