Who Am I?
“I am” is an obvious fact. “Who am I” is a discovery. How so? Even if we have eyes, we still need a mirror to see our face. Isn’t it? Vedānta—the science of truth about our existence—acts as a mirror to reveal “who am I.” It says you are not the limited ‘body-mind-senses’ complex you take yourself to be. You are limitless Consciousness. All sorrow is born of some sense of limitation—physical or psychological. All becoming involves a desire to be free from limitations. Reclaim your true status—as limitless Consciousness—and be free. This is the vision of Vedānta. You are already what you are seeking. Know yourself and be fulfilled.
According to Vedānta, there is no wealth equal to Self-knowledge in the whole creation. That is why people were/are willing to give up kingdoms for such knowledge. The Buddha is a case in point. He was a prince—the-king-to-be. He gave it all up to discover the truth of his existence. What he found has inspired millions ever since.
What is the process of self-discovery? How can I get self-knowledge? First, it requires an intense desire, tīvara icchā, to be free from all limitations. One has to become an informed seeker—a mumukṣu. How intense the desire has to be? The śastras, wisdom texts, give two analogies: like a person whose head is, as if, on fire and wants to dip it in water or like a person whose head is held down in the water and wants to come out to breathe.
When this desire attains the requisite intensity, one becomes a seeker of knowledge—a jijñāsu. At this stage, s/he starts looking for some teaching, or better yet, a living teacher who himself or herself has gone through this process and is established in Self-knowledge. How to find good teachers? The answer is: first be a good student.
There is a law: One gets the teacher one deserves. There is also some truth to the saying that ‘when the student is ready the teacher appears.’ It is at this stage alone the real journey of self-discovery truly begins.
The seeker presses on: But why do I need a teaching or a teacher when the subject matter is to know myself. We reply: Even if we have eyes, we still need a mirror to see our face. The teacher, the teaching, acts as a mirror.
One cannot stumble upon Self-knowledge, much less Google it! Even in the fields where the subject matter is other than the self—like medicine, arts, sports, etc.—one needs to train with a trainer. One does not become a world-class surgeon or an Olympic athlete by watching YouTube videos or searching on the net. How much more so when the Subject himself/herself is the subject-matter!
One cannot discover “who am I” by chance.
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