Thinking about It

Hinduism and our scriptures are kept alive by relevant reinterpretations that are applicable to us, our temperaments, and our lives. One of such redone works is "The Manual of Self-Unfoldment", authored by Swami Chinmayananda. This book provides seekers with the perfect foundation to be building on, for it is written as if Pujya Gurudev committed to paper his own notes on Vedanta. Also, self-unfoldment itself is the spiritual journey, as we unfold to discover who we are in essence and rise in our awareness.

Our tapas is practiced all day long and the greatest tapas is the remembrance of our divine nature – "I am Sat. I am Chit. I am Ananda." We're not only intellectually understanding this, but also, remembering, experiencing, and radiating divinity as our being while we feel, think and do. To abide in our nature is actually meditation, and everything else we do on the way there is building up to this powerful tapas of Gyaana Yoga.

Oneness is when we see that the root cause of all creation goes back to one thing, call it "an explosion in space", "energy", or "God". It is all-pervading, and as this divinity, I am all-pervading. There is no distinction, division, nor any difference. Oneness is also in the interconnectivity of everything around us. We are linked, affected by and dependent on everything in creation. But we often fail to see this logic for our ego, or the "i", asserts differences and individuality. So, surrender the ego.

Enlightenment is not something to be achieved, but to be experienced within. We must give up all that is keeping us away from the core of our personality. Put everything at His feet and offer every limitation to be devoid of ego. In this surrendering, we also come to see that we are self-effulgent, vast and infinite. We are Ishwara, not the limitations we put on ourselves. So why not actively choose to be who you are?

Consciousness is "Chit", the brilliant light of knowledge, enabling us to see and know. Even more beautiful is we are this light that already understands and can infinitely know. Chit is also enlivening, giving sentience to our inert and inanimate tools. Just like Ganesha, our body, mind, and intellect are given life and any movement is the manifestation of Chit. We are that self-effulgent breath of life that does not need to be known. We just need go beyond the small 'i' to see the big "I" that is Chit.

Our likes, dislikes, beliefs, memories, judgements, and often negative self-descriptions all add up to become who we believe ourselves to be. But there is another 'I' thought free from all these limitations for it belongs to the very core of our personality, divinity itself. Because it exists and shines and is life and is love, I am. But we forget this divine "I" and drastically underperform. What are we holding onto that's stopping us from who we want to be, and why? What could we be if we just let it go?

So often, we look to the world for answers to our questions and it echoes back to us what we already think and feel. This is because our Idam thoughts rest on the substratum of the Aham. The entirety of our thoughts isn't about the world and 'i'. There is only 'me', connecting all conflicting thoughts throughout the ages, letting ourselves feel who we think ourselves to be. Then, as we enquire where the 'i' thought comes from, "Ayi!"! The elusive personality disappears for it has no depth nor substance.

Our thoughts can be divided into 2 categories – Idam Vritti or Aham Vritti. In Aham Vritti, we have and identify with "i" thoughts, producing "I am" as related to our limited egocentric personality. Idam Vritti refers to thoughts of the world outside, which are all also based on thoughts of ourselves. So it can be concluded that "i" is a constant in our thoughts. Our mind can thus be defined as a flow of "i" thoughts that creates our individuality.

The focus of all paths is slightly different. Gyaana Yoga is understanding "who we are". We start with understanding what we want to do in life and how to do it. Then more importantly, we understand what the mind actually is and how it works. Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda, defines the intricate and complex mind as a term that is easy to understand – a flow of thoughts. Just like the flow of water, the mind is not one, but continuous thoughts that can be gushing and active or peaceful and still.

We all have created for ourselves the 'i" or the personality layer. Made of traits, belief systems and social conditions, it is a barrier separating my individual entity from the world. In oneness, it is not that "i", the limited entity, becomes one, but these man-made defining boundaries are foregone so that the differences dissolve. What is revealed is the essence of life that I am, is everywhere and in all creation. We establish in simply being, and not in the processes of ego. There is just oneness.