This was posted once before, yet is truly worthy of another visit (frequently :~)

The Self, which is the seer, the witness, and the doer, and Paramatman, which is known by many different names, and is yet beyond all names and forms have been clearly explained here. This is what sets Dasbodh apart from all other religious texts. Dasbodh says that Paramatman can neither be defined by any of the several thousand names assigned to Him, nor can He be described by any of the signs attributed to Him.

The Shruti (the Vedas) says that Paramatman is neither knowledge nor ignorance. The difference between Paramatman, who as per the Shruti is described by denial (not this, not this), and the Self (Atman), which is described by many different names, has been explained in the first ten Chapters of DasBodh.

Paramatman is your spontaneous and natural Self, devoid of all concepts of knowledge, as well as ignorance.

Beyond the Inner-consciousness lies the 3rd, or causal body. This is ignorance, meaning zero or nothingness. It is a state of "blissful forgetfulness" (deep dreamless sleep) where you are neither aware of this worldly objective knowledge, nor of the Reality.

It all depends on where you apply your attention. Your attention turned one way sees the world, ­and when turned the opposite way, goes towards Reality (Parabrahman).

Our 4th body, or Satchidananda form, knows everyone and witnesses everything. It is the Knowledge belonging to what is called the Supra-causal body, or Turya state. But this Knowledge too, is an illusion. It is the "primal illusion" in the form of Life-energy (Chaitanya). To be conscious of the Self (Atman) is the Turya state.

There are three types of objects, the steady, the ever-changing, and the gross. That which is steady or changeless is the Parabrahman (objectless object) and that which is ever-changing is Consciousness. There are very few who advance from the ever-changing Self (Atman) to the steady (Paramatman). The doer necessarily, has to be animate. As soon as the deed of knowing "Who am I" is accomplished, the work, as well as the the animate ability of the doer comes to an end.

Knowledge, or Consciousness devoid of desires is the primal illusion (Moolamaya). Satchidananda is the ever-changing subtle illusion (Vidyamaya), and the manifestation is gross illusion (Avidyamaya).

The ever-flowing river is hidden and hence is referred to as the secret Ganga. This secret Ganga is nothing but ever-changing knowledge in the form of Consciousness (Chit). It secretly exists within you, and is you, alone. You are purified, and cleansed merely on thinking of her.

She originates in that which is purely steady (Parabrahman) and from then on she proceeds at a brisk pace. She takes a plunge in the downward direction. Consciousness never flows towards the Reality (Parabrahman). This river is everflowing. It flows through all the four states (the waking, sleeping, dreaming and Turya). She traces a winding course.

She has a continuous supply of water but this water is not wet, it is dry, as this is the river of Knowledge (Consciousness). So swift and nimble are its waters that this river reaches the Sun within a fraction of a second. All the soft tender earth melts in it, yet the seemingly solid ego remains unaffected. However, a few have proven to be powerful enough to reach the source of this river and have been purified. One who sees this secret river, which is the originator of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, becomes instantly purified.

This river is called Aapo-Narayana (Aap-water, Narayana-the Lord who dwells in the hearts of all). This means water of this river is called God (Narayana). This river flows within every heart. It has occupied the Heavens, the Objective world, and the Nether world. This river itself is the Lord of this universe (Jagadisha).

We are all filled with the contents of this river. Some have exhausted themselves and have eventually just passed away while merely fulfilling their worldly duties. We cannot estimate the value of water until we are confronted with a water shortage. We will never understand the importance of this Ganga unless we recognize our oneness with it.

If you go beyond, to its source, you will find that there exists nothing. Hence, this world is unreal. It is but the byproduct of doubts and determinations. The causal body is in the form of nothingness, or ignorance, and that of the supra-causal body is in the form of knowledge. He in whom both the concepts of ignorance, and knowledge, are eliminated, is called a true Yogi.

The Universal Consciousness (Chit), is itself a subtle concept. Concepts, whether in the shape of knowledge, or in that of ignorance are both only concepts. The vanishing of these concepts is what is called the elimination of the concepts of the thinking (chitta), and this is precisely what Yoga is all about. Such a Lord of the Yogis who is devoid of concepts is the true devotee of the Master.

Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj - From a talk on DasBodh, no date given