First I thought, “I need knowledge of the self.” Now I know, “I am the self.” Realizing that I am the one true reality, where is knowledge, the knower and what is known? I have always been the non-dual self, untainted by the appearance of duality and unaffected by self-ignorance.
As the Kena Upanishad says, “I am the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, the speech of speech, the breath of breath, the eye of the eye.” For how can there be hearing, thinking, speech, breath or sight without me, pure consciousness? As consciousness, I am not an object of the senses because the senses are objects known to me. And as the ultimate reality, pure existence, the senses depend on me and not the other way around (for how can the senses exist without me, existence itself?). Therefore, I am not afflicted by the suffering caused by the senses and I do not need the senses to be the limitless self I already am. There is no reason to grieve.
How strange is it that while I am absolutely clear that I am not another person’s body, I identify with this body that looks and feels closest to me, call it “myself” and claim its actions as my own. But how can this be? I witness the bodies of others the same as I witness this one—they are all thoughts known to me. As such, this body cannot be me. I merely witness it acting, the same as I witness the actions of other’s bodies. Just as I cannot be praised or blamed for the actions of other’s bodies that I witness, I cannot be praised or blamed for the actions of this body that I witness. I am the action-less, blameless self. OM.
As consciousness I cannot be any part of the universe that appears in me. But as existence every part of the universe is myself. Like waves to water and pots to copper, everything is me but I am no thing. I am limitless.
Owing to a trick of the eyes and impurities in the air, the formless and colorless sky falsely appears to be blue and shaped like a dome. Similarly, owing to ignorance of my true nature, the pure and stainless reality that is myself appears to be the body-mind. But like the sky I have no divisions nor am I a collection of parts: I am one alone. Because there is nothing other than myself, there is nothing to bind me. Because I am never bound, I cannot be liberated. I am the undifferentiated, changeless self. OM.
End Of Knowledge 