Amrutanubhava review

 https://www.nonduality.com/jnan.htm

They are not entirely the same,

Nor are they not the same.
We cannot say exactly what they are.

How sweet is their union!
The whole world is too small to contain them,
Yet they live happily in the smallest particle.

These two are the only ones
Who dwell in this home called the universe.
When the Master of the house sleeps,
The Mistress stays awake,
And performs the functions of both.

When He awakes, the whole house disappears,
And nothing at all is left.

Two lutes: one note.
Two flowers: one fragrance.
Two lamps: one light.

Two lips: one word.
Two eyes: one sight.
These two: one universe.

In unity there is little to behold;
So She, the mother of abundance,
Brought forth the world as play.

He takes the role of Witness
Out of love of watching Her.
But when Her appearance is withdrawn,
The role of Witness is abandoned as well.

Through Her,
He assumes the form of the universe;
Without Her,
He is left naked.

If night and day were to approach the Sun,
Both would disappear.
In the same way, their duality would vanish
If their essential Unity were seen.

In fact, the duality of Shiva and Shakti
Cannot exist in that primal unitive state
From which AUM emanates.

They are like a stream of knowledge
From which a knower cannot drink
Unless he gives up himself.

Is the sound of AUM divided into three
Simple because it contains three letters?
Or is the letter 'N' divided into three
Because of the three lines by which it is formed?

.............

A man returns to himself
When he awakens from sleep;
Likewise, I have perceived the God and Goddess
By waking from my ego.

When salt dissolves,
It becomes one with the ocean;
When my ego dissolved,
I became one with Shiva and Shakti.

....

How wonderful is his friendship!
He has manifested duality
In the form of Guru and disciple
Where there is not even a place for one!

He becomes as vast as the sky,
Including the entire universe within himself.
Within him
Even darkness and non-existence dwell.

The words, "Guru" and "disciple"
Refer to but one;
The Guru alone exists as both these forms.

........

By looking in a mirror, one perceives his own identity;
But that identity was already there.

In the same way, relative knowledge gives the understanding
Of the identity of the world and the Self --
But it is like using a knife
To cut another knife.

Fire, in the process of annihilating camphor,
Annihilates itself as well;
This is exactly what happens to knowledge
In the process of destroying ignorance.

The cresting of a wave is but its fall;
The flash of a bolt of lightning
Is but its fading.

Likewise, knowledge,
Drinking up the water of ignorance,
Grows so large
That it completely annihilates itself.

This absolute Knowledge is like
The intrinsic fullness of the moon,
Which is unaffected
By its apparent waxing and waning.

Likewise, that which is Consciousness Itself
Does not possess the quality of being conscious,
And is, therefore, not conscious of Itself.

If absolute Knowledge required the aid
Of some other kind of knowledge to know Itself,
It would be nothing but ignorance.

Of course, light is not darkness;
But, to itself, is it even light?

If there is a pot, a pot is perceived,
And if the pot is broken, its brokenness is perceived;
If there is no pot at all,
Is not its absence perceived as well?

It can be seen, therefore,
That he who perceives that there is nothing
Does not himself become nothing.
The Self has this same unique kind of existence,
Beyond both existence and non-existence.

....

The ultimate Reality
Is neither an object to Itself
Nor is It an object to anyone else.
Should it then be regarded as non-existent?

In a tank the water may be so clear
That it appears non-existent;
Though one who looks into the tank may not see it,
Still it is there.

Similarly,
The ultimate Reality exists in Itself,
And is beyond the conceptions
Of existence or non-existence.

.

When a jar is placed on the ground,
We have the ground with a jar;
When the jar is taken away,
We have the ground without a jar;

But when neither of these conditions exists,
The ground exists in its unqualified state.
It is in this same way
That the ultimate Reality exists.

.................          ...................

These three attributes, Sat, Chit, and Ananda
(Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss),
Do not actually define Brahman.
A poison is poison to others,
But not to itself.

Camphor is white;
Not only that, it is soft.
And not only that, it is fragrant as well.

Just as these three qualities signify
One object -- camphor, and not three objects;
So the three qualities,
Sat, Chit, and Ananda,
Are contained in one reality.

........

It is true that the words,
Sat, Chit, and Ananda,
Are different,
But the three are united in one Bliss.

When water is falling in drops,
We can count them.
But when the water is gathered
In a puddle on the ground,
It is impossible to count the number of drops.

In the same way,
The scriptures describe Reality
As Sat, or Existence,
In order to negate Its non-existence.
They call It Chit, or Consciousness,
In order to negate its unconsciousness.

...........

The Vedas,
Which are the very breath of the Lord,
Declare It to be Ananda, or Bliss,
Only in order to negate the possibility
Of pain existing in It.

Thus the word, Satchidananda,
Used to refer to the Self,
Does not really describe Its nature,
But merely signifies
That It is not the opposite of this.

.........

The fact is, if we try to know That,
The knowledge itself is That.
How, then, could the knowledge
And the object of knowledge remain separate?

So the words Sat, Chit, and Ananda
Do not denote That;
They are merely inventions of our thought.

These well-known words, Chit, Sat, and Ananda,
Are popularly used, it is true;
But when the knower becomes
One with That to which they refer,

Then they vanish
Like the clouds that pour down as rain,
Or like rivers which flow into the sea,
Or like a journey when one's destination is reached.

Of course, what exists cannot be said not to exist;
But can such existence be called "Existence?"

...

In blissfulness
There is no feeling of unhappiness;
But can it, for that reason, be called "Bliss?"

Existence vanishes along with non-existence,
Consciousness along with unconsciousness,
And bliss along with misery;
In the end, nothing remains.

Discarding the veil of duality
And all the pairs of opposites,
That alone remains
In Its own blessed state.

If a face does not look into a mirror,
There is neither a face before it
Nor behind it.
Likewise, He is neither happiness nor misery,
But pure Bliss itself.

Even before the sugar cane is planted,
The juice is within it;
But its sweetness is unknown --
Except to itself.

.........

Pure Consciousness is beyond
Both generalizations and particular statements;
It remains ever-content in Itself.

After such a discourse,
That speech is wise
Which drinks deeply of silence.

Truly, there is neither bondage nor freedom;
There is nothing to be accomplished.
There is only the pleasure of expounding.

...................................

chp 6

.......

chp 7

In mathematics,
When one is subtracted from one,
What's left is zero --
And then that is erased.
The same thing happens
When the seer and the seen unite.

Every moment a particular quality is swallowed up
And its opposite emerges.
This is the opening and closing
Of the eye of Reality.

Whether a person is awake or asleep,
He is the same person.

.....

The word, "ignorance," is meaningless
If the Self is pervaded by it,
And yet remains as It is.

Since ignorance is contrary to Knowledge,
It cannot retain its existence
Within Knowledge;
Nor can it exist independently.

If a fish made of salt
Were to become alive,
It could live neither in the water
Nor outside the water.

Therefore, such statements as,
"The Self shines when ignorance is vanquished,"
Should not be heeded by the wise.

I am afraid to believe in this ignorance,
Since it is neither the cause of anything,
Nor the producer of any effect.

The pure Self
Does not even admit the name "Self!"
How could ignorance expect to find room there?

How can there be ignorance in the Self
Where there is not even room
For calling it "the Self"?

The village of understanding
Cannot be illumined in any way
By the existence of ignorance.

The Self does not become anything.
He does not know what He is.
All the means of knowledge vanish in Him.

Innumerable forms and visions arise,
But it is one pure Consciousness
Which is the substance of all.

Supreme Consciousness regards the objects of the world,
Once created,
As old and uninteresting,
And therefore presents to His vision
Ever-new and freshly-created objects.

In mathematics,
When one is subtracted from one,
What's left is zero --
And then that is erased.
The same thing happens
When the seer and the seen unite.

Every moment a particular quality is swallowed up
And its opposite emerges.
This is the opening and closing
Of the eye of Reality.

Whether a person is awake or asleep,
He is the same person.

In the same way,

The Self may be revealed or not revealed;
He does not become greater or lesser.
He always remains as He is.

The flame lights the fire;
But can it be regarded
As something different from fire?

Whatever form appears,
Appears because of Him.
There is nothing else here but the Self.

Whether He is the seer or the seen,
It doesn't matter;
There is only the Self
Vibrating everywhere.

Here, speech is prohibited;
Knowledge is not allowed.
Pride of experience can gain no entry.

Who, then, is that mean person
Who has designated Him as "ignorance"?
Really!
Is it not like saying the Sun is tied up
In a sack of darkness?

The scriptures declare with assurance
The everything that exists
Is radiating with His light.
Is it said for no reason?

The light of the Self
Is Itself the cause
Of the appearance of His beauty
Which He Himself is enjoying.

To ignore this Truth,
And to regard ignorance as the cause
Of the Self's appearance to Himself
Is utterly unreasonable.

Ignorance cannot be found to exist
By any means.
No matter how we may search for it,
That search proves futile.

......................end chp 7..........

chp 8

As for ourselves,
We possess neither knowledge nor ignorance.
Our Guru has awakened us
To our true identity.

If we attempt to see our own state,
That seeing itself becomes ashamed.
What,then, should we do?

Fortunately,
Our Guru has made us so vast
That we cannot be contained
Within ourselves.

Our identity is not limited
Solely to the universal Self,
But we are not disturbed
By perceiving our separative existence;
We remain, after final liberation,
The same as we were before.

The word that can describe our state
Has not yet been uttered.
The eyes that can see us
Do not exist.

Who could perceive us,
Or enjoy us as an object of enjoyment?
We cannot even perceive ourselves!

The wonder is that we are
Neither concealed nor manifest.
Ah -- how amazing it is
That we even exist!

How can mere words
Describe the state
In which we are placed by Sri Nivritti?

How can ignorance
Dare to come before us?
How can illusion
Come into being after its death?

And can there be any talk of knowledge
Where ignorance cannot gain entrance?

When night falls,
We light the lamps;
But what is the use of such efforts
When the Sun is here?

Likewise,
When there is no ignorance,
Knowledge also disappears;
Both of them have gone.

Actually,
Knowledge and ignorance are destroyed
In the process of discerning their meaning.

Both the husband
And the wife lose their lives
When each cuts off the other's head.

A lamp held behind a person
Is not really a light;
If it's possible to see in the dark,
It's not really darkness.

We may call that which is utter nescience
"Ignorance,"
But how can we call by the name of "ignorance"
That by means of which everything is known?

Knowledge turns into ignorance,
And ignorance is dispelled by knowledge;
Each is cancelled by the other.

Thus, he who knows does not know,
And even he who does not know, knows.
Where, then,
Could knowledge and ignorance dwell?

Since the Sun of Self-realization
Has arisen in the sky of pure Consciousness,
It has swallowed up
Both the day of knowledge
And the night of ignorance.

.............

...as a slab of gold might become
Articles of jewelry
For the sake of beauty

Just so, the one pure Consciousness becomes
The enjoyer and the object of enjoyment,
The seer and the object of vision,
Without disturbing Its unity.

Similarly, the auspicious drums
Of ever-new experiences
May be sounding,
But in the kingdom of Stillness,
Nothing is heard.

One who has attained this wisdom
May say whatever he likes;
The silence of his contemplation
Remains undisturbed.

There is really no action or inaction;
Everything that is happening
Is the sport of the Self.

.........

All that we have said
Is already self-evident.
Can words illumine the self-luminous?

If it be said
that there was then no need
To begin to write such a work as this,
I would have to reply that
We are describing what is already self-evident
Only out of love for it.

It may be that we have tasted it before,
But there is a new delight
In tasting it again.
To speak of what is self-evident
Is therefore unobjectionable.

We are immersed in the one perfect 'I';
We are pervading everything.
Therefore, we can be neither concealed
Nor revealed by anything.

What can we offer ourselves
In the form of exposition?
Would the Self be unexposed
If we were to remain silent?

...

My speech is therefore the same
As the deadest silence.

Even the ten Upanishads
Cannot approach this silent speech;
There, the intellect becomes
Absorbed in itself.

Jnandeva says,
"This is the sweet Nectar
Of Mystical Experience.
Even those who are liberated
Should have a drink of it."

......

Some souls have attained Liberation,
Some are seeking Liberation,
And some others are still in bondage.
These remain different in understanding
Only so long as they have not tasted
This Nectar of Mystical Experience.

Just as the streams
Which come to play in the Ganges
Become the Ganges,
Or as darkness going to meet the Sun
Becomes the light of the Sun;

Or as we may speak of different metals
Only so long as they have not been touched
By the philosopher's touchstone,
Which turns them all to gold;

So, those who enter deeply into these words
Are like rivers which, mingling with the ocean,
Become one.

Just as all possible sounds
Meet in the sound, AUM,
So there is nothing else,
In all the universe,
But the Self.

It is impossible to point to anything
That is not God.
Truly, everything is Shiva.

Jnandeva says,
"May everyone in the universe
Enjoy this feast of the Nectar
Of Mystical Experience."

.........................................end..........................

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