Body/Mind and Ego in Self enquiry

Body/Mind and Ego in Self enquiry

To progress in spirituality, one must enquire about his own self and understand “Who am I? “. This is very important as unless we know who we are then there is no progress spirituality. We should know who we are and what is God and how we are related? Etc.

In Advaita Vedanta to answer this question we have Mahavakyas which encapsulate the entire teachings of Vedanta in to a statement like “Tatvamasi”, “Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi” etc.

We will try to analysis and understand the statement “Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi” here. The phrase consists of two parts one being “Aham” and second part “Brahmāsmi”. What is Aham ? In short it is nothing but Self that is within us. Self is nothing but the Atman. So, the statement clearly says that the Atman within and the universal God (Brahman) are one and the same.

Now you may say that hold on how can you say that I’m Brahman, where the person is always with many imperfections and Brahman is supreme and perfect. So, it is at this stage Self enquiry becomes important.

To discern and understand that I’m Brahman now we will investigate who we (our true nature) are as opposed to our assumed self. When the mahavakya says “I”, it is not referring to the body, mind or the ego which is appears from it. This simply refers to the source of body, mind and ego as we can consciously drop the notion of these and still exist.

If we do a simple exercise now, we can clearly discern that we are not the body as we perceive it, we say this is my hand, leg etc., so the perceiver/observer is different from observed, similarly we can observe the mind undergoing so many thoughts and we say that I have a good thought or bad thought, who is this I that is having good or bad thought? When we understand this, we know that we are neither the body or mind.

So next thing that comes up is the ego, now we will argue that the “I’m” the ego because it is for the ego that everything is done. Or is it really? If I say my name is Deva, I’m identifying myself as Deva and finally say that Deva did everything or doing everything. But stop, here I’m calling myself as Deva, so who is that I calling itself Deva? So again, ego is different from the true “I”. Meaning we neither the body, mind or ego. Then what are we? Is the question that needs to be understood.

After negating everything what is left is “I”, anything that can be imagined or cannot be imagined, anything that exist or does not exist, anything that we perceive or not perceive is not “I” (Brahman), then who am I becomes more confusing as it seems like there is not solution to this problem. For this the answer is simple, who am I is nothing but the witness of all of these and you are that witness, consciousness and bliss [Bliss because the I is everything and there is no second thing other than it, at material level we try to acquire more and more and think that we will be happy, when only Brahman (“I”) exists and there is nothing other than Brahman which is complete, there nothing to acquire, when there is nothing to acquire we are complete and blissful].

Absolute Existence and Consciousness

Absolute Existence

When we say that “I’m That” what we are trying to say is that “I’m” (Individual Consciousness) are nothing but “That” (Universal Consciousness).

So let us try to understand few things before we fully understand “I’m That”. There are two components here “I” and “That”

Firstly we have to understand “I’m”, in-fact we need to know what is this “I” who is this “I”?

So now we will try to understand “I”, take an example of typing this article, now my hands are typing this article on the laptop and my mind is creating thoughts, the ego there by executes the action by associating itself with the body and mind and types the article. But if we observe closely this process of typing we understand that, first my hand is writing the article and my mind is thinking about the article and with the help of intellect to write it in an accurate manner and finally we say that “I wrote this article”. Now it very important to note the statement “I wrote this article”, as it is my body that wrote the article and my mind which came up with this thought, so I’m different from mind and body which has written this article.

Let us go further, we are here saying that my body and my mind, if it is my body and my mind, obviously I’m different from mind and body as here I’m saying that body and mind are mine, or in other-words both body and mind is used as tools by something else to write this article. So when I say “I wrote this article”, it does not mean the mind or body but something else which exists independently to this mind and body, which is using the mind and body as a tool for creating action. It is the cause and mind and body actions are the effect.

So what is this I? It is nothing but the consciousness that illuminates the mind and body. So when I say that “I wrote this article”, it should mean that the consciousness that exists within is the cause for this article and “I wrote” is nothing but “It wrote”, in-short this consciousness is the cause for everything and we should not wrongly identify ourselves with body or mind but to the consciousness.

So from this we understand that “I’m” refers to individual consciousness.

Now let us go to the second part “That”, now what is this “That”? It is nothing but universal consciousness. So now when we say that “I’m That” what it means is that the individual consciousness which is within is no different than the universal consciousness. Now the question that we come up is that how the individual consciousness is same as universal consciousness? To answer this we have to go with basics first. Universal consciousness is nothing but Brahman and per Upanishads Brahman is omnipresent and infinite. When I say that my consciousness and your consciousness, here this statement becomes contradictory to Brahman’s Omnipresence, as when Brahman (universal consciousness) is present everywhere then there cannot be another consciousness like individual consciousness as this will rule out the omnipresence of Brahman given raise to duality, if something is omnipresent the presence of something else defeats the purpose of Omnipresence.

Second argument would be that of infinity nature of Brahman (universal consciousness), if there are two consciousness then there needs to be space for two i.e. Brahman (universal consciousness) and Atman (individual consciousness), now if there are two then Brahman is not infinite as the individual consciousness limits Brahman consciousness.

Hence we say that “I’m That” as our individual Self is nothing but the universal Self and there is not difference between the same. What we have to do is that remove this ignorance from our mind by repeated learning of the scriptures, understanding them and finally bring it to practice by practicing Mahavakyas (Aham Brahmasmi, Tatwamasi etc) which will ultimately give raise to the realization of Self with the Universal Self.               

Who is the Doer - Why God's will is the only truth

We often wonder why elders say that they are not the doer of anything but God makes them to do all the things. They are in-fact trying to convey the meaning that we are just an agent for God’s will and some go to the extent of saying that everything is God’s will and there is no individual will, meaning everything is happening because of his will and there is nothing other than God’s will. This sort of behavior always seems strange to people like us, for us the point that keeps running in the mind is that how can one say that God is making us to do these things when we are actually aware of what we are doing at a particular point of time, in-fact we become aware of the choices that we make and proceed with life.

It’s like this I’m aware that I’m now writing this article, so how can one say that it is the God’s will that is making me to write this? In-short this leads to a subtler meaning that it is God who is doing this activity and there is no existence other than God, the individual body that this mind is identifying with does not exist really/impermanent (Maya) and all is one and the same i.e. Brahman/God.

The above statement when uttered in front of a layman will appear to him as if the person who is talking like this is mad. Moreover an important question will come up that if everything is God’s will then what is happening here, what are we seeing here in this world? , what is this experience etc.

Let us try understanding one point at a time. The substratum of this existence is God/Brahman/It, we can call it God or anything, and the name does not matter. So anyone when starts finding the source of their creation/existence or of the world it will lead to a common denominator (this is what the modern science is trying find now, to find a common substratum of all – though it is not advisable to compare science with spirituality), which is the source of all and there is no source to it. In Vedanta we denote this as Brahman. That’s why when describing Brahman it is said to be biggest of the biggest and smallest of the small, it cannot be touched, felt or seen, and it is neither existent nor nonexistent and so on. The point that is being conveyed here is that the source of all is something which is indiscernible and from this the apparent world has come into being, this world which may exist for a very long time, and is not permanent as it has to go back to the source and dissolve itself in it. When everything comes out of this source and exists with the support of this and finally mergers back into this, how can we actually say that we are independent of this source/God. Meaning the most direct way of knowing that God exists is just looking at our-self as we cannot exist if there was no God/source of all. Given the above understanding how can one say now that he is the doer of everything, where we actually know that all that exists is only God and nothing other than the God.

Now second question that comes up is that of the awareness of doing the activity and taking decision. Meaning I know that I’m writing this article now, so what is making me to think that God is not doing the activity but it is me (Ego) who is doing this work then?

So let us try to understand what is happening here, when we start to enquire who we are first we will feel that we are the body, but body is useless as it is active only when the mind works (some instructions are given to it) and it is the mind which makes the body do everything and it does not exist in dream/deep sleep. So with this we understand that we are the mind now. But when we are in deep sleep the mind is inactive and yet we exist, so it will lead to a question, who are we? As we can now understand that there is an existence without body and mind which can exist in spite of the mind and body but the former cannot exist without it (God/Source). So now when the enquiry becomes complete we understand who we are, meaning we are God who is encased in this body and mind complex (which is created by God). Then what makes us to identify ourselves different to God? The answer is the mind, the mind which is outgoing in nature looks out side and forgets (ignorance) its source and starts identifying itself with the external creation, thereby creating a false identification in the form of Ego. But when this ignorance of false identification is removed by self-enquiry of who we are, Ego dissolves and mind realizes (in no-mind state) that it is just a creation of the source and it will finally merge back to it eventually. So now based on the above we can understand that we are not the doer of the activity but it is the Self/God within which is the source of all actions and it is due to our ignorance and mind/Ego we forget this truth. Forgetting the truth does not negate the fact that God’s will is supreme and there is no individual will.

But in practical life due to the presence of mind and its mis-identification we have some amount of freewill to lead our life (due to divine grace), the actions performed by wrongly identifying our-self with Ego and not God, leads to action and reaction (law of causation/karma). So it becomes very important that one should not identify our-self with mind/ego and identify with the lord within as this will not give rise to the law of causation. This can happen only when a person loves and surrenders to the God within. The only thing that is needed is that all our freewill and thought should be focused internally to first understand who we are (we are God at the subtlest level/consciousness level which uses this body and mind) and once we have acquired this knowledge then stop falsely identifying with mind/Ego (The source of these is the Self). For a realized person freewill does not exist and it is only the God’s will that exists

Based on this we can understand clearly that we are not the doer and it is due to Ego that this differentiation arises and hence this is the reason we say God’s will is the only truth.

  

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

Goddess Tripura Sundari – Saguna Brahman

Goddess Tripura Sundari – Saguna Brahman

God without any attributes is called as Nirguna Brahman, this God is beyond anything that can be imagined by the mind, whatever the mind is able to imagine or build a model to it, is always finite and not complete in nature, hence how can a mind with its own limitation can theorize about God, who is absolute and without any limitations. All these words that is being typed here is to try to comprehend something infinite, this statement by itself is oxymoron and is not possible. If a mind is able to give a form or build a model to this universe then it is not God (not complete) but only a limitation of our mind which is trying to make sense of God or universe. Nirguna Brahman is absolute existence, absolute consciousness and absolute bliss, which is beyond mind, intellect or any names and forms.

Then what is this universe that we see here, in Vedanta this is explained as Maya or in Trika philosophy this is nothing but Independent energy of Brahman (Shiva) which has manifested as universe and then Nara (man). So man has to understand Shakthi first, so that she will show the path towards Shiva. That’s why in Trika philosophy more importance is given to Shakthi as it is only her who lifts the veil of maya to show the ultimate truth.

In Vedanta the creation is explained in three parts, when Maya covers Brahman it is called Ishwara (God with attributes), the same Brahman covered by Avidya (ignorance) is Jiva (individual souls, man/women etc) and finally Brahman with Guna’s (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) forms Prakriti (universe). So when one observes the above it is the same Brahman which has transformed into Ishwara, Jiva and Prakriti.

Hence the entire universe that we are in now is nothing but Saguna Brahman, meaning Nirguna Brahman with attributes.

In Sri Vidya tradition Saguna Brahman is nothing but Goddess Tripura Sundari, we see the entire universe as her manifestation and she is worshipped by the way of her Yantra, Mantra and Tantra. Sri Vidya is a complete system by itself and progresses the aspirant towards self-realization. The main benefit is that a Sri Vidya Sadaka gets both material and spiritual benefits. We know about famous Tirupati Temple and it is said that Adi Shanakaracharya installed Sri Chakra in that temple for its prosperity and we know now how much money now it gets on daily basis. That is the reason why Sri Chakra has become synonym with wealth and auspiciousness. What one fails to understand is that when one becomes a Sri Vidya upasaka his material needs are not only taken care but he will start progressing in his spiritual life. When the Avidya of a person is removed, he starts learning Sri Vidya (auspicious knowledge of the Divine mother).

An aspirant has to start with a mantra of divine mother and slowly proceed with breath control and finally meditation. Ultimately it is her who lifts the veil of maya to show us the ultimate truth.  

   

Qualities of a Spiritual Aspirant

Qualities of a Spiritual Aspirant

When a person wants to pursue the highest knowledge of Self Realization, it becomes very important that he possess certain basic qualifications. Here qualification does not mean educational but rather his mind set and disciple in life.

The scriptures have clearly prescribed certain important qualities that one should possess to learn this supreme knowledge. The requirement is basically categorized into 4 and the third category consists of 6 virtues of the mind which converge into one category. Below are list of qualities that are enumerated

1. Viveka or differentiation: The art of differentiating between what is real/right and unreal/wrong and in true sense to know what is eternal and not. The body and mind along with its modifications are always subject to change and hence identifying oneself with the body and mind is wrong, it is through differentiation we will know who the subject is and who the object is. Object of observance always changes but the subject witness always is the same and it is eternal (here the witness, is the witness of the mind i.e. the soul). This is the Viveka that one should possess

2. Vairagya or dispassion (renunciation): When one is able to differentiate between what is real and unreal, indulging in what is unreal will just hamper the progress in our spiritual life. Meaning the body and mind which is the object of experience and ever changing in nature, which raises and dissolves in the eternal consciousness is temporary and attachment to this only causes misery.  

3. Samadi-satka-sampatti or the six disciplines (or virtues) of the mind – The third point is an combination of 6 virtuous quality that the mind should possess. Following are the six virtues  

·       Sama or mastery of the mind – One should possess control and have tranquility of the mind. A stable mind always makes the mind purer and only the pure mind the light of the Self shines. When a mind is not perturbed with the happening inside and outside it gives rise to clarity of mind and thereby brings stability in one’s life

·       Dama or mastery over the senses - We should establish a firm control on our sense as it is this which is the stimulus to our desires. It is the sense organs which create pleasure and pain to the body and mind reacts to the same, hence it creates the dyads (happiness & sorrow, high/low etc). hence this needs to be mastered by changing the focus of our attention towards one’s own self (meaning show restraint and focus within the mind – find the source of the mind)

·       Uparama or withdrawal, observing dharma – Here withdrawal in the true sense means that when we are pursuing the path of Self Realization, wasting our time by getting attached to material worlds would lead us nowhere. Again one need to understand there is nothing wrong in enjoying the fruits of the actions that you have performed morally but the point is to not getting attached.

·       Titiksha or forbearance – The spiritual path and life in general is often faced with lot of obstacles and problems, one should have mental toughness to endure all these things and proceed under any given circumstances.  

·       Sraddha or faith – Faith is very essential as everything that we are trying to do in this life to progress depends on the faith that we have on the scripture or the Guru. If there is no faith the practice by itself is marred with doubts and there would not be any real progress. What one can do is that he can start off thinking that what the scripture or Guru is saying is true but it is not real for me yet. Let me work on it and see what happens.  

·       Samadhana or concentration – Concentration is required as we are trying to find the Self within us and to make that possible we have to focus all our attention inwards and search within, meaning the Self is always present in us and it is due to mind’s thoughts our concentration is scattered. Because of this we are unable to focus within to realize the self. Hence meditation is important.

4. Mumuksutvam or the intense desire for liberation - This is self-explanatory as without an intense desire for liberation there is no point in possessing all the knowledge of the scriptures, as one would not try to practice or learn anything. This intense desire for liberation should not be considered as bad; as desire for material world is considered as detrimental but having desire for liberation does not. Secondly as one proceed in the path of Self Realization this desire gets replaced by firmBra knowledge that “I’m Brahman” and all desire is gone

If one can carefully observe the above mentioned qualities that are required for progression, the very same qualities are required for a successful material life, in fact a person can become highly successful in life both in spiritual and material aspect of his life, if he can adopt above qualities in day to day life.

But as one progresses in his spiritual life these qualities focus mainly towards the Self and interest in the material would decrease to zero for the person who is liberated in the present life.

(Based on my Guruji's teachings, any mistakes solely mine)

The Walk of Spirituality - Part 1

The Walk of Spirituality

Since our early childhood some day or the other we think about the nature of our self. We also think about what is our relationship with this world/universe. I hope this has come to every mind and have tried to explore this with our limited knowledge at that point of time and eventually when we did not proceed anywhere, we tried to get this answered with our parents and elders who had better knowledge than us. But this turns out to be a futile exercise as most of them don’t give the right answers or try to avoid it. Because of this we get stuck. One more reason as to why we get stuck is that, as we grow older material happiness and problems starts take precedence over these questions and we tend to put this on the side lines and concentrate the problems before us (Though here we have to understand that most of the material problems are self-inflicted and can be ignored but the mind does not allow this).

Let us try to understand the problems associated with our life and slowly progress towards what would be the solutions.

When a baby is born its mind is free of impressions like a blank state, so in order to live, the survival mode of the organism kicks in and starts learning from the surrounding. It slowly starts accumulation information’s that are useful for its survival. So what happens here is that each and every activity that is performed is recorded in the mind in the form of memory and used whenever necessary. So suppose a child see’s a chocolate initially it will be skeptical whether to touch it, eat it etc. But once it eats it, it enjoys the taste of the chocolate and this get embedded as a memory and since it enjoyed the taste of the chocolate the impression in the mind prompts it to eat more or it, this is nothing but impressions which forms into future tendencies. So it is here that trap of life starts. The child proceeds to acquire innumerable impressions like this on daily basis due to which certain impressions are created and these impressions leads to certain tendencies which ultimately results in action and reaction (causation and effect).

The law of causation and effect is one of the most complex activities that take place in the human mind.  Because of this when an action is performed there would be an effect in proportion of that cause. The law functions with the impressions and tendencies in the mind and performs actions. Diving further let us understand how this works with the same example of the chocolate and the kid.

The first time a kid sees the chocolate the awareness within the person prompts the person that there is something before you. Now mind jumps in and tries to see what it is (by reviewing old memory) but when it is unable to decide it takes the help of the intellect. Intellect here tries to analyze what is the thing that is before it. It makes the mind to ask around to know what it is and once it is satisfied it makes a decision, mind now works with the ego and consumes the chocolate.

Since the chocolate is consumed for the first time the taste of the food leaves impressions of its delicious taste in the mind in the form of memory and since the mind has enjoyed the food, mind prompts the ego for more. This is where the initial seed of problems starts, as desire is now created and when left unchecked it rears its ugly head in various ways.

Let us understand how this works further, the enjoying mind which consumed the chocolate now has a tendency to eat more of it and has led to the desire of consuming this chocolate more and more. Usually at this point intellect comes into the picture and puts a stop on the urges of the kid says it’s not good to eat too much, but if the mind is filled with many such impressions and urges, intellects influence becomes weak. So in this example the child now wants chocolate, mind starts disturbing the intellect to come up with a solution to for procuring more chocolates. Now the intellects first things about what are the available options with it. So with the help of intellect the child asks the parents to buy more of eat for its consumption. Suppose the parents do not buy the chocolate saying this is enough for the day and no more will be given. This event will have varied effect on the mind of the child. If the desire for the chocolate is less, then the child will subside and keep quiet and go about with its other activities.

On the other hand when the kid’s desire has taken over the mind (or mind is filled with full of desire of the chocolate) the kid gets agitated (mind of the kind). The kid’s mind now direct the intellect to procure the chocolate in any way possible. So now the kid will starts crying and throwing tantrums against the parents. Even if this does not work the kid will try to steal the chocolate leading to disastrous actions and reactions. If the child gets the chocolate after an unruly behavior, the impression that being unruly will fetch results will get embedded in the mind and leads to a tendency of being unruly next time when it wants something that the parents or others oppose. Further if the kid steals the chocolate and eats it. Then an impression that stealing will fulfill the desire (minds restlessness is subsided). Finally what will happen is that these impressions and tendencies percolate in to something very big, making the same kid in the future to do unnecessary and immoral things for its end.

This is just one small example considering on small aspect, but when we consider our daily life activities there are innumerable number of such impressions and tendencies that get embedded in our mind and mix and match these impressions and tendencies starts ruling our life than it should actually be led. 

So we can see that innumerable impressions and tendencies which work within the mind make it corrupted and confused. Because of these impurities the quality of life that is led is also not good and we become slaves of our thoughts/emotions/ tendencies and not the other way around. 

Sadhana in Vedanta

Sadhana as per Vedanta

To achieve spiritual progress and finally understand “you are that”. Sadhana plays an important role in achieving the desired goal of realization.

To proceed towards realization the fundamental requirement is Knowledge. Knowledge is the supreme of all the paths. Now the question is that what is the knowledge which leads to the ultimate? 

It is nothing but all the Mahavakyas have enumerated, I’m Brahman, I’m Shiva (Shivoham) etc.

Now you may ask a question saying how am I Brahman, this can be explained in a simple example of Jagrat, Swapna and Susupti example, In this discernment process we try to understand one thing that there is something which we call as “I”, that which exists in all the three states. What are the three states of living it’s nothing but Awake, Dream and Deep Sleep.

If one observes these three states one can come to a conclusion that there is an existence of “I” which pervades in all these states, which is independent of these three. Meaning the existence of this “I” does not depend on the existence of the body and mind. But body and mind are dependent on this “I” for its sustenance. This “I” is beyond these three states and hence it is called Turya (4^th state of consciousness) and beyond this is Turyatita (Where there is no “I”)

This “I” is Existence, Consciousness and Bliss.

The first step towards progressing in the path of spirituality is to start with acquiring the knowledge and how do we acquire the knowledge? It’s with associating oneself with a realized Guru, if that is not possible then we have to listen to the lectures of great yogi’s and read the scriptures to understand the true nature of our self.

Once after acquiring the knowledge one has to constantly analyze the teaching and try to understand it completely. For any person doubts are common when he/she starts trying to understand the saying of the scriptures. At this stage he has to get this clarified with his Guru.

Once the knowledge is firmly established, to realize one has to follow profound and repeated meditation on the mahavakyas of great Upanishadic statements such as "That art Thou", “Shivoham” etc, to realize the identity of Atman/Brahman.

To take this further the next problem that comes up is that, Okay I have acquired this knowledge but I’m unable to experience anything. What is stopping me in achieving the ultimate? At this stage the likely reason for this ordeal would be the scattered ness of the mind and the mind is not grasping the teaching and it is not able to be still or is unable to focus. To get over this problem one has to follow Bhakthi or Raja yoga (Bhakthi yoga – Mind has to surrender to the Self, Raja yoga – is the one prescribed by Pantanjali consisting Yama - Self-control,,Niyama- Discipline,,Asana - Physical exercises,,Pranayama - Breath exercises, Pratyahara - Withdrawal of the senses from external objects, Dharana - Concentration, Dhyana - Meditation, Samadhi - Complete Dissolution) the goal of this is to still the mind.  

Even after this one may not be able to achieve the ultimate and this would be due to impurities of the mind (like doer ship, thoughts, tendencies and other mental modifications). This has to be overcome by purifying the mind to become still where the true will get unraveled. So one has to follow Karma yoga (Karma Yoga – Thought of doer ship should go away (always do the activity with established thought that it is the Divine will working through you and doing the activity or just do an activity and don’t expect any outcome, and offer any outcome to the Self)).

So to encapsulate the entire process, one has to follow below steps (given in reverse order).

• Remove impurities/Ego – follow Karma yoga
• Stilling the mind – Bhakthi/Raja yoga (meditation)
• Knowledge path – Acquiring /Understand and Practice of Mahavakya

Regarding the Self

Why the study of one’s own nature is required. If one observes the source of all experiences are this body and more importantly the mind. So whatever we feel is based on our thoughts and actions which invariably convert into reactions as our thoughts and actions are not controlled. When we enquire the nature of this thought and to whom this arises. We start our journey to understand ourselves.

Since all the experiences arise only in the arena of the mind it becomes very important now for us to understand what is it that makes us happy or sad and more importantly we enjoying or disliking things. From the day we are born our mind starts consuming information from external sources and stores it as memory. It is these memories which are the source of our miseries. When a person looks at the other when dealing with an issue, this if it is important for him will get embedded in the mind and when faced with similar problem he will try to replicate the response based on his 

memory.

Since most of these reactions happen unconsciously the person would not know why he reacted to a situation in this manner. Because of this he suffers from the problems that arise because of such reactions.

So the point where one starts to react to various memories in his mind would be collectively called Samskara's (mental impression, recollection, psychological imprint). So it here that it becomes very important for a person to develop good Samskara's. To put it in simple terms developing good habits is the key to avoid such repercussions. What is trying to be conveyed here is that if a person starts nurturing good thoughts in his mind eventually the good thoughts will take over his subconscious mind and when is faced with a situation he is likely to respond positively. Giving rise to good karma, otherwise no karma.

Now continuing further we will briefly try to understand, what is Karma? Karma is the sum total of actions (both mental and physical) of a person that has been recorded in his mind. The samskaras that it embedded in our mind makes us to do things in a certain way and samskaras that come from our previous birth forms karma in this birth most of the time. What does this mean? Say you have an experience and this experience is recorded in you sub conscious mind at the time at the time of the experience itself and this creates a certain tendency (vasanas) and these tendency with imprints usually come out of sub conscious mind it becomes as an action which is nothing but karma.

In simple words you experience something, which creates memory and minds works on these thoughts and creates desire/inclinations etc, there by an action is performed based on these imprints and inclinations which is nothing but Karma.

After a brief understanding on this aspect, let us get back to study of self and why this is important from the above perspective.

Now let us try to understand why our body is not the true Self. There are two or three ways we can say that body is not the self.

Firstly when we are in deep sleep there is no awareness on the body and mind, at this state we are in a state where nothing exists including our body and mind and yet Self exists (meaning you exist even though body does not exist)

Alternatively we can only be aware of objects and cannot identify our self with it. Meaning when I see a bag, I can only say that I perceive the bag or I’m aware of the bag but I cannot go and say that I’m the bag. So similarly the self only perceives the body and therefore is not the body. The self is aware of the body but it is not the body.

Then what makes a person to wrongly identify himself with the body? It is nothing but his ignorance.

Third way of looking at it is like this, we are born and we grow, become old and finally die. Here if you observe that, the Self within the body is the same when you were a baby, adult and old person.Here the body kept changing and yet you remain the same. Hence you are not the body

Surrender to the Divine and Destruction of Ego

The major hindrance in one's spiritual progression is the thought of "I", i.e. the ego plays a major role in making a person getting stuck in the cycle of happiness and sadness (dyads) leading to transmigration (cycle or re births) .

Whenever a person does something and says that it is because of him that this activity was completed or takes credit of the same, the ego raises its ugly head and inflates his arrogance, leading to disaster.

But when the same person en quire's as to who is doing the activity, or for whom is this thought being raised for, then ultimately the logical deduction will go to "I" which is the ego, and when you question who is this "I", there will be no answer, and at that time our intellect realizes that there is something which is supporting this "I" (ego) and it is this which is the cause of everything. This which supports the ego is the true Self (true "I") which is of the form of awareness.

It is this which people call it as GOD, Brahman, Shiva or Self etc. Which is nothing but pure awareness (consciousness) 

How do we justify that ego/mind ("I") is not the doer/cause but the awareness is? Simple during deep sleep state the ego does not exist and only after coming out of deep sleep, the ego realizes that it was not there in the deep sleep. 

So here there was an existence which was there even when the ego ("I") was missing (not there) in deep sleep. What is this existence? It is nothing but pure awareness (consciousness) which exists during wakeful, dream and deep sleep state independent of mind and ego (The point is he existed even though mind and ego was temporarily non existent during sleep, there by ego is the true "I")  . Hence we can also understand that this awareness is the source/cause for the mind and ego and not the other way around.

So once a person understands that all actions are not because of him (false ego) and it is because of the Self within. Then the process of surrender will start and destruction of ego commences.

So, the simple trick is to live a life where you repeatedly bear this in mind that all the thoughts and actions performed by you is not because of you (ego) but it is because of the Self within

Gradually when his false identification of himself from ego "I" to the Self within is established, there is complete surrender which leads to realization that you are nothing but the Self.

Happiness

Happiness

Due to certain actions, we experience pleasure or grief. So, first let us understand where these experiences happen in us. So, what we need to understand is that it is only in our mind that we feel happy or sad etc., meaning all that happens to us from the external stimulus are processed by the mind and intellect which decides if it is good/bad, happiness/sadness etc.

So, what we can clearly understand is that the actual place where we feel happy or sad is in the arena of our mind!!!

Mind by nature is outgoing, what do we mean by this? It’s very simple mind by nature cannot sit silent and it keeps jumping from one activity to another and cannot remains silent. Because of which its works in an overdrive and intellect also functions in similar manner to keep the minds confusion and thoughts at check. If this is the situation, there is bound to be actions and reactions which affects the person and he experiences these dyads (happiness/sadness, pleasure/griefs etc.).

When such is the situation it is practically impossible to experience happiness all the time as the mind is completely occupied with activities in search of happiness from external sources, though happiness happens in the arena of the mind, it confuses itself by getting attached to the stimulus and thinks that it (stimulus) is the source of his/her happiness.

Lottery winning (Stimulus)-----------> Mind receives/processes information ----------> Experiences happiness within (experienced within).

Now in the above situation for a poor person, if he wins a lottery as above he will feel very happy, at the same time when a person who is not interested in money wins the lottery does he feel happiness? Absolutely Not.

So, from the above example we can clearly understand that happiness is within and not from outside as the person who is not interested in money does not feel any happiness. So, stimulus here does not decide on what we feel.

In simple context, the source of happiness is within us and we must look inwards to achieve a type of happiness that is unconditional and unaffected of the things that are happening and surrounding us.

Meaning the happiness that was experienced when one wins a lottery can be replicated without he winning the same lottery and enjoy same state of blissfulness. In fact, the inner bliss that we are discussing here is say 1000 times more potent than what you enjoyed when one had won the lottery.

It is this we call it as absolute happiness (in Vedanta it’s called Ananda), which is ever existent (Sat in Vedanta) and it is in the form of absolute awareness (Cit in Vedanta)

That’s the reason the nature of our true self is explained as Absolute existence, Absolute consciousness and Absolute Bliss which is nothing but Satchitanada.

Good Read - Teachings from Ramana Maharishi

Self-Realisation

D:    How can I attain Self-realization?

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.

If there is a copyright issue let me know if I have to take this out

Some Powerful Affirmation

Spiritual up-liftment       I'm realized from now
To attain grace               I'm blessed from now
General well being         I'm well from now (this is the best that there is as it encompasses all factors health, wealth, peace etc)
Monetary gains I'm a millionaire/billionaire from now
Health                             I'm healthy from now

Before going to sleep use anyone of the above affirmation, please note that it has to be very strong.

Just remember that You can be/do/have whatever you imagine

source my Guru

About Self Realization

Our practice towards self realization is a path with many questions and confusions. Firstly when we are sure that the divinity is within us and we are supposed to find that divinity in us.

Then what is stopping us from realizing the self?

This is the fundamental question will come up in our mind, before coming to this point first let us try to understand what is meant by self realization?

With my limited knowledge what I can infer is that, it is the purest form of awareness that one can experience.

Now what is this purest form of awareness, let us break this down, first awareness in general sense is the situation where a person perceives an external object and identifies the object to himself. meaning if I see an apple, I become conscious of the presence of apple in front of me.

This awareness to subjective and impure as whatever we perceive happens only in our mind. This awareness is out of collecting information from different sources, processing the same in our mind and finally perceive the object. The quality of our perception limited to the quality of input. If the input is faulty then our perception and awareness also becomes faulty.

Knowledge plays an important role at this time, in dark we can be misled that a rope is a snake, but when light appears our ignorance is washed away by seeing the rope. Similarly once we understand that our perception/awareness of the external world is always limited and it our mind which creates these imprints/awareness, we can understand that our awareness is impure.

Now is what is pure awareness, this is the opposite of the previous.

When we perceive something that is never changing, which is absolute and beyond any reproach, then it becomes pure.

Further we need to understand what is this pure consciousness/awareness and how to experience such awareness.

Pure awareness is a state where one has no thoughts (since thoughts create false/incomplete awareness), when there is no thought then he just becomes a silent observer of what is happening to him internally. Meaning when there no thought there is existence but this existence is free from any afflictions. So ideally in this state we should experience a type of awareness which beyond anything. How this experience will be for a person cannot be explained as I do not know how it would be to feel sure consciousness.

So experience such awareness is Self realization (according to my understanding).

Next step is to find out a way to achieve this awareness. This is possible by meditation. Meditation is a process of exploring ourselves internally.

Ideally we should start with focusing our attention to on single point within our body, best point of focus is Ajna chakra (as per my Guruji) as this is connected to Pineal Gland and Pituitary Gland, which triggers trans easily (Let bother about trans later).

When we focus our attention and concentration on a single point within our body, slowly over a period of time we start exploring that space, various thoughts keep popping up in our mind but we should trying ignore those thoughts and concentrate on that point. To avoid thoughts we should practice Nadi Shodhana Pranayama. Perfection in this breathing technique should stop thoughts during meditation.

to be continnued

Bala Tripurasundari Mantras

Below are mantras for Bala Tripurasundari for educational purpose. Contact a Guru for practice

1. ಓಂ ಐಂ ಕ್ಲೀಂ ಸೌಃ

OM aiM klIM sauH

ओं ऐं क्लीं सौः

Useful for spiritual growth and wellness 

2. OM aiM sauH klIM 

ಓಂ ಐಂ ಸೌಃ ಕ್ಲೀಂ 

ओं ऐं सौः क्लीं 

Useful for problems

Before chanting the above we should chant 100 times (once)

OM hasaiM hasakarIM hasaiM

ಓಂ ಹಸೈಂ ಹಸಕರೀಂ ಹಸೈಂ

ओं हसैं हसकरीं हसैं

Guhya Kali Mantras / Guhyakali Mantras

Below are few of the Guhya Kali mantras.

These mantras are for Education purpose only. To practice these mantra kindly consult a Guru.

By default all mantras should start with OM, I have 

1. One Lettered - Used by Vidhatha (The name of the upasaka) 

OM phreM
ಓಂ ಫ್ರೆಂ
ओं फ्रॆं

2. Three lettered - by Ananga

OM hreeM phreM

ಓಂ ಹ್ರೀಂ ಫ್ರೆಂ

ओं ह्रीं फ्रॆं

3. Three lettered - by Varun

OM ChrIM strIM phreM
ಓಂ ಛ್ರೀಂ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಂ ಫ್ರೆಂ
ओं छ्रीं स्त्रीं फ्रॆं

4. Used by Bhartha

OM phreM siddhIkarAli hreeM ChrIM hUM strIM phreM namaH swAhA
ಓಂ ಫ್ರೆಂ ಸಿದ್ಧೀಕರಾಲಿ ಹ್ರೀಂ ಛ್ರೀಂ ಹೂಂ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಂ 
ओं फ्रॆं सिद्धीकरालि ह्रीं छ्रीं हूं स्त्रीं फ्रॆं नमः स्वाहा

I will more of Guhya Kali mantra as and when possible. If there are any errors, kindly correct the same and notify me

Understanding Who Am I

When any thought arises, say that I want money. The first thing that we understand that, I want money. So if we analyze this further. This thought arises in my mind and then it proceeds to our intellect, Consciousness and finally ego to act on the same.

If, we go in the reverse order.  We can understand the Ego is acting based on the input from consciousness and it from the intellect and finally intellect is influenced by Mind where the thoughts are created.

Hence the source of all thoughts is our mind; it is here where we get information from the sensory organs to the mind and this mind creates thoughts. Mind and thoughts are the same as mind exists only for the sole purpose of creating thoughts.

Then further when we try to understand why are these thoughts created, we realize that these thoughts are created for me. Meaning the mind thinks “I need money”.

Who is this “I”, that the mind is thinking about? Mind usually associates its thoughts to the physical body and hence it thinks that “I - refers to the physical body”. But when the mind is made thoughtless or when we do not create thoughts in our mind then for the mind this body will not exist, but even at that time there is awareness in us. What is this awareness? This awareness is beyond the body as there are no thoughts, since thoughts are created when we interact with the external world. Further in this situation when the mind quiet and if it questions “Who am I”, then mind cannot associate ‘I’ to the physical body or even the mind (as it is quieted), as mind itself does not exist as there are no thoughts. Then who is this ‘I’? When mind is transcended by this way, then what is left? After this stage only awareness exists in our mind. What is this awareness and how does this feel? Will be the question at this point; is this the Brahman that we talk about?

How can I say this as I have not reached this stage of thoughtlessness; to achieve this stage meditation and protecting the mind is a very important requirement; During meditation mind can be made thoughtless, and once thoughtless we become aware of the emptiness due to the lack of thoughts.

These my understanding based on Guruji's teachings. Any mistakes is solely mine for lack of understanding