36.
The eternity of Brahman arrives in the movement of "I".
Arising and dissolution, birth and death—these are all the nature of "I," that subtle stratum of consciousness which has manifested itself upon you, yet is not you.
"I" has risen, "I" has dissolved—just as waves come and go, yet the ocean itself never rises, never falls. The Upanishads declare: "Ajo nityaḥ śāśvato'yam purāṇaḥ"—you are unborn, eternal, unchanging—beyond the reach of birth and death.
This birth and death—it is merely the changing appearance of the "I"-consciousness. It seems as though something has happened, yet nothing has truly happened—for what occurs is only upon the veil of maya.
You are that in whom all things "seem to arise," yet who yourself never arises, never descends.
In this consciousness that is "I," there exists the coming and going—within "I" resides the taste of death and the intoxication of birth. But you, the Supreme—you have no birth, no death, no manifestation, no withdrawal.
The Bhagavad Gita (2.20) declares: "Na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin"—the soul is never born nor does it die; it does not undergo repeated birth or growth. It is unborn, eternal, immutable, and primordial, yet ever new. Though the body perishes, the soul can never be destroyed.
"I" rose as though in shadow and light, "I" shall dissolve into soundless silence, yet he who witnesses this coming and going—he never comes, never goes. He exists—forever, eternally immutable, and that is you, that is Brahman Supreme.
37.
"I"—emerged from nothingness, dissolved into nothingness. From that emptiness, that solitary non-existence, from that nameless void arose this sense of "I am"—a silent self-disclosure, which is no person, merely a conscious presence.
The Upanishads declare: "Yatra na kaścana tat tat satyam"—where nothing exists, that alone is true—for whatever can be perceived is but the play of arising and passing away.
That emptiness, that silence—some call it fullness, some call it non-void, some call it infinite boundlessness, some call it Brahman Supreme—call it what you will, "I" has emerged upon it—just as waves rise upon the ocean, yet the ocean is not the wave.
The person came much later, merely an addition of name and form, but what fundamentally exists is only this conscious experience: "I am."
Now the practice—trace this "I"-consciousness back to its source, to that unknown, soundless, indescribable state of non-being from which it came, and where, once dissolved, no person, no "I," no name remains. The Upanishads declare: "Nāham, na tvam, na mama ātmā"—I am not, you are not, the Self belongs to no one—it exists in itself, for it has always been.
There is no person, no possession—there exists only a primary knowing: "I am," and even this must be transcended, as silently a river returns to the ocean—nameless, formless, dissolved in Brahman Supreme.
38.
From "I am" to "I am not"—dissolution in Brahman Supreme. Meditate only upon this knowledge—"I am," without judgment, beyond judgment, uninterrupted. Concentrate all your attention upon that single point, so that all motion freezes into stillness.
The Upanishads declare: "Ekdhā bhāvanātyante, svarūpe sthitir bhavet"—when consciousness becomes one-pointed in meditation, meditation itself dissolves into the transcendent. When you observe something intently for a long time, it begins to fade—for under the pressure of meditation, its essence breaks open, and losing manifestation, it dissolves into emptiness.
This "I"-consciousness too is the same—in the depths of meditation, eventually it returns to its own source, and silently vanishes. Then occurs the transformation—the passage from "I am" to "I am not."