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CHAPTER IX
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABSOLUTE SELF
Out of these,,
although the Atman cannot be grasped by the Mind or by
Reason, that is to say, although it is beyond the reach of the
organs, yet, taking as correct one's self -experience, we come
to the conclusion that the Atman is not Gross, but is Thought-
formed (cidrupi), or of the form of Consciousness (caitanya-rupi).
Having in this way determined the form of the Atman, we
have next to determine the form of the Brahman. That Brahman
or vastu-tattva is either (1) of the same form as the Atman
or (2) is different in form from the Atman; these two things alone
are possible; because, there is no third thing which now remains
except the Brahman and the Atman. But, it is our experience
that if any two objects are different in form, then their effects
and products must also be different. Therefore, in any
science, we determine whether two things are the same or
different, by considering their effects. For instance, if the
roots, rootlings, bark, leaves, flowers, fruits etc. of two trees
are the same, we come to the conclusion that they are the same ;
and if they are different, we say that the trees are different.
When the same argument is applied in the present case, we
see that the Atman and the Brahman must be uniform ;
because, as has been mentioned above, the synthesis of the
impressions created on the Mind by the various objects in the
world, which (synthesis) results from the activity of the
Atman, must be the counterpart of the synthesis of all the
objects in the world made by the Brahman or vastu-tattva
(which is the Root of those objects) by breaking up their
diversity ; if not, all Knowledge will be without foundation
and will fall flat. And, it now follows as a natural conclusion
that though these two Elements, which arrive at two exactly
similar syntheses may be in two different places, they cannot
be different from each other ; and that, the form of the
Brahman must be the same as the form of the Atman.[1]
In short, from whichever point of view one considers the matter,
it now follows that not only is the Brahman-Element under-
lying the Names and Forms in the external world, not gross
like Matter embodied in Names and Forms, but also the
various forms of the Brahman, which are embodiments
respectively of Desire, Mind, Knowledge, Life, Vital Force, or
the logos OM-kara, are forms of a lower order, and the true
form of the Brahman is beyond all of them and superior to
all of them, that is to Bay, is of the form of the pure Atman.
And it also follows from what has been stated in various
places in the Gita on this subject, that the doctrine of the Gita
is the same [2]. But, it
must not be thought that this doctrine of the identity of the
Brahman and the Atman was found out by our Rsis merely by
some such logic ; because, as has been stated in the beginning
of this chapter, no proposition can be definitely laid down in
the philosophy of the Absolute Self by means of Reason alone
and it must always be supported by self-experience.
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