The Quest for the Heart: By Dr. Raju

Any being without Self knowledge identifies with body-mind complex.

As far as life in the outside world is concerned “I” thought i.e ego has certain utilitarian value. Without the “I” thought, life in the world become impossible.

Bhagawan Ramana said even Jnanis have “I” thought but they use it like an instrument for the welfare of the world. They never under any circumstances identify themselves with the”I” thought and they are always attuned to their essential nature of pure consciousness.

Once a philosopher came back to his house and put his umbrella on his bed and then stood in the corner where he used to keep his umbrella. He mistook umbrella for himself on that day. Only in the early hours of morning as he got tired and sleepy, he realized that he was not the umbrella. Then he placed the umbrella in its normal position in the corner. Realizing that he was a person and not an umbrella, he lay down on the bed and went to sleep.

The position of the whole humanity is in a similar context of mistaken identity. Everyone is identifying with the utilities of body and mind as their essential nature. When we are conscious and come to the understanding that the utilities are just instruments in the hands of our essential pure consciousness, then only we develop the capacity to drop them.

To unfold our awareness, first of all we must learn watching. What you watch is not important. It may be a song or flight of a bird, clouds, sky, flow of river, falling of old leaves, watching the breath or walking with awareness.

Just test for yourself by sitting with your eyes closed. There starts inner chattering in a crazy way, relevant and irrelevant thoughts come, and nothing seems to happen.

Long procession of thoughts, desires, memories keep on coming unending.

Watchfulness is the right antidote for this.

When watchfulness crosses a break even point thought traffic stops and the outer shell of mind i.e thoughts drop. When there is nothing else to be attended to, awareness falls on itself and for the first time you know yourself.

When you lose your personality which is a conditioning imposed on you by the society through Self-inquiry, you gain your natural natural state of pure consciousness.

So watchfulness is the method of destroying identity with utilities like ego and the body and Self-inquiry is nothing but a passive state of watchfulness of ego activities in which ego is given an opportunity to unfold itself and wither.

So let us do Self-inquiry to destroy the identity with the utilities of body and mind and establish ourselves in the source of them  and be in the thought-free,basic pure consciousness “I am”.

In Self-inquiry the rust of the past is taken away and the seed of light which is in the depths of mind breaks open the ground and become one with its source. The whole existence supports and celebrates if the flame and fire of “who am i” quest pierces through and move within the spiritual heart.

Dr. Raju