7. Surrender to the Self

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P: One of the issues that most bring head to Westerners is the issue of Bhakti Marga or Devotional Path within Advaita. This devotion to the Self is understood as the devotion to the Supreme and not as the devotion of a worshiper of gods, which he takes as supreme beings, and is born of the living understanding of the seeker who knows where he is going, towards Himself.

The surrender to Parabrahman is not a devotional act, it is an act of pure understanding, faith is not necessary since it is substituted by Knowledge; However, the surrender to the Supreme through faith transforms into an act of supreme abandonment in which the illusion of identity is sacrificed. This is Knowledge, this is Advaita.

Devotion, in most cases, implies an ignorant separation where the duality "I-God" leaves on the threshold of Advaita the seeker.

Q: As I understand it, a devotee of God with a deep faith, has little chance of reaching the Absolute?

P: If this devotee is capable of breaking the duality that separates him from God, sooner or later he will internalize himself and place himself under the Grace of the Self. As long as he believes that giving his offerings to the god of his choice is all that he should do and does not feel any impulse in himself, he assumes that the possibilities are nil. Most of the time faith is a good cushion for the ego, it is a good rest, your mind is comfortable there and your personality grows in good qualities.

Q: I understand! Therefore, faith without understanding leads nowhere.

P: It leads to be a better person in the world, but faith or devotion is not liberating in itself. The only thing that leads the human being to change is Understanding. It is the Understanding in you that has caused you to change your religion of birth by Advaita; however, in many cases, this is only a substitution of archetypes and concepts, a mere change stimulated by intellectual interest. One, with this change, only gains in intellectual knowledge that accumulates in the mind, but handling them does not make him a jnani at all, it only makes him a scholar.

Q: Many Masters of Advaita show devotion ...

P: Let's say that they have chosen once they have dissolved their minds. The greatest act of devotion is the final abandonment of the Individuality in the Self, it is the last comprehension that can be achieved, everything that comes behind is only the interpretation of the ajnanis. Is there something superior to the Self worthy of worship? If a jnani chant praises to Ishwara or worship a hill [laughter] it is because they wish so, but the question is: is there anyone there who loves? Understand this, for the ajnani there is someone, for the jnani everything is the Self.

Q: Well, it's an answer.

P: Look for the one you like the most.

[laughter]

Q: Does devotion to God not lead to the Self?

P: If there is an abandonment to the Supreme, your devotion will lead to break the mental separation between him and God, the duality will dissipate and your individuality - in addition to your idealization of God -, because of the abandonment, will dissolve in the Yes Same and will understand, the devotee, the Reality. This has to be understood well; it's about the Mystic in religions. The love that the devotee shows for God is the Grace of the Self that attracts the ego to the Center. This form of devotion is beyond mere faith. You have to know how to discern between faith and devotion. God is sought with unconditional devotion, or what is the same, with surrender and abandonment to what is supposed to be the Divine Will.

Q: I understand the point.

P: The Abandonment that we are dealing with, without a doubt, is about the "abandonment of the self". This "I" or "ego", which is nothing more than a mental idealization of the Individuality or inner, intimate awareness, of the certainty that "I Am" must be sacrificed to maintain the Pure Awareness of ME here and now, and this, in turn, when the sacred moment has arrived, must be abandoned in the Stillness of the Self, lacking This of all notion of selfhood or individuality.

Q: It is practically impossible to connect with my Inner Self. Could you lecture me about it?

P: You know yourself as an entity with personal characteristics. You say of yourself that you are intelligent, interesting, hardworking ...

[laughter]

I see by the laughter that many identify with all this.

[laughter]

All these characteristics emerged in your adolescence, filling a great identity void that appeared when losing the Self-consciousness. All this occurred due to the function of the mind known as Imagination. Your whole world revolves around you and your personal qualities. This is the Great Deception, Maya in all its splendor; Thanks to this deception, you differentiate yourself from the other "I's-personality" that come and go in your consciousness. Thanks to this false identity or personality, you, an inhabitant of a female body, interpret the world in which you live.

All this that you think you have to be abandoned to a superior "self". The idea is to recover the pristine knowledge that you are without personal qualities. The path of Liberation begins there. You will ask me: how do I do that?

[laughter]

Q: Of course!

P: Tell me, when you lie down in bed ready to sleep, do you tell yourself that she is intelligent, interesting, hardworking, good, bad, etc.?

Q: No, not at all! I understand that all these are "images" that I assume in everyday life. Is this true?

P: That's right! You do not need to play with images with yourself! However, the "you" that always remains in the background and deceived with its own images, there, in those moments, is free of the "ego-ego-personality". Be and stay there! The longer, the better. Take that perception of yourself to your daily life. Sacrifice and abandon the images for the sake of the Inner Self and you will be freed from the illusion in which you are trapped. This is the Consciousness "I Am", which is also mind, but you will enjoy, with practice, the Silence that emanates the Stillness of the Self. By doing so, you place yourself directly under the influence of the Grace of the Absolute. Later you will have to abandon yourself to the Self as regards Individuality. I make a difference, so that you understand me, between Individuality and Personality, although both are the Mind.

Q (other): Parameshwar, why pass through the Consciousness "I Am"?

P: Because this Individuality, this Consciousness is the origin of the mind. Thanks to this Consciousness, Illusion plays its role. The mind appears when the child knows himself as an entity. One day this Consciousness appeared and another day it will disappear. If it is not for the Realization of the Self, it will be with death. The Realization of the Self is the extinction of this Individuality, if the Realization is not permanent, then the "I Am" knows and recognizes what has happened and the message it receives is that no one is realized because the SELF, the mind , has been dissolved in the Absolute, therefore, nobody experiences the Realization.

The "I Am" Consciousness is the mind or consciousness recognizing itself as "I". It is the first thought that arises in the Consciousness-Existence. It is permanent in the waking state of the child and is lost in puberty, causing an identity gap.

Q: From what you say is a desirable state and to achieve.

P: Neither is desirable nor detestable, it is only a stage in internalization. And that of "getting" ... better to use another word.

Q: Which one?

[laughter]

P: ...

Q: No matter how hard I try, I do not find myself. I am able to observe myself in different states of reaction and I even try to curb my reactions, but I do not see myself as a witness to them. Could you shed light on this, please?

P: Yes, of course! The problem (and there is) is that you are not able to perceive from "inside of you". You are not able to hear, see, or use any of the senses from "inside". You have spent your whole life living outside, outside doors, and you do not know that behind you you have your home. You lack inner perception, which you have to develop. Learn to perceive from within and you will know yourself as the witness of all the coming and going of impressions. If you get used to it, you will become self-conscious. I do not give you more explanations to not confuse you with the information. Do it!

[laughs]

 

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