Sat-Chit-Ānanda: A Stepwise Contemplation

Context: Reflection on https://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/part1kurall69.htm

 தான் உள்ளதாகவே உணராத ஒன்று இருந்தும் இல்லாதது மாதிரிதான். ‘ஸத்’ தாகிய பிரம்மத்துக்கு, தான் இருப்பதாக அறிவு இருப்பதால்தான் தன் சக்தியை இத்தனை தோற்றங்களாகக் காட்ட முடிகிறது. இப்படியாக ‘ஸத்’ தன்னைத்தானே அறிந்துகொள்வதைத்தான் ‘சித்’ என்கிறோம். ஞானம் என்றும் அறிவு என்றும் சொல்வது அதைத்தான். ‘ஸத்’ என்பது ஈசுவரன். ‘சித்’என்பதே அம்பிகை. தன்னையே அறிந்து கொள்ளும்போதுதான் ஆனந்தம் என்கிற உணர்வு உண்டாகிறது. ஈசுவரனும் அம்பாளும் – காமேசுவரனும் காமாக்ஷியும் சேர்ந்து – ‘ஸத்சித்’ஆனந்த பிரம்மமாக இருக்கிறார்கள்.

1. Sat is pure existence
Brahman is not something that possesses existence.
Brahman is existence itself, Sat.
Ātman is Brahman. Therefore, the Self is not merely an existent individual. The Self is the very existence because of which the body, mind, thoughts, and world are experienced as existing.
Begin with the undeniable recognition:
I exist.
Before saying, “I am this body,” “I am this person,” or “I am happy,” there is the fundamental fact:
I am.
This “I am” points to Sat, pure existence.
 
2. Chit is that very existence as self-luminosity
The existence that I am is not inert or unknown.
I do not require another cognition to establish that I exist. My existence is immediately evident to me.
Therefore, Sat is self-revealing.
This self-revealing nature of existence is called Chit, consciousness.
Sat does not first exist and then become conscious.
Sat is itself Chit.
Existence is consciousness. Consciousness is existence.
 
3. This self-luminosity is presented as Ambikā
In the language of Bhakti:
Sat is Īśvara.
Chit is Ambikā, the Śakti of Īśvara.
Ambikā is the self-luminous power through which existence becomes manifest and knowable.
Every perception, thought, emotion, memory, and experience is revealed through consciousness. Therefore, Chit is presented as Śakti, the power of manifestation and cognition.
Ambikā is not merely an object within the universe. She is the self-luminosity because of which the universe, the mind, and every cognition are known.
 
4. Sat and Chit are inseparable
Sat and Chit are not two qualities belonging to Brahman.
That would be the wrong understanding.
 
The correct understanding is:
Brahman is existence-consciousness itself.
Sat is verily Chit.
Chit is verily Sat.
Existence is consciousness.
Consciousness is existence.
Their inseparability is expressed as:
Śiva-Śakti-aikyam
The identity of Śiva and Śakti.
Kāmeśvara and Kāmākṣī are not two independent realities that later become united. They are two ways of presenting the one indivisible reality.
śakti-śaktimator ananyatvāt (says our āchārya in Gita Bhasyam)
Śakti and the possessor of Śakti are non-different.
 
5. This can be examined in every experience
Begin again with:
I exist.
Now ask:
How do I know that I exist?
I do not know my existence through the eyes, ears, or by thinking about it (i.e. mind) or any external instrument (i.e. others confirmation that I exist).
My existence is self-evident.
Therefore:
My existence is self-revealing. Therefore, existence and awareness are not two separate realities. My very existence is of the nature of self-luminous awareness.
Now observe any experience.
A sound exists, and the sound is known.
A thought exists, and the thought is known.
An emotion exists, and the emotion is known.
The body exists, and the body is known.
The world exists, and the world is known.
In every experience, two aspects are present:
It is.
It is known.
The “is-ness” is Sat.
The “known-ness” is Chit.
But again, are these two separate “experiences” ? Obviously not.
Nothing can be experienced as existing without also being manifest in consciousness.
Thus, in every experience, Sat is evident as Chit, and Chit is evident as Sat.
As Sruti says – its known in every act of cognition (as the Existence-Awareness or called in one word as Self Atman).
 
6. The infinite nature of Sat-Chit is recognized
Sat-Chit cannot be limited by any particular object.
A thought arises and disappears in consciousness. The apparent “existence” of the thought is only due to it appearing in consciousness (which lends existence to all names and forms appearing in it).
A sensation arises and disappears, but consciousness remains.
The waking world appears and disappears in sleep, yet existence-consciousness is not destroyed.
Objects are limited by time, place, and form. But Sat-Chit is the basis upon which time, place, form, and limitation themselves are known.
Therefore, Sat-Chit is not confined to the body or mind.
It is limitless, Ananta – Infinite in metaphysical sense.
 
7. The recognition of limitless Sat-Chit as Ānanda
Ānanda is not merely a pleasant emotion or temporary experience.
Ānanda is the fullness revealed when Sat-Chit is recognized as limitless.
The sense of limitation produces the conclusion:
“I am incomplete. Something outside me must complete me.”
When the Self is recognized as infinite existence-consciousness, the imagined limitation is dismissed.
What is revealed is fullness, pūrṇatvam.
That fullness is called Ānanda.
Therefore:
Sat-Chit recognized as infinite is Ānanda.
Ānanda is not a third quality added to Sat and Chit. It is the limitless nature of Sat-Chit itself.
 

The complete vision

Brahman is Ātman.
Ātman is Sat, existence itself.
That Sat is self-revealing and therefore is Chit.
Sat and Chit are not two. Their identity is Śiva-Śakti-aikyam, Kāmeśvara-Kāmākṣī-aikyam.
When Sat-Chit is recognized as limitless, its nature is understood as Ānanda.
Therefore:
Sat is Chit.
Chit is Sat.
Limitless Sat-Chit is Ānanda.
Its very nature is self-revealing awareness. This indivisible reality is spoken of as Īśvara and Śakti, Kāmeśvara and Kāmākṣī, and is recognized as Sat-Chit-Ānanda Brahman.