The Secret Doctrine of Goddess Lalita
(Sri LalitaAṣṭottara Rahasyārthamu)
49: ābālagōpa viditā
She who is well known to all, from a child to a cowherd.
We have so far discussed the nature of ātmā and concluded that everything we perceive is of the nature of ātmā. ātmā is not like an object that is out of reach. It is the substance that is directly known and experienced by everyone equally, from the least intelligent (bāla) to the most intelligent (gōpa).
How do we know for a fact that ātmā is experienced equally by everyone? When someone asks us, “who are you?,” our answer invariably starts with “I Am...” We do not distance ourselves from our Self by saying “I am not...” Because we intuitively are aware of our own Self, we utter the words “I Am…” spontaneously. This intuitive I-Am-ness or Self-awareness is ātmā. It is experienced equally by everyone, from an innocent child to a learned scholar. However, although ātmā is our very nature, we do not perceive It because we identify with particulars, such as the body, life-force, and mind, and not with the underlying Consciousness in which they appear. We consider the world real and engage with it with a sense of doer-ship and enjoyer-ship. We totally identify with the objects we perceive and fail to separate ourselves from them. We do not realize that we are the Consciousness in which the objects appear and disappear.
When we stop identifying with the world (anātmā) and perceive everything as the Self (ātmā), when there is nothing left to bind us, we will be free of saṃsāra. Even a learned scholar is as good as an ignorant person, if he sees the world and himself as separate entities. Only the one who realizes the Self and sees the Self in All is the Accomplished one (paṇḍita). Expertise in a particular field of knowledge does not make one a paṇḍita. As long as one sees duality - me and mine, Self and not-self, one remains in ignorance. He is the Self, but not the knower of the Self.