मनोबुद्ध्यहङ्कार चित्तानि नाहं
न च श्रोत्रजिह्वे न च घ्राणनेत्रे ।
न च व्योम भूमिर्न तेजो न वायुः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥१॥
Mano-Buddhy-Ahankaara Cittaani Naaham
Na Ca Shrotra-Jihve Na Ca Ghraanna-Netre |
Na Ca Vyoma Bhuumir-Na Tejo Na Vaayuh
Cid-Aananda-Ruupah Shivo[a-A]ham Shivo[a-A]ham ||1||
Translation
I am not the mind, the intellect, the ego, or the memory,
Nor am I the organs of hearing, tasting, smelling, or seeing, (ears, tongue, nose, or eyes)
Nor am I the space, nor the earth, fire, nor air - I consist of blissful Consciousness - I am Shiva (Auspiciousness)
(This is the first verse of the Nirvana Shatakam by AdiShankaracharya.)
What does it mean? First, you have to understand the context. In olden times, the philosophical system of Sankhya, which is something like the Science of matter and spirit, breaks down everything in the universe, including basic elements - earth, water, fire, air and ether, as well as the ten senses - the five working senses and the five knowledge gathering senses - eyes, ears, nose tongue and skin. That's all the gross physical aspects of the body. But there is also the subtle body, consisting of the mind (manas), the intelligence (buddhi), the ego (ahankara), and the citta (memory). This was the primary way of looking at the world. So Shankaracharya (and many others, such as Ashtavakra) took this route to explain what you were and were not. You are NOT any aspect of the physical body, and you are not any aspect of the subtle body. You are something else. What? You are Blissfull Consciousness. Cidanandarupam. Many translate this as "A body of Consciousness and Bliss", but I think even describing the word 'rupam' as form, which it generally is, gives too much materiality to it. When you think 'form', you tend to think of something with substance. And although it is VERY substantial, it is closer to formlessness!
But let's translate this into more modern terminology. First, you're not your body in any way - not the arms, legs, torso, head, etc. But you're also not any of the things you THINK yourself to be. You're NOT a man or woman (or some other designation); you're not the thoughts, wanted and unwanted, that flow endlessly through your consciousness; you're not your HISTORY - each and every thing you recall of your so-called 'life'; and you certainly are NOT your opinions. In fact, there's a great quote about opinions: "Opinions are like arseholes - everybody's got one, and they ALL stink!"
You're also not any of your beliefs. Beliefs are nothing more than a 'habit of the mind'. Throughout your life, you've been given information on every conceivable subject, which you've taken in, accepted or rejected, and that which is accepted becomes a part of your belief system. Then a habit. Being a belief does not make it true. Just as thinking you 'are' something or identify as something doesn't make it true - sorry! Of course, I AM asking you to identify as Blissful Consciousness and not as the body, so you may not want to accept that right off the bat either. 😀
But overall, we are just a conglomeration of STUFF! The physical body, the subtle mental body, elements, ideas, histories, beliefs, opinions, conceptions, and that big blob of stuff we call "ME". And very early on in life, our parents looked at this little blob and said, "Let's call it Bob!" (Or John or Ingrid or Artur or Kathleen.) After a few years, we begin to identify AS that name we've been given, and primarily, within ourselves as the pronoun "I" (first person singular). But we're not ANY OF THAT! (My opinion 😀.)
Essentially, this is an exercise in what is termed in Sanskrit 'Neti Neti', which originally is 'na iti na iti' or 'not this and not that'. When you begin to really look and analyze 'who am I?' you, come up with all of these identities and say 'not this'. My name - not this. My body - not this. My ideas - not this, etc. Because you realize that you are the Observer of these things - not the things themselves. Anything that you are aware OF - that isn't you! You see and feel your body. You watch your thoughts. You 'hold' your beliefs and opinions. The idea is that you metaphorically pick up an item, see it, and then recognize 'not this'. Am I this thing or am I aware OF this thing, with the 'thing' being whatever you're currently aware of.
As you let go of things, you'll recognize that you're also not far more subtle things you encounter - not the darkness, not the light, not the space, not the silence, not any feelings. You are Consciousness itself. Perhaps even beyond that, eh?
This is the actual search for Truth (capital 'T'). It's letting go of EVERYTHING that is not, for what is truly Real.
Om Tat Sat 🙏❤️
PS - Chanting of the Nirvana Shatakam is said to produce Gamma brain waves. https://gist.ly/youtube-summarizer/nirvana-shatakam-chant-boost-gamma-brain-waves-inner-peace
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Always nice to be able exposed to good Satsang🙏 Om Namah Shivaya!
ReplyDeleteThank you! 🙏❤️
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