Spiritual Enlightenment

We know we all need food, water, exercise, air and sleep for our physical bodies to survive and grow. As there are basic physical requirements, so there are basic requirements of the spirit that everyone can practice and benefit from, no matter who they have faith in or follow.

We may not always be aware of the soul in us, but each night when we fall into a deep sleep our soul touches the cosmic Soul of which it is a spark. In our deep sleep state we are beyond the changeable body, mind and emotions and at peace, in bliss with the Soul, our origin.

If you say, 'Who am I?' I cannot say, because that 'I' changes every fraction of a second. The 'I' that I was a second before is no longer the person of the present moment. Yet we have a sense that there is a changeless being within, that is, was, and always will be. That is the Eternal Soul.

When we recognize what our changeless Reality is, we can watch ourselves and recognize what are the changeable elements of our personality. As we wash our physical bodies daily, we need to wash our minds and allow the energy of our hearts to work. Sitting quietly for a short while morning and night, we can practice self-introspection. Look within and watch how the self acted during the day and with what impetus under certain circumstances. Was it good or bad, right or wrong? Did we behave out of anger, greed, and revenge, or with compassion and tolerance, while remaining at the cause of others' problems? Could we adjust ourselves and behave better next time?

The condition of our physical, mental and spiritual life depends on various factors, including our upbringing, environment, food and drink. Lust for power and position, obsession for property, wealth, name and fame, and all our unadjusted passions are the causes of bondages in our lives. Captivation by complexes such as ego, sex, pride, hatred and jealousy create disorder and chaos and we suffer unhappiness. To adjust all of these is the reason why we need meditation and self-adjustment.

Self-introspection is the first part of meditation. When we invert and discover our inner world, we realize the need to adjust our emotions. This does not mean suppressing anything, but rather diverting and sublimating the energy towards good. The inner, chaotic world does not belong to us, but is acquired in life and can be treated much as we would treat any physical discomfort. After self-introspection, self-adjustment and self-elevation naturally follow.

Every good quality in existence is already within our soul. Our only spiritual practice and meditation is to clean our temporarily dusty mortal selves of the complexes and misdirected emotions that prevent us from living harmonious lives, and thus gradually gain self-mastery. The more we act and behave as a reflection of the Holy Spirit, in all our thoughts, words and deeds, the more the Holy Spirit is able to work in our lives.

If we believe that our soul is the pure and eternal essence of the Creator within our beings, then we know that we carry a spark of all that is godly and good within. Autosuggestion of all these good qualities reinforces them within us and enables us to behave according to our greater nature, instead of according to our changeable small self. We affirm that we are whatever good qualities there are in the world that we like. 'I am loving, I am peaceful, I am energetic, I am wise, I am dynamic, I am pure, I am courageous, I am merciful.' This autosuggestion of our Real Nature is the second part of meditation.

We are also reminded of the sound vibration, Raa Dha Soa Mi, the Holy Name vibrating throughout creation. Tuning ourselves with its eternal rhythm lifts us from our fragmented mortal selves to our integrated eternal soul.

This is the path to Enlightenment, where we realize we are one with God and the creation.

There is a changeable self, and there is a changeless Real Self. In a movie, the dramas appear only because of light passing through cellulose films. In life, it is the light of Pure Consciousness that passes through the film of the mind and senses and enables you to perceive limitless pictures of the forms of the world. These are nothing but pictures of your self illuminated by the light of your Real Self.

The moment you withdraw your self from your ego, mind and senses, you will find that there is nothing but changeless Pure Consciousness. Bubbles in the ocean are nothing but the same water in different forms. In the same way, every self is nothing but a bubble of Pure Consciousness ­ infinite Reality. When the mind realizes this, it loses itself in Everlasting Peace.

The spirit of a liberated soul at the state of ultimate Reality is described in the following words of Sree Sree Mentu Maharaj.

"I am Pure Consciousness, beyond time, space and causation. I am Pure Happiness in my Real Nature. I am the Truth, ultimate Reality.

I am neither the doer nor the enjoyer, but I stand as witness. Being in the background, the medium and carrier of every sound, form, touch, taste and smell, I am not perceived by the sense organs, though without Me there is no perception of them. Though I am not any sense, thought, feeling, urge or emotion, there is none of them without Me. There can be no function like seeing or hearing, birth or death, growth or decay without Me, and at the same time I am above all such functions.

I am the Holy Host of all. I am the pivot of all motions and the pilot of all acquisitions and creations. I am the abode of all and I board in all. I am Light myself, self-luminous, and I illuminate all. Everything has existence in Me and I exist in everything. There can be no existence without Me.

I am the source of all attractions and repulsions for any attachment or detachment of the mortal self, but I have neither attachment nor detachment. When any mortal self reaches Me, it comes out of all bondages of attachment or detachment, and being united with Me becomes immortal.

Every thing and every moment, being an inseparable part of my wholeness, is the whole of Me in oneness, though I have no form or limit in sequence. Without Me, thoughts, feelings and senses have no form. I am Eternal Soul and I am the universe.

In this changing world, as everything is changing, time appears to be changing. For Me there is no past, present or future. I am omnipresent. I am omnipotent. I am omniscient. I am the spirit all-pervading. No learning or might can get Me in sight. Nothing can measure Me as I am immeasurable. Every self originates from Me and stays in maya and ends in Me by removing this maya. I am the cause of all maya, but there is no maya in Me, as I am infinite and ever supreme.

I am in every self, though I have no self. Every self is not conscious of Me, but one who sees Me unites with Me and, being liberated, finds everything in Me and Me in everything. Everything else is changeable truth, but I am the changeless Truth Absolute.

Being ever conscious of Me the liberated self shines as Sat Chit Anandam."

 

Sree Sree Mentu Maharaj