Questioner: Dada what technique or method is there by which I can come to know my True Self?
Dadashri: ‘I’ the true self is the elemental form and ‘My’ the non self is a circumstantial form. The circumstantial form and the elemental form are always separate.‘I’ is the natural elemental form.
‘True self’ is God and ‘Non self’ is illusion (maya). Everything that falls under ‘Non self ’ is an illusion. ‘Non self ’ is all maya. ‘Non self ’ is filled with all varieties of maya. The moment you say ‘My’, you are under the influence of maya. Whenever you say ‘My’, you become attached to whatever you refer to as ‘My’. ‘I’ therefore, attaches to ‘My’. ‘My’ cannot attach to ‘I’. ‘My’ is relative to ‘I’.
‘I’ is the only independent form. Everything that falls under ‘My’ is alien and not related to the True Self. The body also falls under ‘My’. In the relative world you have to say, “My,” or “This is mine.” But from within, your internal understanding should be, “It is not really mine.” When a person achieves this understanding, nothing bothers him. There is nothing wrong in speaking this way but from within one should decide what really belongs to him. If a policeman makes an inquiry at your house and asks whose house it is, you will have to say, “It is my house,” but from within you should have an understanding that it is not really yours. It is the inner understanding that makes the difference. The real self has no possessions.
‘My’ is the ‘relative department’ and it is a temporary state, while true self is the ‘Real department’ and it is the permanent state. ‘I’ can never be temporary. Therefore, of the two, you need to pursue ‘I’ the true self.
In order to make us think about our real identity, the self enlightened being asks
Who are you? Are you really the Name? If you are not the name, then who are you? Are you and your name not separate? If you are separate from your name, then who are you?
If you say ‘These are my eye-glasses’ then, you and the glasses are separate, are they not? Similarly, do you not feel that you are separate from your name?
From your very childhood, people have called you by your name and you have come to believe that you are the name. Will you not have to investigate who you really are? How long can you go on being in the dark and being unaware about your true Self? Do you not think it is ignorance not to discover your true identity?
Until you realize who you really are, everything proves to be incorrect. Without knowing the answer to this one vital question, ‘Who am I?’ you complicate your life further by actively participating in this relative world. This is how confusion and puzzles arise in the relative world.
You are not the name, body, thoughts, mind or speech. In reality you are a pure soul and to gain awareness of this fact, is called enlightenment. This is the answer to the question ‘Who am I?’ When you attain Self realization, all your wrong beliefs will stop.
It is because of this wrong belief that you have been wandering life after life. You do not know your true identity and furthermore, you impress upon yourself the belief of that which you are not. You have imposed this wrong belief on your true Self. This blunder is the root cause of all suffering of inner restlessness, misery and discontent.
