Discovering the Divine Self: You Are That

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In this episode of the Bearded Mystic Podcast, host Rahul N Singh delves into the profound Upanishadic teaching 'Tat Tvam Asi' which translates to 'You are That'. He explains this powerful saying, often mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad, emphasizing the non-separation between the self and the infinite reality, Brahman. Rahul discusses how awareness is fundamental to our true nature and how ignorance of this truth creates the illusion of separateness. He stresses the importance of self-inquiry and guidance from a Satguru to remove this ignorance and realize our formless, divine essence. The episode encourages integrating this awareness into every aspect of life, promoting stability, oneness, and a spiritual way of living beyond mere belief in a distant deity.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tatva Masi.
You are that.
It's one of the most powerfulsayings of the Upanishads said
often in the Chandogya Upanishad, and it's very important.
You are that.
What are you?
It's not like there's aseparate identity.
That is you and there's aseparate identity.

(00:22):
That's the ego.
You are simply that which isaware and that is awareness
itself.
It's not like there is anyseparation at all.
And if we look at it from theVedantic point of view, as we
know, this is one of the fourMahavakyas, the great

(00:44):
declarations, the great sayingsof the Upanishads.
It's very powerful, somethingyou can meditate upon and you
can write essays on this.
You are that.
It's very obvious what thatmeans.
When it's referring to that,it's referring to Brahman
Nirmala, the formless, thisindividual self you think is

(01:07):
separate, actually is none otherthan infinite reality.
Accept this as your true self.
This is who you really are.
This individuality you'reholding onto is actually this
vastness.
Do not think it's anything lessthan that.
If you just go into your ownexperience, you cannot say, if

(01:32):
you really like, did a deepself-inquiry, you will go back
to well, awareness is prior toeverything.
Before I say, say I amexperiencing this, I am thinking
this.
One is aware that one isthinking, one is aware that one

(01:52):
is experiencing.
So awareness is always priorand therefore it's that
awareness that is truly formless, our true nature.
We have to come to terms withthat and that can only happen if
we really inquire.
And the separation we have isjust because of ignorance,

(02:14):
avidya, because we think we arethis body and mind.
We do not understand that weare Brahman.
We fail to recognize that truenature within us.
The whole point is that when weread scripture, it's there to
awaken something already there.
It's not like it was notpresent before and then it's

(02:35):
present afterwards.
No, it's always there.
We just fail to recognize itbecause we live so much in this
maya, this appearance of theworld, that we forget that our
true nature does not belong tothis.
When death occurs, has anyonethat's died ever come back to
say there's something afterwards?

(02:56):
No, but we can knowconsciousness never dies.
That's what the rishis of theUpanishads elaborated upon.
Removing avidya is throughBrahmgyana, the knowledge of
Brahman.
When the Satguru shows us whatour true nature is through a
method which is mostly going tobe neti, neti, which is not this

(03:19):
, not this, tattvam asi isbrilliant, because what that
means is it gives an affirmativemessage to you, say I'm not the
body, I'm not the mind, I'm notmy thoughts, because I'm aware
of the thoughts.
I'm aware of the emotions, soI'm not my emotions.
I'm aware of my desires, so I'mnot my desires.
I'm aware of the objects of theworld.
Therefore, I'm not the objectsof the world.

(03:39):
Then what are you?
You are Brahman.
Formless awareness,consciousness Through
Brahmagyaan.
Satguru removes that veil ofignorance and that's why Satguru
and scripture is important.
Whatever the scripturesdeclares, you know, satguru says
it very directly that thisNankar is your very self.
This formless is your very self.

(04:01):
Do not think of yourself asanything other than that
formless.
And, like I said, this requiresinquiry but also faith.
With that faith we will proceedforward with the inquiry
bringing this formless in frontof us.
If we've been able to have thedoshan of the formless, have

(04:21):
that direct seeing of theformless, and that's something
we can do, if we have receivedthat Brahmagyan and understood
the scriptures which will onlysolidify that realization.
So we're not believing in somedistant God, but what is present
in our awareness right here andnow, our true self, and that's

(04:45):
all we have to do.
The practical takeaway is justcontemplate the awareness by
which you hear these words isalready divine.
So, when you see everything asdivinity, how do you live your
life?
How do you deal with people?
How do you deal with situations?
How do you deal with the goodthings, the bad things?

(05:08):
Are you able to be stable?
That stability only comes withawareness.
So remember, as you're hearingthese words, it's already divine
because your awareness ispresent and that awareness is
what we both share.
That's important to know.
You do not need to becomeNirangar, you don't need to

(05:28):
become the formless.
You are already that.
The more we remember this, thebetter.
That's what Sumiran isremembrance Remembering you are
this formless.
In the beginning there will be asubtle duality, but eventually
it will become self-evident toyou.

(05:49):
Even if the world brought allits wealth together and said you
know, whatever you're saying isself-evident.
This awareness, this formless,is self-evident.
If you give you all the world'swealth, will you deny this?
It will be so strong within youthat you will say I don't want
the world's wealth because thisself-evident truth.

(06:11):
There's no value that can evercome close.
Let this insight shift how youlive, speak and act.
That is the beauty of spirituallife.
That's the beauty of beingfull-time in this.
Don't see spirituality as somepart-time affair that you do on

(06:31):
a Sunday.
Let it be your life.
If you want to see the impact,if you don't, and you want to be
a casual seeker, that's up toyou.
But if you really want to takethings forward, make it your
very life.
When you hear you are that,don't just hear it.
Go back to that awareness, sitwith it, live with it.

(06:51):
Let it dissolve that full senseof separateness that you have.
So when you, when you hear thatyou are that formless, you are
that vastness, you are thatboundless presence, dissolve
every aspect of duality andrealize that innate oneness, sit
with that.
You are that, you are that, andthat's all you need to do.

(07:15):
Grace will start flowing,naturally.
I can attest this has happenedin my life and I feel blessed.
I pray I can continue toremember this awareness.
This remembrance becomesautomatic, where you don't have
to put in any effort and it'sjust right here, right now.

(07:39):
Nothing can take this away.
As we experience this.
Brahmadma, this is what we are.
Take care.
Thank you for tuning in to theBeardy Mystic Podcast.
I'm your host, rahul N SinghNamaste.