The Self reveals the Self

Let us consider the statement in Katha Upanishad 1.2.23. Lord of Death, Yama (Lord Vaivasvata) reveals to the thirsty soul, Nachiketas: “Neither, This, Self, Atma, taught nor obtain by logic nor by much hearing, whom even this prayed; by Him found by Him, This the Self reveals body bare.” Commentary by Dippack (The Vaivasvata Gita, ) The Atma is neither to be won nor attained by eloquent teaching nor by mental power nor by much learning: but only Atma whom Atma graces can win Atma. Inferentially and paradoxically, Lord Vaivasvata implies that there is nowhere else in the whole Universe, in any loka or any realm, where Atma can be realized, but within the self, here and now! To be realized through the practice of the stillness of the mind and through knowledge of the ones who are realized. If a rare soul has miraculously met with or evoked Atma’s grace and alliance in this life, i.e., deep aspiration, effort, steadfast, stillness, during the practice, only then, perhaps, the soul comes to reveal or realize and know its own status whilst embodied! This Atma is neither to be obtained by many explanations nor by the intellect nor by much learning. Atma can be revealed by the Atma through deeply yearning only. It makes me uneasy to assert that Atma reveals itself only to those whom it chooses; because Atma is always revealed, but, if you are among those who have cultivated sattva, made sincere efforts and worked hard within themselves, then, Atma’s grace is there to quickly revel Itself. The soul realizes its own truth! Say then, If Atma is realizable by Atma’s grace only, what is the use of renunciations (Vairagya) and discriminations (Viveka)? To this, the Shruti replies that jnana and effort (practise) is necessary in order to reveal that grace. Though the most important thing is to re-cognize the Self, viz., to re-cognize the Consciousness of Existence. Yes, to re-cognize or remember its subtle nature! We have merely forgotten and brush it aside even if it stares directly at us. The Self is ever-present, even though we are the Self, yet we fail to recognize the Self or ignore the Self. Why? Because we are shackled and enslaved by our thoughts; besides, we are too busy chasing happiness and ladoos, huh! Let me cut through the chase. Don’t we realize we exist, here and now? We are always fixed in the Self. This is That which we seek. The Self is nothing more or less than Sat-Chit, or Existence-Consciousness. Basta. Ananda’s true import is not happiness, but Peace. The ever-present nature of the Self is Ananta (eternal). But we have to make the effort to isolate this Existence-Consciousness and to diligently recognize, know and realize it bare (without the interference of the mind, body and senses). Silencing of the mind and senses (isolating Consciousness; isolating Existence) is the import of all Upanishads. Basta. That is all there is to tapas. To silence the mind, effort and knowledge is necessary. Once our attention is drawn to those fleeting samadhis (periods of thoughtlessness), our sadhana is finished. Just stay there, abide there. Let those fleeting moments gradually flourish and expand–that is when the magic of silence will unfold, be patient and persevere. It is the culmination of our effort; we cannot go beyond this. Sure, there are different depths of effortless samadhis or thoughtlessness. Vasanas are an obstacle, distracting our ability to effortlessly meditate, but once we learn increasingly to abide in the Self, i.e., attain firmness, the vasanas become more or less useless or without impetus. There much be inquiry in any method or path, i.e., no method without inquiry will lead you to the Self. We are all already within the Self, within that Consciousness, we just need either the Self or a Jnani to point to those fleeting moments of samadhis—this is the meaning of the verse at hand, “the Self reveals the Self,” viz., the self-same Self recognizes the Self by the self-same Self, besides, there are no two Selves, one to recognize the other. Now we realize the immensity of “silence” or effortless meditation or samadhi of Sri Bhagavan Maharshi Ramana.

Let us see what Sri Bhagavan has to say: “It is possible to perform all the activities of life with detachment and regard only the Self as real. It is wrong to suppose that if one is fixed in the Self one’s duties in life will not be properly performed. It is like an actor. He dresses and acts and even feels the part he is playing, but he knows really that he is not that character but someone else in real life. In the same way, why should the body-consciousness or the feeling ‘I-am-the-body’ disturb you once you know for certain that you are not the body but the Self? Nothing that the body does should shake you from abidance in the Self. Such abidance will never interfere with the proper and effective discharge of whatever duties the body has, any more than the actor’s being aware of his real status in life interferes with his acting a part on the stage.”