INSIGHTS – Surge 94
July 11, 2013
It’s All Inside You
Like a city in a mirror, seemingly out there but actually in here. – Dakshinamurti Stotra
The division of ‘others’ and ‘us’ is the hallmark of spiritual ignorance. As the Vedanta removes our misunderstanding, we naturally grow in human values like sensitivity and compassion. We are less obsessed with ‘our’ time, wealth or other possessions; we find serving ‘others’ as meaningful as helping ourselves. Human values are thus intimately related to spiritual wisdom.
When they asked Shri Ramana Maharshi, “Will a man serve others, after his enlightenment?” the reply by the Sage of Arunachala was, “There are no others, after enlightenment.” Just as our hand reaches out to an injured portion in our legs, trying to care for an injury or wound, we reach out to each other without ideas of ‘me’ and ‘others’.
A man was walking by a forest and, when he heard some scary sound, climbed up a tree and sat on a branch. After a while, it was all silent and he started looking down carefully. He noticed there was a small pond below, and it seemed there were precious, shining jewels at the bottom. He jumped into the pond, dived into the depth but found no jewels. After three failed attempts, he discovered that the jewels were actually on a higher branch on the tree and what he went after was only their reflection.
The whole universe, the Dakshinamurti Stotra says1, is within us. It is as though outside, but actually inside. The universe is comparable with a city seen in a mirror2, says the hymn. Something seen in a mirror is not actually over there in that direction. Taking that part of the analogy seriously, we have to question all our ideas of “others and us”. In terms of community, color of skin, professional group or economic section, we tend to feel, “we belong here” and “they belong there”. Such divisions are due to questionable conditionings. Self-inquiry begins with the recognition of our false identifications and culminates in their elimination. When we realize we are not, in our essential nature, limited to any community or section, the so-called others do not stay far from us, in our new outlook or understanding.
Another major factor that fosters duality is the memory of right and wrong. As we think of a good thing we had done in the past, we feel ‘high and virtuous’. As a memory of a wrong thing that happened at our hands arises, we feel ‘low and sinful’. Pride and guilt are caused by memories, when we do not question the basic self-description (I-thought, in Ramana terminology). Self-descriptions based on the past are residues of undigested events. If we digest an event, no residue of egoism is left in our mind.
So what are we to do? Stay alert and dismiss the old residues now. By gazing at the structure of the I-thought, the false beliefs behind its construction fall apart. When we stay alert, new events do not cause any residue either. Praise does not leave behind an “Ah I am superior” type of egoism; insult does not cause an “Oh I am no good” type of egoism either. We remain sat-chit – Pure Existence Awareness.
Swami Chidananda
@ Bay Area, USA
End Notes:
1 antar-gatam… bahir-iva udbhootam – verse 1, D M Stotra
2 vishvam darpana-drishnamana-nagaree-tulyam – verse 1, DM Stotra