Nondual Highlights
Issue #1624 Saturday, November 22,
2003 Editor: Mark
I
am - The First Name of God
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad there is a verse that describes
how, at the beginning of the universe, the Self became aware of
itself as 'I':
In the beginning this [universe] was the Self alone… He [the
Self] reflected and saw nothing but the Self. He first said, 'I
am He'. Therefore He came to be known by the name aham ['I'].(1)
'I' thus became the first name of God. Bhagavan corroborated the
sentiments expressed in this verse when he told a devotee, 'The
one, infinite, unbroken whole [plenum] became aware of itself as
''I''. This is its original name. All other names, for example
Om, are later growths.'(2)
On another occasion Bhagavan, commenting on this famous verse
from the Upanishads, explained how, due to a felicitous
combination of letters, the name aham not only denoted the
subjective nature of God but also implied that it encompassed and
constituted all of the manifest universe:
The talk then turned to the name of God and Bhagavan said,
'Talking of all mantras, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says 'aham'
[I] is the first name of God. The first letter in Sanskrit is 'A'
and the last letter 'Ha' and 'aha' thus includes everything from
beginning to end. The word ayam means 'that which exists',
Self-shining and Self-evident. Ayam, atma and aham all refer to
the same thing.(3)
The name aham merely indicates that God experiences himself
subjectively as 'I'. When one adds the word 'am' to the name
there is the further implication that God is, that God is being
itself. Bhagavan expounded on this idea in Guru Vachaka Kovai and
then went on to say that 'I am' is not merely the first name of
God, it is also the most appropriate:
Since along with 'I', the aforementioned first name [mentioned in
the previous verse], 'am' always shines as the light of reality,
'I am' is also the name. Among the many thousands of names of
God, no name suits God, who abides in the Heart, devoid of
thought, so aptly as 'I' or 'I am'. Of all the known names of
God, 'I', 'I' alone will resound triumphantly when the ego is
destroyed, rising as the silent supreme word [mauna para vak] in
the Heart-space of those whose attention is Selfward-facing.(4)
The word 'Heart', which appears twice in this passage, was often
used by Bhagavan as a synonym for the Self. In Tamil the identity
between the terms 'Heart' and 'I am' is clearly evident since the
single word ullam can mean either 'am' or 'the Heart'. In
Arunachala Pancharatnam, for example, Bhagavan wrote, 'Since you
shine as ''I'' in the Heart, your name itself is Heart'. This can
be expanded to mean, 'Since you shine as ''I'' in the ''I am'',
which is the Heart, your name itself [I am] is the Heart'.
- Excerpt from I am - The First Name of God
First published in The Mountain Path, 1992, pp. 26-35 and pp.
126-42.
-Image of Milky Way and Sagittarius submitted to Nonduality Salon
by Joyce, aka "Know-Mystery".
The tree of meditation casts
a cool shade in which all desires and cravings come to an end and
all the burning distress ceases. Meditation expands the shade of
self-control that promotes steadiness of the mind.
A deer known as the mind, which had been wandering in the
wilderness of countless concepts, notions and prejudices and
which somehow finds the right path, takes shelter under this
tree. This deer is pursued by its many enemies who covet its hide
or covering. The mind hides itself in thorny bushes known as the
body to save itself. All this effort wears out its energies.
Running hither and thither in the forest of Samsara, harassed by
the winds known as Vasanas or latent tendencies and scorched by
the heat of ego-sense, the deer is afflicted by interminable
distress.
This deer is not easily satisfied with what it gets. Its cravings
multiply and it continues to go out far in search of satisfaction
of those cravings. It gets attached to the many pleasure-centers
known as wife, children, etc., and it wears itself out in looking
after them. It is caught in the net of wealth, etc., and it
struggles to free itself. In this struggle it falls down again
and again and injures itself. Borne down by the current of
craving, it is carried far away. It is haunted and hunted by
innumerable ailments. It is also trapped by the different
sense-experiences. It is bewildered by its alternate rise to the
heavenly regions and its fall into the hell. It is crushed and
wounded by stones and rocks known as mental modifications and
evil qualities. To remedy all these, it conjures up by its own
intellect various codes of conduct, which prove ineffectual. It
has no knowledge of the Self or the Infinite Consciousness.
This deer known as the mind is made insensible by the poisonous
exhalation of the snake known as worldly pleasure and craving for
such pleasure it is burnt by the fire of anger. It is dried up by
worries and anxieties. The tiger known as poverty pursues it. It
falls into the pit of attachment. Its heart is broken by the
frustration of its own pride.
At some stage, this deer turns away from all this and seeks the
refuge of some tree already described (the tree of meditation)
and there it shines brightly. Supreme peace or bliss is not
attained in any other condition excepting the unconditioned state
of Consciousness, and this is attained only in the shade of the
tree known as Samadhi or meditation.
Thus having obtained rest, the deer (mind) delights itself there
and does not seek to go elsewhere. After some time, the tree
known as meditation or Samadhi begins to yield its fruit, which
is the revelation of the Supreme Self. The mind-deer beholds that
fruit above itself on the tree of meditation. Thereupon it
abandons all other pursuits and climbs that tree to taste its
fruits. Having ascended that tree, the mind-deer abandons the
worldly thought patterns and it does not contemplate upon the
baser life again. Even as the snake abandons its slough, this
mind-deer abandons its previous habits so that it might ascend
the tree of meditation. Whenever memory of its own past arises,
it laughs aloud, "How was it that I remained such a fool
till now!" Having discarded greed etc., it rests on that
tree like an emperor.
- Excerpts from Swami Venkatesananda's The
Supreme Yoga, A new translation of Yoga
Vasistha
Nothing can match or even
come near
the miracle of who you truly are.
Let this be the mantra of your life.
A Being of Indescribable wonder
has, again, become a bearer of
the Light on Earth. Let nothing
dissuade you from this truth.
I
am - The First Name of God
The tree of meditation casts
a cool shade in which all desires and cravings come to an end and
all the burning distress ceases. Meditation expands the shade of
self-control that promotes steadiness of the mind. 
Nothing can match or even
come near