It is concealed within the heart of all beings.

The treasure according to Vedanta is Atman, the Self or absolute Reality, that exists within all individuals. In the language of the Bible, Atman is the image of God, that which is identical to Brahman, pure consciousness, ultimate Reality, or however else we attempt to express with words that which is indescribable. Atman and Brahman are one, just as Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.”

“Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect,” Jesus told his disciples. Know your identity with God. You are the same but have forgotten it, is the message. So remember. Do that essential work of remembering, of getting the clutter removed so you can remember.

Let’s define some terms here, with the understanding that words are subject to limitations, whereas what we are talking about is beyond words and intellect. As the book of Tao says, the Tao that can be spoken of is not the real Tao. So also the Buddha instructed his disciples not to think or argue about God. Because of this instruction, Buddha and Buddhism are misunderstood as being atheistic. What the Buddha meant was that God, or pure consciousness, is beyond the limited mind, beyond the intellect. As soon as God is considered and defined by the limited mind, God becomes limited. So Buddha told his disciples to concentrate on removing the barriers that separated them from the true Self. When that is done, then whatever we call the ultimate Truth reveals itself.

With that said, the Vedantins nonetheless made a valiant effort to give these ideas perspective. Brahman is absolute existence, knowledge and bliss, the summum bonum of the life of all creatures. According to Vedantic terminology, Brahman is real and all else is unreal. That which is not subject to death, decay, and decomposition is real, and that which changes is temporal and unreal. The universe is not real. It cannot be real if it is only temporary. Another way of saying this is that the universe is not non existent, but it is not real in the same sense as Brahman.

When you dream, for the extent of the dream, the world that is created within the dream and the people and events in it are real. When you wake up that reality disappears. The worldly plane of the universe is considered by Vedantins to be as a dream. It is real within its own context, and it has purpose. Vedantins call it maya, an illusion. It is neither absolutely real, nor absolutely non existent. Maya, or this dream of worldly life, is instructive. That which is subject to time, space, and causation, to change and relativity, to pain and pleasure, to sorrow and misery, is maya. It has value but not permanence. As a dream helps you work through emotions and desires, the worldly dream, maya, creates opportunities for you to grow and work through habits and desires. You wake from it, and it disappears. You wake into realizing Atman, and this plane of existence disappears into a misty memory.

Atman is the real Self, but one’s knowledge of the real Self is separated by the different, relative aspects of the mere self. These relative aspects of mind are both the barriers and gates to the higher Self. According to eastern philosophy, the mind has four main faculties. The first is ahamkara, or ego, the part of yourself that defines you as ‘I,’ with ‘me’ and ‘mine.’ The second is
buddhi, the higher mind, the aspect of discrimination that knows, decides, and judges. The buddhi is like a mirror that catches reflections of all the sense organs and perceptions, and all thoughts and cognitions of the mind. Buddhi discriminates and compares one thing with another. The third is manas, or the lower mind, that produces and processes data. Chitta, the fourth faculty, is are servoir or data bank of impressions and memories.

There are two aspects within us all, the real Self and the mere self. The latter is but a reflection of the former. One is imperishable and beyond change, and the other is the enjoyer and the sufferer.


Editor’s Note

This is an excerpt from Sacred Journey, Living Purposefully and Dying Gracefully by Swami Rama, Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust, 2002. Chapter 3: “The Treasure.” Pages 15 – 17.

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