Self-Realisation
M: Realization is nothing to be gained afresh, it is already there. All that is necessary is to get rid of the thought ‘I have not realised’. Stillness or peace is Realization. There is no moment when the Self is not. So long as there is doubt or the feeling of non-realization, the attempt should be made to rid oneself of these thoughts. They are due to the identification of the Self with the not-Self. When the not-Self disappears, the Self alone remains. To make room, it is enough that the cramping be removed; room is not brought in from elsewhere.
D: Since Realization is not possible without vasana-kshaya, how am I to realise that State in which the vasanas are effectively destroyed?
M: You are in that State now!
D: Does it mean that by holding on to the Self, the vasanas should be destroyed as and when they emerge?
M: They will themselves be destroyed if you remain as you are.
D: How shall I reach the Self?
M: There is no reaching the Self. If Self were to be reached,it would mean that the Self is not here and now but that it is yet to be obtained. What is got afresh will also be lost. So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. So I say the Self is not reached. You are the Self; you are already That.
The fact is, you are ignorant of your blissful state. Ignorance supervenes and draws a veil over the pure Self which is Bliss. Attempts are directed only to remove this veil of ignorance which is merely wrong knowledge. The wrong knowledge is the false identification of the Self with the body, mind etc. This False identification must go, and then the Self alone remains.
Therefore Realization is for everyone; Realization makes no difference between the aspirants. This very doubt, whether you can realise, and the notion ‘I-have-not-realised’ are themselves the obstacles. Be free from these obstacles also.
D: What is the use of samadhi and does thought subsist then?
M: Samadhi alone can reveal the Truth. Thoughts cast a veil over Reality, and so It is not realised as such in states other than samadhi.
In samadhi there is only the feeling ‘I AM’ and no thoughts. The experience ‘I AM’ is being still.
D: How can I repeat the experience of samadhi or the stillness that I obtain here?
M: Your present experience is due to the influence of the atmosphere in which you find yourself. Can you have it outside this atmosphere? The experience is spasmodic. Until it becomes permanent, practice is necessary.
D: One has at times vivid flashes of a consciousness whose centre is outside the normal self, and which seems to be all-inclusive. Without concerning ourselves with philosophical concepts, how would Bhagavan advise me to work towards getting, retaining and extending those rare flashes? Does abhyasa in such experience involve retirement?
M: Outside! For whom is the inside or outside? These can exist only so long as there are the subject and object. For whom are these two again? On investigation you will find that they resolve into the subject only. See who is the subject; and this enquiry leads you to pure Consciousness beyond the subject.
The normal self is the mind. This mind is with limitations. But pure Consciousness is beyond limitations, and is reached by investigation as above outlined.
Getting: The Self is always there. You have only to remove the veil obstructing the revelation of the Self.
Retaining: Once you realise the Self, it becomes your direct and immediate experience. It is never lost.
Extending: There is no extending of the Self, for it is as ever, without contraction or expansion.
Retirement: Abiding in the Self is solitude. Because there is nothing alien to the Self. Retirement must be from some one place or state to another. There is neither the one nor the other apart from the Self. All being the Self, retirement is impossible and inconceivable.
Abhyasa is only the prevention of disturbance to the inherent peace. You are always in your natural State whether you do abhyasa or not.... To remain as you are, without question or doubt, is your natural State.
D: On realizing samadhi, does not one obtain siddhis also?
M: In order to display siddhis, there must be others to recognise them. That means, there is no jnana in the one who displays them. Therefore, siddhis are not worth a thought; jnana alone is to be aimed at and gained.
D: Does my Realization help others?
M: Yes, and it is the best help that you can possibly render to others. Those who have discovered great truths have done so in the still depths of the Self. But really there are no ‘others’ to be helped. For, the Realised Being sees only the Self, just as the goldsmith sees only the gold while valuing it in various jewels made of gold. When you identify yourself with the body, name and form are there. But when you transcend the body-consciousness, the ‘others’ also disappear. The Realised one does not see the world as different from Himself.
D: Would it not be better if the saints mix with others?
M: There are no ‘others’ to mix with. The Self is the only Reality.
D: Should I not try to help the suffering world?
M: The Power that created you has created the world as well. If it can take care of you, it can similarly take care of the world also .... if God has created the world, it is His business to look after it, not yours.
D: Is it not our duty to be patriots?
M: Your duty is to be and not, to be this or that. ‘I AM THAT I AM’ sums up the whole truth; the method is summarised in ‘be still.
And what does stillness mean? It means ‘destroy yourself’; because, every name and form is the cause of trouble. ‘I-I’ is the Self. ‘I am this’ is the ego. When the ‘I’ is kept up as the ‘I’ only, it is the Self. When it flies off at a tangent and says ‘I am this or that, I am such and such’, it is the ego.
D: Who then is God?
M: The Self is God. ‘I AM’ is God. If God be apart from the Self, He must be a Selfless God, which is absurd. All that is required to realise the Self is to be still. What can be easier than that? Hence atma vidya is the easiest to attain.
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