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SIDDHARAMESHWAR  MAHARAJ

SELF



Let there be peace and love among all beings of the universe. OM Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

"The constant conviction that you are the Supreme Self is freedom.
Freedom is always existing and does not need to be cultivated.
Being the Self is being free."


NY  completed work is not worth its name if you are not sure of yourself. The entire world is swept away by the current of doubt. Sureness or conviction is meant to be about our being the Self. One must be sure of what one is. Otherwise, everything is useless. We are the Self, but without being definite about it, what is the use of talking about it?


We must be sure in our mind and then we may do whatever we want. If the disciple's heart is very pure with respect to one's master, only then will further study be useful. It is that confidence in the Guru that is going to give one the fruit of spiritual efforts. All other talk is nonsense. Of course, we feel that without being certain everything is a travesty. But what is the point in speaking about it? There will be no benefit in such talk. Where there is knowledge without any doubt, there is contentment. This contentment is not dependent on anything. This contentment is not the product of any rituals or actions that one has done. Contentment that is dependent on such things is not the real contentment. Independent contentment is possible only by Self-realisation. When you are convinced about being Brahman, that itself is contentment. Contentment is an indication of the achievement of Reality. The absence of doubt should be known as the indication of contentment.

The listener asks to be told what is the sign of conviction and the Guru tells him to find out who is the One Absolute Almighty and to be sure about it. God is that power by which this world has come into being. You have now in you That [Reality] by which the whole world moves, and you are using it now. By That only, you are experiencing yourself and the world. See what you have! The world IS because of That. By That this world is fed and nourished. By That the sun, the moon, the stars and the five elements [earth, water, wind, fire and sky] are made. All of this is happening without any trouble, without a lot of hard work to construct or destroy. Such power [chaitanya] is within you. It is by this power that you are getting the experience of the world. However, as long as you are not convinced about it, your mind is not at rest. The gods made of copper and brass are not gods. What do the various incarnations of gods {avatars] in the mythological books, like Brahma, Vishnu and Mahadev [Shiva] mean? What is the extent of their godliness? Only so long as the power enlivens them, are they gods.

What is the sign of a devotee [bhakta]? He has to recognise God; he has to realise who he is. What are we? We are nothing. By leaving the attachment to the body, you should remain only That, Brahman. Where the "me" is, there is bondage. When "me" disappears, bondage goes away. Whom should we call a devotee? One who is searching himself, and is finding out himself, is the devotee. We inwardly search our Self, and by its speech, we meditate on God. We are engrossed in our Self-search, and by spoken words, we are busy meditating on God. When we find the Self, we eliminate everything else and select that which we are. We become convinced about our Self, and we are sure. Sure about what? About Reality. Here complete certainty was possible because of the spoken word. Thus, the grand moment of God-realisation has come! The ocean is as it is. Only the wave arises and disappears. What is freedom? To know one's Self is freedom. The elements are born through the elements, but they are also born from the life-energy [chaitanya].


Both the persuasion and the discrimination approaches are contained within this life-energy The primary approach contains the discrimination and elimination method [sifting the unessential from the Essential]. This is stated in order to prove that all that has an appearance, is false In the siddhanta or final statement, it is said, "All is Brahman." The four basic states of consciousness [manas, buddhi, chitta and aham], the three states [waking, dreaming and deep sleep], the three qualities [rajas, sattva and tamas] and ten organs of the senses [and the various things and the various ways in which the things are enjoyed or experienced] all taken together, are nothing but the chaitanya, which is jnana or true knowledge. That same "One knowledge" is experienced as the entire world, at the time of "knowing". The knowledge is experienced, and beyond this you cannot experience or renounce it, nor can you arrange to artificially nullify it. At the time of knowing, that experience is possible only because of the self-existent chaitanya. When by very keen, minute observation there is certainty and definite conviction, this is called siddhanta or "Final Truth". Then very serenely, there is certainty about God. There is the realisation that there is only One and nothing else. However, by the insistent attachment to the physical body, that peace and contentment is destroyed. For this you should say, "Tell me who I am!" The demon of doubt should be asked, "Tell me who I am!" However, then he keeps quiet, because how can he show anything other than Brahman?

We should not deviate from the confidence about our real nature. The body-consciousness brings in something else. It only increases doubt and misgivings, and it tries to bring you down. Do not fall. The gods and various deities are all illusion. They are our own imagination. Don't harbour false ideas or false doubts. The story of King Nala of the city of Nishadha tells us that he did not wash his feet after answering natures call of urination. He entered his house and because of this fault, evil or Kali, entered his body and mind. In this story, "the feet" mean the base or the root that should be cleansed. One must examine what is at the root of all things. Observe it. If you see clearly to the root and wipe out doubt, then there is only basic purity, fundamental clarity. That which is basically clean, is strong. Then there is surety, certainty, and no place for doubt. As long as the fundamental cleanliness is not there, evil or doubt, will surely enter. Everything is full of doubt and it is the tendency of the mind to turn towards body-consciousness. Therefore, it is said that the aspirants should not deviate from the Self.

The body is having a particular shape according to its state [childhood, youth, old age]. It cannot hold on to its shape, of its own accord. It has the shape because of the miraculous power of the life-energy [chaitanya]. Consciousness, although it is in the body, has no particular form or shape. Consciousness has as its natural quality to make us feel or sense something. That quality is called "chaitanya as knowledge". That life-energy as knowledge assumes that it is this or that body, and functions accordingly at the time óf identifying with some form. Without thinking of it being the Self, the consciousness considers as true whatever is seen or whatever appears as existing, and functions with that confusion. Actually, whether it wields a body or not, it is "life" without bounds or any particular form. It is flawless, but it assumes that it has a form or rather, that it is itself the form of the body, which is a foolish blunder. With the concept of being a body held very strongly, it demands outer property and possessions that it thinks to be suitable for it. Thus because it becomes ignorant of its Reality it becomes enamoured with the body that is perishable. It gives the body extraordinary importance and unnecessarily suffers lots of sorrow.

The body form is not our Original Existence. It is but a momentary unwanted state. If you very carefully look at it, you can bum the net of desires and longings without fire. The saints tell you, "Do not be enticed by body-consciousness. You do not need anything." Therefore, the aspirant should not deviate from being the Self. You should never allow your contentment to be disturbed. Your Self-confidence should be that strong. What day or time is auspicious or otherwise, for That which is Brahman? The Self is the power that is above time. What is a bad time for It? It is the "merit" in the "meritorious time" itself. Anything called "bad time" has nothing to do with it. The Self is the God of gods, who gives the "best" to all. Body-consciousness makes you forget the discernment of pure reason. Therefore, you must be very alert. Even when you sleep on your bed, you must think that you are Brahman, God of the gods, and have peace. Never forget the Brilliant Truth that you are formless clean, pure and stainless. You must be steady in that contentment which remains unmoved by anything. Does the God Vitthala lose being Brahman because Rukmini [this refers to the unification of the male and female principles, the formless and manifestation] is near him? Both of them are pure, formless, sacred, life-energy only, through and through. Remain as Vitthala. Keep up the concept that you are the Self, Atman. Here the word Atman means, "Formless consciousness". The constant conviction that you are this Supreme Self is liberation, is freedom. Freedom is always existing and does not need to be cultivated. Being the Self is being free.

You should never forget that you are the Self. I tell you this, but this will not be imprinted on your mind except if you keep the company of saints. Surrender yourself to the saints. If you are outwardly agreeing and being alert but secretly are having doubt, what good will all your agreement bring? Listen now to one "Great Principle". One who has absolutely no doubt is the siddha, the master. There is the story of Visoba Khechara who slept with his feet on the stone Shiva-lingam. When asked about it he said, "Is there any place where Shiva is not? All this earth is a Shiva-lingam. My feet are also Shiva. They are not anything else. This entire world is Shiva." This must never be forgotten. This determination should not falter.


In the stage of siddha, the one formerly named "Namya", is not there, [who became Saint Namdev that visited the Sage Visoba and was enlightened about the all-pervading God]. There is no "other" there. There is nothing like the "second" or another. The second is not there. The "other" is not relevant there. One who has understood this is the siddha. One who has doubt is still a seeker, an aspirant. There is no shortage of sin and merit in the world. Once you identify with the body, the ocean of sin and merit is filled. All of these things are told in the Vedas. The Vedas teach us how to perform actions while we think we are a physical body. When man's intelligence surpasses the limit of the body, the Vedas cannot give any instructions to the one who is a bhakta, a devotee. When one is beyond his physical body, beyond the perceptible, what can be said about him? What are his signs? Signs are only facets or qualities. The Self is devoid of any shape. When we realise that we are the Self, how can we describe "His" qualities or lack of qualities?

One who understands himself as the Self is beyond sin or merit, and has transcended the boundaries of visible forms. He is victorious. That is his Victory Day [Vijaya Dashamee]. That day is the Golden Day. It is the glass of Immortal Nectar. Birth and death are gone. The state of being an individual [jiva] is gone. The Vedas themselves have put their own boundary. When you have crossed, then you are without doubt the Self, and not the body. The "me" who was in the body, has become Shiva. He is victorious. He is now the master, with the Absolute Power of Brahman, the Power of the Self, the Reality of Himself. Paramatman, the Supreme Self, Rama, has resumed His Kingdom. That attainment is the state of Victory.

So, up to now you have had the delusion of being an individual. As soon as the concept of being a jiva is gone, the concept of God, Shiva, its counterpart, is also gone. The illusion [maya] has appeared to be very fearsome, but it is really non-existent, it is only an illusion. The result of Self-knowledge is complete fearlessness. Self-knowledge means that there is no fear of any beings. That life which has no fear of any beings is a formless life, and it is beyond even the transparent. It is not a material form that is perceivable by our senses. It cannot be destroyed by any experiments involving the five elements. It is not even touched by the sense of having knowledge. When the illusion is unreal, why should we harbour any fear of what will happen or how things will happen? In a dream, one may be afraid, but upon awakening, the fear is gone. Similarly, when one is awakened to one's real nature, all fear is gone. Many ignorant people consult an astrologer to get their dreams interpreted. Similarly, although this world is proved false, as soon as you worry, it shows that you are not using proper discrimination [viveka]. Whenever there is worry, there is no "bliss of Self-knowledge". The only one who gets the enjoyment of this bliss is the one who is sure about his true nature.

One whose mind is depressed is never free of anxiety, as he is suffering from the false notion of being an individual. One whose mind is not having discrimination, never asks why he should not worry. All people are taking on the veil of anxiety and dying of worry, but they never think about why they should not even worry at all. You allow the dog of worry to enter and reach the shrine room, the inner sanctum of your own home. Worry is not helpful for anything. The question is, "What should the formless Self worry about?" In every living being there is strife going on day and night. Even the judge or the king is not free of anxiety, because that judge does not give the proper justice to anxiety. He does not even go to bed, without anxiety. As soon as he puts his back to the bed, his worrying starts. Why, I ask? At least, he should sleep peacefully. The next day when he gets up, there is going to be some benefit from taking a rest from the worry, which he gets during deep sleep. However, still this man never stops worrying. Even if there is some benefit or profit, that has been gained, he still continues to worry. To awaken to the Self is itself what is truly beneficial. So, I ask you, why should you be anxious? Whatever you want to do, you should do without anxiety. Because of worry, knowledge becomes impossible to gain, and spiritual knowledge is not grasped. What is destined to happen, happens, so why then should there be anxiety? Even the Lord, Sri Ramachandra, one fine morning had to go to live in the forest, instead of sitting on His throne. Thus, only what is destined to happen, happens. Then why worry for anything? The "bliss of Brahman" is very delicate, very subtle. However, that "great bliss" is not possible because of worry. Those who are doing spiritual practice [sadhana] with a desire to enjoy "that bliss" should never worry. Only then can "that bliss" be attained. When the illusion of being a jiva is gone, the Self is fully realised.

Why should you have any anxiety? Illusion is only visible to the imagination. If you have no imagination, then the illusion does not do anything. There is a story about a moneylender who was always worrying as to what will happen if this or another thing, were to take place. He was a very rich man,, with a large family, he had, a large number of cows, buffaloes, and, horses. He had many servants, and his house was always full of grains. Once during the days of the Diwali Festival, after having a rich dinner with family members and children, he was comfortably reclining in his hall. At that time, he remembered that some years back there was a drought where many cattle in his town and other villages in the vicinity had died, and many other people were on the verge of death due to hunger. As he sat therein his comfortable surroundings he remembered those past events, and he was overwhelmed with sorrow. Tears came to his eyes as he sat there in that depressed state. After a short time, his wife came, and saw this. She was curious, and asked what has happened, what was wrong. He said, "My dear, if that situation comes again, what will happen?" and he started openly crying. His wife got up, went to where he was sitting, and also started crying. Seeing them there, some other women asked her "What happened, why are you crying?" She said, "Nothing very serious, but if that situation comes again, what will happen?" It is often the case with rich sophisticated people that it often happens that what one feels, all he others around him also feel So, all the other people began to follow the lead of the man and his wife, and started, crying as well. All the servants and relatives also began to cry. Gradually, this news spread through the town and as he was a famous rich man, the other nearby villages were also affected. Everybody was asking each other what will happen if that situation occurs again?" Then as the crying was everywhere, wise people began to enquire as to what was the fact behind all this fuss. Respectable people went to the house of the rich man and asked him, "What is really the matter after all?" He then proceeded to tell the whole story of the drought in the past. Listening to this, they became surprised! This is the case with the whole world. Everything gets distorted by imagination.

Do not think that this is only the story of that moneylender. This is your story. If the Self foolishly starts to worry without cause, everything gets twisted and all the sense-organs and bodily functions also get confused, worried and unhappy. All beings are constantly worrying about what will happen and how it will happen. Everywhere this pathetic story about worry for the future is found. Man was born crying and will go on crying until the time of death. What is it that makes a corpse look good? It only looks good because of the sorrow of other people. If nobody cries, the corpse is not honoured and does not really look so good. There is a saying, "Is there anybody who will lament upon your death?" And, if someone doesn't lament they say that he has no feeling. So, you should think, "Why to cry? Why to worry?" Its alright, be worried, but it should be true care, true worry. Why do you worry in vain? Be confident and certain. Only that which is destined to happen is going to happen. The tiger is definitely going to kill you and eat you, no matter what name you may give it. Then why should you not kill the anxiety that is needlessly created by the name? Destiny is going to play out as it will. Why worry about what will happen in the future? In short, bliss comes near where there is happiness, just as some culture has to be added to milk in order to get yoghurt. In order to attain the state of "highest bliss", you have to enjoy without worry. If the rich man worries more than the beggar, the rich man is worse than the beggar. Worry is such that it does not go away unless you drop it. Even if you are given great prosperity, still you go on worrying. What can God do about it? What can God do for you if you do not let go of all worry? As you have lost the quality of discrimination, worry is always troubling you. The individual thinks that it is he who does everything, and suffers accordingly. It is said that "over-wise is otherwise". The individual thinks in vain, "Nobody ever works properly. Only I can do the work nicely. No good job can be done without me." In vain, he always worries like this.

You will not have peace if you continue to hold on to all of this worry. So, let go of all worry. Come what may, you must be without anxiety. The illusion creates fear only for the one who is constantly worrying as to what will happen and how it will happen. Those who worry are going to die anyway. As soon as you project an image of what will happen, worry starts. You start worrying about a thing that is not even existing. Why do you let yourself become unhappy by being anxious about future things? Because you have lost the discrimination power, you are worried. A madman imagines about happiness. The madman's imagination may even jump to the God Indra, and he is happy in this imagination, and also very courageous. You should be happy and content with whatever humble bread you get. One who worries even after getting the Nectar of Immortality is surely the enemy of God. One sees that another person is happy and become unhappy. Why do you become unhappy by seeing someone else's happiness? It is because you think, "l do not have what he has." How strange and surprising is the nature of the jiva! This is not a desirable condition. The reason for this criticism is that those who are indiscreet are unhappy. A beggar is free from any worry. In a way, he kicks the anxiety. He eats his bread and chutney with royal majesty. Just see how he enjoys such a simple meal! All things are possible without feeling the need to worry. Never bother yourself unless circumstances really demand it. Whatever may be, let it be, undisturbed.

Only one who releases oneself from the clutches of anxiety is fit to possess this "knowledge of Brahman". It is only he, who can gain this knowledge. To the one who is joyful, bliss comes of its own accord. He enjoys bliss at all times. Grief joins grief, and sorrow joins sorrow. One who completely lets go of worry is the brave man who rides the tiger. Lord Vishnu is reclining on the body of the most venomous serpent, the Shesha, and he is not afraid or worried about the extreme poison. The poisonous hissing of that serpent is not troublesome to Him. On the contrary, it gives Him joy. The One who is Self-contented is enjoying the "bliss of the Self". That is why He is the spouse of goddess Laxmi, the deity of wealth and riches. As He is in "His own inner-bliss", the Goddess Laxmi is massaging His feet. However, there you [the individual] are, at the feet of the perishable thing that is worry, and she is burning you without any reason.

Let go of anxiety and be happy. Anxiety is poison. Why have that bitter taste in your mouth? A blind man does not have a fly in his soup because he does not worry. The snake does not bite small children. Our own imagination ecornes our enemy. You imagine that there is a ghost, and it is demanding something from you, and then the worry becomes a daily affair. It possesses you, and then it controls you totally. You must let go of illusion Never imagine about sorrow. The anxiety has snuck into your mind. Discard it by quiet discrimination, recognising that it is unnecessary and unessential. Then you are surely happy.

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