Part I: Chapter IV / III

The Self or Atman

The basis of truth lies in Self-certainty. The self precedes everything else in the world. It comes even before the stream of consciousness and all concepts of truth and untruth, reality and unreality, and before all considerations, physical, moral and metaphysical. Consciousness, knowledge, wisdom and understanding presuppose some kind of energy known as Self to which all these are subservient; and in fact, they flow from it.

All physical and mental faculties, even the vital airs and empirical experiences, appear in the light of the shining Self, the self-illuminated atman. They all have a purpose and an end that lie far deeper than themselves and which form the springboard for all kinds of activity, whether physical, mental and supramental. All these, however, fail to grasp the real nature of the Self, being themselves in a state of continuous flux.

Self being the basis of all proof and existing before proof, cannot be proved. How can the Knower be known, and by whom? Self is in fact , the essential nature of everyone, even that of the atheist.

This Self then, is eternal, immutable and complete, and its essence, is ever the same at all times, under all conditions and in all states.