Four Steps to Freedom

Four Steps to Freedom

To know the nature of our true self we should slowly start developing certain qualities and acquire knowledge over a period of time. Let us discuss some important qualities that one should possess

Devotion/Bhakthi – This is most useful quality that one can possess and this does not require any pre-qualification. What it means is that if a person has to learn Vedanta he should have certain basis qualities in himself and because of that he becomes eligible to learn Vedanta (this is a traditional requirement which was followed, the basic qualification for Vedanta is collectively termed as Sadhana Catustaya, two of the qualities are discussed below).

Bhakthi or Love to wards divine has no conditions to it; it is the purest form of emotion that one can possess which keeps him/her always with the lord.  The love towards the divine should be unconditional and this is possible only when a person gives up his ego. It is just that a person has to start liking God and slowly but surely the thought of God will take over the mind. Love is such a powerful tool that it just needs a kick start and once this starts, it pervades each and every thought of a person.

So how should one proceed with Bhakthi? What one can do is that, he can remember God for all the actions that he performs. Suppose he is buying new cloths then mentally thank God for providing the new cloths or otherwise offer the Clothes to the God mentally before wearing, similarly while eating or going to sleep do the same thing. To a person who loves God he knows that nothing in this world is independent of the God, it is only God who is making us to do everything, not even a blade of grass will move without his will, hence he gives up the thought of I’m doing this, to God is making me to do this (agent ship). Finally as he proceeds his individual will ceases to exist and lives a life completely absorbed in the Self (God) and experiences bliss.

In Vedantic point of view the mind has to surrender to the consciousness within. Meaning other than the self-everything is Maya (illusion), hence the mind/body that we have should be used only in the service of the Lord, that is why we see that highly devoted people are highly compassionate, as they see the Lord in each and every one and they know that everything is only God and this existence is because of the Self and later merges back into the Self. Self is the base on which this relative world exists and it will cease to exist if there is no self, sustenance of the universe is dependent on the Self and not the other way around.

The reason we say that it is an illusion is that the world that we is not in the truest form, only the modification of the consciousness has made this apparent world appearing in front of us and hence when the person realizes the pure consciousness within, he understands that only consciousness/self exists and nothing else. Just think that once you realize that nothing is apart from you and everything one and the same, how a person will hate another, it is only love and compassion that will prevail.

Jnana/Knowledge – This is one of the qualities that also come up in Sadhana Catustaya and Vairagya as well which will be discussed later. Having scriptural knowledge about the Self is very important if a person wants to proceed in understanding the Self within, a person following Jnana yoga has to listen, understand and practice the teachings of the Upanishads. This will lead to the realization that his true nature is that of the God and there is none other than the God in existence.

Vairagya/Dispassion/detachment – Proper practice of Bhakthi or Jnana will always lead to viragya, when a person realizes that there is no second to the Self, his ego (false identification that he is separate from the creator) will go away as he see manifestations of God with the underlying realization that everything God, at this stage he would stay with the bliss of the Self perpetually and ignore the impermanent pleasures and pains of the material world

Viveka/Discernment/Discrimination - This is nothing but the quality to differentiate between what is true and false. The point is that with proper Viveka, one will understand and differentiate between the true Self and its manifestations, the world around is like a wave in the ocean, The wave is no different than the water in the ocean, if there is no water then there is not wave, hence the apparent world that we see and live is just a modification of the true self, but it cannot exist without the Self. The person with proper knowledge will be able to discern this and understand that the true nature of the self is beyond any explanation that can be given through a language. Language is not capable of understanding and articulating the true self but only through experience that a person can realize the self. This is viveka that Self is Absolute Existence, Consciousness and Bliss