The equation you are that

Am I the body or mind?

However this 'I' sense itself, what seems to be the basic I or subject, is nothing but a series of thoughts whose subject matter is 'I'. It is changing all the time along with the changes of the objects of my environment, the changing conditions of the body, etc. For example, at one moment, one says, I know a given thing, at the other moment, knower is replaced by the doer and one says 'I do a certain act', etc. Moreover, this I sense which seems such an integral part of me, becomes unmanifest during deep sleep, it is not present in the same manner as it is in the waking. The wonder is that even though the I thought is the result of always changing neurobiological process, it is able to give me a seeming continuous sense of I, a seeming continuity of my individuality through all my different experiences. But the fact that it is changing means that I am not essentially these series of 'I' thoughts which constitute the ego.

If I am not the body, not the senses, not the various modes of mind, such as emotions, cognitions, memories, ego, who am I? As everything has been negated, maybe I am emptiness, I am nothing, a void? No, because you are not non existent ⁵⁸. You may doubt about many things, but one thing you are sure, that is 'I am', 'I exist' ⁵⁹. But then, if all the conclusions about myself are wrong and if still 'I am', what is the nature of I?

The Upanishads reveal that the true nature of I is consciousness, because of which my sense of I, my emotions, the conditions of the body, senses, etc, are known to me ⁶⁰. This consciousness is completely independent of all the above conditions and is never affected or displaced by any of them ⁶¹. How can I recognize this fact that I am consciousness, invariable in all of them? To understand this, we need to revisit the definition of satyam and mithya explained in the section about orders of reality Satyam was said to be that which does not depend upon anything for its existence. Mithya is that which depends upon something else for its existence.

Now, let us first apply this definition with reference to all the different types of thoughts that take place in the mind, including the I thought. The Upanishads point out that thoughts are just forms and are variable. But as one given thought exists momentarily and gives way to a completely new thought, the content of both thoughts is invariable and that is consciousness ⁶². When one thought is replaced by another thought, for example, a cow thought by horse thought, what changes is the thought, that is a form, but the content of both thoughts is consciousness that is invariable in both thoughts. You can see it, the thought forms keep changing, but the content of all thoughts is the same. You can apply this principle to all other types of thoughts such as emotions, memories, etc. My emotions keep changing, sometimes I say 'I am sad' which is then replaced by 'I am happy'. The content of both these thoughts is consciousness. It is clear that every thought depends upon consciousness for its existence, therefore it is mithya. And consciousness does not depend upon any thought for its existence; therefore it is satyam in terms of reality.

Then, what about in between the thoughts? When there is silence? There also, there is consciousness without any thought or form. This means that consciousness is invariable in absence and presence of all types of thoughts that comprise emotions, intellect, memories, ego. Consciousness is never displaced by any of them, it is independent of them all. However, all the thoughts are only forms and depend entirely upon consciousness for their existence. Hence, consciousness is satyam, and all thoughts are mithya.

Now, let us apply the definition of satyam and mithya with reference to the body to understand that consciousness is also the reality of the body. Body consists of cells, which in turn can be reduced further to their constituents, namely nucleus, cellular membrane, mitochondria and so on.

If you take the DNA in the nucleus of a cell, you find there is a unique sequence of genes that defines our biological individuality. Actually, these genes are molecules assembled together in the peculiar helix shape of DNA. These molecules themselves can be reduced further into atoms and particles, etc. What is invariably present in and through all these forms is the intelligence which makes each DNA or cell to behave in a given way and gives each individual a unique body-mind-sense capacity. This intelligence, like any other intelligence, depends upon consciousness for its existence. Thus, consciousness is satyam while the body-mind-senses are mithya. They have no being of their own, no independent existence from this consciousness.

If the relation between satyam and mithya is seen properly, we can understand that consciousness and the body-mind-sense complex are not two parallel things having the same order of reality. Like clay with reference to pot, when I look at the pot, there is only clay. The pot is only as though real, empirically real, just a name for a form. Similarly when I look at this body-mind-senses, there is only consciousness. The body-mind-senses, are only empirically (as though) real, because each one is a name for a form within many forms, whose reality is consciousness ⁶³.

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