Consciousness, the basic nature of human beings

The basic nature of human beings is pure consciousness. At present, our consciousness is identified with thoughts, emotions and body.

We have identified with them mechanically due to ignorance. If one can see the body, mind and emotions clearly as ‘mine’ but ‘I’ am not them, then there is an awakening. For example, the dress is mine, but I am not the dress. This understanding is a great purifier. The ‘I’ and the ‘mine’ are confused and in this confusion, the lower self emerges. Once we know ‘I’ is pure consciousness and this is only the watcher — the witness — we get into a state beyond mind. This is the higher self.

What happens in this state of understanding?
The self without a higher state of understanding lives a life full of tensions. It is similar to someone stamping on our shadow and in the process we get hurt, as we have identified ourselves with the shadow. We are burdened by the memories of the past and projections of the future, and thus we start living at our minimum. To live in the minimum is the lower self, while to live in the maximum is the higher self. Once we operate from the higher self, the dust of ignorance is eliminated. We will be in the flame of consciousness.

How do I understand who I am?’
I am only an observer and not the observed. The observer is a witness.
The witnessed is me but not the real ‘I.’ Suffering exists in me and not in the real ‘I.’ This is an important enquiry in Indian philosophy. The mind is observed and the observer is different from the observed. Feelings are observed and the observer is the real ‘I.’ So who am I? I am only an observer and to observe I must be consciousness, the awareness. This awareness has no form. If it were to have a form, it can be observed and anything that is observed is an object of perception. The subject is the real ‘I.’ So the real ‘I’ has no form and hence it is formless. That which is formless cannot be destroyed. Hence, Indian mystics say the self is indestructible.

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