You are not educated, if all that you have achieved is the study of a ton of books. The body and the mind have to be illumined by the light that emanates from the awareness of the Soul and its essential Divinity. (SSS Vol.9, p. 28)
There are three ways of acquiring the Awareness, through Prema, through Bhakti, through worship of God in full devotion and dedication, through loving service and adoration directed towards every living being, who is but a moving temple of God - for He resides in each of them - the false knowledge, the Avidya can be scattered and the bonds made to fall off, the individual will then be released. (BPV, p. 94)
Become aware from this moment that you are the Atma. The Atma is ever pure, ever free from attachment, for there is no second to get attached to. The Paramatma is subtler than the subtlest and is just a Witness. (UV, pp. 72-73)
The awareness of one being the witness of everything is the secret of self-realisation. Self-realisation is either the knowledge that ‘I am the truth of Me’ or ‘I have known Myself or ‘All are one Atma’ or ‘I have experienced that the individual and the universal are not distinct.’ (GV, p. 226)
Awareness is Life. Awareness is Bliss, Awareness is the realisation of your oneness with the Divine. This is the Awareness you must cultivate. To discover the Divine in you means also recognition of the Divine in every one. Do not imagine that this is so very difficult. What it calls for is continuous conscious attention and action. (SS June 87, p. 190)
The supreme end of education, the highest purpose of instruction, its to make man aware of the ‘universal immanent Impersonal. This is the truth that is loudly proclaimed in the Vedas. The seers and sages of Bharat courageously entered upon this adventure. The ever-changing aspects of Nature, the appearance and disappearance of its working may be a fine subject for study. But, the ancients of Bharat proclaimed that the science of the Transcendent Principle that permeates the Universe, the Unchanging Eternal, the Embodiment of Everlasting Ever full ananda, the Residence of Unaffected Undiminished Peace, the Ultimate Refuge for all Time of the Individual Jiva, that Science is the highest Knowledge that man must gain. (BS, pp. 10-11)
How, can man earn that Awareness, that ananda? What Sadhana (spiritual discipline) has he to adopt? Though men are all equally subject to birth, life and death, though all are of one kind, why do they allow the ananda which is the right of each to slip away through hatred and conflict? Why is the demon prevailing over the Divine in man? The answer has been deluding man for ages. Well! Aham (ego) is the cause. The narrow limited self, the ego, is at the root of the evil. Probing the problem a little deeper, I would say that the nature of the food relished is primarily responsible. Food is of three qualities - Sattvika, Rajasika, and Tamasika (leading to purity, passion and inertia). Some consume Sattvika, Rajasika or Tamasika-Rajasika food, or they change from one type to another, for better or worse. Since food alleviates or arouses, prevents or promotes emotions and passions, it moulds the behaviour, conduct and attitudes of men.
Ravana and Vibhishana, two brothers born of the same parents, had diametrically opposite natures because of the food they grew upon. Ravana relished Rajasika food while Vibhishana stuck to Sattvika. Fellow-feeling is difficult when the same quality of food is not preferred. When both live on Rajasika food, though they may have the same nature, friendship cannot last. Envy and hatred will soon break the bond. The Sattvika nature will free man from these evils and purify his mind, preparing him for the journey to God. For, God is Sattva (pure).
Many slide from the Sattvika nature into the Rajasika where the ego predominates. They slide away from God too, for where the ego swells in pomp and pride, God cannot reside. They may parade other reasons for their losing hold of God but the fault lies in their own self. What exactly is Sattvika food? Food that confers ananda to the body, mind and heart is Sattvika, that which sustains holy living; that which keeps one light, even at the end of the meal. The Sattviks are satisfied with one meal a day Rajasika nature demands continuous feeding on hot stuff tasting sour, salty or pungent. Thaamasiks appreciate cold, stale, acrid tastes. The grosser parts of the food consumed are eliminated. The less gross parts build up muscles and bones. The subtle parts make up the nerves and the mind. Therefore, Sadhakas have to be extra-careful about the quality of food they consume.
Pungency in food heightens feeling of pugnacity, aggression and vindictiveness in men, against those who oppose, disagree with or disappoint them. Such men are worse than scorpions and snakes, sharp swords or serrated saws. It is tragic that factional conflicts arise even among persons claiming to be devotees of God. Often, such men behave as if they are desecrating God by deserting Him. When their desires do not fructify as and when they arise, when their faults and failings are laid down before them in order to warn them, or when they are directed to give up the wrongs they are fascinated by; they turn away from God in a fit of fury! There are two types of men - the Amaras (the godly) and the Asuras (the demonic). The Rajasika persons are Asuras.
The Gita directs us to adopt, as the very first Sadhana, the rule: Advesta Sarva bhutaanam (Do not hate any single being – from Bhagvad Gita chapter 12 verse 13).To approach God, one must be clothed in divine qualities. When it is sinful to hate a fellow being, what shall we say about hating God? Live in the love of God – Sthiti, Mati, Bhakti (stability, awareness-communion). Devotion arises in the constant mind, not in the agitated, kaleidoscopic mind. Allah showers Grace only on those who surrender wholly. The purification of the senses of perception and the senses of action, the mind and the intellect and the sublimation of the ego-consciousness will happen spontaneously once the attitude of total surrender is strengthened. That which we consume through the mouth is food. We consume also through the eye, the ear, the nose and the skin. That food too has to be Sattvika, purifying and not pungent or stale and corrupt. (SSS Vol.16, pp. 105-107)
Awareness is recognizing the all-pervasive Atma. (M, p. 6)
What is the meaning of Awareness? It means total understanding. You have to understand this with respect to business. What is the main aspect of business? Your life is a business. You may be working in an office or working as a police officer or working as an ICS officer. You may do any type of work, but you are actually doing business. Whatever you may undertake to do is business. What is the meaning of Business? B+ness. Ness means ‘lack of it’. B means ‘having’. So, a B-ness means that which is present and not present. B-ness means loss and profit. This business of profit and loss exists within our body. Students must think about this properly. Who is doing business in this world? In the present age, all do business. But earlier Vaishya used to do business. Who is doing business within our body? His name is Vaishvanara. Vaishva means Vishva. Worldly communication is done by Vaishvanara. A small example. This morning you all had breakfast.
All that you have eaten is in the stomach. Everything is stored there. As digestion gets over, the juice is supplied all over the body. So who supplies this juice? That is a sort of communication.
Vaishvanara only digests. In this worldly business, who supplies products? From the worldly point of view, they are dealers, not distributors. These dealers circulate throughout our nerves. Why? You do prayer before partaking food.
Aham Vaishvanaro Bhutva
pranimam deham asritah
Pranapana-samayuktah
pacamy Annam catur-vidham
— Ref: Bhagwad Gita chapter 15, verse14
When you say ‘Brahmarpanam’ (prayer), the reply comes from within ‘Aham Vaishva Naro Bhutva’ (I am present in the form of Vaishvanara and digest the food. So you simply stock it and I’ll digest it. Import and export are my business.) So He is called Vaishvanara.
This business takes place in our body continuously. This is export-import. For this export-import there is a licence that is character. The licence is character in great personality. When the personality is there, the export and imports are balanced. So first we should develop our personality. Boys must know what is personality in this modern age. Boys think that personality is body. Body might be perfect, but he should have appropriate intellect. Not only this, the emotional aspect is also necessary. That emotional aspect should be combined with the intellect. If only emotion is there, he will become a weak man. If emotion and intellect combine, then it becomes sacred. When they are both together, it is spiritual. With the unity of these three personality develops. So, these four aspects: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual have to be developed. Of all these four, spiritual aspect is very important. (M, pp. 115-116)
You feel that there is something behind and beyond all this fleeting fantasy; something that persists through all the success and defeats, all the tears and smiles, all this mirth and moan; but you are unable to grasp it and realise that it is the same entity that underlies the entire Universe. You are one with the most distant star and the least little blade of grass. You shine as dew on the petal of the rose; you swing from star to star; you are part and parcel of all the manifestation. The Shastras teach you this truth, through many a parable and story, and even directly, supported by the experience of sages and mystics. Hanuman may have a form of an ape; but that is simply the outer casement, the upadhi. The Lord is the very breath of Hanuman; every hair – end of his was echoing with Ramanama.Through dhyana and upasana you can be aware of yourselves, as all this. (SSS Vol 4 p.125)
Awareness of Atma
Awareness is Atma and Atma is awareness. But you have to call it the awareness of the Atma. In awareness there are various levels. When one says there is a snake that means he has said it with full awareness. If you think whether it is a snake or rope, it is not full awareness. Awareness is full knowledge. Awareness is knowing fully. For example, when you see a handkerchief completely, you call it a handkerchief. If you cover it and ask, ‘what do you see?’ You commonly say it is a piece of cloth. Knowing a little cannot be called awareness. Understanding everything and knowing fully is awareness. So awareness of Atma means realizing the Atma completely. What does Atma mean? From the sky comes the wind, from wind fire, from fire comes water and from water comes earth. For this sky there must be some basis and that is the Atma. Taking Atma as the basis, these five elements have manifested themselves in the form of the world. There is no place without these five elements. Hence there is no place without the Atma. (M, p. 5)