Is There a Difference Between Perception and Awareness? - 5th Sept. 2016
Saar (Essence)
Ananta guides a contemplation on how all phenomenal experiences, from the touch of a flower to the physical body, are fundamentally made of awareness, which remains the untouched substratum of all perception.
Awareness sees nothing but awareness; even while creation happened, the split never truly occurred.
At the base of any experience, we find awareness as the bottom of the ocean.
The physical hand is made of flesh and bones, yet fundamentally it is made of awareness.
contemplative
Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors.
Turn it on. All those who say that there's nothing that exists outside of my perception or outside of my awareness, so I just like to throw: is there a difference between perception and awareness? Like I said it in a more like a word, yeah, but I'm asking you now.
Yes, of course there is a difference between perception. Perception is kind of a—like you need some medium, okay? There is an awareness of perception or perceiving, yeah?
Yes, and that makes the difference. Very good. So coming back to that same question, so the touching of the flower is—see, is there a distinction between saying 'I'm aware of the flower' and a distinction between 'I'm aware of the touch of the flower'? So there is difference between saying that, that I am aware of the flower and I am aware of the touch of the flower. So fundamentally, awareness or knowing knows nothing but knowing. For example, in this experience of touching a flower, yes, what does knowing know? Knowing knows the touch of a flower as knowing. What does this mean? It means I don't know how to describe it, but it means that awareness only awareness—
I want to prod you a little more. It means awareness sees nothing but awareness? So there's no difference between sleep and waking, you see? Because if you realize the implication of what you're saying, then you're truly saying that the creation never happened.
No, I didn't say that. Even though I'm saying that if all that awareness fundamentally knows is itself, is knowingness of itself, knowing knowing itself, you see, then what is the point of any creation? Even while the creation happened, the split didn't happen. So I also wanted to insert this question into the contemplations that were going on earlier: that did we ever have an unreal experience? Or in other words, does anyone have ever experienced an unreal experience? And according to my contemplations, I would say that I never had an experience which was unreal, including the dream experiences.
Read more (5 more paragraphs) ↓Show less ↑
Yes, but your—that's because the definition itself is that if it is an experience, then it is real for you.
Yes, yes, of course. And from that perspective, that even though in the waking and in the dream and in the sleep there seems to be a change in appearance, but if we look from the perspective of the knowing of the awareness of it—
Okay, I'm sorry, let's look deeper at this. It's very beautiful contemplation because I have noticed that it's popular sometimes to confuse that which is the functioning of Consciousness, which is the phenomenal perceiving of, with the Primal awareness itself. And although fundamentally the phenomenal perceiving is also made up of awareness, as with everything else, but in the play it does appear differently, you see? That's why the question of to be aware of the flower, aware of the existence of a flower in front of me, is different from to be aware of the touch of the flower. To be aware of the seeing of the flower is qualitatively different from the touching of the flower. It is not for awareness, but in the layer of Consciousness. So there is, along with the other forces, there are these sensory abilities that come which belong to Consciousness, which is also—like you said, the split never happened, you see? But there is this Primal awareness which is aware of the phenomenal perceiving, which remains untouched. So we must be able to look at these things also.
But I—it is very much true to say that like the most fundamental experience, like my hand, yeah? So I think it would be mad to say this, but I feel myself that in my experience I could say that my hand is like made up of awareness.
Yes, yes. Why is it mad and why is it not mad? So it is mad because for obvious reasons, like 'Are you crazy? It is made up of flesh and bones and experiences and sensations.' Yeah? And I would say that all of those things are made up of what without—so like if we go on unraveling, delving, yes, then at the base of it, at the base of any experience, we find that there is awareness. Yes, and that's the bottom of the ocean below which we can't go. Yes, very beautiful.
The Thread Continues
These satsangs touch the same silence.
On a similar theme
But... God is Here. - 9th March 2026
9 March 2026
Ananta teaches that God dwells within the heart, hidden only by the 'blanket of me.' He guides seekers to rest in the...
On a similar theme
Allowing the Atma To Reveal the True Gyana (Self-Knowledge) - 20th February 2026
20 February 2026
Ananta guides seekers to move beyond the mind's 'checker guy' and conceptual labels by resting in the witnessing...
The following day
Is Perception Reliable? - 6th Sept. 2016
6 September 2016
Ananta guides a contemplation on the unreliability of sensory perception, leading the seeker to distinguish between...