Who am I? is an enquiry that would lead you to many questions about yourself and the existence around you. Philosophers have tried to present their versions of the answer but instead of resolving questions have actually confused the issue even more.

As Ramana Maharshi says – the answer to the question Who am I? lies within and can be experienced in silence. The problem is our own need for identification that starts with first our name, role in the family, society, etc and this identification is only reinforced over the journey of life so much so that we start believing that we are the roles we play. It is like an actor starting to believe that the role he/she is playing is her true identity. You may laugh at such an actor but that is exactly what we ourselves end up doing – allowing our roles to define us instead of the other way round.

Ask yourself this – If you suddenly find yourself marooned on an island without any roles to play, would you cease to exist? Of course not – you would exist but with survival as your priority but with no identification… Identification is a social need, not an individual one. It is for transacting your affairs smoothly in social situations…

The society has people at various stages of evolution – many people are still in stage of fighting for survival – food clothing, shelter and don’t have the luxury or time to find answers to deeper questions of existence. There are a few lucky ones who have managed to overcome the survival issues and are in a position to seek the answer to the question who am I? But do they want to do that or are they too enamoured with the process of identification and enjoying the sensory pleasures that life has to offer? Only a few out of the fortunate few seek the answer but don’t know where to start. The start and the end point is within and the path is Silence, Meditation, Service…

There is a Guru in each one of us and that Guru is our own awareness which is also called Chaitanya which enables us to decide, act, respond. Aapo Deepo Bhava – be your own light by allowing the Guru within to light the path for you…

The first “Yama” i.e. restraint prescribed by Maharshi Patanjali is Ahimsa – commonly understood as non-violence. This is the first step/principle to be abided by in the path of Yoga.

Whilst it is prescribed as a restraint from violence, it has a much deeper import. If practiced literally then you would use it as a means of curbing your expression of violent tendencies – anger, hurt, etc. If practiced proactively by consciously holding the principle of love for all sentient beings in your intent, thoughts, words and actions, it would transform your life and there would be no room for violence.

This is the simple principle that created Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Baba Amte, and many other Bodhisattva’s. The principle is simple, its the execution that could be difficult since it involves acceptance of the situation and people as they are, along with the intent of helping them to the best of your ability, and actually executing the intent without any expectation of reciprocation…

How many of us are up for this challenge?

There is no standard for leading your life. Whatever you feel is right – you have a choice as to the action but not the result and you have to face the consequences of your actions, whatever they may be. Nobody tells you whether the life you have led is good or bad (except your well intentioned spouse :)) since no one knows what is right.

Right and wrong is a matter of perspective – it is a fiction that we individually or collectively believe in.

Life is a multiple choice questionnaire and you keep choosing the answers depending on what your innate nature is. Am sharing some wisdom from the scriptures that may possibly help in deciding the direction of your life.

As per the Samkhya Philosophy the entire creation is made of 3 Gunas – Sattva(Clarity), Rajas(Motion), Tamas(Inertia). Everyone/everything is a combination of the 3 Gunas and the dominant Guna determines the nature of the person.

The Patanjali Yoga Sutras states Human beings personalities can be classified into 5 broad types of Chitta (Mind/Personality Complex)

1) the restless (ksipta), – Rajas is the dominant Guna

2) the torpid (mudha), – Tamas is the dominant Guna 

3) the distracted (viksipta),- Rajas is dominant Guna with interludes of Sattva

 4)the focused (ekagra), – Sattva is the dominant Guna and

 5) the restricted (niruddha). – Transcends Gunas

Kshipta, Mudha, Vikshepa, Ekagra and Niruddha are the five Yogic Bhumikas. The Chitta or mind manifests in five different forms. In the Kshipta state, the rays of the mind are scattered on various objects. It is restless and jumps from one object to another. In the Mudha state, the mind is dull and forgetful. Vikshipta is the gathering mind. It is occasionally steady and at other times distracted. By practice of concentration the mind struggles to gather itself. In the Ekagra state, it is one-pointed. There is only one idea present in the mind. The mind is under control in the Niruddha state.

Most people are in the Mudha/Kshipta category and believe that sensual pleasures and pandering to ego is the purpose of life. Spiritual seekers are in the Vikshepa category and need consistent, sustained practice of Yoga to become Ekagra. Very few people are in the Niruddha category. Time is of no consequence on this path, sincerity & faith is…

Again, nothing is right or wrong. Your path is your choice. It depends on what gives you meaning and value in life…

May your choices reflect your hopes, not fears – Nelson Mandela

Independence is a stage prior to Interdependence, it signifies that at least the individual liberty and basic human rights are largely being upheld by the society. Interdependence signifies that the core human values of love, trust, faith, etc are the basis of living harmoniously together. There are a few individuals who live interdependently and we call them “saints”. There is a saint in each one of us but we choose not to allow expression to it since we are born in a world that follows different values where how am I different from others is valued more than how similar are we. This conditioning begins from the day you are born as someones son/daughter, you are conditioned to think in terms of family, society, nation, world. It is always a them v/s us kind of a situation, we as a race are thriving on living on a separatist principle and that seeps into each aspect of our lives. Individual liberty is being taken too far, we know our rights but we don’t know our values any more…

When are we going to graduate from being Independent to Interdependent? Are we even capable of living interdependently without boundaries, religions, etc? Who knows? we’ve never tried it. How to become interdependent? We have to fight the demons of anger, greed, lust, attachments, etc within us and live by the principles of love, sharing, caring. This could be viewed as a utopian concept but thats the truth. The next revolution my friends lies within us and we are busy drawing boundaries outside us. Who is ready to battle the enemy within?

I for one, am for it, would love to see a world where we as a world have removed anger, greed, attachments, etc from within us. That would be the day we would be able to say Happy Interdependence Day. It’s possible if we make it possible. As John Lennon says – ” You may say Im a dreamer, but Im not the only one…”

We are currently witnessing the devastating effects of the imbalance in nature created by us over the years. Our human race is multiplying at geometric proportions literally consuming other sentient life forms whether they be trees, animals, fishes, birds… This is borne out by the fact that many life forms are getting extinct since they are unable to cope up with the “development” brought in by the human race.

We have to pause and take a moment to ask ourselves whether mindlessly consuming the planet is “development”. Whether perpetuating the geometric increase in our race at the cost of all other life forms is “evolution”?

This mindless way of living needs to stop and we need to have a cohesive plan of saving nature & all life forms as we know it since its the only way our race would survive, else we are heading for a self destruct.

It is every persons Personal Social Responsibility to protect and preserve nature for the generations to come. For this we must be prepared to make whatever sacrifices are necessary today. Conscious Human Population control, afforestation, preserving all life forms and consuming what is necessary for survival…

But I guess everyone knows this, but who is willing to wake up and smell the coffee???

We have been given faculties for experiencing the world around us. These faculties or dimensions of our existence are called as Pancha Kosha’s (5 koshas)

1. Annamaya – relating to our physical existence (body)
2. Pranamaya – relating to the energy body (Prana)
3. Manomaya – relating to the controller of emotions and senses (Manas/instinctive)
4. Vignanamaya – relating to intellect (Buddhi/Conscious cognition)
5. Anandamaya – relating to the bliss body (Soul/Purusha)

We create a fiction called Ahamkara(Ego/Personality) which is not a faculty provided but a fiction created by our own mind through which we perceive the world. This ego or personality is nothing but an accumulation of all our habits that are based on what we like and avoidance of what we dislike. Most of us lead our lives out of this instinctive mind, we rarely use the cognitive faculty of Buddhi and instead rely upon the comfort zone of habits. It is good if you have formed good habits that sustain a healthy lifestyle, if not then you are headed for disaster. The sooner you realise that you are living your life through a self created fiction of habits, the sooner you would start living consciously by using the faculty of Buddhi.

Even beyond Buddhi is the Bliss Body or Soul which is a part of the Absolute. This bliss is a part of our existence, it’s only that we have forgotten it exists within us and thats where we don’t look. To experience this you have to silence all the faculties through the process of Meditation/Dhyana…

We have been born into a world where accumulation is the norm and hence it seems perfectly normal for us to keep accumulating. However, if you observe, this accumulation process never stops for us since we simply don’t know when to stop. Whether it be wealth, fame, knowledge, power… we simply want to keep having more. This is the accumulation mindset that we currently have. If you analyse why do we accumulate, you may see that at the root of accumulation is either an insecurity that we should have enough for not only ourselves but who we consider to be our own and for the generations to come as well or it could also be to prove our superiority over our fellow human beings that we keep on accumulating. Whatever be the intent, the accumulation mindset, in my view, is a response to a deep rooted insecurity that we have been nurturing. Well, the world seems to be following this code, so whats wrong?

What is wrong is this accumulation has taken us away from joyful modes of living which involve sharing, caring, trusting, having faith, etc. Consequently, we live under a constant stress of judging ourselves whether we have enough and we will have enough in future. Who defines what is enough? Ask yourself what is enough for you in terms of whatever it is that you are accumulating, you may not be able to answer and even if you do have an answer, it would change once you get there.

Do we have a choice? Yes. The choice is of adopting a “letting go” mindset. Letting go doesn’t mean that you start living like a hermit. It simply means that you have stopped accumulating and instead have started living by the values of sharing, trusting, etc that bring you joy.

As St.Francis of Assisi put it – it is in giving that we receive.

FOMO(Fear of missing out) is a fear that all of us have in varying degrees. Consequently, we try to fill our days with many things that we think we need to do, wish to do or simply have to do since situation demands… We get so used to living in this manner that simply sitting down and doing nothing seems to be quite a task for most and still people who have had the courage to let go of the to-dos for some time and sit quietly have been enriched by the experience.

Meditation is a practice that we must incorporate in our daily lives. The Sanskrit word for meditation is Dhyana and by the time the technique reached the Japanese shores, it was pronounced as Zen. Meditation is not only for monks, it is very much essential for busy city people who are overwhelmed with the life around them.

There are many forms of meditation, whichever you adopt is upto you. The simplest is observing the natural process of breathing which is also called “So-Hum” japa. This japa not only indicates the sound associated with the breathing in (So) and with breathing out (Hum) but also indicates the meaning So(that power which runs the universe) Hum(is me). So you have to focus on the process of breathing as well as the auto-suggestion. This is also called the ajapa japa and is a very simple yet effective method of meditating. You could meditate sitting down with eyes closed or even be aware of the ajapa japa whilst performing any activity -that is also meditation…

Over time, you will find yourself calming down and start experiencing the benefits of meditation. Try it…Silence isn’t empty, its full of answers…

It is said that empty space occupies almost 99% of the creation and just 1% is creation(Matter). This Space is Shiva – That which is not (Shi-Va).

All spiritual pursuits are aimed at transcending matter (seen/perceived through senses) to experience what cannot be seen (Shiva). However we are so much enamoured with the seen that we forget about what lies beyond the senses…

Each one of us has to deal with two aspects of experiencing life. One is external – when we are dealing with the physical dimensions and the other is internal when we are dealing with the Spiritual Dimension.

When we deal with the external, love is the dominant emotion to have. This will bring joy and wellbeing in the society.

When you deal with the internal, silence, humility and the realisation that you are nothing are the dominant emotions to have – this will unfold spiritual realisation

You are nothing and yet everything is the paradox of life which is understood only when you walk the spiritual path and experience Shi-va when you will also get the answer to the question where do you come from, where do you go…

It doesn’t take intelligence of a high order to notice that people, things around you are constantly changing and that nothing is or will be as it used to be and yet people crave for permanence and get stressed if things and/or people change…

The sooner we accept the point that life itself is a temporary phenomena that we are experiencing, the better for us. In this fast changing world, it is difficult to get a grip of what you actually want out of life. There are so many things being thrown at you that you tend to get overwhelmed by all of it – societal expectations, family expectations, your own desires, etc. Take a moment to think what if you were to live for just a year more, or just a month more, would you still do the same things that you are doing?

List out the things that are meaningful to you and put them on your calendar. You don’t have to live up to other peoples values, goals or meaning of life, you have been provided with intelligence to figure out what are your own values, goals and what gives you meaning. Don’t get sucked into being monkeys in other peoples circuses(goals), instead create your own circus (goal). Remember life by itself has no meaning other than the one you assign to it…When you finally close your eyes the only question you will ask yourself is – was it worth it? Let the answer be a resounding YES!

So have you found your circus (goal)?