Who am I?
Most of us would have a simple answer to this question. Either I am a man, woman, adult, child, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Indian, African and so on. Is that the true identity or just the name and definition of an entity? Or is that just the material definition of me, my body? All of us know ourselves to be this body with a mind and a heart and most often what we mean by me is this body with a name. What we do not know or want to know is what is this Self. The best way to know our self or inner self is to go within. But to be able to do so, what we need to first do is disassociate our external self with that self within. And the way to do so is by observing our thoughts and actions. The way within that self is through our breath and hence all we need to do is to close our eyes and watch this breath while focusing on the third eye.
Who am I or what is the greatest truth is that atman, or Chit which is identifiable only in a sam state of being or in a state of complete joy or Ananda as we call it. Hence when we address any swaroopa of God or saint we call that swaroop Satchitananda. This also means that the balanced state is the state of joy. All human desires, sufferings, failures are because we are all bound to the limited knowledge of our being that we associate with this body but the atman within this body is no different from this Universe. The microcosm and the macrocosm, the individual being and the universal consciousness, the Bhakta and the Bhagwan, all are the same. Good and bad, this and that are all but part of the same tattva. What is required is only the quest to know one’s self and the rest unfolds on the path.
Our culture and limited knowledge has made us believe this path is through complete detachment and renunciation but the reality is different. The path is through this very state we are in, amidst the chaos lies the silence. So living this worldly life with complete joy and celebration, all one needs to do is go into that silence or the meditative state for a given time duration daily and gradually one starts realising and merging into that universal energy. Here the renunciation is not of the colours or the relations but the attachment to these relations or colours, detachment from all vices like greed, lust, anger, ego, negative thoughts, and constant chatter.
Sages and saints have spoken about” neti, neti” which means” not this, not that” implying we stop nowhere, are fascinated by nothing that is not real. Life is real, so all we need to do is celebrate this life without forming or getting attached to anything shallow and knowing ourselves only in the physical dimension is completely unreal. The moment we start realising the self within, all duality vanishes and there arises a oneness in everything, where there is complete balance between our mind, body, energy and emotions; where all states are accepted with grace; where a man is truly a sannyasi. Sannyas is not again about leaving this world. When you break the word, its sam niyas meaning balanced living. Hence neti, neti or too much of nothing. ” I, me, myself” then become too shallow to define us. No name or form exists in the sam state and all external associations are destroyed.
AUM
Gurushree Vidushii
