Swamiji says …
”Our mind – curious, keen and inquisitive has always been thirsty for knowledge and thus its interminable desire to explore new frontiers could never be ignored. The rich diet of knowledge that it has always sought was provided to it in the natural surroundings of a ‘gurukul’, in the ancient past, and it continues to receive advanced knowledge today, too, in top-notch schools and universities.”
“The ‘mind’ is ecstatic with all the delightful sights that the eyes see and it immediately stores the images within it for posterity. The mind boggling different sounds that the ears hear are retained and recalled by it at will. The names of the aromatic fragrances that the nose inhales are grasped by it quite comfortably. The softness of the flower petals that the fingers touch are experienced by it too; as also, the difference between the taste of delicacies that it is able to clearly define ! But has the mind ever tried to go beyond the external educators and made an attempt to fathom the ‘true’ power, energy and source that commands and controls it and these ‘senses’. It is the ‘atman’ that does so ! The ‘atman’ is what is alive, breathing within us…giving life to the gross body, making it tick.”
“The ‘atman’ – burning bright in the core of our physical being, bathed in divine light ; pure, sacred, eternal, intelligent and blissful – is the Inner, true ‘Self’… and it is the ‘atman’ – invisible to others, cloaked in the body donned by it – that is our Real ‘guru’! ‘ ‘Atman’ sabse bada guru hai kyunki woh humarey poorva janmo ka saakshi hota hai!’ The material bodies in which the ‘atman encapsulates itself are shed once they become old and useless. The ‘atman’ pervades and transcends the physical forms with ease,but, while playing the role of a ‘jiv atman’, it also witnesses every experience, thought, word and deed – good or bad, that has risen in our mind and said by us; the consequences of which will be undoubtedly faced by us either in the present or future lifetime. Although the ‘atman’ is invisible to us, everything about us is crystal clear, evident and visible, to the ‘atman’. The ‘atman’ smiles at the tug of war that ensues between the ‘heart’ – its own creation ; and ‘itself’, as both try to claim their exclusive right on the individual’s mind and physical being.”
“The heart tries its best to rule over our material bodies by attracting us towards irreverent, inconsequential matters and we are more than willing to follow it blindly …’Aur zyadatar uski chanchalta hum pe hukumat karna chahti hai, parantu hummey aisa nahi hone dena chahiye ! ‘Aatman’ ko ‘guru’ maan na hai aur ‘mann’ ko ‘sevak’!’ The ‘atman’ opts for a silent but very effective way of communicating with us, as it aspires to acquaint us with the true purpose of our life, to attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death.”
“We are so impressed and influenced by external scholastic teachings that we fail to discern, to listen to the subtle, yet, the most truthful voice of our inner Self, our ‘Atman’, that has seen every second of every journey of our previous lifetimes from close quarters. It dutifully reminds us of the mistakes, dishonesty and wrongdoings that we had made in the past and could be headed for in the present time ; but do we follow the voice of our conscience? Whenever we do something wrong, our ‘atman’ calls out to us… ‘Hummey rokti hai, parantu humara ‘mann’ chanchal hota hai ! Khud bhi bhatakta hai, hummey bhi bhatkata hai aur hum galat kaam karte rehte hain!’ Is this what our ‘atman’, our greatest ‘guru’, ever want to see us do !”
“The ‘Atman’ tries to guide us towards opportunities that could make us a much better human being than the one we had been in a previous lifetime…but the adrenaline rushing through us, while indulging the senses, drowns out the pleas of our ‘atman’ ! Do we adhere to the warning issued by the ‘atman’ as it sees us on the verge of committing a ‘paap’? The ‘atman’ shows us a clear image of what we are, who we are and what we could become, if we continued to live life on our wilful, selfish terms and conditions.But, our ego refuses to let us even cast a glance at our Real ‘ Self’ that only the ‘atman’ is capable of showing us !”
” Is it possible for us to think of a ‘body’ ever functioning without an ‘atman’ ? ‘ ‘Atman’ shareer mein hi rehti hai ! Poorva janmon ka lekha – jokha rehta hai uske paas ! Hummey usi ‘atman’ ko, usi ‘ruh’ ko saaf karna hai aur ‘parmatman’ ko praapt karna hai!’ “