Tell me about yourself. Who are you?
After using too much mind, the satsangis (devotees attending spiritual discourse) of Shree Maharaj Ji can say that we are the souls. Oh, so you know that you are soul, yes. So, do you know about yourself? Do you have any idea about soul? What is soul? How does it look like? Do you have any idea of your soul?
Like, we have some idea of our body. But do we have any idea of the soul as well? Not at all. We heard—We heard from the scriptures. We heard from the saints that we are the soul. That’s why I am telling you that we are the soul.
But we have no idea at all about the form of the soul. What is soul? The day when we will know about soul, it means ignorance has gone. Atma Gyan (knowledge of the soul), that is called Atma Gyan.
As soon as you will have Atma Gyan, knowing about Atma (soul), knowing about our soul, is such a great bliss that sometimes, if you do not have a proper guru, then devotees think that, “I have attained Brahmanand (bliss of Brahm). I have seen God. I have attained the bliss, the Divine bliss of God.”
They think like that, although that is not the Divine bliss of God. It is Divine bliss of Atma, but it is not the bliss of God. You have known Atma, but you have to know Paramatma (Supreme Soul) as well.
And to know Paramatma,
… ते द्वन्द्वमोहनिर्मुक्ता भजन्ते मां दृढव्रता: ॥ 28॥
… Te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛiḍha-vratāḥ.
- Gita 7.28 (partial)
The Gita is saying, “If you have known yourself, द्वन्द्वमोहनिर्मुक्ता dvandva-moha-nirmuktā means now your Maya (material energy, illusion) has gone. Your ignorance has gone. And you have crossed two-thirds Maya as well.”
There are three modes of Maya: Sattvaguna (mode of goodness), Rajoguna (mode of passion), Tamoguna (mode of ignorance). So Gyani (one who knows), the one who knows about Atma, can get rid of Tamasi Maya (Maya of the mode of ignorance), Rajasi Maya (Maya of the mode of passion), but he cannot get rid of Sattvik Maya (Maya of the mode of goodness), because Sattva sañjāyate jñānam.
Gyan (knowledge) is attained from Sattvaguna. It has come, and you have attained Atma Gyan only from Sattvaguna. So Sattvaguna is there. It means two-thirds Maya has gone, but one-third Maya is still there. You are not completely free from Maya.
But that bliss is also so great, so high, that you have never tasted that bliss in this world, any time, in anything.
So, in other words of our scriptures, we have crossed the Gunavarika Maya (Maya that covers through the three modes), but the Svarupavarika Maya (Maya that covers our own self) is still there. There are two parts of Maya: Gunavarika Maya and Svarupavarika Maya. Svarupavarika Maya means, which is hiding our own self from us. That is Svarupavarika Maya, and that is Rajoguni Maya (Maya of the mode of passion) and Tamoguni Maya (Maya of the mode of ignorance).
But Gunavarika Maya means the Maya of three modes. So we have not crossed—the Gyani does not cross—the Gunavarika Maya, Maya of three modes. Sattvaguna is still there. That’s why he does not know about God.
So, if you have attained the knowledge of Atma, then you have to attain the knowledge of Paramatma. So how would you attain the knowledge of Paramatma? Shri Krishna says in the Gita that,
… ते द्वन्द्वमोहनिर्मुक्ता भजन्ते मां दृढव्रता: ॥ 28॥
… Te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛiḍha-vratāḥ.
- Gita 7.28 (partial)
“Now they will do Bhakti (devotion to God)”
Why?
भक्त्या मामभिजानाति यावान्यश्चास्मि तत्त्वतः ।
ततो मां तत्त्वतो ज्ञात्वा विशते तदनन्तरम् ॥Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ.
Tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā viśate tad-anantaram.- Gita 18.55
Bhakti dvara (through), भक्त्या मामभिजानाति Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (one can know me, God)
