Thou Art That, Part 2

According to one definition:

Brahman is 'the unchanging Reality amidst and beyond the world which cannot be exactly defined^. It has been described in Sanskrit as Sat-cit-ānanda (being-consciousness-bliss) and as the highest Reality."

 Dr. Frank Morales has likewise said,

Brahman does not refer to the anthropomorphic concept of God of the Abrahamic religions. When we speak of Brahman, we are referring neither to the "old man in the sky" concept, nor to the idea of the Absolute as even capable of being vengeful, fearful or engaging in choosing a favorite people from among His creatures. For that matter, Brahman is not a "He" at all, but rather transcends all empirically discernable categories, limitations and dualities. 

Zen has a wonderful saying -- "Don't mistake the finger pointing for the moon." In other words, the finger points to something beyond words. I remember when I had a small puppy a dog food commercial came on the TV.  I was pointing like crazy for the dog to look at the dog on the television screen. The dog focused on my hand and watched it motioning and pointing and flapping and never looked beyond it.

Some of the words (remember, pointers?) that have been used for Brahman include God, Absolute Consciousness, the Supreme Identity, and others. Aldous Huxley wrote,

The Perennial Philosophy is expressed most succinctly in the Sanskrit formula, tat tvam asi ('That art thou'); the Atman, or immanent eternal Self, is one with Brahman, the Absolute Principle of all existence; and the last end of every human being, is to discover the fact for himself, to find out who he really is.

Now, Huxley mentions the "Atman" which the second piece of the puzzle. Atman is often translated as "individual soul" which is part but not the big picture when it comes to meanings. The Atman, the Real you as opposed to the ego, is that can be known as the Self with a capital s. Alas, it has been covered over by the actions of the mind which has more or less commandeered things and steered you off into a ditch.

The good news is, Enlightenment or Nirvana or Moksha (liberation) is in you at this very moment. You don't need to import anything. You don't need at add a single thing. You don't need to read more books or attend more lectures. That's brain-food or, in our case, mind-food. In fact, you need to get the chattering mind, the small self, to jump ship. To vanish. To be seen as it is, not lived by what it isn't.

To cut to the chase, the Atman is your essence and is eternal, unchanging, and indistinguishable from the very essence of the universe.

It is not a question of bring more in, but dumping more out.

To cite Alan Watts again, he wrote a book called The Book On The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. And, in this culture, what a taboo it is!  The Upanishads, one of the foremost books of the East, says it quite simply when talking about the Atman and the Brahman, between that interior essence and the Supreme Identity. First, Atman is Brahman, as the equation goes. The Atman is the individual soul, the Brahman is the Absolute Consciousness.

Secondly, and these are powerful, in Sanskrit they cat is out of the bag, so to speak. are "Tut tvam asi" addresses the Atman/Brahman and concludes that underneath the illusion that has caused you to feel so isolated and alone, "Thou art that."

Now, make careful note of this. If you go around in front of friends and family saying, "I am Brahman. I am God" then there will be a guy in a white coat knocking on your door inside of twenty minutes. Why? Because you are, in essence, saying "i am God. i (the everyday mind) am Brahman." Do you see what is being said? The individual i is an illusion, a delusion. When the mind falls silent, is shuffled off the stage, there is no reason for such talk. It is true for you, yes, but true for everyone in this world, every creature, every thing. It is the energy of Brahman that is all there is, right at this moment you just don't see it.

Now, you perhaps can begin to see why Silence in terms of words and thoughts polishes the mirror, as Ram Dass says, and you see things as they are. It is why the quote on this blog is so perfect. Have another look: