Unknowns about you

Unknowns about you

"Ask yourself this question - Do I know who I am? Even if you try to answer this question, still, who you think you are is not the one you are."  That sure is confusing and contradicting statement to many of us.   But this is exactly the underlying question that is asked and also answered by most the hindu religious scriptures including Gita.

Most of us have been under the impression that the religious scriptures talk about stories on different gods who live in the heavens.  Though this is true, the main purpose of the religious works like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagvad Gita, etc. is not just to tell god's stories but to answer the above question - "Do I know who I am, truthfully?”  You may ask counter questions like 'why should I know who I am', or 'I know who I am and so why should I read Ramayana to know who I am'.  Knowing who you are, truthfully, that is, is fundamental to solving life problems - in self, in family, with colleagues, in the society, with everyone and everywhere. 

It can be hard for some of us to even understand the question of "Who I am?".  The immediate response from people can be, "What do you mean, I am John Doe", or I am a mother of two, or I work for John Doe organization.

These are just identities that are associated to me and none of them is “I”.  Then what else is “I”.  If I  rule out each of such identities, I will end up with the physical body of mine.  Is that me?  If so, which is me? - the head?, the hands?, the legs?, the abdomen?.  Last, week I saw an amazing person in youtube with a lot of enthusiasm for life but with no hands or legs.  So, I infer that body alone is just not the “I”.  None of my body part either individually or collectively put together is “I”, but it’s just one more identity of mine in this world.  Moreover, when I’m dreaming I seem to be in full action and feel falling from a tree or being chased by a tiger, though my physical body is totally at rest, proving again that body is not “I”.  I refer to my body parts as: "this is my hand", "this is my leg", this is my head, and finally "this is my body".  These statements sound more like "this is my car", "this is my house" etc.  I don’t' say "I am body" rather we say, "This is my body".  So I conclude that body is not “I”.  Then who am I?

This takes us to the next level - the mind.  Am I the mind?  What is mind anyway?  Is that the brain? Or is it the intelligence? Or is it the thoughts? Medical fraternity has come up with a term called 'brain dead' to diagnose a person whose brain has become dysfunctional, but still alive.  This shows that the brain is not the “I”.  Intelligence cannot be “I” as we see people who are mentally insane.  I can be in a thoughtless state as in sleep or in meditation, and so thoughts cannot be the 'I'.  As a novice to scriptures,  I cannot dig any further beyond thoughts, to find the answer for "Who am I?".

Unfortunately, most of our actions and activities are around the body and thoughts - which doesn't make the "I".  Or in other words, day in and day out, I am concerned mostly with my name, fame, employment, body and thoughts which are anyway not me.  As we could see, there are several layers one over the other covering the "I"  but they are not the “I” - My name, my relationship to others – as father, as brother, as husband etc., my status, my position, my image, my body, my thoughts and mind -  none of them is “I” but still they give an illusion to me that they are “I”. So, who am I, actually?

This is where the vedas, shastras and scriptures like Ramayana and Mahabharata come to my rescue to help me identify "me" and to get the correct answer to the question "Who am I".  According to the hindu sacred texts, I am my ‘Atman’ – a very subtle, invisible element, size of a micro-micro-micron – hard enough to be seen by any micro-microscope of any order and sophistication.  This atman resides in a place near our heart.  This Atman is there inside everyone of us and literally ‘propels’ our body and the whole system.  This atman is the one that gives us the ‘I’ feeling within ourselves and also an identity for me and you.  I cannot see the atman, for, I am the atman myself and Atman is me.   However, I can understand the greatness of the atman that is I, again.

The sacred texts explain the greatness of the “I” – the Atman – and also how to experience and realize the greatness. 

Following are some of the ways to know fully about “I” as propounded by our sacred texts:

·        Atman is all Intelligence – by nature, I, the atman is powerful and infinitely intelligent.   I, the atman, can think consistently, constructively, compassionately, creatively on any subject without any likes or dislikes. It’s just that today, I the atman, doesn’t know that I have this infinite intelligence and I, the atman don’t know the way to realize that intelligence.

·        Atman is full of peace – by nature, I, the atman, am full of peacefulness.  No misery or fear or stress or tension can disturb my tranquility.  I am serene and imperturbable by any external force whatsoever.  It is just that, I the atman don’t know that I have such an infinite peacefulness and also the way to realize that peacefulness within myself.

·        Atman is always joyful – by nature I, the atman is infinitely happy.  No events or incidents or humans or anything can bring misery to me as I, the atman, is beyond misery and full of happiness.   It is just that, I , the atman, doesn’t know myself, that I am filled with happiness and I don’t know a way to see or realize the happiness.

·        How do I see ‘Atman’ or myself?  Atman has a very direct relationship to the supreme Atman – god – Sriman Narayanan. Atman and god are like two puzzle pieces that need to be fitted together to understand the answer to many of life’s many questions.  Whether I am aware of it or not, whether I accept it or not, whether I understand it or not - I, the Atman, have a direct relationship with god – that is by nature.  I, the atman, am just one of the puzzle pieces.  I can know fully about me, the atman, only when the puzzle pieces are joined together.  This means I should keep myself as close to god as possible so that I know about myself much better than what I know of myself today. 

What prevents me from seeing the ‘Atman’? What makes me not to see or realize myself now?

Lord Krishna says in Gita:

·        Greed – insatiable desire to earn more money than what is needed lead a simplistic life, evil desire on women other than wife, desire on fame.

·        Anger – uncontrollable anger

·        Jealousy

·        Upside down lifestyle – Giving too much importance to things that need little or no significance.  Giving too little attention to things that need more importance.

The above are some of the “enemies” that cloud the Atman. 

While I, the atman, am pure and 100% perfect, the above enemies are preventing me from seeing the pure atman. 

How do I “defeat” these “enemies” and see myself, the atman, in true form so that I realize all the purity of Atman and enjoy all the happiness of atman?

Again, Gita and all other scriptures have the answer:

·        Ramayana :   Shows how Rama defeats the 10-headed Ravana and secures Sita.  This shows me how I should defeat the 10 different “enemies” within myself and secure my “Atman”.

·        Mahabharata :  shows how Arjuna, with the blessings from Krishna, defeats Duryodhana and his 100 brothers.  This shows me how I, with the blessings from Krishna can defeat the 100 “enemies” who live in me – desire, lust, greed …

·        Gita :  Gist of Gita, as we all know is “Do your duty and leave the results to me”.  This tells me that I should

o   First know what my duties are – as a man born in this world, as a son, as a father and on each of the role.

o   Then know that while discharging my duties, I ll have to face 100s of “enemies”  - not just in the form of people but in the form of my own emotions like my anger, my laziness, my carelessness etc.

o   Then know that things always will not turn out the way I expect it to as there are several puzzle pieces that are connected and that Lord Krishna makes the connection of the pieces and that we are only just a part of the bigger puzzle.

o   Finally, realize that I should never cease action or my duty no matter what the results are.

Regular temple visits, service to humanity, simplistic life-style, awareness about our own enemies inside us are some of the ways by which we all can begin our journey to realize our Atman.