PDA

View Full Version : What does Pure Consciousness mean?



Tirisilex
25 December 2009, 10:48 PM
What exactly does it mean?

devotee
26 December 2009, 12:20 AM
Namaste Trisilex,

"Pure Consciousness" is the substratum of everything that exists but manifests itself as infinite things in the waking & dreaming states of Self. It is the Self ... Brahman. Vedanta says, "Prajnanaam Brahma" i.e. "The Consciousness is Brahman".

The consciousness which sees not One but many ... which gives a separate identity to you, me & makes one see oneself different from "others', is conditioned consciousness.

Pure Consciousness is unveiled in deep meditation, deep contemplation on Vedantic teachings or by the grace of God/Guru .... when all differentiation/limitations vanishes ... all Karma are dissolved ... One-ness with the Self which is "One without a second" is attained.

OM

saidevo
26 December 2009, 01:27 AM
namate Tirisilex.

Here is a definitive description of the pure consciousness by by Swami Adiswarananda:

"Hindu scriptures describe ultimate reality as Brahman. Brahman is non-dual pure consciousness, indivisible, incorporeal, infinite, and all-pervading like the sky. Brahman is of the nature of existence-knowledge-bliss-absolute-the ground of all existence, basis of all awareness, and source of all bliss. It is the reality of all realities, the soul of all souls, one without a second, the constant witness of the changing phenomena of the universe. From the absolute point of view, Brahman alone exists. Brahman has two aspects: transcendent and immanent. In Its transcendent aspect, Brahman is devoid of name and form, sex and attributes. But in Its immanent aspect, Brahman is endowed with them. The Upanishads designate the transcendent Brahman by the word "It" and the immanent Brahman by the word "He." Through Its inscrutable power called maya, the transcendent Brahman appears to be conditioned by time and space and to manifest itself as personal God, the creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe. The Upanishads describe God as the supreme person:

"His hands and feet are everywhere; His eyes, heads, and faces are everywhere; His ears are everywhere; He exists compassing all. The heavens are His head; the sun and moon, His eyes; the quarters, His ears; the revealed Vedas, His speech; the wind is His breath; the universe, His heart. From His feet is produced the earth. He is, indeed, the inner Self of all beings."

Ref:
http://www.ramakrishna.org/activities/message/message14.htm#_edn1

As Devotee has described, Brahman manifests as mAyA--illusion in the sense of conditional reality, in the waking and dreaming states of our existence. In the deep sleep state the individual self merges with the pure consciousness of Brahman but the self is not aware of it. Individual selves which can sustain a state of turIya through meditation can witness the state of pure consciousness of Brahman whose chief nature is non-dual existence characterized by sat-chit-Ananda: existence-consciousness-bliss.

Tirisilex
26 December 2009, 03:51 PM
Is Chaitanya similar to Brahman?

smaranam
26 December 2009, 04:20 PM
Namaste Tirisilex


Acharya SadanandaJi's "Introduction to Vedanta" essays
http://advaitaforum.org/introduction-to-vendanta/

I think , if you read them in sequence, there should be no chicken-and-egg problems (or catch 22), i.e. getting stuck on terms , words and definitions.
He starts with the basics. Just one thing - at times some of the essays may not sound very theistic, but reading further, we understand that this is how Jnanis sound sometimes, and everything said there is based of Vedanta premises (pramANa) , and heavily based on the Upanishads, Brahma-sUtras and Bhagavad Gita.

Acharyaji is a disciple of Swami Chinmayananda of Shringeri Math and represents Chinmay Mission Trust around Washington DC.


Yr qn above -
Chaitanya is the property, nature of Brahman' i.e AtmA / atman . Chaitanya is chetana , vigour/vigor as far as i understand. It is the spark missing in the insentient dead matter, that comes alive with Chaitanya of AtmA. Also, when thick layers of conditioning and ignorance surround the AtmA, it is hidden, this Chaitanya, and cannot be fully perceived or appreciated.

I wish you all the best.

praNAm

yajvan
26 December 2009, 05:25 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté Tirisilex,


What exactly does it mean?

A resaonable question no doubt. Yet it is like the taste of a banana. I can show you the picture, explain the flavor somewhat, yet knowing the banana comes from the bite. Like that, knowing this pure awareness comes from its experience.

Now that said, some are of the opinion this is difficult to experience - I say no. Think about it. Awareness is pouring out of your being via the eyes, ears, nose, thinking, thinking-about-thinking, memory, etc.. We are surrounded by it.

The 'pure' part is just allowing awareness to experience itself. To allow the mind to settle down and experince the silence of Being, consciousness itself, awareness itself.

It (pure consciousness) is an 'effortless' environment it resides in. As soon as you try to experience it, you then are applying consciousness to do work, to act, to move. The 'skill' is allowing the mind to settle down into itself, and rest in this awareness itself. This is the technique - this is what a teacher brings, and guru does even more.

praṇām

Tirisilex
26 December 2009, 10:12 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté Tirisilex,



A resaonable question no doubt. Yet it is like the taste of a banana. I can show you the picture, explain the flavor somewhat, yet knowing the banana comes from the bite. Like that, knowing this pure awareness comes from its experience.

Now that said, some are of the opinion this is difficult to experience - I say no. Think aoubt it. Awareness is pouring out of your being via the eyes, ears, nose, thinking, thinking-about-thinking, memory, etc.. We are surrounded by it.

The 'pure' part is just allowing awareness to experience itself. To allow the mind to settle down and experince the silence of Being, consciousness itself, awareness itself.

It (pure consciousness) is an 'effortless' environment it resides in. As soon as you try to experince it, you then are applying consciousness to do work, to act, to move. The 'skill' is allowing the mind to settle down into itself, and rest in this awareness itself. This is the technique - this is what a teacher brings, and guru does even more.

praṇām

Now that was an answer I could understand! YAY!

kd gupta
27 December 2009, 12:03 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté Tirisilex,



A resaonable question no doubt. Yet it is like the taste of a banana. I can show you the picture, explain the flavor somewhat, yet knowing the banana comes from the bite. Like that, knowing this pure awareness comes from its experience.

Now that said, some are of the opinion this is difficult to experience - I say no. Think aoubt it. Awareness is pouring out of your being via the eyes, ears, nose, thinking, thinking-about-thinking, memory, etc.. We are surrounded by it.

The 'pure' part is just allowing awareness to experience itself. To allow the mind to settle down and experince the silence of Being, consciousness itself, awareness itself.

It (pure consciousness) is an 'effortless' environment it resides in. As soon as you try to experince it, you then are applying consciousness to do work, to act, to move. The 'skill' is allowing the mind to settle down into itself, and rest in this awareness itself. This is the technique - this is what a teacher brings, and guru does even more.

praṇām
Namaste Yajvanji , thank you . You have quoted the fact and I would also like to add from Brahadaranyak as…
Sa ya atmanameyeo lokamupaste na hi asya karm kshiyate . asmaddheyvatmano yaddatkamayate tatat
Srajate .
Means gyan which is applied for positivity is always proven .
Also Aadiguru Shankara says as per vivekchuramani….
Mokshkaransamagryaam Bhaktireva gareeyasi .
Application of Brahmagyan is spirituality or pure consciousness , it is one step above of Mahavakyas , Aham brahmasmi or Tattwamasi .Krsn defines…

Yajjnaatwaa na punarmoham evam yaasyasi paandava;
Yena bhootaanyasheshena drakshyasyaatmanyatho mayi.
Knowing that Gyan, thou shalt not, O Arjuna, again become deluded like this; and by that thou
shalt see all beings in thy Self and also in Me later . This Devotion is defined in Ramcharitmanas as….

They who knowingly cast aside such Devotion and take pains to acquire mere
gyan are one who would leave alone the cow of plenty at their own house and knock
about in search of the Aka plant (the milk-weed) to get milk out of it. Listen. O lord of
the winged creatures; the people who ignore Bhakti and seek happiness by any other
means ,seek to swim across the ocean without the help of a vessel.

smaranam
27 December 2009, 08:31 AM
Many PraNAms YajvanJi



[SIZE=3]A resaonable question no doubt. Yet it is like the taste of a banana. I can show you the picture, explain the flavor somewhat, yet knowing the banana comes from the bite. Like that, knowing this pure awareness comes from its experience.



This is simply wonderful. Take a bite of the banana.

I was told something similar.

"Just stand apart and be the observer. "

"But i already have an observer ! (He is my AntaryAmi. He walks by my side wherever i go. With His beautiful Lotus Eyes He watched with folded arms, silly me going about things, also surfing the net, etc. - that is when my attention wasn't completely on Him. He does wonders. He ... oh well ) "

"Watch who is doing the walking, observe your respiratory, circulatory system. Prakrti does everything. In the presence of UpadrshtA, she dances.
No need to drive away thoughts. Just watch them from a distance. They are not you.
Identify with that SAkshi, UpadrshtA. That is you"

"What ??!! No ."

What's worse, He (my Krshna) had also been saying such things Himself (You and I are not different) . Its all scary.

Honestly, though , had it not been for Krshna's infinite kindness of walking into my life , this would not have been easy. It was very easy to see who the observer is, since He was always there, but its hard to accept that that is me.

Perhaps easier to accept that that is US (Him and me).
Ultimate sharaNAgati, i am told , is giving up that last bit of ego that wants to 'see Him'. And that got me thinking. Yes, the Love of that AntaryAmi towards this whole Universe is so enormous, so difficult to encompass and handle. I care not to exist anymore as a seperate "i" entity. That would be ego. He doesn't need 'my' flowers, words, thoughts or attention.
You alone ARE my Lord, all there is to existence is You.


Om Namo Bhagavate VAsudevaya

yajvan
27 December 2009, 12:25 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté ,

Some very good posts and reply's have been offered here on this subject.

Perhaps there is a bit more we can discover/unfold about this pure consciousness? I wrote ...


It (pure consciousness) is an 'effortless' environment it resides in. As soon as you try to experience it, you then are applying consciousness to do work, to act, to move. The 'skill' is allowing the mind to settle down into itself, and rest in this awareness itself. This is the technique - this is what a teacher brings, and guru does even more.
Some call this experience of this pure awareness samādhi. Lets look at the beauty of this word and how it aligns with 'effortless'.

Idea 1
samādhi समाधि - is samā+dhi.

Samā = together with , along with , together ; sameness, even-ness, to make equal , balance.
dhi = is to hold, to delight , to please.So, samā+dhi is that even-ness, that balance, that is held to delight, to please.

Idea 2
samādhi समाधि - is sam+ā+dhi

sam - is to join together
ā - is a noun of śiva ( perfect silence, perfect balance) ; it is also a noun of lakṣmī ; ā also means near to.
dhi - is to hold, to delight , to please. Hence sam+ā+dhi is to join (sam) that perfect silence (śiva) that delights (dhi).

The balance of mind, this samādhi is a condition of effortlessness . That state that is perfectly balanced. Effort suggest movement and therefore a weight to one side or another , outside of 'silence'... the balance is not there due to the effort.

samādhi is the resting place ( samā - evenness ) of dhyāna ( meditation); from this nirvāṇa occurs... nirvāṇa is defined as to blow (va) + out (nir). What is this blowing out? That of ignorance , that of imbalance.

praṇām

saidevo
27 December 2009, 08:16 PM
One Hindu sage--I think RamaNa Maharshi--said 'samAdhi' is the status of becoming 'sama'--equal to, 'Adi'--what was in the beginning; but then it is 'Adhi' not 'Adi' in the word 'samAdhi' but even 'Adhi' has a meaning 'foundation'.

In the same way, 'upanishat' can be interpreted as 'upa'--towards, 'nish'--before, 'sat'--truth, existence, that is, 'towards the (truth of) existence before; but then the most popular interpretation is 'upa'--near, 'niShat'--sitting, seated, so 'seated near the guru in learning'.

I think it is Bhagavan Sathya Sai Baba who said 'upanayanam' popularly means 'upa'--towards, 'nayana'--leading, so 'leading towards the truth' but it also means 'upa'--together with, (so)additional, 'nayanam'--eye, thus 'the additional (third) eye'.

Sanskrit is a wonderful language with such layers of meanings; and no wonder it is devanAgarI--language of the gods.

yajvan
27 December 2009, 09:21 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~


Idea 1
samādhi समाधि - is samā+dhi.

Samā = together with , along with , together ; sameness, even-ness, to make equal , balance.
dhi = is to hold, to delight , to please.So, samā+dhi is that even-ness, that balance, that is held to delight, to please.

Idea 2
samādhi समाधि - is sam+ā+dhi

sam - is to join together
ā - is a noun of śiva ( perfect silence, perfect balance) ; it is also a noun of lakṣmī ; ā also means near to.
dhi - is to hold, to delight , to please. Hence sam+ā+dhi is to join (sam) that perfect silence (śiva) that delights (dhi).

The balance of mind, this samādhi is a condition of effortlessness . That state that is perfectly balanced. Effort suggest movement and therefore a weight to one side or another , outside of 'silence'... the balance is not there due to the effort.

samādhi is the resting place ( samā - evenness ) of dhyāna ( meditation); from this nirvāṇa occurs... nirvāṇa is defined as to blow (va) + out (nir). What is this blowing out? That of ignorance , that of imbalance.

Idea 3
samādhi समाधि - is sa+mā+dhi

sa - is knowledge, meditation; procuring
mā - ( 3rd derivative) is to measure out ; yet this mā is also madhyama. What is this? It is the middle note,
mádhya, middle, central, neutral i.e. the balance point.
dhi - is to hold, to delight , to please. Now we have samādhi as that knowledge ( meditation) that holds and delights in mádhya.
This mádhya is very attractive in kaśmir śaivism. It is the theme of Vijñāna Bhairava¹ āgama.

praṇām

words

vijñāna bhairava - the conversation between śakti and śiva. This is from the Rudrayāmala Tantra.
vijñāna is vi+jñāna: vi is to discern, distinction + jñāna is wisdom, knowledge.
āgama - a traditional doctrine or precept , collection of such doctrines , sacred work , brāhmaṇa.

In kaśmir śaivism 92 are recognized; these āgama's are śāstra focusing on the knowledge & wisdom offered or aligned to śiva and śakti.

yajvan
28 December 2009, 10:52 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté ,


Idea 4
lets use saidevo's post as the foundation for this idea/notion:


One Hindu sage--I think RamaNa Maharshi--said 'samAdhi' is the status of becoming 'sama'--equal to, 'Adi'--what was in the beginning; but then it is 'Adhi' not 'Adi' in the word 'samAdhi' but even 'Adhi' has a meaning 'foundation'.


samādhi समाधि - is sama+ādhi when two a's appear side-by-side then the long ā is added. So we can add ā or leave a as it is.

sama = together with , along with , together ; sameness, even-ness, to make equal , balance
ādhi - has multiple meanings - it is a place, receptacle ; it is also reflection; also a foundationFor this definition of samādhi, it is the place of even-ness, the receptacle of balance.
Yet if ādhi was written as adhi the definition changes. It means in comparison with, also anxiety, on, at.
How do we get to anxiety? by a+dhi ; a = not + dhi = delight, or pleasing. Hence we get not delightful or not pleasing and hence a ~version~ of anxiety.

If we use ādi that = first, beginning. We could then apply saidevo's definition which I rather like. Yet as saidevo suggest , this is not the word, and taking this liberty would just be applying a new word and not deriving it from the existing word ādhi.

praṇām