Let us contemplate on the next topic “you are infinite”.
‘Are you?’…yes yes yes…I was 40kg when I was 20 years old and now I have become 80kg, I have become infinite. No..no..no..this is nothing to do with your body. The essence that you are infinite. All of our life, we keep on struggling to become something in life. I want to become something in life. All our struggle is, I want to become important in life. All I want is to be something bigger. I want to make a name, that means, I want to expand. I want to make money, which means I want to acquire more power. All our life, we are trying somehow to expand and become something infinite and larger. That is our basic motivation.
Somewhere, we are not satisfied with what we are. There is a lot of dissatisfaction. I look very finite, I look very small. But, what, if, what you are understanding is wrong? That is why vedantha teaches us “Tat vam asi”…” you are that”. Please understand here, you are that means, you, which is actually, what you think yourself you are, in essence, that means, Brahman, the supreme reality. All-encompassing infinite reality is ‘you’. How can I be yaar? I am so small….this is your question. From small, I want to become infinite. I am a Jiva, individual. How can I become infinite? This is the question we have.
‘Tat vam asi’…’ that you are’. For that, the answer is, vedantha doesn’t say, you have to become that. ‘tat vam bhava’..it doesn’t say. You have to become that…no. Then you will ask ‘I am feeling infinite, how do I become infinite?’ vedantha say…no..no..no..you meditate for 24 hrs a day for so many years and you become that. From finite, you will become infinite. No…by doing something, you cannot become infinite. Because you are already…what you are already, you cannot do something about it. No..no..no..I am finite…I want to become infinite…should I have devotion, sing bhajans, chant names for million times??? No…because you are already that. Tat vam asi…you are already that. Should I do some breathing practices, some million times a day, to find out whether I am that, whether I am infinite. Sorry…no…because you are already that.
How is it possible? I am feeling so miserable, so small? You are not small…you are infinite. That you have to recognize. That is why you have to understand, tat and, tvam and, asi. When I say, tvam, means you when I use the word ‘I’, what does it mean? Sometimes, I use the word I for the body, sometimes, I use the word I for the mind, sometimes, I use the word I for intellect. I am hungry…who is hungry? The body is hungry. Sometimes, I will say, I am sad…the the mind is sad. Some times I say I am worrying…the intellect is worrying. So, use the word ‘I’ in various contexts. Then, I itself is changing. But, deep inside, you know that I is not changing. You are the same I. So, there is a changing I in you, and unchanging I in you. Deep inside, you know that you are unchanging I. But, while talking, while communicating, you confuse yourself, and confuse yourself for a changing I. Deep inside, you know that you are not changing I.
Now, twam refers to that unchanging “I”. This unchanging I is not a thought. The thought comes up and goes. And thought sometimes says, I am a body, sometimes says, I am the mind. When you wake up in the morning, the thought of I comes, in deep sleep, the thought I disappears. But, still, you continue, because in deep sleep, you are not dead. There is something in you, continues, in deep sleep also. In deep sleep, waking and dreaming states, all the states, something in you is continuing. That is permanent. And that is the real “I”. What is the nature of that? Nature of that is ‘awareness’ and ‘Consciousness’.
But, that you confuse, and identify with the body, mind, and intellect. So, that is the problem. The problem is not you becoming infinite, the problem is removing the mistake of understanding, correcting the understanding. That is the problem. If you are already infinite, you cannot become infinite. So, if you are infinite, and you think you are finite, then, the correction can happen. The corrections is required for your understandings, for the intellect, budhi. That is where you have to realize, I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the intellect, but I am the pure Consciousness. Naanu..naanembudu naanalla..ee deha mana budhi naanalla. Sachidananda Atma Shiva naanu naane…Shivoham..Shivoham..Shivoham. This realization has to happen.
Now, you cannot become Consciousness, because you are already Consciousness. But you can correct your understanding, that you are not body, mind, and intellect. Then you will be established in Consciousness. This can happen thro’ jnana. Jnana is a way for realization. So, another example I can give you: you can see Sunrise in the east and Sunset in the west. By looking at this, we can think, oh! Sun is going around the earth. That is what people thought until somebody discovered that, the earth is going around the Sun, but not the Sun going around the earth. People corrected their understanding, because of that they started new discoveries. Understanding got corrected. Somebody started traveling from Europe to India, Europe to America, discovery, because earlier they thought the earth is flat, now they understand that earth is round. Also, they realized that the earth is going around the Sun. So many new discoveries started happening. What happened is, basic understanding got corrected.
Similarly, when our understanding is wrong, and we identify ourselves with our body, mind, and intellect, you feel limited. If we are Consciousness, we are unlimited. How we are unlimited in Consciousness? I am seeing the star, I am seeing the moon, I am seeing the whole sky, which is infinite. Now, where is that? The sky is there, is it not in your Consciousness? Is it not in your awareness? Everything is in your Consciousness. Let me ask you a question: Between two of my hands, how much is the gap? You can see in inches..how many inches? 10inches..12 inches is the gap. There is a gap between my two hands, isn’t it? But, how much is the gap between, me and space? My hand and space? How much is the distance between my hand and space? Between 2 hands, there is a 10inch gap, between this hand and space, how much is the gap? No gap…same thing with the other hand also. Both hands are in space. Why they are in space? Because space is all-pervading reality. Space is everywhere, in that my hand is there. Whatever is there everywhere, you don’t have a distance between that, and your hand, or anything. Is there a distance between your body and space? No…there cannot be …because space is everywhere. Space is subtler than the body, that is why space is all-pervading, and in space, you exist. There is no gap between you and space.
Consciousness is subtler than space. Because, in Consciousness, space is available. Without Consciousness, you cannot understand space. So, how much gap is there between Consciousness and space? Zero…How much is the gap between Consciousness and your body? No gap….How much gap is there between Consciousness and the Sun? So, everything exists in Consciousness. Who is that Consciousness? You are…everything what you perceive, is in your Consciousness. What you perceive is infinity…infinite sky. That is in your Consciousness and who is that Consciousness? You are not the body, you are not the mind, you are not the intellect, you are the Consciousness. You are the awareness. Everything is an awareness.
Since everything is in you, you are already infinite. And you are trying to become miserable because you are wrongly thinking that you are the body. The Consciousness, you are identifying with the small body. How did the infinite identify this finite? There is one example: There is space in this room. And there is space outside. Is space inside and outside the same? Has space got cut because of the room? Space cannot be cut, because space is subtler than the walls. But, space inside the room appears to be small. Space outside appears to be infinity. This applies to space because it is physical. But, Consciousness is subtler than space, because, in Consciousness, space is appeared. So, can Consciousness be cut, inside and outside? The Consciousness is all-pervading reality, which is you, which is infinite. But, just like the space inside the room appears room inside space, and space outside the room appears to be room outside space, the conscious is inside your body and mind, appears to be you, which is individual Consciousness. Whereas, the Consciousness outside, is the universal Consciousness or God or Brahman. That is infinite. But, you appear to be finite, because of the limitations of the body and mind.
If you really understand the nature of Consciousness, you will understand that there is no body and mind which can limit the Consciousness. Consciousness is one same Consciousness, which is infinite. When a space itself cannot be bound by a wall, how Consciousness can be bound by walls? Both you, and the Sun & the Moon ..are all in the Consciousness. You means, your body. Sun is also in Consciousness, there is no gap between the Sun and the Consciousness. Moon is also in Consciousness, and there is no gap between the Moon and Consciousness. Even the body is also in Consciousness. Your body, Sun, Moon ..everything is an object in Consciousness. Your problem is, the object in Consciousness, you are identifying with the conscious inside your body. You think that my conscious is limited to that body. You have to just understand that Consciousness is not limited by the body. Space cannot be limited by the body, how Consciousness can be limited by the body? Space inside and space outside are the same, the Consciousness inside and Consciousness outside are the same. Consciousness inside is called atman, Consciousness outside is called Paramatma or Brahman or God. They are the same.
Where is the confusion coming into the picture? The confusion is coming because of the budhi, the intellect. Intellect is causing confusion. Intellect is causing erroneous judgment saying that ‘I am seeing the body’. Intellect cannot see Consciousness. Because, what it sees, it thinks that it is me. Intellect is saying that ‘I am the body’. The Consciousness, atman, the individual within you, the conscious in you, identifies with that erroneous intellect and thinks that it is also you. That’s all. The moment, correction happens in intellect, conscious says ‘I am infinite’. Conscious understands that I am infinite. Or rather there is a feeling of infinity. So, the realization is the result of clear jnana, ajnana removal.
So, you have understood what is the meaning of ‘tat tvam asi’? So, tat vam asi means you are infinite. You are thinking that you are body, mind, and intellect. That is a wrong understanding. You are already infinite. Correct your understanding, then you will feel or rather understand you are Brahman. That atman is nothing but Brahman. This is the understanding which is required. And how can this happen? It can happen thro’ jnana only. Shravana, Manana, Nidhidhyasa. Jnana means, not general intellectual understanding. Finally, it has to be Nidhidhyasa. It has to establish truth in you. You have to live that truth. Nidhidhyasa is not meditation. Nidhidhyasa is contemplation to establish the truth. So, you have to remove all your doubts. Then you will get established in the truth. You means not the intellect. Consciousness. It no longer identifies with the body and mind. It identifies with the infinite space. That is called “Tat Vam Asi”.
For that you have to meditate “Aham Brahmasmi”, “I am Brahman”, “I am Consciousness”.
Pranams.