The Unity of Life and The Realization of Self

by Jayaram V

We consider the uniqueness of every individual to be a very normal situation. The diversity it creates enriches our lives and contributes to the progress of our world and our civilization. Our society prizes it and takes advantage of it. Our leaders, celebrities and role models make the best use of it for their success and recognition.  Our schools and institutions encourage our children to give expression to it. Our prosperity, trade and commerce depend upon it. This distinction also helps us to live our lives meaningfully and pursue our dreams and goals according to our individual talents, skills and abilities. It makes possible the governance of our world and the distribution of wealth and resources. The diversity of our world is perhaps intentional on the part of the Creator because it is integral to the blue print and the purpose of creation. We cannot say it is abnormal or undesirable because it is a manifestation of the divine will and so as sacred as the rest of His creation and Himself.

Hinduism envisages the process of creation as an outward expansion of divine consciousness into matter to the extent where the barriers between the two disappear. In the current cycle of our creation we have perhaps reached such a stage, where their separation is a distant possibility, if not impossibility, and can be attained only through intense aspiration and uncompromising spiritual effort. Our identification with our physical bodies is almost complete, as is evident from the manner in which we are obsessed with things that are physical, superficial and dietary. It is not even uncommon for us to see in certain parts of the world people electing their leaders for their looks and demeanor, instead of their virtue and intelligence.

While  diversity is an essential and important aspect of our existence upon earth, nature has not forgotten to encrypt, in creation and our very constitution, references to our hidden nature and how inseparable we are, both physically and spiritually, from the rest of the creation. Most of us usually do not recognize them because we are deeply drawn into the distractions and superficial aspects of life and do not pay adequate attention to the world in which we live. But if we are intelligent enough and reflective enough, we will realize that through the air we breath, through the thoughts we think, through the energies we spend, through our consciousness, dreams, desires, emotions, actions, sense organs, and our very atoms and molecules, we are intimately connected with the rest of the world, impacted by it and impacting it every moment of our lives. We become aware that we do not live in a mere physical world, but a gigantic web of life that is interconnected and inter related through many invisible channels where we impact other people's lives in many unimaginable ways. This realization may not help us achieve the blissful state of samadhi. But it will help us grow in conviction about our ultimate spiritual purpose and comprehend why our sages and seers emphasize the need to cultivate compassion, selflessness, gratitude and a sense of responsibility towards the rest of God's creation. 

The Inseparable Connection and the Evidence of Unity

While science is preoccupied with the diversity of creation and intent upon exploring it in order to comprehend the mysteries of our apparent reality, in the process of doing so it did stumble upon the hidden unity of our creation and the enigmatic and intelligent patterns that are embedded in it. As we study nature and its myriad objects and as we reach out to the vast spaces of the spectacular universe and as we look at ourselves and our physical and mental personalities, we cannot but appreciate the following.

• Physically, at the atomic, sub atomic, molecular and cellular levels, all human beings are almost indistinguishable. We are made of the same elements (mahabhutas), qualities (gunas) and principles (tattvas) that we find elsewhere in nature. Biologically and physiologically we undergo the same metabolic and catabolic processes that either release or consume energy and help our bodies perform their routine functions. Our motor functions are the same. Our bodies respond to cold, heat, hunger, pain and pleasure in the same predictable manner. Our learned or conditioned responses may vary, but our basic and instinctive responses are mostly the same. 

• Inside each of us, permeating our entire consciousness  and at the core of our entire being is the notion of self, the feeling of "I am ness" which makes us act and respond in self seeking and self aggrandizing ways. It is the same universal consciousness, the "I am" of the universal self, that is now veiled and limited by the activity of nature. We are but mystified gods. Our very existence as individuals and our egoistic state of consciousness are powerful indicators of our fallen state. Our self promoting behavior and preoccupation with self are but vague reminders of the subjective state of true consciousness. The objective state of "I am this" and "I want that" is but the corrupted form of the subjective state of "I am only" and "I am I am".

• Internally, however selfish and self centered we may be, we all are motivated by the need to belong to something and relate to something. This need for identity through belongingness is a very powerful motivator and emotional factor in our lives and it is a reflection of soul's omnipresence and omniscience. Even though we know that intimate relationships may often hurt us, we are helplessly drawn towards others because we want our presence felt everywhere. 

• Science acknowledges the fact that our whole planet is one large living organism and each and every component in it carries out certain functions and fulfills certain conditions that are critical to its survival. We are increasingly coming to the realization that each and every individual on our planet impacts our world in significant ways through thoughts, desires and actions and that our subconscious mind can travel and reach out to others through invisible ways, impacting our lives and those of the others whom they touch. 

From Light Into Darkness and From Eternity Into Impermanence

We lose sight of our true nature the  moment we are brought into this world. As we are drawn into it, attracted towards it, involve ourselves with it, interact with it and experience it through our senses, we become enamored of it diversity, immensity and complexity and develop a false identity, seeking things that are by themselves impermanent, superficial and unstable. We work and live under the illusion that somehow what we seek will outlast us and perpetuate our name and identity through the people and things we leave behind. We forget our true nature and the fact that we carry within ourselves the light of God and the burden of creation. Our suffering and perplexity do their best to remind us of our true purpose, but somehow we mesmerize ourselves into the false belief that they are vagaries of our existence and challenges to our survival. Thus we remain immune and passive to the lessons they bring into our consciousness and the improvements they intend to accomplish. 

Most religions acknowledge that from an absolute perspective, there is nothing but the Self. The Self may assume many forms functions but in the ultimate essence it is said to be one and the same. Few people have experienced it and still fewer have been able to describe it. What we know about is mostly theoretical and speculative, hence so much conflict of opinion as to what it is and does. It is the "Iam of Iam" that Moses met on the Mount Sinai. It is the realization of the chant "Aham Brahmasmi", (I am Brahman) or "tatvamasi", (this is that). It is the state of samadhi where nothing is left to experience so everything seems to have been lost. Individuals cannot understand this concept till they learn to see the world through an expanded awareness, with God or the Self at the center of their consciousness. It comes to surface when the mind goes into hibernation. It is awake when we are asleep. It is conscious when we are unconscious. It is difficult to explain this aspect of our existence because we do not see the Self in all or all in the Self. As long as we are caught up in the activities of the senses and the objects they seek, we cannot grasp our inseparable identity with it. But when we turn inwards and look into ourselves, we become aware of true nature and our deep connection with the rest of creation. 

From Self-Importance to Self-Realization

Hinduism recognizes five sheaths or bodies surrounding the soul or the self. They are, starting from the outer to the inner, the physical body, the breath body, the mental body, the intelligence body and the bliss body. The outer bodies are made of denser material while the inner ones are subtle in nature. Each of us, as we move from the outer to the inner bodies, become less and less distinguishable from the others. In the outermost body each of us is unique. But in the deepest core of our being we are indistinguishable, where we see but ourselves everywhere and in everything. This is a secret of our creation.  As the being expands outwardly and becomes increasingly involved with nature or prakriti, it also becomes increasingly grosser and uniquely distinguishable. This is the outward process of the soul's becoming and beingness through involvement, concealment, attachment, desire, identity, seeking and striving for things that are by themselves impermanent. This is in contrast to the inward process of involution and withdrawal  through detachment, dispassion, discipline and emptying of the mind of its contents so that one can enter into a subjective state of self-absorption and eternity. 

The physical body of each of us has a distinct shape, color, form and qualities which make it unique and easily distinguishable from the rest of the humanity. At this level, we are unique. But in the breath body and the mental body, much of this distinction disappears. At these levels, we transcend many limitations of the physical body. While each us may think and behave in distinct ways, our identities in these planes become rather amorphous. The breath body remains constantly in touch with the outside world while the mental body can transcend the limitations of time and space and assume any shape or form it intends to. In the intelligence body our distinctions disappear further. At this level we are almost amorphous and self-luminous, packed with energy that vibrate at very high frequency. Without it we would be masses of inertia and cannot experience higher states of consciousness. In the bliss body all notions of individuality and duality disappear. However the physical body is still active and breathing. This is the doorway through which we regain our self-awareness and enter into the subjective state of self-realization. We are one with the rest of creation. The bliss body is the state of the self, while the self itself has no state that we can describe in our language. In this plane we have no identity other than that of the self. It is the pure subjective state to the extent that one becomes oblivious of everything, including the need to breath.

The Illusion of Spiritual Effort 

It does not make sense if we have to live but one life and then surrender ourselves to death, never to be awaken again here or hereafter. Creation and destruction are complimentary and cyclical processes. Renewal, regeneration and recycling are important processes of nature. There is something in us that is not subject to any of these and that outlasts us. In our moments of profound experience we feel its presence. We know that there is something in us that responds to higher calling and awakened intelligence. It reveals itself occasionally through the openings in our clouded consciousness and suggests to the possibility of a transcendental experience if only we are willing to invest our energies and attention to make it happen. 

If we are serious enough, self-realization can be achieved in a short time.¹ Self-realization is but a sudden and permanent shift in our awareness. It is cutting through the bonds that keep us chained to our limitations of knowledge, experience, illumination, action, space and time. It is not knowing something we have not known, but remembering who we have been all along. It is one finding one's own moorings or one's original state of happiness, the removing of the dark soot that forms over the kerosene lamp that flickers as it struggles in the middle of the night to keep itself alight. However the distractions are so many that we do not let that process happen easily. We do everything possible upon earth subconsciously to avoid it. We do not want it because we are inherently averse to change and we perceive self-realization to be a comprehensive change in which we are not sure what risks are involved. So we deceive ourselves by the notion of effort with no true intention behind it and somehow deny ourselves the opportunity of such profound experience. Technically self-realization is a simple process that involves but the following few prerequisites. 

1. Intense aspiration

2. Intense devotion

3. Intense effort to develop purity (sattva) through the practice of yoga.

4. Inviolable faith in a master or God.

A sincere cultivation of even one or two of the above  would result in profound spiritual experiences or even self-realization. But we would not do so. While we do not hesitate to spend years to specialize in some subject, we take spiritualism to be a side vocation, a religious activity or a mere hobby. So we may 

• willingly go to the temples and churches, 

• donate money to institutions and religious organizations so that we can see our names written on plaques,

• participate in religious discussions, 

• fight with others who question our faith and beliefs, 

• pester a guru for future insights or blessings so that we may prosper, 

• read books and articles on religion and spirituality so that we can display our intellect or grasping power, 

• organize religious events and festivals so that we may gain few new contacts who may prove useful in future, 

• work for a social cause so that we may get recognition or even an award, 

• look down upon those who we believe are irreligious or question our faith,

• worry about the impending doom of the world or the declining moral standards of the world, 

but seldom do the few and easy things sincerely that are necessary for self-realization.

Footnotes

1. Lest anyone blame him for the holier than thou attitude, the writer acknowledge this to be a note to himself.