In order to realise the soul (atman), we must return to the Source. The Source is Unity. It is the One without a second. The Vedanta calls it the Parabrahman. It includes everything visible and invisible and nothing is excluded. From the beginning, all of us are discharged from the Source in batches (group souls). Each soul is thus a pure consciousness pinched off from the Source, but still connected to it. In the early stages of progressing as mineral, vegetable and animals we remain as group souls. However as we graduate to humans, the souls individualise to be separate human beings. The early humans tend to live in tribes for protection and economy. At this stage, they need mainly shelter, security, sex and food. At about 35,000 years ago when the Cro-magnons totally replaced the Neanderthals, man began to be more self-consciousness. But these Homo Sapiens only begin to �know that they know� some time later. It is from here onwards that the law of karma came into its own in full force. The Coverings of the Soul As soon as each soul incarnates into the human body, each soul (atman) takes on 5 coverings (Koshas) to house it and for protection. These are (1) the covering of Bliss, (2) the covering of the physical body, (3) the auras, which are the subtle bodies, (4) the emotional body associated with some intellectual faculties and (5) the mind and its 6 sense organs. These 5 coverings protect the soul as well as being the vehicles for spiritual progress. However, the physical, emotional and mental bodies start to consolidate as an ego of the individual by stressing its separateness from others. This separation is facilitated by the presence of the 1st covering of Bliss and accentuated by the 5th covering of the individual mind. The covering of Bliss is the main source of our delusion---Maya. Following this separation process, the ego appropriates selfishness and pride with craving and desire. If the individual does not get what he wants, he becomes angry. Pride, craving and anger come from the mind (the 5th Kosha), and these traits are karma-productive. So for at least the last 30,000 years we have been accumulating karma. At each birth every soul brings along with it its Samskaras together with its portion of karma to be spent in this life. Samskaras are the tendencies, habits and imprints and impressions accrued from past lives. That means at this stage, every discerning individual is perpetually restless with suffering and there does not seem to be a way out. These lives of sorrow will continue until the individual decides to do something about it. At the peak of his sorrow he goes on to a spiritual search. He seeks for gurus, temples and ashrams, but to no avail until he is asked this question of "Who Am I?" Who Am I? When confronted with this question most people do not know how to answer it. They will say I am a father, a doctor, a rich man, a clever man or a smart guy. Others will say that they are good looking, athletic, old or young and hard working or lazy. We can go on ad nauseam but these are all the wrong answers. Then when we look up the spiritual books, most of them are no better. Your inquiry may take the following: Start asking what is permanent throughout one�s life. You will find that nothing is. You can only find what is not permanent. This is because the True Self is non-dual and inexplicable. One cannot describe it even though at this stage it is occasionally experienced. So we begin to earnestly question the purpose of life. Even those who are very successful materially, there is no peace of mind. The meticulous search brings us to the fact that the self is mainly composed of the body and mind. Having seen that the corpse is always left behind after death, we mistakenly believe that the mind with its emotions is the True Self. On further analysis, this is also found to be false. The realisation is that the self is nothing but a series of memories, experiences and acquired knowledge. All these may be forgotten and yet the self is carrying on as per normal. It is memory that gives us the illusion of a continuous self. The soul is Realty and consists of pure consciousness. This Presence is always there, ever bright and luminous. This Presence is the empty background against which all our dualistic mind-set is carried out. It is taking oneself as a separate individual that brings forth all the suffering and sorrow. Although one�s soul is void in nature, it is from this void deck that gives the soul its omnipotence. Let us now reiterate what is the false in us. The mind is the projected image of the ego and this image is supported by memories of the past. Memories give the illusion of continuity, but the individual has no independent existence. Maya consolidates this illusion of a continuous self. The mind can never be the True Self, as the mind is composed of momentary perceptions and experiences, which are connected to time. The True Self transcends time and is therefore timeless. We have been falsely taught that �I think, therefore I am�. This particular philosophy has been one of the greatest obstacles to enlightenment in the history of mankind. Then we begin to acquire knowledge and so-called truth from gurus and books? Even if these teachings are true, they are still second hand. Second hand knowledge cannot be the truth. Truth must arise afresh in an empty and quiet mind. This stillness and emptiness is beyond the mind, and this silence is the primordial background where the soul resides. The soul, which is pure consciousness, is really part of Cosmic Consciousness. When totally silent, it appears as Presence. Therefore in order to return back to our soul we have first to eradicate the ego and the self, which are obstructing the appearance of Presence. The first possible scenario is when Presence is seen as independent of the object and is a mere witness. Then one becomes pure consciousness when the witness itself is finally dissolved. At this stage, one realises that one cannot find the permanent Self because the seeker is what is being sought. The temporary self can never find the permanent Self. The eye cannot see itself, the eye. Conditioning Conditioning is the most insidious and intractable of all factors. We have been conditioned by our (a) birth and family (parents and siblings), (b) school, colleges and universities, (c) work mates and colleagues, (d) religious institutions, (e) social clubs and stratification of societies, (f) members of the professions and vocations, (h) nationality, race, languages, dialects and sex, (i) the tradition, (j) samskaras from past lives, etc. Therefore one can see how deeply mired one is in view of all the above conditioning. It is possible that a very heavily conditioned life 5 centuries ago can impose upon the individual a very miserable present life. This is especially so when so much pain and suffering is inexplicable in this life. This is karma. The Mind Now trying to find out what is the mind, we have already discovered that it is at least made up of memories, planning, experiences, beliefs, ideas and ideals and all the above conditioning. The latter include Samskaras from the past. Religious conditioning may be so strong that it may goad us to defend that religion even to the extent of killing. This historical truth has been repeated many times. So in de-conditioning oneself, the layers to be peeled off, as in an onion, are numerous. Every layer peeled is associated with pain and conflict. However, the de-conditioning must continue until all the false layers are destroyed, and then we find that in the centre of the onion there is nothing but emptiness. Emptiness is our true nature, which is pure consciousness. It is imbued with light and bliss. One can see now that the de-conditioning process can be long and painful. That means it may take several lives. Some Masters say that time is against us, as Reality is timeless. We cannot use time to see the timeless, but the timeless can embrace time and space. Timeless Reality is always there, being the witness of every transaction of the individual. Our True Self is really not involved and does not partake of any activities of the individual. But if we are so covered by our delusions and false beliefs, how can we ever go near trying to uncover the timeless in such a short while? Therefore in order to come to the last stages of our development, we still need time. Time is required to clear the trash can We can see for ourselves that the mind is filled with thousands of years of conditioning and memories, and therefore one cannot delete all of them at one press of a button! At the moment of practice, we have ideas, ideals, prejudices, fears and desires of becoming. All these are the layers of the onion. The process of peeling requires the wisdom of letting go completely the constituents of the mind. Even if the latter are of high philosophical content, they must also go. This is because we are dealing with beliefs, which are not facts, experienced by ourselves. A belief is not a fact. That means, in true meditation one must try to understand that all contents of the mind are false and second-hand. These thoughts come and go in the background of voidness. This voidness is the white sheet of paper that all our thoughts and memories are written on. All thoughts appear and disappear on the white sheet, but the white sheet remains forever. The Thinker and his Thoughts It will help if one realises that the thinker and his thoughts are really one. They are not separate. As long as there is a thinker looking at his thoughts, there is conflict in that individual. Therefore if there is no thinker separate from his thoughts, there is then only thinking. Thinking is only a process and not an individual. Thoughts are just images on one�s mind-screen. And these are ephemeral and changeable. Therefore thoughts cannot be the True Self. In the same token, if the...
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