Text XXXXIII
prakasarupo ‘hamajo’hamadvayo ‘sakrdvibhato ‘hamativa nirmalah visuddhavijnanaghano niramayah sampuna anandamayo ‘hamakriyah.
I am self-effulgent, I am unborn. I am the One without a second. I am the ever-resplendent light of Consciousness. I am extremely pure, the uncontaminated mass of pure Consciousness. I am holy, infinite, blissful, and actionless.
All the words used here by Sri Ramacandra are words borrowed from the Upanisads. Each one of them has very great significance. It is with these deep meanings for the terms employed that the teacher is able to communicate to the purified heart of the student the entire science of Reality (brahma-vidya).
When seekers successfully turn their entire attention in the direction indicated by these words and all their pregnant suggestions, they arrive at the gate of Truth and themselves “disappear into the vision” of the Supreme – just as a river, on arriving at the shore of the ocean, effortlessly disappears into the ocean to become one with it.
This verse and the following one give us a chart on how to perform nididhyasana, deep and continuous contemplation:
I am the source of all light, to know Me, no other light is necessary. I am self-effulgent. I am without birth, and therefore beginningless. I am One without a second; in Me there are no distinctions. (The Chandogya Upanisad) insists that the Self is one alone, with no otherness).
I am like the sun, ever resplendent with the light of Consciousness. Never does the light of Consciousness cease to be. Even when there are not objects for it to illumine, as in deep sleep or under chloroform, Consciousness illumines the very absence of everything !
I am never immaculate, with nothing to veil My intellect. Nothing can create agitations in the mind. Both these are products of Maya; therefore, I am beyond Maya.
I am unborn and continuous, the ever-present experience of bliss. I am without any activity, meaning that I am ever the same, with no modifications. There can never be any change in Me. Action can rise only as a result of nonapprehension, and it feeds and gets fed by our likes and dislikes. Since I am a pure mass of objectless Awareness, the all-pervading substratum for all names and forms, there can never be any action.
This verse is specially meant for contemplation. It provides ten arrow marks indicating the direction in which the student of contemplation should hold his entire attention. All the ten terms employed here indicate, from different angles of understanding, the one essential spring of all life, the Self.
The following verse enumerates additional exercises in contemplation.
Text XXXXIV
sadaiva mukto ‘hamacintyasaktima – matindriyajnanamavikriyatmakah anantaparo ‘hamaharnisam budhair – vibhsvito ‘ham hrdi vedavsdibhih.
I am ever liberated. I am the power behind the universe which no intellect can comprehend. I am that pure Knowledge which is beyond all sense organs. I am immutable, endless, and shoreless. The erudite scholars of the scriptures meditate upon Me, day and night, in their hearts.
This verse supplies six additional arrow marks that indicate the direction in which a student in his seat of contemplation must hold his mind’s entire attention. In short, this verse constitutes another set of exercises in contemplation:
I am ever liberated – in the past, present, and future; in the waking, dream, and deep-sleep states; in all places, at all times, and under all conditions. Never have I been bound, nor can I ever be in bondage in the future.
My power is immeasurable: in fact, I am the source of the omnipotent Lord; being the creator, sustainer, and destroyer are all minor expressions of my total power.
I can never be the object of the sense organs, nor of the inner equipments. In short, I do not belong to the category of objects, emotions, or thoughts. (I am so described in the Taittiriya Upanisad.)
I am without any change: none of the six modifications ever touch Me. Birth, existence, growth, decay, disease, and death are the six modifications through which all forms must necessarily pass, but none of them can ever bring about any change in Me.
I am infinite : neither time, place, nor objects can ever condition Me. I pervade them all. Since I am infinite, no-thing can limit Me. I go beyond all limitations, and thus I am shoreless. It is this infinite nature of Mine that is continuously contemplated upon by great saints and sages in their quiet, alert, and vigilant hearts, suffused with a sattvic mood.
Both this and the previous verse are aimed at students of contemplation for their daily practice of lifting their attention toward the state of pure Consciousness.
Text XXXXV
evam sadatmanamakhanditatmana vicaramanasya visuddhabhavana hanyadavidyamacirena karakai rasayanam yadvadupasitam rujah.
If we continuously expose the mind to the thought “I am Brahman.” the special knowledge that arises removes, in a sudden flash, all spiritual ignorance and its consequences, that is, the perception of plurality – just as medicine taken regularly removes the disease and itself gets eliminated, all by itself.
The benefit of practicing what has been advised in the previous verse is spelled out here. By holding the mind exposed to this infinite Self, the nonapprehension of the Self (avidya) and the consequent misapprehensions (ajnana) are both blasted out, and the pure Self reveals itself. But we may ask: are we not again creating a “thought” during our contemplation ? Instead of thinking thoughts about the world of objects, are we not merely substituting them with thoughts of the Self? If thoughts are still with us, will not the mind continue to survive, and entangle us within its meshes? Will not golden chains bind us as efficiently as iron shackles?
