The Journey of Self-Discovery
The journey of self-discovery is what spirituality is all about spirituality, which takes us on a voyage, on a quest for the truth. We realise the truth of, ‘Who am I?’ Once we begin our spiritual quest, we slowly, step by step, through a series of realisations, awaken to the truth of our true self about God, life and this world. Inevitably, self-discovery is about transformation, evolution, spiritual growth, and a metamorphosis, culminating in enlightenment, Moksha, the ultimate goal of human life.
Most of us live in the darkness of ignorance, oblivious to the reality and the truth. We think we are our name. We identify ourselves based on nationality, religion, and profession: I am John. I am an Indian. I am a doctor. But is this who we are? Did we arrive on earth stamped with a name on our forehead? We think we are the body, mind and ego. How can we the body? We were alive long before the body was formed. The body dies, burnt, destroyed, and everyone says, ‘He has departed. He has moved on.’ Who has departed, gone, or moved on? Can we be the mind, then? Have you seen the mind? We have seen images or scans or pictures of our lungs, heart, kidneys, hands, and feet, but have we ever seen a picture of our mind? No, it doesn’t even exist. The ego is a false identity. So, who are we? Neti Neti, not this, not this. Tat Twam Asi, that thou art.
Once we embark on a journey of self-discovery, we realise that we are not what we appear to be, who we see in the mirror every day. Not this, we are ‘that’ the Atman, Soul — A spark of a unique life. This is self-realisation, which paves the way for God-Realization, for complete enlightenment. We realise that we are all a part of the Supreme Immortal Power, SIP, the power that we call God, that the Soul is God and that each of us, everything, is a manifestation of this power.
Self-discovery leads to spiritual growth and enlightenment. We are enlightened with the truth. The darkness of ignorance within us is swept away. Just as we do away with myths, lies and superstitions. As we realise our true self and our inherent Divinity, we transcend the body, mind and ego. Our desires disappear, as do negative and toxic emotions. We live with love, compassion, courage, faith, hope, acceptance and surrender. We no longer seek material pleasures. We realise that nothing, no one belongs to us. We no longer seek to be a part of the rat race. We start living with detachment realising the transient nature of relationships. Because we realise, we are all one, we are all the Soul; we love everybody. We overcome the triple suffering - the body’s pain, the mind’s misery and the ego’s agony. We start living in a state of Consciousness or thoughtlessness where the intellect shines. We realise that life unfolds as per our Karma. Hence, we rejoice when confronted with challenging circumstances in life. We realise that our Karma is being negated—our paradigm of life changes. We realise that this world is Mithya, an illusion, a drama. And therefore, we don’t experience any sorrow, any trauma. The only truth is God, Prabhu Satya. God is not a person or a saint but a Power that is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. God is birthless and deathless, beginningless and endless. The ultimate purpose of human birth is to become one with God, to be liberated from the Karmic cycle of death and birth. What begins as a journey of self-discovery, ‘Who am I?’ is actually what the journey of life is about - Enlightenment. Life is not meant for us to accumulate wealth, achievements, and success but to be enlightened and liberated.