The Song of Overself -
Who am I ? This is the question mankind has been asking from times immemmorial.
Am I the body-mind-intellect complex ? Have I any reality beyond the senses five ? Is there a God ? Is there a God outside ? Or is He inside ?
And what is this Bhakti or devotion ? The best definition of Devotion comes from Sankara, who defined it as Self Enquiry. ( Swa Swaroopasya Anusandhanam Bhakthiriti Abhidheeyate ).
In the Upanishads Reality is defined by a series of negatives because the negative is less limiting than the Positive. To arrive at Reality, the Upanishadic Rishies prescribed the Method of Negation !
The Upanishadic Method of Negation is Neti Neti, meaning that this is Finite, that is Finite, whereas Reality in Infinite. When everything is denied, there is one thing which no man can deny - ” I “, ” Self ” or Consciousness.
Thade Kova Shishtah ( that which remains after Negation )
Sivah Kevaloham ( I am Consciousness Bliss ).
I am neither the mind nor the senses
The Fourfold Veds nor Sacred Places,
I am not the the Elements Fivefold
The Concentric Sheaths Five
The Tissue Elements Sevenfold
Neither Time nor Space
Exist in Me !
Nor the Four Goals of Life
The Fourfold Yog or Tantra great
I have neither pleasure or pain
I am pure Being
By whom all things be !
Neither Ego nor any sense of Mineness
Integral Consciousness am I
Neither father nor mother am I
Of the nature of Transcendence
That which remains after Negation
That Sole Consciousness am I !
This is Nirvana Shatakam or six verses composed by the Master of Oneness, Bhagavan Sankara. Listening to these verses can definitely elevate our Consciousness !
In every human, Conscience exists as Vox Dei or the Voice of the Self. This poem is the Voice of the Self. This Voice of the Self can be heard during Meditation. Srooyathe ithi Sruthi or that which was heard in higher states of Consciousness came to be known as the Vedas. Be still and Know. You can hear this voice. This is the Voice of your own Self ! This is your Song !
This is reminiscent of Swinburne’s Hertha
I am that which began
Out of Me the years roll
Out of Me God and Man
I am equal and whole
For Truth only is living
Truth only is whole
His for only giving
Man’s polestar and pole !
Let us hear this Eastern Swinburne. Or was Swinburne the Western Sankara ?
Who am I ? Neither the mind, intellect or ego
Nor ear, tongue or the eyes
Space, light or wind I am not
I am of the nature of Consciousness
He am I, He am I !
Neither the fivefold winds nor Life-Force
The Sevenfold tissue elements I am not
Nor am I the sensory organs
Nor the organs of generation and excretion
I am of the nature of Consciousness
He am I, He am I !
Neither hatred or love I possess
Nor attachment or greed
The Four Goals of Life I am not
( Wealth, Ethics, Love , Liberation )
I am of the nature of Consciousness
He am I, He am I !
I am devoid or sins or merit
Pleasures or pain
Sacred chants I am not
Nor the holy waters
I am not the Vedas
Nor Yajnas or Homa
I am not the eaten
Nor the eating
Nor the eater
I am of the nature of Consciousness
He am I, He am I !
I am devoid of caste or creed
The fear of death is not in me
No birth, no parents, no birth
No friends, no relatives
No Guru, no disciple
I am of the nature of Consciousness
He am I, He am I !
Formless am I
Without any agitations
Transcending the senses
Transcending the mind
I exist for ever
Boundless as Space
No bondage, no release
I am of the nature of Consciousness
He am I, He am I