dwai

Constant remembrance or just being?

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In Advaita Vedanta study, there are three steps. They are somewhat sequential but also overlap after the initial introductory period. They are -

 

  • shravanam - listening to the teaching 
  • mananam - contemplation on the teaching 
  • nidhidhyasana - meditation, but really constantly working on separating the real (true nature) from unreal (apparent reality), until one is stable in their recognition of their Self as the nondual awareness 

 

initially after we learn the teachings and begin to understand it, we have the urge to constantly remember who we truly are  (I know I’ve referred to this as “constant remembrance”)...

 

But therein lies a mistake that ( in retrospect) can be avoided. Just like we don’t need to keep telling ourselves we have eyes, in that the fact is self evident with the act of seeing; similarly we don’t have to keep telling our selves that we ARE awareness, as the act of being/knowing itself makes that a self-evident fact. 
 

This is a subtle realization that happens once we realize that we are neither the body, nor the mind, and that the circumstances of our lives do not affect our inherent ground nature.

 

The ups and downs of life can affect the mind, the body and even the circumstances in which the mind and body exists. However, that which knows the changing states of the mind, body and circumstances is totally unaffected by those changes. 
 

It is then that the need for constant remembrance can be dropped - which is in essence a subtle clinging to the idea of Being The Self (or Self realization). 
 

Swami Sarvapriyananda puts it beautifully here — 


 

 

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6 hours ago, JustARandomPanda said:

Does anyone know the title of the vid Dwai linked? If so I'd like to find it and listen to it

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It reminds me of Descartes famous line:

 

Cogito/Sum

 

Awareness/I Am

 

It was not “I think therefore I am” (cogito, ergo sum)

It was the spontaneous Awareness of:

Cognition - I Exist

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14 minutes ago, Spotless said:

It reminds me of Descartes famous line:

 

Cogito/Sum

 

Awareness/I Am

 

It was not “I think therefore I am” (cogito, ergo sum)

It was the spontaneous Awareness of:

Cognition - I Exist


In the original,  "Je pense, donc je suis"

 

 

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