Tat Tvam Asi (Thou Art That)
Prayer
Om! May my speech be based on (i.e. accord with) the mind;
may my mind be based on speech. O Self-effulgent One,
reveal Thyself to me. May you both (speech and mind) be
the carriers of the Veda to me. May not all that I have heard
depart from me. I shall join together (i.e. obliterate the
difference of) day and night through this study. I shall utter
what is verbally true; I shall utter what is mentally true. May
That (Brahman) protect me; may That protect the speaker
(i.e. the teacher); may That protect me; may That protect the
speaker, may That protect the teacher!
Om! Peace! Peace! Peace!
(Based on the Chandogya Upanishad)
Svetaketu was the grandson of Aruna, and the son of Uddalaka.
His father sent him to Gurukul (forest ashrama of a guru in ancient
India). His family had a long tradition of studying Vedic Lore and
intricacies of the knowledge contained therein.
'Without studying the Vedas, a Brahmin remains merely a
Brahmin for name,' the family believed.
Therefore, Svetaketu went to forest-retreat at the age of twelve,
and studied the Vedas, scriptures, science, grammar, etc. at the feet
of the Guru for twelve years, and returned home. He was proud of
his knowledge and scholarship.
However, when father, Uddalaka, saw that his son, Svetaketu, had
returned full with pride and arrogance, he was perturbed and
therefore, put this question to the son:
"Svetaketu, my dear boy, have you inquired about that Entity
by means of which even that which is not heard about
becomes heard, even that which is not reflected upon
become reflected upon, and even that which is unknown
becomes known?"
Unable to comprehend the question, the son asked:
"O father, I do not know about That; will you please enlighten
me, O revered one?"
Now begins the second phase of learning for the young Svetaketu.
He had missed the core of the Vedic teachings in his arrogance of
taking secular knowledge for wisdom, mere scholarship for the
realization of truth.
The father replies: "As one knows the characteristics of
everything made of clay by studying just a lump of clay, and
realizes that the name and form are just the play of words;
just as by knowing a nugget of gold all that is made of gold
would have been known, the various ornaments of gold are
mere play of words concerning names and forms; just as by
studying a piece of steel everything made of steel would
become known, the differences being merely the play of
name and form; even so, my son, is this Entity, by knowing
which everything in this universe becomes known; the
apparent differences are but the multifarious names and
forms."
We can compare Svetaketu here with a university student: getting
lots of information about science, arts, literature, etc., but still
remaining essentially ignorant about the Final Truth - Final
Knowledge. The father is telling his son about the unifying
principle of all the knowledge his son has acquired, the
metaphysical side of unity in diversity, the one substratum lying
hidden within every name and form. Svetaketu accepts his father
as second guru, and humbly requests:
"Sir, my first teacher probably did not know about this basic
truth, or else he would have definitely taught me about that.
So you, revered sir, may personally tell me about it."
Thus requested, the father tells his son about all pervading Self or
Atman (same as Brahman) as the basic Reality of every being.
"Listen, my boy, in the beginning was one Being alone; one
without second."
The concepts of time, space, and causation did not exist then, and
these concepts could never evolve later as well; for the Being
which is described is without attributes, and is changeless, eternal,
all-pervading Consciousness. In order that the aspirant may get the
idea of his/her true transcendental nature, empirically, Atman is
presumed to have evolved as this universe; the cause giving rise to
effect of this multifarious world of name and form. Universe is
superimposed on the changeless reality of Atman, so that the
individual being - the jiva - can pierce through his ignorance of
believing this world to be absolutely real.
Therefore, the question: "How could changeless Being change or
transform Itself into this multifarious universe?" becomes illogical
or empirical at the best. The Brahman, Atman, is changeless from
within itself and from outside it, since there is nothing beside It.
That is, if we say that something can transform itself as something
else, we shall have to admit that that something itself is a
transformation of something antecedent and thus we shall be
committed to 'regresus ad infinitum'.
Therefore, what follows is to be seen or taken as empirical attempt
to explain the Absolute, by projecting this universe on It (and
subsequently proving the falsity of the projected universe).
'The being desired to be many, and thus, though various
modifications, first the elements of Fire, Water, and Earth,
and as a result of various permutations and combinations of
these elements the whole universe of name and form came
into existence with that Being as the cause, and therefore,
the essence of all these effects.'
Like the ocean-water is filled in many vessels of different names
and forms, but in reality the water is one with the ocean; and this is
proved when the vessels get destroyed and water merges with the
ocean; or, like space, apparently divided by containers of various
sizes and shapes, becomes one when the forms get destroyed;
similarly the Self appears to be divided in many 'individual self'
(jivas) - but in essence, the jiva is one with the Self, as can be
proved when it is in samadhi or is in deep sleep, or merges with It
when the body dies off.
"Now it is this subtle Entity which all this universe has for its
essence. It alone is real. That is the Atman, That Thou Art, O
Svetaketu," the father explains to his son.
And continues: "When the jiva merges with that Entity, or
becomes one with it, as in transcendent state, the jiva does
not remember its individual identity, or recognize having
become one with the Self, as the rivers lose their individual
identity after merging with the sea; or as one cannot
separate honey of one flower from the honey from another
flower in a collected form.
"Now it is this subtle Entity which all this universe has for its
essence. It alone is real. That is the Atman, That Thou Art, O
Svetaketu."
Further, the father explains, as a spider brings forth the web
from within itself, and is capable of going anywhere on its
strands; and as the spider can dissolve the web into its own
again, so O Svetaketu, is this Atman. Or, as the sparks from
a hot iron rod are essentially one with the rod, so O
Svetaketu is the relation between the higher Self and the
lower self.
"Now it is this subtle Entity which all this universe has for its
essence. It alone is real. That is the Atman, That Thou Art, O
Svetaketu."
Still further, the father explains: Like a small, very tiny, seed
which even after breaking it apart does not reveal anything
of the tree, but gives rise to a big tree all the same, likewise
O Svetaketu, is the subtlety of the Atman from which are
born all the jivas.
As Uddalaka continues to explain: "O son, put this salt in the
water," and Svetaketu does as directed. The next day, father
asks him to bring the pot, and asks the son to feel or look for
the salt. The son says he cannot see or feel the salt. Then
father says:
"O son, taste the water from above."
"Yes sir, it is salty," says the son.
"Drink from the middle."
"It is salty," says the son.
"Drink from the bottom."
"It is salty," says the son.
"Here you could not see or feel the salt, but you could taste it
all the same; likewise O Svetaketu, by adopting the right
method and means of knowledge one can know the essence
of Atman everywhere in this universe; and Thou Art That
Atman, my boy."