Knowing Yourself

It is said in Bhagavad Gita that “Knowing Oneself” is a state of consciousness in which a person experiences tranquility and bliss. It is natural for Life to seek these in everything we do. Being situated in this state, one is never shaken even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This state is commonly described as “Self-Realization”.

When someone is in the process of attaining such a state, one may experience tranquility and bliss for a second, a minute, an hour, or even a day. However, this journey to be continued with constant practice complemented with the right knowledge to transform this intermittent and impermanent experience into a permanent and never-ending experience. The interesting aspect of working towards this state with the right approach is that one starts to experience it even with a little practice. It takes time to master the art to make it permanent which can only happen with a combination of determination, practice, and seeking divine mercy.

Unfortunately, there is no tool to measure the progress of our state of consciousness. But, the progress is reflected in our behavior and our response to situations. So, we can measure our progress by contemplating on our behavior and responses. The Lord gave the following guidelines in Bhagavad Gita to evaluate our progress in “Knowing Oneself”:

-One understands both happiness and distress are like summer and winter seasons and is not disturbed by these situations

-One is engaged in necessary duties without consideration for victory or defeat, gain or loss, and success or failure

-One is able to control his anger

-One is able to control the continuous flow of desires 

-One’s happiness is not dependent on his ability to accumulate material possessions

-One is not proud of his ownership of possessions such as wealth, property, prestige, etc.

-One is regulated in his eating and sleeping

-One selectively chooses the activities he gets engaged in

The journey of “Knowing Oneself” begins with questioning the discrepancy between what one wants inherently and what one experiences in life in spite of his effort to bridge the gap. Then the person needs to control his mind with practice to attain a state of permanent tranquility and bliss.

The question still remains is whether the journey ends when a person reaches this state. We understand from Bhagavad Gita that a new journey begins. A person who has already attained this state is then ready to surrender and develop a love for the Supreme as well as work for the welfare of the other living beings.