Miscellaneous - Religion   

Know the Self

CHENNAI : The ability to discriminate between the real and the unreal, the everlasting and the perishable, is the starting point for self-realisation. It is very difficult to believe that whatever one thinks as security and of prime importance while living in this world — money, power, health, bank balance, friends, relatives, wife, children, etc. — is not so in truth. That is why spiritual texts repeatedly stress that the Atma is eternal while all else in this universe is subject to change and death, and persuade the Jivatma to ignore the worldly attractions and focus on the welfare of the soul to avoid getting entangled into further bondage, pointed out Sri M. Muthukrishnan in a lecture. Despite daily evidence of the ever changing facets of nature including the aging process of the human body, the firm decision to turn one's back on the world seems slow to take root.

Faith in the scriptures and in the preceptor is of paramount importance when one decides to tread the path to God. The main hurdle in this path is desire for worldly objects. The best way to overcome this desire is to direct it towards the Supreme Being. But even when the soul longs to love God, the right path and method may not be clear. Jaya Deva's Gita Govinda celebrates the longing of Radha for Lord Krishna and the union is made possible through the efforts of her friend. This is symbolic of the soul's longing to reach the divine abode and preceptors provide guidance in the right direction. There has to be a concerted effort to discipline oneself so that the physical, intellectual and mental aspects of an individual's personality stay attuned without any internal rivalry about the goal of God realisation.

The enquiry into "who am I" and "what am I" is essential to extricate oneself from worldly commitments. That the Self is the essence of everlasting truth (Sat), consciousness (Chit) and bliss (Ananda) and is not the emotion, senses, intellect, etc, is the Jnana to be gained. The knower of the Self becomes a released soul and remains detached and unaffected from the world even while living in it as butter churned from curd floats separately in it.

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