PART THREE EXPERIENCE OF THE TRUTH (Tattva Anubhava Viyal) 1 Direct Knowledge (Aparoksha Jnana Tiran) 878 Self alone is the real eye. Therefore Self, which is known by itself, alone is the real direct knowledge. But insentient people, who do not have Self’s sight, claim the knowledge of alien sense-objects to be direct knowledge. Sadhu Om: Sri Bhagavan here describes those who do not see through the eye of Self as ‘insentient people’, since they see only through the insentient physical eyes. Such people say that the knowledge of the objects of this world is direct knowledge [pratyaksha aparoksha jnana]. However, the world seen in front of the eyes is not perceived directly, since it is known only through the medium of the mind and the five senses. Self, the knowledge of one’s own existence, is a more real and more direct knowledge than the knowledge of any alien object. It is only after there is the first knowledge ‘I am’ that the knowledge ‘the world and all else exists’ can come into being, and hence no knowledge except ‘I am’ can be direct knowledge; Self alone is the ever-direct knowledge. 879 Can the appearance of the triads [triputis] be possible in the view of Self, which exists and shines as the [one] unlimited eye [of pure consciousness]? All other objects in front of It will be [found to be] Self alone, having been burnt by the powerful look of the eye of the fire of Jnana. 880 The one undivided real consciousness which does not know anything as different [from itself] and which is devoid of the knowledge of all these – the dual sight of good and bad, time, space, cause, effect, karma and so on – is the unlimited eye [mentioned in the previous verse]. 2 The Ever-Direct Experience (Nitya-Aparoksha Tiran) 881 All the benefit to be obtained by inner enquiry is only the destruction of the deceptive ‘I’-sense [the ego]. It would be too much to say that it is to attain Self, which always shines clear and ever-attained. Sadhu Om: In Maharshi’s Gospel, Book One, chapter six, page 30, Sri Bhagavan says, “To make room, it is enough that the cramping be removed; room is not brought in from elsewhere.” See also Talks p. 199. If the ego is destroyed, that alone will be sufficient, for it will be equivalent to attaining Self. 882 The pure and direct shining forth of Self, like that of the tenth man, is attained merely by the removal of the false forgetfulness [of Self]; the gain experienced is not a new one. Know thus. Sadhu Om: After crossing a river, ten fools began to count themselves to see whether they had already crossed safely. But while counting each one forgot to count himself, and so they each counted only nine, which led them to believe that one of them had drowned in the river. Seeing their distress, a wayfarer understood that their misery was only due to their having forgotten to count themselves, so he said, “I will give each of you one blow, and you must each count aloud as you receive your blow”. As soon as the tenth man received his blow and counted “Ten,” they all exclaimed, “Yes, we are ten after all. Our lost companion has been found.” In truth, however, the tenth man was not newly gained, for he had never really been lost. Likewise, the experience of Self is not to be newly gained. The fruit of sadhana is only the removal of the seeming forgetfulness of Self. 883 Will an ornament become gold only when its form is destroyed by melting? Is it not [in reality] gold even while it is in the form of an ornament? Therefore, know that all the three [unreal] entities [the world, soul and God] formed by the mind, are likewise [in reality] nothing but existence-consciousness [Self]. Sadhu Om: Even while they appear to be many different things, the world, the soul and God are in reality nothing but the one Self alone. It is wrong to think that they will become Self only after their diverse forms have disappeared. In truth, only Self, the substance or reality of those diverse forms, is real, while the forms themselves are ever unreal. 884 One’s seeking and attaining Self in the heart is just like a woman searching for her necklace being deluded into thinking that she had lost it though she was [in fact] always wearing it around her neck, and [finally] regaining it by touching her neck. Michael James: Just as the woman had in fact never lost her necklace, so in truth Self is never unknown. Therefore to think that Self-knowledge is something to be newly attained is no less foolish than to think that the woman had regained her necklace only when she touched her neck. 885 Except by [the effort made through] the path of enquiring into the mysterious sense, [the ego], by whatever effort is made through other paths such as karma, it is impossible to attain and enjoy Self, the treasure shining in the heart. Sadhu Om: In this verse Sri Bhagavan clearly and emphatically gives His verdict that however much one may strive on whatever other path such as karma, yoga, bhakti or jnana, one cannot attain the bliss of Self until one enquires ‘Who am I who strive in these other paths?’ Compare verse 14 of Ulladu Narpadu – Anubandham here. 886 If that unequalled state which is to be experienced in future through tapas in the form of [the six steps of] sama and so on is a real state, it should exist [and be experienced] even now as much as then. Sadhu Om: If we were to say that we do not experience Self now and that we will experience it only at some time in the future, it would amount to saying that Self is non- existent at one time and existent at another time. If something is non-existent at one time and comes into existence at another time, will it not inevitably be lost once again? Therefore, since it does not exist in all the three times [past, present and future], how can it be called a real thing [sat vastu]? Hence, since Self-knowledge is the reality, it should be understood to be here, now, ever-attained [nitya-siddha] and directly experienced [pratyaksha]. The same idea is also expressed in the next verse. 887 If that state does not exist now but will come [into existence] only later, that state which will come cannot be our natural state, and hence it will not remain with us permanently but will [at some time] go away from us. Sri Muruganar: See the last point mentioned in the previous verse. Since a state which comes at one time and goes away at another time is not the final state, no matter how glorious and blissful it may be, it will not be eternal. If one’s own natural state is itself the final state, then there will be no destruction for it. It is only natural and just that any state other than one’s own natural state will go away from one at some time. 888 That [Brahman] is the whole [purnam]; this [the world-appearance] is also the whole. Even when [this] whole merges into [that] whole, it is the whole. Even when [this] whole goes out [as if a separate reality] from [that] whole, the whole alone remains. Michael James: This verse is adapted from the famous Vedic stanza, “Purnamadah purnamidam ...’, which was sometimes quoted by Sri Bhagavan. In some commentaries upon Sri Bhagavan’s teachings this Vedic stanza is wrongly interpreted to support the view that “it is both false and futile to affirm that Brahman alone is real and that the world [of names and forms] is unreal” (see Sat-Darshana Bhashya, 6th ed., pp. 6-7). However, when this stanza says, “That is whole and this is whole,” it should not be taken to mean that Brahman is real and that the world as such is also real. Sri Bhagavan’s teaching is that the whole world is unreal as world but real as Brahman, the whole (purnam), just as the snake is unreal as a snake but real as the rope, its base. Therefore this verse should be understood in the following light: “That [the rope] is the rope; this [the seeming snake] is also the rope. Even when this snake merges [disappears] into that rope, it is the rope. Even when this snake goes out [as if a snake] from that rope, the rope alone remains.” In other words, just as in truth the rope alone exists, so in truth Brahman, the whole, alone exists; and just as the seeming snake is a false appearance, so the seeming world is a false appearance. Neither the going out (manifestation) of this world-appearance nor its merging again into Brahman is real. Brahman ever remains as the immutable and unchanging whole. 889 That [Brahman] is the supreme space; you are also the supreme space. That [the Mahavakya] which instructs that ‘You are That’ is also supreme space. [By ‘yoga’ or ‘union’] nothing is newly added to that real whole, which exists and shines as the common space, and [by ‘neti-neti’ or ‘negation’] nothing is removed from it. Sri Muruganar: This verse explains the idea expressed in stanza 29 of Upadesa Undiyar. We should know that in truth there is no attaining Liberation.