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?

The Guru Is Not An Individual

When one starts out inquiring into one's own nature, he or she is still trapped in the false belief that he or she is an entity separate and independent of the world of objects around them. The seeker then comes across a Guru or Teacher who being Enlightened, gives the seeker Knowledge of the Truth. The Guru points one to one's own True Nature and encourages one to inquire within. However, instead of Listening to the words of the Guru, the seeker often starts looking up to the Guru as an individual who has pointed out the Truth. Because of the false assumption that the Guru is indeed the body-mind entity (individual) who is speaking the words, the words of the Guru fail to hit the intended target, which is the ego or the false self of the seeker. The seeker thus fails to grasp the real meaning of the pointers. The greater problem however is that the seeker starts to make judgements on the behavior, character, actions and personality of the Guru and begins to wonder as to how this can be reconciled with what is being heard coming from the mouth of the Guru. The Guru when seen as an individual seems like any ordinary person, full of the contradictions that make up an individual.  Your impression of what a Guru should look and behave like may not necessarily correlate to what is presented to you by the Guru. The profound words coming from the mouth of the Guru seem to be contradictory to the general impression one may get on seeing the Guru as an individual. It is one of the main reasons why the pointers from the Guru are not fully absorbed.

When one takes oneself to be an individual, it is but natural to look at all others as individuals, separate from your own self. But, when one Realizes that one is not an individual, then there is no distinction between oneself and the others. When listening to the words of the Guru, do not believe that you are listening to an individual. On the contrary, realize that it is consciousness speaking to consciousness. To state it better, speaking and listening are happening in consciousness. There is in reality, no entity involved in this process. When one lets the Message from the Guru penetrate deep into the very consciousness that one is, then there is profound and definite shift in the consciousness which leads to Self Realization.

The Guru is in fact nameless and formless. No identity can be given to the Guru. The Guru is none other than your own Self. The Guru is not separate from you. The one who thinks is separate is the ghost that you call "me". On inquiry you will realize that there is no entity here that you can call "me" or "mine". So, give up trying to analyze the personality that is trying to teach you the Truth. Instead, sit quietly and LISTEN to the words of the Guru. For the words of the Guru themselves will lead you to the Truth of who you really, really are.

The End Of Spirituality

It is indeed amazing that we take for granted that we are an entity- an entity with a name and form. One rarely if ever questions the source or the origin of this entity. In the meantime, one is busy gathering more and more knowledge from various sources to enhance their self worth, whether it be in the field of arts and sciences, material wealth, religious knowledge or spiritual knowledge. Based on this gathered knowledge, one begins to feel important or great about themselves. Often the one who has gained knowledge of scriptures and spiritual knowledge feels superior to others who are ignorant of this knowledge. The spiritualist feels that he or she can somehow save the world and solve its problems.

Sadly, such a spiritualist has obviously not found out the truth about his/her own True Identity. Such a one has failed to question the source of the knowledge "I am". One has failed to question and find out the source of beingness, the taste of beingness, and the nature of beingness. Why and how has this beingness appeared? What makes the beingness what it is? In the absence of this body, would there be any knowledge of beingness and to whom?  No one seems to be interested in getting to the bottom of these questions. One is more interested in the branches of the tree rather than the roots. Understandably, the branches are more easily seen but it is the roots that you are really after.

All knowledge is in the realm of consciousness. But have you ever wondered what exactly is this consciousness and is it really the Truth? Is this consciousness not the source of this grand illusion, that we call the world and the universe. Without consciousness, would there be a 'you' or a 'me'? Is it not true that because of this consciousness, you have come to know that you are? What happens to all this knowledge of spirituality you have collected, if there is no 'you'? Who is it that claims ownership of spirituality?

When the Truth dawns on 'you', 'you' disappear and merge into the Truth. With your disappearance, there is the end of spirituality. THAT is beyond knowledge and ignorance. THAT is who you really, really ARE. Don't get fooled by the illusion of beingness. Step backwards and beyond this illusion to submerge into the Truth. The problem with most seekers is that they are unwilling to take this step.

THAT is Beyond I Am

Presently, you KNOW you are. This knowledge of I AM, has given you this sense of being.  You have taken this knowledge to be real and because of it, you are suffering. One has to question as to how this knowledge of beingness came about. What were you prior to this knowledge of beingness?  Unless these questions are inquired into, the final answer will not come about. Did you do anything to attain this knowledge, I Am?  You may wonder, "if this knowledge, I Am, is not the Reality, then what use is it?". Don't dismiss this knowledge I AM.  In fact, the ultimate purpose of this knowledge I Am, is for you to unravel the mystery of how this all came about. In fact, I Am is your God and this God is going to pave the path to Self Discovery and Self Realization. So, hang on to the I Am for it is everything.

What you really, really ARE is beyond the knowledge I Am. Since, there is no description for that State, it is simply called THAT or the Absolute. In THAT, there is no I Am. It is beyond I Am. It is beyond all dyads and triads. Because, it is a State prior to consciousness and thereby the mind, it is impossible for the limited mind to fathom what by nature is beyond both limited and unlimited. When one says "I am That", one acknowledges the fact that I Am is a derivative of THAT.  There is no way for one to know THAT in the objective sense, since IT is beyond both the subject and the object.  You are none other than THAT. Just reach this Understanding.

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.

Are You Ready to Lose Yourself?

Right now you are immersed in your identity with this body and mind. Based on years of conditioning of the mind, you have established yourself to be the body and the mind.  A body with a name. You believe yourself to be an entity, a body-mind entity with a name.  The name could be John, Josh, Arjun, Akbar or whatever else your parents told you. On asking about who you are, you have no hesitation in pointing to this body and saying "this is who I am".  You look at yourself in the mirror and take pride in saying " my body". Yet, you have never given careful thought about your own TRUE IDENTITY. If inquired into, you will realize that you are neither this body nor this mind. But, before you come to this realization, you may have abundant questions. Questions about non-duality, about why the world is like this or that, about religion, about various rituals and religious practices, or about which practice or sadhana you must follow in order to attain this Realization. Questions, questions and more questions.  Never ending questions. Why? Only to add to your already existing base of knowledge.  Often, armed with this added knowledge you may want to impress your friends and show them how spiritually advanced you have become. By throwing this jargon of words around, you no doubt impress some people.  But all along you very well know within yourself that all of this is just a facade. You are still trapped with the strong conviction of being this body and mind and the story that comes along with it. All this knowledge from the wrongly directed questions will have only resulted in the strengthening of your identity of a form with a name, you ego.

If you happen to be in such a situation, do not get dejected. It is an all too common scenario and you just have to look around in the world of spirituality to see how many people fall into this situation. The main question you must ask yourself at this stage is whether you are really, really willing to get to the bottom of this quest or is this quest just to boost your ego and self worth. If you are really, really willing to get to the bottom of this quest for knowing your True Identity, in that case you must be willing to lose everything that you have gained so far.  You must be willing to plunge yourself whole heartedly into this venture. You must be ready to lose yourself completely. You must be willing to give up your current identity and surrender it at the feet of the Guru. You must be completely humble and not take credit for anything or any action. When you have thus left the load of your identity and the suffering associated with this identity to be carried by the Guru, you immediately become free. All problems and suffering is directly associated with an identity to the body and mind. You suffer only because of problems related to the body or thoughts (the mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts).

Now, if you do not identify yourself with the body or the mind, what questions can you have? All questions arise only when you identity with form and a name.  No identity of form and name = no questions = silence or absence of thoughts.  This thought-less state is the state of Just Being.

You are truly formless and without any identity but you are suffering only because you have falsely taken upon yourself this identity with the body and the mind(thoughts).  Don't waste any more time in acquiring more outside knowledge. All the knowledge you want is within your own self.  Just inquire as to who you really, really are.  That is all that is needed.

No Time for Realization

The idea of being a separate and independent entity called "me" is the reason why one thinks that some effort and action is required for Self Realization. In reality, the Self is already Realized. You know you are, right now and right here. Yet, this simple fact is ignored by almost all seekers since they have invested so heavily in the idea of a separate entity.  They strongly believe that some form of tapas or ritualistic action or path would have to be followed to experience the state of the Self. The concept of time is an essential element in the concept of karma. On careful analysis of one's own True Nature, it becomes evident that time is but a concept.

Come to think of it, if that Real State of Self is to be experienced at some point in the future through some path, it should exist now as much as it should in the future.  The fact that you say you cannot experience the Self now would amount to saying that the Self is non-existent at one time and existent at another time. Since the Real State should be present at all times (the past, present and future), the very idea of the Self not being experienced now but at some point in the future would negate Its Reality. A  state which comes at one point of time and goes away at another point of time cannot be the Final or Real State since that would not be eternal and unchanging.  However blissful the state may be, it cannot be Eternal if it is only experienced intermittently or at some point of time.  The Real and Eternal State of the Self just IS. It always IS. There is no question of coming and going for the Self. The very thought that the natural state of the Self has been lost and therefore will be found through tapas is false.

So, you may ask, what must the seeker do in that case?  We come back to square one as to 'who is the seeker who wants to know the Self?'.  It is not a question of knowing the Self.  On the contrary, it is a question of knowing the real identity of the seeker, the "me". The seeker has only to establish the falsehood of being a seeker. Through careful inquiry and discrimination of the Real from the false, the seeker must realize that he/she is a non-entity. The Self which is self shining will be self evident, as soon as the false "me" is removed.

As Ramana Maharshi once said, "After understanding theoretically that the Self is non-dual, and after staggering again and again in one's efforts to attain the practical experience of the real Self, when finally one's mental efforts subside, the knowledge which then shines in the heart is the nature of that Reality."