We have a natural yearning for something deep within us, but we have mistakenly searched for it outside. True fulfillment comes when we direct our attention inward instead of outward. We can become established in the constant awareness of the inner SELF regardless of where we are or what we are doing. We only need to recognize the TRUTH. To be established in the inner SELF is the essence of what we call the ‘Spiritual Life’.
The SELF is not restricted to an Ashram, temple or meditation room. People have realized the SELF in prison, and on the battlefield. It exists everywhere simultaneously; it is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. It is our own awareness, our own joy, our own love. The SELF exists fully within all creatures. It is in sunset, in music, in beauty, in ugliness; it is in the eyes of the beholder. It is the contentment felt while gazing into the eyes of the beloved, …that fervor, that ecstasy, that rapture when time is standstill. The SELF is the knower, the observer, and the witness. It sees everything. It is not the seen, but the seer.
We cannot become the SELF. We are already the SELF. Our awareness of Being is Consciousness. Consciousness and Awareness are, in fact, synonymous. The body has no awareness of its own. If it were not pervaded by consciousness, it would be just a lump of flesh. The mind also has no awareness of its own. The mind does not even have intelligence. The mind can only think. Awareness and true intelligence exist within the SELF. The function of the mind is to think and doubt. The mind thinks something and then it doubts it. This happens over and over, throughout life. The mind has beliefs, opinions, likes, dislikes, but it is not aware of anything. The inner consciousness is aware of what the mind thinks. The ego appropriates the thought to itself, thinking, "I think this." In this way, we think we are the thinkers. The individual experiences the effects or consequences of what the mind thinks. The thought determines the experience. There is no difference between the individual and the mind. If the mind were to cease thinking, the sense of being a particular individual would also cease. There would only be the unmodified and undifferentiated universal awareness. We can experience this ourselves simply by observing the space between two thoughts. There are more than one methods or techniques available to us. The paths may be different, but the goal or destination is the same.
As long as we think we are this body, as long as we think we are this mind, there will be limitation and suffering, we cannot possibly be truly happy as long as we think we are this body and this mind. Thinking we are these things, which is the ego, is the source of all unhappiness. The ego thinks unhappiness is caused by circumstances or other people. The ego thinks we would be happy if things were different. Unhappiness is due only to the ignorance of our true nature, which is SELF. The SELF cannot be affected by death or by passage of time, or by any other phenomenon. How can that person be independent who is proud of his mortal body, the body which is subject to death at any moment?
Why do you look for God from one place to another? That God, that SELF, that experience is within you. Just as there is the reflection of your face in the mirror, God dwells in your heart. Look for Him in your heart. Know that which exists within and that which exists outside are the same. This is the true knowledge, inside and outside, only that ONE exists. Unseen, but Seer; unheard, but Hearer; unknown, but the Knower. There is no other seer but He. He is the SELF, Inner Ruler, the immortal.
A being who has the knowledge of the SELF does live in this body, yet he is totally oblivious to the working of the senses. Although his senses do perform their actions, he is detached from their actions. He is always experiencing total satisfaction due to the light of his own SELF. Although his senses are performing their actions, although he is experiencing the fruit of his actions, his state is not disturbed. He has equal vision. He is not affected by anything.
We should have the knowledge that allows us to live in this world, yet experience the SELF all the time. In that knowledge there is pure innocence. In that knowledge there is complete purity. The SELF is eternal. The SELF is always shining. The reason we cannot see or perceive its radiance is because it is covered with the veil of our thinking, our impurities, …ego. The body is temporary and perishable, yet people confuse these two and consider them one. The SELF is not a human being either. The SELF is that divine form, and that Divine form exists within all of us. There is no happiness without knowing that form.
The awareness of the inner SELF is the only spiritual life there is. We meditate, we do Simran (repeat Gur mantra or Waheguru) because they are time-proven methods for purifying and stabilizing the mind, because being given by Guru Nanak, the mantra contains His grace. Worry and anxiety exist in the restless mind. When we become peaceful, we cry for God and laugh for God. Our own heart has become the abode of the Truth. When the mind becomes clear and the heart becomes pure the SELF is realized, and those who know it enjoy Eternity. When the five senses are stilled and thinking has ceased, when the intellect does not stir, then, say the wise, one reaches the highest state.
The SELF is not restricted to an Ashram, temple or meditation room. People have realized the SELF in prison, and on the battlefield. It exists everywhere simultaneously; it is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. It is our own awareness, our own joy, our own love. The SELF exists fully within all creatures. It is in sunset, in music, in beauty, in ugliness; it is in the eyes of the beholder. It is the contentment felt while gazing into the eyes of the beloved, …that fervor, that ecstasy, that rapture when time is standstill. The SELF is the knower, the observer, and the witness. It sees everything. It is not the seen, but the seer.
We cannot become the SELF. We are already the SELF. Our awareness of Being is Consciousness. Consciousness and Awareness are, in fact, synonymous. The body has no awareness of its own. If it were not pervaded by consciousness, it would be just a lump of flesh. The mind also has no awareness of its own. The mind does not even have intelligence. The mind can only think. Awareness and true intelligence exist within the SELF. The function of the mind is to think and doubt. The mind thinks something and then it doubts it. This happens over and over, throughout life. The mind has beliefs, opinions, likes, dislikes, but it is not aware of anything. The inner consciousness is aware of what the mind thinks. The ego appropriates the thought to itself, thinking, "I think this." In this way, we think we are the thinkers. The individual experiences the effects or consequences of what the mind thinks. The thought determines the experience. There is no difference between the individual and the mind. If the mind were to cease thinking, the sense of being a particular individual would also cease. There would only be the unmodified and undifferentiated universal awareness. We can experience this ourselves simply by observing the space between two thoughts. There are more than one methods or techniques available to us. The paths may be different, but the goal or destination is the same.
As long as we think we are this body, as long as we think we are this mind, there will be limitation and suffering, we cannot possibly be truly happy as long as we think we are this body and this mind. Thinking we are these things, which is the ego, is the source of all unhappiness. The ego thinks unhappiness is caused by circumstances or other people. The ego thinks we would be happy if things were different. Unhappiness is due only to the ignorance of our true nature, which is SELF. The SELF cannot be affected by death or by passage of time, or by any other phenomenon. How can that person be independent who is proud of his mortal body, the body which is subject to death at any moment?
Why do you look for God from one place to another? That God, that SELF, that experience is within you. Just as there is the reflection of your face in the mirror, God dwells in your heart. Look for Him in your heart. Know that which exists within and that which exists outside are the same. This is the true knowledge, inside and outside, only that ONE exists. Unseen, but Seer; unheard, but Hearer; unknown, but the Knower. There is no other seer but He. He is the SELF, Inner Ruler, the immortal.
A being who has the knowledge of the SELF does live in this body, yet he is totally oblivious to the working of the senses. Although his senses do perform their actions, he is detached from their actions. He is always experiencing total satisfaction due to the light of his own SELF. Although his senses are performing their actions, although he is experiencing the fruit of his actions, his state is not disturbed. He has equal vision. He is not affected by anything.
We should have the knowledge that allows us to live in this world, yet experience the SELF all the time. In that knowledge there is pure innocence. In that knowledge there is complete purity. The SELF is eternal. The SELF is always shining. The reason we cannot see or perceive its radiance is because it is covered with the veil of our thinking, our impurities, …ego. The body is temporary and perishable, yet people confuse these two and consider them one. The SELF is not a human being either. The SELF is that divine form, and that Divine form exists within all of us. There is no happiness without knowing that form.
The awareness of the inner SELF is the only spiritual life there is. We meditate, we do Simran (repeat Gur mantra or Waheguru) because they are time-proven methods for purifying and stabilizing the mind, because being given by Guru Nanak, the mantra contains His grace. Worry and anxiety exist in the restless mind. When we become peaceful, we cry for God and laugh for God. Our own heart has become the abode of the Truth. When the mind becomes clear and the heart becomes pure the SELF is realized, and those who know it enjoy Eternity. When the five senses are stilled and thinking has ceased, when the intellect does not stir, then, say the wise, one reaches the highest state.
