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Credit: DH illustration
Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankaracharya expounded on Ekamevaadvitiya that set the pace for what many subscribe to as the Advaita philosophy. The one without a second, in essence, highlights that the outside world appears only because of the Self, one’s own inner light shining through the sense organs.
In the ephemeral world, there is an inside-out and an outside-in view. The inside-out is the way one views the world outside and hence it is intrinsic for the self to change the lenses to perceive the outside world differently. There is an adage in Kannada language that essentially means that a jaundiced eye will see the world outside in yellow colour. The outside-in view mandates that one changes to suit the expectations of the viewing world to make it a palatable experience.
In the spiritual world, commentaries by Jagadguru of the Vedas and Upanishads further strengthen ‘the one without a second’ principle. The inside light, Atmaswaroopa is the shine that is termed ‘Consciousness,’ our own Self. It is the substratum which has enabled individuals to breathe. The other systems of digestion, excretion, circulation are also enabled by its omnipresence.
The error is in each of our understanding that ‘I breathe,’ ‘I digest the food I consume,’ ‘I excrete to maintain my system clean,’ and ‘I ensure that good blood circulates always,’ even though one knows that they don’t do any. The ‘I’ related to the Self refers to all activities of an inert body which has assumed life due to Consciousness.
The truth is revealed to the seeker who has no attachment to the body but aligns through surrender to an elevated ‘I’ to stay connected with the Higher Self, the ultimate truth. Why a seeker only? To a true sincere seeker in an inquiry mode – I the Self is the reason for the existence of this world.
To the time-conscious individuals the clock reveals that the second-hand erases the past, embraces the present, and reveals the future; similarly for a true seeker the revelation is that time itself is a concept in the mind, so also space and object.
There is no second object that exists without our own self-luminous Chaitanya shining forth always. When time is a concept, be rest assured that every second there’s no second – it’s the higher Self only.