self-knowledge, the easiest thing there is

[Guest guest]

On one occasion G.V. Subbaramayya questioned Bhagavan

about "Atma Vidya", which begins:

"Self-knowledge is an easy thing, the easiest thing there is."

Subbaramayya wondered why, if it was so easy,

we didn't realise it. This was something we all wondered about.

 

I then quoted to Bhagavan verse three, chapter seven, of the

Bhagavad Gita, wherein Sri Krishna says:

"Of thousands of men, some rare soul strives to realise Me;

of those striving yogis, again, some rare one [devoting himself

exclusively to me] knows Me in reality."

 

I thought if Atma Vidya (Self-knowledge) was so easy,

as Bhagavan's song suggests, why did Krishna make this

declaration in the Gita?

 

Bhagavan looked at us with compassion and, smiling confidently,

said: "What is written in Atma Vidya is true. Why do you doubt

it? It is as clear as a gooseberry in the palm of your hand."

 

When he spoke to us like this, with such certitude and convinction,

we were filled with unflinching faith and self-confidence in our

ability to attain the ideal he taught us. Moreover, he sat before us

as the living example of that ideal, a perfected soul, absorbed

in the purity and peace of the Absolute Reality. What more did

we need in life? How blessed we all felt!

 

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Balarama Reddy: My Reminiscences

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