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The eternal Self religion

CHENNAI: The Self (Atman) is beyond the body, mind and the intellect and hence is not affected by the afflictions that beset these human faculties. The Vedanta texts reiterate this fact ad nauseam so that a spiritual seeker will come to terms with the ephemeral nature of the human personality and identify with the Self, which is eternal in nature. But it is easier said than done as can be seen in practice when a person embarks on the spiritual path. Great saints have shown by example that they were totally poised in the Self.

In his discourse, Swami Gautamananda said Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa enlightened his disciples and devotees on spiritual matters with a smiling face even when he was suffering from cancer thereby attesting that he was untouched by his bodily afflictions. He explained to Swami Vivekananda that though the three qualities (Gunas) —Sattva, Rajas and Tamas—were in the Absolute Self it was unaffected by them.

This can be compared to Lord Krishna teaching the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna just when the Mahabharata war was about to commence. Overcome by attachment to his kith and kin, who were arrayed against him in battle, Arjuna threw down his arms refusing to fight just when the battle was about to commence because he envisaged that the fratricidal war was going to decimate them. He told Lord Krishna that he could not bear the grief though he would obtain undisputed sovereignty over the Earth. It was then that the Lord commenced His teaching as if smiling, which shows that the existential realities of life have to be learnt the hard way.

An incident in the life of Adi Sankara is also cited to highlight that the Self is unaffected by the body, mind and the intellect. Sankara was going to Kasi Viswanath temple after ablutions in the Ganga when he noticed an outcaste on the way and he asked him to step aside. It was actually Lord Siva in guise and He asked: “Is it addressed from one body made of food to another body made of food, or is it from consciousness to consciousness; which, O, the best of ascetics, do you wish to go away?” Enlightened Sankara sang the famous hymn Maneeshapanchakam then.

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