Self Realization

From previous posts in this series, we have seen that the ultimate goal of our life is to attain eternal happiness. Pragmatically, in a smaller scale, the purpose of our day-to-day activities also is nothing else but to be happy by fulfilling our desires. At the same time, as we have discussed,  happiness is not something to be “gained” from outside but it is the nature and ex-pression of our true being. Normally we are not aware of this happiness because our attention is caught up in the constant waves of desires and fears creating turbulences at the body/mind level propelled by the inherent tendencies.

Earlier we had taken the stand that spirituality is a shift in “self reference” from the body/mind complex to the inner being. Combining these two findings it is easy to establish the relevance of spirituality in  practical life. To be more specific, we could say that applying spirituality in practical life is the proper way of finding real happiness which happens to be the innate nature of our own true self. By realizing and stabilizing oneself as that inner being - which is spirituality all about - one remains rooted in eternal happiness.

So where is the contradiction?  Why people treat spirituality as an escape from practical life? Why there is a general aversion to spirituality? Even when one becomes aware of these facts why there is a lack of vigor to pursue it?

The main reason is that we are afraid! We are afraid to loose a way of living which is dear to us. We are afraid that we will be alienated from our vibrant and colorful life and had to live a gloomy and monotonous monastic life. We have to sacrifice our desires and desert our loved ones. We have to perform severe austerities and control our habitual tendencies.

But it is not so! These are all notions that were interposed into our belief systems by the vested religions interests.  Actually you don’t have to be religious at all to lead a spiritual life. Religion is a cover up, a methodology for like minded people to tread the spiritual path together. By mixing up religious practices and social regulations the basic principles are either forgotten or pushed aside. To attain spiritual heights it is not necessarily to belong to any particular religion. It may help. But it is not an absolute necessity.

Leave out all those notions for the time being and let’s concentrate on where our practical life and spirituality differ though they both aim to attain happiness. Well, the answer is very simple. In our practical life we are looking for happiness outside us and in spirituality we have to look for the same within us.

What is this ‘outside’ and ‘inside’?  The ‘in’ and ‘out’ is differentiated based on our self reference point. In the mundane sense, our self reference point is the body/mind structure. Which means, we exist as independent entities confined to the body/mind structure. And the world out there is external to us.  Naturally internal must mean ‘within the body and mind’

But in spiritual context, it is viewed differently. In order to understand the spiritual view on self reference we have to dig a little deeper. The first and foremost step is to question your assumption on selfhood. Are you just the body/mind organism named so and so? Where does your “self” begin and where does it end? Are you limited to the periphery of your body? Your self is inclusive of your mind isn’t it? Can you show the boundary where your mental sphere ends? Your consciousness is even subtler than the mind. Is there a limit for that? There are states of unconsciousness you go through. Don’t you exist even then? So our existence include all these aspects - not just the physical body as commonly held. Now considering all these, can you really draw a circle around you to confine your ‘self’ and say – “Yes, This am I”? 

More over, your body has been constantly changing from your birth up till now. Same was the case with your mind - under perpetual change. Out of this, which body can claim your real identity? That of a baby? Youth? Or the old man? Which state of mind can reflect your true self? Is your self so flimsy and changeful? Is there anything absolutely changeless in your scheme of selfhood?

This should be the premises where practical spirituality should begin. An enquiry on the selfhood. Raise the most fundamental question - Who am I? Trace the sense of “I am” and go within with concentrated awareness. During this journey, what one would find is that the body/mind organism that one treat as “I” is only the tip of an iceberg infinitely extending into subtle realms of consciousness and beyond. Our aim must be to follow the path of this sense of I am and sink deeper and deeper with it until the source of this sense of I am is reached.

That source of  sense of “I am” must be the most fundamental aspect of your selfhood. That must be the primary Self on which a body-mind-intellect-ego complex is constructed and evolved. It is like a tiny source from everything is projected into existence in varying levels of subtleties.  That must be a constant factor which never changes with time like the body or mind. Being changeless, that must be without any attributes hence undifferentiable from one another( undifferentialbe AS one another - to be more accurate).

Now, if you have observed closely, you could have known that all your needs and desires are body/mind based. And the pleasure or pain you encounter is also totally depended on the body and mind. To demonstrate it let’s take an example. Suppose your tongue has no taste buds.  Will there be any difference between different foods? Will you crave for any particular food? You will eat whatever available to fill the tummy. Right? In that case all your desire for food and happiness derived by having tasty food is gone completely out of your system.

Take another example. You get first rank in university exams and your photo is all over the media. Same day your best friend dies in an accident. You were extremely happy for a moment and then you became sad. But later in the night when you were sleeping deeply, did any of these emotions touch you? When the mind is shutout do you feel any happiness?  Do you feel the sorrow?

Is it something difficult to understand that all our pain and pleasure are totally depended on the awareness of the body and mind. Beyond the body/mind do we have any needs? Any desires? Any pain? Any fear?

So as long as we identify our selfhood with the body/mind structure, we will be swayed by the pain pleasure pair of opposites. From childhood,  we are habituated to the idea that by indulging into pleasurable experiences with the body/mind we become more and more happy. This kind of seeking happiness indirectly from external sources (body and mind and world included) is called ‘outward turned’ which is the basic tendency of our practical life

Where as spirituality is an attempt to detach our focus of selfhood from the body/mind system and move  towards the inner source. Thus instead of seeking pleasure at the body/mind level we gets rooted in the source of happiness itself. You become one with happiness rather than experiencing happiness reflected at the body mind level during fulfillment of desires. That’s why the spiritual exploration is described as “inward turned”.

Understand that even the greatest pleasure and happiness that you achieve in your life is time bound and will eventually subside or later may turn into pain and unhappiness. The body so dear to you and gave you so much pleasure and happiness will turn old and sick and will be the greatest source of pain and suffering. In our seeking happiness form the objective world pain and suffering is hidden and is  unavoidable.

But the source of eternal happiness that lies within us is independent of anything else hence doesn’t flutter in relation to anything else. It needs nothing to experience happiness. Nor can anything take that away.  It is ever perfect and full. That is the true Self.  And that, is what you are!

Tat Twam Asi….

Practical spirituality is aimed at living our life from the correct perspective of our selfhood. Nothing changes except the attitude. But that small change is the greatest revolution that can ever happen to you. From that perspective, all what happens at the body mind level is witnessed like a dream. The body mind will undergo all the activities and experiences which it is supposed to. They will produce all the corresponding feelings as well. But nothing will ever touch you, because you have dis-identified yourself from the body/mind structure and have stabilized into your true being as the illuminating and witnessing conscious centre. There you are blissful no matter what happens at the periphery. There you are beyond all needs.

Putting spirituality in practice by means of self enquiry one regains the apparently lost land of real selfhood.  It is in the realization of  the true Self the secret of eternal happiness lies. This is liberation. This is Kingdom of heaven. This is Nirvana. No other higher worlds can give you eternal and absolute happiness but this. And it is always there right within you! Right here… Right now…