Many noble souls in quest of spiritual enlightenment, often ask me this question - What is self realisation? How can we attain it?
According to Vedic civilization, the perfection of life is to realize one's relationship with God. In the Bhagavad-Gita which is accepted by all authorities in transcendental science as the basis of all Vedic knowledge, we understand that not only human beings but all living entities are parts and parcels of God. The parts are meant for serving the whole, just as the legs, hands, fingers, and ears are meant for serving the total body. We living entities, being parts and parcels of God, are dutybound to serve Him. It is imperative to comprehend the real constitutional position of the individual. Each and every individual soul is eternally a servitor of God or Krishna.
As expounded in Chaitanya Charitamrta - Jīvera 'svarūpa' haya — kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa': which means every individual soul is eternally a servitor. When one is fixed in the understanding that he is part and parcel of the Supreme Soul and that his eternal position is to serve in association with the Supreme Lord, he becomes self-realized.
This position of rightly understanding oneself cuts the knot of material attraction (hṛdaya-granthi-bhedanam). Due to false ego, or false identification of oneself with the body and the material world, one is entrapped by illusion, but as soon as one understands that he is qualitatively the same substance as the Supreme Lord because he belongs to the same category of spirit soul, and that his perpetual position is to serve, one attains ātma-darśanam and hṛdaya-granthi-bhedanam, self-realization.
When one can cut the knot of attachment to the material world, his understanding is called knowledge. Ātma-darśanam means to see oneself by knowledge; therefore, when one is freed from the false ego by the cultivation of real knowledge, he sees himself, and that is the ultimate necessity of human life. The soul is thus isolated from the entanglement of the modes of material nature. Pursuit of the systematic philosophic process is called knowledge and self-revelation.
Thus, we can conclude that by proper understanding of the pure self, or by self-realization, one can be freed from material attachment and knowledge leads one to attain the ultimate perfection of life and to see oneself as he is.
Article by:
H.G. Mathura Vasi Devi Dasi
(Meghna Choudhury)
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