Transferring Sat-Cit-Ananda: Vedanta's Take on Spirit and Matter.
When Iron Ball Reflects the Fire.
Transferring Sat-Cit-Ananda: Vedanta's Take on Spirit and Matter. Guest: Jayashankar Krishnamurthy, Vedanta Institute of Hyderabad, India.
The timeless Vedantic teachings offer a penetrating insight into the relationship between Spirit and Matter through the metaphor of fire and iron.
The cold, inert iron ball represents matter in its unmanifest state. Devoid of light and heat, it symbolizes the veiling of Consciousness that gives rise to the appearance of multiplicity and form. The radiant fire signifies the Spirit, the non-dual reality that is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss absolute.
When the iron ball is placed in the fire, it is infused with the properties of the fire. The iron ball does not change its essential nature but appears as a fire due to the influence of the fire. Similarly, when the Spirit presides over matter through Its omnipresence, matter reflects the Sat-Cit-Ananda nature of the Spirit. Matter does not become the Spirit, but manifests as the Spirit. The names and forms remain, but they shine forth as the Spirit.
This manifestation requires two fundamental conditions: purity of matter and recognition of its non-dual essence. Purity implies receptivity, where matter is open and yielding to the influence of the Spirit, like the iron ball placed within the fire. Recognition means realizing matter and Spirit are not two separate realities, but are one non-dual whole appearing as two. With this recognition, the perceived barrier between matter and Spirit dissolves.
When these conditions are fulfilled, matter reflects the Sat-Cit-Ananda nature of the Spirit. The Spirit imparts its essential qualities onto matter, though matter never ceases to be matter. The multiplicity of names and forms shine forth as the Spirit while retaining their diversity. The Spirit presides over matter through Its omnipresence, but the matter never becomes the Spirit.
This understanding illuminates the path for spiritual seekers to realize their true nature. The Spirit is ever-present as the substratum of matter. By purifying the mind through spiritual practices and cultivating discernment of the non-dual reality, one can become aware of the Spirit that was always there, closer than the closest, as the innermost Self. The Spirit was never separate or apart, but eternally one with all that is.
“Just as a ball of iron, when heated by fire, becomes like fire itself, so the individual soul, when united with the supreme Self through meditation, becomes like the supreme Self.”
(Adi Shankara - “Atma Bodha” - Verse 17)
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