A profound realization dawned upon me when I visited the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto this summer.
I was traversing through the section of Buddhism and I studied various artifacts.
I observed that in the Buddhist kingship,
That is,
The dynasties that followed and implemented the teachings of Buddha,
It was common for courtiers to close their eyes and go into deep contemplation,
Meditation and self-inquiry to find solutions to critical matters.
This closing of the eyes and going within to find answers seems to be a common practice in our ancient history.
The evidence of which can be found in numerous paintings and artifacts.
So if the ancient world practiced going within to get insights,
Why is it so uncommon in the modern era when we seek answers to all our life problems only in the external world?
So the first question that arises is,
What does it mean to go within?
Before trying to understand what does it mean to go within,
Let's see how we usually function when we have to make some important decision in our life.
Let's say a person named Anna has to make a career decision in which she has to decide the industry in which she would be working and the job role that she would be taking up.
It is highly probable that Anna's decision will be influenced by a lot of external factors.
The external factors can be like her social circle,
Family,
Education,
Location,
Job availability,
The compensation offered,
Industry trends,
Political situation,
Economic factors,
Etc.
Most of these factors have nothing to do with Anna herself.
They have majorly to do with her environment.
Therefore Anna's decision will be a reflection of her environment,
Not her inner self.
Her whole life is driven by external circumstances.
In fact,
Her very own identity is defined by the things happening in her environment.
But is that really what Anna is,
A product of her environment?
So how to access the inner self?
We'll have to withdraw our awareness from the external world and give up the labels that define us.
When you appear for an interview and the interviewer asks,
Tell me about yourself,
How do you respond?
We usually say things like,
My name is so and so,
I studied at that particular university,
I have a certain degree,
I have worked in so and so organization in that specific role,
And so on and so forth.
All these statements are the societal labels that have been given to you.
They don't really tell who you are.
These labels can be given up by not identifying ourselves with our thoughts and instead focusing our awareness in the present moment.
All these societal labels that we identify with only exist in our thoughts.
And our thoughts are either of the past or of the future.
The past and the future are merely illusions.
They do not exist.
If you want to access the past or the future,
You cannot.
You can only access the present moment.
The past and the future themselves are merely thoughts and do not exist in reality.
Therefore,
By taking your awareness away from your thoughts and consistently bringing your attention to the present moment,
You give up the labels and get yourself to reality.
This is when you have arrived at the shore of the ocean that your inner self is.
From here,
The journey is your own journey.
Nobody can make that journey for you.
You have to embark on a quest to discover who you really are.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali draw an analogy between the inner self and the ocean.
The ocean reveals what's inside it only when the waves slow down and there is less disturbance on the surface.
Similarly,
For the inner self to reveal itself,
The mind's thoughts have to slow down in their frequency and intensity.
What is the inner self?
As I said before,
This question can only be answered by you in its most valid form.
My inner self will be different from your inner self.
However,
Let's see what some spiritual teachers have to say about the inner self.
According to Alan Watts,
The inner self is the expression of the universe.
When you get connected to your inner self,
You get an oceanic feeling of being one with the universe.
And to experience the power of the inner self,
You have to know yourself as the universe itself.
Rumi said,
You are not a drop in the ocean.
You are the entire ocean in a drop.
What he means is that the infinite potential of the universe is present within each one of us.
Talking about infinite potential,
This is what Deepak Chopra has to say.
Quote,
You and I are essentially infinite choice makers.
In every moment of our existence,
We are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to infinity of choices.
All these spiritual teachers are talking about our connection to the universe and its infinite potential.
Each one of us is a portal to the entire universe.
We are a part of a field of consciousness that is omnipresent and omnipotent.
This field consists of infinite possibilities and all probabilities of existence and hence we have access to its unlimited potential.
How to harness the power of the inner self?
The first step is to truly believe that you have access to unlimited power of the universe.
Most of us have what Alan Watts calls false modesty.
We believe that we are limited individuals who have limited potential and that there is some external God that has that unlimited power.
We fail to realize that the God we admire is within us.
It is just that we have to first believe it and then tap into that potential that we desire to manifest in our lives.
The second step is to align.
It is what we discussed previously,
That is,
To quieten the mind and align our awareness with the present moment.
This will get you to the door of your inner self.
The third step is to set the intention to achieve what we desire.
This might seem to be a simple thing to do,
However,
It is the most critical step.
The stronger your belief and the will to access your inner self's power,
The higher are the chances that you will.
The final step is to surrender.
Surrender has two connotations.
One is negative,
Which happens in a war-like situation when the losing side surrenders.
What I am talking about here is a positive connotation of surrender.
In this kind of surrender,
You let go of your control and let the potential of the universe flow through you.
When we try to force a particular outcome,
We get into the way of the universe and block that outcome to get manifested.
Therefore,
It is essential to not get attached to the potential that we desire to tap into and just let the universe do its work.
You do that by coming back to the present moment.
So to summarize,
The four steps are,
Believe,
Align,
Intend and surrender.
It's high time for our species to realize that we have access to the infinite potential of the universe.
Only this realization will make us evolve to the next level of consciousness.
We literally have the ability to do anything.
We can tap into the infinite fields wisdom which we receive in the form of insights and creative ideas.
We also can tap into the supernatural powers that seem to be beyond human capacity.
Various high achievers have shown this throughout history.
So I wish you realize your God potential and contribute in creating a beautiful and a united universe.
Take care and Namaste.
