I am sva-prakāśa, sarvavyāpaka chaitanyam...
Our sva-svarūpa-caitanyam is the adhiṣṭhānam of all that is known and all that is unknown. In that sense, it pervades both the known and the unknown, while itself transcending this very division. Normally, when we think of consciousness, we think of it in relation to an object. There is something known, and consciousness is understood as that which illumines it. A thought arises, a perception occurs, an emotion is experienced, and we recognize that it is known because of consciousness. But what about that which is presently outside the range of our cognition? What about the unknown, the unperceived, and the unmanifest? Their existence too cannot be apart from the same Chaitanyam which is their adhiṣṭhānam. Chaitanyam is therefore not merely the illuminator of what happens to be known at a particular moment. It is the unbounded reality in which the very distinction between known and unknown arises and is witnessed. This is a profound implication of both sva-prakāśatvam and s...
