Know Thyself

In the last issue, we dealt with the question of importance of Human Life, which we have attained after countless births in various species. We will now deal with this subject, Who Am I?
Oh Seeker? Know thyself first. Without knowing one self, how can one claim that he knows the Supreme Lord?


'Know thyself', this is one of the first lessons that spiritual seekers receive when they start out on this path. All our Gurus, our realized masters, say the same thing. Our Vedas, the Koran, the Bible, and scriptures, stress the importance of knowing oneself. They say that we cannot have 'God-Realization' without 'Self Realization'. Once a person knows himself, then all other knowledge is easy. But what exactly do we mean by knowing oneself?
When we try to analyze the situation, we find that we kow ourselves the least. We are always engaged in knowing others, spending months and years studying external objects, trying to know more and more people and more about them. Even regarding ourselves, we spend several hours each day improving our body's external appearance. But how often do we look at the real I? We do not want to look inside ourselves- at our internal faults and blemishes. We do not want to face ourselves. So we spend all our time looking for faults in others, analyzing their actions, words, and emotions.


But how can we achieve this? How can we rise above the filthy mess that we have made of our lives? Who will show us the right path? Who will lead us to true happiness? The saints and sages of the past, the rishis of Vedas, and modern seekers of God have recognized this dilemma that we face. They have said that it is our spiritual power that gices us life, that gives us capacity to think. Without this spark of consciousness, we are just a lifeles collection of five elements. In our pursuit of non-essential things, we have forgotten the essential. The essential is what the sages and rihis cal our Self, our true Nature, our Atma. They urge us to understandj our nature, to nurture our spiritual power, and to awaken our consciousness.
Because of the illusion of Maya, we fail to recognise the truth. We have to remove the straw before our eyes to see the grandeur of the mountain, the Supreme Parmatma. Once we do this, we will see the immense power and limitless capabilities of our Atma. And since this life force is same in all living beings, we will realize our onemess with all things in the universe; man, animal, or plant. The one sure way to remove all difference of caste, creed, race, and religion is to recognise the one Supreme Power in all of us. By this realization, we will become a part of the Supreme Consciousness. Our petty problems and day to day miseries and worries will not get us down.


Then later on, you will search for your original home. How will you find it? As long as the soul does not find its true abode, it wonder aimlessly in this world.
In meditation, yogis sometimes come across the formless entity (Nirankar Brahma) and think that to be their final destination. Here they experience lasting peace but not eternal bliss. Our final destination is to merge with Sachidanand Parmatma, the home of eternal truth, consciousness and bliss. Until we do that we will wandering aimlessly from place to place, from birth to re-birth.