On a dark, moonless night, when you gazed upwards into a vast expanse of shimmering stars,
did you ever wonder, “What lies beyond the stars,
beyond the galaxies, beyond space itself?”
The universe burst into existence with the big bang, some 14 billion years ago,
and it continues to expand even today.
If the universe is expanding, it’s expanding into what?
What lies beyond its edge?
The strangest object in space, a black hole,
is literally a perforation or tear in the fabric of space and time,
piercing right through our three dimensional domain.
If you could somehow travel through that hole, what would you find on the other side?
Questions like these deal with a mysterious realm that lies outside the scope of human knowledge,
beyond our ability to comprehend or describe it.
An indescribable reality like this is said to be transcendent,
which means, beyond the grasp of words and ideas.
In ancient India, the enlightened sages, known as rishis,
declared this transcendent reality to be the ultimate source of the universe.
They called it brahman, the ground of existence.
They also called it atma, the self of all.
But, along with these expressions,
they also issued a stern warning about even trying to comprehend it.
They said, “Words fall back, along with the mind, failing to grasp it.”
This uncompromising statement comes from the Taittiriya Upanishad,
a two thousand year old Sanskrit text that says,
everything in the universe, including space itself,
emerged from that transcendent reality, from the self of all, atma.
This revered scripture contains some of the loftiest teachings of the ancient rishis,
but, there seems to be a problem here.
The rishis admitted that atma lies beyond the grasp of words,
but then, they proceeded to use lots of words to explain the nature of atma.
Is this a contradiction, or is there a subtle point we’ve missed?
It’s certainly true that words cannot reveal a reality that lies completely beyond their scope.
Yet, everything ELSE in the world IS within the scope of words; only atma lies beyond.
So, even though words can’t reveal atma,
they can negate everything else as being other than atma.
And, when words have negated everything else, atma alone remains.
The rishis said, the transcendent reality is known as “neti, neti,”
"not this, not this."
When everything else has been negated, what remains is you,
the conscious being whose essence is atma.
But there seems to be another problem here.
Suppose I try to indicate a banana by using this "neti, neti" process of negation.
I could say, “A banana is not a car, it’s not an elephant,
it’s not an apple, it’s not a rock, and so on.
But this process of negation can’t possibly lead to knowledge of a banana
because I could never negate each of the countless things
that are other than a banana.
But that kind of negation is basically random.
The rishis, on the other hand, didn’t negate randomly;
they used a highly systematic process of negation.
Let me explain this using a traditional illustration based on a typical Hindu wedding.
You’re familiar with this group of stars, a big dipper.
It’s part of a constellation known as Ursa Major, the great bear.
The second star in the handle of the dipper is actually a double star,
which you can make out if your eyesight is good enough.
These two stars are named after the great Rishi, Vasishtha, and his pious wife, Arundhati.
Towards the end of a wedding ceremony,
the newly married couple is supposed to gaze at this double star
to receive a blessing that they remain close together for all time,
like Vasishtha and Arundhati.
To help the couple find this double star in the night sky,
the officiating priest uses a time-tested technique.
He tells the couple to look at a nearby tree,
and then he asks, “Can you see the lowest branch on the left side of the tree?”
“Yes,” they answer.
“Can you see the bright star just above that branch?”
“Yes,” they say.
“Good.
That star is not Arundhati.
But, look to the left and slightly lower.
Do you see another bright star?”
“Yes,” they say.
“Good.
That star is not Arundhati.
Now look above it and slightly to the left.
Do you see a star that’s not quite as bright?”
-“Yes,” -“Very good.
That star is not Arundhati.
Now look to the left and bit higher. Do you see a brighter star?”
-“Yes,” -“Good.
That is star is not Arundhati.
But look further to the left and a little higher.
In this way, they are led to find Arundhati through a highly methodical process of negation.
Trying to point out Arundhati by randomly negating all the other stars would be useless.
Vedanta uses a similar process of negation to lead you to discover the transcendent reality, atma.
Just as the priest begins with a tree, which seems completely unrelated to the stars,
Vedanta begins by examining the world, which seems completely unrelated to atma.
And like the priest proceeds from star to star, negating each one,
Vedanta does likewise.
After considering the world, it then considers your body,
and then your prana, your life force,
then, your powers of perception and movement, and then all of your mental faculties.
Vedanta negates each of them, one at a time, by showing that they are not atma.
And when everything else has been negated, all that remains is the awareness or consciousness
that is your essential nature.
Vedanta leads you to recognize your own consciousness as being the transcendent reality, atma,
which is the ultimate source of the universe.
This is perhaps the greatest revelation of the rishis;
that the source of the universe is discovered, not by exploring the cosmos,
but by turning your attention within,
by looking inside yourself, guided by the teachings of Vedanta.
Of course, Vedanta’s process of negation can lead you to this discovery
only if it’s done properly,
and that generally requires the assistance of a teacher who is well-acquainted with the teachings of Vedanta
and its method of negation.
According to my own guru, “the teacher’s role is to lead you to a point
from which you cannot but discover the truth.”
There’s a wonderful irony in all this.
If you were to look through a telescope, pointed up into the heavens,
seeking to discover what lies beyond the stars and galaxies,
the surprising truth is that the transcendent reality you seek
is actually found on the other side of the telescope.
That transcendent reality is none other than your own consciousness,
the consciousness because of which you can see all those stars and galaxies.
Before concluding, there’s one last thing to consider.
Suppose you were to look up into the night sky, without knowing which star is Arundhati.
Arundhati would then be present in your field of view,
but, you wouldn’t recognize it as such.
Even though Arundhati is seen and experienced by you,
it would remain unknown until someone points it out to you.
In the same way, atma is present in your experience right now
as your own consciousness.
You already know that you’re conscious,
but, you might not know the true nature of your consciousness...
...to be unborn, uncreated, eternal, limitless, full and complete.
The teachings of Vedanta can lead you to this life-changing recognition.
Ultimately, you can discover what the ancient rishis discovered,
that consciousness itself is the transcendent reality from which the entire universe emerged,
including space itself.