How To Meet This Unseen One? - 8th September 2017
Saar (Essence)
Ananta explores the paradox of meeting the 'unseen' Lord, guiding seekers to recognize their own non-phenomenal nature as the unchanging witness that exists beyond the mind, senses, and the play of appearances.
How to meet the unseen one? That is what it means when we say non-phenomenal recognition.
You will not be able to crack the formula 'Who am I' as if it is an intellectual puzzle.
What is it that is not perceived phenomenally that remains unchanging? That is reality.
contemplative
Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors.
Words, they caught my attention in the middle of the Aarti today. You say, 'Tum ho ek agochar,' you are the one unseen, ever-present. 'Sabke prana pati,' that from which all of this life emerges by force, life energy, it emerges from you. You are the one unseen, ever-present, the life force of all beings. Oh Lord, then now from what I remember, these words seem to get different from that. It is 'Kis vidhi miloon,' they are... and my understanding of this dialect of Hindi is not so good, but my feeling is that it means that if you are the unseen, ever-present one, how do I meet you? I only surrender to you. How to meet the unseen one?
That is the beauty of this sacred mission. How to meet the unseen one? That is what it means when we say non-phenomenal recognition. And in the recognition, we will see that there is the Self. This Self which is beyond seeing and not seeing, beyond any light and darkness, beyond something and nothing. This nothing is your true nature; it is where all phenomena sprouts from. So with great devotion, the one who has composed this Aarti has asked: 'You are the unseen one and yet you are the source of all things. What beauty is this? How do I meet you, Oh Lord? How to meet this Self?'
Everything that we meet in this world can at best point to this. That's why the meeting with the Master is the most beautiful, because there is no greater pointer to this. There is no greater example of this. And yet, the Master is always saying, 'Oh, we need to go to the formless reality of yourself.' We cannot meet the formless reality in the world of forms. You will not be able to compute your own reality with the mind. You will not be able to crack the formula 'Who am I?' as if it is an intellectual puzzle. The clues that are provided are not to solve it like an intellectual riddle, but to add your own insight. Who am I?
We will not see it in the seemingly outside world. We will not be able to use this mental contraption to find it. We will not be able to imagine awareness. You will not experience it as an emotion or any sort of physical sensation. How to find it then? All these tools are gone, left aside. This goes right to the root of it, isn't it? If you are the unseen one, how do I meet you, Oh Lord? That is my Self. The recognition is beyond the realm of experience, and yet at one point we can say it is the most unique experience because it is undeniably true and yet it has no quality. There is no phenomena on which you are reporting.
This is the exploration then. We don't need to pick up a sense of aversion to anything phenomenal. All that we are saying is that yes, this phenomena, all these phenomenal things have got so much attention from us. Can we spare some time to divest attention from this phenomenal play and check if there is anything else there? So when we say 'Neti, Neti, Neti'—not this, not this, not this, not this—it is not because we are trying to push it away or there is an aversion to phenomenal things. It is only that one aspect has got so much attention from us. How about we check beyond and see if there is something beyond my phenomenal existence? Where will I find this one non-phenomenal existence?
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Don't get confused with the terminology. I know that usually when we use the term existence, we are talking about the sense 'I am.' I'm talking about now the 'I' perhaps, which is beyond the sense of existence, and yet even though it is beyond the sense of existence—the sense of presence, the sense of being—it is undeniably true. The undeniable truth of who you are: the unchanging witness. Do you see what we're doing? It's saying, 'How do I meet you, Oh Lord, the unseen one?' Then the Lord's response comes: 'Find this unchanging witness.' What is it that is not perceived phenomenally that remains unchanging? Therefore it is reality, therefore it is truth. And that which is witnessing, the witnessing principle itself, is one way to put it.
You cannot find it through mental means. You cannot find it through any phenomenal process. Therefore action, all that you could do for it, plays no role here. Because all doing is in the play of phenomena. So the term 'vidhi'—'kis vidhi miloon'—which way, what means do I use to find you? When you find that there are no phenomenal means, all action is set aside. Not a step you have to take. If it's not a step I have to take, then it must be here already. If it's not a step I have to create, then the meeting cannot be a meeting of two. If it was a meeting of two, then you have to take a step. If it's not a step I have to take, then it must be meeting myself.
That which is ever-present, unseen to sight, unheard to ears. No senses can get here. No imagination can get here. No thought can capture this. Even the sense of my existence, we have gone beyond to that which is. When the Sage said, 'Be still and know that you are That,' it's the same as this. How to meet that unseen? Only witnessing. So for some time, more phenomenal considerations, they have had their time. They will get their time also in the future. Are you aware now? What is aware of even this? Awareness cannot solve this question. Don't try to solve it. Let the question die on its own. What is aware of awareness? Why are you here? What is true about you that has never changed? And this awareness also, can it come and go? What would witness the coming and going of this? Does this have a beginning or an end or any form of change? Is there anything to desire, anything to push away? What can come in the world of appearances that can touch this one?
The Thread Continues
These satsangs touch the same silence.
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