SOME THOUGHTS ON ATMA--95

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Loving SAI RAMs,

 

Each one of us behave and act exactly as our thoughts are. In every one of us there is a definite thought pattern in which the crowds of thoughts generally crystalise themselves, and their shape is the structure for our character and behaviour. At this moment, thoughts like " I am the body " , " I am unhappy " , " I am the son of so and so " , " I have this " , " I must get some more " and a thousand and one similar other thoughts are being constantly entertained and maintained in our inner instruments and we act, feel and think, as these thoughts prompt us. If these thought patterns are changed by us successfully, our entire behaviour, concepts and experiences change. Rightly used, the change can unshackle our human personality from the chain of its attachments and misconceptions to rediscover its Divine, All-bissful Status. In short, we are what we think ourselves to be at any given moment. Thoughts create and thoughts destroy also. To bear in the mind the constant awareness " I am the Self (Atma) " is the Sadhana or spiritual practice(abhyas) and this idea can not take root in us unless the weeds of confusion in us are not effectively removed. An individual who worships with true devotion, employs himself in self-less service, engages himself in the study of the Sastras, practises self-control, does reflection etc. and with the help of these he who has brought his mind perfectly under his own control, and whose intellect thereby has been cured of its false tendencies

(vasanas) is called a " purified heart " (Sudeeh). Such an individual alone can maintain an unbroken thoght current that " I am Brahman " , and 'I am not a Samsari " . This is the last stage of self-effort in the ultimate realisation of the Infinite Self.

 

It has been insisted upon in the Sastras that the practice of Atma Vichar must be undertaken sincerely for a long period of time. In Spirituality there are no quickfixes and shorcuts. In the case of " Atma-darshan " , the insistence is that a seeker must practise continuously for some length of time. The Upanishads, the Gita and,in fact, the scriptures of almost all faiths have the same advice repeatedly emphasised. A gross object can be perceived without difficulty in as much as the mind is contacting an object that is other than itself. The Self, is the Subject and is the perceiver himself. Owing to its subtelety It can not be perceived by any of the instruments of experience. The seeker will have to come to a state of quietitude, totally retired from the perceptions of the body,the play of the mind and the activities of the intellect. In that still hour of meditation alone can we experience the nature of Atma. The Self is subtle (Anumatram) and being the subject in the perceiver, It is not availabel as an object of perception (atindriyam).

 

Again, It is the very essence of the perceiver and, just as you can not perceive yourself since you are yourself, we can only awaken ourselves to become the Brahman; and not directly perceive It. When we say that a dreamer perceives the waker, we mean the dreamer status has ended and he himself has become the waker. No one by any known method can have a direct perception or experience of the Self as an object other than the seeker. Vedanta advises surrender or offering oneself to the Highest in utter love (

Bhakti) as a necessary means to reach the goal. To detach oneself from the vehicles of matter is to end our contact with plurality. Where surrender is complete, there we awake ourselves to the experience of the Infinite Atma.

(to be continued)

G,Balasubramanian