One supreme soul manifests itself in various names and forms. That supreme soul which we call GOD or Atma is residing in each individual. So if I can reach to my soul I can reach GOD. Now the question is what is the nature of this 'I'? Vedanta answers 'I' is "Sat-Chit-Ananda". It is a Blissful (Ananda), Conscious (Chit) Existence (Sat). When we say 'My mind', then Me and Mind are different. Or when we say 'My Intelligence' or 'My Ego', then also Me is neither equal to Ego nor to Intelligence. So I am not the mind, or ego or intelligence. Descarte told that, "I don't believe in anything, I doubt everything. Sun rises in the east. I doubt. Till today, sun has raised in the east, tomorrow it can rise in the west. Man is mortal. I doubt. So far man is mortal but tomorrow immortal man can born. In this way he reached in a state where he told that I can't doubt that I am doubting.". More famously it has been said," Dubito,ergo cogito, ergo sum." (Latin: "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am"). Therefore, Descartes concluded, if he doubted, then something or someone must be doing the doubting, therefore the very fact that he doubted proved his existence. "The simple meaning of the phrase is that if someone is wondering whether or not he exists, that is in and of itself proof that he does exist."I am doubting means I am thinking. I am thinking means I exists. Then he concludes, I think therefore I am. So I exist. And it is conscious. It has life. Einstein once told "The most inconceivable factor about this universe is that the universe is conceivable". If I were not able to understand this universe then there was no problem, but I feel, I love. When we see our children, or flowers we like to love them. When we see any mystery we try to solve it. That means 'I' is a conceiving faculty. Therefore 'I' is not insensate. 'I' has consciousness. Now if we get a chance of staying alone in a tranquil atmosphere and we can go beyond this sentimental world where there will be an absolute thoughtless state of mind, we will see that we are blissful. We have no sorrow, no anxiety. We exist blissfully in a blissful universe. This blissfulness is 'I'. This blissfulness is the truth. When it confines in this body we call it 'Jib-Atma' or Human Soul. And when it pervades in this universe we call it 'Param-Atma' or Supreme Soul. So if you can reach to this 'blissful conscious existence' your journey will end. Your restlessness will end. You will get permanent peace and you will sail in this blissful ocean. Then you will be untouched by the worldly sorrow or anxiety. You will see there is a drama happening on this world. The path which leads to this 'I'ness is called 'Dharma' or religion.
India is a land of sages. During the time of Acharya Shankar, India was passing through a phase of total materialistic pleasure. Considering that rueful social condition, he gave the sermon of "Brahma satya, Jagat mithya", i.e., only God and total renunciation is the ultimate truth, this world and its worldly pleasures are all illusions, and Indians followed the great soul and came back to the path of God. But we neglected the world and as a result of our indifference towards society different countries attacked India. There were several foreign invasions, famines, droughts, so we wavered from our spiritual path and followed the contradictory principle of "Jagat satya, Brahma mithya", i.e., the world where we live in holds more truth and is more important than the Supreme Being. Thus,at first we became weak by neglecting our life then we became dissolute, we became Bohemian, by forgetting our Brahma, our creator. And this led to the sorrowful state where India is standing today. The only way out from this situation is to follow the principle of "Brahma satya, jagat satya", i.e., one has to pay equal importance to both the aspects, this material world, as well as the divine being. That will bring proper discipline to our life and restore our glory on the face of earth. |
