54. Body and Mind are Symptoms of Ignorance

Life Answers: A Complete Audiobook Reading of Sri Nisargadatta Maharajah's I AM THAT

We're back! Massive thanks to Marc for agreeing to co-read and talk about this super-poetic and rich dialogue with me.

Imagine you're playing a video game where you can switch between different characters: one character is the "Person," another is the "Witness," and the ultimate level is becoming the "Absolute."

1. Person: This is like your character in the game. It's what you control and move around with, dealing with all the game's challenges. In real life, this refers to you with your body, thoughts, and feelings.

2. Witness: Imagine this as the camera following your character around in the game. It sees everything your character does but isn't actually doing any of it. The Witness is like a part of you that watches everything you do, think, or feel but doesn't get involved.

3. Absolute: Now, think of this as the entire game itself—the world, the rules, everything. It's the big picture that includes all the characters, the witnesses, and even things you can't see or haven't discovered yet. The Absolute is reality at its most fundamental, beyond time and space, and it's what everything else comes from.

Maharaj talks about three kinds of "spaces" to help us understand how everything is connected:

- Mahadakash: This is like the physical world in the game—the maps, the landscapes, everything you can see and interact with.

- Chidakash: This represents the mental space, like the game's storyline, the quests, and the decisions you make. It's all about perception and cognition.

- Paramakash: This is the ultimate level of the game—the code and logic that make up the game's universe. It's beyond the physical and mental, the source of everything.

The dialogue also touches on how we often confuse the "Person" (us playing the game) with the "Witness" (the camera/viewer) and the "Absolute" (the entire game). We get so caught up in our roles and stories that we forget they're all part of a bigger picture.

Maharaj encourages us to explore beyond our character in the game (our body and mind) and realize we're more like the game itself—vast, interconnected, and part of a larger reality. He suggests that understanding this can change how we see the world and ourselves, helping us to find true happiness and freedom from suffering.

It's a bit like realizing you're not just playing the game, but you're also the one watching it and, on an even deeper level, the one who created it. This shift in perspective is where the liberation occurs, making life's challenges feel less personal and overwhelming.

Glossary:

1. Person (Vyakti): Refers to the individual human being, characterized by physical and subtle bodies, perceived through the lens of personal identity.

2. Witness (Vyakta): The aspect of consciousness that observes or witnesses the phenomena of existence without being affected by them.

3. Absolute (Avyakta): The ultimate reality that is beyond time, space, and perception; the source of all existence and consciousness.

4. Mahadakash: The physical space or the "great space" that encompasses nature and all physical existences.

5. Chidakash: The "space of consciousness" or mental space where time, perception, and cognition occur.

6. Paramakash: The supreme or ultimate space that is beyond physical and mental realms, representing the infinite potentiality and essence of reality.

7. Vyakta and Avyakta: Manifest and unmanifest; used to describe the visible aspects of reality (vyakta) and the invisible, underlying essence (avyakta).

8. Chit: Pure consciousness or awareness, the fundamental essence of existence that knows and is known.

9. Gunas: Qualities or modes of nature in Indian philosophy, namely sattva (purity, harmony), rajas (activity, passion), and tamas (inertia, ignorance) that influence the behavior of all beings.

10. Viveka-Vairagya: Discrimination and dispassion; spiritual practices of discerning the real from the unreal and detachment from the non-essential.

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