So there you are, sitting in your office or bedroom or
living room, staring at a screen, separate from the rest of the world. Right?
Wrong about the last part, at least according to the Upanishads.
These sacred
Hindu writings wander over many a subject, but one that they keep
hammering home is that the little “s” self that walks around feeling separate
from everything else in the world is actually just a tissue-thin ego projection
over the big “S” Self, the true part of our being, what most Westerners might
think of as the soul.
You and Me and Everyone and God
So far, so good, but still separate, right? Here’s where
things get interesting: that big “S” Self is the same thing, part and parcel, as Brahman,
God, the Divine Reality, the Creator of the Cosmos. The Mundaka Upanishad puts it this way:
As long as we think we are the ego,
We feel attached [to things around us] and
fall into sorrow.
But realize that you are the Self, the Lord
Of life, and you will be freed from sorrow.
When you realize that you are the Self,
Supreme source of light, supreme source of
love,
You transcend the duality of life…**
The monkey mind jumping around wondering what’s for dinner,
wanting a new iPhone and trying to figure out a problem at work is part of the
small “s” self, but underneath all that ego projection is the Self, the Divine.
You, the truest you, is the Self. And so is the true Self of your mother and
your spouse and your boss and the neighbor across the street that annoys you.
All Connected - and
Never Alone
Because the Self of every being is the divine, that means
that the Self of every being is the same as the Self of every other being. So
however separate, solitary, alone, lonely we may feel, we are surrounded on
literally every side by these other Selves who are the same as our Self. In
every moment, we are surrounded by the Divine.
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