Soul Selfie: How To Click Into Your Real Self

By Sadguru Rameshji

A soul has infinite potential, equivalent to the powers of the cosmos and universal energies . . . but by virtue of identifying itself with a finite physical body its powers get restricted. Our physical existence is neither the start of our life' s journey nor its end. All our sorrows, fears, anxiety, and stress crop up only when we associate ourselves with our physical body. But once we become aware of our existence as a soul, separate from the physical form, we start living a completely different life— full of energy, positivity, love, and joy. This book, Soul Selfie, reveals the secrets of living a soulful existence independent of the body by covering two aspects of a spiritual journey— one proves the independent existence of the soul and the second chronicles the personal journey of the author in his experimentation with the soul, including an out-of-body astral travel experience. Filled with easy-to-understand stories, anecdotes, personal experiences, and practical tips, Soul Selfie is a work of spiritual guidance that will help one transcend their physical existence and unleash their true potential by identifying themselves with their immortal soul. Interesting perspective into spirituality. An easy read' RAJKUMAR HIRANI, Film Director

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fingerprint Publishing
• Release date: Nov 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9789389717792

Book preview

Preface

Asatoma Sadgamaya,

Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya,

Mrutyorma Amrutangamaya.

For most of my spiritual journey, these words have been my favourite prayer. It is a prayer to the Divine Mother (the Shakti), the creator of this universe: ‘Oh Mother, please lead me from the unreal to the real; lead me from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge; lead me from death to eternity.’

Through this book, I hope to pay tribute to these wise words and to elucidate their true meaning.

Everyone takes selfies of their physical appearance, but nobody bothers to take selfies of their inner appearance—the inner self, the soul. While our social networking profiles always have our latest pictures, we have forgotten to update the selfie of the actual self in the database of our intellect. We rarely bother to know how we look from the inside—how smart or dull, caring or apathetic our soul is.

A soul has infinite potential, equivalent to the powers of the cosmos and universal energies. The powers of the soul include the power to create and achieve anything of its liking in the materialistic world—the power to create a favourable situation, the power to influence people, the power to be unconditionally blissful, the power to see the unseen, the power of mind over matter, the power to discard and acquire physical bodies at will, the power to leave the body and perform astral travel at will, and much more.

However, by virtue of identifying ourselves with a finite physical body we are unable to tap this infinite potential. The powers of the soul are beyond the comprehension of an unevolved mind. It is only when one evolves from an intellectual being to a soulful being that these powers become accessible.

This book reveals the secrets of living such a soulful existence independent of the physical body.

Who are we? What is our real existence? Are the body and soul two different entities? If so, how to separate them and realize our true existence? Who is our Creator? From where have we come and where are we headed? Can we choose to be happy all the time? If so, how?

This book aims to clarify and answer such existential questions through simple language, easy-to-understand examples, and various practical suggestions. It provides the master key to living life joyfully, invoking our inner potential, dispelling superstitious beliefs, and getting rid of negative emotions such as guilt, fear, anger, anxiety, expectations, attractions, and aversions.

This book also deals in great detail with our greatest fear—the fear of death. Who does not contemplate about the notion of death, or is immune to the anxiety and doubt surrounding the uncertainties of what happens after death? We keep wondering: does life exist after death? Do we continue to live even after the body dies? If so, in what form? Where? Hell? Heaven? For how long?

In answering these questions, this book helps readers live their lives fully and fearlessly, as God intended. It strips God of His remote and fearsome attitude and brings Him closer to our heart, as close as our very breath. The real meaning of devotion is revealed whereby God is freed from the confines of physical temples and worshipped in the temple of the mind, so that one can be with Him 24x7. The book also explains the Laws of Karma, clears common confusions and misconceptions about karma, and explains what one must do to escape from the endless cycle of cause-and-effect.

Through the narration of my own spiritual journey and experiences, I unravel various esoteric concepts such as the mystic powers of a yogi, kundalini shakti, the role of an enlightened master, initiation into spirituality and shaktipat by a guru, hatha yoga, dhyana, self-knowledge, the power of prana, levitation, seeing the light of the soul, playing with the soul and travelling beyond the realm of physical matter, and the guru’s important role in igniting our inner divine light.

This life itself is a beautiful and rare gift from our creator, the Supreme Divine Being. It is every individual’s right as well as responsibility to use this gift well by taking control of his destiny and channelizing his energies towards living a purposeful, successful, joyful and blissful life, and following a path of intellectual and spiritual evolution.

May the Divine Mother bless you all with her choicest blessings and give you all happiness, health, prosperity, purpose of life, and enlightenment.

This or That?

One day when King Janaka was taking a short nap after his lunch, he dreamt that a rival king had invaded his country and driven him out of his palace.

Janaka wandered about in the jungle, thirsty and hungry. He reached a small town where he begged for food, but no one paid him any attention. He reached a place where some people were distributing food to beggars. Each beggar had an earthen bowl to receive rice. As Janaka had no bowl, they refused to serve him any food and asked him to bring one.

He went in search of a vessel. He requested other beggars to lend him a bowl, but none would part with their own. At last he found a broken piece of a bowl and ran back but by that time all the food had been already distributed.

Janaka was dying of hunger and was so tired and exhausted that he was on the point of collapse. Seeing his pathetic condition someone took pity on him and offered him some khurchan, the burnt rice, scraped from the bottom of the cooking vessel.

Janaka took it with immense joy and was about to put some in his mouth when a large bird swooped down and tried to snatch rice from the bowl. The bowl fell to the ground spilling the leftover rice in the mud. Janaka fell unconscious.

At this point, King Janaka awoke, still crying for rice and water. He was sweating profusely and felt exhausted from the hunger, thirst, and scorching heat he had faced in the dream. It took him some time to recognize the changed scene around him. He was in his palace, in his soft bed, covered by a silken coverlet. He felt bewildered not knowing which the real dream was: was he dreaming right now about being a king or had he dreamt about being a hungry and thirsty beggar.

Unable to decide, King Janaka muttered, Which is real, this or that? From that time, nothing else interested him and he went on uttering only these words: Which is real, this or that?

The ministers thought that their king was suffering from some illness. It was announced that anyone who cured him would be richly rewarded. Great physicians and specialists began to pour in and try their luck, but no one could answer the query of King Janaka.

Finally, the great sage Ashtavakra came to the king and said, Janaka! Neither is this real, nor that.

Hearing this King Janaka at once became alert, got out of the bed, and sat at Ashtavakra’s feet, seeking more clarity. What then is real, oh great sage? he asked.

Ashtavakra said, "My dear king! Neither was that real nor this, but you are real. You, the witness to your being a beggar and the witness to your being a king, are real. You, as the soul, are real. It is the soul which is common in both the states and is the witness to both the states. Only the soul is real and everything else is unreal, oh King Janaka!"

Anything that is subject to change, decay, and destruction is temporary and is considered unreal. Anything that is imperishable, beyond decay and change, is permanent and is considered real.

Two concepts emerge from this story.

One: The physical body and the physical world are unreal as they are temporary, and subject to change, decay, and destruction.

Second: The soul is real as it is permanent, imperishable, and is not subject to change or decay.

The physical body and the physical matter in the world are made up of five elements—earth, water, fire, air, and ether—and these elements are prone to change, decay, and destruction; hence anything made up of them is considered temporary and unreal. But the soul which is the spark of consciousness and is beyond decay, change and destruction, is permanent and is hence considered real.

We are souls living in a physical body and operating from within. We, as souls, are the driving force behind all the movements, actions, and reactions of the physical body. We, the souls, are masters of physical matter.

Consider the analogy of the SIM card in the mobile phone. The SIM card remains the same irrespective of the mobile phone it is placed in. One may discard an old or out-dated phone, but it is the same SIM that goes into the new phone. The physical body is like the phone and the soul like the SIM card. Just as the SIM has its own identity, the soul also has its own identity. Irrespective of the mobile phone the SIM is inserted into, all the calls and messages go through the SIM. Likewise, regardless of the body the soul is placed in, all its karmas, impressions, and vibrations are carried through the soul only.

Another way of understanding this is through the example of a car. As a car is separate from its driver, the soul too is separate from the physical body. Like a car which has a body, an engine, a seat, and a steering wheel and is driven by a driver, so it is with human beings too. We too have a human body, a brain, a heart, various organs, and limbs and are driven by a driver, the soul.

Most of us, in our ignorance, consider the soul and body as a single entity and as the real one. We believe ourselves to be what we physically appear to be without realizing our separate existence as soul. This ignorance of considering physical matter as real extends to the whole world. The world is considered real and permanent even though it is subject to change, decay, and destruction.

Because we consider the physical body as real and the materialistic world as permanent we are not able to enjoy the permanent happiness that we all seek. The physical body and material objects, which are changing and decaying every moment and are moving towards destruction, cannot give permanent happiness. Temporary matter cannot be the source of permanent happiness. To enjoy permanent happiness, we need to shift our focus from the temporary physical matter to the permanent non-physical soul.

Our real and permanent identity is the soul. Its existence is not dependent on the physical body, as it existed before the birth of this body and will continue to exist after the death of this body too.

It’s like the apple and its seed. When the apple exists, the seed exists inside it and when the apple is eaten away, the seed continues to exist outside. The seed’s existence is not dependent on the existence of the apple. It exists with or without the apple. Similarly, when the body exists, the soul exists inside it and when the body dies, the soul continues to exist independent of it.

After the apple is eaten away, the seed is thrown out and that seed goes inside the soil and produces another apple tree. Similarly, when our body dies and is discarded, our soul is released into the cosmos and produces another life cycle with another body based on its karma. The soul has the potential to create endless life cycles as the seed has the potential to create endless apple trees.

As the existence of the soul is not dependent on the physical body so it is with the happiness of the soul. The soul can be happy even without a physical body or physical matter.

The happiest moment for a soul is when it is in deep sleep or when it is in deep meditation. In both these states, it is most blissful as it is disconnected from the physical body and physical world. The awareness of the physical body and anything to do with the physical world stands null and void in both these states. Whether one owns a Ferrari or has to struggle along in public transport, whether one is a beggar or the most influential person alive, whether one lives on the streets or resides in a three-acre bungalow, everything ceases to exist in these states and thus the soul enjoys bliss.

This basically proves that physical matter is an impediment to lasting happiness. Only when we are away and disconnected from physical matter do we enjoy inner bliss and happiness. In deep sleep or in deep meditation, there is no discrimination and segregation of things or people on the basis of nature, name, fame, or form, as exists in the physical world, and, since the soul is immersed in its consciousness, it experiences a blissful state.

After death too, the soul remains blissful, as it is disconnected from the physical world and the relations, aspirations, expectations, goals, and problems associated with it.

If the soul can get habituated to living constantly in such a state of deep sleep or deep meditation, even when we are awake, it can be in bliss all the time. Detachment from physical matter brings happiness and attachment to physical matter brings pain and sorrow.

For being eternally happy we have to invariably focus on our being the soul and not the physical body with which we are identified in the world. This identification with the physical body is only for the purpose of vyavahara, i.e., for operating on the physical plane, and not for getting attached to physical matter or for identification with the physical body, and definitely not for seeking happiness through the physical matter.

Being happy is the nature of the soul and to sustain its happiness, the unenlightened soul seeks it in physical matter and objects. When the soul feels happy on acquiring something of its liking or on fulfilling its desire, it is unaware that the happiness is not a quality of that object but the quality of its own self.

Happiness is the property of the soul, abundantly stocked within its inner chambers, and gets invoked through the medium of an external object. Whenever happiness gets invoked through an external object, the unenlightened soul thinks that it is the object which has given it happiness. This is where the soul gets caught in the clutches of ignorance and thus keeps seeking happiness in objects in the physical world.

Enlightened souls have been able to dispel the darkness of this ignorance and have realized the fact that happiness lies within and not outside. They have learnt to freely invoke their happiness even without the medium of an external object.

The enlightened ones have learnt to focus on the consciousness of their souls and live eternally happy lives. Even as they keep the physical body in the service of the physical world, they remain in union with their inner consciousness all the time. This was the state which Lord Krishna described in the Gita by saying: ‘Yogastah kuru karmani, yogah karm kaushalam’ which means ‘If you always remain in union with the Supreme Divine Being, automatically your behaviour and attitude will attain perfection.’

We too have to learn to live an enlightened life if we wish to be happy all the time. In an enlightened state, external situations and circumstances do not matter to the soul as it knows that neither its existence nor its happiness is dependent on any external object or external world. It sees everything as temporary and as a passing phase.

The constant awareness of