SELF-REALISATION.
(GOD- REALISATION.) Part 5
In Hindu religion, we
believe that GOD and MAN are one and
the same. A deluded GOD is
MAN and undeluded MAN is GOD. GOD
forgetful of his own glory became a deluded man. Man awakened to the glory of the ‘SELF’ is
GOD. ‘AHAM BRAHMASMI’ is the
watch word. This is the great Mahavakya
of VEDAS.
The sages call GOD as
‘BRAHMAN’. BRAHMAN alone is ‘SAT-CHIT –ANANDA’. Meaning ‘Existence,
consciousness and bliss.’ That
is, Brahman alone is real. Every
thing else is ‘Unreal’. ‘SELF’ alone is real. Everything else is unreal. Because, ‘SELF or GOD’ was, is and
will be. This body that we ‘THE SELF’ are wearing, was not there
yesterday, seemingly present today and
will not be there tomorrow. Hence, this body is unreal. Bhagavad Geeta emphasizes that ‘We are the SOUL with a body and not the body with a SOUL. This body is our mortal garb. We are wearing it
temporarily . Hence, we are not this body, mind or intellect. Then, who are we? We are that immutable, omniscient,
all-pervading, self-luminous and
imperishable “BRAHMAN or GOD or SELF.” This
is the answer for perennial question ‘Who am I?’ given in Bhagavad Geeta and Upanishads.
Brahman is Real and
this Universe is Unreal as declared by
hindu scriptures. That ‘Brahman’ is our
real nature. That means, “Jeeva Brahma
ekatma purnam”. Jeevatma (individual
Soul) and Paramatma (universal Soul) are
one and the same. That is our true nature. ‘Thou art Tht’. We ,the deluded Souls need to realize that. The entire
Bhagavad Geeta emphasizes the concept of
“ TATVAM ASI. Thou art that.”
That which never changes and never ceases to exist is “BRAHMAN”. Hence, BRAHMAN is “IMMUTABLE”.
That means, this “JEEVATMA
is IMMUTABLE”. That is, we the “JEEVATMAS (individual SOULS) never die. We keep changing the bodies. Repeat birth,
death and rebirth cycles that we ,the
individual Souls go through are nothing but changing our “MORTAL GARBS”, “BODY GOWNS”. Hence,
We are ‘Eternal SOULS’. Hindu religion emphasizes the theory of
“RE-INCARNATION”. As long as we
have “VASANAS or TENDENCIES and TEMPTATIONS”, we keep changing our mortal garbs, either
Plants, animals or human beings. That is birth,
death and rebirth cycles until we attain ‘MOKSHA or
LIBERATION.’
Upanishads emphasize
that ‘GOD’ is not an object ,but,
Subject. Objects are unreal , because,
they are ever changing. The subject is changeless , immutable.
Even knowledge is unreal , as it
keeps changing. Any thing that changes, is unreal.
For example, what we experience in dream state, is unreal in waking state. Similarly, what we experience in waking state, is unreal in “Transcendental state, when we experience the SELF, our true nature.”
That transcendental state is our “true
nature—The Brahman realization.”
Hence, “BRAHMAN alone is real,
and everything else is unreal in spiritual parlance. This is the declaration
of Upanishads and the great sages like Sankaracharya, Ramana maharshi, swamy Chinmayananda and other
SEERS.
Sankaracharya says : that in this ever-changing world, there is one
changeless being , as a ‘ witness’ of
these changes. This eternal, ever-seeing being is “BRAHMAN”.
That which is seen, comprises every thing other than “THE SELF”,
such as the senses, objects of the senses, the mind and intellect . “SELF”
alone is the ultimate “SEER”. That
changeless, ever-seeing “BRAHMAN or
SELF” is our true nature. This is The
Philosophy of “ADVAITA or NON-DUALITY “ as enunciated in Bhagavad
Geeta and Upanishads and the famous maha
vakya “ TATVAM ASI”.
In Shloka 20 Chapter 2
IN Bhagavadd Geeta , LORD Krishna says: He
(SELF) is never born, nor does he
ever die. Unborn, Eternal, changeless and Ancient, he (SELF) is not killed when the body is
killed.
Change or mutability belongs to the body. Body,
mind and intellect are ever
changing. This change is the cause of all
sufferings and sorrows. Birth,
growth, disease and death
belong to the ever-changing BODY.
The ‘ATMAN or SELF’ has no
mutability and hence, Lord Krishna emphatically denies these things in “THE SELF “
our true nature. Because, I, the
SELF am birthless and deathless. I am only the illuminator of this
Body. Out of delusion, when I illumined
the body, instead of being the
illuminator, I identified with the body
and became “JEEVATMA”. That is
the cause of my sufferings and sorrows. The ‘SELF’ is beyond the body and the
Ego (Jeeva). The ‘SELF’, or
Pure consciousness is the illuminator of both of them. The body is a mere “Delusory super imposition “ upon the “SELF”.
Out of delusion, I see the Snake in a rope and that is the cause of my
suffering. When delusion is gone , I
see the rope and my suffering is gone.
Similarly, when I, the Paramatma, illumined this body,I identified with the body
and became “JEEVATMA”. This is out of delusion (Snake in a rope.)
. When my Delusion is gone (maya is gone), I realize that I am none
other than “BRAHMAN”. That is higher awakening, That is “SELF-REALISATION’, One becomes “JEEVANMUKTA”, that is : One is liberated even when he is in
the embodiment. Ramana maharshi, sankaracharya, swamy Chinmayananda are but a few examples.
So, let us arise,
awake and make an effort to become aware of our true nature: GOD-HOOD, BRAHMIC STATE, SELF-HOOD.
HARI- OM.
Dr.
K. Eswara Dutt.
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