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THE GLORY OF VEDA  ̄NTA, THE SCIENCE OF “NOT-TWO!”

Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) the famous Austrian existentialist philosopher once told

Professor K. atchidananda !urth" that# $there is no metaph"sics superior to that ofhan%ara.&

'nderstandin $Pure xistence-*onsciousness& is the su+,ect-matter of eda ̄nta.

he /estern philosoph" mostl" feels daunted explainin $pure& existence# and so does

the modern science in explainin or understandin $pure& consciousness.

 eda ̄nta handles +oth su+,ects (pure existence-consciousness) 0ith aplom+. Accordin

to eda ̄nta# these t0o are not reall" t0o# +ut actuall" one entit". /e experience

$existence& as $consciousness& onl" and 0e experience $consciousness& in the form of

our felt sense of $+ein& or $existence.& his is denoted 0ith the expressions2 सदव   चद #

 चदव   सद 2 sadeva chida, chideva sada2 eril"# existence is consciousness# and

consciousness is existence.

 eda ̄nta sa"s existence-consciousness can onl" +e $experienced& in relation to o+,ects in

the form of their name and form (na ̄ma-ru ̄ pa). t cannot +e $experienced& in its $pure&

form de4oid of name and form. /h"5 ecause consciousness is the 4er" u+,ect7and

su+,ect# +" definition# cannot +e o+,ectified. And that u+,ect# sa"s eda ̄nta# is $ou&7the formless# nameless conscious-principle.

he reat sae a,a ̄ 4al%"a con4e"ed this supreme understandin to his 0ife !aitre"i ̄ is

his final instructions2

"Through wha hou# o$% &$ow THAT ow'$g o wh'(h a h' ' &$ow$!"

) Bṙhada ̄ra yaka Upani ad n s  :.;.1;

he pure 0itness-consciousness is the indi4idual self ( Sa ̄kshi Chaitanyam is

the jiva ̄tma ̄) and the pure existence is the uni4ersal elf ( Suddha-Satta-rupa isthe Parama ̄tma ̄). he reat statements or e

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( jiva ̄tma ̄) 0ith the uni4ersal elf ( Parama ̄tma ̄) is called li+eration# mok a or mukti s #

accordin to eda ̄nta. Cnce the ad,ecti4es D jiva"  and D param"  are remo4ed# 0hat

remains is a ̄tma ̄ ? Parama ̄tma ̄. Attainin this understandin is li+eration.

Ei%e the tenth man in the stor"# it is disco4erin 0hat one alread" is. Cnce this isunderstood--that i am essentiall" eternal# pure# and of the nature of consciousness and

free (nitya-shuddha, buddha, mukta)# one does not ha4e to DdoD an"thin extra to attain

li+eration. t is o0nin up to our status or attainin the e4er-attained. Fo 0e need an"

practice to realie that 0e are human +eins5

 Attainin this li+eration is the ultimate end and purpose of human existence# accordin

to ndian philosoph". eda ̄nta declares that this li+eration is possi+le 0ithin this 4er"

lifetime.

here are onl" t0o $near-examples&== of the experience of o+,ectless $pure& existence-

consciousness2

1. S*a(%2 althouh not strictl" $pure& existence-consciousness# space is the nearest

example. Gpace has dimensions and has the propert" of sound consciousness is

utterl" 0ithout an" propert" and attri+utesH

@. D%%* S%%*2 ou o+taininBexperiencin "ourself in deep sleep is another

$nearest& example of o+,ectless pure-consciousness.

= I == ased on 0ami Paramarthananda# Discourses on ri  ̄ Dak!i ṇ m#rti Stotram#

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