A Mysterious Nature
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
Even for those who know the true Self, they cannot define it as being any “thing.” Gangaji states that no concept touches the true Self, although concepts point to it. In her own words, “When you identify yourself as a thing―mental, physical, emotional, or circumstantial―and you believe this identification to be real, you overlook the reality of the vastness of Being.” (5) “Spiritual investigation reveals Self as limitless Being, in truth unbound by any and all perceptions of bondage.” (69)
This is expressed in the Upanishads, an ancient spiritual text from India, with the Sanskrit phrase Neti-neti. Neti-neti is often translated as “neither this, nor that.” The true Self is neither this concept, nor another. Neti-neti also means that we are not separate from the true Self, and the true Self is not separate from the Divine. Everything is one. In this way, when we tune into our true nature, we are all tuning into the same Self, the one true Self that exists. In Where Are You Going? A Guide To The Spiritual Journey (1981) Swami Muktananda states, “The Self is the seed that contains the whole universe. Everything is within the Self, and therefore when we know the Self, we know everything that can be known.” (25)
Swami Muktanada also describes the Self in Where Are You Going? A Guide To The Spiritual Journey (1981) as “the most subtle of all subtle things. It is highly secret and mysterious, and it has no name, no color, and no form. Even though it is without attributes, the sages have described its nature as Sat Chit Ananda―existence, consciousness, and bliss absolute (26). Looking at this more deeply, sat means that the Self exists in all times, things, and places. The true Self has no beginning and no end. It exists everywhere and in everything. Nothing is separate from the true Self. “Chit is Consciousness, which illuminates everything.” (26) This means that when we feel any type of emotion, it is Consciousness that allows us to realize we are feeling it. It is Consciousness as well that illuminates the True Self. Swami Muktananda states that while Sat and Chit can be understood by the mind, Ananda can only be understood by experiencing it in meditation. In Muktananda’s words, “…the bliss of the Self does not depend on any external factor. It is completely independent; it arises, unconditioned, from within.” (27)