Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Consciousness becoming conscious of consciousness

Consciousness becoming conscious 

The first line  of  Dnaneshwari., a commentary on Bhagwad Geeta by Saint philosopher Dnaneshwara contains the word " swasamvedyaa" and " aatmaroopa." They are   very eloquent and  profoundly  express the ultimate truth  about creation and it's purpose.
" Swasamvedyaa"  contains two parts-  "Swa"  and    "Samvedyaa"
Swa means the self. The "Swa"  in the term does not treat the " self" as  a subject .
It indicates the   totipotent, attributeless   (tatva) , the  unmanifest formless essence. It is a state of beingness,   formless  beyond  any spatio-temporal grid.  A   "singularity"'  with the potential to manifest . A quantum superposition. 
                 "Samvedyaa "is a complex word that  has shades of   awareness ,sensitivity and  compassion.  Our understanding of this manifest world is based on a  Cartesian duality .  It is based on a subject object duality, and so our understanding  of the  word  "consiousness" is the verb that links a subject to the  object. I (the subject) am conscious of  something (the object).
This term  expresses consciousness  as a qualia, between the subject and object. It would be  incomplete  to merely say  "I am conscious" without a reference to an  object.  
           " Swasamvedya" is  the unmanifest  essence  becoming conscious of  itself.  Consciousness becoming conscious of itself. The quantum superposition collapsing as   creation by emergence of an observer.The "big bang" becomes  a manifestation rather than creation. The emergence of a witness. The unmanifest  becoming manifest to become aware of itself. It  is not a chronological event in space-time.Time and space are co-ordinates  fabricated by the formless essence. The words eternal and immortal are relevant only in the construct of this spatio temporal frame of reference that is necessary for manifestation of a  form.  The form is a  transient  impermanent (anitya) expression  of the eternal formless ( nitya ,nirgun , niraakaar )That could perhaps explain why scholars  like Einstein  interpreted time as a fourth dimension. Space time are perceptive threads to  weave the fabric of creation.
In a state of formless awareness eternity has as much meaning as thickness has to a two dimensional shadow and immortality makes as much sense as a child of an infertile couple.
                    The " nothingness" or "shoonyavaad"  refers to this  unmanifest state  where there is no subject object dichotomy. Who  is going to be aware of what ? It literally means "No Thing", or devoid of  subject and object. 
For our understanding in a  Cartesian space time frame, nothing  denotes  the absence  of content in a containing entity.Nothing  becomes a subject and containing entity the object.
This state of nothingness has no negative connotation but merely dissolution of subject object in formless consciousness. The perceiver of nothingness remains, with nothing to perceive. Satchitananda is the trinity of  beingness, consciousness and bliss that defines  Brahma. The state of bliss     reaffirms a state of causeless happiness, that again transcends  the subject object paradigm. Causality abounds in the  spatio temporal distortion which breaks the symmetry of oneness into subject and object.  Awareness, compassion and bliss ,in the self,of the self,by the self and for the self, best denotes the democratic matrix of monarchal unity. " Swasamvedyaa therefore represents  blissful compassionate awareness that is entirely in the realm of non-duality, or Adwaita, that chooses to  manifest as  plurality. Experience   of bliss , compassion and an impersonal awareness  in the manifest duality  are glimpses of the   unmanifest unity.
Realisation is a state wherein  consciousness  becomes  aware of it's own nature . Aatmaroopa.  The  elimination of this spatio-temporal parallax, induced by itself to experience itself. 


Dr. Deepak M. Ranade ( the author is a consultant neurosurgeon- deepakranade@hotmail.com)

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