Who am I? by Dada Bhagwan (if you liked this book txt) 📕

WHO AM I ?

WHO AM I ?

 

 

(1) WHO AM I ?

 

 

THE PRECISE METHOD FOR LIBERATION

 

 

Dadashri : What is your name?

 

Questioner : My name is ‘Chandulal’.

 

Dadashri : Are you really ‘Chandulal’?

 

Questioner : Yes.

 

Dadashri : ‘Chandulal’ is your name. Is ‘Chandulal’ not your name? Are you yourself ‘Chandulal’ or is your name ‘Chandulal’?

 

Questioner : It is my name.

 

Dadashri : Then who are you? If ‘Chandulal’ is your name, then who are you? Are you and your name not separate? If you are separate from your name, then who are you? Do you understand what I am trying to say? If you say, “These are my eye-glasses,” then you and the glasses are separate, right? Similarly, do you not feel that you are separate from your name?

 

In the same token there is nothing wrong with naming a shop ‘General Traders’. However if we call out to the shop owner “Hey General Traders, come here!” he would reply, “My name is Jayantilal, General Traders is the name of my shop.”

 

The owner, the shop, and the merchandise inside the shop, are all separate entities. What do you think?

 

Questioner : That makes sense.

 

Dadashri : People insist, “No, I am ‘Chandulal’.” That means, “I am the owner of the shop and I am also the sign on the shop.” ‘Chandulal’ is just a means of identification.

 

From your very childhood, people kept calling you ‘Chandu’ and you have come to believe, “I am Chandu.” You believe this name to be you. In reality you are not that, but you insist that you are ‘Chandulal’ because everyone tells you so. Since you do not know who you really are, you believe yourself to be the name that you have been given. This has had a very powerful psychological effect on you. This effect is so deeply ingrained within you, that you believe that you are ‘Chandulal’. This belief is wrong, and because of this wrong belief, you have spent countless lives ‘sleeping with your eyes open’ (oblivious to your real identity).

 

REALISING 'I'

 

 

Will you not have to investigate who you really are? For how long can you go on being in the dark, unaware of your real Self? Do you not think it is ignorance to not investigate your true identity?

 

Until you realize who you really are, everything proves to be wrong and incorrect.

 

Even before you purchased this watch, did you not inquire about its make, quality, price, warranty, etc.? Then, is it not ironic that you have not made inquires about your own Self yet? Who are you? You have no knowledge about your true identity, where you come from, and where you are. You know none of these things and even without knowing the answer to this one vital question, “Who am I?” you complicate your life further, by actively participating in this relative world. In this state of ignorance you further complicate your life by getting married, having a family, etc. This is how confusion and puzzles arise in the relative world.

 

Even when you fall asleep at night, you do so as Chandulal. All night long this wrong belief reinforces itself, becoming stronger and stronger. Only when you realize the answer to the question “Who am I?” does your wrong belief stop. It is because of this wrong belief that you have been wandering from one life to another. You do not know your true identity and furthermore you impress upon yourself, the belief of that which you are not. You have imposed this wrong belief on your Real Self. In addition, you have also accepted the notion, “I am Chandulal,” and, as a result, have behaved accordingly. This false accusation is a blunder. This blunder is the root cause of all suffering. This suffering comes in the form of inner restlessness, misery, and discontentment. At the moment, you have so many worries caused by your false belief of, “I am Chandulal.” This false imposition on the Self is ignorance, and brings forth suffering.

 

(2) BELIEFS : WRONG AND RIGHT 

 

 

SO MANY WRONG BELIEFS

 

 

Dadashri : The belief of, “I am Chandulal,” does not diminish, even in your sleep. And when you get married, people say to you, “You are this woman’s husband,” and therefore, you accept the role of a husband, and act like one. After that, through repetition, you keep reiterating the notion of being a husband. Is anyone a husband forever? If you get divorced will you still be her husband? All these false beliefs have become deeply ingrained within you.

 

The first wrong belief is that of “I am Chandulal.” “I am this woman’s husband,” is the second wrong belief, and “I am a Hindu,” is the third wrong belief. “I am a lawyer,” is the fourth wrong belief. “I am this boy’s father,” is the fifth wrong belief. “ I am an uncle,” is the sixth wrong belief. “I am fair-skinned,” is the seventh wrong belief. “I am forty-five years old,” is the eighth wrong belief. “I am a businessman,” is also a wrong belief. If you say, “I am a taxpayer,” then that is yet another wrong belief. How many such wrong beliefs do you have?

 

Questioner : Too many wrong beliefs.

 

Dadashri : Wherever you superimpose ‘I’, where ‘I’ does not belong, that is a wrong belief. You have to get rid of all these wrong beliefs. How can you be happy with so many wrong beliefs? Now tell me. What kinds of beliefs make a man happy?

 

Questioner : The person who does not have any beliefs is happy.

 

Dadashri : No, one cannot live without beliefs. But what you need is the right belief.

 

Questioner : Is it possible to be without any beliefs?

 

Dadashri : Suppose we want to go from Los Angeles to San Francisco, but instead we take the road going to San Diego. Do we not then, have to backtrack from San Diego to Los Angeles (our original place) before we proceed to San Francisco? Likewise, it is important to keep this right belief in order to come back to our original place. Once you get rid of the wrong beliefs and keep the right belief for a while, you will arrive at your original place, after which there will no longer be a need to keep any beliefs. Then your work is done.

 

Now, how will you get rid of all these wrong beliefs?

 

Questioner : I don’t know. I need your guidance for that.

 

Dadashri : Yes, because one does not possess the knowledge of how to rid himself of this wrong belief, he continues to wander aimlessly in this world, life after life. Even if he comes to know that this belief is wrong, he does not know how to get rid of it. Infinite lives have passed without getting rid of even a single, wrong belief.

 

‘I’ IN THE WRONG LOCATION

 

 

Dadashri : This belief of , “I am Chandulal,” is ahankar (ego). To impose ‘I’ where ‘I’ does not belong is ahankar (ego).

 

Questioner : How can there be ego in saying, “I am Chandulal.”? If I say, “I am great,” or “I am the smartest man in the world,” then it would be a different matter. But if I casually say, “I am Chandulal,” where is the ego in that?

 

Dadashri : Even if you say so casually, does the ego go away? Even if you say, “My name is Chandulal,” casually and simply, it is still considered ego. Ego is when you do not know who you are and you identify yourself with that which you are not.

 

“I am Chandulal,” is for a dramatic (for playing your role in the worldly interactions) purpose only. There is no harm in saying, “I am Chandulal,” but the belief, “I am Chandulal,” should not be ingrained within you. It should be dramatic and used for identification purposes only.

 

Questioner : Yes, otherwise “I am Chandulal,” will take hold.

 

Dadashri : If the ‘I’ is in its Real ‘I’ place then it is not ego. If you believe, “I am Chandulal,” then the superimposition of the ‘I’ on Chandulal, is ego. When you identify ‘I’ with your Real Self (its proper place), then it is not ego. If the ‘I’ comes out of its incorrectly, positioned place (Chandulal) and assumes its Real place, then the ego is gone. Therefore you do not have to get rid of the ‘I’, but you just need to put the ‘I’ in its correct location.

(3) EXPERIMENT TO SEPARATE ‘MY’ AND ‘I’

RIGHT BELIEF, WRONG BELIEF

 

 

People use the word ‘mithyatva’ loosely, but no one has ever explained to them what it really means. Mithyatva is nothing but these wrong beliefs. It is not mithyatva to wear fashionable clothes or to get married. The wrong beliefs are the only mithyatva and when one acquires the right belief, it is called samyak darshan or samyaktva (enlightened world-view; true understanding). The belief, through which one can ‘see’ the Soul, is samyak darshan.

 

There is a need to acquire the enlightened view. The enlightened view occurs when all these wrong beliefs are destroyed and the right belief is established. This is when one can see the world exactly as it is.

 

Until now you were not even aware that all your beliefs were wrong. Until now your belief was that ‘I am Chandulal’. But all these are mere adjustments, temporary adjustments only. “All these relatives are temporary adjustments and ‘You’ are permanent.” But you do not have the awareness of the permanent yet.

 

ONE IS A STRANGER TO HIS REAL SELF

 

 

This is an effort on one’s part to remain hidden from his own Self for endless lives. Is it not strange that for infinite lives, one has remained hidden from his Real Self and yet he knows everything that is related to the non-self? How long do you think he will remain hidden from his Real Self? This life is meant for the realization of one’s Real Self. The human life is meant solely for the investigation of one’s true identity. Otherwise one will wander aimlessly. Do you not think it is imperative to know the answer to the question, “Who am I?” Will you not need to inquire about who you really are?

 

(3) EXPERIMENT TO SEPARATE ‘MY’ AND ‘I’

 

 

REALIZATION OF THE TRUE SELF RESULTS IN SEPARATION FROM ‘MY’

 

 

Questioner : Dada what technique or method is there by which I can come to know my Real Self?

 

Dadashri : ‘I’ is the elemental form (vastu svaroop) and ‘My’ is a circumstantial form (sanyogi svaroop). The circumstantial form and the elemental form are always separate. ‘I’ is the natural elemental form.

 

‘I’ is God and ‘My’ is maya (illusion). Everything that falls under ‘My’ is an illusion. ‘My’ is all maya. ‘My’ is filled with all varieties of maya. The moment you say ‘My’, you are under the influence of maya. Whenever you say ‘My’, you become attached to whatever you refer to as ‘My’. ‘I’ therefore, attaches to ‘My’. ‘My’ cannot attach to ‘I’. ‘My’ is relative to ‘I’.

 

‘I’ is the only independent form. Everything that falls under ‘My’ is alien and not related