Miscellaneous - Religion   

Staying tuned to the Self

CHENNAI: Scriptures state that the index of spiritual attainment is related to an individual’s insight into Self-Knowledge. In the Bhagavad Gita, when Lord Krishna explains at length this truth, He indicates the paradox in the situation which makes people easily lose sight of the Self when caught in the web of Samsara, pointed out Sri A. Parthasarathi in a lecture. A variety of events, experiences, relationships, etc — occupy the centre stage in an individual’s lifetime and these can easily displace any attention to be directed to the indwelling soul.

The senses are the medium through which the Self is able to experience the world. We are lost in the glamour of the experience of the sense objects but hardly do we pause to ponder the factor that makes all these experiences possible to us. How is it that we are able to see through our eyes? What enables us to hear, touch and experience is not reflected upon. When the focus is external, we lose sight of the tremendous potential of the Self. We have to reverse this trend and ignore the external so that we can focus on the inner being. The purpose of our life is to pick up our lost identity. Then it becomes possible to see peace in disquietude, to hear the sound of silence against the din and even find peace in disturbance.

Consciousness is the cause of experience but we are unable to understand this truth. Waking, dream and deep sleep are three different states of consciousness that an individual experiences. These are conditional states. But the original state of the Self is beyond all these and we have to see this.

The paths of Karma, Jnana and Bhakti are practices that enable us to make use of the physical, intellectual and emotional states of our being to locate the Self within. We have to understand that what seems as an indefinite search for the Self will have to end within each one of us.

We have to emulate the stage performer who is able to render different roles with authentic flavour without losing sight of his original identity.

A man of wisdom (Sthitaprajna) maintains equanimity at all times and remains unruffled by the turbulent winds of change in his life, because he is fully aware of the Self and is not deluded.

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