Secular learning cannot confer on us abiding and absolute peace. Self-knowledge alone can help us cross the sea of sorrow. So all should strive to attain this Selfknowledge, which can be acquired through purity of mind. Purity of mind can be attained through pious deeds, sacred acts, charity, compassion and devotion. Disinterested action consecrated to God purifies the heart. The Sun of Wisdom dawns in a pure heart. The dawn of such wisdom exalts Man to the status of God.
Human effort constitutes the prime step in man’s endeavour to attain this highest state of Godhood. God’s grace is the second essential factor. Anyone can strive for and attain Self-knowledge. Men and women, rich and poor, all are eligible to kindle in themselves the flame of spiritual wisdom. Distinctions of race and religion, caste and creed do not come in the way. It does not matter if one has no secular education, no grounding in physical sciences, or is not well-versed in worldly lore. In the modern world it is not that easy to gain this Self-knowledge. All the same, one need not give up the effort in a mood of frustration and despair. (SSVahini, p. 200)
You need a diamond to cut another diamond. You need a thorn to remove another thorn that has pierced your foot. To experience the Self (Atma), you require only Self-knowledge, Atma jnana. Today what we regard as knowledge (Jnana) in this physical world is nothing but ignorance (Ajnana). Self-knowledge alone is true knowledge. In fact, whether you call it ‘Atma’- Self or Jnana-knowledge – they are both one and the same. True awareness is Jnana. Jnana, jneyam, and jnanam, (the knowing, the known and the knower) predicate, object and subject respectively - such triads are not applicable to this Atma jnana or Self-knowledge. (ICS , pp. 123-124)
These triads and such other classifications pertain to the level of the mind, whereas Self-knowledge reveals itself after the annihilation of the mind. The still and peaceful silence that follows the destruction of the mind is itself true knowledge. This true knowledge is our very nature, and not something to be newly acquired. However, this knowledge is hidden by the mind and its aberrations, like the cinder covered by the ash, generated by the cinder itself, like the water shrouded by the moss produced by water itself and like the eye covered by the cataract arising from the eye itself. Remove the cataract and you get back your sight. Remove the mind and the self-knowledge stands revealed automatically.
This knowledge can neither be obtained from books, nor given by gurus (the spiritual teachers) nor can it be conferred as a boon by the Paramatma (the Supreme Soul). Indeed you are yourself Paramatma, Atma, or Jnana. Sitting in solitude, when you calmly enquire how this jnana is present in all, you will hear from within yourself a spontaneous voice that is eternal and changeless. All the things in this manifested world are subject to constant change due to the process of union and separation of atoms, that goes on endlessly.
However, this divine voice within is not only the same in all beings, not only eternal but also it remains unchanged by anything. The changes due to the changes in the age of a person, or due to the changing states of consciousness like waking, dreaming and sleeping affect only the gross, subtle and causal bodies, but they do not, in any way, affect the voice referred to above. What then is that voice? It is the divine inner voice emanating from the Atma as I, I, I—Aham, Aham, Aham. It is this Aham that is the source of Soham mantra that goes on repeating itself, without any conscious effort, in all of us during the process of breathing. It is this Aham again that appears as ahamkara when it identifies itself with the body. Ahamkara is human; Aham is divine. This Aham can be realised only by purifying one’s heart, never by studying scriptures and becoming a scholar.
You see the phenomenal universe, only as long as you have not crossed the threshold of the mind. Once you go beyond the mind, you will experience nothing but the Self. On reaching the sea, the river loses its individuality, its name and form and becomes one with the sea. So also the knower of Brahman verily becomes Brahman.
When there is a pot, and also water in the pot, you will see the reflected image of the sun in the pot, but even when all these are absent, the Sun is ever present. Similarly, even when the reflecting media of the body (the pot), the mind and the water are not present, the Self will always be present, although one may not be able to see the Self or even its reflection. A noteworthy point, in this connection is that the image of the Atma that you get through the media of the body and mind is not true to the original Atma. It is similar to the reflection of your face in water, wherein your left eye appears as your right eye and vice versa. So also, when you are traveling in a train, your sight deceives you by giving you the impression that the trees and mountains etc. outside are in motion. These two examples serve to illustrate the point that all the distinctions you see in the phenomenal world are due to the distortions of your mind only. You have to go beyond the mind to realise the eternal truth. (SSB 1990, pp. 63-64)
For attaining success in the matter of Self-knowledge, it is foolish to rely on one’s physical, mental and intellectual abilities and resources. What is needed is to recognise and cultivate the spirit of oneness of all that exists. (ICS , p. 126)
Steps that lead to Self-knowledge
The best way to get rid of weakness is to strike at the very taproot of the tree---the mistake that you are the body, with this name and this form, these senses, this intelligence and this mind. These are all the luggage you carry. Don t you say, my nose my mind, my hand, my reason, just as you say, my book, my umbrella? Who is this T that calls all these mine ? That is the real you .
It was there when you were born, when you were sleeping forgetful of all else, forgetful even of your body with all its equipment, internal and external. That T cannot be harmed; it does not change, it knows no death or birth. Learn the discipline that makes you aware of this Truth and you will be ever free and bold. That is real vidya, the atmavidya, which the sages have gathered for you. The thousands who come to Puttaparthi are coming there for this precious wealth; you too must, one day or the other, learn this and save yourselves. All men have to reach the goal, travelling along the path of wisdom.
Self-knowledge comes as soon as you look into yourselves and analyse your own experience. But, in order to get the craving for that analysis, you have to educate yourselves into the attitude. Developing good habits, avoiding bad ones, mixing in the company of the pious, being active in good deeds, serving those in distress---these are all steps that will lead you into the glorious path of Self-knowledge. You can, even now, take to this discipline and save yourselves from grief and distress. I bless that you may get the will to do so and to persist in the sadhana, till success is won. (SSS Vol.5)
To acquire this Self-knowledge, purity of the intellect is essential. The intellect should be unwavering and totally free from attachment. The mind is subject to unsteadiness because of desires. Desires are roused by the impressions received by the senses from outside. The only way to avoid these external impressions is to turn the senses inwards. To effect this change in the use of the senses, the power of discrimination derived from the intellect should be employed. The intellect should be used to determine what impressions should be kept out and which should be let in. The intellect should determine what kind of company we should keep, what kind of food we should eat, what are desirable practices and what are undesirable. It is by the right use of their intellectual judgement that the ancient sages achieved spiritual eminence. (SSS Vol.30)