Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
27th August 2016
Do did done
“Am I the doer?”
Man believes that he is a doer and can do what he is capable of doing. It sounds logical and it cannot be denied. Man also believes that he did and has done.
If man could do what he wishes or wants to do, he could very well do what he wishes or wants to do every moment of his life. But he just cannot do every time he wishes or wants to do, which is what man experiences in daily life.
Therefore, this implies that only sometimes man can do. Man further believes that he did it and has done it in the moment, which implies that only sometimes he did it and has done.
For man to be able to do an action in the moment, the moment and man have to be together. The moment however existed with matter, vegetation and animal kingdom along with their actions well before man existed in the moment.
Therefore, man does not make a moment to be able to do an action. Man is not the doer just as vegetation and animal kingdom are not the doers. Life manifests man and his actions, albeit illusory, in the moment along with vegetation, animal kingdom and their actions, albeit illusory.
So what does actions are illusory mean? Firstly, illusion is believed not to exist and this belief refers to a magician’s trick, which is a deception only of the sense of sight, because the trick is not sensed by the other senses. Illusion means that it does exist and is sensed by all the senses of the human body.
Secondly, the belief in the mind is that a moment is followed by the next moment. A moment, however, happens so fast that the time duration within a moment is not determined as yet.
Therefore, within a moment only a part of a movement is present, which is the entire movement for the moment. This implies that in every moment of life only a part of a movement is present in the moment and not an entire action. This is similar to a single frame in a roll of film. A single frame of film contains just a part of a movement and not a complete action.
The mind too in any moment contains a part of a movement, which is a thought or a frame, and not a complete action. When the film rolls and light is projected through the frames, a complete action is seen by the observer. Similarly, when the mind rolls, the light present in the brain projects through the thoughts a complete action that is seen by the individual.
Therefore, an action, do, did and done have illusory completeness which is thought of as a complete action. This is what an illusory action means. Life also manifests an illusory belief in the moment that man is the doer, while he is not and just cannot be. The belief is illusory because in a moment only a part of a belief is present and not the entire completed belief.
Therefore, when man ponders deeply over the question ‘Am I the doer?’ an enlightened understanding would happen that he is not only not a doer, but also that an action is illusory and life is a singular movement..
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2016
Editor’s Note:
That man spends a third of his life actually sleeping is the popular finding. What he or she does during the remaining two thirds of his or her life comprises countless actions man has no doubt that he has done or has not done, wished that he had done or had not done, or is honoured or censured for having done. Priceless is the understanding of the enlightened, gifted to man in this article, that he does not do, did not do and has not done – ever in his life.
Julian Capper, U.K.
German Translator‘s Note:
Man thinks his view of events in life is complete. An action is thought and man believes the action to be a complete reality in life. However, these actions are merely labels in the mind, for in life there is only a singular complete movement and not many separate actions. To one who thinks this through to its conclusion, it is revealed that a truly holistic view of life as it is is never possible, for the complete singular movement of life is beyond the grasp of the mind. Man is lost in his belief that actions are real. The enlightened explain why this is so and cannot be otherwise as long as man considers actions to be something independent in life, which represents life as it is. That this belief is illusory is a complete understanding of all actions in life as this wise article explains in detail.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.