Explain the meaning of "That art thou."

That Thou Art (Tat Tvam Asi). The direct meaning of the
word 'THAT' comprises the conditioned Brahman (associated with the limited adjuncts of
creation, preservation and destruction and endowed with Omniscience, Lordship,
Omnipotence and similar attributes) and Pure Consciousness which is its unrelated
substratum.

Likewise the direct meaning of the word 'THOU'
comprises the jiva or individual soul (associated with the limiting adjuncts of the
body, mind and the sense organs and endowed with such traits as little knowledge, little
power, and dependence), and Pure Consciousness which is its unrelated
substratum.

But there is also an implied meaning of the
words 'THAT' and 'THOU', namely Pure Consciousness itself, unassociated with any
limiting adjuncts. It is common practice to explain a statement through its implied
meaning when the direct meaning contradicts actual experience: when we say that a red
hot iron ball burns something, we say the direct agent of burning is the iron; but the
implied though real agent is fire, unassociated with
iron.

Again in the statement "He spent the night on a
sleepless pillow", the word 'sleepless' does not refer to the pillow but to the person
who used the pillow. Similarly in the Vedic statement 'THAT THOU ART' the word "ART"
denoted the identity of 'THAT' and "THOU", which directly refers to the conditioned
Brahman and the embodied soul respectively. But this identity is obviously absurd, since
they are poles asunder. Therefore, we must explain the statement by its implied
meaning.

The identity is really based upon the Pure
Consciousness which is the unrelated substratum of both. The limiting adjuncts in both
cases are the creation of ignorance and therefore unreal; so these must be
discarded.

Therefore the statement "THAT THOU ART" really
conveys a
transcendental experience of oneness which is beyond the body,
mind, senses and ego and the sensations associated with them. When a person realises
this oneness with Brahman. he is oblivious of the idea that he is an embodied
being.