Dharma: Dissolution of Individuality
Religion begins with the dissolving of individuality. As long as there is a person, there is no God. A person has never seen God and never can. It is impossible because the primary condition for God-realisation is the cessation of individuality, becoming nobody! If the egoic identity moves away, God will manifest.
Just as darkness and light never converge, a person can never meet God. Where there is
Just as darkness and light never converge, a person can never meet God. Where there is
darkness, there is no light. And where there is light, darkness will not last. Similarly, as long as there is a person, there is no God. And when God arrives, individuality cannot survive.
Individuality is like darkness because individuality is ego. Ego is the name of spiritual darkness . And where there is darkness, there is blindness because nothing can be seen or discerned. The ego-entity stumbles hither and tither and gets hit. It lives like a blind person – moves around, tires, stumbles, suffers and experiences pain. This state persists until light dawns. And as soon as there is light, darkness ceases.
Individuality is like darkness because individuality is ego. Ego is the name of spiritual darkness . And where there is darkness, there is blindness because nothing can be seen or discerned. The ego-entity stumbles hither and tither and gets hit. It lives like a blind person – moves around, tires, stumbles, suffers and experiences pain. This state persists until light dawns. And as soon as there is light, darkness ceases.
Dissolution of the Ego
One who has set out in search of God should understand thoroughly that he will be successful only if he is ready to lose himself, wipe himself away – the ego. If you want to save yourself and also attain God, you will not succeed. The more you save yourself, the more you will lose. Ceasing, dissolving, disappearing is a must. God arrives only when the body-identification ends. Dissolution of the ego is a prerequisite for the entry of the Divine. Blessed are those who have prepared themselves for dissolution. They alone are qualified to attain God.
To dissolve the egoic identity is spiritual suicide. When no residue of individuality remains, it becomes a complete void, at that very moment God manifests within. The dissolution of the ego and attainment of God occur simultaneously.
There is No Space
The enlightened ones say that for realising God the ego has to die. If you are ready to become nothing, you will find the Divine. Unless you become empty, you have no room for God. You have filled your heart with the useless. You have not left even an
inch of space for God to enter!
Your situation is like that pundit who was invited for lunch. He ate so much that he couldn’t get up by himself and had to be assisted in reaching his residence. At home, when his wife suggested he take a digestive pill, he rebuked, 'Oh fool! If there was room for a pill in the stomach, wouldn’t I have had one more laddu?' You are so full that you haven’t left any scope for the Lord to arrive!
Your situation is like that pundit who was invited for lunch. He ate so much that he couldn’t get up by himself and had to be assisted in reaching his residence. At home, when his wife suggested he take a digestive pill, he rebuked, 'Oh fool! If there was room for a pill in the stomach, wouldn’t I have had one more laddu?' You are so full that you haven’t left any scope for the Lord to arrive!
An Impossible Aspiration
Your desire is such that you want God as well as save the ego. This aspiration is not possible to be fulfilled. You want darkness to remain and the light to shine, the ego to stay and attain God-realisation; but this is impossible.
Do not aspire for such an impossibility. You will be doing something else only in the name of dharma . Dharma is the process of dissolving oneself. Dharma is not a process of self-adornment! If you are trying to beautify your ego through good deeds like charity, austerity, renunciation etc., then you are only becoming more and more distant from the truth, from God.
Religious Person and Ego
Dharma is the dissolution of the ego. But it is often seen that a sinner is humble while the performer of religious activities is arrogant. Ego of an indulgent one appears less than that of an external renunciate. The ignorant one is straightforward, while a pundit is complicated! A sinner, an indulgent one, an ignorant one says, 'I know nothing. There is nothing good in me. I am the most lowly.' There are only tears in his eyes. He prays, but he does not ask for rights. While those who perform religious activities have a sense of arrogance - 'I know, I am good, I am religious.' Those who do not practise austerities show humility, while the so-called religious ones often display hypocrisy!
The arrogant one does not think of himself as ignorant or lowly; on the contrary, he feels himself worthy. So he does not bow down but demands and claims things as his right. One in whom true dharma has manifested will say, ‘I have no virtue’. The so-called religious person, performing a few religious activities, begins to believe 'I am a great donor, a great ascetic, a great scholar.' He does not realise that 'I am lower than the most lowly.’
This does not mean that one should not practise auspicious activities, or perform inauspicious activities and then consider oneself lowly and sit and repent. The intent is to remain aware that the ego doesn’t get inflated through religious activities. A practice is genuine when the ego does not strengthen, instead the existing ego dissolves. Otherwise, dharma is not being practised.
The enlightened ones say that perform good deeds but do not be egotistical about them. Practise dharma with such awareness that doership does not increase. Do not think you become entitled merely by performing good deeds. Maintain innocence. Knowledge should bring light and awareness in life and not increase the load of ego. True knowledge makes one modest, not arrogant.
The one who treads the path of dharma should have the humility of a sinner, the yearning for wisdom like an ignorant one, the innocence of a child and the readiness to dissolve oneself. He should be advancing on the journey of ego dissolution with great enthusiasm. The sun rises, radiating light and heat and then the snow starts to melt. Similarly, as the practice of dharma increases, the ego begins to melt away. Gradually, you as a person begin to fade away and a day arrives when you as a person are no longer there; only God exists!
Die While Living
On one hand, the ego completely dissolves. On the other hand, the Divine reveals Himself. These are two sides of the same coin. If you want God, learn to die while living! The art of dharma is to die while living.
The art of dharma is to die while living. Everyone does die, but a devotee dies before physical death. He lives in the sense that he is breathing and dies in the sense that his I-ness ceases to exist. He lives in the sense that he does feel hungry and even eats food, he dies in the sense that he no longer has any desire. The doer dies. The seer and the witness remain.
There is activity, not the doer. Breathing does not require one's conscious attention. Whether a man works, rests or is unconscious - in every state, his breathing is automatic. Similarly, all activities of a witness continue with non-doership. He does not have a doer-enjoyer attitude in those activities. He lives in a world devoid of I-ness and my-ness.
At the end of life, the ignorant one suffers. This pain is not because of death but because of one's hold - the hold of I-ness and my-ness. There is no suffering if there is no such grip. A spiritual person destroys I-ness and my-ness before death, so death cannot affect him. He who is willing to die attains the nectar. When the body-identification ends, one attains the ultimate truth.
By: Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji
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