SELF-REALISATION
The Self is the Ātman (inner self or inner spirit) within every being and not the objects outside. The purpose of the perceiver is to perceive the Ātman. The inner spirit is eternal, invisible, imperishable, and unchanging. It exists beyond the grasp of our ordinary senses and can only be perceived by a true perceiver. Self-realised beings, with their senses turned away from sense objects, see the Ātman within. They are not obligated to fulfil their social responsibilities, as they are situated in knowledge of the self and execute higher responsibilities of the soul. Even if they are not obligated to do so, they still discharge their social responsibilities, as inaction is more dangerous than action taken in good faith. The Katha Upanishad (a conversation between the sage Naciketas and Yama (god of death) highlights on the need for perception by the true perceiver.
parāñci khāni vyatṛṇatsvayambhūstasmātparāṅpaśyati nāntarātman |
kaściddhīraḥ pratyagātmānamaikṣadāvṛttacakśuramṛtatvamicchan || 1 ||
The creator (Brahma), created the senses out-going: therefore, one sees outside and not the atman within. Some intelligent being, with his senses turned away from their object, desirous of immortality, sees the atman within. Therefore, the perceiver sees the external objects which are not the atman, such as sound, etc., and not the atman within. The senses go outward to enlighten their objects, such as sound, sight, smell, etc., as they are of this nature only. Paramesvara (the Supreme Being) has damned them. He is the self-existent, the Being of all beings, the Lord of all, as he alone is always independent and never dependent on others.
"Ātman is to denote the pratyak (the inner spirit) that the word atman is technically used in the world and not to denote any other; and even according to its etymology, it is that alone which the word atman denotes; for, according to the Smriti which declares the derivative meaning of the word Ātman, what pervades, what absorbs, what enjoys objects here and what makes the continuous existence of this universe is, therefore, called the Ātman." The nature of being is not something ephemeral, transient, or evanescent; rather, it is more than and beyond all these in the state of knowledge-existence-bliss, eternity, or perpetuity.
1.
Outline
Self-realisation is the realisation of the self. It moves from the lower self to the higher self, the realisation of divine consciousness. Self-realisation is an intrinsic part of elevating experiences. In our ancient scriptures, there are highlights for both the path and the followers who follow the path. However, the most important component is self-effort, which has been aphoristically stated in Yoga Vasistha. Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita says the self--realised beings are not obligated to fulfill their bodily responsibilities as they are situated in knowledge of the Self and execute higher responsibilities of the soul. However, self-realised individuals like King Janak also perform corresponding social duties to set an example to the world. They do not abandon their social duties, as it may create disharmony in the minds of the common people who look up to them for inspiration. Therefore, the wise continue to work without any personal motive except to set good examples for others to follow; else, the ignorant may abandon their prescribed duties prematurely. Sri Krishna mentions one such example, the enlightened King Janak, who performed his earthly duties as an ideal king and father.
karmaṇaiva hi sansiddhim āsthitā janakādayaḥ
loka-saṅgraham evāpi sampaśhyan kartum arhasi
yad yad ācharati śhreṣhṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ
sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute lokas tad anuvartate
Sri Krishna says: By performing their prescribed duties, King Janak and others attained perfection. You should also perform your duties to set an example for the good of the world. Whatever actions great people perform, common people follow. Whatever standards they set, all the world pursues.
2. Self-Knowledge
Self-knowledge is the condition for Self-realization, so says Paramahansa Yogananda. An eager aspirant for Self-knowledge applies his Viveka (inner spirit) to discriminate between the real and the unreal. This has been vividly explained by Sri Sankaracharya in his Vivekachudamani:
durvārasaṃsāradavāgnitaptaṃ
dodhūyamānaṃ duradṛṣṭavātaiḥ |
bhītaṃ prapannaṃ paripāhi mṛtyoḥ
śaraṇyamanyadyadahaṃ na jāne || 36 ||
Save me from death, afflicted as I am by the unquenchable fire of this world-forest and shaken violently by the winds of an untoward lot, terrified and (so) seeking refuge in thee, for I do not know of any other person with whom to seek shelter. In the Vivekchudamani, Sri Sankaracharya puts emphasis on the application of Vivek to discriminate between the inner and outer selves. The outer-self gives sensual gratification, whereas the inner-self gives Sat-Chit-Anand (Truth-Consciousness-Bliss). He says, "One should recover oneself, immersed in the sea of birth and death, by means of devotion to right discrimination."
What is bondage, forsooth? How has it come (upon the Self)? How does it continue to exist? How is one freed from it? What is this non-Self? And who is the Supreme Self? And how can one discriminate between them? -- Do tell me about all these. The Guru (teacher or pathfinder) replied, Blessed art thou! Thou hast achieved thy life’s end and hast sanctified thy family; thou wishest to attain Brahmānhood by getting free from the bondage of ignorance! ... Faith (Shraddha), devotion, and the yoga of meditation are mentioned by the Shruti as the immediate factors of liberation in the case of a seeker; whoever abides in these gets liberation from the bondage of the body, which is the conjuring of ignorance. ....Neither by yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realisation of one's identity with Brahmān is liberation possible, and by no other means."
3. Steps for Self-Realisation:
3.1. Swami Vivekananda says every being in the universe has the potentiality of transcending the senses. No life will be a failure, and there is no such thing as failure in the universe. He emphasises various aspects to self-realisation:
-Wisdom to keep the organs in their own centres without straying out.
-Control the mind from wandering outward or externality to internality.
-’Uparati’ or not thinking about sense objects.
"Titiksha," or forbearance, i.e., "Resist no evil."
-Samādhāna or constant practise
3.2. The Srimad Bhagavad Gita highlights the pathways to self-realisation by outlining that each fragment is naturally drawn towards its whole; since the individual soul is a fragment of God, who is infinite bliss, it is naturally drawn towards Him. In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna delineates various pathways.
prajahati yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān
ātmany-evātmanā tuṣhṭaḥ sthita-prajñas tadochyate
When one discards all selfish desires and cravings of the senses that torment the mind, and becomes satisfied in the realization of the self, such a person is said to be transcendentally situated.
dukheshv-anudvigna-manāḥ
sukheṣhu vigata-spṛihaḥ
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ sthita-dhīr munir uchyate
The Gita says that one whose mind remains undisturbed amidst misery, who does not crave for pleasure, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady wisdom.
yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehas tat
tat prāpya śhubhāśhubham
nābhinandati na dveṣhṭi tasya prajñā pratiṣhṭhitā
The Bhagavad Gita emphasises that one who remains unattached under all conditions and is neither delighted by good fortune nor dejected by tribulation is a sage with perfect knowledge.
yadā sanharate chāyaṁ kūrmo ’ṅgānīva
sarvaśhaḥ
indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣhṭhitā
The Gita declares that one who is able to withdraw the senses from their objects, just as a tortoise withdraws its limbs into its shell, is established in divine wisdom.
vishayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ’pyasya paraṁ dṛiṣhṭvā nivartate
Aspirants may restrain, according to the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, the senses from their objects of enjoyment, but the taste for the sense objects remains. However, even this taste ceases for those who realise the Supreme.
yatato hyapi kaunteya puruṣhasya
vipaśhchitaḥ
indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaṁ manaḥ
The senses are so strong and turbulent, the Bhagavad Gita cautions that they can forcibly carry away the mind even of a person endowed with discrimination who practices self-control.
tāni sarvāṇi sanyamya yukta āsīta mat-paraḥ
vaśhe hi yasyendriyāṇi tasya prajñā pratiṣhṭhitā
They are established in perfect knowledge, who subdue their senses and keep their minds ever absorbed in Me.
dhyāyato
viṣhayān puṁsaḥ saṅgas teṣhūpajāyate
saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmāt krodho ’bhijāyate
While contemplating on the objects of the senses, one develops attachment to them. Attachment leads to desire, and from desire arises anger.
krodhād
bhavati sammohaḥ sammohāt smṛiti-vibhramaḥ
smṛiti-bhranśhād buddhi-nāśho buddhi-nāśhāt praṇaśhyati
Anger leads to clouding of judgment, which results in bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, the intellect gets destroyed; and when the intellect is destroyed, one is ruined.
rāga-dveṣha-viyuktais
tu viṣhayān indriyaiśh charan
ātma-vaśhyair-vidheyātmā prasādam adhigachchhati
But one who controls the mind, and is free from attachment and aversion, even while using the objects of the senses, attains the Grace of God.
prasāde
sarva-duḥkhānāṁ hānir asyopajāyate
prasanna-chetaso hyāśhu buddhiḥ paryavatiṣhṭhate
By divine grace comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and the intellect of such a person of tranquil mind soon becomes firmly established in God.
nāsti buddhir-ayuktasya na chāyuktasya bhāvanā
na chābhāvayataḥ śhāntir aśhāntasya kutaḥ sukham
But an undisciplined person, who has not controlled the mind and senses, can neither have a resolute intellect nor steady contemplation on God. For one who never unites the mind with God there is no peace; and how can one who lacks peace be happy?
indriyāṇāṁ
hi charatāṁ yan mano ’nuvidhīyate
tadasya harati prajñāṁ vāyur nāvam ivāmbhasi
Just as a strong wind sweeps a boat off its chartered course on the water, even one of the senses on which the mind focuses can lead the intellect astray.
tasmād
yasya mahā-bāho nigṛihītāni sarvaśhaḥ
indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣhṭhitā
Therefore, one who has restrained the senses from their objects is firmly established in transcendental knowledge.
yā niśhā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti sanyamī
yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśhā paśhyato muneḥ
What all beings consider as day is the night of ignorance for the wise, and what all creatures see as night is the day for the introspective sage.
āpūryamāṇam
achala-pratiṣhṭhaṁ
samudram āpaḥ praviśhanti yadvat
tadvat kāmā yaṁ praviśhanti sarve
sa śhāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī
Just as the ocean remains undisturbed by the incessant flow of waters from rivers merging into it, likewise the sage who is unmoved despite the flow of desirable objects all around him attains peace, and not the person who strives to satisfy desires.
vihāya kāmān yaḥ sarvān pumānśh charati niḥspṛihaḥ
nirmamo nirahankāraḥ sa śhāntim adhigachchhati
That person, who gives up all material desires and lives free from a sense of greed, proprietorship, and egoism, attains perfect peace.
eṣhā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha naināṁ prāpya vimuhyati
sthitvāsyām anta-kāle ’pi brahma-nirvāṇam ṛichchhati
Such is the state of an enlightened soul that having attained it, one is never again deluded. Being established in this consciousness even at the hour of death, one is liberated from the cycle of life and death and reaches the Supreme Abode of God.
4.
Remarks
Self-realisation is detachment from all worldly bonds and sensual pleasure and pain, steadfastness, divine devotion, purity, and chastity in our whole body, mind, and intellect mechanism. Enhance the transcendental faith by reciting Om Tat Sat, which symboloses different aspect of Absolute Truth. The body, mind, intellect, and spirit mechanism elevation journey starts from a bottom-up direction through control and detachment of the body from the mind and the intellect from the spirit domain, towards final liberation from all attachments based on the body, mind, intellect, and tripod mechanism for final submersion in the Divine consciousness, the Brahmān, the infinity, or the Supreme Being. Each stage is to be controlled firmly through detachment and devotion for elevation to the next higher level. According to the Brihadaranyak Upanishad, individuals have the freedom to choose their actions and thus shape their own destiny. This is expressed in the famous saying, "You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny." Yoga Vasistha, Sage Vasistha teaches Sri Rama about liberation and "self-effort" as a step towards moksha, or liberation. It says, The world is nothing but the play of consciousness." Sage Vasistha, while teaching Sri Rama, emphasises the need for "self-effort" in spiritual practise. This aspect of teaching is most important as it focuses on the free will of the human being to exercise self-effort. The Yoga Vasistha holds that the highest human achievement is to become liberated in life (Jivana Mukta).
-Asutosh
Satpathy
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