What is the truth? The truth is that we are the Divine Soul, not the body that we seem to wear. We are the ones who wear the body. Just like we are not the shirt or dress that we are wearing, but we are inside it, so also, we are the Divine Soul that pervades every cell of the body. But we have to realize the truth. Merely reading this is not enough for us to realize that we are the Soul. Although we know it, we still don't realize it. Such is the mystery of Soul-realization.
How does one overcome ignorance and realize the truth? One needs to go on a quest. One needs to go in search of answers. One must ask questions about life and existence – Who am I? Where did I come from? Where will I go? What is my purpose? What is reincarnation? What is the Soul? Where is God? Where are heaven and hell? Unless we ask such questions, we will never realize the truth.
These questions may have many answers but what is the right answer? We will get to the truth only when we get to the bottom of the root and it is very difficult to do this because of our own Mind and Ego, the ME. Our ME is our biggest enemy. It bombards us with all kinds of thoughts and distracts us from our contemplation of the truth.
While a seeker of the truth may be able to realize it on his own, it is most advisable to seek the help of a spiritual master, a mentor or guide, also known as a Guru. The word 'Gu' means darkness, and 'Ru' means light, and a true Guru is one who takes us from darkness to light. He helps us overcome ignorance. He has already been on a quest and realized the truth himself. Only such a master deserves to be called a Guru. One doesn't find a real Guru so easily. It is said that we need the grace of the Divine to find the right Guru and to realize the truth.
From where does realization start? It starts with self- realization and the ultimate goal is God-realization. Somewhere in between, we realize the truth about the Soul. To realize the self, the first thing to investigate is “Who am I?” One cannot realize this directly. It needs to start with another question – “Who am I not?” or even “What am I not?” This will start our journey to the Soul.
In a quest to know 'who I am,' a seeker finds the answers when he first eliminates what he is not. Am I the body? No! The body was formed around me in the womb of my mother. I was alive before my body was formed and even after the death of my body, I will still be alive. I am not mortal like the body. I am not the body. Then, am I the mind? Yes, it seems so. I am the one who drives the body. I am the MIME - Mind, Intellect, Memory, Ego. But when I go in quest of the mind, where it is I cannot find.
There was once a king who went to his Spiritual Master and said that he was very stressed out. He wanted help. He told the saint that his mind was full of worry, stress, and anxiety. The saint calmly listened, and then he said, “I have many tasks to finish. Please come tomorrow morning and don't forget to bring your mind with you. Then I will remove all your worry, stress, and anxiety.” The King was pleased and went back to his palace. He was looking forward to meeting the Master the next morning. He just remembered what the Master had said. The whole night he tried to locate his mind but to his surprise, he couldn't find his mind. Thoughts seemed to come to him from all parts of his body and he was confused. He kept probing for answers but could not find any. He became worried but still, the next morning he reached the home of his Master.
In a short while, the saint entered the room and asked the king, “So you say that your mind is full of stress, worry, and anxiety. Where is your mind?” The king replied, “I could not find the mind!” The saint smiled and replied, “But you just told me that your mind is full of fear, worry, stress, and anxiety. If there is no mind, then there would be no stress or worry. If they are just thoughts, then stop that thinking.” The king understood that the mind itself is an illusion, an imposter. While it appears to 'be', in reality, it is not. It is just a bundle of thoughts that together appear to be the mind and create negative thoughts and make us anxious.
The king was relaxed and relieved. He realized the truth that there was no mind. Until we human beings realize that we are not the body, we are not the mind or even the ego, we will never realize that we are the Divine Soul. We exist, don't we? But the question is, “Who are we in reality?”
When does our existence start and when does it end? We believe that we were born on the day we were delivered. But the truth is that we were alive even before that. We were in our mother's womb for nine months. Did we exist before that? No! That was the earliest possible start of our life journey. When two cells of our parents became one, then that energized ball of human cells grew to develop hands, feet, a face and all the organs. Then it was delivered on Earth. And one day, we will die. Will we live forever? Our body will lie on the floor and people will say that we passed away. But our body is very much here. Then who passed away? Where did we go and how? We started our journey as a Soul that developed a body around it. And when we leave the body, the body finishes its journey but the journey of the subtle body, the Mind, Intellect, Memory, Ego - MIME and of the Soul, never ends until one attains Liberation. Unless we realize this, that we are not the body, nor the mind, we will never realize that we are the Soul.
While it is not so difficult to realize that we are not the body, how do we realize that we are neither the mind nor the ego but rather we are the Divine Soul? A seeker doesn't realize the truth so easily. There are several methods and any, or sometimes, many of them lead to the realization of the truth. Out of all of humanity, less than 1% goes in quest of the truth. Of this 1% not more than 1% actually, realizes the truth. Therefore, a very tiny fraction of humanity gets to the truth.
When we are awake, the Soul gives power to both body and mind. When the body sleeps, we are not conscious, but the Soul powers the subconscious to dream. Are we the waker or the dreamer? What are we in reality?
There was once a king named Raja Janak. One day Janak woke up and started screaming, “Save me, save me! I am going to die!” The queen realized that the king had just woken from a horrible nightmare. “What happened?” she asked the king and he replied, “They tied me, and they did not give me food and water after I lost the war! Now I am a beggar and I am going to die. Save me!” The queen waited for the king to come out of his trance, but he seemed to be lost. She told him, “Your majesty, you are the king, not a beggar! That was just a dream.” The king was spiritually inclined, and he asked her the question, “Am I a king who was dreaming that I was a beggar or am I a beggar who is dreaming that I am the king? What is the truth, this or that?” The king seemed to have got caught in this dilemma and wasn't able to come out of it. Everything in the kingdom came to a standstill. Whoever met the king for anything, the king had only one question, “Who am I – Am I the king or a beggar?” People were confused and while they told him that he was the king, he did not agree and questioned how he could be sure. One day, a learned sage called Ashtavakra met the king and the king told him about his dilemma. He asked the same question, “Am I the king who had a dream that I was a beggar or am I a beggar having a dream that I am the king?” The wise man gave him a profound answer, “You are neither of the two. Neither are you the king who is awake, nor the beggar of your dreams. You are in reality a Divine Soul.” The king realized the truth and got out of his<