Awakening: in search of the true self

Awakening: in search of the true self

In later-Vedic Hinduism, God or Brahman has
been depicted in the form of the absolute
meditative Shiva, the Mahadeva (Great God).
Om Namah Shivaya (I bow to Lord Shiva).

Spirituality is different from conventional religion. As one of my newly made friends on G+ has put it elegantly, it is essentially a non-traditional view on life as well as its subtler components. Thus, traditional or accepted views of religions (main-stream institutionalized ones) do not always support the views and conclusions derived from the spiritual journey. However, spirituality is backed by it own model-dependent, internally consistent logic, which can be used as a tool to implement new changes within the existing model.

Ok, so what you've read till now, is too much technical to say the least. My personal philosophical take on life rests on the twin pillars of science and spirituality (spirituality having replaced religion and atheism respectively), and that's why my language becomes a bit too technical at times. Sorry for that. So, the primary purpose of this article is to give you a brief glimpse of what (I believe) the true nature of self is.

Who am I? Analogy of the chariot and charioteer.

Unlike religion, which chooses to rely and stress on belief and faith, spirituality relies more on logic and intuition. Thus it is, in a way, a more scientific take on the philosophical questions such as "Who/what am I?", "What is the true nature of my own self?", etc. And the most crucial step in this journey of spirituality is the realization of 'presence', as Eckhart Tolle puts it.

In the Vedantas, ancient scriptures of India, a beautiful analogy is used to refer to the true nature nature of self. In this analogy:

1. The whole world we see around us (Samsara) is a dense forest. 

2. The totally of existence is a wholesome system of a chariot, its 5 horses, leash, the charioteer and the rider. It is moving from the eastern end of the forest (birth) to the western end (death).

The awakened soul realizes the subtle beauty
in everything, in every moment.

3. The forest is not infinite. There are spaces beyond the east and west of the forest, but our gaze is blocked by the trees that surround us in all directions. Thus, there may be states beyond birth or death, but it may not concern us for the moment since our journey is within the forest.

4. The forest houses 6 bandits, who represent the 6 primal instincts or basal urges. They are Kama (lust), Krodha (blind anger), Mad (pride), Moha (blind affection, identification with things), Lobha (greed, desire) and Matsaryaa (blind jealousy). These bandits are intent on robbing the chariot.

5. The chariot itself is the body. The 5 horses are the 5 sense organs, while the leash is the mind. The chariot-driver is Buddhi  or intellect, and the rider is the consciousness or soul (although there may be some who'd like to differentiate between the soul and consciousness, I believe we can safely assume them to be the same for sake of consistency).

Thus, the rider (awareness/consciousness/soul) sets forth the destination and commands the chariot-driver. The driver (intellect) then devises a path, and uses the leash (mind) to control the horses (sense-organs), which then pull the chariot (body) forward.

Another beautiful aspect of this model, which I've personally added to it, is the concept of day and night. Days come, night follow, and days are reborn. Days here should symbolize the happy moments of our life, while night symbolizes the periods of grief and suffering. No matter what time of day it is, the chariot should move forward.

Learning from the analogy: beyond birth and death

As the sun is hidden by the clouds but remains
bright as ever, the true 'I' is eclipsed by the
illusion of identification, the illusory self of
mind, body and possessions.

Ok, time for sharing some of my personal realizations. Is the rider the same as the chariot itself? No. Likewise, consciousness is not the same as the body itself. Likewise, it is also different from the mind, the organs and even the intellect. Consciousness or the true 'I' is beyond the borders of body, organs, mind and intellect, and forms the background to all of them.

Using the above analogy, it is clear to reason that, at the beginning of the journey, the rider must have boarded the chariot, and even before his boarding the chariot (birth, start of journey), he must have existed. Thus, the spiritual model suggests a time before birth, a time when consciousness or the true 'I' existed. Likewise, after the journey is complete, let us assume the forest ends in a river. So, the rider thanks the driver (intellect) and takes leave of the chariot (body), the 5 horses (sense organs) and the leash (mind), and move on to a boat (which symbolizes another 'ride' or base for the rider). This clearly suggests a time beyond death. Even though the purpose of the body is finished, the soul moves on, beyond death itself. And thus, death becomes not so frightening at all, since it's just a change of transportation.

The true 'I': a scenario

The true 'I' is thus something beyond mind, body and intellect. Why so? Let us understand the situation using logic.

Youth: When you are 10, you're existent. You're alive, and you're interacting with the world through your body, mind and intellect. Your thoughts might be of a certain type. Your intellect grows as it learns more from experience and education, as well as subtle realization and observation. Your body undergoes changes every other day, growing facial hair (if you're a boy) or getting more feminine with time (if you're a girl). Thus, change is everywhere.

Middle-age: Now, when you're 40, you see that your mind is no longer the same as it had been when you were 10. Your thoughts are now different, your intellect has also developed more. Your body no longer remains that much young or radiant. But still, you're existent, and you're alive.

Old-age: When you're approaching death, say at he age of 85, your body is now frail and loose. The mind is cluttered with emotions, thoughts and memories, and has changed radically once again. The intellect has developed even more, thanks to a lifetime of experiences. But then again, you're existent, you're alive.

So, what hasn't changed at all in the above scenario? Your feeling of 'aliveness' or I-ness. And what doesn't change at all with time? The absolute truth. Truth remains unchanged with time. So is not, logically speaking, your 'aliveness' or I-ness the real, unchanged, unchanging truth?

The things that change with time can not be the absolute truth. So, mind and its thoughts are not the true 'you', and so are not intellect and its decisions. The body and its organs can not hope to be 'you', then what are you? The answer, as Eckhart beautifully puts it in a video teaching, is that, you're nothing, or 'no-thing'. You're no-thing, and things develop thought-forms with which they are identified. All things change, as per common observation, and yet you don't. That's why you are no-thing, and you're thus the formless, absolute truth.

How to awaken? 

The 'awakened' one realizes that the self
is the essence of all existence, and thus is
a premise to the existence of the
world outside.

Realization of our own mistakes is the first step toward rectifying them, and doing the right thing. Thus, as you begin to disentangle yourself from the bondage of identification with mind, body, organs and intellect, you begin to see a radical change in yourself. You're the background awareness that exists always, the unseen seer as the Upanishads put it. As you realize slowly, that you're not the things you thought you were, you automatically approach your 'awakening'. Buddhism puts it as 'the end of Dukkha (suffering), Jesus calls it 'salvation', Hinduism names it 'enlightenment' and modern spirituality puts it as 'realization', and I personally use Eckhart's term, 'Awakening'. May this be the lesson for the entire human race, and may we gradually realize our true self, thus freeing ourselves and humanity as a whole from the curses that we witness everyday.

Before I take your leave for the moment, here is a beautiful ancient Indian mantra or chant, which might help your meditation by making it more soothing.

The Shanti (peace) mantra

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय । तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय । मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय । ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः 

(the above is Sanskrit, the ancient language of the Indo-Aryans. It's pronunciation and meaning are below) 

Pronunciation

Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya |
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Meaning

 1: Om, Lead us from Unreality (of Transitory Existence) to the Reality (of the Eternal Self),
2: Lead us from the Darkness (of Ignorance) to the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge),
3: Lead us from the Fear of Death to the Knowledge of Immortality.
4: Om Peace, Peace, Peace.