Re: the view of Self...
Thanks for starting a thread which can have some useful discussion.
You have asked:
"So were does this Self-awareness ( pratyaktva -towards one's self ) come in ?"
Two terms, pratyak and parAk, hold the key to the view of the Self.
• The term pratyak is a comparative form of pratyancha which has the meanings 'turning inwards, being or coming from behind, inwardly, within'. Thus 'prayak' suggests the meaning 'private'--compare 'pratyeka--each one, one at a time, singly'.
Therefore, pratyaktva indicates the perception of 'I-sense' in/of the Self. Let us note that the Self by itself does not have the 'I-sense', but when it manifests as the many it arrogates an antaH-karaNa--manas--mind and buddhi--intellect, and chitta--individual consciousness, to each manifestation, which in turn creates this feeling of 'I-ness' in each manifestation.
• The term parAk literally means 'directed towards the outer world, proximity'. It is a very common term in many Indian languages.
For example, in Tamizh we have the gentle admonition, 'ennaDA, parAkku pArkarE?'--'Hey, why are you inattentive, looking here and there?' Similarly, the royal arrival of a King with his entourage is announced with the calling-attention words '...such and such great King is coming, parAk, parAk, parAk!' The term 'pArA' in Tamizh means 'watch, guard, patrol'.
• Philosophically and spirutally, any object which attains/is attained by another, or illumines another is understood as parAk. All the objects of a universe, such as a clay jar, etc. exist for and because of the 'I-sense' of the Self, hence they are parAk.
• Thus we have pratyak-Atman standing for the jIva-Atman (individual Self) and paramAtman standing for the Supreme Self.
So, when there are two human forms of individual Self, say A and B, the feeling of I-ness is also felt individually by both A and B, because B is not experienced as 'I' by A and vice versa. Thus both A and B have their own 'I-sense' individually. Collectively, however, neither of them is willing to grant a multiple 'I' (this due to the assertion of the unity of the immanent Supreme Self), so they refer to them together as 'we', and feel that they have retained their individual I-nesses, their individual selves.
• Now the question arises about the reality of the Self and its individual forms. Dr.K.RAdhAkRShNan explains that since the Supreme Self always asserts its unity and absolute reality, the individual egos have no reality apart from the Self, and they all exist in the Self. The assertion of unity by the Supreme Self, however, does not negate the empirical reality of the individual selves.
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The worldly awareness of parAktva is easily diminished and dismissed because of the feeling of only my-ness and not I-ness with the external objects and senses. Then the awareness and the inquiry of I-ness shifts inwards to one's antaH-karaNa--manas, buddhi, chitta and ahaMkAra. Soon the sAdhaka--seeker, gets to KNOW that they are not the Self either because they too only give the feeling of my-ness.
Finally, the sAdhaka gets around to the knowledge that his pratyak-Atman--individual Self is the same as the paramAtman--Supreme Self. Once this identify is experienced, the jIva understands that its I-sense is as much unreal as its my-sense, and that both get lost and merged into the sat-chit-Ananda anubhavam of Self-Realization.
रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥
To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.
--viShNu purANam
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