case for a nameless jeeva

[Gummuluru Murthy]

Namaste.

Everyday, we sign our name to many documents. Everyday, we sit at the
meditation seat contemplating on the Self or sit in the pUja room singing
the praises of our personal God. Now, if we enquire what is the entity
doing all these things, we would see it is the intellect of this embodied
jeeva that is doing it. But once you see yourself as the infinite, where
is the embodiment ? As an extension, there is no meditation, no signatures
and no individuality. However, until one reaches that state, the intellect
has to be careful, turning away from sensual desires (uththisthTa ..
says Katha u. ) and keeping the mind concentrated on the only reality,
the Brahman.

Such keeping the mind on Brahman alone does not lead to Self-realization.
Such keeping the mind on Brahman leads to chitta-shuddhi, which is a
necessary state of the mind for Self-realization (The Self-realization
is seeing oneness in all and all in one self, not seeing the embodiment,
or not seeing the physical body as a limitation of the self).

The curse of the feeling of individuality was pointed out by many advaitic
scholars and teachers. The three that come to my mind immediately are:

aham bhAvodayAbhAvo bodhasya paramAvadhih (Viveka ChUDAmaNi, verse 424)
ahaMkAra vyAghra vyathitam (Viveka ChuDAmaNi, verse 519)
moksha is not freedom for the individual; it is freedom *from*
individuality (T.M.P. Mahadevan in TIME AND THE TIMELESS)

Thus, as I see it, this individuality, this pride we feel when we put
our name to a document, is the biggest impediment in our quest for
Self-realization. It is the root for this ahaMkAra vyAghra vyathitam.

Regards
Gummuluru Murthy
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