Who is 'I'?

An interesting question that man has been asking himself for ages is "who am I". Is "I" the person who is asking, or is "I" the body. Is it the intellect which is trying to seek or is it the mind which is looking for an answer. The answers to all the above questions could be different for different people. Some identify themselves with their name, caste, religion, and sex, some with their qualifications or the position they hold in society and for others it is relevant to the relationships in their lives. They are based on certain conditions namely social, economical or the likes. Yet the question remains unanswered because the fact is that "I" is neither the body nor it is the mind or the intellect. "I" is the self, the spirit, the atman which is immortal, which has gone through the various experiences in the numerous births it has taken so far and shall continue to be immortal in the numerous births to come.

A body-conscious person spends his entire life in fulfilling his desires. All his time and energy is consumed in earning name, fame, wealth, money and things that can give him physical comfort and pleasure. When successful, his ego inflates and with failure comes pain and hurt. He gets trapped in this vicious cycle of success and failure, happiness and pain but refuses to give up his desires. He continues to suffer by indulging in accumulating more and more oblivious to the fact that Atman which is pure, a part of the divine is free of all the desires, all the gains and pains and is unaffected by the five senses, the intellect, the mind or the ego. Self-knowledge gained by following the path of meditation and being spiritual helps man to understand the atman and its true nature. This knowledge about the self releases him from all the desires which is the root cause of his pains and sufferings due to which he is bound to the vicious cycles of birth and death. Identifying with this self is knowing and understanding the "I". When one gets to know the "I", he gets to know the divinity, the universe and all its secrets. But for this, he has to first subdue the bodily longings in the form of cravings of senses Until and unless the bodily longings in the form of cravings of senses are subdued and the meditational process cannot go deeper than the physical level. Meditation which is the journey from sound to silence, from movement to stillness, from a limited identity to an unlimited space silences the overactive and disturbed mind allowing the person to go deep within and feel the inner peace, the peace which has always been present within him as his nature but forgotten. Until and unless the bodily longings in the form of cravings of the senses are subdued the meditational process cannot go deeper than the physical level. 

Spirituality or Adhyatma which means 'in relation to the soul' is not a knowledge that is to be acquired. It is a way of living that means adapting oneself with the characteristic of the spirit to such an extent, that one lives his entire life with that particular vision.

The questions such as ‘who am I’, ‘where have I come from’, 'what is the purpose of my life', ‘what are the features of Atma’ can be answered only through the study of this ultimate science namely the spiritual science or Adhyaatm.

Having a theoretical as well as a  practical aspect to it, the study of the atman is termed as a science that has been proven time and again. Also known as subtle science, Adhyatma is a study of something that is beyond the five senses, the mind and the intellect.

We, the embodied souls are a part of the eternal supreme source, the Parambramha, whose essential quality is Sat-Chit-Anand - permanent bliss and happiness. The direct knowledge and experience of that supreme bliss and happiness are imprinted in our subconscious mind because we are the very same being in different forms. These impressions creep up time and again causing a restlessness within us that leads to a search for peace, happiness and bliss leading us towards spirituality and meditation. Every being on this earth wishes to be happy but remains ignorant to the fact that happiness is only a temporary sensation that the soul experiences through the five senses, mind and/or intellect. Our happiness is fleeting. Today we may be happy and tomorrow we may not be. There are numerous agents which work as catalysts to extinguish the little flame of joy that a person experiences in life. The sorrows in the world often seem to outweigh the joys. Whether to have more joy is a question that each one has to answer for one’s own self. The soul in actual is in search of bliss. Bliss, the quality present within each one of us which is permanent but has remained dormant waiting to be active.

Just as darkness cannot stand before light, sorrow cannot be visualised or experienced in any way when bliss is experienced directly in one’s own self.

Through sadhana when the spiritual knowledge is put into practice, the soul experiences this bliss attaining a state of mind when the mind ceases to be disturbed in extreme happy or sad situations. It is said to be in the bliss of Self-realisation (Atmanand). At this point, all the desires and instincts, likes and dislikes and the impressions cease to exist from the subconscious mind. It is the state that can be attained through any form of spiritual practice or sadhana such as chanting or repetition of Lord’s name, being in the company of saints, attending satsang or performing seva. All these practices work towards clearing the impressions from the subconscious mind, along with cutting down on karmas that the soul has accumulated over the numerous previous births.

Man is after all man. Human nature cannot leave him. He may be an expert in a particular field. In spite of this, his knowledge at times is incapable of bailing him out of challenging situations because the real knowledge which is required to face, interpret and implement those circumstances in life into a means of transformation of that particular event for the sake of higher achievement is missing. The more one continues his spiritual practice, the more he progresses and the advancement can be tested by the emotions that pass over one’s mind every day. The attitude that we project every day in respect of others and those feelings which we want to hide from others, the kind of thought that we entertain in ourselves and the kind of thought that we would not like to manifest before others and also the several moments of joy and sorrow through which we pass through every day tell us the substance of our character. As the spirit begins to behold things, a new value begins to be visualised in person and things outside. The vision of a sadhak is not merely a vision of the eyes, it is a spiritual vision. The sadhak begins to look at the objects from the point of view of the spirit; for spirituality is the standpoint of the spirit and not that of a person. The idea of personality is outgrown when the spiritual attitude manifests itself in outward life. He learns to expect anything and everything. We are all born with a higher Self but are unaware of its presence within because it is lying dormant only to manifest at the right opportunity. So wake up and raise from the limited sentiments and emotions to a higher pedestal of appreciation, understanding and meditation. Become a true spiritual seekers who is forever smiling never in melancholy or depressed. May this message enter our being and May the Divinity bless us all.