Who Am I (3)

[Guest guest]

pb: But the world is so unhappy?<br><br>M: Yes,

but that is because the world is ignorant of its true

Self. All men, without exception, are consciously or

unconsciously seeking for it. Even if they sin it is because

they are trying to find the self's happiness in every

sin which they commit. This striving is instinctive

in man, but they do not know that they are really

seeking their true selves, and so they try these wicked

ways first as a means to attain liberty.<br><br>pb:

What exactly is this self of which you speak? If what

you say is true, then there must be another self in

man.<br><br>M: Can a man be possessed of two identites, two

selves? To understand this matter it is first necessary

for a man to analyse himself. Because it has long

been his habit to think as others think, he has never

faced his 'I' in the true manner. He has not a correct

picture of himself; he has too long identified himself

with the body and the brain. Therefore, I tell you to

pursue this enquiry, 'Who am I'?<br> You ask me to

describe this true self to you. What can be said? It is

That out of which the sense of the personal 'I'

arises, and into which it shall have to

disappear.<br><br>pb: Disappear? how can one lose the feeling of one's

personality?<br><br>M: The first and foremost of all thoughts, the

primeval thought in the mind of every man, is the thought

'I'. It is only after the birth of this thought that

any other thoughts can arise at all. It is only after

the first personal pronoun 'I' has arisen in the

mind, that the second personal pronoun 'You' can make

its appearance. If you could mentally follow the 'I'

thread until it leads you back to its source, you would

discover that, just as it is the first thought to appear,

so is it the last to disappear. This is a matter

which can be experienced.<br><br>pb: You mean it is

personally possible to conduct such a mental investigation

into oneself?<br><br>M: Assuredly; It is possible to

go inwards until the last thougth 'I' gradually

vanishes.<br><br>pb: What is then left? Will a man then become quite

unconscious, or will he become an idiot?<br><br>M: Not so: on

the contrary, he will attain that consciousness which

is immortal and he will become truly wise, when he

has awakenend to his true self, which is the real

nature of man.