The Nature of The Self
Divine Life
Society Publication: Kathopanishad – The Science Of The Inner
Life by Swami
Krishnananda
The Atman, being the
presupposition of all acts of understanding, feeling and willing, is not known
to any individualized knower, and so it appears as a mystery, a Wonder of
wonders, awe-inspiring. To many, this Atman is difficult to hear of, to many
others, even when heard of, it is difficult to understand. Wonderful is the
teacher of this; blessed is the obtainer of this; wonderful is the knower of
this, who is taught by a blessed teacher.
Only when the Atman is taught
by one who is identical with the Atman (i.e., a Brahmanishtha), it can be
known, because the Atman is subtler than the subtlest and does not come under
any of the logical categories. The Atman cannot be known through logic, but it
can be known when it is instructed about by one who has realized it. The wealth
of the universe, its resources and powers, are insufficient as means to the realization
of the Atman, for the permanent is not reached by the impermanent. The Atman is
reached when the whole universe with its contents is abandoned.
Even the source of the highest
happiness, the basis of the world, the end of all desires, the state of
fearlessness, the praiseworthy great being, viz., Hiranyagarbha, is not worth
having. Rejecting all these, that Atman which is very difficult to know, which
is seated in the innermost cavity of the heart, the attainment of which is
attended with great dangers, should be known by abstracting the senses and the
mind from their respective objects and resolving this energy into
Self-consciousness.
Knowing this self-luminous
being, one casts off both joy and grief. He rejoices in the bliss of the Self,
because he has attained the highest object of attainment through hearing,
understanding and contemplation of this subtle Truth. It is different from what
is done and what is not done, different from past and future, and is of the
nature of immediate knowledge. This supreme state is denoted by the word OM.
This is the Supreme Absolute.
This omniscient Atman is not
born, nor does it die. It has not come from anywhere, and it has not become
anything. Unborn, eternal, perpetual and ancient, this Atman is not killed when
the body is killed. Birth is the process of the production of an effect from a
cause, and hence, it is the process of transient becoming. For the same reason,
death also is a process. The processes of birth, life and death are impermanent
and, therefore, they are denied in the Atman. Ceaseless consciousness is free
from all change. Changelessness is the nature of the Atman. The Atman exists
even prior to and later than the newest of objects.
In other words, the Atman is
whatever is, was and will be. Hence, it is indestructible. It neither kills
anyone nor is killed. It suffers from nothing, because it is untouched like
ether. It is free from the experiences of Samsara. It is bodiless, and hence
relationless. Non-becoming or changelessness is the one character which denies
of the Atman all phenomenal natures. The Atman is subtler than the subtlest and
larger than the largest. It is situated as the central being of all.
Free from thought and action,
one beholds it through the cessation of distraction and attainment of
tranquillity, and becoming sorrowless, rejoices in the glory of the Atman. It
is the subtlest of all, because it is limitless. It is possible to know it
through the practice of hearing, contemplation and meditation, after getting
oneself freed from desires and actions, and separating oneself from objects,
seen as well as heard of. As long as the mind shakes and the body gets
agitated, it is not possible for one to know the Atman. Perfect satiety of the
mind, the senses and the body is absolutely necessary before the attempt at the
vision of the Self. Those who have desires and passions are prevented from the realization
of the Self.
The Atman, is the bodiless
among all bodies, it is the permanent among the impermanent. It is the great
omnipresent being, knowing which the hero does not grieve. It is not possible
to know this Atman through debate, intellectuality and study. It is attained
through a relationless immediate method in which the Self is both the subject
and the object of attainment. One who has not ceased from bad conduct, who is
restless, whose mind is wandering, who has no peace within, cannot know the
Atman through any amount of thinking. The Atman is beyond all knowledge and
power conceivable in the world. Death itself is swallowed in it, and all
processes are put an end to.
Excerpts from:
The Nature of The Self - Kathopanishad – The Science Of The Inner
Life by Swami
Krishnananda
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