TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0280 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

|| 4.01 | BRAHMAN AS EXISTENCE OR BEING | CONT ||

We read of Sanatkumara leading the thought of Narada from inadequate conceptions of Truth to more adequate conceptions , until at last Narada asserts the supremacy of the Bhuma , the " absolutely great " , the " unlimited " , beyond which there is nothing , which comprehends all , fills all space , and is identical with the Self in us .

This Bhuma is the Essential Brahman where one sees nothing else , hears nothing else , understands nothing else .

It is Bliss and Immortality , the plenum of felicity .

This is the Complete Being .

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Now , the conception of Reality as constituting being gives rise simultaneously to the idea of non-being .

The Rigveda ( X . 129 . 1 ) says that in the beginning there was neither non-being nor being ( na asad asit , no sad asit ) .

Being was not , because there was no non-being .

Non-being was not , for there was no being .

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Truth is a super-intellectual transcendence of the ideas of being and non-being , of whatever is concerned with the temporal relations of thought , for in what is Real there is no psychosis of any kind .

According to the Rigveda , even " immortality and death are its shadows " .

Whatever truly exists is the Real .

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It is " the being and the beyond , the expressed and the unexpressed , the founded and the unfounded , consciousness and unconsciousness , reality and unreality , the real , and whatever that is " ( Taitt . Up , II . 6 ) .

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad ( II . 3 . 1 ) says that Brahman has two forms , " the formed and the formless , the mortal and the immortal , the existent and the moving , the real and the beyond " .

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There is a contrast between Brahman and the name-and-form world , the former being the beyond , the inexpressible , the foundationless , the unconscious , the unreal in relation to the latter which is empirically experienced as the being , expressible , founded , conscious , real .

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Logically , attribute or quality itself becomes an unsound concept when it is extended to the Absolute .

A thing has an attribute only in relation to another thing .

There is no meaning in saying that a substance has an attribute when that substance alone is said to exist .

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The nature of a self-existent absolute principle is indeterminable .

Every attribute limits it and creates a difference in non-difference .

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Brahman cannot be said to have any intelligible attribute , for Brahman is the entire existence and has nothing second to relate itself to .

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Sat ( being ) is an idea in relation to asat ( non-being ) , chit ( consciousness ) in relation to jada ( inertness ) , ananda ( bliss ) in relation to duhkha ( pain ) , ananta ( infinitude ) in relation to alpa ( limitedness ) , prakasha ( light ) in relation to tamas ( darkness ) .

Every qualitative concept involves relations , and every thought creates a duality .

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To think Brahman is to reduce Brahman to the world of experience .

Thought is possible only in an individualised state , but Brahman is not an individual , and is unapproachable by an individual .

Brahman cannot even be conceived of as light , for it has nothing to shine upon .

Not even is it consciousness , for it is conscious of nothing .

Consciousness or light in the absolute condition cannot be called as consciousness or light , for such conceptions are dualistic categories .

Being as it is in itself is nothing to the individual .

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It is not an object of knowledge .

Truth is independent , unrelated , self-existent ; but there is no such thing as an independent , unrelated , self-existent quality .

The only recourse to be taken is to admit the failure of the intellect in determining the nature of Reality and resort to negative propositions .

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" The Atman is not this , not this . " ( Brih Up , IV . 5 . 15 )

" The Atman is not that which is inwardly conscious , not outwardly conscious , not bothwise conscious , not a consciousness-mass , not conscious , not unconscious ; it is unseen , unrelated , ungraspable , indefinable , unthinkable , indeterminable , the essence of the consciousness of the One Self , the negation of the universe , peaceful , blissful , non-dual . " ( Mand . Up , 7 )

" It is unknown to those who know it . It is known to those who do not know it . " ( Kena Up , II . 3 )

These references depict the absolutely transcendent nature of Reality .

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" It is not obtainable by many even to hear of , and even when heard of , It remains unknown to many .

Wonderful is the declarer of It !

Blessed is the obtainer of It ! "

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The awe-inspiring Absolute is described as

" soundless , touchless , formless , imperishable , tasteless , constant , odourless , beginningless , endless , higher than the high , eternal , by knowing which one is liberated from the mouth of death " .

It exists in such a homogeneous and differenceless condition that

" whatever is here , is there also ; whatever is there , is here , "

and hence the spatial nature of existence with its concomitant differentiations of time and individuality is overcome in the indivisible constitutive essence of Brahman .

It , therefore , is and is-not .

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But , if anything is at all to be said about the Ideal and Goal of life of an individual , we cannot get on with such a perplexing conception of Reality .

To us Reality is what can be the highest in the strict logical sense .

Though Reality transcends logic and reason , philosophy cannot do so , for nothing in this world is possible without the functioning of thought in some way or the other .

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We are thinking beings , and to us all that is real must be intelligible .

If anything is unintelligible , we can have no relations with it .

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The Real is , therefore , Being , rather than non-being , Consciousness , rather than unconsciousness , Bliss , rather than pain .

There is no sense in non-being , for non-being also must at least " be " .

Consciousness itself is being , and unless even non-being and unconsciousness are objects of consciousness , there can be no meaning in them .

" How can being be produced from non-being ? " ( Chh . Up , VI . 2 . 1 )

" The sacred teaching is that It is Being of being . " ( Brih . Up , II . 1 . 20 )