Sakshi - The Awareful Witness - Intro to Advaita Vedanta - Part 4

Summary

This insightful presentation delves into the concept of 'atma' or the true self, as taught by Vedanta, emphasizing the unchanging and independent nature of consciousness. It explains that all experiences, from the waking state to dreams and deep sleep, are mental constructs known as 'vrittis'. The atma, as the conscious observer or 'sakshi', remains unaffected by these mental activities. The script challenges the notion that deep sleep is unconscious, asserting that consciousness persists even in its absence. It further explores the limitless and all-pervasive nature of consciousness, distinct yet reflected in individual minds, drawing parallels to sunlight reflected on various bodies of water. The presentation concludes with a reflection on the ancient wisdom found in the Shvetashvattara Upanishad, highlighting the divine, uncreated, and eternal essence of the true self that is the source of ultimate happiness and peace.

Takeaways

• 🧘 The concept of atma, or the true self, is the unchanging observer of the mind's activities and is the ultimate source of happiness.
• 🌞 Atma is independent of the body and mind, unaffected by mental activities, much like the sun is unaffected by what it illuminates.
• 🌐 All experiences occur within the mind, with the world being experienced indirectly through the five senses.
• 👀 The process of sight involves a complex transformation of light into electrical impulses that form an image in the mind, not the brain.
• 🌀 Vrittis are mental representations of sensory inputs, and they are directly known by the conscious observer, or sakshi.
• 🧠 The brain's role is to facilitate the creation of vrittis, but the actual experience of these mental objects happens in the mind.
• 💭 Thoughts, emotions, and perceptions all arise as vrittis in the mind and are observed by the conscious observer.
• 🌙 In deep sleep, there is an absence of vrittis, yet the conscious observer remains aware of this absence, contradicting the notion of unconsciousness.
• 🛌 The experience of being dead is likened to deep sleep, where consciousness continues but without any content to be aware of.
• ♾ Consciousness is described as dimensionless, limitless, and all-pervasive, akin to space.
• 🌟 There is a singular all-pervasive consciousness that illuminates each individual mind, reflecting differently in each, yet remaining one and the same.

Q & A

What is the essence of atma according to Vedanta?

Atma, according to Vedanta, is the true self or the conscious self that is completely independent of the body and mind. It is the unchanging observer of the mind's constantly changing activities and is the ultimate source of happiness.

How does the experience of the world around us occur?

The world around us is experienced indirectly through the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. These senses convey information about the world to the mind, where it becomes known as mental objects or vrittis in Sanskrit.

What is the role of the conscious observer in experiencing the world?

The conscious observer, also known as the sakshi, is the awareful witness who directly knows the presence of vrittis in the mind. This observer is not affected by the mind's activities and gains indirect knowledge of the world through the vrittis.

How does the process of seeing work according to the script?

To see, light from a source must reach the eyes, which then focus an inverted image onto the retina. The retina converts this image into electrical impulses that travel to the brain. However, the final image that is experienced is not in the brain but in the mind, where it arises as a mental object or vritti.

What are the three distinct states of the mind in Vedanta?

The three distinct states of the mind in Vedanta are jagrat (the waking state), svapna (the dream state), and sushupti (deep dreamless sleep). Each state involves the observer witnessing vrittis in the mind, though the source of these vrittis varies.

Why does Vedanta assert that one remains conscious during deep sleep?

Vedanta asserts that one remains conscious during deep sleep because consciousness is unchanging and must continually reveal each vritti. Since consciousness doesn't turn off, even during deep sleep, it reveals the complete absence of vrittis, indicating a state of pure awareness.

How is the experience of deep sleep similar to the experience of death according to the script?

The experience of deep sleep is similar to the experience of death in that the awareful witness continues to be conscious, but there is nothing to be conscious of, just like standing in a perfectly black room with eyes wide open. There is an awareness of the absence of anything.

What is the concept of consciousness being limitless and all-pervasive?

The concept of consciousness being limitless and all-pervasive means that it lacks physical dimensions like height and width, and thus it has no boundaries. It is infinite and extends everywhere, similar to space.

Why doesn't the all-pervasive nature of consciousness allow us to feel sensations in each other's bodies?

Even though consciousness is all-pervasive, the sensations from each body arise as vrittis in one's own mind. Since our minds are separate, our experiences are also separate, and we do not feel sensations in each other's bodies.

How does the script explain the individuality of consciousness despite it being all-pervasive?

The script explains that there is only one all-pervasive consciousness that illuminates each individual mind. Each mind reflects this consciousness differently, similar to how different bodies of water reflect sunlight differently, thus maintaining individuality.

What is the significance of the teachings from the Shvetashvattara Upanishad in the context of this script?

The teachings from the Shvetashvattara Upanishad emphasize the singularity and omnipresence of consciousness. It states that there is one shining consciousness that is hidden within all creatures and is the inner self of all beings, highlighting the divine and unchanging nature of the atma.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Understanding Atma: The Unchanging Observer

This paragraph delves into the concept of 'atma', the true self, as the unchanging observer of one's constantly changing mental activities. It uses Vedanta philosophy to explain that atma is independent of the body and mind and remains unaffected by mental activities. The paragraph also introduces the idea that all experiences are mental objects or 'vrittis', which are representations of the world perceived through the five senses. It emphasizes that the atma, as the conscious observer, is aware of these vrittis and is the 'sakshi' or witness to one's experiences.

05:04

🎭 The Role of the Sakshi in Experiencing the World

The second paragraph expands on the role of the 'sakshi' or conscious observer in experiencing the world. It discusses how the senses produce vrittis that represent different sensory inputs, and how these become known to the observer. The paragraph also touches on the process of sight, explaining how an image is formed in the mind rather than in the brain. It further explores the concept of the mind's three states: jagrat (waking), svapna (dreaming), and sushupti (deep sleep), and how the sakshi observes vrittis in each state, including the absence of vrittis in deep sleep.

10:09

🌌 The Unchanging and All-Pervasive Nature of Consciousness

This paragraph challenges the common misconception that consciousness turns off during deep sleep. It argues that consciousness is unchanging and always present, even when there are no vrittis to observe. Using an analogy of a room and its furnishings, it illustrates how consciousness is like a light that reveals the contents of the mind, whether they are present or absent. The paragraph also addresses the idea that consciousness, being unchanging, cannot be limited to the physical body and must be all-pervasive.

15:10

🔄 The Cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth

The fourth paragraph explores the concept of life, death, and rebirth through the lens of Vedanta. It suggests that after death, the cycle of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep ends, and the awareful witness continues to be conscious but without anything to be conscious of, similar to the experience in deep sleep. The doctrine of karma is introduced, proposing that one will be reborn with a new body and continue to witness the three states of mind. It also discusses the limitless and all-pervasive nature of consciousness, contrasting it with physical limitations.

20:12

🤔 Addressing Objections to the All-Pervasive Nature of Consciousness

This paragraph addresses potential objections to the idea that consciousness is all-pervasive. It discusses the misconception that consciousness is limited to the physical body and clarifies that while the sense of touch is limited, consciousness is not. It also tackles the question of why we can't know each other's thoughts if consciousness is all-pervasive, explaining that each mind is separate and that consciousness illuminates thoughts within each individual mind without overlapping.

25:17

🌟 The One All-Pervasive Consciousness

The final paragraph explains that there is only one all-pervasive consciousness that illuminates every mind. It uses the metaphor of the sun reflecting on different bodies of water to illustrate how this singular consciousness is reflected in each individual mind, giving each a sense of individuality. The paragraph concludes with a profound passage from the Shvetashvattara Upanishad, emphasizing the divine nature of this atma or true self, which is unchanging, uncreated, and the source of true happiness.

Keywords

💡Atma

Atma refers to the true self or the innermost essence of a person, which is the unchanging observer of the mind's activities. In the context of the video, it is the ultimate source of happiness and is independent of the body and mind. The term is central to the teachings of Vedanta and is used to explain the nature of consciousness.

💡Vedanta

Vedanta is a school of Indian philosophy that provides a comprehensive understanding of the nature of reality, consciousness, and the self. It is the philosophical framework used in the video to explore the concept of atma and the unchanging consciousness. Vedanta offers methodologies for self-inquiry and realization of the true self.

💡Vrittis

Vrittis are the mental representations or modifications of the mind that arise from the perceptions of the senses. They are the objects of awareness that are experienced in the mind, representing colors, sounds, smells, etc., from the world. In the video, vrittis are used to illustrate how the mind processes sensory information and how the atma, as the observer, is aware of these mental objects.

💡Sakshi

Sakshi is the term used to describe the conscious observer or the awareful witness. It is the individual's inner self that is aware of the presence of vrittis in the mind. The video emphasizes that the viewer is the sakshi, witnessing the image of the speaker as a vritti in their mind.

💡Jagrat, Svapna, and Sushupti

These terms represent the three distinct states of the mind as per Vedanta: jagrat (the waking state), svapna (the dream state), and sushupti (deep dreamless sleep). The video discusses how the atma or sakshi observes vrittis in the mind during each of these states, highlighting the continuity of consciousness across different states of awareness.

💡Karma

Karma, in the context of the video, refers to the doctrine that one's actions in life influence their future existence or rebirth. It is mentioned in the discussion about the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, and how the atma continues to be the observer across these cycles until liberation (moksha) is achieved.

💡Moksha

Moksha is the term for liberation in Vedanta philosophy, signifying the release from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. It is the ultimate goal where the atma is no longer bound by the limitations of the physical world and experiences eternal bliss and freedom. The video discusses moksha in relation to the cycle of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.

💡All-Pervading Consciousness

The concept that consciousness is not limited to the physical body but is limitless and all-pervasive, like space. This idea challenges the common perception that consciousness is confined to the body and suggests that it extends beyond individual physical forms, unifying all beings. The video uses this concept to explain the shared yet individual nature of consciousness.

💡Reflection of Consciousness

This term describes how the singular, all-pervasive consciousness manifests or is reflected in individual minds, much like the sun's reflection in various bodies of water. Each reflection is unique, yet all originate from the same source. The video uses this analogy to explain the individual experience of consciousness while maintaining its singular, omnipresent nature.

💡Shvetashvattara Upanishad

The Shvetashvattara Upanishad is an ancient text that contains profound revelations from the rishis, or seers, of Vedanta. A passage from this text is quoted in the video to emphasize the oneness and omnipresence of consciousness, which is described as dwelling within all creatures and illuminating the activities of each mind.

💡Divinity within

The term refers to the divine aspect of the atma, which is unborn, uncreated, and infinitely vast. It is considered divine because it is unchanging and is the true source of happiness, contentment, and peace. The video discusses this concept to convey the spiritual significance of the atma and its role as the inner self in all beings.

Highlights

The nature of atma, or the true self, is explored as the unchanging observer of the mind's activities.

Atma is described as independent of the body and mind, unaffected by mental activities, much like the sun is unaffected by what it illuminates.

All experiences occur within the mind, with the external world experienced indirectly through the five senses.

The five senses convey information to the mind, creating mental objects known as vrittis, which represent various sensory inputs.

The concept of the conscious observer, or sakshi, is introduced as the aware witness of vrittis in the mind.

The process of sight is detailed, from light entering the eye to the creation of an image in the mind.

The distinction between the brain's neural activity and the mind's experience of an image is clarified.

The role of vrittis in representing perceptions, cognitions, and emotions is explained.

The three states of mind according to Vedanta—waking (jagrat), dreaming (svapna), and deep sleep (sushupti)—are discussed.

The assertion that consciousness remains present in deep sleep, contradicting the common notion of unconsciousness during sleep.

The unchanging nature of consciousness is used to argue against the idea that it turns off during deep sleep.

An analogy of a room with furnishings is used to illustrate the waking state and the observer's perspective.

The dream state is likened to a room with closed curtains, where perceptions arise from memory rather than external senses.

Deep sleep is analogized to a black room with no furnishings, where the observer notices the absence of mental activity.

The experience of death is compared to deep sleep, suggesting a continuity of consciousness after the physical body ceases to function.

The concept of karma and rebirth is introduced, with the cycle of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep continuing in new bodies.

Consciousness is described as dimensionless, limitless, and all-pervasive, similar to space.

The individuality of consciousness is explained through the metaphor of the sun reflecting differently on various bodies of water.

The Shvetashvattara Upanishad is cited to emphasize the singular, all-pervasive nature of shining consciousness.

The true self, or atma, is characterized as divine, unchanging, and the source of happiness, contentment, and peace.

Transcripts

Welcome!

In the previous presentations, we explored the nature of atma, your true self,

the consciousness that’s the essence of your being and ultimate source of happiness.

Using the teachings of Vedanta, we discovered this conscious self to be completely independent

of your body and mind

as the unchanging observer of your mind’s constantly changing activities.

As the unchanging observer, atma is utterly unaffected by your mind’s activities,

like the sun is utterly unaffected by all it illumines.

In this presentation, we’ll broaden our perspective,

going beyond the individual body and mind

to explore the limitless, all-pervasive nature of consciousness.

All experience actually takes place in your mind.

In fact, the only things you can directly experience are the activities of your mind.

The world around you is experienced only indirectly, by means of your five senses

- sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.

Without these sense faculties, you couldn’t experience the world at all.

Each of your five senses conveys information about the world to your mind,

where these perceptions become known to you as mental objects,

which are called vrittis in Sanskrit.

These vrittis are mental representations of the various colors, sounds, smells, etcetera

in the world around you.

You directly know the presence of these vrittis in your mind, and with the help of these vrittis,

you gain indirect knowledge of the world around you.

For example, right now, you’re watching me on a screen.

But in order to see me, an incredibly complex process has to take place.

First of all, light from the screen has to reach your eyes,

where lenses on the front of each eyeball can then focus a tiny inverted image of me

onto the back surface of each eye, where the retina is found.

Then, the so-called rods and cones in those retinas convert those two tiny, upside-down images of me

into electrical impulses that travel along your optic nerves.

Impulses from your right eye go to the left occipital lobe of your brain,

and impulses from your left eye go to the right lobe.

This process is so convoluted, it’s amazing that we can see anything at all.

Right now, two tiny, upside down, reversed images of me

are creating electrical impulses in the neurons of your brain.

Is that what you’re experiencing right now?

Of course not.

You see one normal-sized right-side up image of me.

But that image isn’t in your brain, it’s in your mind.

You don’t experience the firing of neurons in your brain,

you experience an image of me that arises in your mind.

In this way, everything you directly experience takes place in your mind alone.

The only time you might directly experience your brain itself is if you get a migraine headache.

So, your faculty of sight produces an image of me in your mind.

That image is in the form of a mental object, a vritti.

And that vritti is known by you, it’s observed by you.

You are the conscious observer or awareful witness

who knows the presence of that vritti in your mind.

We use the word sakshi for the conscious observer or awareful witness.

Therefore, you are the sakshi, the awareful witness, of the image of me

present in your mind right now in the form of a vritti.

In addition to images produced by your sense of sight, your other faculties

- hearing, taste, smell and touch -

also produce vrittis in your mind.

Your sense of hearing produces vrittis that represent sounds,

including the sound of my voice that you hear right now.

Your senses of smell and taste produce vrittis that represent various odors and flavors.

And your sense of touch produces vrittis that represent sensations of warmth and coolness,

wetness and dryness, roughness and softness, and so on.

All these sense objects perceived by you arise in your mind as vrittis,

and those vrittis become known to you, the conscious observer, sakshi.

In addition to these perceptions, all your cognitions or thoughts

also arise in your mind as vrittis and become known to you.

When you’re engaged in planning, evaluating, decision making, etcetera,

all these activities take place in your mind, and are known to you, the conscious observer.

In the same way, your emotions, too, arise in your mind as vrittis.

Happiness, sadness, anger and joy

all appear in your mind as vrittis and become known to you as feelings.

Thus, you are the sakshi, the awareful witness or conscious observer

of all activities that take place in your mind, your perceptions, cognitions, and emotions.

Now, we’re ready to proceed by using one of Vedanta’s most powerful and profound teaching methodologies.

This method entails a careful examination of your mind’s three distinct conditions or states.

Those states are jagrat, the waking state,

svapna, the dream state, and sushupti, deep dreamless sleep.

So far, our discussion has been focused on jagrat, the waking state.

In the waking state, as you interact with the world around you,

everything you experience arises as vrittis in your mind and is observed by you, the awareful witness, sakshi.

Then, in the dream state, svapna, you continue to observe vrittis in your mind,

but those vrittis are produced by your dreams.

While you're dreaming, your five senses don’t function at all,

so no vrittis can arise due to perceptions of the world around you.

Yet, whenever you dream, you still perceive lots of things

- people, buildings, sounds, smells, and so on.

These perceptions don’t come from the physical word;

they come from memories of things you experienced when you were awake.

While you dream, in addition to these perceptions, various thoughts and emotions also arise in your mind,

and are likewise observed by you, the awareful witness, sakshi.

But, what happens in deep dreamless sleep?

Every day, while you’re awake,

you observe countless perceptions, cognitions and emotions as they arise as vrittis in your mind.

During the dream state, too, you observe all the vrittis produced by your dreams.

Then, what happens in sleep when your dreams come to an end?

You observe nothing!

Just as you observed the activities of your mind during the waking and dream states,

in deep sleep, you observe the complete absence of activity in your mind.

You continue to observe the contents of your mind, but there’s nothing to be observed

- no perceptions, no cognitions, and no emotions whatsoever.

That means, you remain completely conscious in deep sleep,

but there’s nothing to be conscious of.

This assertion contradicts the common notion that deep sleep is a state of unconsciousness.

But, the teachings of Vedanta can firmly support the fact that you remain conscious in deep sleep.

As we discussed before, to reveal your constantly changing vrittis,

consciousness itself must be unchanging.

And if consciousness is unchanging, then how can it turn off, so to speak, during deep sleep,

and then turn back on during the waking and dream states?

Consciousness isn't like the light bulb in your refrigerator that turns off every time you shut the door.

The unchanging consciousness that continually reveals each and every vritti

while you're awake or dreaming, also reveals the complete absence of vrittis during deep sleep.

Here’s a helpful example.

Imagine your mind to be like a room, filled with furnishings.

The table, chairs, lamp, and so on represent your vrittis.

Standing inside the room, you observe its contents,

just like you, the awareful witness, sakshi, observe all the vrittis in your mind.

Standing in the room, you see not only its furnishings,

but you can also look through the window, and see what’s happening outside.

The window represents your five senses which enable you to perceive the world around you.

This scenario represents the waking state, jagrat, when you observe all the vrittis in your mind,

including vrittis produced by your five senses.

Next, let’s consider the dream state, svapna.

When the curtains in the room are closed,

you can no longer look through the window and see outside.

In the same way, in the dream state, when your senses are inactive,

you can no longer perceive the world around you.

Yet, while you dream, you continue to perceive people,

buildings, and other things as they arise as vrittis in your mind.

But, these vrittis aren't produced by your senses;

they come from your memories of things you experienced when awake.

That’s like looking at a photograph, hanging in the room, of what you saw earlier,

when you looked out through the window before the curtains were closed.

Now, suppose you’re standing in the same room, but it’s been radically transformed;

all the furnishings have been removed,

the walls have been painted with a non-reflective black paint,

the beige curtain has been replaced with a black one.

Even the floor has been painted black.

On the far side of the room, out of your view and not visible in this image,

a lamp continues to shine, and the lamp fills every corner of the room with light.

As you stand in the well-lit perfectly black room with your eyes wide open,

what do you see?

Nothing!

You continue to see, but there’s no longer anything to be seen.

This scenario illustrates what happens in deep sleep, sushupti, when you, the awareful witness,

continue to observe the contents of your mind, but your mind has become perfectly silent,

absolutely still.

As I said before, in deep sleep, you continue to be conscious,

but there’s nothing to be conscious of.

So, you, the awareful witness or sakshi, are the observer of whatever happens in your mind

during all three states of waking, dream, and deep sleep.

These three states continue to alternate, taking turns every day and night, throughout your life.

Eventually, of course, when you die, this cycle of waking, dream, and deep sleep will come to an end.

After death, when your brain and mind cease to function, you, the awareful witness, will continue to be conscious,

but just as in deep sleep, there will be nothing to be conscious of.

You will be aware of the absence of anything whatsoever,

like standing in the black room with your eyes wide open.

From this, we can infer that the experience of being dead

is similar to the experience of deep sleep.

But then, according to the doctrine of karma, you’ll eventually be reborn,

with a new body.

And once again, you’ll continue to witness the alternation of the three states

- waking, dream, and deep sleep.

Thus the cycle goes on, and on, and on, until the time of liberation, moksha.

Now we come to the last topic in this presentation.

Suppose we sat down together to talk about all this, and I asked you,

“How tall is consciousness?

How wide is it?”

You’d probably say,

“Consciousness doesn’t have dimensions like height and width.”

By saying this, you’d correctly state a fundamental truth,

a truth that has far-reaching consequences.

Consider the fact that anything that lacks dimensions like height and width,

can have no edge or border.

That which is dimensionless is free from any boundary or limit.

And that which has no boundary or limit is limitless.

Besides that, whatever is limitless must be all-pervasive, like space.

Based on this, consciousness, which has no dimensions, is infinitely vast.

But then you might object, by saying, “Consciousness can’t be all-pervasive. '

' It’s limited, because it only pervades the physical body. '

' Consciousness really does have an edge '

' - at the surface of your skin.”

Well, if you were to make that objection,

you probably didn’t watch the second in this series of presentations,

which painstakingly demonstrated the fact that the apparent limitation of consciousness

to the confines of your body is a mere side effect that occurs due to the nature of the nerves in your skin.

It’s absolutely true that the sense of touch is limited to your body,

but that doesn’t prove that consciousness is limited to your body.

Then, you might raise another objection, like this:

“If consciousness is limitless and all-pervasive like space, '

' then it has to pervade everyone’s body simultaneously. '

' If consciousness really pervaded both our bodies right now, '

' I’d be able to feel sensations in your body, and you’d be able to feel sensations in mine.”

Hmm.

That’s a very good question, and we’ll have to answer it carefully.

First of all, what does it mean to experience bodily sensations?

We already saw how each of your five senses - sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch -

produce vrittis that arise in your mind.

So, the sensations from YOUR body arise as vrittis in YOUR mind,

and the sensations from MY body arise as vrittis in MY mind.

Since our minds are separate, our experiences will also be separate,

even though consciousness pervades both our bodies simultaneously.

Since you seem to be in an argumentative mood, you might raise yet another objection,

like this:

“The vrittis that arise in the mind become known because they’re illumined or revealed by consciousness,

as you’ve already said.

If consciousness is all-pervasive, then, since it’s everywhere,

it would illumine the thoughts in your mind and my mind simultaneously.

But, if consciousness simultaneously illumines your thoughts and my thoughts,

then why can’t we know each other’s thoughts?”

That’s another good question.

First of all, it’s a really good thing that we can’t know each other’s thoughts.

Imagine what life would be like if we constantly knew what everyone else was thinking!

Too much!!

Now, when you ask, “Why can’t we know each other’s thoughts?”

who is it that is asking this question?

Does consciousness itself ask the question, or, is this question a vritti that arises in your mind?

As we saw before, consciousness is unchanging,

and unchanging consciousness can’t suddenly get a question, like,

“Why don’t I know your thoughts?”

So, this question is actually a product of your MIND,

and YOUR mind is certainly different and separate from MY mind, and all other minds.

But then, you might raise yet one more objection, by saying,

“If my consciousness is all-pervasive, and your consciousness is all-pervasive, '

' then my consciousness would illumine the thoughts, '

' not only of my mind, but in yours as well, '

' and your consciousness would also illumine the thoughts in both our minds. '

' Then, how can we tell the difference between your consciousness and my consciousness?”

Very good question!

If we each had a separate all-pervasive consciousness, both of them would overlap each other,

and what a confusing mess that would be!

However, as the ancient rishis discovered, there is but one all-pervasive consciousness,

and that same one consciousness is responsible for simultaneously illumining each and every mind.

That shining consciousness becomes manifest or reflected by each individual mind,

like the shining sun gets reflected by so many oceans, lakes, rivers and ponds.

Each individual body of water reflects the sunlight, and by doing so,

each body of water itself becomes another source of light.

In the same way, each individual mind reflects the same one all-pervasive consciousness,

and by doing so, each mind gains sentiency.

So, there’s only one source of consciousness, but there are countless reflections in countless minds.

And just like each body of water reflects the sunlight differently

depending on its size and shape, in the same way, consciousness is reflected differently

by each of our minds.

Even though consciousness is one, we feel like individual conscious beings,

because of the separateness and distinctiveness of our individual minds.

These teachings are amongst the loftiest revelations of the rishis.

One of those revelations is recorded in this profound passage

from the Shvetashvattara Upanishad:

eko devah, there is but one shining consciousness.

The word deva is used here not with reference to god

but in its root meaning, That which shines.

Here, deva means shining consciousness.

That one shining consciousness is sarva-bhuteshu gudhah,

it is gudhah, hidden, residing within, sarva-bhuteshu, in all creatures.

That one same consciousness, which is the essence of our being,

dwells in us all and simultaneously illumines the activities of each of our minds.

Continuing, that one consciousness is sarva-vyapi, all-pervasive, boundaryless, limitless.

And it is sarva-bhuta-antaratma, it is the antaratma, the inner self,

of sarva-bhuta, all creatures.

This atma, the true self, is frequently referred to as the divinity that dwells within us all.

It’s divine because it is unborn, uncreated, and infinitely vast.

It is unchanging, unaffected by all it illumines, and it's the true source of happiness,

contentment and peace.

This is the vision of the ancient rishis, which we can discover with the help of their teachings,

by following in their footsteps.