From Dreams Awake
Two friends were talking together and sharing some “ah-ha” moments concerning the dream state. This is what Vedantists do with dreams. It is not a matter of interpretation of what this or that object or scene is about. Whatever it may be about is still in the realm of time, space, and causation, so it is unreal, changing – not the Self.
The analysis of the states of waking, dream and deep sleep has for its aim the intuition of a single, homogenous and comprehensive Witness of these states of changing consciousness. This is the analysis that the Mandukyo Upanisad and Gaudapada’s Karika (commentary) is focused upon. It is a form of inquiry that is accessible to everyone because we all experience these modes. They are a fact of our embodied existence. Intuiting the Seer observing the activities of the waking state and the dream state, and who is the witness of the lack of objective awareness in the deep sleep state – all this does not require a belief in God. It does not even require a belief in an ultimate Reality, though it certainly leads one to consider it. This analysis has been the method and meditation leading to Self-realization of countless beings. Being non-theistic, and relatable to everyone’s experience, it is a useful system for discussing the nature of consciousness and Reality with people.
In SRV, we first broached the topic of a unified witness with our pre-teen kids in a little teaching that has come to be known as the “teaching of the hand.” The hand was simply a handy object right “at hand “ when I was searching for something they could focus on. “Okay everyone,” as I held my hand out, “what do you already know before you can see my hand?” There were a lot of different answers, but one of the first was, “I’m alive.” We kept at it, and eventually one of the kids got it in the form I was searching for, “I exist.” We were discussing Time and Truth in that day’s class and behind the stories and teachings was the intent to see if they could personally intuit an unchanging Seer of phenomena within themselves. A few of the kids’ eyes really lit up.
The idea for this teaching came from a lecture by Swami Vivekananda where he states to the effect, that we know our own existence first then we see objects. In order to see an object, there is Consciousness as the background. The problem is that we are not doing this consciously, and so we suffer as individuals under the tyranny of time and space, cause and effect. Thus we find in the Keno Upanisad, “That one attains immortality who intuits It (Atman/Consciousness) in and through every modification of the mind. From the Atman comes real strength, and from knowledge, immortality.” This verse stands at the crux of both the practice of negation, neti-neti, or “not this, not this,” as well as the path of affirmation, “iti-iti,” or “all this, all this.” The modifications (upadhis) of the mind are not the Reality – i.e. such things as realms, concepts, emotions, sound, touch, sight, taste, smell, bodies, caste, gender, social roles, etc. At the same time, what gives each of these things relative existence is Existence/Consciousness Itself. Objects seen in a mirror are not different from the mirror. While looking at objects in a mirror, you are only seeing glass; the objects change while the mirror does not.
Digressing a little, another view into the harmony of neti-neti and iti-iti comes from Sri Ramakrishna. He describes this beautifully in his analogy of the steps leading to the roof of the house. Taking the stairs to the roof, one negates the lower step “this is not the roof” and continues to the next step, negating each in turn until the roof is reached. Upon reaching the roof, one then finds that the steps are made of the same material as the roof (i.e. Consciousness). Note, however, that the negation part comes first. It is necessary to know the essence of the roof/Reality, in order to perceive It as the background of everything else.
Now, back to our friends discussing the dream state…. The first one says to the second, “I was contemplating my dreams the other day, and I realized that I am playing all the parts. When I saw that, I really understood that I must be playing all the parts in the waking state too. This is not narcissism, as she was assuming the presence of a cosmic or collective consciousness underlying her individual consciousness and that of every other so-called individual (and behind that is the nondual Consciousness). The second friend then related her first glimpse of this truth. She had been contemplating the idea of Divine Mother as the “Dream Power of the Absolute” described in the great hymn of the Chandi. It did not really make sense to her, even though the sentiment was so grand. Then she started thinking about her dreams and how they were all made from her own mind. There was nothing external in her dreams and just one substance, the mind stuff, or chitta. Reflecting on this she understood how the waking state and all the universe of gross and subtle objects was God’s dream.
The point in all of this is still that the Seer is one and unchanging. God’s mind/dream is still an object of an ultimate Seer. Whether one is witnessing an individual dream, daily events while awake, or the cosmic play, there is but one unchanging Witness. When one awakes from the “dream” of three states of consciousness (waking, dream and deep sleep), one finds that one was never asleep; one has never been the individual or even cosmic selves of these waking, dream and deep sleep states. As the Pancadasi states:
Through the many months, years, ages and world cycles, past and future, Consciousness is the same; It neither rises nor sets; It is self-revealing. – Pancadasi: I.7
Om Shanti
