Posted on: 24 Dec 2014
Note: This article is meant for intellectuals only
Shri Phani asked, “Generally the word Ahankara is used in the sense of pride. You are using the same word in the sense of basic ‘I’. Please comment on this in view of the awaken, dream and deep sleep states”.
Shri Swami Replied: The usage of Ahankara in the sense of pride is certainly observed in the world. The influence of this usage is so much that some ancient Sanskrit scholars also have taken the ahankara in the sense of pride as one of the four internal instruments (Antahkarana). The characteristic works of the these four instruments were said by them as 1) Samshaya (doubting) for mind 2) Nishchaya (deciding) of intelligence 3) Smarana (remembering) of memory or chitta and 4) Garva (pride) of ego or ahankara. This is not correct. The reason is that these four are grouped as one category (jaati) having similar status. The ahankara causing pride is to be condemned and stands with far lower status. The other three do not fall in such lower status. Mind debates, intelligence decides and memory remembers the concepts. These three are quite appreciable and noble in the spiritual knowledge. But, pride is condemned and is in very low level. A group must have similar characteristics. Adding ahankara to this group is not acceptable. You will not say that there is a group of four noble and giant animals in which three are lions and one fox. If you take ahankara as the basic ‘I’ causing the impression of ‘I’ repeatedly, such work is not of low status. All these four stand in the neutral level doing the works on either side. Any concept good or bad can be debated, concluded and remembered. Similarly, the ahankara as basic ‘I’ supplies the subject for the concept, which may be good or bad. As already told by Me, the concept of ‘I’ can stand as subject in pride as well as in obedience. Hence, ahankara should be the basic ‘I’ only giving the impression of ‘I’ as subject. Then only, ahankara can stand as one of the four. This word ahankara can be also used in the sense of pride. A word can have several meanings. But, ahankara should not be taken as pride when you consider it as one of these four.
The present Advaita scholars feel that the basic ‘I’ is beyond these four internal instruments. This means that these people also consider ahankara as pride. They say that the basic ‘I’ or soul or pure awareness is witness of all the three states called as awaken (Jaagrat), dream (Swapna) and deep sleep (Sushupti). The state of the soul is said to be the final forth level (Turiya). All these can be accepted with certain corrections. The soul or pure awareness is without any thought but is dynamic nervous energy. ‘I’ is also a thought or dynamic mode. Therefore, the pure awareness kept in the fourth state cannot be called as the basic ‘I’. In meditation, all thoughts including ‘I’ disappear and the pure awareness alone is left over. This pure awareness appears as if it cannot be connected to ‘I’. You feel that it is only aware of itself. In fact, a reflection of pure awareness is created as an object and you think that pure awareness remains as the subject without the concept of ‘I’. Due to presence of subject and object, the process of awareness continues. This pure awareness stands as subject with the hidden ‘I’ in it. ‘I’ is not expressed in such state. Hence, here also the actual subject is ‘I’ only. The awareness is only a process connecting the subject and object. Awareness is dynamic process of nervous energy. The energy is always dynamic. The awareness cannot exist in the absence of subject and object. If Rama and Ravana are absent, there is no war between them. In the states of awaken and dream, the subject as expressed basic ‘I’ and the objects external or internal forms exist along with the process of awareness between the subject and objects. Awareness is work only, which is the specific form of inert energy functioning in a specific nervous system. Work needs both subject and object. This clearly shows that the subject is always ‘I’ in expressed or hidden states. The object is either external physical world as in awaken state or mental imaginary world as in the state of dream.
In awaken state, awareness is in the form of subject as well as the process of work connecting the subject and object. In dream state, the subject, object and the connecting work are made of awareness only. In the state of meditation, the subject is awareness with hidden ‘I’, object is the reflection of awareness and the connecting work is also awareness. In fact, the ‘I’ as subject is always in the pure awareness in any state and generally the ‘I’ is in hidden state only. Only in some specific occasions, the ‘I’ gets expressed. In deep sleep, the nervous system takes full rest and does not function at all. The subject and objects disappear along with the awareness. The body is inert with all the functioning inert systems like lungs, heart etc., and the nervous system also becomes inert since it is not functioning. Only matter and inert energy are left over. Neither the soul nor pure awareness with hidden ‘I’ nor the expressed basic ‘I’ nor four internal instruments exist. The four internal instruments are only the four fashions of the working awareness. Just like chain, ring, ear ring and bangle are the different jewels with different designs of the same gold, the four internal instruments are also different working styles of the same awareness. Hence, in the absence of awareness no faculty exists. Therefore, the basic ‘I’ or soul cannot be the witness of the deep sleep.
Q: At the end of deep sleep, as soon as you enter the awaken state, You are telling, “I slept well with all happiness. I did not know anything in the deep sleep”. This means that the basic ‘I’ or soul has witnessed the happiness during the deep sleep and also grasped the absence of any knowledge, which is ignorance. The ignorance also can be grasped by the awareness only. Therefore, the awareness existed as witness in the deep sleep.
My straight question to you to squash all your points is: Were you aware of the grasping of ignorance or grasping of happiness during the period of deep sleep? Nobody has such experience in the deep sleep. Perhaps you were in the state of meditation, which is also a perfect rest equal to deep sleep. In such case, all your points can be true. But, such meditation state is not deep sleep. In awaken state also a person says, “I am happy. I do not know anything”. These statements contain verbs of present tense. But, the statements after deep sleep contain verbs of past tense only. As soon as you rise from the deep sleep, you have started grasping the knowledge of all objects. Earlier to this, naturally you did not know anything. This logic of difference made you infer deep sleep as a state in which you did not know anything. As soon as you enter awaken state, you experience the happiness due to accumulated energy resulting from the total rest of nervous system. The absence of works like walking, talking, hearing, seeing etc., also add to this giving more happiness due to absence of expenditure of energy. You have inferred that this happiness is due to the preceding state of deep sleep and you state that you slept well with all happiness. Since you grasp all types of knowledge as soon as you came out of deep sleep, you inferred that earlier to this state, you did not grasp any knowledge. This knowledge is based on the inference used after deep sleep and this is not based on the perception during the deep sleep. Hence, there was no experience of happiness or ignorance during the deep sleep. If you had such experience, you should have used the present tense verbs during the deep sleep itself. Thus, the soul is born and ends on every day. This concept is raised in the Gita and is not condemned or criticized by the Lord (Athachainam…). The two words ‘Atha’ and ‘Cha’ mean an alternative theory with due consideration and without any objection. Here, the soul is in the work form of inert energy, called as awareness. If you take another alternative theory to maintain that the soul is eternal, it is also acceptable because in the deep sleep the soul exists as inert energy, which is the basic material of awareness. In such case, the Lord praised inert energy as eternal, all pervading and inert (Nityah…). The two theories stand with equal status since in the first theory, the soul is taken as awareness and in the second theory, the soul taken as inert energy. You need not worry about the birth and death of the soul every day because the soul is not God at all. If you take the soul as awareness, it is not eternal and all pervading in this universe as it is limited to a living being only. But, the inert energy is eternal and all pervading. These two adjectives are added to the soul by the Lord in the second theory only. If the Lord wanted to condemn the first theory, He should not have used the two words Atha and Cha. He should have used the word ‘tu’, which denotes the rejection of the proposed theory. The soul taken as awareness cannot be God, being non-eternal and limited to living beings only. The soul as inert energy also cannot be God since it cannot think and is inert without freedom. The Advaita philosophers claim the soul to be God and hence, all these tricks are used. The fourth state ‘Turiya’ is actually the state of unimaginable God and your mind, intelligence, logic and even imaginations cannot touch it. The unimaginable power of unimaginable God makes God to think without being awareness and pervade all without being inert cosmic energy. By any logic or tricks in the arguments, a fox cannot claim itself a lion and the created soul cannot claim itself God or creator.