Who Am I (2)

[Guest guest]

pb: The Yogis say that one must renounce this

world and go into secluded jungles or mountains, if one

wishes to find truth. Such things can hardly be done in

the West; our lives are so different. Do you agree

with the Yogis?<br><br>M: The life of action need not

be renounced. If you meditate for an hour or two

every day, you can then carry on with your duties. If

you meditate in the right manner, then the current of

mind induced will continue to flow even in the midst

of your work. It is as though there were two ways of

expressing the same idea; the same line which you take in

meditation will be expressed in your activities. <br><br>pb:

What will be the result of doing that?<br><br>M: As

you go on you will find that your attitude towards

people, events and objects will gradually change. Your

actions will tend to follow your meditations of their own

accord...<br>A man should surrender the personal selfishness

which binds him to this world. Giving up the false self

is true renunciation. <br><br>pb: How is it possible

to become selfless while leading a life of worldly

activity?<br><br>M: There is no conflict between work and

wisdom<br><br>pb: Do you mean that one can continue all the old

activities in one's profession, for instance, and at the

same time get enlightenment?<br><br>M: Why not? But in

that case one will not think that it is the old

personality which is doing the work, because one's

conciousness will gradually become transformed until it is

entered in That which is beyond the little

self.<br><br>pb: If a person is engaged in work, there will be

little time left for him to meditate.<br><br>M: Setting

apart time for meditation is only for the merest

spiritual novices. A man who is advancing will begin to

enjoy the deeper beautitude, whether he is at work or

not. While his hands are in society, he keeps his head

cool in solitude. <br><br>pb: (Using the word Yoga to

denote only ascetic practice). Then you do not teach the

way of Yoga?<br><br>M: The Yogi tries to drive his

mind to the goal, as a cowherd drives a bull with a

stick, but on this path the seeker coaxes the bull by

holding out a handful of grass!<br><br>pb: How is that

done?<br><br>M: You have to ask yourself the question, 'Who am

I'? This investigation will lead in the end to the

discovery of something within you which is behind the mind.

Solve that great problem and you will solve all other

problems thereby.<br> Will it be clearer if it is put in

this way. All human beings are ever wanting happiness,

untainted with sorrow. They want to grasp a happiness which

will not come to an end. The instinct is a true one.

But have you ever been struck by the fact that they

love their own selves most? Now relate that to the

fact that they are ever desirous of attaining

happiness through one means or another, through drink or

through religions, and you are provided with a clue to

the real nature of man. Man's real nature is

happiness. Happiness is inborn in the true Self. His search

for happiness is an unconcsious search for his true

Self. The true self is imperishable; therefore, when a

man finds it, he finds a happiness which does not

come to and end.<br><br><br>contd..