Experiencing Your True Self

The Katha Upanishad explains, "God made man's senses pointed outward from his very birth so that man always looks outside of himself and never within. Extremely rare is that wise person, who directs his senses inward and perceives the truth of his own innermost self."

In the field of science, sometimes far-reaching knowledge has been deduced from a single and extremely difficult experiment. This is especially true in the science of spiritual knowledge. To attain spiritual truth we must be prepared for unusual undertakings. We should not be discouraged simply because this is not the path chosen by average worldly people.

The unusual endeavors through which we seek to unravel the ultimate mysteries within our lives and personalities may be called inward living. Who am I? What is the meaning of this life? Why am I here? Why do I have to struggle this way? What is my place in this vast universe surrounding me? At certain moments in our lives these and other profound questions trouble us and we seek clear answers. We are not satisfied with mere intellectual speculations.

According to Vedanta, it is possible to find unequivocal answers to these questions by directly experiencing the reality of God. This kind of experience requires a suitable adjustment in our way of understanding. A shift of emphasis must be made from the external to the internal world; it requires a reorientation of our living habits. Within the core of our personalities, says Vedanta, is a spiritual Reality. It is deathless, unlimited by time and space. It is infinite consciousness and infinite Bliss. Far from the common view, that super-sensuous experience is not normal, it is the empirical life which in aberrant from -the spiritual state of perfection.

Let us not be caught up in such questions as how this common aberration got started. This question is quite unimportant. For us, the important thing is to discover the truth. And Vedanta assures us that this discovery can be made here and now. The concluding verse of the 'Katha Upanishad' says, "Having received this wisdom taught by the King of death, and the entire process of yoga, you attain Self knowledge and become free from impurities and death."

Any person, having the courage, patience, and perseverance to carry on the experiment can hope to attain Self knowledge. Again, Self knowledge is, in the language of the 'Mundaka Upanishad', "the foundation of all knowledge." The individual's centre is identical with the centre of the universe. In the final analysis, the true nature of what we call the outside world is spiritual. In the vision of truth, the external and internal are only arbitrary divisions of what is one continuous, indivisible Reality - the Spirit.