VI SELF-REALISATION

D: How can I attain Self-realization? M: Realization is nothing to be gained afresh, it is already there. All that is necessary is to get rid of the thought `I have not realised . Stillness or !eace is Realization. "here is no #o#ent when the Self is not. So long as there is doubt or the feeling of non-realization, the atte#!t should be #ade to rid oneself of these thoughts. "hey are due to the identification of the Self with the not-Self. $hen the not-Self disa!!ears, the Self alone re#ains. "o #a%e roo#, it is enough that the cra#!ing be re#oved& roo# is not brought in fro# elsewhere. D: Since Realization is not !ossible without vasana- kshaya, how a# I to realise that State in which the vasanas are effectively destroyed? M: 'ou are in that State now( D: )oes it #ean that by holding on to the Self, the vasanas should be destroyed as and when they e#erge? M: "hey will the#selves be destroyed if you re#ain as you are. D: How shall I reach the Self? M: "here is no reaching the Self. If Self were to be reached, it would #ean that the Self is not here and now but that it is yet to be obtained. $hat is got afresh will also be lost. So it will be i#!er#anent. $hat is not !er#anent is not worth striving for. So I say the Self is not reached. 'ou are the Self& you are already "hat. "he fact is, you are ignorant of your blissful state. Ignorance su!ervenes and draws a veil over the !ure Self which is *liss. Atte#!ts are directed only to re#ove this veil of ignorance which is #erely wrong %nowledge. "he wrong %nowledge is the false identification of the Self with the body, #ind etc. "his +alse identification #ust go, and then the Self alone re#ains. "herefore Realization is for everyone& Realization #a%es no difference between the as!irants. "his very doubt, whether you can realise, and the notion `I- have-not-realised are the#selves the obstacles. *e free fro# these obstacles also. D: $hat is the use of samadhi ,?- and does thought subsist then? M: Samadhi alone can reveal the "ruth. "houghts cast a

veil over Reality, and so It is not realised as such in states other than samadhi. In samadhi there is only the feeling `I A. and no thoughts. "he e/!erience `I A. is being still. D: How can I re!eat the e/!erience of samadhi or the stillness that I obtain here? M: 'our !resent e/!erience is due to the influence of the at#os!here in which you find yourself. 0an you have it outside this at#os!here? "he e/!erience is s!as#odic. 1ntil it beco#es !er#anent, !ractice is necessary. D: 2ne has at ti#es vivid flashes of a consciousness whose centre is outside the normal self, and which see#s to be all-inclusive. $ithout concerning ourselves with !hiloso!hical conce!ts, how would *hagavan advise #e to wor% towards getting, retaining and extending those rare flashes? )oes abhyasa ,?- in such e/!erience involve retirement? M: Outside( +or who# is the inside or outside? "hese can e/ist only so long as there are the sub3ect and ob3ect. +or who# are these two again? 2n investigation you will find that they resolve into the sub3ect only. See who is the sub3ect& and this en4uiry leads you to !ure 0onsciousness beyond the sub3ect. "he normal self is the #ind. "his #ind is with li#itations. *ut !ure 0onsciousness is beyond li#itations, and is reached by investigation as above outlined. Getting: "he Self is always there. 'ou have only to re#ove the veil obstructing the revelation of the Self. Retaining: 2nce you realise the Self, it beco#es your direct and i##ediate e/!erience. It is never lost. Extending: "here is no e/tending of the Self, for it is as ever, without contraction or e/!ansion. Retirement: Abiding in the Self is solitude. *ecause there is nothing alien to the Self. Retire#ent #ust be fro# so#e one !lace or state to another. "here is neither the one nor the other a!art fro# the Self. All being the Self, retire#ent is i#!ossible and inconceivable. Abhyasa is only the !revention of disturbance to the inherent !eace. 'ou are always in your natural State whether you do abhyasa or not5 "o re#ain as you are, without 4uestion or doubt, is your natural State. D: 2n realizing samadhi, does not one obtain siddhis also?

M: In order to dis!lay siddhis, there #ust be others to recognise the#. "hat #eans, there is no jnana ,?- in the one who dis!lays the#. "herefore, siddhis are not worth a thought& jnana alone is to be ai#ed at and gained. D: )oes #y Realization hel! others? M: 'es, and it is the best hel! that you can !ossibly render to others. "hose who have discovered great truths have done so in the still de!ths of the Self. *ut really there are no `others to be hel!ed. +or, the Realised *eing sees only the Self, 3ust as the golds#ith sees only the gold while valuing it in various 3ewels #ade of gold. $hen you identify yourself with the body, na#e and for# are there. *ut when you transcend the bodyconsciousness, the `others also disa!!ear. "he Realised one does not see the world as different fro# Hi#self. D: $ould it not be better if the saints #i/ with others? M: "here are no `others to #i/ with. "he Self is the only Reality. D: Should I not try to hel! the suffering world? M: "he 6ower that created you has created the world as well. If it can ta%e care of you, it can si#ilarly ta%e care of the world also 5 if 7od has created the world, it is His business to loo% after it, not yours. D: Is it not our duty to be !atriots? M: 'our duty is to be and not, to be this or that. `I A. "HA" I A. su#s u! the whole truth& the #ethod is su##arised in `be still . And what does stillness #ean? It #eans `destroy yourself & because, every na#e and for# is the cause of trouble. `I-I is the Self. `I a# this is the ego. $hen the `I is %e!t u! as the `I only, it is the Self. $hen it flies off at a tangent and says `I a# this or that, I a# such and such , it is the ego. D: $ho then is 7od? M: "he Self is 7od. `I A. is 7od. If 7od be a!art fro# the Self, He #ust be a Selfless 7od, which is absurd. All that is re4uired to realise the Self is to be still. $hat can be easier than that? Hence atma vidya is the easiest to attain.