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Book comment on "What am I?" by Dr. Shankar
Conversation: Jürgen and Marcus, Germany
Hello Mr Stegmaier,
It is interesting to perceive through the mind how life is going on in a continuous movement which furthermore leads, day and night, to an ongoing transformation, i.e. sophistication. The contact to Dr. Shankar began with a vague short extract of a video about light and sound! At that time it was explained in the video that thunder always follows lightning and that a thought as sound always follows the movement of a body as light! This was hard to understand as the sound is transformed further to a thought with meaning after the ‘body-light-movement’.
But now an understanding has established in me and all the open questions from before have been answered clearly. Through the bridge of transformation of four books of Dr. Shankar everything has been answered step by step!
1. Book: Evolution of Mind
2. Book: Kaivalya Gita Vol1
3. DVD: Non- Duality. Life as it is
4. Book: What am I?
Now it looks as there weren‘t any more questions for me but as it is the nature of life it could happen that a new topic will come to me to which there will be found answers in Dr. Shankar‘s writings!
Regards, Jürgen
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Hello Mr. Jürgen,
I am happy to hear from you that Dr. Shankar‘s books seemingly have lead to a deeper understanding of life. But please allow me some words of clarification about what you have written: Dr. Shankar‘s books do not convey any knowledge.
Absolute understanding means the certainty that there could not come up any real questions anymore because the world, man and the mind are spontaneously understood as illusory. How deep the understanding really is will reveal itself in daily life: It is not the mind which perceives life as a continuous, singular movement because the nature of the mind is to take thoughts about individuals, events, time (day and night) and actions for real. It is the witnesser to which life appears as light and sound. This happens through sophistication of the ego to the witnesser.
No doubt that Dr. Shankar‘s books have brought about many answers in you. If it happens that further questions show up, I am very confident that clarification will happen willingly, either through reading the books again or through questioning per email or through a personal encounter with Dr. Shankar for example in January 2012 in Denekamp
Kind regards, Marcus Stegmaier
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Hello Mr Stegmaier,
Thanks for the clarifying words in your email! Not only the books I could read again and again but also this mail should be read again and more than once!
Thanks, Jürgen
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Hello Mr. Jürgen,
I am very happy for you that life makes you read the books again.
Regards, Marcus Stegmaier
marcus>>>It is the witnesser to which life appears as light and sound.
now which part of life appears to the witnesser as Light and which other part as sound?
and "where" does it "appear" "to" the witnesser?
A witnesser is nothing but the witnessed. It is not the ego as such which transforms into the witnessser but rather everything that was witnessed before is which transforms into the witnesser due to the understanding that "real" witnesser is nothing but the witnessed.
Thus the real witnesser is one who has ceased the witnessing that leaving us with only what is witnessed....
meaning statements that the witnessed is such and such (including light and sound) though how alleviating etc etc they might seem , cannot but be dualistic and not real and empty of any essence.
Response: To the witnesser life appears as a manifestation of light and sound and not any particular part of life. Life is whole and a flow to the witnesser. To the ego life is made up of parts. A witnesser realises the witnessed is nothing but an illusory manifestation of light and sound. Witnesser does not judge to know what is witnessed for he lives life. The ego judges for it lives in the mind and therefore has knowledge of what is witnessed. Everything that is witnessed transforms into knowledge for the ego. Witnesser does not cease or continue. He flows in life. The ego ceases or continues in the mind.
marcus>>>>To the witnesser life appears as a manifestation of light and sound and not any particular part of life.
marcus also says>>>>Witnesser does not judge to know what is witnessed for he lives life.
regards.
Response: Mind is not Life. The witnesser realises mind is a reflection of life. The ego is made to think mind is life. Life sophisticates the ego from a thinker in the mind into a witnesser of life. The ego exists in the mind. Witnesser lives life.
Response: Mind is not Life. The witnesser realises mind is a reflection of life. The ego is made to think mind is life. Life sophisticates the ego from a thinker in the mind into a witnesser of life. The ego exists in the mind. Witnesser lives life.
marcus>>>> witnesser lives life
life does not live.
regards
Life(ego or what you call mind) does not live life because life is not-two..there is no 1 life living the second.
life also does not get lived............(witness).... for life is not-two.
there is neither any "living" either ,for "living" implies life or living in time which includes this life "appearing" 'to' the "witnesser" as light and sound.
however there cannot be any time seperate to life or life seperate to time....neither time happenning in life nor life happenning in time....they are not two.
thus that life or this world is but light and sound is dualistic and is not the not-two
regards
Response: Witnesser is a sophisticated ego, a reflection of life, and not life.
thus in life there is neither witness nor the witnessed....let alone how the witnessed appears to the witness.
regards
Response: In Life the witness and the witnessed exist as an optical illusion i.e. ‘Maya’.
in Life that the witnesser and the witnessed exist IS the illusion and not that they exist as an illusion.
Reponse: Life is therefore a play of light and sound, Maya.
marcus>>>Life is therefore a play of light and sound, Maya.
Life is not any therefore including the therefore a play of light and sound.
there cannot be and is no therefore in life.
Response: Hence life is a play of light and sound, Maya. Denial is proof that life is a play of light and sound.
all proofs are themselves the denial.
.....the denial of the fact that it is not Life which asks for proofs or Life which finds them but something else.
but as there can be no something else than Life ...that there is a proof and a finding of a proof too is not real and dualistic..immetarial of what is proved....which includes that this Life is a play of light and sound.
if a proof was to be real ,there has to be something that is proved and someone or something to which is it is proved.
This implies not just the proof, proved and proven being but also being separate. IF THEY ARE NOT THEN WHAT GETS PROVED TO WHOM?
however id they are seprate , at what point does a proof becomes the proof (being seprate to the proved and the proven) , at what point does the proved becomes the proved( being seprate to the proof and the proven).....and so forth?
even if they are travelling at the speed of "Light" or more..meaning they are seprate yet their seprateness is bridges by their speed ,the fact remains if they are seperate in reality are not a proof/proved/proven and only become so later .
thus that there is a proof itself is the denial of the fact that LIFE IS NOT TWO
Response: Proof is in the mind and therefore dual and illusory. The known is in the mind and therefore dual and illusory. Sound is light at lesser speed.
Life is a play of light and sound which is one and not two.
marcus>>>It is the witnesser to which life appears as light and sound.
now which part of life appears to the witnesser as Light and which other part as sound?
and "where" does it "appear" "to" the witnesser?
A witnesser is nothing but the witnessed. It is not the ego as such which transforms into the witnessser but rather everything that was witnessed before is which transforms into the witnesser due to the understanding that "real" witnesser is nothing but the witnessed.
Thus the real witnesser is one who has ceased the witnessing that leaving us with only what is witnessed....
meaning statements like the witnessed is such and such (including light and sound) though how alleviating etc etc they might seem , cannot but be dualistic and not real.