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When the Upanishads address you and declare: 'Thou art
That,' you should be very clear in your mind what the term 'Thou' implies.
Then alone, when this is grasped with clarity and subtle receptivity,
can you truly and immediately understand what 'That' connotes and how
this relationship of oneness is possible. If you think that by the term
'Thou' the Upanishads mean you who are listening with your ears and trying
to understand with your mind and grasp with your intellect, then the very
purpose of the declaration is thwarted. If to you the term 'Thou' still
seems to mean a physical entity, that means that you are still identifying
yourself with the body, mind and intellect. As long as you are still in
that state of understanding yourself, the Upanishads have failed in their
mission, for they are not referring to this thou.
When the Upanishads say 'Thou,' they are not using human language but
are trying to convey a divine experience. They are neither using Sanskrit,
English, Hindi nor any other language. They are declaring an experience
that is imponderable, beyond the knowing of the mind or the grasping of
the intelligence, "whence all speech turns back with the mind, not
reaching It." So, if instead of trying to understand the term 'Thou'
upon that level-where mind and speech cannot enter and they came back
unable to comprehend It-and you persist in taking it to mean a physical
and psychological level, then the inner implication of 'Thou' has not
yet dawned upon you. They are not saying that 'Mr. So and So' is Brahman.
That is an absurdity.
Therefore, you first have to understand what this 'Thou' is that they
are referring to when they declare that 'Thou art That.' They are not
referring to the you that is seen, the you with name and form. They are
referring to the unseen You. They are not referring to anything whatsoever
that is seen; they are referring to YSou as the hidden, unknown seer of
all thing seen, the knower of all things known. In that dimension, Thou,
the hidden seer of all things seen, art That, that which alone prevails.
That verily is your source, your alpha and omega-You, the unseen You,
who may know the world, but the world can never know You. Even your father
and mother cannot know You unless they themselves have already understood
the true meaning of 'Thou Art That.' There is a need for long study, the
need of sitting at the feet of a knower of Brahman and listening to what
he has to say about Brahman, about maya, about yourself and about your
relationships. You must listen, reflect and meditate. They say Rome was
not built in a day. God is not understood even in one lifetime, what to
speak of a day. Yet they say He can be realised within a twinkling of
an eye. How can we reconcile these statements?
If a dry match is struck against a rough surface it will immediately burst
into flame, but you cannot do that with a toothpick or a cake of soap.
Consider the amount of work and the number of steps that go into the manufacture
of a match head. Thus, when the interior of a seeker is ready, fully prepared
through years of study, listening to the truth and pondering over what
has been studied, ultimately when the Upanishads declare to you 'That
art That,' you know perfectly well what is implied, what is meant by 'Thou.'
"I am the unchanging fourth state of consciousness, calmly witnessing
the ever-recurring cycle of waking dreaming and sleep. I am that I am!
Awareness is my name." It is this meaning that the Upanishads are
trying to address. They say that it is the subtlest of all subtle things.
You must make your consciousness attain this subtlety. If it is still
involved in dualities, in likes and dislikes, joy and grief, and identification
with the body, how can that level be attained?
One sage said that grasping this truth is like chewing on steel peanuts
and digesting them. It is not a little thing. There is a need for humility,
for clarity of thought, for clearly understanding what this truth is and
where you stand. Then humbly, with patience, diligence and fortitude try
to move towards it and keep on moving. Make your life this slow movement,
never allowing anything to divert you. This is sadhana, this is spiritual
life, this is yoga, this is abhyasa (practice), this is meditation-dwelling
on it, contemplating on it all twenty-four hours of the day. Meditation
is throughout the day and night, even when you are working or serving
or in a crowd. If the meditation stops, your sadhana has stopped, and
your progress has stopped.
You may be alone inside your meditation room, but in thought you may be
in the middle of the world. Therefore, this is not play; it is not an
ordinary thing. It requires humility and a clear understanding of your
real identity. Then a positing of the question of 'Thou' is not ridiculous.
Let us fully understand. Let us first assess our present state and see
where we are. Then let us do all that is needful to reach where we ought
to be if we want to understand Reality, if we want to grasp the Truth.
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