[Advaita-l] Does Brahman know?

[Ramesh Krishnamurthy]

Dear Sri Venkatesh,

On 29 November 2010 14:01, Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com> wrote:
<< Question is does Brahman know itself inTuriya? If it does not it will not
be aware of itself. It will not have self awareness. It will not have I
feeling. Kindly correct me if wrong.>>

Brahman is awareness per se, rather than an entity that has awareness.
Asking whether Brahman has self-awareness is like asking whether awareness
has self-awareness. It is a meaningless question.

The sense of "I am" in any sentient entity is Brahman. Turiya is a not a
specific state but rather the basis of any state of experience. The sense "I
am" is a prerequisite for experiencing any state (such as waking, dreaming
and deep sleep). That "I am" is self-evident. That I am limitless (ananta)
is in effect what the shruti adds. When the limitations brought about by the
upAdhi-s (of body, mind, etc) are seen as mithyA, the "I am" is seen as
limitless. In other words, the j~nAnI sees his own self ("I am") as the self
of all beings. At this level, there is no distinction between "me", "you"
and "it". Everything is "I".