Namaskar. All beings want to be happy. That search for happiness governs out lives. Sometimes this is seen in career, in relationships; in many ways people seek happiness. Sometimes in material objects.
But real happiness that does not change with changing times cannot be from this material world because all things change. Even your body changes. You begin with the body of a tiny baby, and you end up old, old, old if you live for a long time.
Thus, even the physical form you inhabit changes and your circumstances of life change and change. Even the relationships that you have with people change. So, what does not change? What in you brings lasting happiness, that transcends the movement of time?
The Yogis say that is your immortal Self. The divinity which lies with you and within all that is. That divine nature, your immortal Self, is unchanging. When you were a babe in your mother’s arms, it was the same. Throughout your life, it is the same. And when you leave this physical form, like taking off clothing that has seen its day, then that internal immortal Self remains the same.
That Self of yourself that goes on eternally, that never changes; that is pure being, pure divine intelligence. And in it the whole world of form and all the living beings are spun into existence, arise for a time, and dissolve again into the whole. This is the nature of creation. It is born, lives, exists and passes from view. Even the planets themselves, and the sun, follow this pattern. All life follows this pattern.
But you, as all living beings, are composed of the immortal Self, the one divinity that underlies all things and remains the same. It is the Self of yourself, the divinity, the divine conscious intelligence of the universe, and its language is love. Its nature is immortal peace, infinite love, pure unchanging immortal being.
This nature, this Self of yourself, your true nature, is accessible to you. But only when you let go of all of the engagements and you are drawn to the nature of the Self. It can happen in all manner of circumstances that you touch upon the deeper Self and you feel that great bliss, that great love, that you feel awe as if you are expanding. You may see light.
Meditation is the cultivation of this relationship you have, your small self, your ego self, with your larger Self, with the immortal Self. For it is the immortal Self which goes on after this body falls away. And that immortal Self, when it is your unique individual existence, that is connected, that it is witnessing, is called the Atman. But the Atman, the soul, your soul, is no different than the Paramatma, the divine consciousness, the divine soul of all beings, the one eternal one. The Atman is of the same substance. So when you know the one, when you know your Self, that is the key to knowing all. For all lies within the Self.
And so as you meditate, you cultivate the ability to quiet the mind so that you can listen within that you can hear the eternal feeling of your existence. It is not a sound though it may have sound. It is not a light though there may be light. It is not anything that can be described though words will be said to describe its aftereffect, its glow.
But the immortal Self is beyond thought, beyond time, beyond ideas in the mind. It is contacted through the heart, through the feeling inside of you. When you drop down into the silence in meditation and you open your heart, you open your feelings, you let go, you surrender, and you feel that presence, you feel that eternal nature. You feel the love that binds you to all living beings and makes you a part of an interwoven interconnected whole of being.
This is your eternal nature. When you drop into this eternal nature, whether you touch it just for a split moment or whether you drink from that well for hours on end, it is the same. For you are the same. The knower of your existence, the witness, the conscious intelligence, that is you. Not “I am and fill in the blank,” just “I, I am.”
In that I-feeling, there is an intelligent consciousness that is you. If there were no intelligent consciousness, who would know all of those things you identify with, that you experience? Who would know your existence?
The you that is that intelligent aware consciousness that knows your whole existence does not think, does not operate in the limitations of mind but is in the consciousness of being, is the fundamental nature of love, is the fundamental nature of peace, is beautiful beyond words. That is your Atman, your soul. And looking into your soul you see the eternal one without a second, the witness, the knower of all that exists. This infinitely intelligent witnessing consciousness that knows everything, everyone, that one is closer to you than any other can be.
That one is the heart of your heart, the knower of your existence, the deep love within. And when you find your way to that eternal source, you will realize that your nature, your nature is not all of the identities or even the form you have clothed yourself in. Your nature is this infinite intelligent love, peace, bliss, consciousness, pure being. And that nature is immortal. It does not die. You do not die. Only form changes. It changes in the life. It changes when you shed the physical form you wear. You see these changes all around you.
But there is a changeless nature. Meditation is the practice of knowing that changeless unbound nature. See it in the trees; smell it in the breeze and the flowers; feel it touch your skin in the soft breezes; feel it in the warmth of the sun. These are all the touches of the infinite one in the play of creation. But what is under it all is this infinite knowing, absolute love, absolute peace, absolute joy. Be in awe of that which is your deepest nature. And seek to know yourself. All right? Namaskar.