Eight Steps To Self-Realization

This is first in a series of eight podcasts and it allows you to know the steps to unfold an awareness of who you truly are. You are forever the peaceful and easy space that always remains. Many people believe that Self Realization or Enlightenment is beyond their reach so they feel frustrated or give up on the practice. They don't know that they are already realized. This talk and meditation will allow you to become aware of your own realized state that is pure, free, and forever.

Transcript

Satsang Podcast by Sri,

Eight Steps to Self-Realization.

Today is the celebration of Diwali,

Which is a celebration all over India of the light of highest consciousness.

It's the victory of that pure being,

Of that pure consciousness over the darkness,

Over the negativity of the mind,

Over the ignorance that leads you towards pain and suffering and towards the knowledge which leads you towards peace,

Towards freedom and towards bliss.

I thought to start out by sharing the chorus of a song that Swamiji wrote with you in English and then at the end of this podcast I will have our good friend,

Shamkushur,

Sing it for you.

It's called Song of Peace.

Amaramham Maduramham,

You should always keep the flame of I am immortal and I am blissful,

Eternally lit in every home,

In every mind,

In the whole world.

The sense of peace and love should forever be maintained.

We hear these words and the being,

The knower that we are goes,

Yes,

Yes,

That's what I want,

That's what you want,

That's what everyone wants to maintain that state of anand,

That state of bliss,

That state of peace throughout the waking state,

Throughout the daily life.

However,

As the one who is observing the mental functioning,

Observing the waking state of consciousness every day,

You may be aware that this is not an easy task.

So I've put together for you what I call eight steps to enlightenment or eight steps to self-realization.

I'm going to go over in this podcast these eight steps and then elaborate on them more over the next few weeks.

But just to get an overview because I know for myself,

Again,

Hearing those beautiful words of that song,

We want to know that meaning,

We want to live that meaning,

Not only on Diwali,

Not only on a special celebration day like Christmas or New Year's or your birthday where we can give ourselves the permission to have a wonderful day,

But we want to have that sense of freedom and delight all the time.

So then how can one maintain that awareness?

And the meditation is the answer that we've given to you time and time again,

That it's important to tune in to your source,

To that pure being.

However,

I'm sure most of you have realized that in your daily living,

As soon as you open the eyes,

As soon as the energy moves from that pure being that was in deep sleep where there was no problem into the waking state,

Then the mind,

The situations,

The problems,

The health issues,

The family difficulties,

The job-related difficulties,

Whatever they may be,

They as if can bombard you because your attention is now focused outwardly towards those things and forms,

Wanting to achieve the maximum amount of satisfaction and happiness through using the mind and the senses in order to bring that about.

But as the yogi you've seen that on that level it's limited.

You won't ever experience that full sense of peace and ease and satisfaction that you so desperately want by just living in the waking state of consciousness.

So we've already found through meditation and through listening to these words and closing the eyes and watching that space of the knower that that peace and that freedom is there.

But then what happens when you open the eyes and now again your attention is focused out on all the forms and people and situations and the various thoughts or vrittis that are passing into your mind.

So the first step then is when you wake up in the morning to remember that peace that you experienced in deep sleep and to know that that peace is unchanging,

That peace is your true nature,

That peace is the knowledge of the self,

That light that lights up the whole world.

So we know that unchanging peace and then when the mind starts to come in and starts to think about what you need to do or what situation has occurred you know now for sure that the mind,

The thoughts are changing.

But the peace that you are and that you were in that shashup di man,

In that silence of deep sleep has not changed that's still you too and the mind,

What you call the mind keeps changing generating thoughts and feelings,

Ideas,

Beliefs and concepts.

So first you make that distinction between the peace which is the self or the knower which is unchanging and the mind which is forever changing.

The way to get to that is our step two which is to know that you are the knower of your mind.

So now you know that the mind is a tool,

Is a vehicle that the self that you the knower use to function in a world that the eyes see as dualistic.

The you,

There's all the forms that you're looking at right now I'm looking at the rug,

The sofa,

The window,

The mountain,

The car going by on the road on the other side of the mountain.

So there's you as the knower and is that what you're perceiving,

Is that what you're knowing.

So in our second step you put the attention on you the knower and you see that you are unchanging as we said in the first step and that knower that you are that's watching is unchanging.

So that brings us to the third step which is the meditation on that very knower rather than on the mind.

So again the tendency even in meditation will be to follow the thoughts and ideas when the thought comes that I want to get up and do this or do that the tendency is to go with the mind.

So even for a brief moment if you can shift the attention towards the knower.

So you're meditating,

You're repeating Amaram Ham Madhuram Ham Amaram Ham Madhuram Ham and you're asking yourself who's knowing Amaram Ham Madhuram Ham.

So that way any other thoughts that go on in your mind throughout the day when you're not sitting in silent meditation again you'll have that perspective of the knower of the one who's watching and you can place your attention on the knower rather than on the changing thoughts.

Next step,

Step four,

Be aware that the mind is a state of division.

This is as soon as you wake up from that Shashup Di Man into what you call your waking state consciousness that pure consciousness that you were now as if modifies itself and you become conscious of something before it was just consciousness it was just knower it was just silence but now you become conscious of something.

So in this fourth step you become aware of the state of self or peace which is oneness which is undivided and the difference between that divided state that you call mind and self separate and world separate.

So you use your vivek,

Your power of discrimination to see that which is oneness that which is unity that which is peace and that which is division.

Next step,

Step five,

Choose the self or the peace and not the mind and its changing thoughts.

So this can be applied now to any situation or thought pattern in your mind.

You become aware of what you're thinking,

You become aware of where you're identified with those thoughts with even the sense that I exist is separate from anything from that all the way to any particular problem that you're having and you shift the attention from the mind and the changing thoughts to the self or to the peace.

This might be a momentary shift as the mind has been more trained to keep thinking and generating and trying to solve its problems,

Trying to solve its situations through generating thoughts and maybe talking about it to your friends or maybe not wanting to deal with those thoughts and then putting your attention on your work or whatever it is that you might do to avoid thinking those thoughts,

Television or movies or distractions.

So in this fifth step you make a conscious choice to choose the peace that you are that's underlying there,

That's there when everything else dissolves into it,

That's left when the covering is taken away and just you is there.

So we choose the self or the peace and not the mind.

Next step which is a very important one which is number six,

Trust in the self as the solution and not in the mind.

The training has been to believe the mind so if you think that you did something great then you feel great,

If you think that you did something wrong then you feel bad.

So you believe whatever thought comes into your mind,

You meet a new person and because of your sun scars or your impressions about what you think you need for your own individual comfort or ease or connection with other people you start to judge that person,

You say this person is not a good person or I don't like this person or I don't want this person around for no real reason other than your own sun scar,

Other than your own condition,

Your own jealousy possibly that they seem to be somehow better than you.

So in this one you trust that the self is the perfection,

That you are completely unique and wonderful as you are so you love yourself as you are not comparing yourself to anyone else because you are that special expression of that divine consciousness.

There's nobody else on this earth or on this planet or in this universe that's anything really like you or the same as you.

You are unique so you love your uniqueness as the expression of that self through your particular form and set of conditions and nervous system and body and expression.

And you know that any problems that occur on the mind cannot be completely solved by using your mind.

In fact the mind's power is limited.

You have to go to the self's power.

So you have to go beyond,

Far beyond the power of the mind into the power of the self and trust in that self as your ultimate power,

As your ultimate freedom and delight.

So trust in the self as the solution and not the mind.

This can be a tricky one because the training has been to believe the mind and trust in the mind and to suffer or enjoy according to what the mind dictates.

And now we're saying trust in the self.

Trust in I am pure,

Free,

Forever the same.

Om Purnam.

Nothing can be added to me that will make me any more.

Nothing can be taken away from me that will make me any less.

So trust that you are that perfection.

Step number seven is to create a sattvic lightness in your body and mind.

So in order to maintain that state of oneness,

To trust in the self,

To choose the self over the changing mind,

To know the knower,

To know the peace,

The system has to be in a state of balance.

If there's too much rajas or too much overactivity in the system,

Then the tendency will be to worry,

To get caught in anxiety,

To get caught in your fears about the future.

And that comes for too much overactivity in the system.

If this system is tamasic,

If it's heavy,

If it's sluggish,

Then you can't really think of anything.

You don't want to do anything except veg out as we call it.

So the system needs to be sattvic,

In order to make the system sattvic,

It requires some attention to your diet,

To proper exercise,

Nutrition,

Pranayama,

And just following the basic rules of health as best you can.

And of course the system all works together,

So if you're meditating on the knower,

On the self,

You'll want to do that which is best for your body,

Best for your mind,

Best for your system.

If you're following Ashtang Yoga,

The eight limbs of yoga,

You want to do that which is life supportive,

You want to not collect or possess too many things so that you can maintain your life more easily,

That you're not so busy just trying to earn more and more money so that you can be comfortable,

But you become more comfortable with what you are.

You become established in what's called santosh,

Which is contentment,

Wherever you are,

And not always trying to get to the next thing or the next better thing.

You become comfortable with yourself.

And again,

This comes from meditation,

So you can see how it all works together,

Because when you're meditating,

You're experiencing the peace,

The freedom that you are,

You're in a state of fulfillment,

So not much is needed,

Then you don't have to burn out your nervous system by trying to get more and more all the time and trying to keep up by having everything that everyone else has or keep up with the Joneses as the expression goes,

To have what your neighbors have.

You're just content with what you have and enjoy what you have.

So that comes again from meditation,

Because if you don't feel content,

If you don't feel fulfilled within yourself,

Then of course you're going to want to find it externally,

To find it outside.

So we work on this as a whole system,

Not as eight limbs,

Ashtang yoga,

As if they're separate,

But we bring them all together.

So dharma,

Dhyana,

And samadhi,

The last three limbs,

Are done right away.

You practice meditation,

And then from adding meditation to wherever you are in your life,

You will tend to not want to be violent with anyone,

With your thought,

With your thinking,

With your actions.

You'll tend to not want to do the things that will overindulge yourself in your senses,

Because you'll be creating a more sattvic condition in your system through your meditation,

And just the meditation is the dharma turning the attention inward towards the self.

You'll feel a contentment from that,

And you won't need to do some of the other things that you needed to do,

Say like drinking or drugs or whatever it was,

In order to feel satisfied or at peace.

So that system works together to become more sattvic.

Step number eight,

Know yourself as who you were and who you've always been.

So know yourself that you are that one,

Even before you came into this,

What you call your body or your physical form,

And you are the one that will remain,

Even when this physical form,

Which is made up of all the elements,

Goes back into the earth and dissolves again.

So that means know yourself as the sky,

As space,

As pure,

Free,

Forever.

This happens again in meditation when the system is balanced,

So your hatha yoga,

Vegetarian diet,

And all the practices that are recommended help you to achieve that state of balance,

That state of sum,

That state of evenness in your system,

So that you can just sit and be and know that fulfillment,

Know that peace that you are.

And this will all come in time,

So there's no rush,

There's no forcing in it,

There's no trying too hard.

I would suggest that you take some notes maybe and write down these eight points,

And again I'll be going over them in the next few podcasts as well,

So that you can really have eight steps that you can focus on daily that will bring you into that self-realized state.

And now to close,

I'll share with you this beautiful song that Shambh Kishore is singing and playing guitar.

It is the song of peace.

Amaram ham madhiram ham.

Amaram ham madhiram ham ki jyoti jala hai rakhi hai.

Karame jagame maname apane shanti nahi prabhu rakhi hai.

Amaram ham madhiram ham ki jyoti jala hai rakhi hai.

Karame jagame maname apane shanti nahi prabhu rakhi hai.

Jyoti jala hai rakhi hai.

Jyoti jala hai rakhi hai.

Reviews

I practice ACIM and what you are teaching is in complete alignment 🙏🙏🙏