THE INNER SELF

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Any person turning inward at a certain moment essentially stands in the midst of his life, at a point when he has lived a good part of it and the remaining one is before him to be lived. His inside is crowded with numberless sweet and bitter memories (of others' and of his own actions and of their impacts), ideas, dreams, cravings etc. and a field of action lies sprawling before him. The question arises: could one bypass or overpass his crowded inside and his psychic bends and curves to go in search of spiritual achievements? Could he, at all, write off or sever this concrete part of his self from his spiritual self? Could man stop this part os his self from coming alive even when he has reached the pinnacle of his spiritual attainment? Is happiness or bliss something isolated from living? Perhaps, no part of the whole self can be dropped for good and any attempt at that has invariably proved counterproductive. Bliss cannot be isolated from living, as God cannot be isolated from His creation. Man has been given this life to live it and not to run away from it.

Hence, turning inward or meditation has to help man in living a wholesome, creative and enriching life. For this it has to be aimed at enlightenment and wisdom and not just at physico-mental health, mystic or divine experiences or the gaining of supernatural energies. These would spontaneously join up when the achievement of enlightenment and wisdom is sought. The first revelation in the Nirvanopanishad is-What Supreme Soul is, that am I. It implies that the Supreme Soul or the Para-Brahman and the individual soul are essentially one, as the ocean and the single from it are one. It means that both have to be meditated upon simultaneously. The Supreme Soul would help in the comprehension of the individual self or its nucleus, the soul and the Soul i.e. the individual self would lead to a feel or a view of the Supreme Soul. These are two poles or ends of creation and none of the two can be abandoned or written off.

The Supreme Soul or the Para-Brahman extends or manifests itself into a universe i.e. into a grand paraphernalia of consciousness, energy and matter. In the same way the soul projects itself first into an abstract self, comprising of the ego, the intellect and the mind and then into a physical self furnished with brain, the senses and all other systems. Thus, the individual self or being is constituted of the soul, the abstract self and the concrete body, one evolving from and not just tagged on to the other. The soul is the reservoir of consciousness and energy flowing into the other two constituents. The abstract self or the inner self gives a character or a personality to the individual and generates ideas, which are translated into action by the physical self. Ideas motivate actions and actions stimulate ideas and the both enrich soul. The idea stands between the consciousness and the action. Or, it can be said that the abstract self or the inner self berths between the soul and the body. Thus, the inner self settles to be the core part of the individual, where both the soul and body converge. In view of this substantial synthesis, how could the soul or the inner self or the body be dropped or written off without ruining the individual. The soul gave itself an inner self and a body for living and for contributing its bit to the divine purpose and not for getting these rejected and dropped. If the Moksha or the Nirvan or the Kaivalya had been the sole purpose of this life on earth, why the soul had acquired a body at all or why a body had been given to it by God? In reality, the inner self or the body or the life in this world does not pose any problem. The problem is how to put these to the most positive use and how to invoke soul's wisdom to percolate to the inner self and to the body, so that an enriching life can be lived.

This could be done only through meditation on the inner self. This inner self is constituted of the ego, the intellect and the mind. Ego is the consciousness of individual selfhood; the mind is the master of the senses and the body, while the intellect is the thinking and analyzing part, which oversees and examines every activity by every constituent of the individual self including the soul. Whenever a challenge, from outside or from inside confronts the individual, the ego, the mind and the intellect start throwing up ideas as prospective solutions of the challenge. There have to be a minimum of three solutions for every challenge, put forward by the three constituents. A clash among these ideas or suggested solutions for being picked up for action and thus a struggle for superiority among the ego, the intellect and the mind ensues. Each of these three constituents of the inner self has a specific utility and a particular role to play and none of these is to be denigrated or hailed. Moreover, each challenge always needs a unique and an original solution to be able to emerge as a positive and enriching one. But how to pick up the suiting solution? And who will pick it up? The three constituents cannot be depended upon individually as they have not remained detached and each has been clamouring for dominance over the whole of the individual self. And, it is not proper to trouble God for trivialities. The commandments, the concepts and the principles from the sacred books are lofty generalizations, which fail to fit in with the requirements of the specific challenges. All our knowledge and computerization are only a help in decision-making and cannot be accepted as decision-makers. Thus, one is left only with one's soul, the repository of all consciousness and energy, with a direct link with the Supreme Soul. But the soul communicates only through the intellect. Hence, the intellect has to be raised above the level of the inner self and has to be opened up to soul's profound wisdom. Again, the intellect can be elevated and opened only through meditation on the inner self.

Who meditates within us? It is the intellect which meditates on God or concepts or principles or on the void created within. But an intellect, entangled in the cobwebs woven inside the inner self, cannot effect a clear and penetrating meditation. Hence, the intellect has to be disentangled and its own vulnerable part, the lower intellect, so that it can examine every idea, emotion, dream, need, desire and craving generated by these constituents, trace their roots in the whole individual self and see them in their complete nakedness, without any draperies of assertions and negations.

To begin with let one take up any action done by him or any idea or desire rising within him. Let his higher intellect examine it in full detachment i.e. without any ethical or religious or existential criterion and without even a thought of condemning or praising or justifying it on any pretext. Might be that a charity by a person to an institution did not aim at promoting the good work being done by it, but at capturing the institution for egoistic or material gains. Might be that the selection of a particular candidate for a post was motivated less by her qualifications and more by her looks. Might be that his whole interest in spiritual or religious matters had been nothing but a public relations exercise. Perhaps, all the sweetness and care for one's wife had only camouflaged his desire to do away with her, restrained till now only by fear. Let the higher intellect examine more and more creatures of the inner self; the generous and the vicious, the soft and the ferocious, the lovable and the obnoxious. With regular exercise this elevated intellect would gradually grow stronger and more assertive than the ego, the mind and the lower intellect and the three would come out nude before the higher intellect as children stand naked before their mothers. Such a detached intellect would spontaneously open up to the consciousness flowing from the soul as well as from the Supreme Soul. As this stage gradually evolves, the ego, the intellect and the mind would shed their sharp edges and their indiscreet practices and would start acting as faithful attendants on the higher intellect and the soul. Thus, to achieve this end every wave, every growth, every explosion within the inner self and every tussle among its three constituents has to be watched, observed and examined by the higher intellect in a most unprejudiced and objective manner. Even vicious wickednesses have to be seen in this very light.

This appearing naked before one's own self or seeing one's own self in complete nudity is what had been termed here as meditation to be seen in this very light.

This appearing naked before one's own self or seeing one's own self in complete nudity is what had been termed here as meditation on the inner self. It provides man with an inner balance and a mysterious strength and a spontaneous insight. This meditation is sure to revolutionize one's mundane life, making it more confident, more creative and more enriching. This would open up the path to God.

It is impossible to see and know God without seeing and knowing one's own multifaceted and multicolored self.