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Aug 27, 2010 
Q. I want to know the Self.
A. Where is the location of the “I” that wants to know the Self?
Q. It is here, in this body.
A. Does the body say “I”?
Q. Yes, I am the body and I say “I”.
A. When you see a corpse, can it say “I”?
Q. No, the corpse cannot say “I”.
A. If the body could say “I”, then the corpse should also be able to say “I”, but it can’t. What does this mean?
Q. It means that there is something else in this body that says “I”. Which means that I am not the body.
A. Yes, then what are you?
Q. I am something within this body.
A. Question this assumption. Is this true?
Q.It sure feels like I am this body.
A. Okay, if that is the case, let’s look at this another way. When you are asleep and dreaming, you have a body as well right?
Q. Yes, now that I think about it, I have a body as well, when I am dreaming.
A. In the dream, that feels like your real body and the feeling is also that you are inside your body. Can you confirm this?
Q. Yes, this is the case. I can confirm it. I feel like I am inside the body when I am dreaming as well.
A. Good. Now when you are dreaming, where is your location? The real YOU. Where is it? Is it inside the body?
Q. The real me is on the bed sleeping somewhere, not inside the body.
A. That is just a mental answer. In the dream, you feel like you are in your body looking at the world, interacting in the world, where are you located in the dream? Don’t tell me that you are on the bed, you need to go to the mind to come up with that answer. Put yourself in the dream, at that time you don’t remember your bedroom or anything. Where are you?
Q. In the dream, I feel like I am in the body, but the truth is that I am simply aware of the dream. I don’t know where I am located.
A. Look deeper. Are you in the body or outside of the body?
Q. In the dream, it feels like I am in the body, but that body is not real, so I must be outside it.
A. Don’t jump to any conclusion about the body being real or not real. Now let’s get to the real core of the matter. In the dream body you say “I”, believing yourself to be it. Does the dream body say “I”?
Q. I don’t quite get your question.
A. I am simply asking whether the dream body can say “I”.
Q. Yes, I say “I”, even when I am in the dream body.
A. No, no, I am asking you whether your dream body can say “I”.
Q. Oh, no of course not, how can something that doesn’t exist say anything.
A. But your dream body does exist in the dream. There is a tangible existence of it. You can see it, you can feel it. It does exist.
Q. Yes, the dream body does exist, but it doesn’t really exist.
A. Now you are hitting on the right point. What makes it not “really” exist according to you?
Q. It doesn’t really exist because when I wake up, that whole set up is gone.
A. Yes, that is true. So you gauge reality by its permanency. If it comes and goes, then it is not real. Am I right in assuming this as your stance?
Q. Yes, that is my stance.
A. Good. Now let’s get back to the question I started with. So if the dream body is not real, what said “I” while in the dream body?
Q. It is consciousness that said “I”.
A. Good. Where was the location of that consciousness within the dream?
Q. It was everywhere although it felt like it was only in the body.
A. So the body was only an appearance within this consciousness?
Q. Yes, that is how it feels.
A. This is also the case with your current body.
Q. How can this be the case?
A. This is the case with your real body also because it is also not real.
Q. It isn’t, but it feels real. I mean, when I wake up from the dream, I wake up into this body. Therefore this body must be real.
A. You said earlier that the definition of real is something that is permanent. If it comes and goes then it isn’t real. Isn’t this the case with your waking body as it is right now also? When you go into the dream state, what happens to the body of this state? Doesn’t it also disappear? When you go into deep sleep, doesn’t all of this disappear? If all of this disappears, then how can you say that even this state is permanent?
Q. Whoa, I never thought of it that way before! So this body is a dream as well?
A. Don’t jump to conclusions so fast. See this as clearly as you can in order to establish your true position. In the dream state, the dream body is false, but something says “I”. We have established that the dream body cannot say “I”, yet something says “I”. This “I” is consciousness. It is the presence without which neither the dream body, nor the waking body would appear. Now it appears that the waking body says “I”, but the truth is that it is consciousness alone which is the presence of “I”. All is taking place within it.
Even when you wake up from deep sleep and say, “I wasn’t aware of anything”. It is the same “I” that noticed that there was nothing to be aware of in deep sleep. There are not many “I”s. It is the same “I” in all three states. In fact, all the three states show up and disappear within the consciousness which we refer to as “I”. This is the true and only position. You are the “I”. Remain as this and see whether you can ever be away from the Self.
~Sukhbir Singh
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