WHO IS GOD?

WHO IS GOD?

Hari Om!

Facebook discussion: March 25-26, 2016:

“The highest forms of knowing, loving and doing and the ultimate goals of all learning should be the knowledge of God and loving service of God’s creation.”

In response to the above post on the Facebook, a dear friend asked the following question:

What or who is God? How to know Him or believe in His existence without perceiving Him with senses?

The following satsanga transpired: (questions in italics, answers, by yours truly, in normal font)

God is our Common Creator. The Creator of All and Everything. For creating anything, three things are required: material, equipment or means, and intelligence: nimita, upaadaana, and sahkaari karana. This is true from making our breakfast to the making of galaxies. If making an ordinary thing like a clay pot requires clay, water, fire, potter’s wheel and the intelligent potter who has knowledge or expertise to make pot, do we really think that this marvelous, variegated world came into existence on its own?!! The material, efficient, and auxiliary cause of the universe is God—abhinna-nimit-upaadaana karanam. God is at once the maker and material of the world. Once the need for Creator is understood beyond any shadow of doubt, we can proceed further.

Superb answer…..thank you…..I accept the need for creator…..
May I request you to proceed further?

You are very right in asking how to know Him or believe in His existence without perceiving Him with senses? This is a profound question. Let’s begin with 3 things: You or I, the world, and the creator of the world. Everything worth knowing can be classified in either one of these three broad categories. Now, let’s start with what is closest to us, what is relatively well known to us. That is, ourselves. So far, so good?

Yes, absolutely. It seems that I am the closest to me and should know myself pretty well. BUT when I try checking that, I am shocked! to find I don’t have a clue
Please see the following to get a clue… 🙂

What is the truth of our existence? Mostly we know ourselves at the body-mind-intellect level. We also believe that waking (jaagrat) is the only state of consciousness to really know about. However, the clue to our reality–who am I–lies in understanding the import of the two other states: dream (svapana) state and deep sleep (shushupati). When we go to the dream state, we discover that the waking world of familiar objects disappears. We slip into a different dimension of time and space, so to speak. We can experience 2 months (time) of vacation in Hawaii (space) in 10 seconds while snoring comfortably on our bed in our home. Science tells us that most dreams last for about 10-15 seconds. But we have no recollection of our body at all lying on the bed during the dream state. Let’s say i dreamt about a tiger and started running away in fear. Now the tiger is out there and fear is in my mind; but the tiger and running and the fear are all my mind’s creation. It is all mind’s game. Could this waking world may also be a type of dream? Svapana-nagari?

[A Chinese philosopher, and a half-father of Zen, Chuang Tzu, narrates a story and states a vital point, rather half-jokingly: “Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”]

One thing becomes very clear from this dream-analysis: that i can have an existence apart from my body. We would have never have had this experience nor believed its possibilities if God did not give us the gift of dreaming.

Let’s now go to the deep sleep state.

Now all the clues to who we are [and who/what God is] are hidden in the deep sleep state. In the deep sleep state, we even lose the awareness of our mind. That is why we say, upon waking in the morning, i did not know a thing, i slept like a log, and so forth. But we all universally say, that it felt good! Mazaa aa gayaa! There is no other activity we can do every day for 8 hours or more without getting bored except sleep! Sleep is the most democratic thing in the universe. Now let’s analyze this experience of deep sleep further. Clearly, in deep sleep, we have no consciousness of our body or mind. We do not know our gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion, fame, glory, wealth (or lack of it), possessions etc. But still we feel good, we experience Ananda. Where did this Ananda come from? Not from the things that we just listed in the previous sentence. Here is the greatest lesson about happiness: It is not dependent upon external things, otherwise we will not feel happy during deep sleep where we have no awareness of these things!

This is the most important insight learned in 40 years of study about the haunts of happiness. Let’s go deeper into the deep sleep.

Now, who was awake when you were deep sleep? It is law of memory that we can only remember what we have experienced in one state/form or the other. So, when you were deep sleep–your mind was completely inactive, how were you able to remember in the morning that you slept well, that you experienced ananda, happiness? Who was awake at the time when you were deep sleep, who was experiencing Ananda, bliss, happiness? Kindly think hard about it. We will then proceed to the most important segment of this analysis tomorrow.

Excuse me. I do not remember anything incl aananda during the deep sleep. I can only say in retrospect that the sleep was refreshing and I feel nice now when awake.

Yes, yes! That is what it is: “refreshing” “nice” and the like. Do you say that when you are stressed out?

My point is it seems there was nobody was aware during the deep sleep.

If there was no body aware or awake during deep sleep, who was able to say in the morning, it felt refreshing? It felt nice. Who felt refreshing-ness or nice-ness? Please think hard about it. Because this holds the keys to your very first question.

One more hint: Even when we are deep sleep–like a log–if someone calls our name, we hear it and wake up. Otherwise, there may be lot of noise around–airplanes flying over, we normally do not wake up. Why this affinity to our name?

What does this affinity prove?

The importance of our name with which we identify. There is no difference between the name and the person, at the most deepest, essential level. That is why nama-japa is recommended. By calling the naam, we are invoking the naami. Naami is not different from naam.

I agree…. This is a crucial point. Excuse me for speaking my truth. I feel that the refreshing-ness was not felt during deep sleep but it was after waking up. So the experience and the comment is about the state of wakefulness following sleep.
I want to understand and agree with your perspective but am struggling to.

Good. There is no requirement to agree; only to understand. It is very logical, rational. Faith is defined us belief in something, “pending” verification. We are doing verification, together. Real faith is never blind.

Ask yourself these questions: 1. if i did not feel refreshed during sleep (for i cannot feel refreshed during dream since they are mostly agitations of restless mind), how did i feel so fresh miraculously immediately upon waking up? 2. If deep sleep were stressful or uncomfortable, would i be “looking forward” to it, every day of my life? The key is to understand that neither sleep nor freshness is physical or mental only. It is at the soul-level, being-level. That is why sleep deprivation is the worst kind of punishment.

Another key point: We can only love that which is a source of ananda, comfort for us. We cannot love that which gives us pain. It is also true in every phase of our life. So, i love sleep unconditionally all the time. It must be the source of bliss for me. Focus on the part, “i slept so well; it felt so good.” Who was experiencing these states of euphoria when my mind was completely in abeyance? This is where Vedanta steps in and says, That part which was awake when you were deep sleep is your real nature, the Self. The Saakshi-Chaitanya! The Turiyam—literally, the fourth. The Antar-yamin, God. This Saakshi-Chaitanya, Pure Consciousness is there in all the three states and beyond the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. [That part “hears” and responds to the name, when someone calls us. Sometimes the person would not wake up, even when we literally shake him or her. But upon calling their name, they would wake up immediately.]

Please ponder deeply over these points, for the secret to the question, “Who am I?” is hidden right here. Once this is clear, the journey on the path of self-awakening is smooth.

One more subtle point to be noted: Ananda, bliss is not a property of the Self, it is its “very” nature. It is not that the Self “felt” ananda; it is rather, the Self “is” Ananda! It is our ananda-svarupa. (it is called “anubhava kaa didaar,’ by sages like Mahatama Nischaldasji)

Happiness is not a place we go to; it is place we all come from. That’s why, during deep sleep, we did not need the props of name, fame, possessions, etc. to feel happy. That is the most unique observation of Vedanta: Happiness is not what we Seek; happiness is what we Are! That is why we do not like to be unhappy. Because unhappiness is not our true nature. I have never met a person who ever complained about being happy! Why? Because, happiness is our very nature.

Here is another prakriyaa of Vedanta: I love myself the most. I can only love that which is a source of happiness to me. Therefore, it follows, “my-self” whom i love all the time unconditionally, is the source of happiness. In other words, this “I-AM”, the Self, is ananda-svarupa.

So, who am i? Sharir trayam vyatirikta, avasthaa-trayam saakshi, pancha-kosha vilakshana, Satchitananda svarupa, “aham Brahma asmi:” I am different from three bodies (causal, subtle, physical–kaaran, sukhsham, sathula); Witness-consciousness (I- principle) of three states–jagrat, swapana, shushupati; different from 5 sheaths–annamaya, praanamaya, manomaya, vijyaana maya, and anandamaya kosha; I am of the nature of pure Existence-Conciousness-Bliss Absolute!

The whole teachings have been shared. Everything i wrote is due to the blessings of my teachers and the Grace of the Lord. Not even a word has been added from my side. If it were coming from me, it will be limited, biased, and subject to error.

Next, i will humbly share 5 Axioms of this Witness-Consciousness, the most important revelation of Vedanta–the culmination, the end, the inner core of Vedas.

A modern sage-saint of Vedānta presents following 5 axioms of consciousness:*
1. Consciousness is not a part, product or a property of the body.
2. Consciousness is an independent entity that pervades and enlivens the body.
3. Consciousness is not limited to the boundaries of the body. It is all pervading.
4. Consciousness does not come to an end with the destruction of the body. It is eternal.
5. Consciousness manifests through the medium of material objects. When the recognizable medium of body ceases to exist, consciousness is not recognizable; however, it does not cease to exist.
*Based on Swami Parmarthananda, Discourses on Śrī Dakśiṇāmūrti Stotram, discourse # 9 of 16.

Now, the question: “The highest forms of knowing, loving and doing and the ultimate goals of all learning should be the knowledge of God and loving service of God’s creation.”

It is not possible to describe That which is the source of all knowledge. That which is the Subject, by definition, cannot be objectified. It is aprameya, non-objectifiable.

We cannot know Reality, because we are the Reality! That applies to God as well.

That is why, in our Upanishads, it is described as “Not this, not this: Neti, Neti.” This is via negativa.

Positively, Upanishads call it, Om, pranava. This is via positiva.

We will conclude our satsanga with a venerable dialog between Yajñāvalkya and his sage-wife, Maitreyī.

These were the parting instructions of the sage Yajñāvalkya:

“This Self is That which has been described as ‘Not this, not this.’ It is imperceptible, for It is never perceived; undecaying, for It never decays; unattached, for It never attaches Itself; unfettered, for It never feels pain and never suffers injury.
Through what, O Maitreyī, should one know the Knower? Bṙhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.14

“Thus you have the instruction given to you. This much, indeed, is the means to Immortality.”

Having said this, Yajñāvalkya departed.

तू दिल में तो आता है, समझ में नहीं आता ….

Yes, my dear, Through what should one know the Knower? This much, indeed, is the means to Immortality! So, have our sages taught us.

Let’s ponder over these truths and be free.

नां सलीका है आरज़ू का, नां बंदगी ही बंदगी है
सब तेरा करम है मौला, के बात अब तक बनी हुई है

May we all continue to grow in insight and service!

Hari Om!