Swamiji says Atma Vidya or self Knowledge is the key for eternal happiness peace and security. But I wonder what is there to learn new about myself. I know all about myself, who I am, where I was born, what did I study etc. But Sastras say that is all wrong. Whenever you say “I am fat,” that “I” refers to your body. Whenever you say “I am hungry or thirsty,” that “I” refers to your physiology. Whenever you say “I am disturbed or I am happy,” that “I” is referring to your mind. Whenever you say “I know or I have decided,” that “I” is referring to your buddi or intellect. And whenever you say “I am sleepy,” you really don’t know who that “I” is. Thus, so many I’s are there, and which one is real I. But in reality or in our day to day life, whenever yur are asked who are you, you never say you don’t know.You radily say I am so and so, son of so and so, graduate engineer and so on. Sastra says this is ignorance or delusion about the real Self or the fundamental Truth. So, the purpose of self enquiry is to know who the real I is out of the several versions. It may not be for discovering a new I, but it is only remove the cloud around the real I, and realizing the truth. It is not for gaining fresh knowledge of self, but it is for the correctionof old false knowledge. The Guru directs your attention to the fact that in all these differences, there is one uniform factor that is intimately associated with me and that is consciousness or the awareness. The attributes may vary, the experiences may vary, the thought modes may vary, but one continuous eternal changeless divisionless entity is the Awareness or Consciousness, which is the real “I”, also called the Atma. So What is the definition of this Atma? The Upanishads point out that Atma, is of the nature of Pure Chaitanyam or Consciousness, and is not a part property or product of the body. It is an independent entity pervading the body, because of which the body is sentient or alive or conscious, but not limited to the boundary of the body and extends beyond. And when the body perishes, this Consciousness or Atma is not destroyed, but the continuing Atma cannot be communicated not because of its absence, but because of the absence of the medium called body. And the aim of the sastras and Guru is to help you to gain Self Knowledge which alone can eradicate the fundamental ignorance about our real Self. The goal of the individual is to own up the identity with Atma and be able to say “I am not the body with consciousness, but I am CONSCIOUSNESS with an incidental body”. Hari Om. - You can listen more from Swamiji at http://www.vedantavidyarthisangha.org/homeindex.html
Its very important to know yourself first. you really can’t achieve much in life unless you know yourself. we each have immense unique quality and potential to create amazing things and find lasting happiness. It's just to know yourself from deep inside your heart.
