Who am I? What am I? What is the Need of a spiritual practice (Sadhana?)

       Once somebody asked, Shri Raman Maharshi the spiritual master an authority from India, is it the case that whatever happens in the life happens out of a fate, luck or is there any role played by a human (Jeeva) or his desires? (Vasana). The master replied, do ‘you’ exist? Do you think that whatever is done,’ I’ did. Do you think that whatever is achieved, ‘I’ achieved. Whatever is to be changed, ‘I’ will change. Where does this ‘I’ come from? ‘You’ or ‘I’ does not exist then where does this query arise from? Whatever is seen, whatever is experienced, whatever is arose, whatever is vanished it is all his leela. He is the creator. He is the organizer and he himself is the destroyer.

          Accordingly what the master meant is all of us don’t exist. A supreme lord (Krsna – Ishwar) exists in the form of us. We are not separate form him (Ishwar) though we (Jeeva) think ourselves that, I did this. I did that. What we see through our eyes, what we think through our minds that the things, the matter does exist but that is not the case. All these are illusions (Aabhas). He is the one. A lord. Krishna. Ishvar. He, who manifests himself in the different forms. He who is all pervasive. He is eternal, He is term less, and he sees himself in us. We are the manifestation of him. He dwells within us.

The ‘I’ within us is always awaken. We say. I am an accountant. I am a doctor. I am an engineer. I am a scientist. I am a teacher. I am educated. I am civilized. I earn money. I prepared this report. I wrote this thesis, I cured him. I look after my family. These are my parents. This is my friend, this is my son, this is my wife this is this. This is that. I am this. I am that. And so on isn’t it? Everywhere I, I, I and I that’s it. Each day son rises from east. Moon revolves around the earth. A metabolic process is on in our body. The heart beats. All of us breathe. What is your contribution in it? Who does this then?  Rivers been flowing since ages. Flowers been blossoming since ages. Birds been flying freely. The wheel of this universe is on since thousands of years it was there before you and it will exist after you.

We observe waves on the shore. This is a delusion. It is not a wave but originally a water in the form of wave. We say wave is a separate entity from the water but it is not the fact. This is just a difference in the level of the water caused due to the external factors such as wind. So what is it in the reality? It is a water. When it exudes from the soil. It is a stream. When it flows on the banks, it is river. And when it merges in the sea. It is a creek. And trickles from the eyes. Becomes tears. Falls from the clouds is a rain. Simple water. Takes different forms thus the lord (Ishvar) exists in the form of us. He is everywhere, where you explore him. Where you experience him. Where you cognize him. He is sublime. He is Transcendent. 

        We have a faith in ‘I’. This is the root cause of all the afflictions. This ‘I’ is the expression of the (Kama) – Wishes, Desires, benefits, (Krodha) – Anger, ire, wrath, rage, (Lobha) – Greed, Avidity, enticement, (Moha) – infatuation, temptation, fascination, (Mada) – arrogance, pride, conceit, swagger & (Matsara) – Jealousy, envy, venom. We are so engrossed in this ‘I’ we just don’t think anything other than this. We have become self-centered. So what are we in the reality? What has to be our ultimate goal? What is it that we want to achieve? Where did we come from? So many queries that becomes thirst and most of the time ends into a confusion.

       Actually we are reluctant to think beyond ‘I’. Our intellect has a limitation. We assume all the worldly things, all material things are as an ultimate truth and run after obtaining it the whole life. We have forgot out true self. In spite of all, the scriptures, the puranas, The vedas, The shrutis and shrimad bhagwatam discusses about the soul, the spirit, the fate, the rebirth and the rules of the Karma our deeds. 

        We are nothing but an image of that supreme lord (Ishvar). The way we see our image in the mirror. The image does not have it’s separate entity. It is associated to us. The actions of an image is in our control. The image cannot move on its own similarly the supreme lord manifests in us through our subtle body. That is why we are the image of the supreme lord. The Ishvar. In order to meet our real self we need to destroy the subtle body. It becomes possible only when we look towards the lord and start worshipping him from the bottom of our heart. We must try to escape from the afflictions. We must try to think and rise beyond the ‘I’, we must start to explore our real self. It is him who is within us, we must try to start cognizing him. This process is called ‘Sadhana’ ‘Bhakti’. We surrender to him. We pray him. He becomes the matter of our interest. We become ascetic. We start chanting his holy name. we start getting a guidance of a spiritual master. On the journey of this divine path when we get the knowledge of the supreme lord it helps to destroy our subtle body that leads to the emancipation. The salvation, the liberation. Else we keep taking rebirth again and again and again. As to achieve this we need to perform spiritual practices which is called Bhakti. Nishkam Sadhana.

This process is very well described in Indian scriptures, shrutis, puranas and shrimadbhagwatam. There are many ways to reach there and we are sure going to discuss the same soon. Till then..

Let us chant the holy name.. Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Go on. It is sweet. It is divine. It will help you to rise over all the afflictions and reach salvation.