‘I’-principle according to shri krishnamenon
WHAT AM I?
I can perceive and know my body, sense-organs and mind.
Therefore I am evidently the subject, distinct and separate from all of them.
HOW ARE OBJECTS RELATED TO ME?
All this world is my object, and I am the changeless subject.
Each one of my objects serves only to point to me and to prove me.
I need only make my stand there firmer and establish myself at the real centre, as the ultimate subject ‘I’.
WHAT AM I?
Am I the body, senses or mind?
No.
If I claim to be anything, that must be with me wherever I go.
Doing, perceiving, thinking and feeling do not go with me wherever I go.
‘Knowing’ alone is always with me.
So I am knowingness or Consciousness alone.
I am that always, and I am free.
I can only be that which remains over, when the object or active part is separated from the perceiver, perception or percept.
HOW TO RETREAT INTO THE REAL ‘I’-PRINCIPLE?
What do you mean when you say ‘I’?
It does not at all mean the body, senses or mind.
It is pure experience itself – in other words, the end of all knowledge or feeling.
First of all, see that the body, senses and mind are your objects and that you are always the changeless subject, distinct and separate from the objects.
The objects are present only when they are perceived.
But I exist, always changeless, whether perceptions occur or not, extending through and beyond all states.
Thus you see that you are never the body, senses or mind.
Make this thought as deep and intense as possible, until you are doubly sure that the wrong identification will never recur.
Next, examine if there is anything else that does not part with the ‘I’-principle, even for a moment.
Yes. There is Consciousness.
It never parts with the ‘I’-principle, and can never be an object either.
So both must mean one and the same thing.
Or, in other words, ‘I’ is Consciousness itself.
Similarly, wherever there is the ‘I’-principle left alone, there is also the idea of deep peace or happiness, existing along with it.
It is universally admitted that one loves only that which gives one happiness, or that a thing is loved only for its happiness value.
Evidently, happiness itself is loved more than that which is supposed to give happiness.
It is also admitted that one loves one’s self more than anything else.
So it is clear that you must be one with happiness or that you are happiness itself.
All your activities are only attempts to experience that happiness or self in every experience.
The ordinary man fixes a certain standard for all his worldly activities and tries to attain it to his satisfaction.
Thereby, he is only trying to experience the self in the form of happiness, as a result of the satisfaction obtained on reaching the standard already accepted by him.
For every perception, thought or feeling, you require the services of an instrument suited to each activity.
But, to love your own self, you require no instrument at all.
Since you experience happiness by retreating into that ‘I’-principle, that ‘I’ must be either an object to give you happiness, which is impossible; or it must be happiness itself.
So the ‘I’-principle, Peace and Consciousness are all one and the same.
It is in Peace that thoughts and feelings rise and set.
This peace is very clearly expressed in deep sleep, when the mind is not there and you are one with Consciousness and Peace.
Pure consciousness and deep peace are your real nature. Having understood this in the right manner, you can well give up the use of the words ‘Consciousness’ and ‘Happiness’ and invariably use ‘I’ to denote the Reality.
Don’t be satisfied with only reducing objects into Consciousness.
Don’t stop there.
Reduce them further into the ‘I’-principle.
So also, reduce all feelings into pure Happiness and then reduce them into the ‘I’-principle. When you are sure that you will not return to identification with the body any longer, you can very well leave off the intermediaries of Consciousness and Happiness, and directly take the thought ‘I, I, I, ...’ subjectively.
Diversity is only in objects.
Consciousness, which perceives them all, is one and the same.
WHAT IS MY REAL GOAL? THE ‘I’-PRINCIPLE.
The word ‘I’ has the advantage of taking you direct to the core of yourself.
But you must be doubly sure that you will no longer return to identification with the body. By reducing objects into Consciousness or happiness, you come only to the brink of experience.
Reduce them further into the ‘I’-principle; and then ‘it’, the object, and ‘you’, the subject, both merge into experience itself.
Thus, when you find that what you see is only yourself, the ‘seeing’ and ‘objects’ become mere empty words.
When you say the object cannot be the subject, you should take your stand not in any of the lower planes, but in the ultimate subject ‘I’ itself.
In making the gross world mental, the advaitin is an idealist.
But he does not stop there.
He goes further, examining the ‘idea’ also and proves it to be nothing but Consciousness. Thus he goes beyond even the idealist’s stand.
The realist holds that matter is real and mind is unreal, but the idealist says that mind is real and matter is unreal.
Of the two, the idealist’s position is better; for when the mind is taken away from the world, the world is not.
Therefore, it can easily be seen that the world is a thought form.
It is difficult to prove the truth of the realist’s stand; for dead matter cannot decide anything.
The advaitin [non-dualist] goes even further.
Though he takes up the stand of the idealist when examining the world, he goes beyond the idealist’s position and proves that the world and the mind, as such, are nothing but appearances and the Reality is Consciousness.
Perception proves only the existence of knowledge and not the existence of the object.
Thus the gross object is proved to be non-existent.
Therefore, it is meaningless to explain subtle perceptions as a reflection of gross perceptions.
Thus all perceptions are reduced to the ultimate ‘I’-principle, through knowledge.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF ‘I’?
The same word, used in similar contexts, cannot carry different meanings with different persons.
When I say ‘I’ meaning ‘my body’, another understands it in the same sense, meaning ‘my body’.
But when the other person uses the same word ‘I’, he means ‘his body’, which is entirely different from ‘my body’.
Thus, in the case of everyone, the bodies meant are different; but the word used is the same ‘I’, always.
So the ‘I’ must mean: either the individual bodies of all men – which is ludicrous – or it must evidently mean no body at all.
The latter being the only possible alternative, the ‘I’ must necessarily mean that changeless principle in which every body appears and disappears.
This is the real meaning of ‘I’, even in our daily traffic with the world.
WHEN DOES MY REAL NATURE SHINE AS IT IS?
Whenever the ego-mind subsides or disappears, the background Awareness shines as Happiness.
Whenever objects of Awareness disappear, pure Awareness shines by itself, as pure Consciousness.
WHERE, WHEN AND HOW DO I SEE ME?
1. I see Me where the ‘where’ is not.
2. I see Me when the ‘when’ is not.
3. I see Me when ‘I see me not.’
Explanation:
1. I shall see Me only when I transcend the gross body idea, which is governed by space as well as by time.
2. I shall see Me only when I transcend the subtle body or the mind, which is governed by time alone.
3. I shall see Me only on leaving both the gross and the subtle bodies – when I stop my objective search and turn inward to find myself as one with that which I was searching for; in other words only when the subject-object relationship vanishes.
WHAT IS MEANT BY ‘SVABHAVA’? ‘
Svabhava’ means one’s own real nature.
All activities, like perceiving, doing etc., are ‘asvabhava’ – the opposite of one’s real nature. Svabhava is knowledge without object, or happiness without object.
For you are knowledge itself, or happiness itself, and cannot know anything else.
I AS EXPERIENCE CAN HAVE NO OBJECT.
You are the background of all your emotions and passions.
Feeling is the one word to denote all these.
It means that feeling is their general background; and so it must be the Absolute, called ‘rasa’.
Likewise, knowing is the background of all thoughts.
A man’s thirst to know and to be happy proceeds from his real nature.
He is happiness and knowledge.
Knowing and feeling in their secondary senses may have an object; but in their correct sense, they can have no object at all.
Because that which goes into the make of all feelings, and always remains as their background, is what is called ‘rasa’.
We use the word ‘feeling’ to denote particular feelings such as anger, pride, etc.
We use the one word ‘feeling’ to denote all feelings.
So, feeling is the common background of all feelings.
This pure feeling is called ‘rasa’. I
t is the right Absolute.
Likewise, thoughts and perceptions are one when viewed as knowing, because knowing has to be present in all thoughts and perceptions.
That again is the ‘I’- principle, and that is pure Consciousness.
Similarly, all objects are one when viewed as existence.
‘I AM’ TO THE IGNORANT MAN AND THE SAGE
We all say ‘I am clever’, ‘I am happy’, and so on.
In this, the layman ignores the vital part ‘I am’, and emphasizes the rest.
But the ‘I am’ alone is important for the Sage, and he ignores the rest.
HOW TO SHOW THAT THE ‘I’-PRINCIPLE IN ME AND IN ALL IS ONE AND THE SAME?
You say the ‘I’-principle in ‘me’.
What is this ‘me’?
Is it the body, senses, or mind?
No.
Because these are not there in deep sleep, and still the ‘I’-principle is there all alone.
So the ‘me’ means the ‘I’-principle itself; and it comes to this.
The ‘I’-principle is indivisible and is only one.
Duality is only in manifestation – namely body, senses or mind.
Beyond this, there cannot be any duality, since there is nothing there to be distinguished from another.
Therefore, the ‘I’-principle is unique, and the objects alone are different.
WHY DO I FEEL THAT I DO NOT KNOW MY REAL NATURE?
The ‘I’-principle does not ever feel and does not make a complaint either.
It is always the mind that feels.
The mind is incapable of knowing my real nature.
Even when the mind turns its attention to my real nature, the mind loses its own form and gets merged in Consciousness – my real nature.
Before you can say you feel, you must necessarily perceive that feeling.
That perceiver then must certainly be beyond that feeling function.
You are that, the ‘I’- principle.
HOW DO I KNOW THAT I HAVE STRAYED AWAY FROM MY REAL NATURE?
Answer: You have not strayed away.
Question: Then who wants to know the Truth?
Answer: The mind or the ego.
All illustrations used in the course of spiritual talks have to be immediately applied to the subjective sphere and their significance realized.
The ‘I’-thought is not the real ‘I’.
Eliminate the thought aspect completely from the ‘I’-thought, and what remains alone is the real ‘I’-principle.
HOW CAN I BE ONE WITH CONSCIOUSNESS?
1. They cannot be separated, even for a moment, even in idea.
2. Both stand as the ultimate perceiver or subject; and can never be objectified, not even in idea.
The doer or enjoyer is consciousness, appearing limited by ‘buddhi’ or ‘generic mind’.
In the presence of Consciousness, the mind, senses and body – which are really dead matter – function as though they are not dead matter, just like iron filings getting enlivened in the proximity of a magnet.
When the mind is proved to be Consciousness itself, samskaras [habituations] die out, and the mind no longer continues as mind.
EFFICACY OF THE REAL ‘I’-THOUGHT
If you take to the deep thought, ‘I am pure Consciousness’, with the emphasis rightly placed on ‘I’ and not upon Consciousness, it amounts to a regular process of relaxation, and the brain cells do not move in the least.
On the contrary, even casual ailments, like a head-ache caused by mental or physical strain, begin to disappear after such relaxation.
It has already been proved that ‘I am knowledge or Consciousness.’
If the meaning of this statement is rightly understood, your stand must have undergone a thorough change.
You should be able to apply boldly all the activities of the one with equal emphasis to the other.
Taking ‘knowing or shining’ as the only expression of Consciousness, when you say ‘I am shining’, you must be able to take it as equivalent to ‘I am I-ing’.
And when you say ‘I know the object’, it must mean ‘I am I-ing the object.’
It will also prove that the object is nothing but yourself.
WHAT IS THE ACTIVITY OF THE ‘I’?
No. The ‘I’ has no activity whatsoever.
I am the Reality.
To be active, ‘I’ must get out of the Reality, for the time being.
Because activity is only in duality.
But can you ever get out of the Reality?
No. Then all search for Truth becomes meaningless.
Has the rope ever become the snake?
No. Then where is the problem?
Nothing you have understood in a drunken mood can ever take you out of drunkenness.
Such is the question ‘Why?’ Get rid of the poison, and the question disappears.
WHY HAS THE ‘I’-PRINCIPLE NO ACTIVITY?
Because the ‘I’-principle has neither organs nor mind.
But it is not dead.
It is everpresent and it is from it that everything else gets light.
WHAT IS MEANT BY ‘I AM I-ING’?
The ignorant man sees only changes in this world, and is ignorant of the changeless background behind all changes.
So the Acarya [Guru] first tries to show the changeless ‘I’ as distinct and separate from the changing body, senses and mind.
Then the disciple is asked to take his stand in that ‘I’-principle, and to look from there at the changing world.
Immediately, the changes appear an illusion; and he understands that the changes are nothing but expressions of the changeless ‘I’.
And that is the changeless itself.
So, when I say the world is shining, it is nothing but myself expressing or shining.
Or in other words, ‘I am I-ing.’ Because shining is not a function, but my real nature.
BODY, MIND AND THE ‘I’-PRINCIPLE. WHAT IS THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND ESSENCE?
During the period of preliminary investigations in the study of Vedanta, you are asked to try to separate body and mind from the ‘I’-principle.
It is only to make you understand the relative values of the terms.
Such a separation is not really possible; because, separated from the ‘I’-principle, the other two do not exist at all.
Therefore they are really nothing but the ‘I’-principle.
Vedanta asks you only to recognize this Truth.
From the position of Consciousness, one can say that everything else is not.
But from no position can you say that Consciousness is not.
Because one has to be conscious of the Truth of that very statement before making it. Therefore Consciousness stands as the background of even that statement.
Hence, even the statement that ‘Consciousness is not’ only proves that Consciousness is. That Consciousness must be self-luminous and permanent.
HOW ARE THE REAL FLOWER AND THE REAL ‘I’ ONE AND THE SAME?
The ‘flower’ is that permanent something upon which all its adjuncts or qualities appear and disappear.
So also, I am that permanent something upon which the expressions – like body, senses and mind – come and go.
Everything pertaining to the flower corresponds to the things pertaining to the ‘I’.
But, giving up all adjuncts from the subject as well as from the object, we find that what remains over is neither known nor unknown, but real; and therefore is nothing but the ultimate Reality.
Therefore, the real ‘flower’ and the real ‘I’ are in essence one and the same.
AS LONG AS I AM A HUMAN BEING, IS IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO KNOW THE TRUTH BEYOND?
The question presupposes that you are a human being.
I question that statement first.
Are you a human being?
Define a human being.
A human being is an incongruous mixture of body, senses and mind with the ‘I’-principle. All except the ‘I’-principle are changing every moment.
But you will admit that you are that ‘I’-principle.
You, as that ‘I’-principle, stand as the permanent background connecting all these changes that come and go.
That ‘I’- principle is distinct and separate from the changing body, senses and mind.
Where is the human being in your deep sleep, when you have no body, senses or mind? Certainly nowhere. Still ‘you’ are there, as that ‘I’-principle.
Therefore you are not a human being but a changeless, permanent principle. As such, you can very well understand that Truth, beyond.