"Who am I?"

 

 

You will quickly find for yourself that this is the central question at the very foundation on the path of self-inquiry. 

 

We immediately have an idea that we are or may be, the body, but modern science and quantum physics quickly will tell you that there is not really, at its core, such a thing as matter – that matter is truly only an energy moving at various frequencies that produce what we see as matter.  So it seems dubious when we conceptualize the self as matter – as the body.  So, this thing you call “me” is probably not your body. If you lose your arms and legs, are you not still 'you'?

 

Quantum physics gets even more complicated in that the very act of our observing of something changes the very essence of what is observed.  When we magnify any part of the body millions of times, we come to nothing other than little parts moving at high speeds and strange frequencies, and when we intensify that particle, it only changes into more and smaller particles, until we are left with mere vibrating space, or energy. 

 

This vibrating energy is what is referred to in yoga as “consciousness”.

 

Well then, perhaps we are the mind?  Let’s see...

 

For those who take a scientific approach to the mind, a few facts become clear within a short period of time.  First the direction of the mind is directed towards the outside – to the world – to your world.  Consequently, it deals with outside, worldly things and it does this quite well.  The mind is a truly wondrous thing.  If however, you deconstruct any single thought you have, you’ll notice that, at the core of that thought - even abstract thought - there is a root connection to some object in your world.  The mind can only relate to things which have at their core, some worldly, or "outside" relationship.

 

Remember that the mind gets its information from the senses, and all the senses are geared to the outside of you – to your world.  To the outside world.

 

Now, if the mind deals only with the outside world, but the self seems to be ‘inside’, what use will the mind be in teaching you about this self you are investigating?  In fact, rather than helping, it seems to get in the way of your investigations, because it supplies you with a vast array of information about the subject, but no knowledge of the subject – you – itself. 

 

These factors point to a high probability that you may not actually be able to use your mind to study your self, and that you may be better off in your quest for self-knowledge if you could somehow switch this mind off to stop it from interfering, or if possible, apply it in some more useful way.

 

Such a realization is indeed auspicious for any person, because it dawns on one that the mind can be managed somehow, switched on and off, so to speak, and that it is the ‘property’ of an owner, perhaps even a useful tool, for whose mind is it after all?  It is your mind, just like your body, and your senses, and just as you can tell your body what to do and what not, you can also tell your mind what to do, and what not to. 

 

Somehow though, this seems to be a bit more difficult to do, but at least we know that any search for the self will probably not produce any fantastic results with the body and the mind as tools.  So, what else can we use?

 

It seems that even logic and reason are of no use, because these operate on a principle of duality.  In other words, you cannot apply logic or reason to a singularity because they function only as relevance.  One thing is relevant to another.  You reason ‘about’, and you apply logic ‘to’ something.  And while these are very valuable tools of the mind, they still deal only with the world outside you, and while there is a concept of a ‘you’ and of the world, these tools help us a great deal to make sense of everything.  Everything, that is, except this ‘self’ inside of you.  The one wanting to make the sense. You cannot apply logic to your self, because the inquirer and the subject is the same thing.  The same applies to reason. 

 

If the tools of the body, the senses, the mind and its logic and reason are of no use to us, what else can we use, or apply for us to even approach some understanding or knowledge of this thing we call our ‘self’?  What we are in need of, it seems, is a science by which we can study this thing we call ‘self’.  Indeed, what we need is a “Science of the Self” – or what you call ‘yoga’.  But first, what is this entity that seeks?  Is it the mind searching?  Perhaps.  But then, if we cast away the mind as a tool of searching, the quest still remains, so, what is it that powers that entity if not the mind?  It is, what we understand in intellectual terms as the yearning of self for itself - the yearning of the created self to merge with its Source - the real Self.

 

The Verse from the Katha Upanishad states thus:

 

“The truly admirable man controls his senses by the power of his will.” This is because: “The senses are said to be higher than the sense-objects. The mind is higher than the senses. The intelligent will is higher than the mind. What is higher than the intelligent will? The Atman Itself." (Atman is the "individual soul.)

 

In other words, forget about the concept of any inherent power in the objects that you see, manage them by the power of your senses. Manage your senses by the power of your mind, manage your mind by the power of the will of your intellect, and manage your intellect by the power of your own individual Self.

 

See why it is important to know your Self? Truthfully, it is to enable you to manage your world, instead of being a slave to your will and intellect, to your mind and your senses. Manage them... for they too, essentially, are not other than You.