We are in a constant search mode on the outside. Is there wisdom to search within ourselves? I find myself suffocated and lonely in spite of my stupendous worldly successes. Is there a way out? What will one realise when one begins the search within?”
This was a question raised in a corporate gathering.
Your journey within will take you from the gross to the subtle. The ‘gross’ body is the physical body you identify with: heart, brain, liver, lungs, etc. This physical body is the sthula shariram. Delve deeper, and you will perceive something intangible, finer than the body: your thoughts. This is called sukshma shariram. Look even further, and you will find something subtler than thoughts: feelings. Beyond that lies something subtler than feelings: your values, called karana shariram. At the deepest level, beyond body, mind, and intellect, is pure awareness, known as sakshi chaitanya. You will observe that certain values give rise to feelings; from these feelings, thoughts emerge; and from thought, actions follow.
Therefore, an object has a form, your body has a form, but your thoughts are subtler, and your feelings even more so. Your values are almost formless. Take music, for instance: it has a certain form, yet the feeling a raga evokes has no form at all. Go even further, and your values are shaped by beliefs. Beyond these beliefs, there is someone witnessing all of this—a sakshi, the conscious observer. When you connect with this witnessing consciousness, a spiritual awakening occurs. Being a sakshi, or witness, leads you to cosmic consciousness. Only by experiencing the consciousness that transcends the ego can one access cosmic consciousness. Hence, witnessing consciousness serves as the doorway to the cosmic.
The mind is always drawn to acquiring things—wealth, power, pleasure, name, fame and so on. Eventually, it grows bored with what it has obtained and becomes restless in the pursuit of more. With such boredom and restlessness, one naturally seeks an escape.
Instead of being lost in acquiring, notice the poetry and richness in ‘what is’. From that space, acquisition becomes an addition rather than a compulsion. When you approach things like money or marriage from this sense of abundance, your pursuits enhance the richness of life. For example, if you marry with appreciation for life’s fullness, your relationship adds to that richness. But if you marry out of boredom, dissatisfaction will follow.
This practice requires abundant patience. Consider life as a plant—you have to allow time for it to grow into a tree; for a child, you have to wait until they become an adult; for a singer, time is needed to reach greatness. Patience, therefore, forms the very foundation of life. With patience, you will fish where there are fish; without it, you will fish restlessly where there are none.
To discover this ‘pure awareness’, you must cultivate meditation; otherwise, you will remain shackled in life. The more meditative you become, the more liberated your life will be. As you delve within, you will see that your fears and anxieties are largely imaginary. Let awareness remain alive through consistent practice. This will help dissolve the ready-made negative language we habitually use.