Subject and Object

Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (peace be upon him) - the Aga Khan III wrote at the conclusion of his Memoirs that, “Life in the ultimate analysis has taught me one enduring lesson. The subject should always disappear in the object.” This short statement requires a careful analysis.

Subject is defined in many ways. Philosophically speaking it is defined as, "a thinking or feeling entity; the conscious mind; the ego, as opposed to anything external to the mind." This word comes from Latin - subjectus meaning 'brought under' and its roots are sub - 'under' and jacere - 'throw'.

Object is likewise defined in multiple ways. Once again, philosophically thinking it is defined as, "a thing external to the thinking mind or subject." This word comes from Latin - objectum meaning, 'thing presented to the mind' and its roots are ob - 'in the way of' and jacere - 'throw.'

What does this tell us? The self, the inner individual in each of us is the subject. This comes from a root which implies being controlled or being dominated. We are in control of ourselves and when we control ourselves we become the subject. That is, when we realize our individuality, when we think and act, we exist as an individual. This creation of the individual self, the creation of the subject creates a duality of existence.

The object is all that exists outside of the self. The object is the rest of creation. When there is a subject, the object is divided into two. The concept of "monoreality" becomes a "duo-reality."

What we are told in this simple quote is that when the self is sublimated in the other, the self expands into the other and ceases to be. When "I" becomes "We," whether it be in our daily affections for each other or our work. As he continues in the following sentences, "any lasting satisfaction, any contentment that we can achieve, is the result of forgetting self, or merging subject with object in a harmony that is of body, mind and spirit. And in the highest realms of consciousness all who believe in a Higher Being are liberated from all the clogging and hampering bonds of the subjective self in prayer, in rapt meditation upon and in the face of the glorious radiance of Eternity, in which all temporal and earthly consciousness is swallowed up and itself becomes the eternal."

I can think of no way to phrase it any better than that myself. When we lose ourselves in creation around us, creation becomes us and the separation that is created by us evaporates and our consciousness breaks free of the self and becomes greater, it becomes eternal. The nature of the intellect of the individual is such. Its destiny is to become greater than the self and this requires the subject to disappear in the object.