YOU ARE REALLY ALONE

The nature of the self (ātman) is aloneness, and that aloneness is spaceless and timeless. Aloneness is consciousness of the self, a state of absolute freedom, and Sat-Chit-Ananda, or Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. In that sense, it is one with the Supreme Self, which is unattached, inseparable, integrated, and a single organic whole. It is above all the dualities and opposites of birth and death, attachments and aversion, anger and calm, joy and sorrow, happiness and distress, pleasure and pain, love and hatred, quench and thirst, and pacification and inflammation. These are all states of mind and, as such, evanescent. Aloneness in the self is kaivalya, the highest state of consciousness of the self. Kaivalya is devoid of any attachment, aversion, fear, greed, lust, anger, bondage, ignorance, and all the vices of one’s elevation in the life-journeying process. However, the created beings, upon their birth, get entangled in the attachments and bondings of the phenomenal world of dualities and opposites. The web of entanglement binds them into the ephemeral material bodies on the basis of their karmas (activities) as they try to savour the fruits of the trai-gunas (three modes, attributes, or qualities) of sattva (goodness), rājas (passion), and tāmas (ignorance) through sensual organs. Thus, the bondage of beings continually circles them in the samsāra chakra of birth and death. It loses sight of its initial identity as an offshoot of the ātman due to bondage. Consequently, it becomes entangled in those gunas (attributes) and executes all its thoughts and activities within the parameters that those gunas define. Realising its true identity, origin, source, and inherent nature is fundamental.  The created being, in its manifestation, became forgetful of its intrinsic nature as self. The being is unmanifest before birth, manifests in life, and is again unmanifest upon death, says the Srimad Bhagavad Gita.

1. Outline

Being alone is not loneliness, but rather a state of absolute freedom bereft of any attachments or bonds. Self is Ātman, and Ātman is Sat (Absolute Existence). Self is the light of all lights, outlines the Brihadāranyaka Upanishad. It is Self-luminous and Self-effulgence, unaided and independent of any externalities. Any attachment or bonding acts as limited adjuncts to the absoluteness of freedom and the freedom to be its own Self always, unconditionally, truly, and for ever. Sage Yajnavalkya (The Brihadāranyaka Upanishad, 4.3.1-4.3.7) teaches that the Self is pure consciousness that arises from the heart and pervades the senses. The one Reality, this Self, and Brahmān, are one. The consciousness is called caitanya, and the witness is Sākshi. It transcends attachment, involvement, place, time, cause, experience, and perception of the cosmos. The Self is an impartial, unbiased observer and has awareness of all that has occurred, is occurring, and will occur in terms of cognition, action, and deed. A self-realised being perceives the world in all its dimensions without making any limitations or distinctions. He sees without seeing, smells without smelling, tastes without tasting, talks without speaking, hears without hearing, touches without touching, thinks without questioning, and knows without knowing. The realm of Brahmān is this absolute unity and oneness, without a second. It is the absence of an alternative. This is the ultimate goal of life, the greatest treasure, and the source of all joy.

According to Swami Sivananda, Ātman exists in the past, present, and future, which has no beginning, middle, or end, which is unchanging, which is not conditioned in time, space, or causation, which exists during Jāgrat, Svapna, and Sushupti, which is of the nature of one homogeneous essence (Sadā Ekarasa, Sadā Ekarupa), is Sat. Its intrinsic nature is to remain alone in line with self, a state of Sat-Chit-Anand (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss).

 This world is not in a position to satisfy the desires of even one person from any angle, states Swami Krishnananda. Possession implies objects, and objects mean transitory. Possession also implies dispossession. The alternative would be internalisation and remaining in an “I” state of consciousness.

When a created being gets involved in the phenomenal world, bonding and attachment become interwoven with the objects of sensual perception and cognition by being unmindful of its intrinsic nature as self. We are in these bodies because of our karma (activities). Karma and body form an ever-receding chain, says Swami Sivananda. He goes on to say that we never were and that we will never cease to be, even though our physical bodies may disappear. We manifest in the samsāra chakra because of our karma.

2. Scriptures

The scriptural evidence is profound on Self as “Not this, Not this,” a declaration by Adi Shankaracharya. A Vedic inquiry of negation starts from the body-mind-intellect system with the ascendance of all that is in the world and finally transcending all the realms to what remains, the “I’, or the Self, alone. That aloneness based on discrimination is the state of absolute freedom.

According to Swami Krishnananda's explanation, the Manu Smriti (4.239) states that your mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife, children, money, and even your body will not accompany you when you leave this world. What finally remains is your own self. It remains ever alone, unattached, and ever free.

The Srimad Bhagavad Gita instructs to remain unbiashed, unattached and free from dualities, above the three gunas or three modes of existence in a state of pure consciousness.

The Bhagavad Gita emphasises that transcendentally situated people give up all self-serving impulses and sense-cravings that cause mental suffering and are content with their self-realisation. Such a realised one, the Srimad Bhagavad Gita says, relishes solitude and is fit to attain Brahmān (Supreme Being, or Absolute Existence), as he possesses a purified intellect and firmly restrains the senses, abandoning sound and other objects of the senses and casting aside attraction and aversion. A person like this practices dispassion, meditates constantly, disciplines their body, thoughts, and voice, and eats in moderation. Such a person, located in tranquilly, is free from egotism, violence, arrogance, desire, possessiveness of property, and selfishness, and is suitable for union with Brahmān.

Being enlightened, Sri Krishna says in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, entails never being fooled again once one has reached that condition. By being rooted in this awareness even in the final moments before passing away, one is freed from the cycle of life and death and ascends to the Supreme Abode of God.

The Brihadaranyak Upanishad declares, ‘If there is nothing else but me, what am I afraid of?’ From there alone, the fear is gone, for what is there to fear? The self is alone, bereft of any material substance, beyond the comprehension of the body-mind-intellect system, and in the realm of infinity.

Swami Krishnananda lucidly highlights a passage from the Brihadāranyaka Upanishad (1.4.2) that says, dvitiyad vai bhayam bhavati, meaning that we can never be happy if there is another person near us. We never know what to expect from that individual; therefore, we constantly have to adjust to them. Even a mouse cannot be kept in front of us; if it were, we would be much more agitated by its presence. Although the mouse cannot hurt us, we dislike having even the smallest ant around. " Oh, something else has emerged." What's bothering us is this "another thing." The fundamental Reality, that immutable Eternity, has no "another" outside of it, which is why cognition of another is a challenge. We feel uncomfortable when we perceive anything outside of ourselves, whether it be human or not, since there is no other in the fundamental fact of who we are—the Truth of this universe. We would prefer to be left alone, whatever it is. Ultimately, we want to be by ourselves because that timeless, spaceless aloneness is reminding us, "You are truly alone."

Loneliness is not aloneness, says the Kaivalya Upanishad. Its search for the ultimate freedom is an attempt to figure out how to be completely alone without feeling lonely. Men can experience loneliness when other people aren't around. Then the absent crowd is there, even in solitude. However, it is possible to be so content, so fully oneself, and so alone that the other is not even seen as an absence. The other isn't. You are free after the others have completely and utterly vanished.

3. Remarks

Swami Krishnananda says that aloneness means basic and ultimate freedom. One becomes so fulfilled that the whole universe is felt not as another but as oneself. Really, one has to go deep into it. We feel the other because we are unfulfilled. We feel the other as THE OTHER because we are unfulfilled. Once one is fulfilled, the other is dissolved. In a fulfilled mind, there is no feeling of the other. Totally fulfilled, the universe and you become one. Thus, the recognition of a supreme value in life and the need to adore it as the objective and goal of one's endeavour in life became the devata, or divinity, of the Vedas.

-Asutosh Satpathy