What we really are

What we really are
by Atman Nityananda

Functions and experiences

A human being is very complex and has a variety of functions.

First, we perceive things through the senses or directly through the mind. We perceive through the mind our psychological expressions.

Second, we have the function of doing, which can be mental or physical. When we do things physically, we use the body, the hands, the feet, and the whole body. We can dance, walk, ride, sing, do sports, etc. Thinking is also a kind of doing. We can think about specific things, analyze, and reason. This mental activity is a form of doing, even though it occurs in the mind.

Third, there is thinking. We think about the perceptions and impressions we take in through the senses. We elaborate on these experiences. We can also recreate these experiences through imagination. Through imagination, we can be creative, envisioning new ideas and possibilities.

Fourth, we have the capacity to choose and decide. We can choose between alternative options. Every moment in our lives, we make decisions. We decide what to eat, what to do, what to think, and what to experience. These small decisions are often intertwined with the function of desire.

Additionally, there is the function of desire. Desire, in reality, is something that happens automatically. It is a function that occurs by itself. However, we can accept or discard the desires that appear in our mind. We can think about them and determine if they are favorable to our well-being or the way we live. We then choose whether to fulfill the desire or not. However, some desires, like those for sex and pleasure through food, are very strong and often compel us to fulfill them, even if they are against our well-being.

Finally, there is the function of feeling. Feeling is one of the most important aspects of human experience. We constantly feel emotions, moods, or feelings that arise in our psyche. We can feel happy, joyful, sad, bored, dissatisfied, uneasy, insecure, etc. We continually react to external reality with some kind of emotion, feeling, or mood. These emotional expressions play a very important, perhaps the most important, role in our lives.

The subject of functions and experiences

These are the main functions of human beings. The subject of all these functions and experiences is us. We are the subjects that perceive, think, imagine, do, choose, desire, and feel. But what is this subject? We take ourselves to be the body, and so we believe and feel that the body, the body-me entity, is the subject of all experiences. It is the body-me that perceives, thinks, does, etc.

In a state of ignorance, we think, feel, and believe that we are the body, and as the body-me, we are the subject of all functions and experiences. Is this true?

This is the most important question: to find out what is really the subject of all these functions and experiences. What do we truly are? Are we the body? Are we the ego, identified with the body, or are we something beyond this?

Self-Enquiry

So in order to realize what really is the subject of all functions and experiences, which implies finding what we really are, we must investigate deeply ourselves. This investigation will be done in relation to all functions and experiences. In reality, every function is also an experience. When we think something, or when thoughts appear in our mind, this is a function, but it’s also an experience. So we must investigate our thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensory experiences, our capacity to reason, and our physical experiences, in order to find what is the subject of these functions and experiences, and to discard one by one what we are not.

Inquiring the ego

The most important factor that prevents us from realizing our true self or true nature is the ego, which is a field of vital psychic energy.

This energetic field functions as a veil that, on one hand, prevents us from realizing the empty space of consciousness and recognizing that we are this space of consciousness, and, on the other hand, identifies us with the body, making us feel that the body is ourselves.

Therefore, the most crucial factor to investigate in our psyche is this sense of “I” or ego that makes us feel that we are a body-mind-me entity.

A thorough investigation of this sense of “me” is crucial since it makes us identify with the body primarily and also with thoughts, emotions, and all mental-emotional functions, and prevents us from seeing and realizing that we are the silent space of consciousness.

This is the neti-neti way, as they say in spiritual traditions, that we realize through a thorough investigation what we are not. And what remains is what we really are, the ultimate subject of all experiences and functions.

Constant meditation

And then after doing this investigation and realizing that we are the empty, silent space of consciousness, we try moment to moment, diligently, systematically, and patiently, to develop our capacity to abide in this silence, firmly, deeply, and clearly. We do this until the complete dissolution of all egoistic tendencies of all kinds in deep Nirvikalpa Samadhi amd the grace of God.

Self-realization or Liberation

When the ego and all egoistic tendencies are dissolved or eliminated, what remains is an effortless abidance in the inner silence, being the silence, and experiencing peace, plenitude, and freedom without limits, moment to moment, every moment. This is the state of liberation or self-realization.

The ‘secret’ to a plentiful life, a life of harmony, happiness and contentment is to have a sattvic mind free from desires and ego and to live in every moment in conscious contact with our true Self (Consciousness).

🌺 Peace, Love, Harmony