self-knowledge february 2010 - suddhananda

Self-Knowledge March 2010 Self-Knowledge March 2010

VOLUME 16 MARCH 2010 No. 3

CONTENTS

“To Rise” – Fall in Love

with your Self 3

Amanitvam: Absence of Pride

A Pre requisite for Self Knowledge 7

The Bare Necessity 13

An Inspiring Experience – Visit to

Suddhananda Thapovanam 21

Searching for Joy 24

The Art of Self Knowledge 27

Illumination through Illusion 29

Waking Up to the Hypnosis

Called Love 31

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R Ramakrishnan (Editor)

Anuradha Sivasundar

Malini Ramakrishnan

Sarala Panchapakesan

Viswa Chaitanya

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Self – Knowledge

“In order to gain mastery inexpressing the word and itsmeaning, I worship the primevalParents of the Universe, Parvati andParamesvara who are asinseparable as the word and itsmeaning”.

“The wise one l ives on

happily doing what comes to

him to be done and does not

feel eagerness either in

activity or in inactivity”.

– Astavakra Samhita

“The light of wisdom is

comfortable with no covering

and it can also accommodate

all coverings. In the discovery

of the Reality that you are,

you can be with a role, a

wrapping or be yourself as

you are, the Consciousness,

the Awareness, without any

wrapping of a role”.

– Swami Suddhananda

uuu uu uuu


“To Rise” – Fall in Love

with your Self

Swami Suddhananda

32

To remember a sound, we need the thought

of a sound. The roar of the waterfall is

necessary to announce its presence. Whereas

in case of the Silence – neither there is a

sound of silence nor do we need the sound or

the thought of a silence to remember it. It is

the basis and that is the Awareness of one’s

own ‘Being’.

– Swami Suddhananda

After a quarter of a century

of involvement with my own

deep meditat ions and

encounters with l i teral ly

thousands of people of different

kinds, I can safely conclude that

human behaviour, human

response and human

relat ionships are the most

intriguing part of understanding

the creat ion. One can

determine the general behaviour

of the planets, the stars, the

rivers, the sand, the plants, the

animals and the cel lular

organisms to a very great

extent, but insight into human

minds and behaviour is an

eternally receding horizon.

By and large, the forces in

nature function in a predictable

way but the human mind defies

every definition of predictable

behaviour. The result is utter

chaos in the private as well as

social behaviour of every man.

The incomprehensibility of

human behaviour arises from

the innate contradictions in the

behaviour of the so-cal led

enlightened men. They are

supposed to be egoless, non-

manipulating, genuine, com-

passionate and understanding.

But al l these noble charac-

teristics are thrown to the wind

when the so-called wise one

feels challenged in relation to his

holiness, his convictions, his

view points. These are the

people who move around in the

garb of hol iness with the

unhol iest thoughts abiding

within. They talk about Oneness

but they themselves cannot

function in one group. They talk

about loyalty (loyalty to their

hol iness) but they can be

disloyal to whoever they choose.

They talk about reconciliation

between the spouses, siblings,

people in work places but they

have irreconcilable differences

amongst themselves.

Whoever says that the

incarnations, the prophets, the

messiahs are unit ing forces

must be blind – both physically

and mentally. There were only


4 5

human beings before the advent

of these ‘phenomenal” beings.

But soon after their arr ival,

mankind was divided into lines of

faith, gods, religious dogmas

and so on. Branded as followers

of some system or leader, men

ceased to be men. Divisions

became rampant, inst i -

tut ional ized, and were per-

petuated in the name of the

Mighty. Godmen replaced God

and the genuine enlightened

devotees were replaced by the

herds of followers. When God

pervades everything, the

godmen are busy replacing Him,

carving out their own empires,

own spheres of inf luence,

creat ing not only mutual ly

exclusive domains but also

keeping the people apart in the

name of their avowed faith.

The leader, especial ly a

religious leader, becomes the

overlord of the harem of

followers. And the followers’

behaviour must be in tune with

that of the eccentr ic,

unpredictable, exclusive leader

presiding over the cult- l ike

organization. If this is the sad

saga of the religious groups, the

secular world follows the same

principle without the name of a

god, godman, guru, messiah or

prophet. We come across this

penchant to dominate, this cultist

attitude in the spheres of every

secular bastion – call it political

leadership, corporate leadership,

bureaucracy, academic or even

in the smallest unit, the family.

Nothing has escaped the

touch of the sickening

exclusiveness. Everybody is

manipulative and brazenly with

total ruthless impunity, violates

every decent norm to exploit

everything and everybody

around. The husband exploits

the wife; the wife exploits the

husband; the friends exploit the

friends; the leaders exploits the

fol lowers and the fol lowers

exploi t the leaders.

Manipulat ion, exploi tat ion,

pretension, hypocrisy have

become the name of the secular

and the religious games that we

play.

Hence human behaviour has

become the most complicated,

most intriguing aspect of human

existence. An extremely rare

few shal l t ranscend these

considerat ions and in the

process transcend a very

exclusive god, faith, religious or

political philosophy.

The remedy lies in creating

individuals who shall not be

exclusive but in whose al l

inclusiveness rests their

universal exclusiveness. To

define man as man is more

universal than defining him as a

follower of a particular religious

or secular philosophy. Still more

universal is the definition of man

as a part of the whole creation.

Even materially, the universality

of man can have an exclusive

yet a very common-place touch.

Nobody is away from it. Nothing

is away from it. Nothing can

exist in a universal existence

without losing its identity.

Natural ly, therefore the

person must know himself

instead of confusing himself to

gain a political, religious, social,

academic or familial identity.

These identities can never help

the man to lose himself as these

identities have never helped

man to gain his individuality in

the first place. The root of his

individual i ty, the essent ial

ident i ty, the ul t imate self-

definition is not a religion or a

political or social philosophy.

Neither is it an academic or

famil ial description. All the

words, al l the concepts are

redundant there. And therefore

there is a no scope for any

argument, discussion, logic or

rationalisation, either to establish

it or to dismiss it. Silence can

hold the words in its embrace but

no word can have any conflict

with the silence. Whereas a

thought depends upon a word, a

form or a concept, Reality is not

a thought nor does It require a

thought to assert Itself. It is self-

assertive and nobody needs to

produce I t . Somebody or

something is needed to produce

a sound but silence signifies the

absence of any external agency

for its existence. The individuality

is addicted to creating thoughts,

conceptualizations and cannot

face its own annihilation, by

accepting a reality which makes

him redundant and unimportant.

That is why, too often, too many

people wait for a celebrated

resounding disappearance and

cannot accept a silent resolve, a

whispering disappearance, a soft

melting away! They consider

themselves too important to

disappear quietly and hence the

arrogant spiritual deference to

special i l lumination, special

methods, special touches.

These fools rush in to peddle

these exotic meditations, cult-

like exclusiveness, to make the


76

fastest buck in dealing with the

merchandise, the human mind.

Egos are entertained. Delusive

dance continues. The drummer

continues to play the beat and

changes the beat unt i l the

dancers drop dead.

Expectat ions are careful ly

regulated. Dreams never die

until the end. But the living

ends.

During that life span or the

cont inued l i fe-span of the

universe, millions of groups get

created, and they are mutually

exclusive, with their own exotic

ethnic flavour. But let there be

a group of free people,

independent people, choosing to

be inter-dependent for a

marvelous orchestra and never

a group hunting for heads to

maintain its identity at the cost of

individual freedom. I f that

freedom is not discovered as

one’s own nature, deception,

manipulation, exploitation shall

continue both in the name of

secular and religious behaviour.

The group shall live but the men

will die while trying to manipulate

each other.

The so-cal led leaders in

every sphere must search within

to listen to an answer to the

question: whether he/she is

working out of a fulfillment or a

need, out of ful lness or

desperat ion, to share or to

exploit? If the answer is “to

share a discovered fulfillment”,

never ever such a man can

create an exclusive group but

shall touch every group, every

individual to help them discover

an identity, the reality beyond

every type of description and

denominat ion yet shal l be

comfortable with every

descript ion and every

denomination.

When thus each man or

woman learns to love himself /

herself for who he / she is and

not for what he or she has, the

insecurity, the emptiness, the

false arrogance drops out and in

its place rises the stability, the

ful f i l lment and the love for

everything that dispels the

darkness of the unnatural selfish

behaviour to usher in a new day

for a man and a new dawn for

mankind!

Let us do it!

Amanitvam: Absence of Pride

A Pre requisite for Self Knowledge

R. Ramakrishnan

Every one says that pride is

a bad human trait, particularly

when it is seen in others. But

almost everyone is proud about

one thing or another and is

convinced that there is

justification for pride in oneself.

This seems to be the pattern in

which human beings grow up –

to have double standards, one

for themselves and one for

others. It all begins in childhood

when whatever I do, l ike

crawling, sitting up, standing and

walking, that without

understanding my parents’

enthusiasm and joy, I like the

feeling that they created in me.

This continues right through

early schooling, when I learn the

alphabet, count numbers, sing a

nursery rhyme, kick a ball, tie

my shoe lace and so on. Every

action is acclaimed as a great

achievement. I begin to enjoy

the attention that I get, even

though what I am doing is no

different from what millions of

children like me have done in

the past, are doing now and will

do in the future. Only, I am too

young to real ise that.

Nevertheless, the desire to

achieve, to get attention, to be

praised and to feel good

becomes deeply ingrained in

me. I want to be an achiever,

because only then can I get all

this attention and praise. I want

to be the first in class, win every

race or game, be ahead of

others in every si tuat ion,

whether it is first in line to board

the school bus, or finding a seat

in the front row of an auditorium

or whatever. I want to grab the

best of whatever is happening.

When I get it I feel happy that I

have achieved something that

others have not and I feel

superior to them. If on top of all

this, I win medals, cups and

trophies in studies, games or

any other activity, there is no

way of suppressing the pride

that swells in my heart. Not only

am I proud, but I find that my

parents also take pride in having


98

a child who is an achiever and

that makes me doubly proud.

At some stage in my life, I set

goals for myself, and others also

set goals for me. I must go

abroad, study in the best

university, earn a doctorate,

secure a lucrative job, buy a

bungalow, have a fleet of cars,

get married, give my wife the

cost l iest of presents, beget

children, give them the best of

education, go on grand holidays,

eat at the best of restaurants,

dress lavishly, attend the best

shows in town, throw parties and

invite the elite in society, get

invited to parties in Presidential

palaces, be featured on the

covers of every glossy news

magazine worth the name, in

short, be a celebrity. The things

I want to achieve are endless. I

see what other people value and

I too develop a value for those

things, so that by acquiring those

things, other people will value

me and their approval adds to

my pride. What was sown as a

seed in early childhood, the

pleasure I felt when my parents

praised my toddling has grown

into a thick tree whose diameter

keeps increasing with every

achievement.

If there is anything wrong with

all this, it is not apparent. In

fact, it seems to be the right

thing to do, to achieve the

impossible as al l sel f-

improvement books and courses

inspire readers. Achievements

are necessary to make a

difference to the world we live in,

but not pride. Where have all

these achievements and

attendant pride left me? Why

am I still not satisfied? Why am

I restless? Why do I feel a

constant fear that everything I

have gained may suddenly

disappear one day? While there

are a lot of people around me,

why do I feel that they are my

potent ial enemies who are

conspiring to undermine me?

Why do I get this gnawing

misgiving as to whether people

value me or value what I have?

While they paste their faces with

the broadest smiles when they

greet me, why do I discern

glimpses of detest and disgust

for me? Why do I feel so lonely,

when I am surrounded by a

crowd? Why do I feel empty

when I have so many

possessions? Is this where my

pride has landed me, to earn the

jealousy and contempt of so

many and to be detested as an

arrogant and haughty person to

be avoided as a stinking piece of

f lesh, or at best tolerated

because of unavoidability? Is

this where my pride and the

arrogance and haughtiness that

accompany it, have pushed me?

Is there no way out?

There is a way out and that is

to understand what pride is all

about. The very understanding, if

it is thorough will reduce the

level of pride that one already

suffers from and will prevent

further accumulation of it. It is

indeed a very simple fact to

appreciate that there is really

nothing to feel proud about our

so-cal led achievements. No

individual ever achieves anything

solely by his own efforts.

Swamiji’s often quoted example

of col laborat ion is worth

recal l ing. Referr ing to any

meeting he might be addressing,

he would mention all factors that

contr ibuted to the smooth

running of the event. For

example, the weather, place,

audio/visual gear and other

arrangements and finally the

audience and speaker, all have

collaborated in this effort, each

one participating to capacity and

each necessary to the success

of the event. Even those who

have not contributed directly

have helped by not obstructing

the meeting. No single individual

can take credit for this event.

This is the crux of the whole

matter. In the success of every

individual effort, there are so

many others who have

contributed to it. If I have passed

the examinations with f lying

colours, I owe it to my teachers

who taught me and to my

parents who looked after me,

supported me and educated me.

This appl ies to every

achievement of mine, be it in the

office, or laboratory, or sports

ground or anywhere else. So

why do I take credit for what has

been achieved? Why then, am

I proud?

A serious probing of the

nature of achievements in

general, will reveal their fragile,

ethereal, volat i le and

impermanent nature. If I score

the highest marks in the

examinations this year, someone

else will score higher marks next


1110

year. In any case I will not be

the only person to have scored

the highest marks. If I hold a

record for an athletic event this

year, some one is bound to do

better next year. If I make a

brilliant scientific discovery this

year, another researcher will

expose the faults and limitations

of it next year. If I am Miss or

Mr. Universe this year, the title

will certainly not last as some

one else will be awarded the title

next year. I may be awarded

best businessman of the Year

but next year my entire business

may collapse and most certainly

some one else will have that

distinction next year. A victor

now is a vict im later. No

achievement, however great and

distinguished it may be, lasts

forever. I may be acclaimed this

year but forgotten next year, as

we see in the political arena. If

this is the true nature of my

achievements, nothing more

than a passing event in a

constantly changing world, what

is my pride except a fable of my

own imagination?

‘Do not be proud’ is not a

moral injunction or imposition of

a value. I t is a matter of

understanding what pride is

about and seeing not only its

harmful effect both on the

individual and the lives of those

around them, but it is entirely

based on fiction(?) Is it not a

matter of sheer stupidity to

imagine something and suffer

because of that? That is why

right from the early stages of a

child’s upbringing and education

in developing potent ial and

skills, it is necessary to teach

them about the collaborative

nature of achievement??

Simultaneously, the folly of pride

must also be imprinted on young

minds, as part of the same

education and training. This way,

pride will be nipped in the bud

and wi l l be prevented from

growing to enormous

proportions. Unless the negative

aspects of individual i ty are

neutralized in the early stages,

they wil l assume monstrous

magnitude in later l i fe and

destroy the humaneness

(humanity) within the individual.

Lord Krishna refers to

‘absence of pride’ as the first in

a list of twenty items all of which

he calls jnânam or knowledge.

This is in chapter thirteen of the

Bhagavad Gita, the ksetra

ksetrâjna vibhaga yoga or the

yoga of distinction between the

field of objects and the knower.

Having disposed of in two

verses the entire field of objects

and before going on to expound

about the ksetrâjna the knower

or the Self, Krishna talks about

the twenty items which he calls

knowledge, jnânam. It is not

knowledge of the Self, but it is

knowledge which is essential to

understand Self Knowledge. It is

a well-recognised fact that when

one wants to get some

advanced knowledge about

something, the basic knowledge

must already be there. Self

Knowledge is the most

advanced knowledge, most

Supreme Knowledge, Raja

Vidya, knowing which there is

nothing else to be known yat

jnâtva neha bhuyonyat

jnâtavyam avasishyate – Gita

VII. ii. As Swamiji often tells us

that Self Knowledge is simple; it

is getting rid of habitual thinking

that is difficult. Pride is one such

habit. The knowledge of how to

get rid of habitual thinking is

therefore as important as Self

Knowledge itself and without this

basic qualification, the teaching

that ‘You are Atman, You are

Brahman’, wi l l make no

difference to the student. As in

the story that Swamiji used to

regale his listeners with about a

mentally disturbed man who

thought he was a worm and

lived in constant fear of the hen.

So he consulted a psychiatrist

who after many sessions of

patient counselling convinced

the person that he was a man

and not a worm. Beaming

happily, the man bade goodbye

to the doctor and left only to

return within a few minutes,

crying, ‘Doctor, I know that I am

not a worm, but does the hen

know i t?’ Likewise, merely

repeating, ‘I am Brahman’ is no

indication of certainty of the

knowledge about oneself. Hence

the need for qualifications such

as the absence of pride, that

Krishna mentions ahead of his

teaching about the ksetrâjna or

the Self.

Pr ide is the grossest

manifestation of ego. Ego is

what makes me think that I am

what I am not, in other words,

ignorance about myself. The

opposite of pride, humility, can

also be ego, and one may be


1312

covertly proud that he is humble.

The real culprit is ‘I’ thought. ‘I’

thought is so slimy that it can

sl ide into everything and

anything to conceal itself. That

is why the average individual is

not even aware that what he

refers to, as ‘I’ is actually no

more than a thought, whereas

what he is, is the content of that

thought. Self Knowledge is

coming face to face with that

content. But for that to happen,

the ‘I ’ thought must f irst be

caught hold of. This is not an

easy thing, because ‘I’ thought is

mischievous by grabbing all

roles and identities and playing

a million tricks on the mind. In

the incessant game it plays, the

individual is lost in myriad

experiences, some exciting and

intoxicating and some shattering

and disastrous, so that he is

constantly in a tizzy, with no time

left to question who he might

real ly be. And then the

individual dies, enslaved and

victimized by his own mind. The

only way to escape this sad

destiny is to catch the monster

inside, ‘I’ thought, the ego.

Pride, being the grossest

manifestation of this ego is the

best place to start the exercise.

Pride after all, is just a web of

thoughts spun by the spider of

the mind, only to become

entangled. Though i t is a

thought, pride is not very subtle

and so not easy to miss being

perceived. On the other hand its

effects are so gross that they

assert themselves glaringly.

Therefore it is easy to handle

pride. By striking at the stout

trunk of the tree of pride with the

axe of understanding, the bark

will just peel off layer after layer

and at one stage i t wi l l

completely crumble. By watching

with alertness whenever pride

arises, it can be immediately

smothered with this

understanding. As ‘I’ thought

shies away from pride to take

refuge somewhere else, it will

reveal itself even if only for a

short t ime. As each of i ts

covering gets stripped, it will

become visible more and more

until at one stage, with nowhere

else to turn to, its content will

dissolve. This is how absence of

pride becomes a pre-requisite

for Self Knowledge.

Every word that is going to

follow is known to everybody, in

fact every word that is used is not

my own. Everybody knows about

i t therefore i t belongs to

everybody, so there is no

difficulty in understanding. There

is no need for any struggle to

understand because it is not a

myth, nor is the content difficult

to digest. The concept is so

simple that even a lay person

cannot miss to see the truth of

it, because it talks about one’s

own nature. Elaborate planning

and precision maybe necessary

to target terrorist hideouts in

deep jungles or in di ff icul t

mountain terrains, but to get

tuned to one’s own self does not

need much planning or precision.

I t is very simple and

commonplace, but only our

thinking of it being uncommon

makes it so, otherwise it is dead

easy and simple. Nobody can be

away from the Truth that is one’s

own self and thus one can get

tuned to oneself at any given

t ime and under any

circumstances. Everything is in

our power, but we do not pay any

attention to the right perspective

and instead give importance to

symbols or mere words and fail

to see the Truth.

When a child is born whether

i t is human or animal,

immediately after bir th the

mother feeds the baby, which

demonstrates that food plays a

vital role in life. The human child

is wrapped in cloth, whereas

cloth is not used in the animal

kingdom. As the mother takes

utmost care of her baby, so too

an animal takes care of i ts

offspring and protects it as much

as possible. The same human

child when grown older develops

a liking for clothes, whereas in

the animal kingdom, growing

animals do not look for any dress

because they are not trained to

do so. Animals do not feel naked,

nor do they have any social

norms or condit ions around

clothing. Only human beings go

crazy after types of food, shelter

and varieties of clothes, whereas

animals hunt for food but not

varieties of prepared food and

The Bare Necessity

Viswa Chitanya


1514

look for shelter but not of specific

appearance.

Let us analyse one commonly

used statement which nobody

would dare to contradict.

Everybody, irrespective of caste,

creed, sex, race, religion and

nationality would agree that the

basic needs of human beings are

food, clothing and shelter. The

first and foremost requirement is

food, then comes clothes and

last is shelter. That is why in the

event of any natural disaster,

government agencies or people

at large supply food packets first

on humanitarian grounds. Once

victims are kept alive, clothes are

provided and then shelter. Later

on they may be rehabilitated with

individual shelter for the long

term.

The first requirement is food,

then dress and shelter comes

last, but we human beings get it

backwards. Whoever is assured

of food, indulges in clothing and

shelter. Food is necessary to

sustain l i fe without which a

person will die. The objective of

a shelter is to be protected from

the external threat of inclement

weather and wild animals. The

main purpose of clothing is to

hide nakedness and to keep

warm in colder climates. If we

pause for a while and think, then

we can see that even primitive

people gave first preference to

food, then shelter and only then

did they start to wear bark from

trees or animal skins for warmth

and to cover nakedness. It is

common with animals and

uncultured, simple human beings

that both give more importance

to food than to shelter. That is

why we can sti l l f ind in this

century, some tribes who hunt for

food and build a shelter, but do

not wear any clothes. In other

words the home is purely to

protect this body from heat, cold,

rain adhidaivika ; f rom wi ld

animals and other people

adhibhautika.

We have seen in gross format

that food, shelter and clothes are

basic needs in order to live. Let

us analyse what it means from

the absolute standpoint. Most

things that are introduced to

human beings have an inbuilt

purpose in leading him to the

Absolute, but because of our lack

of understanding we do not

regard that dimension and live

according to their relat ive

meaning. Of course many

traditions do not have the benefit

of the concept of absolute and

relative. For instance in the Vedic

tradit ion when a chi ld is

introduced to the alphabet

akskaâbhyâsa, the term akshara

means not only alphabet but also

the imperishable, one’s own self.

So even through formal,

conventional education in India,

children could be exposed to the

imperishable, their true nature.

Not only does the alphabet fall

into this category, numbers also

indicate the nature of existence.

The child is taught ‘one’ at the

beginning and then two, three,

four etc. when introduced to

numbers. The ‘one’ is not just

the number one but also refers

to existence, which is one without

second, ekam. Most schools are

not teaching in this manner, so

children miss the opportunity to

be introduced to the self. The

child is left to reel under self-

ignorance, to perpetrate and

pass on the baton of sel f-

ignorance to successive

generations.

Let us analyse the three

fundamental requirements of

human existence mentioned

above: Food is that by which

hunger is appeased. Physical

hunger is appeased immediately,

but comes up again after some

time. While gross hunger can be

appeased immediately, there

remains subtle hunger of power,

position, security, status etc. that

are not so easily appeased, even

after fulfilment. A person thinks

constantly of having more and

more, so the food that we eat is

not the only food, but there is the

insatiable appetite of human

desire that also demands

appeasement. Vegetables, fruit

and other edibles of different

kinds, are food for the stomach,

whereas sounds, touches,

sights, tastes and smells are food

for the ears, skin, eyes, tongue

and nose respectively. Food

comes f i rst in the l ist of

requirements and the above

varieties of food for the senses

are needed for humans to

transact with the external world.

Unless the sense organs, are fed

with foods of sound, touch,

forms, taste and smell there

would be no perception, which is

the basis of all thought. If there

were no thought, it would be

impossible for humans to interact

with the external world, in fact

they would not be able to function

at all. This condition would be

like that of a baby who is confined

to a glass house with the function

of five sense organs closed or

terminated from the day he is


16 17

born and is only breathing

because of a life support system.

There is clearly no quality of life

in this existence.

That is why it is essential for

humans to have the above

varieties of food for sustenance.

The irony is that even though the

fellow is supplied with all of the

above without any effort on his

part, he is still not contented with

what he gets. He wishes to have

all this and more as he is never

satisfied and thus his hunger

continues. The universe with so

many varieties of food appears

to be a failure at the hands of

humans because they want more

and more of not the same variety

but of different varieties. The

only food by which the gross and

subtle hunger of a human being

can be appeased is by the

knowledge of self as already full

and complete. Having known his

true nature, a person no longer

wants anything. No more is there

an urge to fulf i l something,

because he finds himself as one

without a second. Since there is

no second available other than

the Self , the awareness,

consciousness, he does not lack

anything. Since he does not lack

anything, there is nothing to fulfil.

So when it is told that food is the

f irst in the l ist of human

requirements, it should also be

pointed out that after survival,

everybody irrespective of caste,

creed, sex, race, religion and

national i ty should have the

knowledge of the self and in that

there is no choice.

Then comes shelter as

number two in the list of human

requirements. Shelter or house

is not that which can be seen, but

shelter is that through which one

can see. The house we live in is

seen, so the house we live in is

not a shelter in reality. In fact

anything that can be seen can

never be a shelter or house. The

whole external universe which is

full of names and forms is seen

and can be objectified. When

something is objectified, there is

an observer, a seer who sees, so

not only the external universe is

seen, but also one’s own internal

universe of thought is also seen.

Whatever is seen cannot be a

shelter, but unfortunately we take

shelter in the external gross

universe or the internal subtle

universe of thought. Thus what

we think of as shelter, is not

shelter from the standpoint of

reality. In fact what is sheltered

in a cave, small hutment or a

huge palace is the gross physical

body, which of course belongs to

the external universe, and like

the external universe i t is

therefore an object of perception.

The Self, the Awareness sees

everything but nothing can see

it, thus the Self, the Awareness

is the only authentic shelter or

home. This concept of shelter as

home is also used in other

languages, for example, in Tamil

the word veedu means not only

‘a house’ but also ‘liberation’.

One finds total freedom only in

the Self. In fact the nature of

every human being is freedom

itself that is why everyone resists

bondage of any kind.

I f a simple person f inds

shelter in the gross physical

body, preoccupied with nurturing

and beaut i fy ing i t ; a more

complex individual finds shelter

in subt le thought and is

preoccupied with elaborating on

them. Both so-called shelters

are observable objects, and can

be shattered at any time. The

shelter is also called a home and

everyone would agree that it

feels good to be at home.

Nothing can be equated to home,

where the occupant has full

freedom. He/she may go for a

holiday and stay in a five-star

hotel, but the contentment he

gets in his own little hut is far

deeper, even though the hotel

might offer more physical

comforts. Thus wherever he

goes, he comes back home at

the end of the day and feels

relaxed. What it means is he

goes out for transactions, but

when he returns home al l

transactions stop and he is at

total rest. And interestingly we

find also that the occupant of a

house will eat some food before

he leaves again. The same thing

applies from the standpoint of the

Absolute also.

Only one who has taken the

food of Self-knowledge and self

awareness, can go out into the

external universe for transaction

and return back home to himself,

to his being and be at total rest.

In this case there is no

observable transaction from the

outside. One who is not aware of

himself , one who has no

knowledge of himself cannot

transact with the external

universe appropriately because

he becomes total ly lost in

transactions instead of managing

them. As every individual comes

back home after the job is over;

every human must return to his

being after each transaction with

the external universe, then he will


18 19

be at total rest and will not get

entangled by anything.

The last in the list of basic

requirements for human

existence is clothing. Dress is

that which covers up, rather that

which is covered with respect to

the body. If a person is kept

confined in a closed room and

there is no transaction with the

outside world, then he need not

wear any clothes either. If a

person is left to himself he does

not need any clothes, unless

living in a cold climate. We wear

different clothes for different

occasions and once the occasion

is over, we remove that particular

dress. For instance, when we go

for a swim we wear swimming

trunks and when swimming is

over, we change gear. We wear

clothes that fit the occasion and

remove them once their job is

done. Every role is a dress,

every name is a dress. We pick

up roles and names according to

the occasion and drop them

immediately they are no longer

appropriate, though we are not

aware of the same pattern in life.

If one were to live alone, then he

would not need any name or role,

but the moment he comes in

contact with another, he definitely

needs a name and a role. For

example, i f I am alone with

myself, I do not use the word ‘I’,

which is only used when there is

a second person around called

‘you’. If there were no second

person around, to whom should

I say ‘I’ and for what? So also

for the roles we play in life if I am

alone and there is no relationship

with whomsoever in a given

situation, then what role should I

play? Yet we are so engrossed

and obsessed with our roles, that

we carry them with us wherever

we go. Even though the occasion

is over we don’t shed the role, in

fact we prefer to hold onto it

tightly and that is why we feel

suffocated and preoccupied.

In fact we name the role only

with reference to a human being.

One who plays the role of a

mother, is also called ‘mother’ or

affectionately, ‘mummy’; one who

plays the role of a father, is called

‘father’; one who plays the role

of a chairman, is cal led

‘chairman’; one who plays the

role of a husband, is called

‘husband’ and one who plays the

role of a wife is called ‘wife’. That

is why humans find themselves

with two names in any given

situat ion, and why there is

conflict. One name is given to

this physical body, as for

example, Rama, Sita, James, Jill

etc, and the other name is the

role we play at any given time.

The name that is given to the

physical body can be used by

everybody, but the name that is

applied to the role cannot be

used by everybody, but only the

person with whom the role is

played. Otherwise someone’s

mother would be mother of

everybody; someone’s father

would be father of everybody;

someone’s husband or wife

would be husband or wife of

everybody which would be very

confusing. Though every human

being has at least two names in

any given situation, when the

same person is in deep sleep, he

has no name at all and is totally

free from confusion. He does not

remember the name of his

physical body, nor the role that

he plays, and as a result he is

totally free and with the self, his

being. However, during the

waking stage he thinks of himself

as the body, therefore a name for

the body is given, then he thinks

he is the role; therefore the name

of the role is also given to the

person. Unfortunately, the

freedom that he enjoys during

deep sleep is not conscious, so

he does not realise that then he

is the bodiless, Awareness,

consciousness. Since he was

enjoying that freedom in deep

sleep, he wrongly attributes it to

the state of deep sleep, and thus

he loves to sleep, thinking that

this is how to be with the self.

Thus one should be

introduced to the self as he is

without any roles whatsoever and

only when he is aware of his true

nature, thereafter it would not be

any problem for him to don any

role. As long is he is not aware

of himself, he will identify with

every role at anytime and take

himself to be the same. As a

result he is confused not knowing

whom he should attend to. The

physical body is the first gross

dress or role of the Self, the

Awareness, one’s own being.

Thereafter every role of father,

son, mother, daughter, husband,

wife ………etc. are subordinate

roles. Due to lack of

understanding of himself as pure

awareness, consciousness, he

not only takes himself to be the

body but also roles that are

assumed by the body, thereby

landing in a minefield of conflict

he does not know how to handle.

As only physical hunger and

not the subt le hunger of


2120

someone can be observed by

another, so also one can see only

the gross role of the physical

body belonging to someone and

not the subtle roles of father,

mother, son, daughter, husband,

wife ……..etc. That is why from

the standpoint of an onlooker,

there is only one apparent role,

but from the standpoint of the

person being observed, he is

caught in at least two roles at any

given time. So by looking at

someone’s physical person, the

onlooker may think that the

observed one is fine, while in fact

that person is burdened with

several roles and reels with pain

and confusion which the onlooker

cannot see.

If tangible food is food for the

gross role of physical body,

subtle, satisfaction or sense of

satisfaction is food for subtle

roles. I f the gross tangible

universe is shelter for the gross

physical body, the subtle mind is

shelter for subtle roles of father,

mother, son, daughter, husband,

wife etc. If clothes are the dress

for the gross physical body,

different thoughts, emotions, and

education, are the dress for

subtle roles.

In this scenario, what is food

for the bodiless awareness that

inhabits a body? What is the

shelter for the substratum of the

whole universe that shelters

everything? And what is the

dress for the formless

consciousness that assumes all

forms? In fact the Awareness,

consciousness, one’s own Self is

the food, shelter and dress for

everything. This is what is taught

through the words we use to

describe basic, human

requirements; and one needs to

be aware of both meanings. No

doubt one has to take care of

food, shelter and clothing, but at

the same time one should not

forget his own nature, his being

which provides food, shelter and

dress to the whole gross and

subtle universe within and

without. May everybody really

understand this and then cruise

happily on the waves of roles!

I have heard many saying that

anything is possible and that the

power to achieve is within you but

I had never seen an example in

front of me…..till today. I was

part of a group of people who had

gathered to celebrate the 3 rd

anniversary of Suddhananda

Thapovanam, Thapasvini Trust,

at Gudur.

The moment I stepped into

the Ashram I could sense a

difference. I saw ducks walking

in a row as if welcoming us into

the Ashram, an agitated turkey

(that perhaps thought of me as a

threat in its territory) challenging

me to a duel, butterflies twittering

around, beautiful, gorgeous

flowers braving the sweltering

heat of Andhra, birds chirping

and most important, I saw some

small children busy collecting

flowers while some were helping

us with the breakfast. I was

fascinated to see a smile in their

faces while doing their jobs. It

An Inspiring Experience – Visit to

Suddhananda Thapovanam

Anuradha Ramesh

wasn’t a smile that was forced but

a genuine smile from their hearts.

I turned to Mr. R.Ramakrishnan,

who offered to take us on an

unofficial tour of the ashram.

The f i rst visi t was to the

temple. I understand that it was

Prabuji’s dream to have a temple

there which has come true,

thanks to Swamiji’s support and

the munif icence of several

donors. I was fascinated to learn

that the temple was managed by

the children who have been given

shelter in the Ashram. The

children are taught bhajans and

slokas in the morning and they

are taught to do all the pujas,

abhishekam and alankaram of

the deities (they still haven’t got

a pr iest) . I stood there

spellbound. I could not believe

that small children ranging from

the age of 4-13 were responsible

for the simple yet beaut i ful

alankarams.

Service to humanity is indeed


22 23

a service to the Lord. On this

basis, five different kinds of

services are undertaken by the

Ashram.

Amruta Seva : I was

introduced to the people around

the Ashram who were in need of

food. They included the old, the

handicapped and the ones who

were deserted by their children.

Now the Ashram ensures that

they get at least 2 square meals

a day. The meals are cooked in

the Ashram and supplied to the

needy by hired rickshaw. .

Prakrit i Seva : Organic

farming is done in the Ashram

and no chemical fertilizers are

used. This is service to Mother

Earth. The cow dung from the

Goshala is used effectively as

manure. The animals and the

birds in the Ashram are also part

of this seva. In addition to a lot

of fruit bearing trees in the

Ashram, I was also shown a

Thiruvodu tree. The shell of the

fruit from this tree is used as a

vessel to eat/drink in, generally

by mendicants. I believe that

eating or drinking in this vessel

prevents viral infection.

Vaidya Seva: Medical camps

for the benefit of the villagers in

the area are conducted

periodically. A small Medical

Center with some equipments

has been built and efforts are

being taken to find some doctors

who would be willing to come

there on a regular basis to do

medical service to the needy.

Vidya Seva: A few college

students have been identified in

the villages nearby, to teach the

children in the villages. Sixteen

Coaching Centers have been set

up in that area, where these

college students help the village

children with their home work

and the doubts in their lessons.

The col lege students get a

monthly stipend for their service

and the chi ldren get an

opportunity to understand better

what is taught in school. Is it not

it a win-win situation?

Gnana Seva : Some

homeless. orphaned children

have also been adopted by the

Ashram. These children are

either orphaned or have single

parents. The Ashram has

managed to get a part

scholarship for them at a school

in Gudur.

Swami Suddhanandaji, in his

speech on the occasion of the 3rd

anniversary of the Ashram said

that in addit ion to Deiva

Sankalpam , Manushya

prayarthanam is essential for

success. Isvara, Jiva Aikyam is

like a foundation for a house to

be built. Quoting the Bhagavat

Gita, Swamiji said that Sanjaya

tells Dhirt irastra that where

Krishna, the Lord and a

Dhanurdhar l ike Arjuna, are

together, here is bound to be

wealth, victory and success.

Swamiji also spoke about the

importance of Mata, Pitha, Guru

and Deivam. He said that when

one becomes successful he

takes the entire credit for it and

turns a blind eye to the sacrifices

of the mother, father and the

society. Contributing to the

society is giving back to the

society a part of what it has done

for us.

After a treat for the mind, soul

and the palate, we set off on our

journey back to Chennai, loaded

with vegetables from the Ashram.

Something pricked me from

within.

The journey back was spent

contemplating on the purpose of

my being here. Br.Prabhav and

Anitha, seem to have a

conviction and a purpose and a

realization of that provides them

with inner peace. They have

many more sevas lined up and

their enthusiasm is a motivation

for me. The land that I visited

today was barren 3 years ago

and now it is an ashram. This

whole transformation has

occurred because of the vision

and blessings of Swamiji and the

tireless, hard work of the couple

in charge. A question arose from

within me. Am I doing my bit for

the society? Answers I need to

give myself…

All of us lead regular lives but

it is only a few that transform

others. The choice is in our

hands…………


2524

Joy is something that it is in

the moment. It is not something

that is born or happens from

things that I do or have done. It

is not the consequence or result

of anything, so there is no cause

for it. If there is a cause, myself

is the cause, in fact the cause of

anything in this universe,

including myself are one and the

same. I am the beginning and

the root of everything, everything

stems from myself.

Joy is something that it is

within myself. It is not a separate

entity from myself. It is always

with me, within me, my being, so

it ismyself. It is not something to

gain from the world outside other

than myself. The world outside

of myself is my reflection and my

role, though this is not as it

appears to bein a relative sense,

because each individual has the

will to create his or her private

world within the larger world

outside. I take everything into

myself to resolve and experience

the world inside of myself to

Searching for Joy

Resident student of Swamiji

manifest out back to the world,

and then we can share the same

real i ty within each l imited

individual world in the limited

collective world respectively and

this happens almost

instantaneously, in the blink of

an eye.

Joy is something that is life

and by l iv ing moment by

moment, to think and act thought

by thought, I am the joy itself. It

is no use being unconsciously

busy al l the t ime. I t is not

creative to be unconsciously

looking for someone to talk to.

Joy is only fel t when I am

consciously living with myself

and seeing the very heart of

harmony withthe universe.Joy is

unconditional. By seeing things

as they are, to interpret things as

they are, to internalise things as

they are, I unite with joy as one

entity. It is not that an incomplete

entity becomes one entity; it is

one already complete entity

awakening to be whole. Joy is

something that it is natural; it is

not created by artificial effort or

force. Nor is it produced by

individual thoughts or emotions,

and someone other than myself

cannot provide i t . Joy is

manifested because it is my

nature and I only tap into my

nature by conscious living.

So what do I have to do or

how can I feel and be the joy in

every moment of my life? No

act ions, thoughts, external

circumstances and situations are

needed. There is no right time,

place or occasionfor me to feel

and be the joy.I just live from

moment to moment, breath by

breath and walk step by step. I

just listen to the beating of my

heart and the earth and see the

beauty around and within me,

and to see innocence in every

individual and entity. In this

moment, everyone is doing the

best they can, according to their

capacity. Allow things to be,

allow people to be, allow myself

to be. There is nothing I can do

to be myself, and nothing I can

do to change people or the

world. If I become the cause and

result of everything and the root

of the whole, from which the

world is manifested, I have no

control over anything or anyone,

because I am one with

everything. I f I wait for

something or somebody to

change, I will not be consuming

my time productively. If I wait for

myself to be myself, I will be

waiting for the rest of my life.

What can the flower do to be the

flower itself? How long does it

take to be? Being is the fastest

way, actual ly happening

instantaneouslyto manifest

everything in this world. Being is

the cause and il luminator of

everything that exists in this life.

No thoughts can lead to being

the Self; no sensation is needed

to be the Self. Is the pauseof

sound heard as silence? Are

objects of perceptions that are

not perceived non-existent? How

far can our perceptionsgo? How

far can our mindsreach? My

mind, body, thoughts, memories,

emotions, experience and my

past and future… What is real in

any sense? What am I, myself?

How can I be believed?

All the voices are echoing

only within my mind. What to

believe, or to trust, is all my


2726

choice, not the voices. I can be

friendly with them or I can just

ignore their existence. Thought

has no existential power to tell

me what to do. Thought has no

right to overtake my existence.

There is a clear gap between

myself and thought. Who is

playing this endless game that

once I played? There is always

a choice between stepping out

and, remaining in. What is most

valuable is to listen to what my

heart wants to sing. What ismost

precious is to see who is myself.

Once I see it, I cannot return to

the path that I used to seek and

follow.

I was a seeker. I searched

everywhere to find my joy. I

thought my search was ended

when I realised the truth. Even

after knowing the truth of myself,

I was still looking forit. I was

searching to find something to

make me joyfulaccording to the

relative dimension, by looking

ahead to engage myself in

product ive act iv i t ies for my

working life. In this way I could

convince my mind to be the

seeker. I seemed to have lost

the way of life and I felt I was

just living because my heart was

still pumping. I seemed to have

lost the reason for l iv ing

because everything seemed to

be meaningless in the end. I

questioned myself again and

again. I seemed to be lost in

questioning, and grewtired. I

dropped the need to know the

reason for living, and stopped

looking into the future, which

seemed to beckon me with

promises. I let the sorrow pass

through my heart, then ‘now’ fell

into place and ‘I’ came back to

myself. So, my search for joy is

ended.

SWAMI SUDDHANANDA SATSANG CENTRE,

ChennaiThe Satsang with DVD talk of Swamiji on Kasi Panchakam willbe held on Saturday April 10 and April 24 and May 8 atTattvaloka (4th Floor), 76 Eldams Road, Teynampet, Chennai600018 from 4 pm to 5 pm.

All are welcomeContact : 9444450915 or 9841036922

The art of self-knowledge

begins with your Self. This article

came out whi le watching a

television programme on the

history channel a few days ago.

It was about a British visitor

taking a tour to gain “Knowledge

about INDIA”. Maybe it is even a

self-discovery in understanding

of what India is all about.

India is a pot pourr i of

thoughts, traditions and ways of

life. It is like a sponge; India

absorbs everything into itself and

gives it back when squeezed, in

this case an understanding its

people, culture and way of life. It

is a travel towards self-

discovery.

The whole thought started

when the programme focused

upon ten thousand vegetarian

meals that are supplied without

charge, every day by the

ISKCON temple in Bangalore to

the Central Prison there. This job

is done meticulously, as the

whole process has been

mechanised and tons of rice and

The Art of Self Knowledge

V.C. Krishnan

vegetables are poured into a

chute, and the meals are steam

cooked and packed into Tiffin

boxes. These tiffins are then

loaded onto a truck and sent to

the pr ison, where str ingent

security measures are taken

before the van can enter the

precinct and also checks are

made on food safety and

security before it is served piping

hot to the prisoners.

There are more than ten

thousand prisoners, consisting of

people who have committed

different types of crime. These

figures led to questions in my

mind of how does one turn to

cr ime, i f anybody is born a

criminal or if a baby is ever born

with a weapon in hand, or with a

perverted mind. The answers to

al l of these quest ions is a

resounding ‘NO’.

Crime emerges from a

sequence of act iv i t ies and

situations, in the course of an

individual’s life, but a crime is

committed only when an


2928

individual does not respect

himself in the role he/she has

assumed. He loses sight of the

knowledge of what or who he or

she is and that person wants to

be somebody else. The person

wants to structure himself based

on what he has heard about

himself from others.

As Swamiji says you cannot

give the art of self-knowledge to

a person who is starving for food

and is hungry. Hunger is a basic

human need, so basic that

sometimes cr imes are

committed to satisfy it.

Other types of crimes occur,

but the majority of crimes are

committed to satisfy one basic

need or another. If the basic

need is satisfied, the person

realises his mistake and tries to

protect himself through legal

measures, fundamental ly

knowing that he/she has

committed a crime that is an

infr ingement of the rules of

society.

An old Indian saying goes

that the only activity when a

person feels completely fulfilled,

is to eat till his stomach is full

and he cannot eat any further. It

is only after achieving this basic

primary satisfaction of having a

full stomach, that the person is

then able to reflect upon himself

and accept his responsibility.

ISKCON is trying to help

prisoners achieve this goal.

Once the person is able to

reflect on his actions and on his

thoughts, it helps him to go into

himself. This will allow him to

accept what he has done and

also accept who he is, the self,

awareness. It gives the person

an impetus to be part of society

and maybe help to attain a new

place in society. Ultimately it will

lead him to the path of self-

discovery.

OUR NEW WEB ADDRESS

This is to inform you that we have a new web addresswww.selfknowledge.in (without the hyphen) in addition towww.self-knowledge.in. Please note the old address will bediscontinued and new address only will be retained after some time.

Illusion or maya is the root

cause for this world to exist.

The world we perceive through

our sense organs does not exist

real ly. The world is only a

projection like that of a cinema.

We go to the movie theatre and

enjoy the movie for two hours

and come back. In fact, there

are no pictures or forms that

really exist on the silver screen.

It is the light that is projected on

the screen through the movie

f i lm. That gives r ise to an

illusion of having images on the

screen. Without understanding

this simple principle we identify

with the characters of the movie,

which is nothing but the play of

l ight on the screen, and get

carr ied away by our own

emotions. If this illusion or maya

is properly understood then there

cannot be any misery in our lives

because illusion is the cause of

misery.

Bhagavan Shankara says

that the essence of the

scriptures is that Brahman, the

Self , alone is real and the

perceived universe is unreal,

maya, illusion. To understand

this concept of illusion, one need

Illumination through Illusion

Viswa Chaitanya

not sit down with a teacher and

study for twelve years or to know

Sanskrit. One can understand

this in modern terms by

observing the functioning of a

computer.

The illusory images, graphics,

words etc. that we see on the

computer screen are possible

only when software and

hardware function together with

an external source of power.

Hardware is nothing but an

assemblage of mechanical parts

in which materials like Fe, Al, Si,

plastic etc. are arranged in a

proper order and the computer

starts functioning the moment

electricity is passed through it.

Different software is installed in

it order to function in different

areas, such as word processing,

design and other programmes..

The most interesting part of it is

that nothing can be found in the

hardware that is similar or even

relevant to the type of software

that is installed. There is no

physical presence of the

software in the computer (after it

has been instal led?). The

software is nothing but electrical

pulses arranged in a particular


30 31

manner, which can never be

perceived.

In any operating computer,

there must be both software as

well as hardware. Without one

the other is useless. Together

they create an illusion of images,

graphics etc. on the screen. If

we break open any computer,

we can never f ind images,

graphics, words, paintings, etc.

but st i l l they appear on the

screen of the computer and

where we can perceive them.

It f i ts exact ly with the

definition of maya, the illusion –

ya ma sa maya that which really

does not exist but appears to

exist. Even though there are no

images, graphics, yet they

appear on the screen. One thing

is clearly evident that these

illusory images have no separate

existence but are visible only as

long as power is generating the

computer. The moment

electricity or battery is gone,

there is nothing but an inert

dummy assemblage of

components which by itself is

useless.

It is true of human beings

also. For maya or illusion to

appear, it needs a mind and a

physical body, without which it

can never show its tricks. The

physical body is nothing but an

assemblage of skin, blood, bone,

muscle etc. and starts

functioning only in the presence

of the Awareness. Human

beings must acquire specific

knowledge in order to enter a

profession. If we break open the

physical body of a person, we

can never f ind the type of

knowledge that he/she has,

because that is stored in the

mind which is not visible in the

physical body and yet regulates

the funct ioning of the body

(mind?)

Both body and mind must

function together, without one,

the other is incapacitated. At the

same time, neither the body nor

the mind has an independent

existence. They exist and

function only in the presence of

the Consciousness, the l i fe

force. In its absence, both body

and mind are inert. The mind,

which is nothing but a bundle of

thoughts, (thought processor?)

projects the manifold universe,

which in reality does not exist.

What exists, is only the

Awareness. The universe is an

imposter on the Self , the

Awareness, Consciousness.

When this understanding is

properly assimilated, then we

can enjoy the illusion and not

come under its spell and be

overwhelmed.

Love is the most maligned

and misunderstood word in

language, and the term ‘falling in

love’ eludes definition, masking

confusion with romanticism

around a common occurrence

that happens to us

unconsciously without

understanding it. Love is not

blind; we just do not understand

it. Love is like a mass hypnosis

in which we have al l been

mesmerised. No one knows

anything about love, not even

God. So began the series of

public lectures delivered by

Swamiji and held annually at the

Self-Knowledge Fest ival in

Chennai last month, entitled

‘Falling in Love with Yourself.’

Swamiji calmly and deliberately

laid out the groundwork for

lectures to follow that would

clar i fy these bold and

provocative claims.

Where to start is always a

good question and the answer is

Waking Up to the Hypnosis

Called Love:Self-Knowledge Festival, Chennai,

February 2010

Anne Wiltshire

always where we are, as the

analogy of a tourist map makes

clear, and that is with the self.

Swamiji emphasises again the

necessity of knowing the self,

and that taking time to do so is

not a selfish act as conventional

wisdom would have it, nor is it

selfish to love oneself, though

this too is usually confused with

conceit and arrogance, which

are entirely different states of

mind. So please remove this

word ‘sel f ish’ f rom your

vocabulary. Swamij i also

dismisses our conditioning in

ideal isat ion of love, often

associated with sacrif ice as

destruct ive because i t is

unrealistic and so creates guilt

in people when they inevitably

fail to meet equally unrealistic

expectations. Love is actually

both the lock and key from or to

our happiness, but most of the

time, we are locked into patterns

of behaviour that imprison us


3332

while remaining unaware of the

key already in our pocket. Self-

knowledge is the master key to

love, freedom and happiness

and the way out of fear, anxiety

and delusion. It also provides a

bridge between tradition and

modernity.

Swamij i asks i f we are

sharing love or begging for it.He

urges us to be specific in trying

to answer the question, because

lack of specificity is the cause of

most of our confusion. Thinking

about the question itself, sharing

implies that we already have it to

share, whereas begging implies

that we are seeking love within

someone or something other

than the sel f . This is the

deception, the game we are all

involved in unconsciously and

why we are cont inuously

disappointed and blame others

for our suffering. This explains

the vaci l lat ion between

obsessive adoration and hate

for the same person, and why

divorce is usually so bitter. Love

is rarely offered and received for

its own sake, but for the sake of

happiness that is erroneously

thought to reside in something

other than the self.

Love in common parlance is

al l about ideals, which are

unrealistic and therefore bound

to fail. In the name of love we

are destroyed, whether by a

person, object, food or whatever

we think will bring us happiness.

We have no plan, no blueprint

like the tourist with a map that

indicates where the traveller is

at that moment. We are all

t ravel lers, but we make up

dest inat ions as we travel,

l i teral ly wandering vaguely

through life from crisis to crisis,

sensation to sensation, until we

are f inal ly burnt-out and

exhausted. It is then that we

might seek help; indeed, it is

essential to find a teacher to

guide the way along the path to

the pathless and to counter-act

conditioning from thoughts that

been transmitted to us from

others.

Love is not debated and

subject to the same criteria as

happiness in public and private

discourse. Love begins with the

self and being with the self,

which is the f i rst , basic

misunderstanding and then

there are multiple standards

applied to love. For example,

people talk about unconditional

love as pure and valued as

something that should be

applied to all kinds of difficult

situations, like teaching unruly

children in a classroom or caring

for the dying. However, no one

realises that unconditional love

is an impossible ideal in

ignorance of the self, and that

even his or her most intimate

relat ionships are taci t ly

conditional. It is also implied

that loving objects, like a warm,

fuzzy coat or a pet, or even a

favourite food, is somehow less

profound than loving a person.

Actually the language is more

correct when we uncover the

hoax that we call love, because

we love anything that we think

might bring us happiness and

that includes places, things and

ideals.

Happiness is treated more

casually in public discourse and

has been co-opted by the

advertising industry to blatantly

claim that ‘happiness is a brand

of ice cream; a car; a holiday’

etc, each one tailored minutely

to appeal to the myriad store of

human desires, and it works.

The huge success and wealth of

advert ising companies bear

witness to the success of this

approach, since the advertising

industry has understood more

about human psychology than

the consumers they appeal to.

At the other end of the

spectrum, it is often said that the

poor live simply and are happy.

This is romanticism of a reality

that people in poverty are not yet

aware of options available in

affluence, and are therefore less

confused; in fact television will

rapidly change percept ions

among the poor so that they too

wil l just as rapidly become

confused. Simi lar ly, the

happiness of chi ldren is

unconscious and innocent, so

that they are not unhappy, but

potentially happy. Happiness is

the nature of self, it is who we

are and any moment of

unhappiness is being away from

the self. This is not an abstract

declaration, but can be subject

to proof as fol lows. In the

absence of an object (including

person or place), thoughts arise

that lead to the sense of missing

someone or something. In the

presence of that person or

object, thoughts about them

disappear, thus creating a sense

of wellbeing. Notice that we do

not usually pay much attention

to a person who was missed,

once they are in our presence,

which is evidence that i t is

thought that bothers us and the


3534

absence of thought that brings

relief and not the presence or

absence of the object.

Swamiji becomes passionate

and more emphatic as he

exhorts us all to deal with the

reality that it is the self that is

the source of happiness.

Happiness and awareness

within us are not projections as

are longings and obsession we

impose on others. He urges us

to look at reasons why we

recycle belongings as we

discard things that no longer

bring us satisfaction. Most often

thinking stops at this

explanat ion, but i f we look

further, this simple act of

cleaning out the cupboards, is

clear proof of our misguided

notion that happiness resides in

an object, and when it ceases to

satisfy, it is discarded and not

kept for its own inherent value.

The same treatment is meted

out to friends and former loved

ones, though our ideal ist ic

conditioning makes us recoil

from such mercenary thinking

about people.

When we are in love, we are

behaving unconsciously and

thus blindly. Therefore, it is

necessary to trace back to the

source of this condition and how

it came about. First, there was

attraction from visual perception,

which led to a value judgement

of liking, leading to the basic

emotion of desire, kama of

wanting that person. The same

process occurs with money,

objects, fame etc. Gratification

of the desire is accompanied by

sensat ion that the mind

demands more of, so we repeat

the pattern to attain or maintain

that level of satisfaction, which

is why someone with lots of

money can never have too

much, why people kill to defend

what they have and why

jealousy is so potent. However,

if kama is thwarted, that leads to

kroda, anger in which people

lose their temper and in extreme

cases, kill either the object of

desire or whomever is perceived

to have taken i t . Al l this

happens regularly in personal

relationships from which we

read the grisly consequences in

newspapers and on a global

scale where people fight for

property, commodities or ideals.

(To be continued...)

NACHIKETAS – SUMMER CAMP 2010

(Children’s Wing of Suddhananda Foundation for Self-Knowledge)

Nachiketas (Children‘s wing of Suddhananda Foundation for Self-Knowledge) is holding the usual residential Summer Camp for studentsof Std. VIII, IX &X from 15th April 2010 to 17th April 2010 (Thursday,Friday & Saturday) at Suddhananda Foundation for Self-Knowledge,Suddhanandapuram, (off) East Coast Road, Uthandi, Chennai 600 119.

BACKGROUND: Today’s world around is the flowering of a civilizationwith super material comforts and the comfort level is on the continuousrise. Parents and Children are at a loss to cope with the pressing demandson them.

OBJECTIVE: To help the youngsters to meet with the challenges, it ismost appropriate, against the backdrop of ancient wisdom, they are givenan insight into their minds and its function. These camps facilitate childrento get a handle in to minds and discover the joy of living. Within thelimited time-frame, some thematic techniques and activities relevant totheir age groups have been carefully chosen for the above camp.

Camp Registration Fee/student: Rs. 450/- (Rupees four hundred andfifty only). Cheques may be drawn in favour of ‘Samvit Sagar Trust’,Chennai.

LOCATION MAP:

TELEPHONE No:24530678 / 24530691

CAMP FACILITIES:• Safe Drinking Water• Nutritious Sumptuous

VegetarianFood [BF & TEA alsoincluded]

• Separate Hostels forGirls and Boys withSufficient Bath/Toilet Facilities.

For further details, please Contact : 24530678 / 24530691Camp co-ordinator : Mrs. S. Mangayarkarasi: 9940454335Website : www.selfknowledge.in


36

REGD. NEWS PAPER

REGD. NEWS PAPER

Posted at: Egmore RMS/1 Patrika Channel

on 26-03-2010

Posted under without Prepayment

Posted at: Egmore RMS/1 Patrika Channel

on 26-03-2010

Posted under without Prepayment

Statement about ownership and other particulars about newspaper

FORM IV (See Rule 8)

1 Place of Publication : CHENNAI

2 Periodicity of its Publication : MONTHLY

3 Printer’s Name : SUNITHA PRINTERSNationality : INDIANAddress : 193, Peters Road

Chennai – 600 014

4 Publisher’s Name : R. RAMAKRISHNANNationality : INDIANAddress : Suddhanandapuram

East Coast RoadUthandiChennai – 600 119

5 Editor’s Name : R. RAMAKRISHNANNationality : INDIANAddress : Suddhanandapuram

East Coast RoadUthandiChennai – 600 119

6 Names and address andIndividuals who own the : SAMVIT SAGAR TRUSTNews papers and partners Suddhanandapuramor shareholders holding more East Coast Roadthan one per cent of the Uthanditotal capital Chennai – 600 119

I, R. RAMAKRISHNAN hereby declare that the particulars givenabove are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

(Sd/-) R. RAMAKRISHNANChennaiDated: 28-02-2010 Signature of Publisher

self-knowledge february 2010 - suddhananda

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