Knowledge of Chaitanyam - 1 (jiva)

Chaitanyam means consciousness. For us to understand the meaning of the word, consciousness, we
have to rely on knowledge we already have, generally have. Vedanta only takes our current experience
and teaches with 'known words'.
So consciousness, when we say, chaitanyam, refers to a known meaning, it is a meaning, which indicates
the difference between , myself, the knower, and NOT me, the known.
I know, the rock.
I know, the tree.
I know my body.
I know the book.
I know the laptop.
Here 'I' is 'understood' generally, by even folks not interested in vedanta, it is understood, to be
different in terms of quality, from the object that is known.
I, is understood to be knower, capable of knowing, capable of being conscious of another object,
capable of being conscious as such, we convert that to a noun, instead of everytime saying the big
phrase 'that which is capable of being conscious of another object' we replace the phrase with a noun
form, 'awareness' or 'consciousness', or in sanskrit we say 'chaitanyam'.
So this is the way we understand the meaning of the word chaitanyam, referring to myself, who , w.r.t
any object, is a sAkshi or witness or knower or awarer, is sAkshi chaitanyam, witness consciousness,
knower consciousness, or simply consciousness.
JIva is chaitanyam with the attribute of being the controller of this body mind self complex.

Knowledge of Chaitanyam - 2 (Ishvara)

Chaitanyam means consciousness. This was the understand we gained in previous post 'Knowledge of
Chaitanyam - 1 (jiva)'
Now let us look at ishvara.
The upanisad tells us that, he desired, he created, he became all this.
From his own knowledge, he manifest the unmanifest universe into manifestation. The universe is his
knowledge, and it cyclically becomes manifest as an organic being, which also non separate from him,
and goes back into seed form, which is also his knowledge.
Noe let us look at this HE. This HE, can he be 'material object' ? What is his nature, is it material, or is it
consciousness.
We look around universe, there is order, there is water cycle, nitrogen cycle, gravity, nine planets
rotating revolving in geometry, human body has so much complexities, that there is specialist doctor for
every part.
Certainly for such order to be present, it requires a conscious being.
Upanisad tells us the same thing, that ishvara is satchitAnantha, he is limitless conscious being, who is
the cause of existence.
So certainly ishvara is also consciousness.
Ishvara is chaitanyam with the attribute or function of being creator, maintainer and dissolver of entire
universe.

Knowledge of Chaitanyam - 3 ( Two Fold Nature of Reality)

In post 1 and post 2 the ishvara chaitanya, and jiva chaitanya was mentioned.
Now what is the svarupa, of this chaitanya?
This is to be known, since earlier, we only said that chaitanya, is sAkshi.
We also talked about ishvara, and said ishvara is also a conscious being, chaitanya svarupa.
Now comes the main part of the teaching of vedanta, which is the oneness of this ishvara chaitanya and
jiva chaitanya.
The very valid question put forth by a seeker, is, OK, I agree ishvara is chaitanya svarupa, and jiva is
chaitanya svarupa, which means conscious being, or consciousness.
However, if you see ishvaras consciousness, it is qualifed, ishvara is qualified with the MEGA knowledge,
with all knowledge, with all power, in fact the entire creation is ishvara.
However, jiva chaitanya, can at best only be called an amsA, a small part, like the little finger in the
body, perhaps we can say , jiva chaitanya is a small PART of ishvara chaitanya.
That is the best we can see, then how come, do you say, there is NON DUAL? There is only duality,
ishvara and jiva. Both may be conscious principles, both may be consciousness, however That ishvara
consciousness is All Glory, but this little jiva consciousness that I am, is nothing in comparison. I am a
dependant person, for every small thing I depend on others, or for ishvara, from food down to sleep , I
am dependant. How can we then say ishvara and jiva are one and the same?
This is where we stand, at cross roads.
This is where shAstra talks about the nature of reality being "two fold", depending on how we look at it.
This two fold is sathyam and mithya.

Knowledge of Chaitanyam -4 (Sathyam)

In previous posts we talked about jiva chaitanya, ishvara chaitanya, and two fold nature of reality.
We ended by saying, sathyam and mithya is the two fold nature.
In this post, we will talk about sathyam.
It is important to understand the kind of word sathyam and mithya is.
There are various words that describe an object.
We can use an adjective. We can say, this flower is a 'red' flower.
An adjective 'differentiates' an object, from rest of the objects of the same species. So an adjective
qualifies a noun, and brings out its difference. That is the job of an adjective.
Ramu is a station master. Shamu is an honest station master. The word 'honest' qualifies shamu the
station master, and differentiates him from other station masters.
However, there are certain words, which are simply reality words. They also qualify the object, but do
not differentiate it. Instead they communicate its reality.
For example if we say, 'hair of a tortoise'. Now we all know that in reality, in the objective reality that we
observe, the animal, that we call as tortoise, has no hair. Therefore, hair of a tortoise, is a 'false' object.
Another example of 'horn of a hare'. There can be many such examples.
"False" is hence a word that qualifies an object but does not differentiate it from within its species.
In sanskrit we use the word 'anrtham' , the reality word, for 'false'.
In opposition stands the word 'true' or 'sathyam'. A tree, sky and so on, can be said to be true. If an
object is said to exist, when known through a valid means of knowledge, it can be said to be 'true' in the
general sense.
Hence we now have a nice and straightforward meaning for the word Sathyam.