self

.....You are originally Paramatman but with the aid of Consciousness you are transformed into Aum, or the specialized I, which is ultimately represented by the ego. If one fails to understand that the entire material and manifest world is untrue, then the ego persists and one takes birth. The ego is responsible for your birth. It is the I itself which takes birth, and with the aid of the body the cycle of desires and fears and I and mine dominant the individual of Jiva.

Even though the body is perishable and impure Lord Rama resides in it. He is omnipresent and is found in everything. In order to find peace and attain knowledge you have to rid yourself of all the desires and fears associated with the body. In earlier times, people in the twilight of their lives would retire themselves from active worldly life and live in the forests to find peace. You must go into this final stage of life before it's too late, before the knowledge inside you takes the final plunge! An aspirant must have a spark of interest, which is enough to light the fire of knowledge. The knowledge that "I am Brahman" can be attained. But how? Think as to how one could be Brahman! When you contemplate upon it incessantly what you find is your Self. You gain immensely from this exercise. That you have forgotten yourself if the barrier. It has to be overcome by contemplation. Knowledge follows automatically and you now change. The change has come to stay and you are permanently united with the Self.

When the root of all animate and inanimate beings is traced and understood, knowledge is attained. This is because the roots of all animate and inanimate beings lie in the knowledge itself. Knowledge itself is the origin of this world. It does not require the aid of any external agent to make itself evident. It is Self-evident. It is acquired only when you are immersed in the natural state.

"The natural state is the best,

Meditation and practice only come next.

Then comes idol worship, which is but a waste,

Pilgrimage is lower than the lowest."

When knowledge is attained you go beyond space. Similarly since the origin of the animate and inanimate has been understood, you have transcended the bounds of space. You will no longer be limited by space. You understand the nature of your own Self, and now are in the form of the knowledge of the Self. That by virtue of which you have come to know and discriminate between animate and inanimate is the Atman, the Self. God owes his Godliness to me, the Self. Hence the Godliness of God is my own expression. The rain also derives its innate property from the Self. That by virtue of which the leg is invigorated is also the Self. The Self lends vigor to the leg. The Self is Almighty. The Self is God. The beholder is invested with the absolute power of ascribing qualities to all that he beholds. Whether to treat all that he perceives as true or untrue is entirely to his discretion, If he concentrates on that which is untrue, he is deeply affected by it, and the false world dons a realistic mask. If he concentrates on that which is true, he automatically concentrates on the Almighty without being aware of it. Almighty is the ultimate truth. Hence he inevitably comes across the Almighty.

"The Almighty dwells within

Elsewhere, if you search for him,

Dnyanadeva says you have lost your way,

You will only be led astray".

He resides in every heart and dwells with one and all. Idol worship provides succor only to the ignorant. An average aspirant resorts to meditation while those who are superior take the plunge within. Submerged in the natural state, the "I am" state, they remain ever so blissful!

🕉 SIDDHARAMESHWAR MAHARAJ 

Amrut Laya, Lecture 7

November 29, 1928