The Hindu : Identify truth and illusion

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 27, 2003

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Identify truth and illusion

CHENNAI NOV. 27. Human relationships are based on the syndrome of the `I' and the self. Looking at ourselves as the sum total of our body and the related material and emotional bondage, we get conditioned to a self-reinforcing, cause-effect chain of negative interactions.

To escape such a morass, a devotee seeks the right guidance which will help transcend one's baser instincts. Just as how one has to travel to the seat of governance in order to make a personal representation of one's woes, so too should devotees journey within in order to distinguish between the outer body with its attendant functions and the inner self.

One may wonder how to transcend ignorance and gain ultimate knowledge. People should develop the faculty of crystal clear thinking which alone can lead to higher consciousness, said Sri Govind Chaitanya in his discourse.

The wherewithal for the same is laid down in the Bhagvad Gita. A person with mere book knowledge of what goes into the preparation of `roti' will come to grief if he fails to follow the process and due procedure. Similarly, aspiring devotees seeking true joy should bring to bear the principle of moral support and emotional detachment in their dealings with others.

Often, even routine departmental transfers are enough cause to upset a person's mental equilibrium. However `normal' such feelings may be, one can surmount worldly attachments by acting like the man who gives alms by dipping in to a cloth bag, without looking at the denomination.

Like a river's movements which seek fulfilment by reaching the ocean, all our aspirations are to seek attaining external joy. The principle of consciousness, of the supremacy and oneness of the lord, is effervescent and envelops everyone.

A man paddling in shallow waters can delude himself into thinking that he is making the river flow. An analogue of the same misconception pervades all our lives, where we are unable to distinguish between truth and illusion.

Knowing the difference is the beginning of one's efforts towards reaching Godself which is the fruit of all knowledge. It then follows that the awareness of the all- pervading supreme, which is neither `being' nor `non-being', timeless, limitless and all-encompassing, is the essence of what resides in each of us.

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