[Advaita-l] Doubt

Venkatraghavan S agnimile at gmail.com
Mon Jan 3 07:32:01 EST 2022


Namaste,

The entity that is said to be the self of all is not what is being referred
to in the email below as my self, your self, an ant's self etc.
Those are reflections of the original self.

Just like the one sun in the sky is reflected in multiple pools as
different reflections, the one self is reflected in different subtle bodies
and appears as different. When viewed from the standpoint of a reflection
there are multiple reflections, but from the standpoint of the original
there is nothing but itself.

To explain, in a dream there are many people seen to be different from the
subject of the dream. From the standpoint of the subject, there are many
other individuals, but from the standpoint of the one sleeping, there is
nothing else apart from himself. All the dream characters, including the
subject of the dream, are mental projections of the one sleeping. Similarly
in the waking state, all the different selves seen are only seen from the
standpoint of the subject - the  consciousness reflected in one mind. When
the subject is dissolved, the object is dissolved, and with it the notion
of difference between the subject and the object.

The easiest way to understand this is through the recollection of the
experience of deep sleep. In that, there is neither the subject, nor an
object.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan

On Sun, 2 Jan 2022, 12:44 Kartik Vashishta via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> OM
> OM NAMAH SIVANANDAYA
>
> Revered Self,
>
> Sadar Pranam,
>
> I wish you comfort and peace. I wish you all a very happy new year.
>
> I have a doubt regarding the "self".
>
> Please help clarify this doubt.
>
> I think, that by the the grace of Guru, I understand that the "self" is in
> everything, in every subject and also in every object. I am trying to
> understand how it is the  ONE self that is in adibhauta/adiyatma/adidaiva.
>
> My logic(probably twisted) seems to suggest that I have a self and every
> other entity has a self, this self is not only inside me....nor is it only
> inside a particle of sand or an atom or an ant. I seem to think that every
> entity has/is a self and this self is different from everyone else's self.
>
> How to understand and imbibe that there is, in fact, just ONE self? And
> that, that self is Brahman...
>
> If you suggest readings, please suggest English texts. Thank you.
>
> Pranam,
>
> OM
> Kartik Vashishta
> OM
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