who am I ?

Who Am I – If you have time spend a few minutes for yourself. Just read the book “Who Am I” written by Raman Maharshi. You will get a new sense of experience. Through Sai Literature also you can get the taste of inquiry to know yourself ie who am i. Am I body, mind or intellect? From here a new spiritual journey will start about yourself.

Self-Realizations - To some extent, mankind inherits almost all animal qualities. Still, man is understood to be god’s special creation and different from other living species. Since nature/supreme authority has given some exclusive qualities to mankind in form of consciousness/intellect etc. That's why was expressed as under-

आहार निद्रा भय मैथुनं च सामान्यमेतत् पशुभिर्नराणाम् ।

धर्मो हि तेषामधिको विशेष: धर्मेण हीनाः पशुभिः समानाः ॥

आहार, निद्रा, भय और मैथुन – ये तो इन्सान और पशु में समान है ।

इन्सान में विशेष केवल धर्म है, अर्थात् बिना धर्म के लोग पशुतुल्य है ।

then can we beleive that human and other species are same? No. Human being has something different which makes them different from others. Let us discuss about one such speciality.

Raman's Philosophy of Self

Maharshi Raman experienced that self which is always present in every action and reaction is the subject of all experience and knowledge.  For example "I went home", "I took lunch" etc. Here it is I which is predominant. Since "I" is the subject of all experiences therefore self exists.

Further, he says that the entire world of experience cannot be experienced by itself unless it is known or experienced through the mind. One can be certain about external objects only through knowledge and experience of it mentally. Therefore it can be said that what is not mental, can not impress the mind. It means the world is not external. The impressions can not have an outer origin because the world can be cognised only by consciousness. It can be concluded that the mind is the cause of the whole world.

According to Raman, whatever exists can be reduced to the knower-known or experiencer-experienced relationship structure. It has two distinct aspects i.e. knowing or experiencing the subject and known or experienced objects. He suggested having an inquiry in order to arrive at the nature of the self.

Self and the Body

In our day-to-day life, all our perpetual, emotional, mental and intellectual life involves the body since all are affected by the body or the body is affected in all activities. This creates an illusion that self belongs to body i.e. “I am my body”.

To analyse more let us refer taittariopanishad which maps identified body with Sthool Sharira, Sukshm Sharira and Karan Sharira. Each body has different components. Here the identity of the body is mistaken with “I”. Since there is no uniformity in the body. It is subject to change at different ages/times. Therefore, the body cannot be “I” since I since body appears to be belonging to self-i.e. “I Have a body”. It implied that “I can exist without a body”.

Self and Mind

Mind appears to be an internal part of the body to take up certain roles like reflection (Manas), intellect (Budhi), egoity (Ahamkara) and memory (Chitta). All these get affected by our thoughts or mental state. The mental state also is divided further like waking state(jagriti), dream state (Swapna) and deep sleep (susupta). We have a different experience of life in above different states. However, all activities are closely associated with the word “I”. Therefore, it gives the illusion that I am the mind. A careful investigation between self and mind proved that self has a mind therefore both cannot be the same. Self is not minded.

Self-Realization

Prior to reaching any conclusion question arises why enquire about the difference between self with body or mind?

Actually, self is associated with body and mind very closely. However, treating them the same makes one liable for consequences of actions and reactions “Karmik Debts”. This results in a cycle of birth and rebirth. The realisation of self-liberates from all bondage and ignorance. It is possible only when the idea of individual self-functioning through the body is given up, which is possible through self-inquiry.

As per the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba, every living species have a certain purpose to come to the earth based on his past Karma’s. After the good Karma’s “Jeev” gets the life of a human being. Which is treated as a golden opportunity to get liberation from the bondage of birth and death. The main problem is that mankind has to spend its life in the land of Maya. Maya is understood as a shadoof good Karma. If a man understands common human values, for example, Satya, Dharma, Prem, Shanti and Ahimsa and follows them in his thought, deed and action then there is no reason that he should not get bliss. Since these 5 fundamental values have many attributes to realize that “Atma” and “Paramatma” are the same. There is no dualism.

Therefore, if you inquire yourself you will find a subtler part of the supreme creator itself.