Paul Brunton - The Maharshi and His Message #16

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“What exactly is this Self of which you speak? If what you

say is true, then there must be another self in man.”

 

His lips curve in smile for a moment.

 

“Can a man be possessed of two identities, two selves?” he

makes answer. “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?’”

He pauses to let these words soak into me. I listen eagerly to

his next sentences.

 

“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.”

 

“Disappear?” I echo back. “How can one lose the feeling of

one’s personality?”

 

“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 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.”

 

“You mean that it is perfectly possible to conduct such a

mental investigation into oneself?”

 

“Assuredly! It is possible to go inwards until the last thought

‘I’ gradually vanishes.”

 

“What is left?” I query. “Will a man then become quite

unconscious, or will he become an idiot?”

 

“Not so! On the contrary, he will attain that consciousness

which is immortal, and he will become truly wise, when he has

awakened to his true Self, which is the real nature of man.”

 

“But surely the sense of ‘I’ must also pertain to that?” I persist.

 

“The sense of ‘I’ pertains to the person, the body and the

brain,” replies the Maharshi calmly. “When a man knows his

true Self for the first time, something else arises from the depths

of his being and takes possession of him. That something is

behind the mind; it is infinite, divine, eternal. Some people call

it the kingdom of heaven, others call it the soul, still others name

it Nirvana, and we Hindus call it Liberation; you may give it

what name you wish. When this happens, a man has not really

lost himself; rather, he has found himself.”

 

As the last word falls from the interpreter’s lips there flashes

across my mind those memorable words which were uttered by

a wandering Teacher in Galilee, words which have puzzled so

many good persons: Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose

it: and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

How strangely similar are the two sentences! Yet the Indian

Sage has arrived at the thought in his own non-Christian way,

through a psychological path which seems exceedingly difficult

and appears unfamiliar.

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