It is always difficult to understand the subtle. Atman is subtle. In Vivekachudamani, the guru negates the five koshas to arrive at the true self. Then the shishya fails to recognise the true self – the atma. The atma is the subtlest and cannot be objectified. Hence, though it is very proximate, the shishya fails to recognise it.
While I am sitting with my friend, a gentleman comes and asks him, “What
do you do?”. My friend replies that he looks after a hundred elephants. Then
the gentleman applauds his work and offers to help him. Then he turns to me and
asks, “What do you do?”, expecting a similar reply. I study and teach Vedanta.
I contemplate on Vedanta. I try explaining it to him. He does not recognise any
worth of what I do. Because I do not take care of elephants!
One in thousands understands the significance of Vedanta. The atman is
everywhere, yet visible to none. It does not have attributes – colour, taste
and the like. Being infinite, it does not exclude anything. Our mind is used to
understand things as objects standing apart. An object is recognised with the
exclusion of the other objects. It is not possible with the all-pervasive,
all-encompassing Brahman. The Brahman should be recognised in and through everything.
