GS: What I am understanding is space and time are properties of mind. Apparent reality remains.
Sundari: Yes, correct, space and time are objects known to you, the Self.
GS: Atma jnana is event. The confusion was between words Awareness and consciousness.
Sundari: Atma jnana is not an event. It is who you are. If it is an event, the Self-knowledge is not firm and ignorance will return. Atma jnana, or Self-knowledge is who you are. It is not an experience, it is true and firm knowledge.
GS: My default state of mind is subsuperconscious with eee sound. Recently I experienced superconscious state. And I am not bothered about it.
Sundari: What exactly do you mean by ‘superconscious state’ with an ‘eee’ sound? ‘Superconscious” is a hyperbolic term and not suitable for the Self because the implied meaning is what, the unconscious state? All states are experiential, they are mithya, meaning, they are not always present and always changing. The Self is not a state, it is the knower of all states because it is the only factor that is always present and never changes, irrespective of what is going on in the mind.
More importantly, the Self is always available. You are never NOT experiencing the Self, whether you are aware of it or not because that is the only option. The idea that you can only experience the Self/Consciousness in a special state is ignorance, duality.
If by ‘superconcious’ you are referring to the exalted experience of the reflected self in a pure mind, it is possible to maximize sattva for this to take place, but it won’t last. All experiences (states) happen in time, so they begin and end. But you, the Self/Consciousness, never begin or end.
The Self is not conscious or unconscious, it is that which makes consciousness possible. The jiva is conscious because the light of the Self is shining on the mind. Consciousness does not belong to the jiva. Consciousness belongs to the Self, but the Self is not conscious in the way we think of that term because the Self is not a person.
What you are saying in this email implies quite clearly that you think you need to have special conditions to experience the Self, and that is not correct. This is a trap that many spiritual people fall into, especially in the yoga world. They believe that they must do all kinds of special actions to have this special experience of the ‘superconsicious’ state.
And often they do achieve this much desired state, but it is called the golden cage of sattva. It is a cage because the doer, the ego, is alive and well, the false belief that I can ‘do’ something to gain enlightenment, the Self. But you already are the Self. How can a limited entity like a jiva do anything that will result in a limitless result? It is not possible. Only through negation of the doer with karma yoga and jnana yoga can Self-knowledge obtain.
Answer the question, ‘If the Self is all there is, therefore I can only be the Self as this is a nondual reality, when am I not experiencing the Self?’
Answer: NEVER.
Om Sundari
