Question: While experiencing (knowing), ‘I thought’ is never there and it comes after the experience and claims it as its own (now there is knower, knowing and known), But all experience happens in the ‘now’. So is that not an experience while ‘I thought’ (mind) is present? Because that ‘imagination/mithya’ also happens in the ‘now’?
Sri Prabhuji: 1) Any experience is “nameless experience” first. In the nameless experience the subject-object become one. In this experiencing non dual pure awareness (knowing) takes the form of unreal touch/sound/taste/form etc.
2). Experience is broken into triputi – subject, object, experience and recorded in memory. Name and form is recorded as knowledge. Subject thought is called Aham vritti (I thought), object thought is called Idam vritti.
3). When experience is recollected, recorded knowledge takes the form of “I enjoyed apple”.
The intellect identifies with I thought and becomes the subject.
4). Like and dislike about experience (raga, dvesha) is recollected now. I don’t like apple causes mental disturbance.
5). Mental disturbance is the experience which again gets recorded with subject and object thought.
Thus any physical experience involves touch sound smell, taste…
Mental experience involves recollection of likes, dislikes associated with physical experience/previously recorded experience in memory.