Know thy self to know ThySelf
What is thy self: This is made up of senses, body, mind and intellect. Any modifications that appear in any of these are also part of thy self. What and how we perceive through the senses, whatever goes on in our physical body in the absence of sensory stimulation and activity, any structural changes such as aging and disease of the body are all part of thy self. Mental activity, imaginations, memory, planning for the future etc are the mental activities and they are part of thy self. Any intellectual activity is the same. Essentially what we think as our self is really a mixture of all of the above. Lot of these processes happening in our sense body mind intellect complex are responses determined by years of conditioning that starts right at birth and continues on throughout our lives. Two babies born at the same time in the nursery ward are really no different from each other other than any genetic differences. But after they go home with different sets of parents they are subjected to different sets of inputs which condition each of them to start identifying themselves as a certain name, a certain family, clan, religion and nationality. By the time they are grown up this conditioning has become so ingrained in them that they would not hesitate to kill each other even though they started at the same starting point in that nursery. The difference being the upbringing or the conditioning that each one was subjected to. This self that is created by such upbringing and conditioning is perceived as the real self but as we can see it is really created by what we grow up experiencing and that could be different for different people, it is everchanging and not permanent and it is different for each and everyone of us.
What is ThySelf: This is That which each baby brings with himself at the time of birth and which stays with each of us all throughout our life. This is non changing and eternal consciousness that resides within. Whereas the other self is constantly changing this True and Real self does not. Traditionally it is said to be beyond the sense, body, mind intellect complex. But in reality it pervades all of those, literally powering them. Like electricity powers the appliances, it is not separate and beyond the appliances, rather it is very much pervading the appliances, enlivening them. Without electricity appliances would not function. Similarly without the life force of the Real True Self the sense, body, mind intellect complex would not function and deteriorate rapidly which we call death. In a dead body which only a moment before death, all the senses, body mind etc were functional but as soon as that something ( Self ) departs or withdraws the same senses etc are lifeless and quickly wither away and die. Same senses and body mind etc that we so dearly called our self do not mean anything. Have no value and become devoid of existence. So these sense body mind complex that we so dearly call my self is really a temporary appliance that has been powered by the True ThySelf.
How knowing thy self will help to know ThySelf: Most individuals function at the level of self and not The Self. Look around and you can easily see that to be the case in people around you. A female is behaving in a very typical female way, a father is behaving in a fatherly manner, an athlete is behaving in a very athletic way. Behaving like a female is truly controlled by the hormones that body has circulating inside. In addition, that body which has those female hormones circulating inside has been conditioned by the society to act in a certain way by having been told, “this is how a good female behaves and acts” this individual having been subjected to influences from marketers etc to act in a certain femiinie way. Combination of all these hormones, and social conditioning is what results into a certain individual female to act in a certain female way. This conditioning becomes so intense that she identifies with it 100% and does not see anything but that self image for all her life. Same applies to one who acts like a father ( combination of male hormones and social influences ), athletes, scientists, soldiers and members of various professions all identify themselves with the role they have been given. Having identified with this superimposed identity that individual forgets his or her true nature. That true nature that really powers every thing else. This individual not realizing that there is something other than this sense body complex, does not see the one that is beyond, ie the True Self. As the process of starting to see the self starts, the One who is beyond the self starts to become evident. It has been there always but not put to use. Because the seeing of the self is been done by The Self. As the seeing process is practiced more and more ( by The Self ) the grip of the self loosens and the role being played by The Self strengthens. Seeing of the self is being done by The Self. Realization dawns that this sense body complex that had become the dominant self identity is nothing but an everchanging wave pattern in the sense body complex.
Why to know ThySelf, What do you gain by knowing ThySelf: Knowing ThySelf is important because it changes your perspective towards everything that is happening. Realizing the temporariness of the changes taking place in the self, one sees the true nature of them. As the Self awakens and becomes the Self image of the individual, one stops defining oneself with the help of temporary things and processes and stops running after them. This does not mean that this individual stops living in this body, this does not mean that this individual does not use his or her senses to interact with the world, this does not mean he does not use his mind or intellect. But having broken lose from their grip, he instead of being driven by them, becomes the driver. The role play changes. Whereas previously senses were driving him to do things, mind was driving him to do things, he instead uses all these as tools to do what ever he wants to do. His agenda is being set not by these senses rather he himself controls his agenda in life and all the senses, body, mind and intellect become his slaves. It is said “ Mind is a terrible master and a wonderful slave”
One other gain that is realized when the Self is awakened and realized is: Experience of Ananda or Bliss. Self is nothing other than Bliss. Self is defined as Satchitananda. Bliss that ever is. This bliss is available any where any time and in any amount to the one who has realized how to access it and awakened The Self. The happiness that comes from realizing this Self is many fold compared to the happiness that can be derived from outside elements. For example when a person drinks alcohols or uses drugs, there is a sense of euphoria or happiness but as soon as the effect of alcohol wears off individual is back to the old self. He drinks again and gets the same euphoria again. So what is wrong with that ? Why not just drink and be happy rather than go through the process of tapa and sadhna to get closer to the Self ? Reason being we all know the problems with excessive drinking, addiction, social ills and misbehaviour, endangering the lives of others and the health problems that this excessive alcohols would bring. If a person does not have money than this could also cause a person to engage in crime. Same is true with other drugs which give a sense of euphoria nd happiness.
How about sense of happiness that comes from food. Let us look at that. Food gives sense of happiness but how much food can you eat ? If you eat too much because you want lot of happiness derived from food, what happens ? Now you have lot of problems and disease from overeating. Temporary happiness but long term unhappiness of having to face lot of obesity related diseases. How about happiness derived from making money. Yes it would make a person happy for some time but when you see someone who has more money than you have, you will be unhappy and would want to make more money. But that may not be possible always. Some individual will engage in illegal and unethical means tp make more money. What does that do ? It harms the society and the individual both. He will go to jail and his actions will cause harm to others and to the environment. So we can see these things give happiness but only temporary and can potentially have many problems related to the process.
But when we have gotten in touch with The Self, there is no limit to how much we can have. Having more of the bliss from this Self does not lead to addiction like alcohol, it does not cause obesity like food and it does not cause one to commit crime like trying to accumulate more wealth. Experiencing bliss that comes from The Self is the cleanest form of Bliss there is.
How to practice “Self watching the self”
Practicing Self watching the self can be done in the following way:
At any time and anywhere it can be done.
Observe the body, its posture, where the bends are in the body, if the back is traight see it as a straight back. If back is not straight see it as a back that is not straight. Observe the knees, bent or straight or in between. Same for elbows shoulders etc. For each part of the body. Do not change the position of any part, just observe it. Do not react to what you observe.
Observe the coolness or warmth in the body. Observe ant sensations that may be present. Do not try to look for or imagine any sensations. Just become more aware of whatever senasations are there. Warm , cool, tingling, itching, pain, discomfort, pleasure etc. Just observe. Just know that they are there. Do not try to change any thing to make them go away.
Observe what is happening in the in each different part of the body. Starting with the tip of the toes and gradually moving up one part at a time. First observe the gross parts. For example first observe the entire foot, entire lower leg, entire knee, entire thigh, entire abdomen and so on. Than narrow the observation to smaller components of each. For example observe each toe separately, bottom of the foot separate from the top of the foot. Than observe each toe separately, observe different areas of the bottom of the foot and different areas of the top of the foot. Gradually narrow the area of observation to even smaller segments. Do the same for each section of the body. For example for lower leg, knee, thigh, hips, abdomen, back, neck, head etc. After having done this expand the awareness to observe the whole body from tip of the toes to the top of the head all together, seeing the whole body at the same time. It requires a special way of observing. You are observing the body but your attention is not on any one part of the body. You are aware of the entire body. Stay in this awareness for as long as you can. A feeling of bliss is likely to arise indicating awakening of the Self. Degree of bliss being proportional to the awakening of the Self.
At another time any where any time you can practice Self watching the self by a different method. With eyes open as you are seeing an object, just be aware that the object is there. Do not react to the object but if you notice a reaction in the mind, observe that there is a reaction to the object you are seeing. Observe the seeing of the object and observe the mental reaction to the object. These mental reactions could be past memories triggered by the object, future plans, likes or dislikes arising in the mind should all be observed as happening. Do not react to those. Observe the wave of reaction. Observe the starting point of this wave of reaction, observe the wave of reaction as it exists and observe the fading away of this wave of reaction. Trace it backwards from the end to the beginning and trace it forward from the beginning to the end and also see the entire wave in its totality. Observe such waves of reactions as a response to the interaction of all the senses such as hearing, smelling, tasting and touching also.
At another time and any where any time you can practice Self watching the self by a different method. Direct your attention to the mind and see what is happening. You are likely to notice thoughts cruising through your mind. Majority of these are random unrelated thoughts. Does not matter random or organized. Latch on to any one thought and start following it and see what happens to it. How it eveolves into a different thought and leads to a slightly different thought and that in turn leads to a slightly different thought and this process goes on until you observe that the thought that you are in now is very different from the one the chain started as. Observe what it is now and observe what it was when its started. Trace it back from where it is now to where it started at. Go back and forth through the chain and also see the entire chain as one long string of thoughts all at the same time. Do this repeatedly with any given thought at any given time. You can do this anywhere no matter what you are doing. Catch the thought you are having and start following it. with practice you will start noticing the separation between your thougts and yourself. You would start seeing themselves as individual entities floating in the realm of your mind. You nay even notice them as strings floating in the horizon of your mind. They will become floating images on the canvas of your mind. As you practice more of this gradually the grip of your mind on you will be loosened. Your Self will be awakened moe and more and mind will become a tool, a servant at your disposal instead of being your master that it was.
As you practice these techniques of observing the interaction of senses and objects, as you practice observing the body and the mind and the waves of thoughts that arise in the mind, the Self is awakened and everything that is the true nature of The Self is awakened, which is the true Bliss or Ananda. With time you become capable of connecting with that Self at will. In further time you become fully established in that Self and the worldly pleasures become too insignificant because now you have found the unlimited ocean of Bliss within. You never run out of energy because you have found an infinite source of energy. You do not need to sleep 8 or 10 hours a day because this infinite soutce of Bliss and energy can refresh and re energize you in a very short period of time.
What is thy self: This is made up of senses, body, mind and intellect. Any modifications that appear in any of these are also part of thy self. What and how we perceive through the senses, whatever goes on in our physical body in the absence of sensory stimulation and activity, any structural changes such as aging and disease of the body are all part of thy self. Mental activity, imaginations, memory, planning for the future etc are the mental activities and they are part of thy self. Any intellectual activity is the same. Essentially what we think as our self is really a mixture of all of the above. Lot of these processes happening in our sense body mind intellect complex are responses determined by years of conditioning that starts right at birth and continues on throughout our lives. Two babies born at the same time in the nursery ward are really no different from each other other than any genetic differences. But after they go home with different sets of parents they are subjected to different sets of inputs which condition each of them to start identifying themselves as a certain name, a certain family, clan, religion and nationality. By the time they are grown up this conditioning has become so ingrained in them that they would not hesitate to kill each other even though they started at the same starting point in that nursery. The difference being the upbringing or the conditioning that each one was subjected to. This self that is created by such upbringing and conditioning is perceived as the real self but as we can see it is really created by what we grow up experiencing and that could be different for different people, it is everchanging and not permanent and it is different for each and everyone of us.
What is ThySelf: This is That which each baby brings with himself at the time of birth and which stays with each of us all throughout our life. This is non changing and eternal consciousness that resides within. Whereas the other self is constantly changing this True and Real self does not. Traditionally it is said to be beyond the sense, body, mind intellect complex. But in reality it pervades all of those, literally powering them. Like electricity powers the appliances, it is not separate and beyond the appliances, rather it is very much pervading the appliances, enlivening them. Without electricity appliances would not function. Similarly without the life force of the Real True Self the sense, body, mind intellect complex would not function and deteriorate rapidly which we call death. In a dead body which only a moment before death, all the senses, body mind etc were functional but as soon as that something ( Self ) departs or withdraws the same senses etc are lifeless and quickly wither away and die. Same senses and body mind etc that we so dearly called our self do not mean anything. Have no value and become devoid of existence. So these sense body mind complex that we so dearly call my self is really a temporary appliance that has been powered by the True ThySelf.
How knowing thy self will help to know ThySelf: Most individuals function at the level of self and not The Self. Look around and you can easily see that to be the case in people around you. A female is behaving in a very typical female way, a father is behaving in a fatherly manner, an athlete is behaving in a very athletic way. Behaving like a female is truly controlled by the hormones that body has circulating inside. In addition, that body which has those female hormones circulating inside has been conditioned by the society to act in a certain way by having been told, “this is how a good female behaves and acts” this individual having been subjected to influences from marketers etc to act in a certain femiinie way. Combination of all these hormones, and social conditioning is what results into a certain individual female to act in a certain female way. This conditioning becomes so intense that she identifies with it 100% and does not see anything but that self image for all her life. Same applies to one who acts like a father ( combination of male hormones and social influences ), athletes, scientists, soldiers and members of various professions all identify themselves with the role they have been given. Having identified with this superimposed identity that individual forgets his or her true nature. That true nature that really powers every thing else. This individual not realizing that there is something other than this sense body complex, does not see the one that is beyond, ie the True Self. As the process of starting to see the self starts, the One who is beyond the self starts to become evident. It has been there always but not put to use. Because the seeing of the self is been done by The Self. As the seeing process is practiced more and more ( by The Self ) the grip of the self loosens and the role being played by The Self strengthens. Seeing of the self is being done by The Self. Realization dawns that this sense body complex that had become the dominant self identity is nothing but an everchanging wave pattern in the sense body complex.
Why to know ThySelf, What do you gain by knowing ThySelf: Knowing ThySelf is important because it changes your perspective towards everything that is happening. Realizing the temporariness of the changes taking place in the self, one sees the true nature of them. As the Self awakens and becomes the Self image of the individual, one stops defining oneself with the help of temporary things and processes and stops running after them. This does not mean that this individual stops living in this body, this does not mean that this individual does not use his or her senses to interact with the world, this does not mean he does not use his mind or intellect. But having broken lose from their grip, he instead of being driven by them, becomes the driver. The role play changes. Whereas previously senses were driving him to do things, mind was driving him to do things, he instead uses all these as tools to do what ever he wants to do. His agenda is being set not by these senses rather he himself controls his agenda in life and all the senses, body, mind and intellect become his slaves. It is said “ Mind is a terrible master and a wonderful slave”
One other gain that is realized when the Self is awakened and realized is: Experience of Ananda or Bliss. Self is nothing other than Bliss. Self is defined as Satchitananda. Bliss that ever is. This bliss is available any where any time and in any amount to the one who has realized how to access it and awakened The Self. The happiness that comes from realizing this Self is many fold compared to the happiness that can be derived from outside elements. For example when a person drinks alcohols or uses drugs, there is a sense of euphoria or happiness but as soon as the effect of alcohol wears off individual is back to the old self. He drinks again and gets the same euphoria again. So what is wrong with that ? Why not just drink and be happy rather than go through the process of tapa and sadhna to get closer to the Self ? Reason being we all know the problems with excessive drinking, addiction, social ills and misbehaviour, endangering the lives of others and the health problems that this excessive alcohols would bring. If a person does not have money than this could also cause a person to engage in crime. Same is true with other drugs which give a sense of euphoria nd happiness.
How about sense of happiness that comes from food. Let us look at that. Food gives sense of happiness but how much food can you eat ? If you eat too much because you want lot of happiness derived from food, what happens ? Now you have lot of problems and disease from overeating. Temporary happiness but long term unhappiness of having to face lot of obesity related diseases. How about happiness derived from making money. Yes it would make a person happy for some time but when you see someone who has more money than you have, you will be unhappy and would want to make more money. But that may not be possible always. Some individual will engage in illegal and unethical means tp make more money. What does that do ? It harms the society and the individual both. He will go to jail and his actions will cause harm to others and to the environment. So we can see these things give happiness but only temporary and can potentially have many problems related to the process.
But when we have gotten in touch with The Self, there is no limit to how much we can have. Having more of the bliss from this Self does not lead to addiction like alcohol, it does not cause obesity like food and it does not cause one to commit crime like trying to accumulate more wealth. Experiencing bliss that comes from The Self is the cleanest form of Bliss there is.
How to practice “Self watching the self”
Practicing Self watching the self can be done in the following way:
At any time and anywhere it can be done.
Observe the body, its posture, where the bends are in the body, if the back is traight see it as a straight back. If back is not straight see it as a back that is not straight. Observe the knees, bent or straight or in between. Same for elbows shoulders etc. For each part of the body. Do not change the position of any part, just observe it. Do not react to what you observe.
Observe the coolness or warmth in the body. Observe ant sensations that may be present. Do not try to look for or imagine any sensations. Just become more aware of whatever senasations are there. Warm , cool, tingling, itching, pain, discomfort, pleasure etc. Just observe. Just know that they are there. Do not try to change any thing to make them go away.
Observe what is happening in the in each different part of the body. Starting with the tip of the toes and gradually moving up one part at a time. First observe the gross parts. For example first observe the entire foot, entire lower leg, entire knee, entire thigh, entire abdomen and so on. Than narrow the observation to smaller components of each. For example observe each toe separately, bottom of the foot separate from the top of the foot. Than observe each toe separately, observe different areas of the bottom of the foot and different areas of the top of the foot. Gradually narrow the area of observation to even smaller segments. Do the same for each section of the body. For example for lower leg, knee, thigh, hips, abdomen, back, neck, head etc. After having done this expand the awareness to observe the whole body from tip of the toes to the top of the head all together, seeing the whole body at the same time. It requires a special way of observing. You are observing the body but your attention is not on any one part of the body. You are aware of the entire body. Stay in this awareness for as long as you can. A feeling of bliss is likely to arise indicating awakening of the Self. Degree of bliss being proportional to the awakening of the Self.
At another time any where any time you can practice Self watching the self by a different method. With eyes open as you are seeing an object, just be aware that the object is there. Do not react to the object but if you notice a reaction in the mind, observe that there is a reaction to the object you are seeing. Observe the seeing of the object and observe the mental reaction to the object. These mental reactions could be past memories triggered by the object, future plans, likes or dislikes arising in the mind should all be observed as happening. Do not react to those. Observe the wave of reaction. Observe the starting point of this wave of reaction, observe the wave of reaction as it exists and observe the fading away of this wave of reaction. Trace it backwards from the end to the beginning and trace it forward from the beginning to the end and also see the entire wave in its totality. Observe such waves of reactions as a response to the interaction of all the senses such as hearing, smelling, tasting and touching also.
At another time and any where any time you can practice Self watching the self by a different method. Direct your attention to the mind and see what is happening. You are likely to notice thoughts cruising through your mind. Majority of these are random unrelated thoughts. Does not matter random or organized. Latch on to any one thought and start following it and see what happens to it. How it eveolves into a different thought and leads to a slightly different thought and that in turn leads to a slightly different thought and this process goes on until you observe that the thought that you are in now is very different from the one the chain started as. Observe what it is now and observe what it was when its started. Trace it back from where it is now to where it started at. Go back and forth through the chain and also see the entire chain as one long string of thoughts all at the same time. Do this repeatedly with any given thought at any given time. You can do this anywhere no matter what you are doing. Catch the thought you are having and start following it. with practice you will start noticing the separation between your thougts and yourself. You would start seeing themselves as individual entities floating in the realm of your mind. You nay even notice them as strings floating in the horizon of your mind. They will become floating images on the canvas of your mind. As you practice more of this gradually the grip of your mind on you will be loosened. Your Self will be awakened moe and more and mind will become a tool, a servant at your disposal instead of being your master that it was.
As you practice these techniques of observing the interaction of senses and objects, as you practice observing the body and the mind and the waves of thoughts that arise in the mind, the Self is awakened and everything that is the true nature of The Self is awakened, which is the true Bliss or Ananda. With time you become capable of connecting with that Self at will. In further time you become fully established in that Self and the worldly pleasures become too insignificant because now you have found the unlimited ocean of Bliss within. You never run out of energy because you have found an infinite source of energy. You do not need to sleep 8 or 10 hours a day because this infinite soutce of Bliss and energy can refresh and re energize you in a very short period of time.
