There is nothing like supreme reality, nor anything like the non-supreme; when it is known through knowledge, then there is no distinction.

The negation of both “supreme” and “non-supreme” is not a paradox but precision. If something were supreme, there would have to be something non-supreme in relation to which it is supreme. But reality does not admit of relations; it is the absolute (anuttama — that which has nothing beneath it). The distinction between supreme and non-supreme is a conceptual superimposition that dissolves in direct knowledge.

“Yadā jñāyate jñānād” — when it is known by knowledge — is an apparent tautology that hides a technical distinction: “jñāyate” is the act of knowing (passive); “jñānād” is the instrument of knowledge. When the act of knowing and the instrument of knowing are recognized as one — when there is no duality between the knower, the known, and the knowledge — then “vibhāgaṃ tadā na hi” — there is no distinction.

The Haṭha Pradīpikā (IV.77-78) describes samādhi as “samarasa,” an equilibrium of flavors, where there is neither a subject nor an object of meditation. The yogī in samādhi “sees nothing, hears nothing, knows nothing” — yet this is not an unconscious state; it is a fullness without content. Just as an ocean without waves is not an empty ocean but an ocean at rest, so the mind without thoughts is not an empty mind but a mind resting in its source.