Explaining self-realisation

The purpose of life in Sanatana Dharma is self-realisation. It lies in realising the divine presence through persona; experience and not through the intellect. It is about transcending sensory experiences to reach the stillness within. It is about using the mind to commit deliberate suicide of the mind.

What is self-realisation and what does that state consist of in real terms? This subject has been extensively explored in spiritual traditions all over the world and yet it is not an easy question to answer, in part because, it is hard to put in words as it is an out-of-the-body experience. My Guru once told me when we were in Birmingham more than a decade ago that when God reveals himself to a devotee, he takes away the power of speech. And sometimes even memory. This followed a certain incident in the Balaji temple in Birmingham and I was stunned to hear it.

Sri Ramana provided us with two other extraordinary clues. He said that just as an ordinary individual cannot do without thought, the jnani (the realised soul) finds it difficult to entertain a thought! Clearly, this refers to a qualitatively different orbit of being.

The second clue he gave was even more interesting. He said just as we are used to the triad of seer seen and sight in our daily engagements in the world, the jnani sees only subject; the triad is destroyed. To an enlightened sage, the whole universe is only subject in that they cannot see the other as being apart from themselves! This is an extraordinary statement and merits explanation? There are similar passages in the Yoga Vashishta as well.

It means that while ordinary individuals experience themselves in an objective world, the Realised Master experiences the world inside them! Such is the power of realization! One of Amma’s devotees records the fact that he offered her something to eat, She opened Her mouth wide and the devotee was shocked to see the earth in her mouth!

The realised Master does not experience the world as ordinary individuals experience it. The jnani experiences the world as a subject alone and not as an object! In practical terms, this means they do not or cannot experience other humans as being apart from them. The other is an extension of their own selves.