Ones of Divinity – compiled from the talks given by Ratan Lal (1918-2006)

THE EGO AND THE SELF

Liberation is from the limited I,

not for the limited I.

Just as one clearly distinguishes the sun from the cloud hiding it, so one can distinguish the Self from the ego and experience it directly. In the mind, which is deluded by ignorance, the Self is reflected, and the reflection presents itself as the empirical, changing, individual self.

The mind must repeatedly tell itself, "I am the witness. The object and activities are known to and seen by me. I remain conscious, and these are insentient. Only Brahman is real. All else is unreal." The practice ends with the realization that all objects are insentient, consisting of names and forms.

Thoughts obstruct the experience of Consciousness. Inquiry (Vichara) can remove that obstruction. The link between subject and object in every experience is Consciousness. Nirvana is the state in which the sense of separation does not exist and the ego is sunk in its source. Inquire into the nature of that Consciousness, which knows Itself as "I," and it will inevitably lead one to its source, where one will perceive the distinction between the insentient body and the mind. The mind will then appear in its utter purity as the ever-present, self-supporting intelligence, which creates and pervades its creation and remains beyond it, unaffected and uncontaminated. The absolute oneness of the individual Self with the supreme Self is experienced on the plane of Consciousness. When duality is removed, only the. Supreme Brahman remains. This experience is known only to him who has attained it. The world can be seen neither in the utter darkness of ignorance, as in deep sleep, nor in the absolute light of the Atman, as in Self-realization. When the mind, the reflector, is sunk into its source, there is no reflective awareness, just awareness alone. Light is a link between the perceiver and the perceived. In darkness, there is neither a perceiver, nor a perceived object, nor perception.

The inquiry, "Who am I?" must be practiced continuously in the waking state. It cannot be limited to half an hour in the morning and half an hour at night. During this exercise, one must not follow one's thoughts but interrupt them. At any moment during the day, when any thought comes, whenever a reaction arises, when the desire to voice an opinion or to comment on something arises, one must immediately bring back the mind to its original state and try to discover to whom these ideas belong. By doing this, one will be able to discriminate between the ego and the unperturbed depth of silence, which is the Self. The false "I" comes forth and settles. The Self is constant illumination. Do not pay any attention to the ego and its activities.

The following story is important. Once upon a time, a king and queen were enjoying the worldly life in their kingdom'. After a while, the queen wondered, "What is the aim of life? What makes human life different from an animal's life? If it is only for us to enjoy the objects and to live a life pleasing the senses, then there is no difference." The queen meditated on all her queries for some time. She then entered into the process of Self-inquiry. As time went by, the queen got enlightenment. She became indifferent to worldly life. The king noticed this. He asked her the reason for her indifference toward worldly pleasures. She told him that she had practiced Self-inquiry. ·The king decided to abandon the palace, the kingdom, his wife and family, and go to the forest to practice Self-inquiry. The queen governed her husband's kingdom. After a while, she wanted to know about her husband's progress. She went to find him, disguised as a wise man. The king felt happy that he had met a wise man and welcomed him in the proper manner. The wise man asked him why he was staying in the forest and about the spiritual disciplines that he practiced. The king answered, "I have left my kingdom, my palace, and my family. I have renounced everything except the very basic needs, such as a hut to stay in and a jug for water." He said that he practiced austerities in order to find his true identity. The wise man said to him, "You have not renounced everything." The king replied, "The only thing I have is this secluded hut. I will burn it, and that will be the end of all my belongings." The wise man told him that this was not total renunciation either. The king said, ''The only other thing I have is my physical body. If you believe it is right, I will jump from those rocks, and I will be done with it." The wise man told him that the body had not done anything wrong, so there was no need to kill it. "What you haven't renounced is that which declares that it has renounced everything, the ego, which believes that it is the doer." There was a sudden understanding and enlightenment flashed upon the king. He returned to his kingdom and his spouse.

Bhagavan Baba says that God is in you and not in books. Divine Baba has given us two examples describing how one can experience the Self. (1) The Self is always there. The only thing one has to do is to remove the veil that covers it. It is like the fire that is covered with ash. When one blows on the coals, the fire is there. (2) When a piece of white cloth gets dirty from use, it regains its original form by washing it. In the same way, we must remove the dirt that hides the Self from one. Dirt is one's bad tendencies. It is more important to undertake some practice than to do nothing.

Most of us suffer in life because of our wrong senses of identification with the body. Bhagavan Baba advises us in His discourses and conversations to find our true identity, to discover what we really are. Self–inquiry is considered to be a direct path that doubts directly the existence of the one who seeks. The only thing to be done is to destroy the wrong conception of the "I." Usually, when we ask a person, "Who are you?" The reply is, "I am so and so; I am this, I am that...; I am tall, I am short...; I have worries..." or "I am happy..." It is the ego that says, "I am this, I am that." The body is dense, the mind subtle; Due to this subtlety, it reflects the light of the Atman and considers itself to be independent, forgetting its origin and base. The mind functions because of the One Higher Power. Instead of merging in its own source, it uses the Divine Power to fulfill its own desires.

When the identity of the ego, which is not an independent being, is sought, it disappears. Liberation is from the individual "I," not for the individual "I." The Self is like infinite space, or the sky. By using relative terms, one speaks about the sky of India, of Pakistan, of China, etc., but sky is only sky. Individuality is a myth of one's imagination, and it comes forth when the infinite Self appears to be identified with the limited body. To individualize the indivisible is like drawing lines on the water. The Atman is the base of the relative world. At the same time, it transcends it. The Atman is that from which all things come and to which all will return. Atman is eternal. It remains unaffected; no matter what appears and disappears in it. All that seems to exist does not exist separate I y from the Atman.

One knows that one is. One cannot deny one's existence, because one must be there in order to deny it. This Pure Existence is experienced when the mind is tranquil in a state of knowing only that "I Am." If one looks intently within, watching the rising and setting of the "I" – notion, one can intuitive! y experience that which neither rises nor sets. Bhagavan Baba says that one· can doubt God, but· one cannot doubt one's existence. The Consciousness that is in God is the same in every human being.