Brahman and the Mind are not Distinct

There is only Brahman which means there is only consciousness. Therefore Brahman and the mind are not truly distinct. They are just different names we give this same consciousness when it seemingly operates differently.

 

When consciousness attends to itself, it is known as Brahman (i.e. Nirguna). When consciousness *seemingly* attends outward and is glued on an appearance that appears to be separate from itself, it is known as the mind. This is where we perceive duality. Because Brahman appears to take on the superimpositions of the mind and body, we (from body-mind perspective) say that there must be an underlying observer that is silently witnessing all objective phenomena, including the very body we perceive to be observing this phenomena from. So does this mean that Brahman is a witness? No. This is often a misunderstanding most people make when studying Vedanta. Brahman is unknowable consciousness. It only knows when it underlies an appearance. When it underlies an appearance, we give consciousness the name Turiya. This is what we refer to as the witness (i.e. reflected consciousness).

 

But even this “knowing” needs to be transcended, and will be the case if one takes attention and attends to itself (via jnani samadhi) until it becomes natural without effort. The appearance will eventually disappear through Grace and what is left is Brahman (Advaita), i.e. unknowable consciousness.

 

So who is it that becomes enlightened? Vedanta’s definition of enlightenment is when one becomes a Jivanmukti. In this case, the mind is purely sattvic without the possibility of tamas and rajas to conceal and project false knowledge respectively. This is where one abides in turiya while observing the body-mind appearance.  The mind is now known to be Brahman itself while it is no longer immersed inside something false where suffering is perceived. 

 

So what does this all mean? It means right now, you only believe you suffer because you are attached to something that is not real. Your identity needs to shift to that which is real and which cannot suffer since this immaterial principle is really just observing the body and mind suffer.  So even though this Brahman is already free, the paradox of it all is that work/spiritual effort must be done in order to remove suffering. This is the only way to remove all superimpositions so you (Brahman) can remain permanently conscious of your own fact for eternity. Of course, this fact will be unknowable and is why Brahman is also equated to freedom, because it is free from any objective knowing, even the knowing that it is the only present self. 

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