Brahman as Existence or Being
Divine Life
Society Publication: Chapter 4: The Nature of
Reality – The Realization of the Absolute by Swami Krishnananda
We, hear such declarations as
“Truth, Knowledge, Infinity is Brahman,” “Consciousness, Bliss, is Brahman,”
“All this is, verily, Brahman,” “This Self is Brahman,” “Immortal, Fearless, is
Brahman,” and the like. And we are further aware of assertions like “That from
which these beings are born, That by which, after having been born, they live,
That into which they re-enter and with which they become one—know That, the
Brahman.” Omnipresence omniscience and omnipotence are said to be the
characteristics of God. These serve the purpose of defining the twofold nature
of Brahman, the Reality—its essential nature (svarupa-lakshana)
and accidental attribute (tatastha-lakshana).
The former is the independent and imperishable truth of Brahman, the latter is
its superimposed dependent quality which is subject to change in the process of
time.
“Existence (Being) alone was this in the
beginning, one alone without a second.” —Chh. Up., VI. 2. 1.
Brahman is that which is
permanent in things that change. It is without name and form, which two are the
characteristic natures of the world of appearance, and is essentially
existence-absolute. Existence can never change, never perish, though things in
which also it is, perish. Hence existence is the nature of Reality and is
different from the things of form and name. Existence is secondless and has no
external relations or internal differentiations. It is unlimited by space, time
and individuality. The knowledge of the Self is the knowledge of
Brahman. “Where there is an apparent duality, there is
subject-object-relation; but where the Atman alone is, how can there be any
relation or interaction of anything with anything else?”
Brahman is Existence which is
infinite Consciousness of the nature of Bliss.
Brahman is Consciousness—prajnanam brahma. It is the
ultimate Knower. This limitless Self-Consciousness is the only
Reality. The content of this Consciousness is itself. This is the fullness of
perfection and infinitude. “Brahman is Infinite, the universe is Infinite, from
the Infinite proceeds the Infinite, and after deducting the Infinite from the
Infinite, what remains is but the Infinite.” The implied meaning here is the
changeless and indivisible character of the Infinite Reality, in spite of forms
appearing to be created within it. The Infinite is non-dual.
The Rigveda (X. 129. 1) says
that in the beginning there was neither non-being nor being (na asad asit, no sad asit).
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.”
There is a contrast between Brahman and the name-and-form world. 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. Every
attribute limits it and creates a difference in non-difference. 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. 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.
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.
In the words of the famous
Nasadiya Sukta of the Rigveda, the original condition of existence was a total
absence of the world, the sky and all manifestation. There was neither death
nor immortality, for both of these are correlates which have no valid
recognition in Reality. There was neither night nor day, but That One, the
source of light existed without motion and change. It existed as identical with
its Power, there was no difference between temporality and eternity. Other than
it there was nothing. That One alone knows the truth of its creation.
The Real alone knows the Real. To know the Real is to be the Real. We cannot
stand apart from it and at the same time know it. The moment we undertake the
task of seeking the Real, we simultaneously start digging the grave for our
separate individual existence. To live
in the Absolute which is real is to die to the individual which is unreal.
“He becomes
non-existent, who knows that Brahman is non-existent. Who knows that Brahman
exists, is said to exist truly.” —Taitt. Up., II. 6.
Not to know the Whole is to be
limited to the part-consciousness which is not truly existent, which is mortal,
and hence, equal to non-being in the absolute sense. To truly live is to be
conscious of the Real Existence which is without the disease of transformation
and death. All forms are shadows of Pure Existence which alone endures in past,
present and future, while the shadows perish like bubbles in the ocean. In the
Real, existence and content are identical. Hence, everything is mere existence,
which alone is real. “This Imperishable is satyam, True
Being.”
Existence is what is
invariably present in all the processes of knowing. Everything is known to
exist. There can be no idea or knowledge, no action and no value, not even life
itself, without existence. In the objective universe of names and forms there
is the permanent principle of existence underlying all names and forms. Even if
everything dies and is lost, the existence which supported that condition which
is no more, cannot die or be lost. Since existence cannot change, there can be
no death or birth for existence. Existence is eternal. The physical form of an
external object is subject to transformation, and this transformation is called
the process of birth and death. There is birth and death of forms, states,
conditions, modes, but not of existence. Existence can have no limitations,
boundaries or divisions either within itself or outside itself. Existence is
indivisible and is its own explanation. Existence cannot be defined since it
has no specific characteristics, and since it never becomes an object of
knowledge. It is the reality of the object as well as of the subject.
The realm of the knower and
the known, i.e., the entire universe in all its aspects and states, is
ultimately found to be based on Existence which is imperishable. The universe
is a condition, a mode of experience, and this mode can have meaning only when
it is rooted in Existence which is at once eternal and infinite. Existence,
pure and perfect, is the Absolute, the supreme Brahman proclaimed in the
Upanishads.
Excerpts from:
Brahman as existence or Being - Chapter 4: The Nature of
Reality – The Realization of the Absolute by Swami Krishnananda
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