Dear Ramji.
I made a mistake understanding the location of objects teaching – the assimilation part. When I said I am not in the objects, they are in *me*, I kept on thinking that me is the mind (unconsciously). The problem with that is if the jiva’s mind goes – as it does with death – there will no longer be objects. But as you said, the objects continue. The only way this is possible is if me is not the equipment, the body-mind-sense complex, but consciousness. Mithya, the objects we experience, is thoughts:—a separate mind is a thought, Isvara is a thought—in consciousness.
The thoughts are in me, consciousness, I am not in them. The logic is not complicated but living this way is something else. It can be tough to catch the reversal of identities (viparaya) brought about by Maya because the mind is so used to verifying truth with experience. But that approach only works for the apparent (mithya) order of reality, the world of experiences i.e. thoughts. Thoughts can’t verify the thoughtless.
Ramji: That’s right. Thoughts about one’s self are there because we are born ignorant of our self, which are only useful…or not…in the apparent order of reality. And they are hard-wired, which is to say that one is completely situated in them them for a long time, sometimes one’s whole life. So it is not easy to identify with What one actually is. It seems hollow and false to assert one’s identity. So the only solution is to consistently discipline the mind to think from the non-dual platform, until it becomes second nature.
Much love,
Ramj
