Post by Amritha Varshini on Sept 26, 2013 20:03:37 GMT 5.5
The easy way for realisation - Article by Sri V. S. Krishnan (vsk1940@gmail.com)
Self is the reflection of the Brahman, the ultimate reality. It is the Self that gives the individual the power to see, perceive, experience and say “I am” or ‘I exist. We come to know and experience different things, but the first thing that we experience is our own existence. The very sense of ‘being’, ‘existing’ or the awareness of “I AM”, is self knowledge. When a person says “I am’, it means he is aware of his ‘being’. This is the true knowledge. It is this consciousness, illuminated by the Self that constitutes one’s true identity. This Self-consciousness is fundamental, the substratum (Adisthana) which makes all experiences possible. This is described as Self-knowledge or knowledge of Atman. In fact, ‘Self’ is not an object to be known because the Self is both the knower and the known. The knower and the known are one and the same.
The subject of ‘Self’ has been illustrated by Swami Gnaneswarananda, Head of the Vedanta Society of Chicago. He compared human being with that of a big banyan tree. The trunk of the tree which sustains it symbolizes one’s karma, accumulated and carried over in successive births. The branches having leaves and fruits represent the different experiences one undergoes in life. The flowers and fruits which the tree bears signify one’s actions. Seated on top of a tree is a beautiful bird that is self-sufficient. This bird has no desire and is ever in a state of bliss. It survives on its own strength. On the other side of the tree, there is another bird which vacillates here and there, shifts from one branch to another and is always restless. As it tastes new fruits, its desires increase. It sees the self-effulgent bright bird above and aspires to be like that. It repeatedly makes attempt to reach the bird above and after some initial failures reaches it ultimately. Now, the radiance of the bird above is reflected on this bird. Its restlessness gone, it absorbs itself with the higher bird. It transpired that the reality was the single bird above. The lower bird was just a shadow of the bird above. Similarly, there is a supreme Self, above us. When the realization is dawned, the individuality ceases and the Self, like the bird above, alone exists.
A devotee mentioned to Sri Ramana Maharshi that this is an abstract view. Even if this is understood, when it comes to practical application, it becomes very difficult. "It is very easy (Adhi Sulabham)”, said Sri Ramana Maharshi. If one has to acquire some rare herbs from far off Himalayas it is very difficult. But here, the Self is ever present (Nitya Sidha) and all one has to do is to pay attention and look within. The Self is his natural state. It is just being what he is. The very awareness of one’s existence is self-knowledge. When the “I” is experienced as “I” alone, it is Self knowledge but when the mind is allowed to come in between and assert its own concept of “I”, the problem comes. All that one has to do is to remove the ego that poses itself as the “I”. It is the ego that obstructs one's vision like the clouds that obstruct the moon. He should simply turn his attention away from the world and look within. He may engage himself in all his activities but what he needs to do is to establish himself firmly on his Self, just like a male actor, donning the role of a female in a stage performance, is always conscious that he is a male and not a female. Similarly, in our engagement with the world we should be conscious of the fact that we are the Self and not the body and mind.
Therefore, Self-realisation is very simple and not so difficult as we all imagine. Just remove the false notion of 'I' created by the mind and then realization dawns. The only hindrance to Self-Realisation is the false notion of "I" created by the mind. When the false 'I' parades itself, the evil qualities like ego, attachments and aversions, likes and dislikes etc. step in and establish their hold over us. Thus, we become not what we actually are but what we are not. When born, our mind was free. There was emptiness all around. No anger, no ego and no avarice. As we were growing up, at some stage, the ego steps in, gets a base in our mind and we become somebody other than our actual Self.
I am reminded of a story about Krishna's flute. Though I have narrated this story elsewhere, I love to narrate it again because it impressed me very much. Radha felt very jealous about the flute which became almost a part of Krishna. Radha felt jealous because the music that came from his flute attracted other Gopikas towards Krishna. "Even this Krishna seems to have more love towards this flute than towards me", she thought. "Wherever he goes, he carries this flute with him. It seems Krishna does not want to remain separate from His flute".
Finding Krishna playing the flute close to his lips, her jealousy towards the flute grew. She thought she cannot afford to share the lotus like lips of Krishna with anyone else, even if it is an inert object of wood. So possessive she was. She also felt bitter about the way Krishna held the flute on his waist line; another area which also Radha wanted to own exclusively for herself. Radha became very disturbed by these thoughts. She did not know what to do. She knew that Krishna would say some 'excuse'. At last, she decided to find out the secret from the flute itself. One day, Radha managed to find the flute all alone. Apparently, after placing the flute in a particular place, Krishna had gone somewhere. Finding the flute alone, Radha decided to find out what is the secret of the flute which endeared Krishna to it. "Tell me, Oh flute, what is that quality in you that attracts Krishna towards you. What is the quality that I should possess by which Krishna would also turn towards me?" "My only quality is" replied the flute, "Nirguna or devoid of any quality. What makes me special is my emptiness". If you look through the flute, you would not find any part; body, mind or ego; it is empty space, the Chith Akasa."
The subject of ‘Self’ has been illustrated by Swami Gnaneswarananda, Head of the Vedanta Society of Chicago. He compared human being with that of a big banyan tree. The trunk of the tree which sustains it symbolizes one’s karma, accumulated and carried over in successive births. The branches having leaves and fruits represent the different experiences one undergoes in life. The flowers and fruits which the tree bears signify one’s actions. Seated on top of a tree is a beautiful bird that is self-sufficient. This bird has no desire and is ever in a state of bliss. It survives on its own strength. On the other side of the tree, there is another bird which vacillates here and there, shifts from one branch to another and is always restless. As it tastes new fruits, its desires increase. It sees the self-effulgent bright bird above and aspires to be like that. It repeatedly makes attempt to reach the bird above and after some initial failures reaches it ultimately. Now, the radiance of the bird above is reflected on this bird. Its restlessness gone, it absorbs itself with the higher bird. It transpired that the reality was the single bird above. The lower bird was just a shadow of the bird above. Similarly, there is a supreme Self, above us. When the realization is dawned, the individuality ceases and the Self, like the bird above, alone exists.
A devotee mentioned to Sri Ramana Maharshi that this is an abstract view. Even if this is understood, when it comes to practical application, it becomes very difficult. "It is very easy (Adhi Sulabham)”, said Sri Ramana Maharshi. If one has to acquire some rare herbs from far off Himalayas it is very difficult. But here, the Self is ever present (Nitya Sidha) and all one has to do is to pay attention and look within. The Self is his natural state. It is just being what he is. The very awareness of one’s existence is self-knowledge. When the “I” is experienced as “I” alone, it is Self knowledge but when the mind is allowed to come in between and assert its own concept of “I”, the problem comes. All that one has to do is to remove the ego that poses itself as the “I”. It is the ego that obstructs one's vision like the clouds that obstruct the moon. He should simply turn his attention away from the world and look within. He may engage himself in all his activities but what he needs to do is to establish himself firmly on his Self, just like a male actor, donning the role of a female in a stage performance, is always conscious that he is a male and not a female. Similarly, in our engagement with the world we should be conscious of the fact that we are the Self and not the body and mind.
Therefore, Self-realisation is very simple and not so difficult as we all imagine. Just remove the false notion of 'I' created by the mind and then realization dawns. The only hindrance to Self-Realisation is the false notion of "I" created by the mind. When the false 'I' parades itself, the evil qualities like ego, attachments and aversions, likes and dislikes etc. step in and establish their hold over us. Thus, we become not what we actually are but what we are not. When born, our mind was free. There was emptiness all around. No anger, no ego and no avarice. As we were growing up, at some stage, the ego steps in, gets a base in our mind and we become somebody other than our actual Self.
I am reminded of a story about Krishna's flute. Though I have narrated this story elsewhere, I love to narrate it again because it impressed me very much. Radha felt very jealous about the flute which became almost a part of Krishna. Radha felt jealous because the music that came from his flute attracted other Gopikas towards Krishna. "Even this Krishna seems to have more love towards this flute than towards me", she thought. "Wherever he goes, he carries this flute with him. It seems Krishna does not want to remain separate from His flute".
Finding Krishna playing the flute close to his lips, her jealousy towards the flute grew. She thought she cannot afford to share the lotus like lips of Krishna with anyone else, even if it is an inert object of wood. So possessive she was. She also felt bitter about the way Krishna held the flute on his waist line; another area which also Radha wanted to own exclusively for herself. Radha became very disturbed by these thoughts. She did not know what to do. She knew that Krishna would say some 'excuse'. At last, she decided to find out the secret from the flute itself. One day, Radha managed to find the flute all alone. Apparently, after placing the flute in a particular place, Krishna had gone somewhere. Finding the flute alone, Radha decided to find out what is the secret of the flute which endeared Krishna to it. "Tell me, Oh flute, what is that quality in you that attracts Krishna towards you. What is the quality that I should possess by which Krishna would also turn towards me?" "My only quality is" replied the flute, "Nirguna or devoid of any quality. What makes me special is my emptiness". If you look through the flute, you would not find any part; body, mind or ego; it is empty space, the Chith Akasa."
