THE UNCHANGING SELF

 All created beings are driven by desires and go through innumerable births seeking transient material pleasures and mundane sensory enjoyments through the gratification of their limitless inexhaustible desires. However, there is no such thing as complete fulfilment or satisfaction of insatiable worldly desires. The more one endeavours to fulfil their unending desires, the stronger and more powerful they become like an all-consuming fire that devours everything but is never satiated. Unrestrained desires can lead one to degradation and a life of sinful actions and adharmic activities which generate painful outcomes and adverse karmic reactions, both in the present and future births. 

Although there exist multitudinous individual desires for specific objects and things; generally speaking, there are some universal, most fundamental desires common to all human beings. These are Jijivisha, Jigyasa and Bubhuksha. Jijivisha or Jeeveshna is the attachment to one’s life and physical body. It is the desire or craving to live more and more...to continue living.. in this body as this person, clinging to this life. Jigyasa is the desire to learn more and more, acquiring more and more knowledge of all realms. Bubhuksha is the desire to enjoy...to consume more and more because one feels unfulfilled and hungry for satisfaction, and craves more enjoyment. These desires are universal and very difficult to overcome. Apart from these fundamental yearnings and desires, there are other similar longings and attachments known as Eshnas such as Lokeshna...the attachment to one’s reputation and desire for fame, recognition and praise from people. Putreshna.. the desire and attachment to one’s children and progeny and Vitteshna...the desire to acquire more and more wealth and attachment to wealth and material possessions. Pursuing these desires and attachments always leads one to misery. They are very hard to resist or overcome. They can only be overcome by rigorous sadhana, performed by a sadhak imbued with profound mumuksha...which is a powerful unwavering intense desire for enlightenment and liberation. Intense mumuksha is required to override these overwhelming innate desires. Mumuksha expedites spiritual advancement, culminating in enlightenment and the subsequent transcendence of desires. Only after years of sustained spiritual practice and the development of tenacious spiritual discipline, a mumukshu attains enlightenment and self-realisation. Thereafter upon attaining enlightenment, one realises the supreme knowledge of their imperishable divine Self... that I am immortal. I am infinite. I am Sat-chit-ananda Brahman that is pure Being. I am eternal unchanging reality...existence consciousness bliss. Then all desires are transcended. One realises the ultimate reality of their own existence and real nature. Such an enlightened person realises that I am the infinite being. I am the reality of all things. What is left for me to enjoy? It is all me only. 

On realising, I am Sat...eternal immutable absolute existence...Jijivisha is gone. On realising I am Chit, pure consciousness, which is the underlying reality of all knowledge, and reveals all knowledge...Jigyasa is gone. One understands that Chit, the pure consciousness, through the changing manovrittis or modifications of the mind appears as all knowledge in the world. On realising I am Ananda, Bubhuksha and all other Eshnas are overcome. One realises that the joy I seek in material objects is actually my own joy reflected in them. It is my ananda...I am Ananda. Every enjoyable thing, person, place activity in the world is nothing apart from me Brahman who am existence itself. Once this ultimate truth is known to one then one realises the reality of all things... that their existence depends on me. Everything is an appearance in me the pure consciousness. I am experiencing my own joy reflected in the objects and experiences I seek. Pleasures, activities, enjoyments and people will come and go. They will not continue or remain forever. They are ephemeral. They are not real but only appearances. They have only a borrowed reality. They are real only on the relative level. In the absolute sense they are not real. They will be produced and destroyed. They cannot continually give enjoyment. One cannot continually enjoy them or be always aware of them. Their pleasures are limited, finite and ephemeral. They will come and they will go. They can never give me perfect uninterrupted or complete fulfilment. They will always leave a void and lead to more and more desires. The pleasures they give will fluctuate and disappear one day. They are Anatma...non Self. They are not real. Atman/Brahman is real. It is unchanging unaffected and eternal. It is there all the time. It is all-pervading. I am always aware of it. It is a constant source of joy. It is self revealed to me. It is my own existence. It is always known to me. It will always give me joy. It can never be diminished or altered. It is changeless and infinite. It is absolute bliss itself. 

Thus, the enlightened one exercises Atma Anatma Viveka and discerns the Self from the non Self...the real from the unreal and the eternal from the non eternal. The enlightened one becomes free of the delusion to seek fulfilment outside and becomes completely self-fulfilled. They realise that the joy I seek outside is my own joy. I seek to experience my own ananda through external objects and experiences. I am the source of my own joy and fulfilment. I am perfect, whole and complete. I am Poorana in my Self. I am the existence of all things. They all appear in me the absolute consciousness as objects I experience. What is left for me to desire? It is all in me. I am perfect, full and complete. This transcendence of desires is Jiwan Mukti. Thus, Mumuksha overcomes all other desires and then Mumuksha itself goes away after attaining enlightenment and Self knowledge when one realises I am Brahman. Hence, all desires are satisfied in Jiwan Mukti. 

The enlightened person enjoys the fulfilment of all desires when they become established in the supreme knowledge of their real nature and identity as Atman or Brahman. After enlightenment you realise that nothing in the universe is separate from you. All that you desire is you yourself. You realise the nature of all desires and that you are the reality you are trying to grasp through those desires. The enlightened beings achieve complete cessation of desires and transcendence of sorrow and suffering. They abide in the supreme knowledge of the Self and enjoy perfect peace, contentment fulfilment and bliss known as Atmananda or Brahmananda. However, for the unenlightened it is virtually impossible to overcome desires. Even if one renounces the objects of desire, desire for them can remain. Desires can be overwhelming and very difficult to overcome. They cannot be overcome merely by an act of will, by the use of will power or restraint. You cannot overcome desires by giving up desires you have to outgrow them. To outgrow desires you have to develop the discernment that the fulfilment of worldly desires cannot culminate in perfect satiation. Objects of desire only offer temporary enjoyment and temporary satiation. They cannot provide uninterrupted contentment. To achieve perfect peace and contentment you have to turn inwards to the true source of perfect peace and contentment...to the infinite reservoir of fullness and completeness within, which is your true divine nature. You have to realise your inner divinity and discover the reality of the immutable authentic Self which is limitless and infinite. It is neither enhanced nor diminished by anything. It is unaffected and unchanging. No pleasure or pain or gain or loss can enhance it or diminish it in any way. It is perfectly full and complete and contented. 

By means of intense rigorous sadhana and continual introspective contemplation one must achieve Self-realisation first, in order to attain liberation from suffering and sorrow. Most suffering is caused by desires. When desires are thwarted or obstructed it generates suffering and anger. When desires do get fulfilled it still generates suffering in the form of fear and anxiety due to the fear of losing what has been gained and the sorrow of knowing that the temporary enjoyment that results, will cease and come to an end. The ignorant person trapped in Maya continually suffers due to desires. Non fulfilment of desires is the greatest source of suffering and misery in the material world. Hankering after sensory pleasures and trying to hold on to sense objects and accumulate more and more creates inextricable bondage and suffering. Suffering intensifies when objects of pleasure elude us and the degree of pleasure they offer begins to diminish and dissipate. One constantly feels threatened and insecure that their desires will be obstructed by others and this generates anger, frustration and delusion. One’s intellect gets clouded, deluded and perverted by the obsession to fulfil one’s overpowering insatiable desires. One is completely controlled by the compulsions of raga-dvesha that impel them to act to fulfil their desires. One is always striving to attain what one likes...what gives pleasure and avoid at all costs, what one dislikes or what gives pain or discomfort. 

Although desires cannot be controlled or overcome by exercising will power, the compulsivity to pursue those desires, induced by raga-dvesha, can be addressed by the use of will power. The compulsions of raga-dvesha can progressively be attenuated by concertedly exercising one’s will power. However, spiritual knowledge, self inquiry and sustained spiritual practice are necessary to overcome raga-dvesha permanently. Only a sadhak or disciplined spiritual practitioner can overcome these overpowering ingrained compulsions that control all our actions in life and are driven by desires. For the non spiritual, ignorant worldly person it is an impossible feat to overcome desires and transcend the constant relentless struggle to attain momentary happiness through their fulfilment. However, there are many efficacious paths to fulfilment available for dedicated spiritual aspirants who have attained spiritual discernment and are motivated to progress spiritually, even if they are not completely enlightened yet. There are prescribed disciplines they can follow to expedite their progress towards enlightenment, liberation and contentment and the permanent cessation of suffering. For this, they need to constantly immerse themselves in spiritual knowledge and consistently maintain their sadhana till they become completely absorbed in the ultimate truth and established in the state of non duality. It is essential to develop spiritual discernment and assimilate the transcendental knowledge one has gained, to remain immersed in the wisdom of knowing one’s inner divinity. Performing selfless action and engaging in dhyana-upasna-bhakti helps to keep the mind purified and focused on the truth. Developing devotional love for the Lord and surrendering to His will helps to turn the mind inwards and away from worldly attractions and sense objects. Accepting everything as the will and grace of the Lord helps to transcend desire and suffering, however, complete faith and conviction is required for the surrender to be real. Eventually through the progression of Bhakti, desires for worldly objects are overcome and replaced with the sublime desire to attain the eternal association and blissful abode of the Lord, for the ones who earnestly and wholeheartedly pursue the path of devotion.

Another useful technique is to attenuate the desires by turning them into preferences. This reduces their power and intensity enormously and converts binding desires into non binding preferences. Preferences are harmless and non binding and do not lead to suffering. Non fulfilment of binding desires, however, is always a source of suffering. Thus, transforming or modifying the nature of desires helps to overcome the suffering they generate. Another helpful technique is to remind ourselves that I am the everlasting source of my own joy and fulfilment. The objects I desire are not essential to my happiness. They are inadequate in their capacity to give perfect contentment, enduring pleasure and happiness. No external sense object can give me eternal everlasting joy. It cannot give complete peace and contentment. Any joy it offers is only fleeting and transient. It is only temporary and always changing and diminishing. Sublimating and attenuating desires in all these ways, by modifying their form, direction, nature and intensity helps to transcend the suffering they generate. A preference does not lead to suffering because it is free from raga-dvesha. It is non binding. There is no compulsion associated with it. Even if it is not fulfilled the person is not upset or distressed. It is a big step closer to liberation and complete transcendence of desires. One can safely maintain preferences and avoid the inordinate suffering and distress caused by the obstruction or non fulfilment of desires. One can gradually overcome desires by practising this technique conscientiously. 

One can perpetually maintain this practice and keep checking the level of spiritual progress they have achieved by examining and evaluating the extent to which they have successfully converted their binding desires into non binding preferences and to what extent they are no longer driven by the compulsions of raga-dvesha which impel them to pursue likes and avoid what they dislike. It is imperative for a sadhak to exercise will power through the performance of Karma yoga to progressively attenuate raga-dvesha. After attaining enlightenment, however, raga-dvesha are naturally and spontaneously transcended, permanently. One then neither seeks nor avoids. One is able to employ intellectual discrimination and spiritual discernment to make auspicious choices and righteous beneficial decisions rather than be impelled by the compelling impulses of raga-dvesha. The enlightened person is not driven by raga-dvesha. They have transcended these compulsions spontaneously. They still perform actions but their actions are not driven by raga-dvesha or attachment and avoidance/attraction and aversion any more. Their actions are motivated by dharma or the code of righteousness and duty. They perform actions driven by dharma...always doing the right thing in any situation. They act to pursue and fulfil dharma. Always choosing to perform pious virtuous deeds and righteous noble actions in the performance of duty and selfless service to others. They are able to implement the knowledge and discernment they have gained and manifest it in their actions, choices and conduct. The enlightened persons develop and manifest exalted attributes like placidity, dispassion, self-control and equanimity of mind and disposition. They become even-minded and neutrally disposed towards the dualities of material existence or the pairs of opposites such as heat and cold, pleasure and discomfort, honour and disgrace, praise and criticism, gain and loss etc. The actions they perform do not bind them to karmic reactions as they are not motivated by desires, vasanas, attachment to outcomes, agency or doership.

Thus, in order to transcend desires and the overpowering compulsions of raga-dvesha, one needs to be established in the truth and abide in their true divine nature. Only by perennially resting in one’s true nature, can one overcome desires. One must realise that I am not the senses, mind or intellect which are the locus or abode of desires. I am Sat-chit-ananda Brahman. I am beyond all desires. Every desire arises and exists in the senses, mind and intellect. The senses are drawn to objects of pleasure, the mind dwells on these objects and wants them and the intellect decides to pursue them and attain them. This is how desires operate. Recognising that I am not the senses, mind or intellect wherein desires arise and operate and realising that I am Atman or Brahman who pervades everything...who is beyond the abode of desires...who transcends the instruments of body-mind and is completely free of desires....this is the key to overcoming the compulsive pull of desires. Realising one’s real nature and identity, one rises above the senses, mind and intellect which are the locus of desires and transcends all desires. One realises that I am changeless transcendent Atman nothing can taint me or affect me. I am completely unaffected, unattached and utterly independent of desires.

 By following the path shown by the enlightened masters, a disciplined spiritual seeker can overcome the affliction of desires and achieve the transcendental state of liberation to live a blissful peaceful life of uninterrupted contentment and fulfilment. One who is keen to attain spiritual progress and is imbued with intense mumuksha, will certainly achieve enlightenment and self-realisation eventually, as long as they remain immersed in spiritual wisdom, spiritual study and practice. They will ultimately attain Jiwan Mukti sukh prapti and permanent dukh nivritti or complete transcendence of suffering and sorrow while living. Thereafter, upon the exhaustion of their prarabdha karma, they are finally released from Samsara. They are not propelled back into transmigratory existence as they have transcended all desires and attachments that would bind them to the perpetual cycle of birth and death and suffering. This is the ultimate objective of all spiritual pursuits and the ultimate goal of human life...to live a life free from suffering, to realise and manifest your inner divinity and be liberated from sorrow while living. This exalted state of beatitude, perfect contentment, peace and bliss is the sublime supreme prasada of a dharmic spiritual life.