Biggest Barrier to Realise Truth

 

Photo Credit: Unbroken Self

Biggest Barrier to Realise Truth

Swami Sivanandji used to say, “When shall I see thee? When the ‘I’ ceases to be!” He would sing this question as he asked God, “When shall I see you, I know that will happen when ‘I’ ceases to be.” So, when does one reach this state of ‘I’ ceasing to be? If we talk about samadhi, the transcendental state of enlightenment, then we are talking about being in a state of being ‘dead’, yet ‘alive and aware’.

Here, who is dead? The mind is dead, and the rest of the being is living in a state of complete conscious awareness, in a heightened state of awareness. This state comes about when the ‘I’ dies, and you truly begin to live. If the egoistic ‘I’ goes away from you, you become free from the ego, you become pure and clean. In this state you are fit to experience the highest knowledge or the highest truth which one can say is like going to ‘heaven’. That is the state of samadhi – and if you go to see, this is the essence of all spiritual teachings and practices, whatever label you may give it!

One could be a Jew, a Catholic, a Protestant, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Sikh, a Buddhist, a Jain or belong to any organised religion or not believe in any religion at all, it does not matter. Even if you don’t have faith and do not believe in any organised religion, it is alright. That is not the criterion to have this realisation. All you have to ensure and accomplish is that you get rid of all selfishness. How do we get rid of selfishness? What is selfishness? What is ego? Where does ‘I’ dwell? ‘I’ resides in the ego. And ego actually resides in the mind.

In a way, the ego is the very source of the mind. All the expressions of the ego, thinking, feeling, willing, could be defined in one word – mind. If the mind gets completely purified, then it is no longer a barrier to your experiencing the Truth. When the mind is pure and clear, it does not colour the appearance of the true and pure Self. It becomes so clear and pure that it becomes like a mirror to reflect and see the Self, to see its own true nature. That is the essence of spirituality!

Once you reach the state of ‘no mind’, then you have reached the state of purity which reflects your own true nature. Your conscious mind gives way and your super conscious mind comes into play, now you begin to see things as they are, without any colourings of past impressions which were buried in the conscious mind. You are truly free as the final barrier to realising the truth falls away!