Understanding Self-Awareness

In this episode, we embark on an exploration of Self-Awareness. At its essence, Self-Awareness is the core of who we are. This Awareness is the most potent force in existence, forming the foundation of reality itself, embracing everything—living or non-living—within the universe. It is the substratum of everything in the universe. 

By deeply understanding Awareness and its inherent capabilities, we unlock the key to comprehending the universe as a whole. Grasping the true nature of Awareness is not just important—it is absolutely vital.

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Transcript

Hello and welcome to Science Meets Vedanta— a space where we explore the fundamental principles of Vedanta and unravel the profound intersections between scientific inquiry and ancient wisdom. I'm Jayant Kapatker, the author of the book Science Meets Vedanta.

Drawing from the insights in this book, each week we’ll explore a variety of topics designed to help you understand the essential teachings of Vedanta. Along the way, we’ll highlight valuable lessons that science can gain from Vedantic wisdom, so stay tuned!

In today’s episode, we’ll be delving into the concept of Self-Awareness, exploring it as the very essence of our being. Together, we’ll examine the true nature of Self-Awareness and uncover the unique powers it holds.

Self-Awareness is our innermost core. To understand Self-Awareness, we need to break down what is meant by Awareness. To learn about Awareness, we need to first understand and analyze our experiences. 

All our perceptions, feelings, thoughts, and current thinking are nothing but the experiences we have. When we are awake, there is hardly any moment when we do not have some sort of experience. 

We have experiences continuously; sometimes they are structured and willful while at other times they are random, jumping from one thought to another.

Experiences can happen only in the mind and nowhere else. The world is “out there,” but we experience it only in our minds. Science also states the same thing. Light is reflected from an external object, and this light travels to the retina in our eye. The retina converts the incoming light into an optical signal. This optical signal is transmitted to the visual cortex in the human brain. Science still does not tell us how the optical signal is converted to an actual image, but somehow the visual image is created, and we experience this visual image in the mind. This is true for all the five senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Even the internal thoughts and emotions which we experience happen only in the mind.

If you think about it, experience is the only connection we have with the external world. There is no other way to learn and understand the universe. If we do not experience a thing, then the question can be asked: does that thing even exist? Experience is the only way to validate the existence of the universe. We understand and learn from experience—there is no other way to get to know the external world.

Experiences Decoded

The only way forward is to analyze our own experiences. The following simple equation is a perfect analysis of an experience.

Experience equal to Awareness plus Form

We are always aware of our experience. We can never say we had an experience but are not aware of it. This is simply not possible because awareness is a critical prerequisite and ingredient of an experience. You are having an experience because you are aware of it. If there is no awareness, there can be no experience. 

No two experiences are the same. The form part of the experience is always different and keeps changing. Sometimes it is visual, sometimes it is auditory, and sometimes it is based on memories. The form keeps changing, the experience keeps changing, but does the underlying awareness also keep changing? Our experience confirms that awareness will always remain the same. The form is superimposed on the unchanging Awareness to complete the experience.

If you expand this logic and apply it to the entire human race, each person will have their own experience in their own mind. This experience equation is valid for everyone. Everyone has different forms superimposed on Awareness to complete the experience. Everyone will have their own unique form to create their own unique experience.

The common factor in everyone’s experience is Awareness. This Awareness seems to be present in everyone’s mind. Can there be so many different Awarenesses? Is the same Awareness present in everyone’s mind? Is your Awareness different from mine and everyone else’s? These questions will answer themselves once we get a better understanding of what we really mean by Awareness.

Understanding Awareness

Awareness is the most powerful force in the universe, and it is the underlying reality of this universe. It has the power to connect with a form present in the mind and create an experience of which you are aware. As an analogy, think of the sun. When there is no light from the sun you cannot see anything, but in the presence of the light everything becomes visible. In the same way, when any form enters the presence of the light of Awareness, the experience bulb lights up in your mind and you are aware of the form. 

If you carefully study Awareness, you will conclude that it is made of Subject, Object, and Intelligence, and has the following functions:

1.      There must be a subject, who is aware of the experience. This subject is the knower part of Awareness.

2.      There must be an object, which must be experienced. This object is the known part of Awareness.

3.      There must be intelligence, by which the subject gets to know the object. This is the knowing part of Awareness.

It must be clear that Awareness is made of Subject, Object, and Intelligence, and it has three different powers—Knower, Known, and Knowing. It must be understood that Subject, Object, Intelligence, and the three powers are not something outside in the world—they are within Awareness and make up Awareness. If any one of them is missing, Awareness will not work and will be incomplete.

1. If there is an object to be observed, but there is no subject, there will be no Awareness, as there is no one to see the object.

2. If there is a subject, but no object to see, there will be no Awareness as the subject has no objects to observe.

3. If there is an object, but the subject has no way of knowing what this object is, no Awareness will take place. This knowing must have intelligence.

Wherever there is Awareness, there must be present Subject, Object, and Intelligence with all the three powers. Let us try and understand this in a little more detail.

1. Power of Knowing or Intelligence

 Awareness is the repository of all possible knowledge and intelligence. It is as if there is a complete digital library within Awareness. No possible knowledge or intelligence is missing. Power of Knowing is the power which allows us to tap into the unlimited knowledge and intelligence which is present within Awareness.
 1. If you are aware of 2 plus 2 is equal to 4, it is because this knowledge is within Awareness. If you know calculus, it is because all the knowledge of calculus is within Awareness. If you know Sanskrit, it is because this knowledge is resident within Awareness. If you know Chinese, it is because that knowledge is within Awareness. If you know music, it is because that knowledge is within Awareness. Think of any possible knowledge, that knowledge is present within Awareness. Nothing is missing.
 
 2. All the intelligence is also present within Awareness. All the logic, making inferences, creative thinking, making cross-connections within different knowledge streams, remembering knowledge—all this and much more is present within Awareness. Also present are all the different powers—the power to understand, power to think, power to learn, power to perceive, power to hear, and so many other powers.
 
 Awareness is the storage of all possible knowledge and also all possible intelligence. All this knowledge and intelligence is present right within us. If you think about it, our knowledge is very limited, a small iota of all possible knowledge. All the remaining knowledge is present within Awareness, but it is covered by our individual ignorance. If the right effort is made, Power of Knowing helps in removing this ignorance and exposes the required knowledge. All the unlimited knowledge is present within Awareness. Breathtaking!

2. Power of Knower or Subject

In the earlier section, we saw the power of knowing, the intelligence of knowing. There must be a Knower to see an object and perceive how it looks. This is done by the Subject within Awareness. The Subject is the Knower of the experience. This Subject is not only the Knower of seeing, but is also the Knower of hearing, the Knower of reading, the Knower of sleeping, and so on.

1. When it is the Knower of seeing, the Subject is a seer.

2. When it is the Knower of hearing, the Subject is a hearer.

3. When it is the Knower of reading, the Subject is a reader.

4. When it is the Knower of running, the Subject is a runner.

There is only one Subject, and it is the Knower of so many things. In fact, it is the Knower of everything. All this is within Awareness. The Subject with Power of Knowing is available within the mind of each one of us. It is the only way we can know what our experiences are.

Our minds are limited and therefore the power and range of the Knower is limited. Awareness is beyond the mind and this Subject within Awareness is the Knower of everything that is possible. There is nothing that Awareness does not know.

We should never confuse this Subject with the ego. This Subject is part of Awareness and this Subject does not have an ego. If I say “I am the Knower” or “I am the Subject,” the “I am” is the ego. The Knower or the Subject is not part of the ego, it is part of Awareness. In Awareness there is no attachment and no ego, it is simply aware. The ego attaches itself to the Subject and thinks it is the Subject.

3. Power of Known or Object

The Object component of Awareness is also extremely powerful, and it has the ability to take any form that we experience in the mind.

If you see a circle, then Awareness cannot take the shape of a square. If it does, you will never experience the circle. Awareness must also be a round circle with exactly the same dimensions. If you see a tree, then Awareness must also take the shape of the tree. This tree must be filled with Awareness. If the tree is half-filled with Awareness or if Awareness does not have the same shape as the tree, you will not be Aware of the tree.

If you want to observe any object:

1. The form must be filled with Awareness and nothing but Awareness. If the form does not have Awareness, then the observer or subject will not be able to experience the object with that form.

2. Awareness must take the exact shape of the form.

Awareness has the potential to take any form. If you look into a powerful microscope, Awareness can take the shape of a molecule, or if you look at the universe through a telescope, Awareness can take the shape of the stars and galaxies. Big or small, Awareness can take the shape of anything. Awareness has the potential to take any form.

It is therefore correct to conclude that the content of the object must be Awareness. Awareness by itself is formless, but it has the potential to become any object. The object it will become depends on the input received from the five senses. A good metaphor to explain this is that Awareness is like a lump of Play-Doh, which is formless, but you can manipulate the Play-Doh into any shape. Whatever shape you create, the content is always Play-Doh. In the same way, the content of all the objects in the universe is only Awareness. It can take any shape or form, but the content is always Awareness.

Understanding Self-Awareness

Awareness is the underlying force in the mind. It is the Knower of everything happening in the mind. It can take the form of all possible objects and has infinite Intelligence to give meaning and understanding to the experience.

Awareness is equal to Subject plus Intelligence plus Object

There must be a Self, who is Aware—someone who can say, “I am Aware.” So, who are we? We are the Self, the “I”. No one can deny this fact. Vedanta teaches that we are Self-Aware. What does this mean? It means that the Self is Knowing it is the Self.

Here Self is the Subject, and the Self knows Self, therefore Self is also the Object. Knowing is the Intelligence connecting the Subject and Object. If Self is Self-Aware, then the Self is both Subject and Object. The Self being both Subject and Object is the only way Self can be Self-Aware. Further, the Intelligence connecting the two is also Self.

1. The experiences the self with small has in the mind has duality; it experiences the separation between the subject and object. The subject is “over here” and the object is “over there.” In Self-Awareness, there is no duality—the Self with capital S is both the subject and object. It is non-dual, it is one, and there is unity.
2. We saw earlier that to have an experience you need a subject, object, and intelligence. Self-Awareness has all three components to complete an experience. It is thus self-sufficient and self-contained. It does not need anything else for its existence.
3. It must be understood that in Self-Awareness, the subject and object are not different components or parts. They are completely homogenous, undifferentiated, undivided, and part-less. It is not easy to grasp or visualize this, but this is the nature of Self-Awareness.
4. Self-Awareness is like a bulb of Awareness. This bulb is shining with Awareness. It does nothing except radiate Awareness. If any form meets with Awareness, it creates the experience of which you are Aware.
5. Self-Awareness is beyond the mind. The mind is limited and has duality. Self-Awareness is pure, non-dual, and complete. It has all the infinite powers we have described earlier. It Knows everything and it has infinite Intelligence. It has the ability and potential to create all the required forms. What more does Self-Awareness need? Nothing.

Vedanta teaches that you are the Self, and this Self is not the mind but SatChitAnanda. SatChitAnanda is your true nature, your underlying reality. Based on all that we have discussed so far, we can conclude the following:

Self is Self-Aware = Self is SatChitAnanda

Self-Awareness is Sat: Sat means Real. According to Vedanta, for anything to be Sat, it must exist and be present in all the three tenses—past, present, and future. Self-Awareness meets this requirement. Self-Awareness is therefore unborn, uncaused, unchanging, and uncreated. It has always been there and will always be there.

Self-Awareness is Chit: Chit means Awareness. It means it is the Subject and Object with all the creative powers and Intelligence we have discussed earlier.

Self-Awareness is Ananda: Ananda means Bliss. This term can be confusing because we do get momentary bliss in our day-to-day lives, but this is not the Ananda we are talking about. We are talking about the Ananda of Self-Awareness. Self-Awareness is full and complete; it has the Subject, Object, and Intelligence. It does not need anything extra, and it is not dependent on anything external. This fullness and completeness lead to full-time (not partial) Bliss or Ananda.

As a conclusion you can see that Self Awareness with all its powers is your essential nature, and it is your innermost core. 

We hope today’s episode has sparked your curiosity and offered valuable insights. If you’d like to dive deeper, visit our blog at Vedanta and science.com or find my book, Science Meets Vedanta, on Amazon. Be sure to subscribe so you won’t miss upcoming episodes. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your family and friends. Thanks for joining us—see you again soon!