The Blissful Self Within

Just as a thread with a few ragged fibers will not pass through the eye of a needle, so a mind with even a single attachment to the external world cannot realize the self within. But when all desires and distractions are burnt in the fire of yearning, when all egoistic feelings of "I" and "mine" dissolve in the intense concentration on the Beloved - the mind becomes so finely-pointed on the infinite that it disappears - and one plunges instantaneously into the dazzling brilliance of the innermost self.

As the age-old darkness in the depths of a cave is dispelled in a second when a match is lit, so self-realization comes in the twinkling of an eye, and countless lifetimes of ignorance and illusion are dispelled from the mind forever.

The individual consciousness exists within the infinite ocean of Cosmic Consciousness like a pot full of water in a pond. The water in the pot seems separate from the water of the pond only because of the boundary of the pot in between - the individual mind, the limited ego. But when the pot is broken, the water merge; when the mind is removed and there is no longer any separation between inner and outer, the individual consciousness dissolves into the Cosmic Consciousness in an ecstatic flow. Then, free from all bondages, beyond all vibration and duality, the self realizes its true glory - nameless, faceless, changeless, birth less and deathless, infinite bliss and eternal peace.

When those who have attained this ultimate state return to awareness in the world, they feel that a surge of exhilaration from some unknown realm has flooded their minds, and every cell of their bodies thrills in that divine current. Having drunk deep from the fountain of bliss, their senses are intoxicated and they see the Supreme Consciousness everywhere. In every morsel, they taste His sweetness, in every sound they hear His melody, with every breath they inhale His fragrance, in every touch, and they feel His caress. Then they know that deep within everything is the Supreme, playing hide-and-seek with Himself.

Like the wandering saint who lovingly embraced the dogs in the street and fed them the delicacies her disciples had offered her, and then what feel from the dog's mouths, she gleefully ate and distributed among her disciples - those who have dived deep into the Ocean of Consciousness have realized that they are One with all.

Then whatever part they choose to play in the drama of life - as they work and play, move and speak in the world - inwardly they always know that they are the immortal self.

One divinely realized being called the Blissful Mother was once asked, "Please tell me something of your life." Her face was lustrous with an inner joy, and in her sweet voice she answered quickly. "This consciousness has never associated itself with this temporary body. Before this body came on this earth, she was the same. As a child, she as the same. She grew into womanhood, but still she was the same. When the family in which she was born made arrangements to have this body married, she was the same. Ever afterward, though the dances of creation change around her in the hall of eternity, she shall always be the same." Saying this, her body became motionless, and she went into ecstasy.