Man wonders, “I can think, therefore I exist”. Veda thunders, “I exist even if I cannot think”, pointing to the deep sleep state where a person cannot think because the mind is at rest.
We do exist during deep sleep though we cannot think during that time. Veda does not stop there. It goes even further and emphatically says it is not “I can think, therefore I exist” as proclaimed by Descartes. In fact, Veda says it is the other way around, “I exist, therefore I can think” pointing to the Chit Shakti (Sentient Energy), the Atman or the Self which if not present, the body and the mind are declared dead. Then where is the question of thinking? To think, the Self which is the real “I” should exist.
One of the critiques of Descartes, the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard says that the first part of the statement, “I think” itself presupposes the existence of “I” rendering the second part “therefore I exist” redundant. Advaita Vedanta says that the presupposed “I” is nothing but the Self, Atman, Consciousness, Awareness or the Sentient Life Energy.
It appears as though the views of Descartes and Advaita Vedanta are diametrically opposite. Actually, they are much closer than one could imagine. From where Descartes had reached it is not even a leap but a very very tiny step to reach the point of Advaita Vedanta. Descartes to his credit had touched the peak a human mind could reach by saying, "Cogito, ergo sum" meaning “I think, therefore I am”. Antoine Leonard Thomas gave it a fuller form by saying, “Since I doubt, I think; since I think, I exist”.
All Advaita Vedanta is asking is “who is the Doubter?”, “who is the Thinker?”. Know the Doubter. Know the Thinker. Know the Knower. "The Seeker is the Sought".
The above paragraphs are direct extracts from the book “Pearls of Vedic Wisdom to Succeed”.
When one clearly knows one’s true Self it is called Enlightenment or Self-Realisation. More details are provided in the answer to the question How can I attain Self-Realisation according to Ramana Maharshi?
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