Time to Wake Up

You think you are awake right now, isn't it? You argue that this is the waking state.  No argument there unless and until you really inquire into your Real Identity. Upon careful inquiry you will come to the conclusion that you are actually not awake. This is the primary dream state or primary illusion state. The 'I am' is the primary illusion or dream state. This illusory state gives one the impression of being, being an entity. This 'I am' latches on to various thoughts and establishes various identities. Thus the confusion of one's True Nature. Yet, it is through this primary dream state that one can establish one's own True Nature and Realize the falseness of this state that one calls the "waking state" and become free.

The dream one gets in sleep is the secondary dream state. Often, the secondary dream results in images and events related to the primary dream state. Then, there is the deep sleep state or dreamless sleep. All these states come and go. YOU(the REAL You) are none of these states. YOU are the one who is AWARE of these states. You remain still and are AWARE of the movement or absence of movement in all these states. Is it not time for you to actually WAKE UP?

True Renunciation

Very often a seeker may feel that the circumstances of a busy life of a working person with a family is not conducive to Self Realization. It is all too easy to come to this conclusion since a lot of Sages were also renunciates (sannyasin), in the sense that they were not married with a family or did not have the usual encumbrances of a family man. It is tempting to say that if only one could only have more time to meditate or chant or contemplate on the teachings of the Guru, one could perhaps consider the goal of Self Realization as a feasible goal.  It is tempting to say that because of a busy life of work, kids or family and other duties and worries associated with a worldly life, one does not find the time to pursue the goal of Self Realization.  Let us suppose, you were free from all of the duties of a family life and work life and were able to live in a cave or in the forest with all the time to devote yourself to the lofty goal of Self Realization. In that case, do you really believe that you would have no distractions or worries? As long as you have identity with the body and mind, you will have worries and distractions since you will have to meet the needs of the body and the mind (also called desires).

True Renunciation is not just giving up your worldly duties (dharma).  On the other hand, True Renunciation is giving up your identity with the body-mind entity, the ego. True Renunciation is giving up the notion of being a person, a so-and-so with a name and title. True Renunciation is giving up the idea or concept of being an individual. True Renunciation is giving up the idea of being the first person, the "I". True Renunciation is merging with the Self as One, with no separation whatsoever.

True Renunciation is possible for absolutely any one who has a sincere desire to be free, irrespective of one's station in this world. To do so, one need not give up one's work or family or  any other duty in this world. Instead, one has only to turn one's attention to the Self. You realize that you are already a True Renunciate, since there is nothing apart from the Self. All else is just an illusion.