Everyone sooner or later asks whether there is something permanent in this world: something that will never go away? The body is aging, emotions replace one another, people come and go. Is there anything we can rely on? If there is something eternal, where can we find it?
“A thief picks a pocket, old age destroys the beauty, illnesses take away people and even the stars are hidden behind the clouds.” Boris Grebenshikov
Yoga introduces some sort of a foothold: the reasonable, the good, the eternal we are all looking for.
There is an axiomatic statement that each of us has a Higher Self, which never disappears, and which we can rely on. It always remains with us and it is one of the footholds.
“Give me the place to stand, and I shall move The Earth.” Archimedes
What is the Higher Self?
There are no words to describe the Higher Self, it is beyond any definitions and descriptions. All we can say is that Higher Self cannot be divided into parts or destroyed. It exists regardless of time and space. It is Almighty, all-knowing and absolutely free. All words about the Higher Self are just clues for our mind, and they do not capture the essence of this phenomenon.
Usually what we think of ourselves is not what we really are.
We can associate ourselves with our aspects: the physical body, emotions, moods, thoughts, social status. But this is not the Higher Self. This is just a manifestation of our Higher Self in the material world. As an example imagine the Sun reflected in the water: the Higher Self is the Sun, water is the world and reflection of the Sun is a manifestation of the Higher Self in the Universe.
Logically, the existence of Higher Self cannot be proved. There are as many arguments in favor of existence of the Higher Self as there are arguments denying it. But if a person chooses yoga as a spiritual path, he or she should, as a starting point, confide in the fact that everyone has the Higher Self.
Yoga recommends to accept this statement as an axiom until we are clear about it. Do not believe but check!
In a book “Radja Yoga” by Ramacharaka it is said: “The Candidate must first acquaint himself with the reality of the “I”, before he will be able to learn its real nature. This is the first step.”
The following method is described in this book: “to concentrate the entire attention upon your Individual Self shutting off all thoughts of the outside world. Then form in your mind the idea of yourself as a real thing, an actual being, an individual entity, a Sun around which revolves the world.”
Then you should impress upon your mind the word “I”, pronounce this word and draw a picture in your mind of your “I” as a center of consciousness, thought, power and influence.
It is recommended to see yourself surrounded by the world; “wherever you are going the center of your world is going; you are the center and everything external revolves around this center”.
The Yogi Masters teach that “the realization of the I as a center may be hastened by going into the silence or state of meditation and repeating the first name over slowly, deliberately and solemnly a number of times”.
Another method that helps you discover your true nature by meditation, is analyzing. The specific method “Not that — not that” is the following: you are watching everything that is happening to you, such as change of emotional, physical, and mental states. Then you set aside everything which is non-permanent, or cannot be used as a foothold.
Yoga teaches us that behind everything unstable and different there is something eternal, which never changes. By watching all the changes, earlier or later we shall realize something eternal and come close to perception of our Higher Self.
By knowing ourselves and the Universe we shall gain a foothold in perception of our true nature, which will not vanish in the course of time. We shall become distinct, harmonious, able to fulfill our potential, gain freedom and happiness!
Practice, get to know yourself and be happy!
Translated by Tatiana Sugrue
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