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That Art Thou
241. The words "God" and "yourself", referred to by
the terms "That" and "Thou" are conscientiously purified by repetition
of the scriptural phrase "Thou art That", and are clearly seen to be
identical.
242. Their identity can be indicated but not described, since they
have mutually exclusive meanings like a firefly and the sun, a king and
a slave, a well and the ocean, or an atom and mount Meru.
243. The distinction between them is due to the imagined additional
associations, but in reality there are no such additions. The primary
mental activity is due to the Lord's Maya, and in the case of the
individual it is the result of the five sheaths.
244. These are additions to the Lord and the individual, and when
they are removed, there is neither Supreme nor individual. A ruler is
known by his kingdom, and a warrior by his arms. Take these away, and
there is neither warrior nor king.
245. Scripture itself, with the words "Here is the teaching" (Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad 2.3.6), denies the imagined duality in God. One must get rid
of these additions by means of understanding backed up by the authority
of the scriptures.
246. "Not this, not this" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6) means that
nothing one can think of is real, like a rope mistaken for a snake, or
like a dream. Carefully getting rid of the apparent in this way, one
should then come to understand the oneness of the Lord and the
individual.
247. So the meaning of these two expressions, Lord and individual,
must be carefully considered until their essential oneness is
understood. It is not enough just to reject or accept either of them.
One must come to the recognition of the identity of the meaning of them
both.
248-249. In the phrase "this person is Devadatta" the identity is
indicated by removing the distinction, and in the same way, in the
expression "Thou art That" the wise must get rid of the apparent
contradiction and recognise the complete identity of God and self by
carefully identifying the shared attribute of pure consciousness.
Hundreds of scriptural sayings declare the identity of oneself and God
in this way.
250. In accordance with "It is nothing material" (Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad 3.8.8) eliminate the unreal and find that which like the sky
is pure and solitary, and is beyond thought. Eliminate too this purely
illusory body which you have hitherto identified with yourself. Then
recognising, "I am God" with purified understanding, see your true self
as undifferentiated consciousness.
251. Everything made of clay, such as pot, is always to be seen as
purely clay. In the same way, everything deriving from this supreme Self
must be simply recognised as pure Reality. Since there is no reality
beyond that, it is truly one's very self, and you are that still,
unblemished, non-dual, supreme Reality of God.
252. Just as the things like places, time, objects and observer
imagined in a dream are unreal, so the world experienced in the waking
state too is created by one's own ignorance. Since the body-creating
forces, self-identification, and so on, are also unreal, you are that
still, unblemished, non-dual, supreme Reality of God.
253. That which is mistakenly imagined to exist is recognised by
wisdom to be That alone, and is thus undifferentiated. The colourful
world of a dream disappears. What remains other than oneself on waking?
254. Beyond birth, creed, family and tribe, free from the distortion
of attributes of name and appearance, transcending locality, time and
objects, you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within
yourself.
255. That supreme Reality beyond the realm of anything that can be
said, but the resort of the pure eye of understanding, the pure reality
of Consciousness-Awareness-Mind, etc. - you are That, God himself.
Meditate on the fact within yourself.
256. That which is unaffected by the six afflictions (of aging,
death, hunger, thirst, desire and ignorance), which is meditated on in
the heart of the devotee, unrecognised by the senses, unknown by the
intellect - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within
yourself.
257. That basis on which the mistakenly imagined world exists, itself
dependent on nothing else, devoid of true and false, without parts, and
without mental image - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact
within yourself.
258. That which is indestructible, free from birth, growth,
development, decay, illness and death; which is the cause of the
creation, maintenance and destruction of everything - you are That, God
himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself.
259. Free of parts, of an unchanging quality, undisturbed like a
waveless sea, declared to be of an eternally indivisible nature - you
are That, God ihimself. Meditate on the fact within yourself.
260. Itself One but the cause of the many, the supreme Cause which
does away with all other causes, itself devoid of distinctions of
"cause" and "effect" - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact
within yourself.
261. Without modification, great and unending, the supreme Reality
beyond destruction and indestructibility, the eternal unfading,
unblemished, fulfilment - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the
fact within yourself.
262. That Reality which manifests itself as the many through the
illusions of names, shapes, attributes and changes, but which, like gold
is always itself unchanged (in different objects) - you are That, God
himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself.
263. That, beyond which there is nothing, but which shines beyond
everything else, the inner, uniform self-nature of
being-consciousness-joy, infinite and eternal - you are That, God
himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself.
264. One should meditate within oneself with the mind well controlled
on the truth declared here. Then the truth will be disclosed free from
doubt, like water in the palm of one's hand.
265. Realising one's true nature as pure consciousness, one should
remain always established in oneself, like a king surrounded by his
army, and should redirect all that is back into God.
266. In the cave of the mind, free from attributes of being and
not-being, there exists God, the Truth, supreme and without a second. He
who by himself dwells in that cave returns no more to a mother's womb.
267. Even when one knows the truth, there still remains the strong,
beginningless tendency to think "I am the doer and the reaper of the
consequences" which is the cause of samsara. It must be carefully
removed by living in the state of observing the truth within oneself.
The wise call that removal of this tendency liberation.
268. The tendency to see "me" and "mine" in the body and the senses,
which are not oneself must be done way with by the wise by remaining
identified with one's true self.
269. Recognising one's true inner self, the witness of the mind and
its operations, and reflecting on the truth of "I am That", get rid of
this wrong opinion about oneself.
270. Abandoning the concerns of the world, abandoning concern about
the body, and abandoning even concern about scriptures, see to the
removal wrong assumptions about yourself.
271. It is owing to people's worldly desires, their desires for
scriptures, and their desires concerning their bodies that they do not
achieve realisation.
272. Those who know about these things call these three desires the
iron fetter that binds the feet of those who are seeking escape from the
prison-house of samsara. He who is free from them reaches liberation.
Vivek Chudamani
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