Golden Gate Hall, Thursday afternoon, 22 January 1903
What is the meaning of completely understanding a thing, a fact?
The meaning of completely understanding a thing is catching that thing firmly through these grips, these pincers. When you know the why, when, and where of a thing, it is understood; it is comprehended. It stands under your intellect, so to speak. Your intellect stands in it and through it, and it stands under the intellect.
The intellect, the understanding, is like the strange pair of tongs with three grips. All the objects can be understood by the intellect, but at the same time, this intellect, this mind of yours, like the pair of tongs, is itself under the control of this strange Governor of the State, the thinker; the understanding is governed and dominated by this strange power.
Is your intellect, your mind free? If so, why is it not there in the state of lethargy, in the deep sleep state? If it were free, it would be so in all states. It is not free; the intellect, the understanding is under the control of a higher power. The intellect has not the power of turning back and catching hold of the Infinite, the true Self, which has it under control. It cannot put the question,”Why, when or where were you?”The intellect cannot ask that question of the Real Self, the true Atman. The intellect cannot grasp or understand the Annan. The Atman is above it, beyond it.
While the intellect cannot grasp the Atman, it can get itself merged in the Atman, like the bubbles in the ocean. The bubbles cannot come out of the ocean, but they can burst and become merged in it. So the intellect cannot comprehend the Atman, but it can lose itself in the Atman, and this is in fact the sum and substance of Maya. The intellect cannot ask the Atman or God,”Why, when, and where did you create this world?”It cannot put the question boldly.
This Atman, this true Ocean of Reality, this Controlling and Governing Self, this is to be realized, this is to be felt, to be seen and known in order to be one with the Infinite. This true Self or Atman is called the”I am”. This true Self, the perfect”I”is beyond cause, and time, and space. This perfect, this true Self is represented by Om. Om means”I am”; and while chanting Om, you have not to address yourself to somebody else. While chanting Om, think not of someone outside yourself whom you are calling. While chanting Om, you must feel yourself to be one with this true”I am”. By this strong feeling, the mind is merged in the Reality. By this strong belief, by this living knowledge of the mind, the mind becomes, as it were, a bubble which bursts into the mighty Ocean of Reality. This is the way to Realization; this strong feeling, this living knowledge on the part of the mind laying hold of you, and de-hypnotizing your false self, is the way to gain Truth, to free yourself.
The true”I am”is seen in this body and in that body. The true”I am”the Governor, Controller, Ruler, the Infinite Self is the same in the tiny atom, as it is in the huge, mighty ocean; the same in all time, space, and causation. Just feel that, realize that you are that true”I am”feel that you are that Infinite, Indestructible Self, and what a metamorphosis, what a grand change does it bring about in your position? To think that you penetrate all space; that you are in all time, that you are the Self which supports all space, that infinite space is supported by you, held up by you. Infinite Space, Infinite Time, Infinite Causation, Infinite Force, Infinite Energy, power— This J am. This fact is not a matter of ignorance. It is in reality the cause of whatever I think myself to be, and it is yours always. Think this and you are raised, you are freed from all selfish motives; believe it, and it disperses all sorrows and anxieties; you are raised above all jealousy, chafing, worrying, and disturbance. Feel that you are that”I am”. The same you are.
Your intellect has no right to ask the cause of its effect, has no right to identify itself with the cause.
Take this piece of scarf. If it identifies itself with anything, it must identify itself with silk, the substance of which it is made or in which it makes its appearance. It has no right to identify itself with its length, breadth or thickness.
Similarly, when the intellect identifies itself with anything, it should be identified with its own substance, its true nature. It should become a bubble, and burst into oneness with the mighty Ocean, the Atman, the”I am;”it should not be identified with the body. The body is only an effect; and therefore the intellect has no right to identify itself with the body.
O! The true Divinity, the Atman, this sublime Power has no right to be identified with worldly relations, with worldly affairs. You are that Sublime Divinity, that True Reality. Know That, Think That, Feel that, and Rise above all sorrow and trouble.