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I am 'that'

Shloka (14-21- remaining shlokas of week 16)

Sharing my notes here for the next shlokas, I would first like to remind myself of the prayer with which the journey began (as I am now more humble and mindful of the auspiciousness of the cosmic song I am trying to interpret);

करचरण कृतं वाक्कायजं कर्मजं वा ।
श्रवणनयनजं वा मानसं वापराधं ।
विहितमविहितं वा सर्वमेतत्क्षमस्व ।
जय जय करुणाब्धे श्रीमहादेव शम्भो ॥

Meaning: "O God, kindly pardon my incorrect actions done consciously or unconsciously, either through my organs of action (hand, feet, and speech) or through my organs of perception (eyes, ears) or by my mind. I adore the God, who is the ocean of kindness".

Just like God (Ishwara) who is apparently not the doer (akarta) but as He adorns maya, He is the one who has created expanse of the three worlds. Even if we call Him the creator, He remains indifferent to His creation as He is completely detached and remains in the undisturbed state of  ‘yoganidra’ (the deep cosmic sleep), so non-action is not lost. Even though He embodies all the beings, He doesn’t belong to anybody. He remains unaware of when the creation comes into existence, and also when it’s destroyed. The good deeds and the bad deeds (paap and punyas) though remains with Him but He doesn't know them—He even takes the form (incarnates) to perform the play but His formless nature is not destroyed.

He creates, preserves, and destroys—This is how He is being described, and those who believe this are ignorant. (shloka15)

When this ignorance is destroyed, the darkness of illusions disappears, and the non-action (akarta-bhava) of the divinity becomes evident. Thus, the one who embodies the principle of ‘I am not the doer’ naturally adorns the principle of 'I am that' (the singularity). Such enlightened wisdom reveals the liberated nature of the world—just as the light of the rising sun not only destroys the darkness of the east but of every direction.

The one whose intellect is enlightened by the knowledge of the spirit displays ‘samdrishti’ (the ability to see everyone and everything equally- without any discrimination). The one who embodies brahma (the supreme spirit) sees the world as the embodiment of the supreme spirit only. He is thus brahma himself. He doesn’t discriminate between an ant and an elephant—higher caste or lower caste (untouchables)—my child or other’s child— (such discrimination exists when the principle of duality is manifesting) and thus he displays the principle of singularity (shloka 18).

Such a being doesn’t punish his senses and doesn’t give up pleasures of the world as he embodies the principle of ‘I am not the doer’. Even though he seems to enjoy pleasures, he is free of lust and indulgences. Just like the mountains cannot be swayed away by the floods of the river, he remains unaffected by good or bad achievements. And just like the chakor bird who is used to take bites from the moonbeam cannot eat sand, this attainment of the spirit detaches one from the desires of the senses as he already has attained the greatest joy—the joy of the spirit.

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