'Who am I': pearls of wisdom from a monk

This article is based on a lecture delivered by Rev. Swami Shantatmananda- Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission, Delhi- in Hansraj College on 14th November 2022. The title of the discourse was 'Who am I'. This article is replete with personal observations and reflections, but can be used as a summary of proceedings. 

Having attended a number of discourses given by monks from the Ramakrishna Mission, I have noted that most of them revolve around a set range of topics including the ideas of Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Vedanta, the art of concentration and such like. These thought-provoking discourses compel me to introspect and reflect on existential questions from a distinct standpoint. Think of me as the quintessential twenty-year old groping for the 'right' path in life. Such discourses offer a glimmer of renewed hope where uncertainty looms large. For instance, I observe some of my peers and seniors getting placed or earning a good salary, while I spend scores of hours poring through books of history. Frequently, I am reminded of some ‘expectations’ that people have of me, leading to a vortex of self-flagellation. The notion of ‘success’ is itself heavily contested, and living in a vibrant and pulsating city like Delhi, I am always intrigued by the variegated ways in which people seem to interpret this term. At one level, success seems to be analogous to cracking a competitive exam (by toiling endlessly for years and years) while at another it also appears to allude to the attainment of professional growth by ‘connecting’ with the right people. Hard-work is often a feature of such conversations, but  it is often overpowered by terms like ‘rank’, ‘salary package’, ‘tiers’, ‘influence’ and ‘mentorship’. Individual excellence and personal happiness are rarely even discussed; oh yes, there is the odd footnote in most conversations today- ‘but take care of your mental health!’. These words are thrown about to entice students and sap so much of time that many of them fail to live the most precious years of their lives meaningfully. That is where sessions like these with Rev. Swami Shantatmananda can prove to be eye-openers.

‘Put a premium on your life’.  This one statement given by Swamiji captures the essence of the message he sought to convey in the course of this session. He pointedly asked- if our lives are so precious, then why do we go about fulfilling expectations that only mount with each act of success? In fact, Swamiji’s discourse was on a theme that many of my friends found confounding- ‘Who am I?’ On the eve of this session, I overheard conversations where fellow students found this topic to be unworthy of a discourse. After all, shouldn't we be discussing more pressing challenges that confront our society rather than redirecting attention towards our own selves?

However, after listening carefully to Swamiji’s insightful words, I firmly believe that an answer to this fundamental question can resolve any and every major issue. He began by stating how India is best-equipped to resolve the identity crisis that plagues the world at present. Swamiji emphasised on the importance of recognising the ‘I’ that underlies all our actions. We exist in either of three states: jagrat (waking state), Swapna (dream state) or sushupti (deep sleep). The drishta (witness consciousness) oversees each of these three states. We might transition from one phase in life to another, but that leaves no effect on our consciousness. He offered a captivating illustration: our consciousness is like the railway ticket-collector standing on the platform and observing- on three different occasions- a goods-train, a normal sleeper train and the tracks in isolation. Our situation is very similar, as the deeper ‘I’ within us dominates our experiences. In fact, our personal growth is mostly inhibited not due to a lack of efforts, but because of an inability of the latent 'I' to manifest itself. It is only when we acknowledge its existence that we realise the futility of pursuing everything branded as fashionable in society. He stressed on how it's pivotal to separate ‘real’ from ‘unreal’. We can be in any of the three states mentioned earlier, but we wouldn’t achieve true fulfilment unless we manifest our true self. He quoted a powerful phrase given by Swami Vivekananda: ‘Each soul is potentially divine (emphasis mine)’. It requires tremendous amount of effort to manifest this divinity, and once that manifestation takes place, life is sorted.

The most compelling arguments though were made in the course of the Question-Answer session. When I asked him about the way social expectations distort our understanding of the self, he pointed to the need for clarity in communication. If we are able to clearly state our goals in front of those who care for us, the situation would be a great deal more manageable. Swamiji repeatedly stated how even a billionaire goes through hundreds of problems that may elude an ordinary human being living in a small cottage. Any individual must be able to determine his own life’s contours and state them unambiguously before those who matter. There’s no harm leading a life of restraint. This doesn’t mean leaving all worldly comforts; of course everything must be pursued (even love) within certain limits. Earning a lot of money cannot be the primary goal of life, there must be a larger objective which according to the mission can be attained with the manifestation of the inner consciousness. We must cultivate the ideals of viveka (discrimination) and vairagya (abstinence) to meaningfully transform our lives. Once this is realised, all other issues in life automatically take a back-seat.

Listening to this enlightening lecture made me realise how often we complicate our lives by carrying a burden of expectations that inhibit us from unleashing our potential. The lifestyle of monks from this order reveals how a frugal lifestyle is indeed possible, even though it remains unfashionable. Moreover it can be pursued even as we carry out our daily activities, and he repeatedly emphasised that renunciation cannot be a solution to all worldly problems. 

Such ideas might seem unpalatable to most of us, as we often end up adopting the vexatious lifestyle endorsed by an increasingly competitive world. How often have you, the reader, been reminded about the need to compete with the world out there to give an account of yourself? How often have you sunk your head in despair when you are unable to secure your dream college by quarter of a mark? Swamiji has a solution here as well- you are not alone in this suffering, we all encounter such situations that make us feel inadequate or underwhelmed. Therein arises a question- can an examination or a race capture the enormous amount of potential that a human being possesses? Not really. That is why we must excise all thoughts, emotions or ideas that impose limitations on our activities. This can only happen when we realise our true, greater self which exists in unison with everything around us. This idea of one-ness of all creation is not just a powerful doctrine to elevate us from our mundane sufferings, but can also potentially resolve some of the most pressing difficulties that confront our lives as a species today.

The thrust of this lecture was therefore on the need to transcend the materiality that engulfs us by perceiving the unity of all consciousness on this planet. I found this to be a profoundly insightful and thought-provoking lecture. Ideas must never accepted in totality, and the principles discussed by Swamiji can also be contested at several levels. For some, they might sound impractical while others can misconstrue such ideas to justify lethargy. I personally believe that competition (and concomitantly expectations) needs to be embraced chiefly because they can't be avoided. However, a Darwinian perspective on competition (the winner takes it all!) must certainly be eschewed. We need to equip ourselves with the armoury that can help us sail through all these challenges and come out unscathed. What do you feel about these issues? Let me know in the comments...