[Advaita-l] Who Slept Very Well - Part II

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Continued from part I
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When I enter into a pitch dark room I cannot see the presence of any object there as it is too dark. I need the light to illumine the objects for me to see. In the pitch dark room, the existence or non-existence of any object cannot be established, as they may be there or may not be there. In essence their existence becomes indeterminate or anirvachanIyam. On the other hand, I can see that the room is pitch dark because of which I do not see the presence or absence of any object. Darkness envelops both known and the unknown.  However, I do not need a light to see the darkness.  In addition, I know that I am there even when the room is pitch dark.  I do not need light to know I am there. I am self existent entity and therefore self revealing entity, and hence I do not need any pramANa to know that I am present in the dark room. It is similar to saying I do not need a light to see another light.  Being a conscious-existent entity, I am also
 self-revealing
 entity or self-luminous entity or I am aprameyam, not an object of knowledge for which a pramANa is required. In addition my presence as self-luminous of self-conscious entity is required to illumine any other object - tasya bhAsA sarvam idam vibhAti – by that light of consciousness alone all objects gets revealed. Therefore the light of consciousness that I am can illumine the darkness also the light that oppose the darkness.  Thus I am the light of lights since I light the lights and darkness too, jyotir jyotiH. Therefore I say that I see it is pitch dark which is covering the existence as well the absence of all objects. Ignorance is similar to darkness. When I say I do not know gaagaabuubu, there is ignorance of gaabaabubu and also knowledge of that ignorance, since I know that I do not know.  Hence in the pitch dark room – two things are known: one is my own presence or existence, and the second is the darkness that I can see because of which
 I
 do not see the presence of absence of any object. Similarly in the deep sleep states there are in a sense two things known: one is my own existence since I am self-existent and self-luminous entity, and the second is the ignorance which covers objective knowledge. Both these are expressed as I slept very well and I did not know anything. The objectifiable entities that are covered by ignorance include both internal and external perceptions.  That is, the objects both outside where sense input is involved as well as objects from memory where there is no sense input. Thus, in deep sleep, we have the knowledge of my own existence, and the knowledge of the ignorance of every objectifiable entity, that includes even the BMI. 

However, it also appears that while in deep-sleep state, I do not know that I exist. In the waking state and dream state, I have BMI which are needed instruments to express myself even about my own existence. The BMI do not prove my existence but are needed to prove my existence. Ahankaara or ego involves I identifying with the BMI as I am this, this and this, etc. Hence in the apparent absence of BMI there is no clear identification with the instruments for expression, and hence no expressible ahankaara in the deep sleep state. Thus notion that I am this is also not there since any - this - is not experienced due to apparent absence of all duality. Thus there is no ahankaara – I am this notion - and the associated mamakaara – this is mine – notion, since mind that sees the duality as well as to express that seen duality is not in manifested form.  Because of this there is no suffering in deep sleep state too.  Absence of suffering due to the
 absence of perceptual duality is in a way the happiness or bliss experienced in deep sleep state. I am happy – in the deep state is not born out of object oriented happiness (vishayAnada) or born out of understanding that I am full and complete and therefore happy, since limitless or anantatvam is happiness itself. It is born out of knowledge of absence of everything or knowledge of the ignorance of everything including that of BMI. This aspect is very important to recognize that deep – sleep state is different from turIyam as elaborately discussed in Mandukaya Up., since in this state there is only knowledge of complete ignorance of all dualities and not the knowledge that I am full and complete by myself, or aham brahmaasmi knowledge. To gain the knowledge that I am full by myself or aham brahmAmi, it is not the deep-sleep that I need but need the Vedanta teaching when the mind is awake! Hence scriptures says only with the mind one can know that I
 am the mind and I am the total that includes the mind too; manasai vEdamAptavyam, says Kathopanishad. This point is important and differs from the teachings of Atmanandaji, based on his or Shree Ananda Wood’s writings.  Deep-sleep state differs from the turIyam, which pervades all the three states including the deep-sleep state. Analysis of sleep experience is required using the mind, since it is an experience of nothingness and it is not a state where one can understand that one is full by himself or aham brahmaasmi. This also points to the fact that understanding differs from experience, one has to understand the experience of fullness using the discriminative mind that is fully available for a disciplined mind in the waking state and not available in the dream and deep-sleep states. 

We may also note that during the deep sleep state, there is no knowledge of space and time. During the dream state, the spatial and temporal frame-works exist, even though these may differ from the space-time scales in the waking state. Since the mind is folded in the deep sleep state, it is obvious that space and time also arise with the mind, which is present in the waking and dream states but not in the deep-sleep state. Since I exists there in the deep sleep state, in spite of the absence of time-space continuum, my existence is independent of the time-space continuum. Thus nature points out that the advaitic or non-duality state is beyond time and space continuum or the cause-effect duality. Time and space arise with the movement.  Even though I move from waking to dream and deep sleep states, these movements are not in a particular space-time coordinate system, since even the reference frame-works themselves change from waking to dream states with
 each state has its own space-time reference. However, in deep sleep states, since there are no changes or movements within that state due to absence any particular knowledge, the deep sleep state transcends the time and space. In addition, I do not know when I enter into the dream and the deep-sleep states nor I know how long I dreamt or slept when I am in those states. Only the reference point comes with the waking state and from which reference only I can say I slept so long, etc., measured with respect to the waking state.  Absence of space-time and thus all dualities result in the absence of all suffering and that is the happiness that I experience in the deep-sleep state. Ignorance is bliss, in that sense, since it covers knowledge of all dualities. Hence, everybody enjoys the deep-sleep state.

 Thus we have three experiences in the deep-sleep state; 1. I exit since I say I slept very well, 2. I have the knowledge of homogeneous ignorance, since I say I did not know anything, and 3. I was happy or I did not experience the pains of BMI, since I am not conscious of the BMI and thus any duality. Existence aspect comes from the Sat aspect of Brahman or the Self, knowledge aspect comes from the chit aspect of Brahman or the Self, and happiness comes from the ananda aspect of Brahman or the Self. 

In addition, since I am able to recollect all these three experiences in the deep sleep state, there is an experience-experiencer yet the normal duality or triad that involves experiencer-experienced and experiencing is not there, since mind is folded. Fundamental question remains as who is the experiencer I, that is recollecting these three experiences once awake, since the mind that is making the statement was not there during the deep sleep state. From the point of waker’s mind, it appears to be a statement of inference since it was not there during deep sleep state.  On the other hand, my experience in the deep-sleep is not of inferential type, but it is a solid experience without the apparent experiencer-experienced duality.   It is like my wife left a plateful of LaDDu in my room and when she returned she found that plate is empty. Since no one else was there or entered into the room, she infers that I eat all that LaDDu.  This is what I
 call as
 inferential eating due to circumstantial evidence. However,  I must have eaten not because of inference but because I am full with LaDDu and therefore cannot eat anything else. The experience of deep-sleep state is solid experience and the recollection of that experience in the waking state by the mind is not based on inference but as a fact. This is everybody’s experience. 

To be continued in Part III