Reflections on Self
by
A
lover of Ancient Wisdom
What is the highest culmination of human
knowledge and perfection? It is Self-knowledge. What is the most difficult
thing to achieve in life? It is Self-knowledge; so difficult it is that the
Buddha says that the conqueror of self is greater than the conqueror of the
world. In other words, if you are asked to raise an army and go on a conquest
of the world, you will say it is very difficult and not possible. But the
conquest of self is infinitely more difficult than that of the world. What is
the nearest thing to us and yet so far off as not to be apprehended? It is
Self, the Spirit.
This is the greatest paradox of existence. We
all speak of “I am I, and daily say in transactional world “I am so and so,” yet
we know not who that “I am” is.
It is not easy to realize the Self; but,
teaches the Bhagavad Gita, the realization of Self is not impossible. The Great
Enlightened Ones were once like us ordinary mortals, but they at some time
determined to tread the difficult path of Self-realization indicated by their
predecessors, the Buddhas of yore, and became enlightened.
Let us then consult the Holy Books and try to
comprehend what they teach what Self or Soul is, how it came to be embodied and
for what purpose, why it is difficult to realize the Self, though we, each one,
is the Self. We will take a few excerpts from the Bhagavad Gita and meditate on
the teachings.
15th Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, entitled,
“Devotion through knowledge of Supreme Spirit (Paramatma)” teaches that:
1.
Universe, subjective as well as objective,
visible and invisible, in all its infinite diversity, is nothing but the
manifestation of the Supreme Spirit, or Universal, Eternal Consciousness.
2.
Therefore, universe is embodied consciousness.
3.
Which means, the Supreme, which is Infinite,
Eternal, which is ONE, manifest itself in visible and invisible forms,
consisting of a hierarchy of Celestial Beings, as gods, men, in variety of
forms in mineral, vegetable, animal kingdoms, all of which are progressively
evolving to higher levels of consciousness. Evolution means, progressive and
expanding manifestation of infinite potentialities of the Supreme which is
embodied in beings.
4.
There are therefore beings
(a) Below man in the ladder of evolution–in the lower kingdoms of
Nature and sub-human invisible angelic beings called Elemental World;
(b) Stage of Man in whom alone the principle of Mind, or
Self-consciousness, is lit up; and,
(c) Beings far above Man living in Spirit, variously referred to in
scared books as, Celestial Dhyani Buddhas, Archangels, Dhyan Chohans, Kabeiri,
Rishis, Manus. They take part in the governance of the Universe and come down
on earth in cyclic order as Avatars, Prophets, Buddhas, to teach and help on
the progress of humanity on the path of higher evolution.
5.
Therefore, beings differ in degree but
essentially and potential all are perfect in Spirit, which is One. They vary in
the degree of expression of the Divine potentialities of the Supreme which is
the Self of All
Three aspects of Self:
The 15th Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita teaches
that the Spirit or Self is to be considered in three aspect:
i. Supreme Spirit, Eternal, Infinite,
Indivisible ONE SELF;
ii. As embodied Self or Soul, which is like a
ray of the Supreme or like a spark from the central Fire. This embodied Self or
Soul is immortal, an inalienable portion of the Supreme Spirit; and,
iii. The perishable mortal soul in the body, a
temporary reflection of the former.
It is only the noblest attributes of the
lower personal self that survive the death of the body to become one with and
assimilated to Divine Individuality. All other material attributes of the
personal self perish at death, but these material qualities go to form another
body for the Soul’s next incarnation.
Verse 7:
“It is even a portion of Myself which, having
assumed life in this world of conditioned existence, draweth together the five
senses and the mind in order that it may obtain a body and leave it again.”
Verse 8:
“And those are carried by the Sovereign Lord
to and from whatever body he enters or quits, even as the breeze bears the
fragrance from the flower.”
Verse 9:
“Presiding over the eye, the ear, the touch,
the taste, and the power of smelling, and also over the mind, he expresseth the
objects of sense.
The five senses and the mind and the body are
enveloped by the Soul as instruments of knowledge and action to gain experience
in the world through them.
It is through assimilation of essential
experiences of countless rebirths that Divine Individuality, at last realizes
its complete oneness with the Supreme.
The Divine Individuality being highly
spiritual, cannot act directly in the body. It can act only through its mortal
shadow reflected in the body as mortal Man, the Thinker. It is for the latter
to cling to its divine parent and save itself from cycles of birth and death
and attain immortality.
Why do we not realize Self though we are Self?
It is because of delusion of mind chained to
passions and desires mistaking itself to be the body and giving in to lower
animal passions, which it has to conquer and sublimate
Verse 10
“The deluded do not see the Spirit when it
quitteth or remain in the body, not when moved by the qualities, it hath
experience in the world.”
Who can know the Self and how; why others do
not know?
Verse 11:
“But those who have the Eye of Wisdom perceive
it, and devotees who industriously strive to do so see it dwelling on their own
hearts; whilst those have not overcome themselves, who are devoid of
discrimination, see it not even though they strive after.”
Immanence of Supreme Self
Verses 12 to 15:
“Know that the brilliance of the Sun which
illuminateth the whole world, and the light which is in the moon and in the
fire, are splendor of Myself.
“I enter the earth, supporting all living
things by my power, and I am the property of sap which is taste, nourishing all
the herbs and plants of the field.
“Becoming the internal fire of the living, I
associate with the upward and downward breathing and cause the four kinds of
food to digest.
“I am in the hearts of all men, and from me
come memory, knowledge, and also the loss of both.
I am to be known by all the Vedas; and I am he
who is the author of Vedanta, and also am the interpreter of the Vedas.”
Three aspects of Self:
Verse 16:
“There are two kinds of beings in the world,
the one divisible and the other indivisible. The divisible is all things and
the creatures, the indivisible is called Kutastha, or he who standeth on high
unaffected.”
Verse 17:“But there is another Spirit designated as the
Supreme Spirit–Paramatma–which permeates and sustains the three worlds.”
Verse 18:
“As I am above the divisible and also superior
to the indivisible, therefore both in the world and in the Vedas am I known as
Supreme Spirit”
Condition of those who realize the Supreme
Self:
Verse 19:
“He who not being deluded knoweth me thus as
the Supreme Spirit, knoweth all things and worships me under every form and
condition.”
Verse 20:
“Thus, O sinless one, have I declared unto
thee this most sacred science; he who understandeth it, O son of Bharata, will
be a wise man and the performer of all that is to be done.”
A few
meditational themes from the Bhagavad Gita
Chapter 13, verses 12 to 18
“I will now tell thee what is the object of
wisdom, from knowing which a man enjoys immortality; it is that which has no
beginning, even the Supreme Brahma, and of which it cannot be said that it is
either Being or Non-Being.
“It has hands and feet in all directions;
eyes, heads, mouths, and ears in every direction; it is immanent in the world,
possessing the vast whole.
“Itself without organs, it is reflected by all
the senses and faculties; unattached, yet supporting all; without qualities,
yet the witness of them all.
“It is within and without all creatures
animate and inanimate; it is inconceivable because of its subtlety, and
although it is near it is a far off.
“Although undivided it appears as divided
among creatures, and while it sustains existing thing, it is also to be known
as their destroyer and creator.
“It is light of all lights and is declared to
be beyond all darkness; and it is wisdom itself, the object of wisdom, and that
which is to be obtained by wisdom; in the hearts of all it ever presideth
Thus hath been briefly declared what is the
perishable body, and wisdom itself, together with the object of wisdom; he my
devotee who in truth conceiveth me, obtain my state.”
Verse 22:
“The spirit in the body is called Maheswara,
the Great Lord, the spectator, the admonisher, the enjoyer, and also the
Paramatma, the highest soul”
Verse 23:
“He who thus knoweth the spirit and nature,
together with the qualities, whatever mode of life he may lead, is not born
again on this earth.”
Verse 26 to 34:
“Know, O chief of Bharatas, that whatever
anything, animate or inanimate, is produced, it is due to the union of the
Kshetra and Kshetrajna, body and the soul.
“He who seeth the Supreme Being existing alike
imperishable in all perishable things, sees indeed.
“Perceiving the same Lord present in
everything and everywhere, he does not by the lower self destroy his own soul
but goeth to the supreme end.
“He who seeth that all his actions are
performed by nature only, and that the self within is not the actor, sees indeed.
“And when he realizes perfectly that all
things whatsoever in nature are comprehended in the ONE, he attains to the
Supreme Spirit.
“The Supreme Spirit, O son of Kunti, even when
it is in the body, neither acteth nor is affected by action, because being
without beginning and devoid of attributes, it is changeless.
“As the all-moving Akasa by reason of its
subtlety passeth everywhere unaffected, so the spirit, though present in every
kind of body, is not attached to action nor affected.
“As a single sun illuminateth the whole world,
even so doth One Spirit illumine everybody, O son of Bharata.
“Those who with the eye of wisdom thus
perceiveth what is the difference between the body and Spirit and the
destruction of the illusion of objects, go to the Supreme.”
Thus in the Upanishads, called the Holy
Bhagavad-Gita, in the science of the Supreme Spirit, in the book of devotion,
in the colloquy between the Holy Krishna and Arjuna, stands the Thirteenth
Chapter, by name – Devotion by means of the discrimination of the kshetra from
Kshetrajna.
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