self

CONVERSATIONS WITH ANNAMALAI SWAMI

Q: Can 't some use be made of this energy (of the Self)? What can one do with it? 

AS: Shakti is the Self and the Self is shakti. 

When you know that you are not the body or the mind, how can you do anything? 

In that state there will be no ‘I’ to instigate any activity. In that state everything will happen automatically. 

Water in a lake sustains many life forms: fish and plants inside 

the water; trees, plants and animals along the shoreline. If you are filled with the energy of the Self, that energy flows out of you and nourishes every one in your vicinity. You don't have to direct this power outwards. If you have done enough tapas this energy will flow of its own accord. 

Shakti is the shanti of the Self. If you do tapas and if you don't 

dissipate your energy through sensory indulgence you will feel the power of the Self accumulating inside you. You can also feel it radiating outwards to the people around you. 

You don't lose your power when you radiate it naturally like this because the power of the Self is infinite. You only lose it if you move your attention away from the Self and get involved in pointless mental and sensory excesses.

LWB p. 347