Moment to Speak

The Self, or Ātman , is an inseparable aspect of the Cosmic Self (Brahmān) . Its origin, orientation, and mission are to become one with the Cosmic Self. Its intrinsic nature is that only. However, it gets derailed in its own recognition as it, in the embodied form of the body-mind-intellect system, tries to savour the objects of the senses and gets deeper into the cloud of ignorance. That way, to relish the objects of the senses, it becomes forgetful of its own existence. In order to uncover the veil of ignorance , it takes several reincarnations to realise one's own Self as part of the Cosmic Self. When the realisation is complete, it becomes complete with its originator. Reincarnation is part of the elevation process. The Cosmic Self is beyond the comprehension of the objective dimensions. He is Absolute in every way. The reason for this is that space and time are used to an object's advantage in a number of ways, including identification, existence, structuring, function...

Freedom is freedom in some way. Freedom is relative, to some extent. It is to some way, or some extent, as one conceives, identifies, and delineates it from the prism of ego-based self-respect. Such freedom is illusory, unreal, or transitory and subject to space, time, and causality . The limiting adjuncts—self-ego, attachment, bondage, insatiable desire, greed, anger, lust, deprivation, fulfilment, and denial—set a perimeter of limit in the search for and fulfilment of freedoms. Any amount of freedom is considered inadequate in the thirst for freedom to have more. There is a self-limiting circumvention in the quest for freedom to have more and more. In that quest, man faces a piquant situation in the samsāra chakra (wheel of birth and death) cycle of opposites of pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow, happiness and anguish, pleasure and pain, pacification and inflammation, satisfaction and thirst, rage and calm, happiness and distress, etc. It catalyses one to move outward to relish t...

The Self, or  Ātman , is the true and real identity of a person. It is without form, beginning, and ending. It is the only Witness-Conscious Self. There is no object and only one subject. It is not subject to time-space-causation. The notion of “I” as a separate identity germinates under the  veil of ignorance  as the Self relishes the fruits of objects. In the process, it gets stalked by the myriad issues of entrapment. It gets forgetful of its original identity as an emanation of the Cosmic Self. Sage Ashtavakra contends that neither things nor anything exist within one's real identity, the Self. The Witness Self is an identity that arises by acknowledging one's Self as such, and it has no physical existence. Everything else is a fabrication. The idea of a distinct identity, or "I," gives rise to all of these concepts. We attempt to maintain the tangible universe that the notion of "I" created in ignorance. We live our lives controlled by a false sense o...

The self, or the ātman , is a living being and a part of the Supreme Self. It is the realised meaning of life and is eternally free, unrestricted, transcendent, and effulgent. Everything is unreal except for who you are. It transcends time, space, and causality and is everlasting and unbreakable. It is a being's everlasting essence and light, existing outside of time and space. Transmigration, or freedom, occurs for the Samsār chakra, or the wheel of birth and death. Finding one's true self—the divine and pure essence of oneself—and transcending individuality are the ultimate goals of life exploration. Every being is unique. Unique in birth, growth, decay, and death. Uniqueness is its essential identity, and real identity is its self. When a being takes birth, he comes to this world embedded with the koshas (sheath) of his body-mind-intellect system that propels him outward. The first way he feels the world outside is through his sense perceptions—sound, touch, sight, hea...

Man is in deep slumber under the veil of ignorance. Every dimension of his being is swayed by his sense of ego. The ego is the false sense of identity of the body-mind-intellect system of a being. There is an outward sense of perceptive feeling emanating from the body-mind-intellect system. The conception of "I" is transplanted into that system by juxtaposing everything in a unipolarity of objects with disregard for the subjective dimension. It makes him forgetful of his true identity, the atman, as Sat-Chit-Anand . It exists in all time dimensions—past, present, and future. It is eternal, imperishable, and not conditioned by time, space, or causality. The human being goes on to replicate himself through the cycle of ephemeral transmission of samsāra chakra (the wheel of birth and death) rather than searching for a way out to get out of that cycle by realising the self within. There is a little time in this birth, human being needs to arise and awake to search for r...

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...

Live life itself. Man is essentially the all-pervading eternal soul, according to Swami Sivananda . Because of his ignorance and delusions, he associates himself with the five illusory Koshas , or sheaths, that are the Annamaya Kosha (physical sheath) , Pranamaya Kosha (physiological or energy sheath), Manomaya Kosha (psychological or the mind sheath) , Vijnanamaya Kosha (wisdom sheath), and Ānandamaya Kosha (bliss sheath). He believes that he is also susceptible to these fluctuations. He considers the physical body, the Annamaya Kosha , to be his identity, and he considers himself burned when the physical body is burned. In addition, he believes that he is black. For the sake of ignorance ( Avidya ), he gets connected to his familial relations, property, fortune, etc., and assumes he possesses them completely. He considers himself to be a householder, an ascetic, a student, and so forth. There are five components that make up the body. It is very different from the true self. Ignor...