Self Realization

One very significant aspect that I have noticed about those interested in Advaita Vedanta is that most are more inclined towards the intellectual knowledge rather than the transcendental knowledge. Almost everybody among us understands the basics, principles and philosophy of Advaita, but there is a lack of interest in the realization of this philosophy. In simple words, there is less effort in translating Advaita Vedanta into our day to day life.

For example, if you ask somebody ‘have you realized the Self?’ most of us respond in a way which makes things more complicated than ever. Instead of answering yes or no, the answer in most cases is ‘I am the Self’, ‘The truth cannot be known’, ‘It is what it is’, ‘just be’ and so on and so forth. We should be able to answer this question very clearly, either yes or no. When I say ‘I am That’, I should know about what I am talking, I should know who this ‘I’ is and how to realize this ‘I’. Like, when I talk about my father, immediately an image of my father comes to my mind, his character, the experiences with him come to us in a nutshell. We should ask ourselves, when we talk about the Self or God, does this happen? Does the realization of the Self come to us in a flash of time?

Reading books, journals, on-line magazines and watching videos, we grow our perception of the Self and there is an untiring effort to impose these perceptions into the mind of the inquirer. Though we talk about freedom we actually cover their mind and intellect with such ideas that they find it hard to grasp. But, is the explanation of Self-realization so complicated? Is the path of Self-realization complicated? Or is the Self itself complicated? The answer is an obvious ‘no’. Another thing is the role of the Guru in the life of an aspirant. The most popular view nowadays is that we do not need a Guru, a teacher, we are self-sufficient, suggesting that visiting or taking lessons from a Master is similar to idol worship or some kind of superstition. Little do we realize that saying this, our subtle tendency to become a Guru in the mind of others is reflected clearly. ‘I have seen God like I see you’, was the clean and clear answer of Thakur Ramakrishna when asked, ‘can you show me?, ‘Yes’ was the answer. I think this is the best approach. Instead of engaging oneself into the wave of words which are not even clear to us completely, instead of talking about people and their experiences whom we have not known or seen, it is better to search for a person who can say firmly and clearly, ‘yes, I have realized my Self’.

I want to elaborate a story mentioned in the Upanishads. Virochana, the king of the demons, and Indra,the king of the Lords, once went to their grandfather, Brahma, the Lord of creation (Hindu mythology) to know the truth. When asked, Brahma said ‘You are That’. Virochana, because of his extreme attachment towards worldly objects, thought that if he is That, he should not worry. He went back to his palace and engaged himself in the enjoyment of the senses. But Indra, the King of the Lords had a noble mind, and after hearing, ‘You are That’, he asked himself, ‘what is ‘me’ then?’ Which one is ‘me’? Is the body ‘me’? If the body is me, then the body should be true. Truth implies that existence which remains unchangeable within and beyond time. But there is always a modification going on within the body, always we are moving, inch by inch towards death. So the body is not me. Then what, the mind? Apparently, yes, because it is the mind which makes the body move, it is through mind that we dwell in this world.

So, I am the mind. But, which mind? The mind that I had in the morning, or the mind that I had in the afternoon, or the evening mind, or the mind which I will have after 5 minutes which is still unknown to me? The mind is also changing, perhaps more rapidly and faster than the body, so fast that we cannot even understand when, how and in what way it shifted. Therefore, the mind is also not the truth, so I am not the mind. Then comes the intellect, which is the deciding element in the mind, maybe this is ‘me’, I am the intellect. But have I ever noticed, that the intellect also is influenced by the objects present within the mind or the thoughts? So the intellect also has a relative existence and thus it cannot be true, for truth is free. So I am not the intellect also. Maybe I am the ego.

The ego always represents the ‘I ‘ factor within me and without. What does the ego do? The ego imposes its existence on the various perceivable and non-perceivable objects. If it is true, why should it impose? Truth is completeness, infinite, it doesn’t need to impose itself on anything, rather everything is imposed on Him. So I am also not the ego.Then who am I? was his question again to his grandfather. The answer again was ‘You are That’. Indra then transcended his body, mind, intellect and ego and reached that state of consciousness which is unmodified, unlimited, unbounded. He knew spontaneously that this is what he was. This consciousness, this infinite existence and this eternal blissful state is He. This is Self-knowledge. To know this, we have to approach a person to whom this is known. He shows the way. He is the Master or Guru, a compulsory person in the life of an aspirant.

By: Probuddhananda Puri

About the Author:

Mental Illness News